A V E 



grana a day. The fccond article of trade is maccaronl and 

 pafte of many kinds, which ;ire of excellent quality, and 

 much efleemed through the country. Wooden chairs 

 are alfo made and fold here in great quantities. Avellino 

 abounds with all forts of provifious ; each (Ireet is fupplied 

 with frefli water; but the wine is indilferent. The foil 

 of this diftrift, confifting chiefly of volcanic fubftances, pro- 

 duces little corn, but abundar.ce of fruit, of which the apple 

 is held in high eftimation. The mod profitable of all fruit- 

 trees, however, is the hazel. Nut-bulhes cover th.^ face of 

 the valley, and in good years yield a profit of 6o,co3 ducats 

 or 1 1,750 1. The nuts are moRly of the large round 

 fpecies of filberd, which we call Spanifh ; and the bulhei 

 were originally imported into Ita!) from Poutus, and know n 

 among the Romans by the appellation of " Nus Pontica," 

 which, in progrefs of time, was changed into that of " Nux 

 Avellana," from the place where they had been mod fuc- 

 cefdfully propagated. The proprietors plant them in rows, 

 nnd by dreffing, form them into large buflies of many ftems. 

 Every year they refrclh the roots with nc%v earth, and 

 prune off the ftraggling roots with great attention. Swin- 

 burne's Travels, vol.i. p. 17 1, &c. 



AVE-MARIA, or Ave-Mary, the angel Gabriel's 

 falutation of the Virgin Mar)', at his bringing her the 

 tidings of the incarnation ; thus called, as beginning with 

 thefe words, Ave, Maria, q. d. Hail, Mary. 



The ave-mary is a prayer or formula of devotion veiy 

 ufual in the Romifh church. It was added to their prayers 

 by order of pope John XXII. in tlie fourteenth century. — 

 Their chaplets and rofaries are divided into fo many ave- 

 niarys, and fo many pa/er-rio/Ii-rs ; and hence the beads them- 

 felves which indicate them, are alfo called aiies, or avfwarys. 



AVENA, m Bo/any, oat-giafs (fuppofed from aveo, to 

 defire, or covet; cattle being fond of it). Lin. g. 91. Schreb. 

 122. JufT. 32. Clafs, trianclriu dl^yriia. Nat. Ord. gra- 

 minn. Gen Char. Cal. glume generally many-flowered, 

 two-valved, loofely coUeifling the flowers ; valves lanceolate, 

 acute, ventricofe, loofe, large, awnlefs. C'jr. tvvo-valved ; 

 lower valve harder than the calyx, the 'fize of the calyx, 

 roundifti, ventncoie, acuminate at both ends, emitting from 

 the back an awn fpirally twifted, reflex ; neftary two-leaved ; 

 leaflets lanceolate, gibbous at the bafe. Slam, filaments 

 three, capillary ; anthers oblong, forked, /"i/?. germ obtufe; 

 ftyles two, reflex, hair)' ; ili^nia fimple. Per. none. Cor. 

 moll firmly clofed, grows to -rhe feed and does not gape. 

 Seed, one, flender, oblong, acuminate at both ends, marked 

 with a longitudinal furrow. 



EiT. Gen. Char. Cal. two-valvcd, many-flowered; awn 

 from the back of the corolla, jointed, twilled. 



Species, i. A.^/i/Vira, Siberian oat-grafs ; feftuca glumis 

 villofis, antlis calyce triplo longieribus. Gmel. Sib. i. J 13. 

 t. 22. " Panicled ; calyxes one-flowered ; feeds hirfute ; 

 awns thrice the length of the calyx." Culms very (lender, 

 from two to three feet high ; leaves rolled up at the edges, 

 from fix 40 twelve inches long ; panicle refcmbling a fpike, 

 often direded to one fide ; glumes of the calyx almod 

 equal, dao-ger-pointed, membranaceous towards the ponit ; 

 flumes of%he corolla of the fame length, extremely viUofe. 

