ACT 
numerable crowd of people who filled the amphifheatrcs: 
they were accompanied with a player on the flute, who 
played a prelude, gave them the tone, and played while 
they declaimed. 
The moderns have introduced an infinite number of 
aftors upon the ftage. This heightens the trouble and dif- 
trefs that Ihould reign there, and makes a diveriity, in 
which the fpedtator is fure to be interelled. 
Actors were highly honoured at Athens. At Rome 
they were defpifed, and not only denied all rank among 
the citizens, but even, when any citizen appeared upon the 
ftage, he was expelled his tribe and deprived of the right 
of fuft'rage by cenfors. Cicero, indeed, efteems the talents 
ot Rofcius: but he values his virtues ftill more; virtues 
which diftinguifhed him fo remarkably above all others of 
his profellion, that they feemed to have excluded him 
from the theatre. The French, in this refpeft, adopted 
the ideas of the Romans; and the Englifh thofe of the 
Greeks. 
ACTRESS, f. [aElrice, Fr.] She that performs any 
thing. A woman that plays on the ftage. \Vomen actors 
were unknown to the ancients, among whom men always 
performed the female character; and hence one reafon for 
the ufe of maflcs among them. 
Adtreffes are faid not to have been introduced on the 
Englifh ftage till after the reftoration of king Charles II. 
who has been charged with contributing to the corrup¬ 
tion of our manners by importing this ufage from abroad. 
But this can be but partly true : the queen of James I. 
adted a part in a paftoral; and Prynn, in his Hiftriomaftix, 
fpeaks of women aclors in his time as w hores; which was 
one occafion of the fevere profecution brought againft him 
for that book. 
There are fome very agreeable and beautiful talents, of 
which the poffetlion commands a certain lbrt of admira¬ 
tion; but of which the exercile for the fake of gain is 
confidered, whether from reafon or prejudice, as a fort of 
public proftitution. The pecuniary recompence, there¬ 
fore, of thofe who exercife them in this manner, rauft be 
fufficient, not only to pay for the time, labour, and ex¬ 
pence, of acquiring the talents, but for the difcredit which 
attends the employment of them as the means of fubfift- 
ence. The exorbitant rewards of players, opera-fingers, 
opera-dancers, Sec. are founded upon thofe two princi¬ 
ples ; the rarity and beauty of the talents, and the great 
difcredit of employing them in this manner. It feems 
abfurd at firft fight that we Ihould defpife their perfons, 
and yet reward their talents with the mod profufe libera¬ 
lity. While we do the one, however, we muft of necef- 
fity do the other. Should the public opinion or prejudice 
ever alter with regard to fuch occupations, their pecuni¬ 
ary recompence would quickly diminilh. More people 
would apply to them, and the competition would quick¬ 
ly reduce the price of their labour. Such talents, though 
far from being common, are by no means fo rare as it is 
imagined. 
ACTUAL, adj. [aEluel, Fr.] That which comprifes 
a< 5 tk>n. Really in aft; not merely potential. In aft; not 
purely in fpeculation: 
For he that but conceives a crime in thought, 
Contrafts the danger of an aElual fault: 
Then what muft he expect, that ftill proceeds • 
To finifh fin, and work up thoughts to deeds? Drydcn. 
Philofophers ufe the terms aElual heat, aElual cold, &c. 
i-n oppofition to virtual or potential. Hence, among phyli- 
cians, a red-hot iron, or fire, is called an aElual cautery ; 
in diftinttion from cauteries, or cauftics, that have the 
power of producing the fame effeft upon the animal fo- 
lidsasaftual fire, and are called potential cauteries. Boil¬ 
ing water is aftually hot; brandy, producing heat in the 
body, is potentially hot, though of itfelf cold. 
Actual Sin, that which is committed by'the perfon 
himfelf; in oppofition to original tin, or that which he con- 
trafted from being a child of Adam. 
