9 6 
A C R 
A C R 
when affefied; to occult cancers, and to cancers on the 
furface of the body, to didinguifh them from thofe that 
are Inward. 
ACROPOLIS, the citadel, and one of the divifions of 
Athens; called Polls , becaufe confirming tire fil'd and 
original city; and the Upper Polis, to didinguifh it from 
tire Lower, which was afterwards built round it in a large 
open plain, the Acropolis danding on a rock or eminence 
in the heart of this plain : and hence its name: To the 
north it had a wall, built by the Pelafgi, and therefore 
called Pelafgic, and to the fouth a wall, by Cynton the 
fon of Miitiades, out of the Perfian fpoils, many ages af¬ 
ter the building of the north wall. It had nine gates, and 
was therefore called Enneapylon ; yet but one principal 
gate or entrance, the afcent to which was by a flight of 
fieps of white marble, built by Pericles with great mag¬ 
nificence'. 
ACROPOLITA (George), one of the writers in the 
Byzantine hiftory, was born at Conftantinople, in the year 
12 20, and brought up at the court of the emperor John 
DucasatNice. He was employed in the mod important 
affairs of the empire ; being fent ambaffador to Larifla, to 
edablidi a peace with Michael of Epirus; and was condi- 
tuted judge to try Michael Comnenas, fufpected of en¬ 
gaging in a confpiracy. Theodorus Lafcaris, the fon of 
John, whom he had taught logic, appointed him gover¬ 
nor of all the wedern provinces in his empire. In 1255, 
he was taken priToner in a war with Michael Angelus : 
but gaining his liberty in 1260, by means of the emperor 
Palaeologus, he was lent by him ambaffador to Condan- 
tine prince of Bulgaria ; and was employed in feveral other 
negotiations. He wrote, A Continuation of the Greek 
Hidory, from the taking of Condantinople by the Latins 
till it was recovered by Michael Palaeologus in 1261, which 
makes part of the Byzantine hidory ; a Treatife concern¬ 
ing Faith, Virtue, and the Soul; an Expofition of the 
Sermons of St. Gregory Nazianzen; and other pieces. 
ACROSPIRE, j. [from and Gr.] A 
fhoot or fprout from the end of feeds before they are put 
into the ground.—Many corns will fmilt, or have their 
pulp turned into a fubdance like thick cream; and will 
fend forth their fubdance in an acrofpire. Mortimer. 
ACROSPIRED, part. adj. Having fprouts, or having 
fhot out.—For want of turning, when the malt is fpread on 
the floor, it comes and fprouts at both ends, which is cal¬ 
led acrofpired, and is fit only for fwine. Mortimer. 
ACROSS, adv. [from a for at, or the French a as it is 
ufed in a travers, and crofs .] Athwart, laid over fome- 
thing fo as to crofs it.—The harp hath the concave not 
along the firings, but acrofs the firings; and no harp hath 
the found fo melting and prolonged as the lrifli harp. Bacon. 
ACROSTIC, f. [fromaxp©- and Gr.] A poem 
in which the firfi letter of every line being taken, makes 
up the name of the perfon or thing on which the poem is 
written. 
Acrostic, adj. That which relates to an acrodic.— 
That w'hich contains acrodics. 
Leave writing plays, and choofe for thy command 
Some peaceful province in acrojlic land: 
There thou may’ll wings difplay, and altars raife, 
And torture one poor word ten thoufand ways. Dryden. 
ACROSTICHUM, f. [ax§o; and Jummus ordo .] 
In botany, a genus of the cryptogamia Alices clafs. The 
generic character is, that the fructifications cover the 
whole under furface of the frond. 
Defcription. There are forty-four fpecies of ferns, of 
which two only are natives of Great-Britain, the ninth 
and twenty-eighth. They both grow on rocks in Wales, 
and the former is found alfo in the northern counties, and 
in Scotland. The twenty-feventh is a native of Europe, 
but all the red are the growth of hotter climates, as the 
Ead or Wed Indies, Africa, and the fouthern provinces 
of North-America. 
Species. I. Frond Ample undivided, r. Acrodichum 
lanceolatum : fronds linear-lanceolate acute, fhoot climb¬ 
ing. It is a native of the Ead Indies and Cochin China ; 
dicking to trees. 
