A T R 



day, into an urn. At the perfon's death, the flones were taken 

 om, and from a comparifon of the numbers of e-.ch com- 

 plexion, a judgment was made of the felicity or iufehcity 

 of his courfe of life. 



The dies atiw, or airi, were afterwards denominated iieftiS;, 

 and po/icri. Such, in particular, was the day when the tri- 

 bunes were defeated by the Gauls, at the river Allia. and lofl 

 the city; alfo that on which the battle of Cannx was fought ; 

 and feveral others marked in the Roman calendar, as atra, 

 or unforlunate. 



ATRAGENE, in Botany, a family of plants refemb- 

 ling Clematis, but without a neclary, Liff. g. 695. Schreb. 

 949. Csrtn. 74. JufF. 232. CVdh, poljamlria pohgyma. 

 Nat. Ord. r,ui!llfiliqu.t. Rii,tunculac;x. JulT. Gen. Char. Cal. 

 perianth four-leaved ; leaflets oval, fpreading, obtufe, deci- 

 duous. Cor. petals twelve (in A. capenfis about twenty), 

 linear, veiy narrow at the bafe, obtufe, fpreading. Stain. 

 filaments veiy many, very {hort (outer petal-hkc, two 

 anthered); anthers oblong, acuminate, (horter than the 

 calyx. Plft. gernis numerous, oblong; ftyles viilofe, per- 

 manent ; iiigma fimple, the length of the anthers. Per. 

 none. Seais numerous, ending in a hairy tail (capfules 

 feather-tailed). 



EflT.Gen. Char. Cal. four-leaved. Pet. twelve. Seeiis, tailed. 



Species, i. A.ja^o/nVj, japonefe atragene. '.' Ereft, leaves 

 oppofite, triternate ; leaflets ovate, gafhed." Stem angular, 

 ftreaked, fubdichotomous, viilofe, two feet high ; leaflets 

 acute, toothed, very thinly viilofe ; petiole ftem-elafping ; 

 flowers from the diviiwns of the ftem, few, on elongated one- 

 flowered iiliform peduncles ; petals more than twenty, pur- 

 ple within, white-tomentofe without. Were it not for the 

 number of its petals it would belong to the anemone. A 

 native of Japan. 2. A. alphia. Alpine atragene, Jacq. 

 Auft. 3.^.241. Clematis Sibirica, Mill. fig. t. 284. " Leaves 

 doubly ternate, ferrate, outer petals four-fold." Stems 

 (lender, weak, covered with brown thin bark ; leaflets two 

 inches long,ot a deep green colour ; peduncles naked, three or 

 four inches long, one-flowered ; calyx yellowifli, white 

 within. This plant is differently defcribed by feveral 

 Lotanifts, and Jacquia aflerts that the Auflrian plant is 

 fpecifically different from the Alpine. A native of the 

 High Alps of Switzerland, &c. 3. A. capenjis. Cape 

 atragene. " Leaves ternate ; leaflets gaflied, toothed, 

 outer petals five-fold." Scape finiple, fix or feven inches 

 long ; involucre in the middle of the fcape, compofed of 

 {welling, ovate, viilofe, foliaceous ilipules ; leaves wedge- 

 fliaped, trifid, acute, naked ; petals about twenty, vi-hite, 

 the fix lower ones broader, viilofe underneath, purplifli. 

 A native of the cape of Good Hope. 4. A. teniiifolici, fine- 

 leaved atragene. " Leaves doubly pinnate ; pinnules linear, 

 entire." Found at the Cape by Thunberg. 5. A. zeyhmua, 

 Ceylonefe atragene. " Tendrils two-leaved." Caulefccnt, 

 fcandent ; leaves oppofite, compound, conjugate; leaflets 

 ovate, entire, or fometimes with a fingle tooth, three nerved, 

 on very fhort footftalks : panicle terminal, compofed of a 

 twice trifid peduncle, bearing commonly nine flowers; 

 petals twice the length of the calyx, purplifli. A native of 

 Ceylon. 



Propagation and Culture. The fecond fpecies may be 

 increafed by cuttings or layers in the fame manner as Cle- 

 matis. In a ftrong foil, and trained againft a wall, it will 

 rife to the height of fix or eigiit feet. The flowers appear 

 early, and if the feafon prove favourable, they make a 

 handfome appearance ; but as this plant is apt to put out 

 leaves ver)' early in the fpring, it is frequently nipped by 

 the frofts. The other fpecies have not yet been cultivated 

 ill England- See Martyn's Miller's Did. 



