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ive rises, and Tatienses: afterwards the num- 
ber was increased to nine, four of whom 
were patricians, and live plebians. They 
bore an augural staff or wand, as the ensign 
ot their authority, and their dignity was so 
much respected that they were never de- 
posed, nor any substituted in their place, 
though they should be convicted of the most 
enormous crimes. 
AUGURY, in antiquity, the art of fore- 
telling future events, is distinguished into five 
sorts. . 1 . Augury from the heavens. 2. From 
birds. 3, From chickens. 4. From quadru- 
peds. 5. From portentous events. When 
an augury was taken, the augur divided the 
heavens into four parts, and having sacrificed 
to the gods, he observed with great attention 
from what part the sign from heaven ap- 
peared. If, for instance, there happened a 
clap of thunder from the left, it was taken as 
a good omen. It a flock of birds came about 
a man, it was a favourable presage, but the 
flight of vultures was unlucky. If when 
corn was flung before the sacred chickens, 
they crowded about it, and ate it greedily, it 
Was looked upon as a favourable omen; but 
if they refused to eat and drink, it was an un- 
lucky sign. 
Augury, in its more general signification, 
•comprizes all the different kinds of divina- 
tion, which Varro distinguishes into four spe- 
cies, according to the four elements, viz. 
pyromancy, or augury by fire ; aeromancy, 
or augury by air; hydromancy, or augury 
bv water; and geomancy, or augury by the 
earth. 
AUGUSTALES, in Roman antiquity, an 
epithet given to the llamens or priests ap- 
pointed to sacrifice to Augustus, after his 
deification, and also to the ludi or games 
celebrated in honour of the same prince on 
the fourth of the ides of October. 
AUGUSTALIA, a festival instituted by 
the Romans in honour of Augustus Ca?sar, on 
his return to Rome after having settled peace 
in Sicily, Greece, Syria, Asia, and Parthia ; 
on which occasion they likewise built an altar 
to him, inscribed For twice reduci. 
AUGUSTALIS pr^efectus, a title pe- 
culiar to a Roman magistrate who governed 
Egypt, with a power much like that of a pro- 
consul in other provinces. 
AUGUSTINS, a religious order in the 
church of Rome, who follow the rule of St. 
Augustin, prescribed them bv Pope Alexander 
IV. Among other things, this rule enjoins 
to have all things in common; to receive no- 
thing without the leave of the superior; and 
several other precepts relating to charity, 
modesty, and chastity. There are likewise 
iums ot this order. 
The Augustins are clothed in black, and at 
Paris were known under the name of the re- 
ligious of St. Genevieve, that abbey being the 
chief of the order. 
AVICIENNA, in botany, a genus of plants 
ot the tetandria monogynia class of Linnaeus; 
the flower of which consists of a single petal, 
divided into four ovato-acuminated segments; 
the fruit is a coriaceous capsule of one cell,’ 
containing a single seed ot an elliptic figure. 
There are three species, natives of the West 
Indies. The A. tomentose is a tree about 
15 feet high, agreeing in many respects with 
the mangrove, 
AVIS, bird, fives, among naturalists, the 
second class ot animals , a race of creatures 
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sufficiently distinguished from others in hav- 
ing the body covered with feathers, two feet, 
and two wings formed for flight. Birds have 
the mandible protracted and naked; and are 
destitute- of external ears, lips, teeth, scrotum, 
womb, urinary vessel, or bladder, epiglottis, 
corpus callosum, or its fornix, and diaphragm. 
In the Linnaean system, birds are divided 
into six orders, viz. accipitres, or falcon kind, 
pica?, or pies, aiiseres, or geese and duck 
kind, grallae, cranes or waders, gallinie, the 
poultry kind, and passeres, sparrows or small 
birds. . 
Avis is also the name of an order of knight- 
hood in Portugal, instituted by Sancho the 
first king, in imitation of the order of Alcan- 
tara, whose great cross they wear. 
_ AV ISANpUM, in Scots law, literally sig- 
nifies advising, or under consideration. A 
process is said to be under avisandum, when 
the whole proofs, with the arguments on both 
sides, are under the consideration of the judge, 
before he has given an interlocutor or deci- 
sion upon the cause. 
AV ISO, (advi.w, Ital.) a term chiefly used 
in matters ot commerce, to denote an adver- 
tisement, an advice, or a piece of intelli- 
gence. 
