io4 A C U 
he calls the os coccygis the facri acumen ojjis , the pointed 
part of the facrum. 
ACUMINA,/ in antiquity, a kind of military omen, 
moft generally fuppofed to have been taken from the points 
or edges of darts, [words, or other weapons. 
ACUMINATED, part. adj. Ending in a point; fliarp- 
pointed.—I appropriate this word, Noli me tangere , to a 
fmall found acuminated tubercle, which hath not much 
pain, unlefs touched or rubbed, or exafperated by topics. 
Wifeman. 
ACUNA (Chriftopher de), a Spanifh Jefuit, born at 
Burgos. He was admitted into the fociety in 1612, being- 
then but fifteen years of age. After having devoted fome 
years to ftudy, he went to America, where he affifted in ma¬ 
king converts in Chili and Peru. In 1640, he returned to 
Spain, and gave the king an account how far he had fuc- 
ceeded in the commiffion he had received to make difco- 
veries on the river of the Amazons; and the year fol¬ 
lowing he publifhed a defcription of this river at Madrid. 
Acuna was fent to Rome, as procurator of his province. 
He returned to Spain with the title of Qualificator of the 
Inquifttion ; but foon embarked again for the Weft Indies, 
and was at Lima in 1675, when Father Southwell publiffi- 
ed at Rome the Bibliotheque of the Jefuit Writers. Acu¬ 
na’s work is intitled, Nuevo Defcubrimento del gran Rio de las 
Amazonas ; i. e. “ A new Diicovery of the great River of 
the Amazons.” The copies of this work became extreme¬ 
ly fcarce, fo that the publilhers of the French tranllation 
at Paris afterted, that there was not one copy of the ori¬ 
ginal extant, excepting one in the polfeflion of the tran- 
flator, and perhaps that in the Vatican library. M. de 
Gomberville was the author of this tranllation: it was 
publifhed after his death, with a long differtation. An 
account of the original may be feen in the Paris Journal, 
in that of Leiplic, and in Chevreati’s Hiftory of the 
World. 
ACUPUNCTURE, / [from acus, a needle, and pungo, 
to prick.] Bleeding performed by making many fmall 
punctures with a filver needle on the part attested. "I his 
method is praftifed in Siam, Japan, and other oriental na¬ 
tions, on all parts of the body; and employed in head- 
achs, lethargies, convullions, cholics, &c. In fome parts 
of America this practice is alfo in ufe, according to the 
accounts given in Dampier’s Voyages. 
ACUS,/. in ichthyology, the trivial name of a fpecies 
of fyngnathus. See Syngnathus. 
ACUSIO COLONIA, now Ancone, according to Hol- 
ftenius, between Orange and Valence, near Montelimart, 
on the banks of the Rhone. 
ACUSTICUS,/ [from to hear.] Belonging to 
hearing. It is applied to the auditory nerve, and to me¬ 
dicines or inftruments ufed to aftift, preferve, or recover, 
hearing. 
ACUTE, adj. \_aculus , Lat.] Sharp, ending in a point; 
oppofed to obtiije or blunt. In a figurative fenfe applied to 
men; ingenious; penetrating; oppofed to dull or Jlupid .— 
The acute and ingenious author, among many very fine 
thoughts, and uncommon reflations, has ftarted the no¬ 
tion of feeing all things in God. Locke. —Spoken of the 
fenfes, vigorous; powerful in operation.—Were our fen- 
fes altered, and made much quicker and acuter, the ap¬ 
pearance and outward fcheme of things would have quite 
another face to 11s. Locke. 
Acute, in mufic, is applied to a found or tone that is 
{harp or high, in comparifon of fome other tone. In this 
fenfe, acute Hands oppofed to grave. 
Acute An g le, in geometry, isthatwhich is lefs than 
a right angle, or which does not fubtend ninety degrees. 
Acute-angled Triangle, is a triangle whole three 
angles are all acute. 
Acute-angled Cone is, according to the ancients, a 
right cone, whofe axis makes an acute angle with its fide. 
