Q U I 



pointed to fing in the quire, or choir, of a cathedral. See 

 Anthem, Chantor, and Choik. 



QUI RITES, in Antiquity, an appellation given to the 

 people of Rome, chiefly the common citizens, as diftin- 

 guifhed from the foldiery. 



It took its rife from the Curetcs, the inhabitants of the 

 Sabine town Cures. On this occafiou Romulus, and Tatius 

 king of the Sabines, having imitcd their two people, and 

 their two ftates, into one ; upon RonviKis's death and deifi- 

 cation, the Sabines, outdoing the Romans in number, be- 

 came mafters of the councils ; and accordingly appointed, 

 that Romulus fliould be denominated Quirinus, from Cures, 

 a city of the Sabines ; or rather from Quirinus, the name 

 of a god worfliippedin that city. 



From the new Quirinus, all the people came afterwards to 

 be called Quiritcs ; unlefs we will luppofe, that the fame 

 authority which denominated Romulus Quirinus, from 

 Cures, did alfo denominate the people Quirites, immediately 

 from the Curetes. 



Some authors derive tiie word Quirinus from Curis ; 

 which, in the Sabine tongue, fignified a pike, or halbert. 

 Struvius adds, that Romulus was always painted with a 

 pike in his hand. 



Julius Casfar, as Tacitus informs us, ( Annal. i. 43.) ap- 

 peafed a fedition by the ufe of this word Quirites, which op- 

 pofed to foUiers, exprefTed contempt, and reduced the offen- 

 ders to the lefs honouj-able condition of mere citizens. The 

 emperor Alexander alfo applied it to the fame purpofe. See 

 his biographical article. 



QUIRK, in BuiUing, a piece of ground taken out of 

 any regular ground-plat, or floor. 



Thus, if the ground-plat were Iquare, or oblong, and a 

 piece be taken out of a corner, to make a court, or yard, 

 &c. the piece is called a quirk. 



QUIROGA, in Geography, a town of Spain, in Galicia ; 

 24 miles N.E. of Orenfe. 



QUIROS, Cape, lies on the E. coaft of the illand of 

 Efpiritu Santo, in the South Pacific ocean. S. lat. 14° 

 56' 8". E. long. 167° 20'. 



QUIRPELE, in Zoology, the name of a fmall animal, 

 called by fome authors the Indian ferret, or viverra Indica, 

 and by others quil. See Viverra Mungo. 



Garcias and fome authors give very remarkable accounts 

 of the enmity this creature has to ferpents of all kinds. 

 They tell us, that when this little creature intends an attack 

 upon one of thefe animals, it firlt prepares againft danger, 

 by gnawing a quantity of the root of the lignum colubrinum, 

 or Inake wood ; and when it has thoroughly impregnated 

 its faliva, it wets with it firft. its fore-feet, and with them 

 daubs over its head and its whole body ; and that thus pre- 

 pared, it boldly attacks the fnake, and never leaves off till 

 it has killed it. Garcias affures us, that many of the Por- 

 tuguefe have been eye-witnefles of thefe combats. 



It is probable enough, that this creature may attack a 

 fnake when thoroughly hungry, knowing its flelh to be 

 good food ; but the ftory of the antidote is to be fufpefted. 

 See Ichneumon. 



QUIRPEN, in Geography, an ifland in the North At- 

 lantic ocean, near the N. coaft. of Newfoundland. N. lat. 

 51° 40'. E. long. 52° 22'. 



QUIRSWYCK, a town of Norway ; 60 miles N.N.E. 

 of Romfdal. 



QUIS, in Natural Hi/lory, a kind of marcafite of iron 

 er copper, from which vitriol is drawn. It is more fre- 

 quently called pyrites. 



QUISBRO, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in Ne- 

 ricia ; 12 miles S.W. of Orebro. 



QUI 



QUISCALA, in Ornithology, a fpecies of Gracula ; 

 which lee. 



QUISIBI, in Geography, a town of Arabia, in the pro-" 

 vince of Oman ; 180 miles W. of Julfar. 



QUISIL AuHEN, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in Cara- 

 maiiia ; 15 miles W. of Cogni. 



