ADI 
Zinc adheres to mercury with a 
force equal to 204 grains. 
Copper... 142 
Antimony (regulus) 126 
Iron 115 
Cobalt 8 
The striking differences in the above 
table shew that the pressure of the atmos- 
phere has no share in them, since in this re- 
spect the circumstances of each were pre- 
cisely siinilar ; nor do they depend on the 
respective specific gravities ; for if so, silver 
should rank after lead, cobalt before zinc, 
and iron before tin. The only order which 
agrees with the above is that of the chemical 
affinity of these metals, or the respective de- 
grees of their solubility in mercury. It is 
highly probable, therefore, that at least the 
principal part of the adhesive force thus 
found by experiment is owing to chemical 
affinity ; and that the above numerical series 
446, 429, 418, 397, &c. is an approximation 
towards the ratio of the relative affinities of 
gold, silver, tin, lead, &c. for mercury. 
ADIANTHUM, Maidenhair, in botany, 
the name of a genus of plants of the 
Cryptogamia Filices class and order, the 
characters of which are, that the fructifica- 
tions are collected in oval spots at the ends 
of the leaves, which are folded back. There 
are forty -four species, of which one only be- 
longs to Great Britain, viz. the A. capillus 
veneris, which is found rarely in Scotland 
and Wales, on rocks and moist walls, and 
which is a native of the south of Europe and 
the Levant. From this the syrup of capil- 
laire is made. 
ADIPOCIRE, is a term formed of adeps, 
fat, and cera, wax, and denotes a substance, 
the nature and origin of which are thus ex- 
plained. The changes which animal matter 
undergoes in its progress towards total de- 
composition, have been, for many obvious 
reasons, but little attended to. But an op- 
portunity of this kind was offered at Paris 
in 1786 and 1787, when the old burial 
ground of the Innocens was laid out for 
building upon, in consequence of which, the 
surface soil, and the animal remains con- 
tained therein, were removed. This cemetery 
having been for ages appropriated to the 
reception of the dead, in one of the most 
populous districts in Paris, was eminently 
well calculated to exhibit the various pro- 
cesses of animal decomposition : another fa- 
vourable circumstance was, that it contained 
several of those large pits (fosses communes) 
in which the bodies of the poor are depo- 
sited by hundreds. These pits are cavities 
ADI 
30 feet deep, with an area of 20 feet square, 
in which the shells containing the bodies are 
closely packed in rows over each other, 
without any intermediate earth, and with 
only a slight superficial covering of soil, not 
more than a foot thick : each pit contained 
from 1200 to 1500 bodies, and may be con- 
sidered as a mass of animal matter of the 
dimensions above-mentioned. M. M. Four- 
croy and Thouret were present at the open- 
ing of several of these receptacles ; and it is 
from a memoir by the former of these, that 
the principalpart of this article is composed. 
The first pit that was examined had been 
filled and closed up 15 r ears before : on 
opening some of the coffins (for the wood 
was still quite sound, only tinged of a yellow 
colour) the bodies were found within shrunk, 
so as to leave a considerable vacant space 
in the upper part of the coffin, and flattened, 
as if they had been subject to a strong com- 
pression ; the linen which covered them ad- 
hered firmly, and upon being removed, pre- 
sented to view only irregular masses of a 
soft, ductile, greyish-white matter, appa- 
rently intermediate between fat and wax : 
the bones were enveloped in this, and were 
found to be very brittle. The bodies thus 
changed, being but little offensive to the 
smell, a great number were dug up and mi- 
nutely examined: in some this alteration 
had, as yet, only partially taken place, the 
remains of muscular fibres being still visible; 
but where the conversion had been com- 
plete, the bones throughout the whole body 
were found covered with this grey substance, 
generally soft and ductile, sometimes dry, 
but always readily separating into porous 
cavernous fragments, without the slightest 
trace of muscles, membranes, vessels, ten- 
dons, or nerves : the ligaments of the arti- 
culations had been in like manner changed ; 
the connexion between the bones was de- 
stroyed, and these last had become so yield- 
ing, that the grave-diggers, in order to re- 
move the bodies more conveniently, rolled 
each upon itself from head to heels, without 
any difficulty. According to the testimony 
of these men, to whom the fapts just men- 
tioned had been long familiar, this conver- 
sion of animal matter is never observed in 
those bodies that are interred singly, but 
always takes place in the fosses communes ; 
to effect this change, nearly three years are 
required. The soapy matter of latest for- 
mation is soft, very ductile, light, and spungy, 
and contains water; in 30 or 40 years 
it becomes much dryer, more brittle, and 
assumes the appearance of dense laminae, 
