A B t 
ADEMPTION, among civilians, denotes 
tli e revocation of some donation or favour. 
The ademption of a legacy may be done 
either in express terms, or indirectly by dis- 
posing of it otherwise. 
ADENANTIIERA, a genus of shrubby 
plants of the class and order decandria mono- 
gynia. The flower is coinpaunlate ; and the 
essential character is, caiix five-toothed, pe- 
tals five, globose glands affixed to the outer 
tip of the anthers (whence its name), legume 
membranaceous. 
Three species are at present known, but tire 
adenanthera pavonina is the only one which 
has been as yet cultivated in England, where, 
however, it has not flowered. The seeds, 
which are obovate, rounded, and convexly 
lens-shaped, are very beautiful, and froiii 
their equality in weight (being each four 
grains), are used by goldsmiths and jewellers; 
they are also eaten by the common people in 
India, and form a cement when beaten up 
with water and borax. It is one of the largest 
and handsomest trees in the East Indies, and 
commonly lives 200 years. The wood is 
solid and durable. With us it forms a hand- 
some shrub for the decoration of our stoves. 
ADEN OS, a kind of cotton, otherwise 
called marine cotton. It comes from Aleppo 
by way of Marseilles, where it pays twenty 
per cent. duty. 
ADENOSE, abscess, is used for a hard 
tubercle, difficult to be discussed, and re- 
sembling a gland. 
ADESSENARIANS, a sect of Christians, 
who maintain that Jesus Christ is really pre- 
sent in the eucharist, though not by way' of 
transubstantiation. 
The adessenarians differ among themselves, 
some of them holding that the body of Jesus 
Christ is in the bread ; others, that it is about 
the bread ; others, that it is with the bread ; 
and others, that it is under the bread. 
ADFECTED equations, in algebra, those 
wherein the unknown quantity is found in two 
or more different powers : such is x z — ax 2 
-f- bx = a 2 b. 
For the solution of these and other equations 
see Algebra. 
ADF1LTATION, a Gothic custom, where- 
by the children of a former marriage are put 
upon the same footing with those of the second 
marriage. This is otherwise called anio pro- 
.limn, and still retained in Germany, under the 
name cinkindschajft. 
ADHESION, in physiology, is used to de- 
note the sticking together of two bodies. Mus- 
c hen brock has given many curious experiments 
-on the adhesion of bodies, which he properly 
attributes to attraction 
Adhesion, in medicine and anatomy. 
There are frequent instances of the, adhesion 
-of the lungs to the pleura and diaphragm, 
which occasions many disorders. 
ADFIIL, in astronomy, a star of the sixth 
magnitude, upon the garment of Andromeda, 
under the last star in her foot. 
ADLANTUM, maidenhair, in botany, a 
genus of plants of the cryptogamia class, and 
of the order of Alices. The generic character 
is, the fructifications collected in oval spots 
under the reflected tops of the fronds. 
There are thirty-nine species, but only one, 
the adiantum capillus Veneris, is a native of 
Great Britain, and even that is found only in 
a few places in Scotland and Wales. Like’ the 
other plants of this class it has no visible flower ; 
Vol. I. 
ADJ 
| the seeds being contained in capsule?) placed 
I in the sinuses and folds of the leaves, and sur- 
rounded each with an elastic ring, which con- 
tracting, bursts the capsule and scatters the mi- 
nute seeds: as, however, the leaves of all the 
species of maidenhair have one general ap- 
pearance, it is easy to distinguish them from 
other plants of the fern kind. 
Maidenhair was once highly esteemed as an 
expectorant, but is now generally rejected. 
Indeed, it lias been well remarked, that if the 
syrop of capiliaire, which is pretended to be 
made from it, has any virtue, it is derived 
from the orange-flower water, which is also an 
ingredient. 
AD1APFIORISTS, or Adiaphorites, 
names given to tlie modern Lutherans, in the 
sixteenth century. The -name imports luke- 
warmness, or indifference ; being compounded 
of the privative a., and foatpopog different. 
ADIAPHOROUS, an epithet given by 
Mr. Boyle to a spirit distilled from tartar anti 
some other vegetable bodies: it is said to be 
neither acid nor urinous, and in many respects 
different from any other spirit. 
ADJECTIVE, a word expressing some qua- 
lity, or other accident, of the substantive with 
which it is joined: thus, in the phrase, pure 
gold, the word pure is an adjective, shewing 
the quality of the gold. When the quality is 
the subject whereof we speak, it becomes a 
substantive : thus if we say, good is always to be 
chosen, the word good is a substantive ; but 
in the phrase, Peter is a good man, the word 
good is evidently an adjective, expressing the 
character of Peter. 