QUISONGALA Islands, a clufter of fmall iflands in 

 the Indian fea, near the coaft of Africa. S. lat. 10* 40' 



QUISPICHANCHI, a jurifdiftion m the diocefe of 

 Cufco in Peru, beginning at the fouth gates of Quito, and 

 ilretchiiig from E. to W. about 20 leagues. The lands of 

 this jurifdiaion belong, in general, to the richer inhabitants 

 of Cufco, and produce plenty of wheat, maize, and fruits. 

 Hercare alfo manufadtures of baize and coarfe woollen ftuffs. 

 Part of the jurifdiftion borders on the forcfts inhabited by 

 wild Indians, and produces great quantities of coca, or 

 cacoa, an herb greatly ufed by the Indians working in the 

 mmes, and forming one of the principal branches of its 

 commerce ; the town lies 12 miles S. of Cufco. 



QUISQUALIS, m Botany, a name combined by Rum- 

 phius of quis, who, and qualis, wliat kind or manner, by 

 which he intended to exprefs the fingular variablenefs of the 



plant, as if nothing could be found hke it Linn. Gen. 



215. Schreb. 292. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 2. 579. Mart. 

 Mill. Dift. V. 4. Juff. 78. Lamarck lUuftr. t. 357. 

 — Clafs and order, Decandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Ve- 

 preculcc, Linn. ThymeJuie, Juff. 



Gen. Cli. Cal. Perianth inferior, tubular, thread-fhaped, 

 very long, deciduous, its border in five fpreading ferments. 

 Cor. Petals five, inferted into the mouth of the tubet feffile, 

 oblong, obtufe, fpreading, much larger than the fegments 

 of the calyx. Stam. Filaments ten, briftle-fhaped, inferted 

 into the tube of the calyx, five of them below the reft ; an- 

 thers oblong, in or above the mouth of the tube. Pifl. 

 Germen fuperior, ovate ; ftyle thread-fliaped, longer than 

 the ftamens ; ftigma obtufe, dilated. Peric. Drupa dry, 

 with five unequal angles. Seed. Nut elliptic-oblong, penta- 

 gonal. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx with a thread-fhaped tube ; fiye-cleft. 

 Petals five. Drupa fuperior, with five angles. 



I. Q. indica. Linn. Sp. PI. 556. (Quifquahs; Rumph. 

 Amb. V. 5. 71. t. 38. Q. pubefcens ; Burm. Ind. 104. t. 35. 

 f. 2, and Q. glabra ; t. 28. f. 2.) — Native of Java, and 

 the Molucca ifles ; naturalized by Rumphius in Am- 

 boyna. The Jlem is fhrubby, at firft low and ftumpy, 

 but fubfequently throwing out long trailing or t\rining 

 fhoots, which become as thick as a man's arm. To 

 this diverfity of habit, and the changeable hue of the 

 jlo'wers, the name alludes. The young branches are clothed 

 with fine foft down. Leaves oppofite, occafionally fcatter- 

 ed, on fhortifli downy ftalks, ovate, pointed, entire, two 

 or three inches long ; their ultimate veins finely reticulated ; 

 both furfaces more or lefs downy, rarely fmooth. Flowers 

 in axillary or terminal brafteated fpikes. Bra^eas ovate, 

 downy. Corolla two inches long, downy, whitifh in the 

 morning, turning pale red in the afternoon, rofe-coloured in 

 the evening, and the next morning of a blood red. Fruit 

 as big as one joint of the finger. Nut eatable when quite 

 ripe, having the flavour of a filbert. When unripe. Rum- 

 phius compares its tafle to that of a radifh. Thefe nuts 

 are a popular remedy, among the Malays, for worms in 

 children. Two or three of the pungent unripe ones, or 

 five of thofe that are arrived at maturity, are a dofe. Some 

 perfons are attacked with a dangerous hiccup from eating 

 two or three of the nuts in queftion, whilft others find ne 

 fuch effeft from a confiderable number. The integuments 

 are carefully removed. They probably partake of the 

 P p 2 poifonous 



