14 ACT 
bands. This is so much allied to the preced- 
ing, that it may perhaps be doubted whether 
it really differs in any other respect than age, 
size, and cast of colours, measuring about 1 8 
inches in length, and being of a dusky-brown 
colour, with several paler fasciae which lake 
their rise from the abdomen, and ascend on 
the sides : the abdomen is carinated, as in the 
former. This is certainly the Hydrus granu- 
latus of Mr. Schneider, who, in his work on 
the Amphibia, describes it as a water-snake, 
though, seemingly, without any other founda- 
tion than its having a. carinated abdomen ; its 
other characters by no means agreeing with 
those of the genuine Hydri. 
ACROMION, or Acromium, in anato- 
my, the name of the upper part of the scapula, 
or shoulder-blade. See Anatomy. 
ACROM ON OGR AM MATIC U M,a kind 
of poem, w herein every verse begins with the 
same letter with which the preceding verse 
terminates. 
■ ACROSPIRED, in malt-making, a term 
used for such grains of barley as shoot or 
Sprout out at the blade-end, as w r ell as at the 
root-end. 
ACROSTIC, in poetry, a kind of poetical 
composition disposed in such a manner, that 
the initial letters of the verse make some per- 
son’s name, title, motto, &c. 
ACROSTICUM, Wall Rue, the name 
given by Linnaeus to a distinct genus of tern 
(of the class and order crytogamia tilices) for- 
merly called ruta. The generic character is, 
that the fructification covers the w'hole under 
the surface of the frond. The species are 44 
in number, two only of which are natives of 
.Britain. 
ACROSTOLIUM, in the naval architec- 
ture of the antients, the extreme part of the 
ornament used on the prows of their ships. 
This was of various forms ; sometimes in the 
shape of a buckler, helmet, animal, &c. but 
more frequently circular, or spiral. It was 
usual to tear the acrostolia from the prows of 
vanquished ships, as a token of victory. Au- 
thors, not unfrequently, confound the acros- 
tolia with the decorations of the poop, as also 
with the rostra; from which, however, they 
are very distinct. 
ACROTELEUTIC, among ecclesiastical 
writers, an appellation given to any thing 
added at the end of a psalm or hymn ; as the 
gloria Patri, or doxology. 
ACROTERIA, in architecture, small pe- 
destals upon which globes, vases, or statues, 
stand at the ends or middle of pediments, or 
frontispieces. The height of those at the ex- 
tremes should be only half that of the tympa- 
num ; whereas that in the middle ought to be 
one-eighth part more. 
Acroterta likewise denotes the figures 
placed as ornaments, or crownings on the tops 
of churches ; and sometimes sharp pinnacles 
standing in ranges about flat buildings, with 
rails ana ball asters. 
Acroteria, among antient physicians, a 
term used to denote the larger extremities of 
the body, as the head, hands, and feet. 
Acroteria is also used for the tips of the 
fingers, and sometimes for the eminences of 
the bones. 
ACT, among logicians, denotes an opera- 
tion of the human mind ; in which sense com- 
prehending, judging, willing, &c. are called 
acts. 
ACT 
Act, among lawyers, is used for an instfu- 
ment or deed in writing, serving to prove the 
truth of some bargain or transaction. Thus, 
records, certificates, &c. are called acts. 
Act is also used for the final resolution, or 
decree, of an assembly, senate, council, Ac, 
Acts of parliament are called statutes ; acts of 
the royal society, transactions; those of the 
F rench academy of sciences, memoirs ; those 
of the academy of sciences at Petersburg, 
commentaries ; those of Leipsic, acta erudito- 
rurn ; the decrees of the lords of session at 
Edinburgh, acta sederunt, &c. 
Act, m the universities, a thesis maintain- 
ed in public by a candidate for a degree. At 
Oxford, the term when masters or doctors 
complete their degrees, is called the act, which 
is held with great solemnity ; at Cambridge, it 
is called the commencement, as being the com- 
mencement of the long vacation. 
Act of faith, auto dafe, in the church of 
Rome, a kind of jail delivery, for burning or 
setting at liberty the prisoners of the inquisi- 
tion, or heretics as they are called. 
