145 
ARE 
W est Trudies, in the same manner as turnips 
and cabbage are with us. What is called the 
cabbage flower, grows from that part of the 
tree where the ash-coloured trunk joins the 
green part already described. Its first ap- 
pearance is a green husky spatha, growing to 
above 20 inches long, and about four broad. 
As this husky spatha is opening while thus 
young, the farinaceous yellow seed in em- 
bryo, resembling fine sawdust, is very plen- 
tifully dispersed among stringy filaments, 
which answer the use ot apices ixl other more 
regular flowers : these filaments being cleared 
ot this dust, are pickled, and esteemed among 
tire best pickles either in the West Indies or 
in Europe. But if this spatha is not cut down 
and opened whilst thus young ; if it be suffer- 
ed to continue on the tree, till it grows ripe 
and bursts ; then the inclosed part, which 
whilst young and tender is fit for pickling, 
will by that. time have acquired an additional 
hardness, become soon after ligneous, grow 
bushy, consisting of very small leaves, and in 
time produce a great number of small oval 
tlrin-shelled nuts, about the size of unhusked 
coffee berries : these, being planted, produce 
young cabbage trees. The sockets or grooves, 
formed by the broad part of the footstalks of 
the branches, are used by the negroes as 
cradles for their children. ‘On the inner side' 
of the very young footstalks are tender pel- 
licles, which when dried, it is said, make a 
writing paper. I he trunksserve as gutterings ; 
the pith makes a sort of sago ; and the nuts 
yield oil by decoction. In the pith also, af- 
ter the trees are felled, there breeds a kind of 
worm or grub, which is eaten and esteemed 
a great delicacy by the French ofMartinico, 
hit. Domingo, and the adjacent islands. 
3. Areca oryzoeformis. This is a native of 
Cochin China, Amboina, &e. It is a slender 
elegant palm, and the fruit is used for chewing 
with the betel leaf as well as that of the first 
species. 
All ENA, in Homan antiquity, a place 
Where the gladiators fought ; so called from 
its being always strewed with sand, to conceal 
from the view of the people the blood spilt in 
the combat. 
Arena, in architecture, the middle or body 
of a temple, that comprehends the whole 
space between the anta:, and the extreme wall 
of the building. 
AREN ARIA, in ornithology, called the 
turnstone or sea dotterel by English writers : 
also a species of tringa that inhabits the sandy 
shores of Europe and the Caspian Sea. 
Aren aria, in botany, sandwort : a genus 
of the decandria trigynia class ; and in the 
natural method ranking under the 22d order, 
caryophyllae. The calyx has five open leaves ; 
the petals are five, and entire ; the capsule is 
unilocular, and contains many seeds. * There 
are 20 species, only seven of which are natives 
of Britain, viz. 
1. Arenaria laricifolia, larch-leaved sand- 
wort. 
2. Arenaria peploides, sea sandwort. 
3. Arenaria rubra, purple-flowered sand- 
wort. 
4. Arenaria saxatilis, mountain sandwort. 
5. Arenaria serpyllifolia, least sandwort. 
Arenaria tenuifolia, fine-leaved sand- 
wort. 
7 . Arenaria trinervis, plantain-leaved sand- 
wort. 
ARENARII, in antiquity, gladiators who 
VOL. I. 
ar a 
combated with beasts in the arena or Amphi- 
theatre. r l hey were slaves of the lowe-t or- 
der, and not capable of becoming Roman 
citizens. * 
ARENAR1UM, a cemetery or burying 
ground. The arenaria were a kind of pits in 
which the ancient Christians buried their dead, 
and held their religious assemblies in times of 
persecutions. 
ARENA lUUS, in ornithology, a species of 
tetrao, called also the sandgrous, found only in 
the deserts towards the Caspian Sea. It is 
common about Astrachan in summer, and 
passes the winter ill Persia. They drink 
much water, and go to the pools thrice every 
day ; when they are so eager, that they do not 
mind the sportsmen/though at other times 
they are very shy. 
AHENATION, a kind of dry bath, in 
which the patient sits with his bare feet on 
hot sand. 
AREOPAGUS, or Aneopagus, in Grecian 
antiquity, a sovereign court at Athens, so fa- 
mous for the justice and impartiality of its de- 
crees, that the gods themselves are said to 
have submitted their quarrels to its determi- 
nation, 
ARETIIUSA, in botany, a genus of the 
gynandria diandria class ; and in the natural 
method ranking under the seventh order, 
orchideae. The generic character is taken 
from the nectarium, which is tubular, situated 
at the bottom of the corolla, and the inferior 
labium fixed to the stylus. There are seven 
species, all natives of America. 
ARETIA, in botany, a genus of the pen- 
tandria monogynia class ; and in the natural 
method ranking under the 21st order, pretise. 
The corolla is divided into five parts ; the 
tube ot the corolla isovated; and the capsule is 
globular, and consists but of one cell. There 
are three species. 