AD INQUIRENDUM, in law, a writ 
commanding inquiry to be made concerning 
something connected with a cause depend- 
ing in the king’s courts ; as of bastardy, or the 
like. 
ADJOURNMENT, in law, the putting 
off a court, or meeting, to another time or 
place. 
Adjournments of parliament differ from 
prorogations, in being not only for a shorter 
time, but also each house has the privilege of 
adjourning itself, whereas a prorogation can 
Only be the act of the king. 
ADIPOCIRE, is a term that denotes a body 
converted from a muscular to a waxy sub- 
stance. See Chemistry. 
ADIPOSE, in a general sense, denotes 
something belonging to the fat of the body ; 
and is a term chiefly used by physicians and 
anatomists, in whose writings we read of adi- 
pose cells, adipose ducts, adipose membrane, 
adipose vessels, &c. 
ADJUDICATION, is sometimes used for 
transferring the property of a tiling sold by 
auction to the highest bidder. 
ADJUNCT, among philosophers, some- 
thing added to another, to which it does not 
naturally belong: thus water in a spunge is an 
adjunct to it; so are clothes to a man. Ad- 
juncts are what we commonly call circum- 
stances : these, in ethics, are commonly reck- 
oned seven, aids, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, 
cur, quomoao, quando. 
Adjuncts, in the Paris academy of sci- 
ences, are a set of members attached to the 
study of some particular science. They are 
twelve in number : two for geometry, two for 
astronomy, two for anatomy, two for mecha- 
nics, two for chemistry, and two for botanv. 
AD JURA REGIS, inlaw, a writ which 
lies for a clerk presented to a living by the 
king, against those who endeavour to eject 
him, to the prejudice of the king’s title. 
ADJUTAGE, or Ajutage, in hydrau- 
lics, the tube fitted to the mouth of a jet- 
d’eau. 
It is through the adjutage that water is plac- 
ed, and directed into any desired figure ; so that 
the great diversity of fountains consists chiefly 
in the different structure of their adjutages. 
ADJUTANT, in the military art, an officer 
whose business it is to assist the major, and 
therefore sometimes called the aid-major. 
Each battalion of foot, and regiment of 
horse, has ail adjutant, who receives the orders 
every night from the brigade-major, and after 
carrying them to the colonel, delivers them 
out to the seijeants. When detachments are, 
to be made, he gives the number to be furnish- 
ed by each company, and assigns the hour and 
place of rendezvous ; lie also places the guards ; 
receives and distributes the ammunition to the 
companies ; and by the major’s orders regu- 
lates the price of bread, beer, &c. 
Adjutants general, among the jesuits, 
were a select number of fathers who resided 
with the general of that order ; they had each 
a province or country assigned them, as Eng- 
land, Germany, &c. and their business was to 
inform the father-general of state occurrences 
in such countries. 
ADLEGATION, in the customs of Ger- 
many, a right claimed by several princes of 
that empire to send plenipotentiaries conjunct 1 
ly with those of the emperor, to all negotia- 
tions wherein the empire in general is con- 
cerned. 
The emperor disputes this privilege of adle- 
gation, but allows them to send ambassadors- 
about their own private affairs. 
ADMAN UENSES, in our old law books, 
a term denoting laymen, who swore by laying, 
their hands on the book ; whereas the clergy 
were forbidden to swear on the book, their* 
word being deemed equal to an oath. 
ADMEASUREMENT, in law, a writ for 
adjusting the shares of something to be divided. 
Thus, 
Admeasurement of denoer takes place 
when the widow of the deceased claims more 
as her dower than what of right belongs to her. 
And, 
Admeasurement of pasture may be ob- 
tained when any one of the persons who have 
right in a common pasture, puts more cattle 
to feed on it than he ought. 
ADMINICULATOR, in church-history, 
an officer otherwise called advocate of the 
poor. 
ADMINISTRATION, in law, the office 
of an administrator. See Administrator. 
Whenever a man dies intestate, letters of 
administration are taken out in the prerogative- 
court. 
Administration is also used for the ma- 
nagement of the affairs of a minor, lunatic, 
&c. 
Administration, among ecclesiastical 
writers, denotes the power wherewith a parson 
is invested ; and that as well in regard to the 
temporalities of his cure, as to its spiritualities, 
viz. the power of excommunicating, of admi- 
nistering the sacraments, &c. 
Administration, among anatomists, de- 
notes the art of properly dissecting the parts 
of the human body, and particularly of the 
muscles. 
Administration, in commerce, a r»gu- 