AULIC, an epithet given to certain 
officers of the Germanic empire, who com- 
pose a court, which decides, without appeal, 
in all processes entered in it. 
the aulic council is composed of a pre- 
sident, who is a catholic ; of a vice-chancellor, 
presented by the archbishop of Mentz ; and 
of eighteen counsellors, nine of whom are pro- 
testants, and nine catholics. They are con- 
sidered as a bench of lawyers, and always fol- 
low the emperor’s court; for which reason 
they are called justitium imperatoris, the em- 
peror’s justice, and aulic council. The aulic 
court ceases at tiie death of the emperor; 
whereas the imperial chamber of Spire is 
perpetual, representing not only the deceased 
emperor, but the whole Germanic body, 
which is reputed never to die. 
Aulic, in the Sorbonne and foreign uni- 
versities, is an act which a young divine 
maintains upon being admitted a doctor in 
divinity. 
It begins by an harangue of the chancellor, 
addressed to the young doctor; after which 
he receives the cap, and presides at the aulic, 
or disputation. 
AUME, a Dutch measure for Rhenish 
wine, containing forty English gallons. 
AUMONE, in law, signifies a tenure 
where lands are given in alms to some church 
or religious house. 
AUNCEL-weight, an antient kind of 
balance, now out of use, being prohibited by 
several statutes, on account of the many de- 
ceits practised by it. It consisted of scales 
hanging on hooks, fastened at each end of a 
beam, which a man lifted up on his hand, 
hi many parts of England auncel-weight 
signifies meat sold by the hand, without 
scales. 
AE T NE, a long measure used in Prance to 
measure cloth, stuffs, ribbons, &c. 
At Rouen it is equal to one English ell, 
at Calais to 1.52, at Lyons to 1.016, and at 
Paris to 0.95. 
A\ OCATORIA, a mandate of the em- 
peror of Germany, addressed to some prince 
m order to stop his unlawful proceedings in 
any cause appealed to him, 
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A UR 187- 
AVOIDANCE in the canon law, is when 
a benefice becomes void of an incumbent i 
which happens either in fact, as by the death 
of the parson; or in law, as by cession, de- 
privation, resignation, &c. In the first of 
these cases, the patron must take notice of 
the avoidance, at his peril ; but in avoidance 
by law, the ordinary is obliged to give notice 
to the patron, in order to prevent a lapse. 
AV OIRDUPOIS zveight, a kind of weight 
used in England, of which the pound weighs 
16 ounces. The proportion of a pound 
avoirdupois to a pound troy, is as 17 to 14; 
or the avoirdupois pound contains 70 00 grains, 
and the troy pound 5760. 
All the larger and coarser commodities are 
weighed by avoirdupois weight ; as groceries, 
cheese, wool, lead, hops, &c. 
A\ OW RY , in law, is where a person di- 
strained sues out a replevin; for then the 
distrainer must avow and justify his plea, 
which is called his avowry. 'The avowry must 
contain sufficient matter for judgment to 
have return, but so much certainty is not re- 
quired as iu a declaration ; and if made for 
rent, though it appears that part of that rent 
is not due, yet the avowry is good for the 
rest. 
AURANTIUM, the orange-tree. See 
Citrus. 
AU RAN Til cortex. See Pharmacy. 
AUREA A/exandrirta, in pharmacy, a 
kind of opiate, or antidote against the cholic 
and apoplexy, composed of a great number 
of ingredients, which was in great fame among 
the antient writers. It is called aurea from 
the gold (aurum) which is an ingredient in its 
composition; and Alexandrina, as having 
been invented by a physician named Alex- 
ander. 
AURELIA. See Chrysalis. 
. AUREOLA, in its original signification, 
signifies a jewel which is proposed as a re- 
ward of victory in some public dispute. 
Hence the Roman schoolmen applied it to 
denote the reward bestowed on martyrs, vir- 
gins, and doctors, on account of their works 
ot supererogation; and painters use it to 
signify the crown of glory, with which they 
adorn the heads of saints, confessors, &c. 
AUREUS, a Roman gold coin, equal in 
value to twenty-five denarii. 
_ According to Ainsworth, the aureus of the 
higher empire weighed near five penny- 
weights, and in the lower empire little more 
than half that weight. 
AU RfCIIALCUM. See Orichalcum. 
AU RICLE, in anatomy, that part of the 
ear which is prominent from the head, called 
by many authors auris externa. See the ar- 
ticle Ear. Also the appendages of the heart 
at its base, which are distinguished by the 
names of the right and left. 
AURICULA. See Primula. 
AUlUFLAMMA, in the French history, a 
standard belonging to the abbey of St. Den- 
nis, suspended over the tomb of that saint, 
which the religious, on occasion of any war 
in defence of their lands or rights, took down 
with great ceremony, and gave it to their 
protector or advocate, to be borne at the 
head of their forces. Hence the word is 
sometimes used to denote the chief flag or 
standard of an army. 
AURIGA, the WAGGONER, in astronomy, 
a constellation of the northern hemisphere, 
consisting of twenty-seven stars according to 