 A native of Siberia, introduced in 1777 by Mefl-. Kennedy 

 and Lee. It flowers in July and Augull. 2. A. clatior, 

 tall oat-grafs. Hudf. With. Curt. Lond. 3. 6. (^) gramen 

 caninum nodofum ; Ger. « Panicled ; calyxes two-floweied ; 

 hermaphrodite, flofcule almoft awnlels, male awncd. Koot 

 perennial; Hems ereft. round, fmooth, with four or live 

 purpUlh joints, above three feet high ; leaves ftriated from 

 feven inches to a foot jn length ; panicle ereft, (hniing, nu- 

 meroufly branshed ; fpikckts two-floweved, one male and the 



AVE 



other liermaphrodite ; valvci of the cal)-x unequal, the larfcft 

 marked with three, the fmalleft with one green nerve. In 

 the hermaphrodite flower, the midrib of the outer valve 

 forms a flion awn, and the bottom very hairy ; ntftary two 

 fmall lanceolate glumes, fomewhat globular at bottom ; 

 germ villofe. It is common on banks, in hedges, on the 

 borders of fields, and fomctimes in wet meadows. It 

 flowers in June and July. It is an early grafs, very pro- 

 duftive, and yields a plentiful aftermath. In particular 

 fituations the bafe of the ftem becomes knobby and formj 

 the variety above noticed, which, in fome arable land, is very 

 troublcfomc, and is one of the feveral grades confounded 

 under the name of quick or catieh. 3. A..jlipsjormis. " Pa.ni- 

 cled ; calyxes two-flowertd ; awn twice the length of the 

 feed ; culm branching." Culms a foot high, often reclining, 

 fmooth, with brown joints ; branches from each axil, ftort ; 

 one glume of the calyx lanceolate, the other ovate ; florets 

 two, fcflile ; corolla fmooth, except the outer glume, uhich 

 is rough with hairs. A native of the Cape. 4. A. pcnnfyU 

 vanlca. Pennfylvanian oat-grafs. " Panicle attcmatcd ; 

 calyxes two-flowered ; feeds villofe ; awns tv/wr v.ie length 

 of the calyx." Obferved in Pennfylvania by Kal.-n. In- 

 troduced here in 1785, by Dr. Pitcairn. 5. A. /cefiirfinnu. 

 Spanilh oat-grafs. Cavai:. Hifp. t.45. f. I. " Pai.iclc con- 

 trafted ; florets in pairs, hirfute ; one-peduncled, with two 

 awns at the top, the middle awn largeft." Root annual, ca- 

 pillary ; culms feveral, fltnder, from two to four inches 

 high ; leaves fliort, flattiili ; one of the flortts is ftfiilt, the 

 other on a villofe pedicel ; valves of the corolla briflle-fliaptd 

 at the tip, with a twilUd awn on the back twice the length 

 of the valve. It grows near Madrid, and at the cape of 

 Good Hope. Introduced here by Moi.f. Richard, in 1770. 

 6. A./a/i-ja, cultivated oat. Of this there are four varieties, 

 the white, black, brown or red, and the blue oat. " Pani- 

 cled ; calyxes two-fetded ; feeds ver\- fmooth, one awned." 

 Annual ; culm or flraw upwards of two feet high ; panicle 

 various in difl^crent varictits, but always loofe and pendu- 

 lous ; the two glumes or chafl"s of tiie calyx are marked 

 with lines, pointed at the end, longer than the flower, and 

 unequal. Tiiere are ufually two flowers and feeds in each 

 calyx ; they are alternate, conical, the fmaller one is awnlefs, 

 the larger puts forth a llrong, two coloured, bent awn, 

 from the middle of the back. Ko botanifl lias been able 

 to afcertain fr.tisfadlorily the native place of giowth of thi?, 

 or indeed of any other fort of grain now commonly culti- 

 vated in Europe. Tiie varieties mentioned above have been 

 long known, and others have been introduced, as the Poland, 

 the Fritfland or Dutch, and the Siberian or Tartarian oat. 

 The blue oat is probably what is called Scotch greys. The 

 white fort is moil common about London, and tjiofe coun- 

 tries where the inhabitants live much upon oat-cakes, as it 

 makes the whitcft meal. The black is more cultivated in 

 the northern parts of England, and is eileemed a hcaity 

 food for horfes. The red oat is much cultivated in Derby- 

 fliire, Stan"ordfliire, and Chelhire ; it is a very iiardy fort, 

 and gives a good increafe. The llraw is of a brownirti red 

 colour, veiy heavy, and eftecmed belter food for horfei 

 than either of the former forts. In Lincolnlhirc they culti- 

 vate the fort called the Scott!i greys. The PalauJ oat Las 

 a fliort plump grain, but the thickncfs of the flvin fcems to 

 have brought it into difrcpute among fanners. Add to 

 this the ilraw is ver)' fliort. It was fo.vn by Mr. Liflc, in 

 1709. Friefland, or Dutch, oat aiTords more flraw, and is 

 thinner fl^inned, and the grains moilly double. A white 

 oat, called the potato.' oat in Cumberland, where it was lately 

 difcovered, promifes, from the fize of the grain and the 

 length of the draw, to be the mod valuable we poflijfs ; it 

 Sf2 M 