An act of faith is the utmost exertion of 
brutal tyranny, and a reproach to humanity 
itselt; the tragical part of. which, is thus de- 
scribed by those who have seen it. The pri- 
soners being clothed in peculiar habits, are 
carried in solemn procession to the place of 
execution ; where there are as many stakes set 
up as there are prisoners to be burnt, with a 
quantity ot dry furze about them. Those who 
make profession of dying in the communion 
of the church of Rome, are first strangled, and 
then burnt to ashes; but those who persist in 
their heresy, are chained to stakes about four 
feet high, a board being fixed on the top of 
the stake, on which the victim is seated. This 
being done, the jesuits, after repeated exhor- 
tations to be reconciled to the church, deliver 
them over to the devil, who they tell them is 
standing at their elbow to receive their souls, 
and carry them with him into the flames of 
hell ; which instance of popish charity is fol- 
lowed by loud shouts from the deluded mob, 
exclaiming let the dogs' beards be singed ; 
this they do by holding a bush of flaming 
furze, fastened to a pole, to their faces, till 
thev are burnt to a coal. At last, fire is set 
to the furze at the foot of the stake ; but the 
unhappy sufferers are placed so high, that 
the flame seldom reaches above the seat on 
which they sit, so that they seem rather roast- 
ed than burnt. \ 
Such is the wretched death these poor vic- 
tims suffer, and that for no other reason (for 
crime it certainly is not) than that thev do not 
believe all the absurdities of popery*! There 
cannot be a more lamentable spectacle ; yet it 
is beheld by both sexes, and by persons of all 
ages, with transports of joy and satisfaction. 
How shocking is the practice ! how detestable, 
beyond expression, are the authors and pro- 
moters of it ! From such a religion, and such 
diabolical maxims, will not every protestant 
most fervently pray God to deliver us? 
As to those who escape the flames, some are 
imprisoned, and others obliged to do penance 
during their lives. 
ACTA denoted}, among the Romans, a 
pleasant garden formed near the bank of a 
river, in which they gave themselves up to all 
kinds of pleasure. 
ACTjEA, or herb Christopher, a genus of 
the poiyandria monogynia class and order. 
ACT 
The essential character is, calyx four-leaved ; 
corolla four-petalled ; berry one-celled ; seeds 
semiorbicuiar, in two rows. 
The genus includes four known species ; 
one of which, the actaea spicata, grows wild in 
England, and is sometimes used in medicine 
as a powerful repellent. Caution, however, is 
necessary in employing it. The actaea race- 
mosa is an American plant, and is called black 
snake-root, to distinguish it from the common 
snake-root. It is used in that country as an an- 
tidote against several kinds of animal poisons, 
and particularly that of the rattlesnake. 
ACTS, in dramatic poetry, are certain di- 
visions, or parts of a play, "designed to give 
some respite both to the actors and spectators. 
The acts are always five in regular and finished 
pieces: a rule not unknown to the Romans, as 
appears from Horace. 
Neu brevior quinto, neu sit productior, actu. 
According to some critics l he first act, be- 
sides introducing upon the stage the principal 
characters of the play, ought to propose the 
argument or subject of it ; the second, to bring 
this into action ; the third, to raise obstacles 
and difficulties ; the fourth, to find remedies for 
these, or to raise new ones in the attempt ; the 
fifth concludes the piece by introducing some 
incident to unravel the whole plot. 
ACM IAN games, in Roman antiquity, 
those instituted in commemoration of the vic- 
tory at Actium. Strabo, whose opinion is now 
generally followed, tells us, that thev returned 
only every fifth year, and were 'sacred to 
Apollo, thence called aetius. 
Actian years, an a-ra, or series of years, 
commencing from the battle of Actium, and 
otherwise called the a:ra of Augustus. 
ACTINIA, a genus of the mollusca order 
of worms ; its body is rough and wrinkled, fur- 
nished with eccentric cirri and with a single 
terminal aperture ; it attaches itself to rocks 
and other substances, among which it is found. 
These animals are called urtica marina, sea 
anemonies and nettles; the latter appellation 
is given from the painful sensation experienced 
when they are handled. r l hey are viviparous, 
and feed on shell-fish. There are five spe- 
cies. 
ACTION, in mechanics and physics, is the 
pressure or percussion of one body against an- 
other. It is one of the laws of nature, that ac- 
tion and re-action are equal ; that is, the re- 
sistance of the body moved is always equal to 
the force communicated to it ; or, which is 
the same thing, the moving body loses as 
much of its force as it communicates to the 
body moved. See Mechanics. 
Action, in rhetoric, may be defined, the 
accommodation of the voice, but more espe- 
cially the gesture of an orator, to the subject 
he is upon. It is chiefly directed to the pas- 
sions of the audience. 
The power of action has been known at all 
times. Cicero tells us, “ That it does not so 
much matter what an orator says, as how he 
says it.” Horace, in his Art of Poetry, is no 
less explicit in setting forth its vast influence 
on mankind. 
W ith those who laugh, our social joy appears ; 
With those who mourn, we sympathise in tears. 
If you would have me weep, begin the strain ; 
Then I shall feel your sorrows, feel your pain. 
After all, the utility, and even morality, 
