AIL 
among potatoes in light sandy soils, and some 
among wheat, flowering from July to Sep- 
tember. 
AGUE. See Medicine. 
AGYNEIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Triandria Monogynia class and order : the 
male flowers are below the female, the ca- 
lyx is six-leaved; no corolla; in the male, 
instead of filaments, are three or four an- 
thers : in the female flowers, the germ of 
the size of the calyx ; neither style nor stig- 
ma. There are two species, viz. A. impu- 
bes, with leaves smooth on both sides ; and 
A. pubera, with leaves downy underneath : 
both species are natives of China. 
AID de-cam}), in military affairs, an offi- 
cer employed to receive and carry the or- 
ders of a general. He might to be alert 
in comprehending, and punctual and distinct 
in delivering them. He is seldom under the 
degree of a captain, and all aids-de-camp 
have ten shillings a day allowed for their duty. 
AIGUISCE, Aiguisse, Eguisce, in he- 
raldry, denotes a cross with its four ends 
sharpened, but so as to terminate in obtuse 
angles. 
It differs from the cross fitehce, in as 
much as the latter goes tapering by de- 
grees to a point, and the former only at the 
ends. 
AILANTHU S, in botany, a genus of plants 
of the Decandria Trigynia class and order : 
it has male, female, and hermaphrodite flow- 
ers. The calyx of the male is one-leafed ; the 
corolla has five petals ; the stamina have ten 
filaments, the anthers are oblong and versa- 
tile. The calyx and corolla of the female are 
the same as those of the male ; the pistil- 
lum has from three to five germs ; the styles 
are lateral, and the stigmas capitate ; the 
pericardium has as many capsules as there 
are germs ; the seeds are solitary. The ca- 
lyx and corolla of the hermaphrodite is the 
same with those of the male and female ; 
the stamina have two or three filaments ; 
the pistillum, pericarpium, and seed as in 
the female. There is one species, viz. A. 
glandulosa, or tall ailanthus, which is a tree 
with a sraight trunk, 40 or 50 feet high, a 
native of China. It grows fast in our cli- 
mate, and as it rises to a considerable height 
it is proper for ornamental plantations. A 
resinous juice, which soon hardens, flows 
from the wounded bark. The wood is hard, 
heavy, glossy like satin, and susceptible of 
a fine polish. 
AILE, or Aiel, in law, a writ which lies 
where a person’s grandfather, or great grand- 
father, being seised of lands, &c. in fee- 
simple the day that he died, and a stranger 
AIR 
abates or enters the same day, and dispos- 
sesses the heir of his inheritance. 
AJOVEA, in botany, a genus of the 
Hexandria Monogynia class and order : the 
calyx is single-leaved, the corolla has three 
petals, the stigma is divided into six seg- 
ments, and the fruit is a roundish, single- 
celled, monospermous berry. There is one 
species that grows in the forests of Guiana. 
AIR, a thin elastic fluid, surrounding the 
globe of the earth. It is compounded prin- 
cipally of two gases, viz. oxygen and azote, 
together with a variety of other substances, 
suspended or dissolved therein. The me- 
chanical and chemical effects of this exten- 
sive fluid mass are discussed under various 
heads of science. See Atmosphere, Che- 
mistry, and the articles thence refer- 
red to. 
Am, in music, generally speaking, is any 
melody, the passages of which are so con- 
structed as to lie within the province of vo- 
cal expression, or which, when sung or 
played, forms that connected chain of sounds 
which we call tune. The strict import of 
the word is confined to vocal music, and 
signifies a composition written for a single 
voice, and applied to words. 
AiR-gun, a machine for explodiag balk 
by means of condensed air. 
Authors describe two kinds of tlis ma- 
chine, viz. the common one, and what is 
called the magazine air-gun. See Pneu- 
matics. 
Air -pipes, a contrivance invented lr Mr. 
Sutton, a brewer of London, for clerring 
the holds of ships, and other close pkces, 
of their foul air. The principle upon wiich 
this contrivance is founded is well knovn. 
It is no other than the rarefying power of 
heat, which, by causing a diminution of tie 
density of the air in one place, allows tint 
which is in contact with it to rush in, ar.d 
to be succeeded by a constant supply frou 
remoter parts, till the air becomes eveiy 
where equally elastic. If a tube, then, bs 
laid in the well-hold, or any other part of 
a ship, and the upper part of this tube be 
sufficiently heated to rarefy the impending 
column of air, the equilibrium will be main- 
tained by the putrid air from the bottom of 
the tube, which being thus draw-n out, will 
be succeeded by a supply of fresh air from 
the other parts of the ship ; and by conti- 
nuing the operation, the air will be changed 
in all parts of the ship. Upon this princi- 
ple, Mr. Sutton proposed to purify the bad 
air of a ship, by means of the fire used for 
the coppers, or boiling places, with which 
every ship is provided. Under every such 

