A C A 
m oval form, from which there iffue out a few exceeding 
j on <>- hairs. Other parts of the body are alfo befet with 
thin and long hairs. The males and females are.ealily dif- 
tinguilhed in tiiefe little animals. The females are ovipa¬ 
rous, as the loufe and fpider; and from their eggs the 
young ones are hatched in their proper form, without 
having any change to undergo afterwards. I hey are, 
however, when firib hatched, extremely minute; and, in 
their growing to their full lize, they call their ikins feve- 
ral times. Thefe little creatures may be kept alive many 
months between two concave glalfes, and applied to the 
microfcope at pleafure. They are thus often feen in coitu, 
conjoined tail to tail; and this is performed by an incredi- 
bly fwift motion. Their eggs, in warm weather, hatch 
in twelve or fourteen days; but in winter they are much 
longer. Their eggs are fo fmall, that a regular compu¬ 
tation fiiows, that ninety millions of them are not fo large 
as a common pigeon’s egg. They are very voracious ani¬ 
mals, and have often been feen to eat one another. Their 
manner of eating is by thralling alternately one jaw for¬ 
ward and the other backward, and in this manner grinding 
their food; and after they have done feeding, they feem 
to chew the cud.—There are feveral varieties of this fpe- 
cies found in different fubftances belides cheefe; as in 
malt-dud, flour, oatmeal, &c. Thofe in malt-dull and 
oatmeal are much nimbler than the cheefe-mites, and have 
more and longer hairs. There are alfo a fort of wander¬ 
ing mites, w hich range wherever there is any thing they 
can feed on: they are often feen in the form of a white 
dull, and are not fufpecled to be living creatures.—The 
mite is called by authors Amply, acarus. It is an animal 
very tenacious of life, and will live months without food. 
Mr. Lewenhoek had one which lived eleven weeks on the 
point of a pin, on which he had fixed it for examining by 
his microfcope. 
2. The fanguifugus. The hinder part of the abdomen 
is crenated, the fcutellum is oval and yellowifh, and the 
beak trifid. It is a native of America, and flicks fo fad 
on the legs of travellers, fucking their blood, that they 
can hardly be extracted. 
3. The telariits is of a greenilh yellow colour. It has a 
fmall fling or w eapon, with which it wounds the leaves of 
plants, and occafions, them to fold backward. They are 
very frequently to be met with in the autumn, inclofed in 
the folded leaves of the lime-tree. 
4. The exulcerans, or itch-acarus, is a very fmall fpe- 
cies: its body is of a figure approaching to oval, and lo- 
bated; the head is fmall and pointed; its colour is whitilh, 
but it has tw'o dulky femicircular lines on the back. It 
has long fetaceous legs, but the two firft are fliort. It is 
found in puflules of the itch: authors in general have 
fuppofed that it caufes that difeafe: but others obferve, 
that if this were fo, it would be found more univerfally 
in thofe puflules. It is more probable that thefe only 
make a proper nidus for it. See the article Itch. 
5. The batatas is of a blood-colour, and a little rough ; 
the fore pair of legs are as long as the body. It inhabits 
the potatoes of Surinam. 
6. The ovinus, or (heep-tick, has a flat body of a round- 
ifh figure, but fomewhat approaching to oval, and of a 
yellowifh white colour, and has a Angle large round fpot 
on the back: the anus is viAble in the lower part of the 
body ; the thorax is fcarcely confpicuous; the head is very 
fmall and black; the mouth is bifid: the antennae are of a 
clavated figure, and of the length of the fnout; the legs 
are fhort and black. It is common on fheep, and its ex¬ 
crements (lain the wool green: it will live in the wool 
many months after it is fliorn from the animal. 
7. The coleoptratorum, or acarus of infefls, is extreme¬ 
ly minute: its body is round, reddifh, and covered with a 
firm and hard (kin; the head is very fmall, the neck 
fcarcely vifible; the legs are moderately long, the anteri¬ 
or pair longer than the others; it has a whitenefs about 
the anus. It is frequent on the bodies of many infebls, 
which it infells, as the loufe does others; it runs very 
3 
lwiftly: the humble-bee and many other of the larger 
infedts, are continually infefled with it; but none fo much 
as the common black beetle, which has thence been called 
the loufy beetle. 
