A C A 
ACAMas, fon of Thefeus, followed the reft of the Gre¬ 
cian princes to the fiege of Troy; and was deputed with 
Diomedes, to the Trojans, in order to get Helen reftored. 
Laodice, Priam’s daughter, falling in love with this prince, 
ftole a night with him, and had a fon by him called Mu- 
nitus. He was one of the heroes who concealed them- 
felves in the wooden horfe. One of the tribes of Athens 
was called Acamanticles from him, by the appointment of 
the oracle; and he founded a city in Phrygia Major, call¬ 
ed Acamantium. Homer mentions two other heroes of this 
name ; one a Thracian prince who came to fuccour Priam, 
another a fon of Antenor. 
ACANACEOUS PLANTS, / fuch as are armed with 
prickles. 
ACANGA,/ in botany. See Bromelia. 
ACANGIS, that is, Ravagers or Adventurers', a name 
which the Turks give their huflars or light-troops, who 
are generally Cent out in detachments to procure intelli¬ 
gence, harrafs the enemy, or lavage the country. 
ACANNY, a country of Guinea, long famous for pro¬ 
ducing and trading in very fine gold ; alfo a town or village 
of Guinea. Lat. 8. 30. N. Ion. o. 30. E. 
ACANOS, or Acanthium,/ in botany. See Ono- 
FORDUM. 
ACANTHA, f. in botany, the prickle of any plant; in 
zoology, a term for the fpine or prickly fins of fillies. 
ACANTH ABOLUS,/ in furgery, an inftrument for 
pulling thorns, or the like, out of the fkin. 
ACANTH 1 NE,/. any thing refembling or belonging 
to the herb acanthus. Acanthine garments, among the 
ancients, are faid to be made of the down of thiltles ; 
others think they were garments embroidered in imitation 
of the acanthus. 
ACANTHOIDES,/ in botany. See Carlina. 
ACANTHOPTERYGIOUS FISHES,/ a term ufed 
by Linnaeus and others for thofe fifties whofe back-fins are 
hard, olleous, and prickly. 
ACANTHOS, a town of Egypt, near Memphis, now 
Bifalta. Alfo a maritime town ot Macedonia, to the weft 
of mount Athos, a colony of Andrians, now ErilFo; near 
whichWas ftiown Xerxes’ ditch, of feyen ftadia, in order 
to ieparate mount Athos from the continent, and convey 
his fhips, without doubling Athos, into the Singitic bay. 
Acanthos is alfo a town of Epirus. 
ACANTHUS,/ UxajGa, Gr. a thorn.] In botany, a 
genus of the didynamia angiofpermia clafs, ranking in the 
natural order of perlonatae. 1 lie generic characters are 
.—Calyx : perianthium with leaflets in three alternate pairs, 
unequal, permanent. Corolla : one-petalled unequal; 
tube very fliort, clofed with a beard ; upper lip none; un¬ 
der lip very large, flat, ftraight, very broad, three-lobed, 
obtufe, the length of the upper lip of the calyx. Stami¬ 
na: filaments four, fubulate, fhor.ter than the corolla, the 
two upper rather longer, recurved, incurved at the top. 
Antherie oblong, comprefted, obtufe, the lateral ones pa¬ 
rallel, villous before. Piftillum : germ conical. Style fi¬ 
liform, length of the ftamens. Stigmas two, acute, late¬ 
ral. Pericarpium: capfule iubovate with a point, two- 
celled, two-valved, with a contrary partition p claws alter¬ 
nate, curved, fattened to the partition. Seed-, ovate, 
gibbous, Angle; fometimestwo .—EJentialCharacier. Ca¬ 
lyx.: two-leaved,bifid. Corolla: one-lipped, bent down, 
trifid. Capfule two-celled. 
Description. The plants of this genus are generally 
large, with a Angle herbaceous ftalk, and great pinnatifid 
leaves. The flowers are produced in terminating fpikes. 
Some of the fpecies are fhrubby and thorny; with undi¬ 
vided leaves, toothed, and having a thorn at the end of 
the teeth. 
Species. 1. Acanthus mollis, or fmooth acanthus; the 
leaves Annate unarmed .—'1 his has a Hem from two to three 
feet in height. The leaves oblong, fmooth on both Aides, 
and ftiining; from a fpan to a foot in length, divided deep¬ 
ly into oppofite ovate lobes, which are bluntly toothed and 
.finely ciliate about the edges: they are Placed ofiroundilh 
Vol. I. No. 4. 
