R E C 



unlefs where liquid manure is more in demand than that of 

 the bulky kind. 



From the flmv progrefs made by manures of this fort to 

 maturation, in the winter feafon, in the open air, even when 

 piled up in the dried fituations, on account of its being con- 

 ftantly foaked or faturated with moillure, and expofed to 

 the effefts of the cold atmofphere, the plan of giving recep- 

 tacles of this fort a long oval fquare form, and covering 

 them with roofs, to free them wholly from rain, as well as 

 to defend them from cold, has been hit upon, and recom- 

 mended from authority. As by thus affording the articles 

 of manure the means of palfing into the ftate of fermenta- 

 tion, in the winter months, their putrefaftion and decay 

 would be beneficially promoted, for the ufe of the more 

 early crops of the fpring. But how far the advantage, 

 gained in this way, may equal or be fuperior to the expence 

 of building, and extra labour in the removals of the manure, 

 is a point which is by no means yet fully decided. And the 

 fuperior benefits, which have lately been denved from the 

 ufe of manure in its more raw or frefh ftate, render all fuch 

 fchemes perhaps of lefs importance than would otherwife be 

 the cafe. 



As it is a matter of great confequence to prevent the ex- 

 ceffive wafte ef this fort of manure, which at prefent fre- 

 quently takes place in moll parts of the country, it has been 

 fuggefted by an experienced writer, who has attended much 

 to the fubjeft, and thought a great deal upon it, that piling 

 it in fhallow receptacles or bafons, and conducing the 

 liquor, when not wanted for moiftening the piles of manure, 

 which overflows from them, to refervoirs or catch-pools, in 

 order to flop, depolit, and arrell the heavier and more grofs 

 particles that may be conveyed in it, and to provide a valu- 

 able coUeftion of liquid manure in particular fituations, and 

 of rich muddy matters in others, are the moil appropriate 

 praftical means of accoinplifhing the matter, in an eafy and 

 cheap way, that can be adopted or had recourfe to. See 

 Dung, ¥ARM-Tard, Home.stal, Manure, Reservoir, 

 and Yard Manure. 



RECEPTACULUM, Receptacle, in Botany :\nd Fe- 

 getable PhyfwIogy,'\!. th? feventh, or hft, part of fruftifica- 

 tion diftinguifhed by Linnxus, being the common bafis, or 

 point of conncdlion, of the others. (See Fructification.) 

 It is evident that fuch a part muft exift, under fome fliape 

 or other; yet the receptacle is not always dillinguifhed 

 by any particular figure. In fimple flowers it is often little 

 more than a mere point ; in compound ones it is very re- 

 markable and important, ferving, by its differences of 

 ftrufture, to afford very good generic diftinclions. The 

 receptacle of the Daify, Bellis, is conical ; that of Chry- 

 fanthemum convex. In Sphttranthus this part is very nearly 

 globular, while in fome fpecies of Centaurea and Carlina 

 it is either flat, or flightly concave. In Sonchus it is naked, 

 <leftitute of hairs or icales between the florets or feeds ; 

 while in Carduus it is hairy, and in ylnthemis varioufly fcaly. 

 This lafl genus differs, by the charatler in queflion alone, 

 from Chryfanthemum, whofe receptacle is naked ; but the 

 character is not quite fo natural, in this cafe, as could be 

 winded. Mr. Brown has obferved to us, that it affords not 

 even a certain artificial diftindlion, in the Chryfanthemum in- 

 dicum of the gardens, Curt. Mag. t. 327 ; which Willde- 

 now, like M. de Ramatuelle and profeffor Desfontaines, 

 has referred to jinthemis, becaufe they found the recep- 

 tacle to be fcaly. We are convinced they are in the right, 

 and yet this appears to be the very fame plant with Chry- 

 fanthemum ind'tcum, the fcales of the receptacle being va- 

 riable, and fometiii)!;? almofl, if not altogether, evanefcent. 