S. The baccarum, or fcarlet tree-mite, is a fmall fpe- 
cies: its body is roundifh, and the back not at all flatted, 
as it is in many others; the fkin is fmooth, fhining, and 
gloffy; and the whole animal feems dillended, and ready to 
burft; the colour is a bright red, but a little dufkier on 
the Aides than elfevrhere : the head is very fmall, and the 
legs fliort; there is on each fide a fmall dulky fpot near 
the thorax, and a few hairs grow from different parts of 
the body. It is very common on trees, particularly on 
the currant, on the fruit of which we frequently fee it 
running. 
ACASTUS, in clalfic hiilory, the fon of Pelias king of 
Theffaly, and one of the moll famous hunters of his time, 
married Hippolyta, who falling defperately in love with 
Peleus her fon-in-law, and he refufing to gratify her wAlli¬ 
es, (he accufed him to her hulband of a rape; on which 
he flew them both. 
ACA I ALECT IC,yi [anaTotAwliK©-, Gr.] A verfe 
which has the complete number of fyllables, without de¬ 
feat or fuperfluity. 
ACATERY, or AcATRY,yi anciently an officer of the 
king’s houfehold, deligned for a check betwixt the clerks 
of the kitchen and the purveyors. 
ACATHARSIA,yi in medicine, an impurity of the 
blood or humours. 
ACATHISTUS,yi the name of a folemn hymn anci¬ 
ently fung in the Greek church on the Saturday of the fifth 
week in Lent, in honour of the Virgin, for having thrice 
delivered Conllantinople from the invalions of the barba¬ 
rous nations. 
ACATIUM,_/i in the ancient navigation, a kind of 
boat or pinnace ufed for military purpofes. Strabo de- 
feribes it as a privateer or pirate Hoop. 
ACAULIS,/! in botany, a termapplied to certain plants, 
the flowers of which have no pedicle or ltalk to fupport 
them, but rell immediately on the ground, fuch as the 
carline thillle, &c. 
ACCA (St.) bilhop of Haguflaldt, or Hexam, in Nor¬ 
thumberland, fucceeded Wilfrid in that fee in 709. He 
ornamented his cathedral in a mod magnificent manner: he 
furnifhed it alfo with plate and holy vellments ; and ereft- 
ed a noble library, confiding chiefly of ecclefiadical learn¬ 
ing, and a large collection of the lives of the faints, which 
he was at great pains to procure. He was accounted a very 
able divine, and was famous for his (kill in church-mulic. 
He died in 740, having enjoyed the fee of Hexam thirty- 
one years, under Egbert king of the Northumbrians. 
ACCA LI A, f. in Roman antiquity, folemn feflivals 
held in honour of Acca Laurentia, Romulus’s nurfe: they 
were otherwife called Laurentalia. 
ACCANY. SeeAcANNY. 
ACCAPITARE, v. n. in law, the a£t of becoming vaf- 
fal of a lord, or of yielding him homage and obedience. 
Hence, 
ACCAPITUM,/! fignifies the money paid by a vaffal 
upon his admillion to a feud. Itlikewife, in our ancient 
law, was ufed to exprefs the relief due to the chief lord. 
ACCEDAS ad Curiam, f. in the Engliih law, a writ 
lying, where a man has received, or fears, falfe judgment 
in an inferior court. It lies alfo for jullice delayed,- and is 
a fpecies of the w'rit R ecordare. 
To ACCEDE, v. n. \_accedo , Lat.] To be added to, to 
come to; generally ufed in political accounts; as, another 
power has acceded to the treaty ; that is, has become a party. 
To ACCELERATE, v. a. [ accclero , Lat.) T o make 
quick, to halle.n, to quicken motion; to give a continual 
impulfe to motion, fo as perpetually to increafe : 
Lo ! from the dread immenfity of fpace 
Returning, with accelerated courfe, 
The rufhing comet to the fun deicends. Thomjon. 
Spices 