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ATRALIS, in Entomology, a fpecies of Phal;eha 

 {Geomdra), of a black colour, with two white .''pot i on 

 each V ing. Fabr. Donov. Brit. Inf. &c. Tliis is a native of 

 Europe ; it is called Thalsena funeraria by Miill. Zool. 

 Dan. Phalxna fnnebris Act. nidrof. and phalxna guttalis, 

 Wicn, Seiimettcrl, &c. 



ATR AMENTA. See Inks. 



ATRAMENTATA, \a Entomology, a fpecies of Pha- 

 LAN A (Giomrlra) that inhabits Eiuopc. The wings arc 

 white, fprinkled with black dots. 



■"■/ R-AMlTiE, in ylncient Geography, a name given to 

 the inhabitants of Hadramaut, or Hadramuth, a rich and 

 flounfliing country of Aiabia Felix. See Hadram.aut. 



AT RANI, in Geography, a town of Naples, in the 

 Principato Citra, fituatc between two cliff's, joined together 

 by buildings. Along the valley a road winds up to Ravcllo 

 and Scala, two epifcopal cities, or rather ftraggling villages, 

 on the mountain tops. It is not far from the city of 

 Amalfi. 



ATRAPKAXIDIS. m Entomology, a fpecies of Cry p- 

 TOCKPHALus, about the fize of C. quadripunclatu'. It is 

 black, with three red fpots ; wing-cafes tellaeeous, with 

 three black fpots; flianks rufous. Fabr. ^Mk \^ chryjomela 

 atrnphax'ulis of Pallas, and inhabits Siberia. 



ATRAPHAXIS, in Botany, an exotic plant, rcfem- 

 bhng polygonum. Lin. g. 449. Schreb. 612. Gaertn. t. 119, 

 JuflT. 82. Clafs, hexanJria digynla. Nat. Order, holoracem. 

 Polygonecc. Juff. Gen. Char. Cal. perianth two-leaved; 

 leaflets oppofite, lanceolate, coloured, permanent. Cor. 

 petals two, roundifli, finuate, larger than the calyx, perma- 

 nent. Siam. filaments fix, capillary, the length of the 

 calyx ; anthers roundifli. Pi/I. germ comprtfled ; ftyle 

 none ; fligmas two, capitate. Per. none ; calyx clofej, in- 

 cluding the feed. Seed one, roundifh, comprcfFcd. Obf. 

 A. undulata has a four-parted calyx, and no corolla. 



Eff. Gen. Char. Cal. two-leaved. Pet. two, finuate ; flig- 

 mas capitate. Seed, one. 



Species, i. A. fpinofa, prickly-branched atraphaxis. 

 L'Herit. Stirp. Nov. 27. 1. 14. "Branches fpiny." It rifes 

 fiaur or five feet high, fending out many weak lateral 

 branches, amicd with fpines, and fumilhed with fmall fpear- 

 fliaped fmooth leaves, of an afli- colour. Flowers at the 

 ends of the flioots in chifters, each confifling of two white 

 pL'tals tinged with purple, included in a two-leaved calvx, of 

 a white herbaceous colour. L'Heritier has defcribed this 

 plant very particularly, vide 1. c. It is a native of Arme- 

 nia, Siberia, and Perfia, flowering in Auguft. Cultivated 

 bv Miller in 1759. 2. i\. undulata, waved-ltaved atraphaxis. 

 Dill. Elth. 36. t. 32. f. 36. (called arbufcuia africana, &c.) 

 " Without fpines." Stems about a foot long ; leaves ovate, 

 obtufe, waved at the edges, alternate, longer than the in- 

 ternodes. Flowers in oblong fpikcs, at the ends of the 

 ftem and branches, furnifhed v.ith (hort bradles. Caljx 

 yellow, involving the fruit. The flowers are commonly 

 quadrifid, but fometimes they are fix-parted, with eight 

 llamens. Several authors make this to be a fpecies of poly- 

 gonum, while others would unite the two genera. 



Propagation and Culture. " The feeds of thefe plants 

 not ripening in England, they are propagated by cuttings 

 during any of the lummer months. In wjntcr they mud be 

 fcreened from hard froll, which commonly dcllroys fuch as 

 are planted in the open air." See Martyn's ^LUcr's 

 Dic^. 



ATRARIA, in Ichthyology, a fpecies of Perca tlwt 

 inhabits Carolina, and is called by Garden, the black fiOi. 

 The body is black, and the fins fpotted with whilifh. 

 Gmelin. The anterior gill-cover is denticulated, pofte- 