Acute Diseases, fuch as come fuddenly to a crifis, 
and are always attended with danger. Though there are 
difcafes without danger, of a Ihort duratiori, fo are dif- 
A D A 
tindl from the acute, as an ephemeris, &c. Acute difeafes- 
are the oppolite to chronic , which are flow in their progrefs, 
and not fo generally dangerous. 
ACUTELY, adv. After an acute manner; fharply: it 
is ufed as well in the figurative as primitive fenfe.—He 
that will look into many parts of Alia and America, will 
find men reafon there, perhaps, as acutely as himfelf, who 
yet never heard of a fyllogifm. Locke. 
ACUTENESS, / Sharpnefs. Force of intellects. 
Quicknefs and vigour of fenfes. Violence and fpeedy cri- 
fis of a malady. Sharpnefs of found.—This acutencfs of 
found will fltew, that whilft, to the eye, the bell feems to 
be at reft, yet the minute parts of it continue in a very 
brifk motion, without which they could not ftrike the air. 
Boyle. 
ACUTIATOR, /. in writers of the barbarous ages, 
denotes a perfon that whets or grinds cutting inftruments; 
called alfo in ancient glofiaries, acutor, ay.ov/i'rrii, Jamiarius, 
coharuts, &c. In the ancient armies there were acutiato- 
res, a kind of fmiths, retained for whetting or keeping 
the arms iharp. 
ACYISIS,/ in Vogel’s Nofology, is a defeCt of con¬ 
ception, or barrennefs in women. 
AD, a Latin prepofition, originally fignifving to, and 
frequently ufed in compofition both with and without the 
d, to exprefs the relation of one thing to another. 
Ad Bestias, in antiquity; is the punifiiment of crimi¬ 
nals condemned to be thrown to wild beafts. 
Ad Hominem, in logic, a.kind of argument drawn 
from the principles or prejudices of thole with whom we 
argue. 
Ad Ludos, in antiquity, a fentence upon criminals 
among the Romans, whereby .they were condemned to en¬ 
tertain the people by fighting either with wild beafts, or 
with one another, and thus executing juftice upon them* 
felves. 
Ad Metalla, in antiquity, the punifiiment of fuch 
criminals as were' condemned to the mines, among the Ro¬ 
mans; and therefore called Metallici. 
Ad Valorem, a term chiefly ufed in fpeaking of the 
duties or cuftoms paid for certain goods. The duties on 
fome articles are paid by the number, weight, meafure, 
tale, &c. and others are paid ad valorem , that is, according 
to their value. 
ADACTED,par<. adj. \_ada£lus, Lat.] Drivenby force; 
a word little ufed. The verb adaEl is not ufed. 
ADAGE,/ [ adagium , I.at.] A maxim handed down 
from antiquity; a proverb : 
Fine fruits of learning! old ambitious fool, 
Dar’ft thou apply the adage of the fchool, 
As if ’tis nothing worth that lies conceal’d, 
And fcience is not fcience till reveal’d ? Dryden. 
Erafmus has made a very large and valuable colle&ion 
of the Greek and Roman adages; and Mr. Ray has done 
the fame with regard to the Engliffi. We have alfo Kelly’s. 
Collation of Scots Proverbs. 
ADAGIO,/ [Ital. at leifure.] A term ufed by mufi- 
cians, to mark a flow time. 
ADAIR, an ancient little town, eight miles from Lime¬ 
rick, and 102 from Dublin; having a good bridge over 
the river Maige, which is navigable for large boats. From 
its extenfive ruins of convents, Sc c. it appears to have once 
been a place of conliderable importance. 
ADALIDES, in the Spanifli policy, are officers of 
juftice for matters touching the military forces. In the* 
laws of king Alphonfus, the adalides are fpoken of as of¬ 
ficers appointed to guide and direft the marching of the 
forces in time of war. Lopez reprefents them as a fort of 
judges, who take cognizance of the differences arifing up¬ 
on excurflons, the diftribution of plunder, See. 
ADAM, the firft of the human race, was formed by 
the Almighty on the fixth day of the creation. His body 
was made of the duft of the earth ; after which, God ani¬ 
mated or gave it life, and Adam then became a rational 
creature. 