ARGEA, or Argei, in Roman antiquity, 
thirty human figures, made of rushes, thrown 
annually by the priests, or vestals, into the Ti- 
ber, on the day of the ides of May. 
ARGEMGNE, prickly poppy, a genus of 
the monogynia order, belonging to the poly- 
andria class of plants ; and in the natural 
method ranking under the 27th order, rhaea- 
cleax The corolla consists of six petals ; the 
calyx is tryphillous ; and the capsule is seml- 
valved. Of this genus there are three species, 
one of which is comfnort in many parts of the 
West Indies, and called by the Spaniards 
the devil’s fig ; but they are Of no use, and 
have very little beauty. 
ARGENT, in heraldry, the white coloilr 
in the coats of gentlemen, knights, and baro- 
nets : the white in the arms ot the sovereign 
princes is called lima, and that in the arms of 
the nobility, pearl : this is expressed in en- 
graving, by the parts being left plain, without 
any strokes from the graver. See Heraldry. 
ARGENTEIJS codex, a M.S. of the four 
gospels, that derives its name from its silver 
letters, supposed to be a copy of the Gothic 
version made by Ulphilas, the apostle of the 
Goths, in the fourth century. It is 4to. the 
leqves violet-dolour parchment ; and on this 
ground the letters, which are all capitals, 
were painted in silver, except the initials, and 
a few passages, in gold. It is now in the uni- 
versity of Upsal. 
ARGENTINA, in ichthyology, a genus of 
fishes belonging to the order of abdominales. 
— The generic characters are these: the 
T 
a r a 
teeth are In the tongue, as well as the jaws ; 
the branclriostege membrane lias eight radii 
or rays ; the anus is near the tail ; and the 
belly fins consist of many rays. There are 
two species ofargentina, viz. 
1 . Argentina Carolina has likewise 15 rays 
in tl\e fin near the anus; the tail is forked, 
and the lateral lines are straight. It inhabits 
the fresh waters of Carolina. See Plate Nat. 
Hist. fig. 38. 
2. Argentina sphyrama has 15 rays in the 
fin at the anus ; the air bladder of this species 
is conical on both sides, and shines like silver: 
false pearls are sometimes made of it. 
ARGENTUM arborescens . Most me- 
tallic substances are capable of decomposing 
a nitric solution of silver. r l he separation of 
this metal by mercury, on account of the phe- 
nomena which it presents, has been called the 
argentum arborescens, or more commonly the 
arbor Diana.-. It is obtained by the following 
process : mix together six parts of a solution 
of silver, and four of a solution of mercury, 
both made with nitric acid, and completely 
saturated ; add to them a little distilled water, 
and put the mixture into a conical vessel, into 
which has been previously introduced six 
parts of an alloy made in the proportion of 
seven pails of mercury and one of silver* At 
the end of a few hours there will be formed, 
at the surface of the small mass of alloy, a ve- 
getation in the form of a bush, as in Plate 
.Nat. Hist. fig. 37. To obtain a beautiful spe- 
cimen, it is necessary that all the ingredients 
be very pure : the glass best adapted to the 
purpose is conical or cylindrical. 
AltGlLLA, clay, in natural history. See 
Chemistry. 
ARGO, in astronomy, a constellation of 
fixed stars in the southern hemisphere : the 
number of stars in Ptolemy’s catalogue is 8, 
hi Tycho’s 1 1 , and in Mr. Flamsteed’s 25. 
Argo, the vessel in which the Argonauts, 
of whom Jason was the chief, made an expe- 
dition in quest of the golden fleece. 
ARGONAUT A, in conchology, the name 
of one of the Linna-an genera : animal a sepio 
or clio; shell univalve, spiral, involuted, 
membranaceous, and containing only one 
shell. There are two species, the most re- 
markable of which is the argon auta argo. 
(See Plate Natural Flistory, fig. 39.) r i he 
animal which is the inhabitant of this shell 
attracted the notice of the earliest writers on 
natural history. It is a native of the Mediter- 
ranean and Indian seas, and is supposed to 
have taught mankind the use bf sails, and the 
art of navigation : it is the nautilus of English 
collectors. When this little Creature intends 
to sail, it discharges a quantity of water, bv 
which operation its specific gravity is rendered 
less than that of sea water ; and rising to the 
surface, erects its arms, and expands a mem- 
brane between them, by means bf which it is 
driven before the wind, like a vessel under 
sail ; at the same time that two of its arms, 
which hang over the side of the shell, serve for 
oars and a rudder. In this manner it sports 
on the water in calm weather ; but on the first 
indication of a storm, it lowers its sail, draws 
in its arms, takes in water, and sinks. 
ARGOPHYLLUM, in botany, white-leaf. 
A genus of the monogynia order, belonging to 
the pentandrla class of plants. The capsule is 
trilocular ; the nectarium is pyramidal, penta- 
gonous, and the length of the corolla. There 
is but one species, viz. 