A C A 49 
petioles, with a flat channel running along the upper fur- 
face. Though the leaves are faid to be fmooth, yet they 
are not without white bridles on both fides, efpecially along 
the nerves. The flowers are white, and come out from 
about the middle to the top of the ftalk. This is the fpe¬ 
cies which is ufed in medicine, under the name of branca, 
urjina. The roots and leaves abound with a mucilage, 
which is readily extracted by boiling or infufion. The 
roots are the mod mucilaginous. Where this plant is 
common, they employ it for the fame purpofes to which the 
althaa or marfh-mallow, .and other vegetables pofleffing 
fimilar qualities, are applied among us. 
2. Acanthus cardufolius, or thiftle-leaved acanthus. 
The leaves finuous-toothed thorny, fpike of flowers radi 
cal.—The Item is extremely (hort. Many leaves proceed 
almoft immediately from the root, refembling thofe of the 
thiftle; whence it derives the trivial name: the divifions 
terminate in a tomentofe or naked fpine. The fpike of 
flowers is oblong, of the fame length with the leaves, or 
longer; and furnifhed with imbricate, nerved, ftift, fix- 
fpined, braftes. The calyxes are thornlefs and membra¬ 
naceous. Sparrmann found this plant at the Cape of 
Good Hope. 
3. Acanthus fpinofus, or prickly acanthus, the leaves 
pinnatifid thorny, deeply jagged in very regular order, and 
each fegment is terminated with a lharp fpine ; as are alfo 
the petioles, and the calyx of the flowers; fo that this 
plant is troublefome to handle. It grows w ild in Italy and 
Provence; and flowers from July to September. In 1629 
it was cultivated in England. Thefe plants were formerly 
called brank-urfme, and alfo by the vulgar appellation of 
bear’s-breech, from the roughnefs of this fpecies. But 
thefe have now become obfolete; and the fofter, more 
clallical, name of acanthus is generally adopted in Englifti. 
4. Acanthus Diofcoridis, or acanthus of Diofcorides; 
the leaves lanceolate quite entire and thorny qn the mar¬ 
gin.—.This, which Linnaeus fuppofes to be the genuine 
fpecies of Diofcorides, grows naturally intheeaft, on Le¬ 
banon, & c. 
5. Acanthus ilicifolius, or holly-leaved acanthus; the 
leaves repand tooth-thorny, Hem fhrubby prickly; it is 
anever-green fhrub, rifing about four feet high, and di¬ 
viding into many branches; with leaves very like thofe of 
the common holly, both in fize and fhape.; and armed with 
fpines in the fame manner. The flowers come out lingly 
in an upright raceme at the end ot the ftalk; they are 
white, and fhaped like thofe of the common acanthus, but 
fmaller. The calyx confifts of fix imbricate leaflets, ac¬ 
cording to Linnaeus. Loureiro deferibes it as having an 
upright border, divided into four parts ; the fegments 
acute, and the two outer ones larger than the others. The 
corolla has the tube truncate in front, and extending back¬ 
wards into an ovate, upright, fegment, which is (lightly 
trifid. The ftigma is Ample, and there are two feeds. 
He obferved it near Canton in China, differing from that 
of Cochin-china, in having two fmall concave leaflets at 
the bafe of the calyx ; and the truncate part of the corol¬ 
la emarginate. Native of the Eaft and Weft Indies, arid 
fome of the iflands in the South Seas. 
6. Acanthus integrifolius, or entire-leaved acanthu ; the 
leaves oblong entire, ftera herbaceous procumbent. 
Acanthus procumbens, or procumbent acanthus. Leaves 
oblong ferrate and ciliate, item procumbent fhrubby. 3 . 
Acanthusfurcatus, or forked acanthus; the leaves oblong 
tooth-thorny, ftem fhrubby, bractes terminated by a three¬ 
forked thorn. 9. Acanthus Capenfis, or Cape acanthus; 
the leaves oblong toothed thorny, ftem fhrubby erect, 
bruffes terminated by a Ample thorn.—Thefe fpecies are 
natives of the Cape ot Good Hope. The lart has round, 
oppofite, afh-coloured, branches; oppofite, fublunceqlaie, 
fellile, ftiff, leaves, with two fpines on each fide, arfd-'bne at 
the ehd; the axillary leaves are pe.tioled, longer, fofter, 
but thorny as well as the others. Spikes of flowers ter¬ 
minal, folitary, and fefiiie: the bracles referable the leaves, 
but arc moftly without fpines. The calyx is bivalve and 
O i.ueoih. 
