i^o A G A 
Again and'again ; with frequent repetition; often.—This 
is not to be obtained by one or twohafty readings': it mult 
be repeated again and, again, with a clofe attention to the 
tenor of the difcourfe. Locke. —In oppofition; by way of 
refinance.—Who art thou that anfwereft again? Rom. ix. 
20.—Back; as, returning from fome meflage.—Bring us 
word again which way we fhall go. Deut. i. 22. 
AGAINST, prep, [ccngeon, ongeond, Sax.] Inoppofition 
to any perfon.—And he will be a wild man ; his hand will 
be againjl every man, and every man’s hand againjl him. 
Gen. xvi. 12.—Contrary; oppofite, in general.—Men of¬ 
ten fay a thing is againjl their confcience, when really it 
is not. Swift. — In contradiction to any opinion.—After all 
that can be laid againjl a thing, this will Hill be true, that 
many things pofTibly are, which we know not of. Tillctfon. 
—With contrary motion or tendency : ufed of material ac¬ 
tion.—The kite being a bird of prey, and therefore hot, 
delighteth in the frefh air; and many times flieth againjl 
the wind, as trouts and falmons fwim againjl the dream. 
Bacon. —Contrary to rule or law. Oppofite to in place. 
To the hurt of another. In provilion for ; in expectation 
of. This laft mode of fpeaking probably had its original 
from the idea of making provilion againjl , or in oppoli- 
tion to, a time of misfortune, but by degrees acquired a 
neutral fenfe. It fometimes has the cafe elliptically fup- 
prelfed, as, Againjl he comes, that is, Againjl the time when 
he comes. 
AGALAXY,/. [from a andy«*«, Gr.] A defeCt of 
milk in child-bed. Hence the epithet aya. Aax]©-, given 
by Hippocrates to d lying-in woman, that hath no milk. 
AGALLOCH A,f. in botany. See Excoecaria. 
AGALMATA,/ in antiquity, a term originally ufed 
to lignify any kind of ornaments in a temple; but after¬ 
wards for the llatues only, as being mod confpicuous. 
AGAMEMNON, the fon of Atreus by Erope, was 
captain-general of the Trojan expedition. It was foretold 
to him by Calfandra, that his wife Clytemneftra would be 
llis death: yet he returned to her; and accordingly was 
fain by iEgifthus, who had gained upon his wife in his 
abfer.ce, and by her means got the government into his 
own hands. 
AGAMENTICUS, a mountain of North America, in 
the province of Main, in lat. 43. 16. It is a noted land¬ 
mark for bailors, and about eight miles from the fea. 
AGAN, a Lad rone ill and, where Magellan, in fearch 
of the Molucca iilands, was aflaflinated'. 
AGANIPPE, in antiquity, a fountain of Bceotia at 
mount Helicon, on the borders between Phocis and Bceo¬ 
tia, facred to the Mufes, and running into the river Per- 
meffeus. - Ovid deems to make Aganippe and Hippocrene the 
fame. Solinus more truly diftinguifhes them, andafcribes 
the blending them to poetical licence. 
AGANIPPIDES,yi in ancient poetry, a deugnation 
given to the Mufes, from a fountain of mount Helicon, 
called Aganippe. 
AGAPANTHUS,/! [aya^avScf, Gr. a delightful flow¬ 
er.] In botany, a genus of the hexandria monogynia clafs, 
in the natural order of lilia or liliaceae. The generic cha¬ 
racters are—Calyx : fpathe common gaping at the fide. 
Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-fliaped, regular; tube cor¬ 
nered, as if compofed of fix claws ; border fix-parted, 
parts oblong, fpreading. Stamina: filaments fix, inferted 
into the throat, fhorter than the corolla, declinate ; anthe- 
rae kidney-fltaped, incumbent. Piftillum: germ fuperior, 
oblong, three-cornered; ftyle filiform, length of the fta- 
mens, declinate; ftigma fimple. Pericarpium: capfule 
oblong, three-fided, three-celled, three-valved; valves 
navicular, with contrary diflepiment. Seeds: numerous, 
oblong, compreffed, enlarged with a membrane.— EJj'cntial 
CharaEler . Corolla inferior, funnel-Ihaped, hexapetaloid, 
■regular. 
