ATT 
AUC 
mineral bodies, and fibres as those of or- 
ganized bodies, until something further can 
be proved on the subject. These primary 
parts of bodies adhere together, it is most 
probable, by the attraction of cohesion, (as 
do also their combinations into crystals and 
other forms), modified in some degree by 
that attraction caused by electric fire. 
The attraction which takes place among 
substances in solution is not so easily com- 
prehended ; as we know nothing as yet of 
the exact state in which a substance, capa- 
ble of solidity, exists, when dissolved in a 
fluid. In oiu present state of knowledge, 
we can only consider it as a fluid itself, ca- 
pable of reassuming a solid form in certain 
circumstances. 
The attraction w hich takes place between 
bodies in a state of vapour, is similar to that 
in a fluid state; their precise and minute 
state in that condition is unknown ; but the 
combinations which ensue from the attrac- 
tions of many in both states, are familiar to 
all chemists, and from them have proceeded 
many of the most useful substances which 
we possess. It is very fortunate for us, 
however, that if the knowledge of the mi- 
nute and primary state of bodies is, as it 
were, concealed from our view by an impe- 
netrable veil, it is not of any very great im- 
portance to us; as the effects which bodies 
produce on each other can be known to us 
without it, and it is this latter species of 
knowledge that affords us the dominion 
over nature, supplies our wants, and forms 
the basis of worldly happiness. 
The characteristic marks of affinity may 
be reduced to the three following : 
1. It acts only at insensible distances, 
and of course affects only the minute parts 
of bodies. 
2. This force is always the same in the 
same substances; but is different in dif- 
ferent substances. 
3. This difference is considerably modi- 
fied by the mass.Thus, though A has a greater 
affinity for C than B has, if the mass of B 
be considerably increased, while that of A 
remains unchanged, B becomes capable of 
taking a part of C from A. 
ATTRIBUTES, in logic, are the pre- 
dicates of any subject, or what may be 
affirmed or denied of any thing. 
Attributes, in painting and sculpture, 
are symbols added to several figures, to 
intimate their particular office and cha- 
racter. 
Thus the eagle is an attribute of Jupiter ; 
a peacock, of Juno ; a caduce, of Mercury ; a 
club, of Hercules;and a palm, of Victory. 
ATTRITION, the rubbing or striking of 
bodies one against another, so as to throw 
off some of then' superficial particles. 
The grinding or polishing of bodies is 
performed by attrition, the effects of which 
are heat, light, fire, ami electricity. 
Attrition is also “often used for the 
friction of such simple bodies as do not 
wear from rubbing against one another, bat 
whose fluids are, by that motion, subjected 
to some particular determination; as the 
various sensations of hunger, pain, and 
pleasure, are said to be occasioned by the 
attrition of the organs formed for such im- 
pressions. 
AVALANCHES, a name given in Swis- 
serland and Savoy to those prodigious 
masses of snow which are precipitated, with 
a noise like thunder, and in large torrents, 
from the mountains, and which destroy 
every thing in their course, and have some- 
times overwhelmed even whole villages. In 
1719 an avalanche from a neighbouring 
glacier overspread the greater part of the 
houses and baths at Leuk, and destroyed a 
considerable number of inhabitants. The 
best preservative against their effects being 
the forests, with which the Alps abound ; 
there is scarcely a village situated at the 
foot of a mountain that is not sheltered by 
trees ; which the inhabitants preserve with 
uncommon reverence. Tiius, what consti- 
tutes one of the principal beauties of the 
country, affords also security to the people. 
AVAST, in the sea language a term re- 
quiring to stop, to hold, or to stay. 
AUBLETIA, in botany, so named from 
M. Aublet, the author of the history of 
plants in Guiana, a genus of the Polyandria 
Monogynia class and order. Essential cha- 
racter, calyx five-leaved ; corolla five-petal- 
led ; capsule many celled, echinate, with 
many seeds in each cell. There are four, 
species natives of Guiana. 
AUCTIONS, and Auctioneers, every 
person exercising the trade of an auctioneer, 
within the bills of mortality, shall pay 20 s. 
for a license ; and without the bills of mor- 
tality 5s. Auctions and auctioneers are 
regulated by several statutes during the 
present reign. A bidder at an auction, un- 
der the usual conditions that the highest 
bidder shall be the purchaser, may retract 
his bidding any time before the hammer is 
down. 
AUCUBA, a genus of the Monoecia 
Tetrandria. Essential character, male four- 
Ff 2 