2. Acrodichum citrifollum : fronds lanceolate-ovate 
quite entire, dioot climbing. This is a native of America. 
3. Acrodichum heterophyllum : fronds quite entire 
fmooth petiolate ; barren ones roundifh, fertile linear. It 
is a native of the Ead Indies, Cochin China, and Africa, 
in woods. 
4. Acrodichum crinitum : fronds ovate obtufe hirfute, 
crinite above. 
5. Acrodichum pun&atum : fronds heart-tongued, acu¬ 
minate, quite entire, dotted above. It is ufed medici¬ 
nally in China, where it was fird remarked by J. Fothergill. 
6 . Acrodichum fpicatum : fronds fimple, petiolate, lan¬ 
ceolate, attenuated to both ends, quite entire, lpike ter¬ 
minal linear.. This was found by Commerfon in the idand 
of Mauritius. 
7. Acrodichum lingua: fronds oblong obtufe entire 
petiolate, fhoot creeping. 8. Acrodichum hadatum : 
frond fimple hadate. Both thefe are natives of Japan. 
II. Frond fimple divided. 9. Acrodichum feptentrio- 
naie : fronds naked linear laciniate. It grows on tufts 
refembling at firfi fight feme rufhy grafs, on clefts of rocks 
and old walls, in Yorkfnire, Wedmoreland, Wales, and 
Scotland. 
10. Acrodichum audra’le : dipes naked, quite fmooth, 
dichotomous at top, with five or fix fubulate rays, and 
flowering from the fides. This much refembles the fore¬ 
going, but it is filvery, and more regularly divided : and 
grows in the iiles of France and Bourbon. 
11. Acrodichum petnnatum : naked, perfetily fimple, 
fpike crefcent-diaped, on one fide, afeending, compref- 
fed. Hermann, Morifon, Ray, and Flukenet, took this 
plant for a fpecies of grafs. Petiver alone fufpedted it to 
be a fern, as it proves really to be. It is a native of the 
Cape of Good Hope. 
12. Acrodichum dichotomum : naked, dichotomous, 
fpikes on one fide, afeending, reflex, compreflTed. This 
refembles the pedlinatum in dem and fpike, but the fiem 
has many more forkings, with fpikes to each. It is found 
in China and the Society Idands. 
13. Achrodichum digitatum: dipes naked three-fided, 
frond digitate linear quite entire equal. This is a native 
of Ceylon. 
14. Acrodichum ferrugineum : fronds pinnatifid; pin- 
nas linear acute fpreading quite entireconnate; ftipe fmooth. 
15. Acrodichumpolypodioides : fronds pinnatifid, pinnas 
linear obtufe quite entire fpreading crowned, ltipe fealy. 
Both thefe are natives of Jamaica and Virginia. 
III. Frond pinnate. 16. Acrodichum aureum : pin- 
nas alternate tongue-fhaped quite entire fmooth. It is a 
native of Jamaica, Dominica, and the Society Illes. 
17. Acrodichum rufum : pinnas oblong-ovate quite en¬ 
tire pubefeent. This is a native of Jamaica. 
18. Acrodichum puntiatum : leaflets alternate lanceo¬ 
late quite entire, the lowed eared, the upper ones decur¬ 
rent, the upper furface dotted fmooth. It is a native of 
the ifle of Bourbon. 
19. Acrodichum forbifolium : pinnas oblong-ovate en¬ 
tire ferrate acute, dipes fealy. This is a native of Jamai¬ 
ca and Domingo. 
20. Acrodichum areolatum: pinnas alternate linear 
ferrate at top. The little floriferous buds in this fpecies 
are divided into two phalanxes by the longitudinal nerves 
of the leaf, and are difpofed in feveral parts tranfverfely on 
each fide. It is a native of Virginia and Maryland. 
21. Acrodichum marginatum : pinnas oblong quite en¬ 
tire waved acuminate, dipe naked. 22. Achrodichum 
fantium: fronds lanceolate, pinnas linear-lanceolate ga&- 
ferrate, the lower ferratures larged. The fird of thefe 
is only a barren frond of Pteris grandifolia. The latter 
is a pplypodium. 
23. Acrofii 