The root of the agapanthus umbellatus, or African blue 
lily, is compofed of many thick flefliy fibres, diverging 
from the fame head, ftriking deep into the ground, and 
putting out many fmaller fibres, which are white and 
A G A 
fiefhy: from the fame head arifes a duller of leaves fur- 
rounding each other at the bafe, fo as to form a kind of her¬ 
baceous ftalk about three inches high, from which the 
leaves fpread only two ways, appearing flat the other two. 
The leaves of this plant are thick, fucculent, about a foot 
long, and near an inch broad, comprefied, and of a dark 
green. Between thefe comes out the flower-ftalk, from 
two to three feet in height, round, as large as a man’s lit¬ 
tle finger, naked to the top, where it fupports a large 
head or umbel of blue flowers, inclofed in a Iheath, 
which fplits into two parts, and is bent back. Each flow¬ 
er Hands on a pedicel about an inch long. The petals are 
blunt, and waved on their edges. The umbel being 
large, the flowers numerous, aqd of a bright blue co¬ 
lour, make' a fine appearance. They com,e out at the end 
of Auguft, or the beginning of September, and frequent¬ 
ly continue in beauty till fpring. It is a native of the 
Cape of Good Hope, from whence it was brought to the 
gardens in Holland. In 1692, it was cultivated in the 
royal garden at Hampton-Court. 
Propagation and Culture. This plant is propagated by 
offsets, which come out from the fide of the old plants, 
and may be taken oft' the latter end of June, at which 
time thefe plants are in their greateft ftate of reft; when 
the plants fliould be turned out of the pots, and the earth 
carefully cleared away from the roots, that the fibres of 
the offsets may be better diftinguilhed, which fhould be 
feparated from thofe of the old roots, being careful not 
to break their heads. But, where they adhere fo clofely 
to the old plant as not to be fo feparated, they mu ft be 
cut off with a knife, taking great care not to wound or 
break the roots of either the offsets or the parent plant. 
When thefe are parted, they fliould be planted each into 
a feparate pot, filled with light kitchen-garden earth,-and 
placed in a lhady fituation, where they may enjoy the 
morning fun, giving them a little water twice a week, if 
the weather proves dry; but they mull not have too much 
wet, efpecially at this feafon, when they are almofl inac¬ 
tive; for, as the roofs are fiefhy and fucculent, they are 
apt to rot with great moifture. In about five weeks time 
the offsets will have put out new roots, when the pots may 
be removed to a more funny fituation, and then they may 
have a little more water, which will ftrengthen their flow¬ 
ering ; but it mu ft not be given too liberally, for the reafons 
before ftated. In September they will put out their flow- 
er-ftalks, and toward the end of that month the flowers 
will begin to open, when, if the weather fliould not be 
good, they fliould be removed under fhelter, to prevent 
the flowers from being injured by froft or too rnOch wet; 
but they fhould have as much free air as poilible, other- 
wife the flowers will be pale-coloured and weak. Toward 
the end of October they fhould be removed into the green- 
houfe, and placed where they may enjoy as much free air 
as poffible, and not be over-hung by other plants ; and, 
during the winter, they may have a little water once 4 
week or oftener in mild weather, but in the froft they 
fhould be kept dry. This plant only requires protection 
from froft and moifture ; it fliould not therefore have any 
artificial warmth in winter, and muff be placed in the 
open air in fummer. 
AGAPE, adv. [from a and gape.~\ Staring with eager- 
nefs; as, abir 3 gapes for meat: 
In himfelf was all his ftate; 
More folemn than the tedious pomp that waits 
On princes, when their rich retinue long 
Of horfes led, and grooms befmear’d with gold, 
Dazzles the crowd, and fets them all agape. Milton. 
Agape,/! in ecelefiaftical hiftory, the love-feaft, or 
feaft of charity, of the primitive Chriftians ; when a libe¬ 
ral contribution was made by the rich to feed the poor. 
The wmrd is Greek, aycti rs, and lignifies love. Thefe love- 
feafts, during the three firft centuries, were held in the 
church without fcandal or offence; but, in after-times, 
the heathens began to tax them with impurity. This at 
3 / * length 