 Some genera of this clafs have a cellular, or honeycomb- 



R E C 



like receptacle, as Onopordum, and Tolpis (Creph barbata of 

 LinniEUs). In that cafe the edges of the cells are varioufly 

 jagged, toothed, or fringed, and they now and then are 

 fcarcely dillinguifhable from the reticulations or rugofitics of 

 fome naked receptacles. 



The receptacle of the fo'wcr, in Linnaean language, means 

 the area or fpace between the flamens and flyles, in cer- 

 tain genera whofe germen is inferior ; as th.- whole umbel- 

 liferous order, in which the part in queflion is more or 

 lefs tumid, often coloured, and affumes a glandular af- 

 peft. The receptacle of the feeds is not unfrequently a 

 diflindl part from the capfule or its valves, ferving to con- 

 neft the feeds therewith. (See an example of it in Redu- 

 TEA.) The rachh, or common flalk of a fpike, or fpikelet, 

 in Grajfes, is alfo termed a receptacle. 



In fome plants the receptacle undergoes great changes, 

 acquiring a different texture in the fruit, from what it 

 had in the flower. Thus, the whole fruit, as we call it, 

 of the Fig, (fee Ficus,) is a common receptacle, at firfl 

 coriaceous, and, like the reft of the plant, containing a 

 milky, fomcwhat acrid, juice. It forms a bag, hned with 

 flowers or florets, and having a fmall aperture at the top. 

 After the flowers are paft, this bag becomes pulpy, co- 

 loured, and full of fweet aromatic juice. So the fruit ot 

 the Strawberry, (fee Fragaria,) is but an originally 

 fmall dry receptacle, fubfequently enlarged, and become 

 pulpy, whofe outfide is ftndded with naked feeds. In 

 Broiijfonetla, defcribed under our article Papyriu.s, the 

 feparate ftalk of each germen becomes the enlarged and 

 pulpy fupporter of a naked feed. In PoLMCIllA, (fee that 

 article,) the common receptacle of the flowers, minutely 

 fcaly, and hardly difcernible, in its earlier ftate, changes to 

 a congeries of white, juicy, fweet, tooth-like fcales, ele- 

 vating the feeds in their appropriate withered perianths, and 

 altogether conftituting one of the moll extraordinary pulpy 

 fruits that we have ever met with. A fimilar change of 

 fubftance is obfervable in the calyx of the Mulberry, as 

 well as in Commelina Zanonia ; a change common and na- 

 tural in the germen of pulpy fruits, though rare in the par- 

 ticular parts of which we have been fpeaking. 



Receptaculum Chyli, in Anatomy, that portion of the 

 trunk of the abforbing veffels, into which the lacleal ab- 

 forbents pour the fluids which they have taken up in the 

 alimentary canal : it is ufually rather larger than the neigh- 

 bouring portions of the vefiel, and fometimes very con- 

 fiderably fo. See Absorbents. 



RECEPTARII, a term of reproach ufed for fuch phy- 

 ficiaris as wrote pompous receipts for loads of medicines, 

 more confulting the good of the apothecary than the pa- 

 tient ; as alfo for fuch as gave receipts for general medi- 

 cines, to be ufed at the difcretion of people wholly unac- 

 quainted with the nature of dif*3fes. 



RECEPTION, Receptio, in Philofophy, denotes the 

 fame with pajfwn, confidered as oppofed to aS'ton. 



Reception is alfo properly ufed for the manner of treat- 

 ing or entertaining a perfon ; and the folemnities and cere- 

 monies pradlifed on that occafion. See Entry. 



The reception of ambaffadorsis ufually performed with a 

 great deal of pomp. 



Reception is fometimes alfo ufed for the aft of ap- 

 proving, accepting, and admitting a thing. See Ac- 

 ceptance. 



The canon law only binds where it is received: the civil 

 law is received in fome countries, and not in others. 



The French would never reciive the council of Trent, the 

 Spanifh inquifition, nor the dogmata of the ultramontane 

 canonifts. 



Receptionj 