A C U 103 
ACTUALITY, / The ftate of being aftual.—The 
aEluality of the fpiritual qualities is thus imprifoned, tho’ 
their potentiality be not quite deftroyed ; and thus a crafs, 
extended, impenetrable, paflive, divilible, unintelligent, 
fubftance, is generated, which we call matter. Cheyne. 
ACTUALLY, adv. In aft; in effeft; really.—Though 
our temporal profpefts fhould beTull of danger, or though 
the days of forrow Ihould aElually overtake us, yet ftill we 
muft repofe ourfelves on God. Rogers. 
ACTUALNESS, f. The quality of being aftual. 
ACTUARIAL NAVES,/ a kind of (hips among the 
Romans, chiefly defigned for fwift failing. 
ACTUARIUS, a celebrated Greek phyfician of the 
13th century, and the firft Greek author who has treated 
of mild purgatives, fuch as caflia, manna, fenna, See. His 
works were printed in one volume folio, by Henry Ste¬ 
phens, in 1567. 
Actuarius, or Actuary, a notary or officer ap¬ 
pointed to write the afts or proceedings of a court; or the 
like. In the eaftern empire, the aftuarii were properly 
officers who kept the military accounts, received the corn 
from the fufeeptores, or ftorekeepers, and delivered it to the 
foldiers. 
ACTUATE, adj. Put into aftion; animated; brought 
into effeft.—The active informations of the intellect, fill¬ 
ing the paflive reception of the will, like form doling 
with matter, grow aEluate into a third and diftinft perfec¬ 
tion of praftice. South. 
To Ac tuate, v. a. [frome^o, aElum, Lat.] To put in¬ 
to aftion ; to invigorate or increafe the powers of motion ; 
and thus the mind may be faid to aEluate the body.—Men 
of the greateft abilities are molt fired with ambition; and, 
on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the leaft ac¬ 
tuated by it. Addijon. 
ACTUOSE, adj. That which hath Itrong powers of 
aftion: a word little tiled. 
ACTUS, /! in ancient architefture, ameafure in length 
equal to 120 Roman feet. In ancient agriculture, the 
word fignified the length of one furrow, or the diltance a 
plough goes before it turns. 
Actus Minimus, was a quantity of land 120 feet in 
length, and four in breadth. 
Actus Major, or Actus Quadratus, a piece of 
ground in a fquare form, whofe fide was equal to 120 feet, 
equal to half thejugerum. 
Actus Intervicenai.is, a fpace of ground four feet 
in breadth, left between the lands as a path or w'ay. 
ACU ANITES,/. in eccleliaftical hiftory, the fame with 
thofe called more frequently Manichees. They took 
the name from Acua, a difciple of Thomas, one of the 
twelve apoftles. 
To ACUATE, v. a. [<zc«o, Lat.] To fliarpen, to invi¬ 
gorate with any powers of lharpnefs.—Immoderate feed¬ 
ing upon powdered beef, pickled meats, and debauching 
with Itrong wines, do inflame and acuate the blood, where¬ 
by it is capacitated to corrode the lungs. Harvey. 
ACULEATE, adj. [ aculeatus , Lat.] That which has a 
point or fting; prickly; that which terminates in a iharp 
point. 
ACULEI,/ the prickles of animals or plants. 
ACULEOSA,/ in botany. See Gorteria. 
ACU LER, f. in the manege, is ufed for the motion of a 
horfe, when, in working upon volts, he does not go far 
enough forward at every time or motion, fo that his (boul¬ 
ders embrace or take in too little ground, and his croupe 
comes too near the centre of the volt. Horfes are natu¬ 
rally inclined to this fault in making demi-volts. 
ACUMEN, f. [Lat.] A (harp point; figuratively, 
quicknefs of intellects.—The word was much affected by 
the learned Ariftarchus in common converfation, tofignify 
genius or natural acumen. Rope. 
The term acumen was introduced into anatomy by Da- 
venter, in his Ars Oblietricandi; he calls the protube¬ 
rances of the offit innom. on which we (it, th e o/fafrdenta- 
ria, which he fays are the acumina of the offa pubis ; and 
3 . be 
