AMERICAN EDITION OF THE BRITISH ENCYCLOPEDIA, OR DICTIONARY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. COMPRISING AN ACCURATE AND POPULAR VIEW OF THE PRESENT IMPROVED STATE OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. BY WILLIAM NICHOLSON, Author and Proprietor of the Philosophical Journal, and various other Chemical, Philosophical, and ILLUSTRATED WITH UPWARDS OF 180 ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS. VOL. II. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY MITCHELL, AMES, AND WHITE. ALSO, BY INGRAM AND LLOYD, NASHVILLE. W. Brown, Printer, Prune Street. 1819. THE BRITISH ENCYCLOPEDIA. AREOPAGUS. A tribunal at Athens, famous for the jus. Without partiality." ich REOPAGUS, in antiquity, a sovereign by the court to which they belonged, tice and impartiality of its decrees; to which the gods themselves are said to have submitted their quarrels. This tribunal was in great reputation among the Greeks, so that it was denominated "the most sacred and venerable tribunal," and Socactes says that it was deemed so sacred, that if those who had been vicious were elected into it, they immediately gave up their former practices, and conformed to the rules of the senate, because they could not resist the authority of example, but were constrained to appear virtuous. The Romans themselves had so high an opinion of it, that they trusted many of their difficult causes to its decision. Demosthenes says, that in his time neither plaintiff nor defendant had any just reason to be dissatisfied with their proceedings. Innocence, summoned to appear before it, approached with out apprehension; and the guilty, convicted and condemned, retired without daring to murmur. Authors are not agreed about the number of the judges who composed this august court. Some reckon thirty-one, others fifty-one, and others five hundred: in reality, their number seems not to have been fixed, but to have been more or less in different years, By an inscription quoted by Volaterranus, it appears they were then three hundred. At first this tribunal only consisted of nine persons, who had all discharged the office of archons, had acquitted themselves with honour in that trust, and had likewise given an account of their administration before the logistæ, and undergone a very rigorous examination. Those who were admitted members of this assembly were strictly watched, and their conduct was scrutinized and judged VOL. H. escape censure. A senator, it is said, was punished for having stifled a little bird, which from fear had taken refuge in his bosom; he was thus taught, that he, who has a heart shut against pity, should not be allowed to have the lives of the citi zens at his mercy. The members of this august assembly were not allowed to wear crowns, or to obtain any marks of honour conferred by the people, as a recompence for their services; nor were they allowed to solicit any; but they were rewarded by a bounty from the public, and they had also three oboli for every cause in which judgment was given. The areopagites were judges for life. They never sat in judgment but in the open air, and that in the night time; to the intent that their minds might be more present and attentive; and that no object, either of pity or aversion, might make any impression upon them. However, some maintain, that the building in which the areopagites assembled was not wholly uncovered; and they observe that, among the ruins large stones have been found, whose joints are in the same angle with the pediment that must have been used for a covering. Mr. Spon, who examined the antiquities of that illustrious city, found some remains of the areopagus still existing in the middle of the temple of Theseus, which was heretofore in the middle of the city, but is now without the walls. The foundation of the areopagus is a semicircle, with an esplanade of 140 paces round it, which properly made the hall of the areopagus. There is a tribunal cut in the middle of a rock, with seats on each side of it, where the areopagites sat, exposed to the open air. At first they only took cognizance of cri A minal causes; but in course of time their jurisdiction became of greater extent. This court is recorded as the first that sat upon life and death; and the trial of wilful murder seems to have been the original design of its institution. In later ages, all incendiaries, assassins, conspirators, deserters of their country, treasons, and most capital causes in general, fell under its cognizance. The opinion which the state entertained of the wisdom, gravity, and sanctity of its members, gained for them an unlimitted power; insomuch that, according to Solon's regulation of this assembly, the inspection and custody of the laws, the management of the public funds, the guardianship of young men, and the education of youth, according to their rank, were committed to them. Their power extended to persons of all ages and sexes, to punish the idle and profligate, and to reward the sober and virtuous, according to their own pleasure. For this purpose, they were empowered, by entering and examining private houses, to condemn every useless person as dangerous; and every expense not proportioned to the means of the citizen as criminal. Besides, they took cognizance of religious matters, blasphemy, contempt of holy mysteries, the erection and consecration of temples and altars, and the introduction of new ceremonies: nevertheless, they interfered in public affairs only in cases of emergency or danger. As this assembly exhibited the greatest firmness in punishing crimes, and the nicest circumspection in reforming manners; as it never employed chastisement till advice and menaces were slighted; it acquired the esteem and confidence of the people, even whilst it exercised the most absolute power. Its meetings were held three times in every month, viz. on the 27th, 28th, and 29th days, but on any urgent business, the senators assembled in the royal portico. The court was divided into several committees, each of which took cognizance of separate causes, if the multiplicity of business would not allow time for them to be brought before the whole senate and this was done by lots, that the causes might not be prejudged. In crimes that concerned religion or the state, the power of this court was limited to preparing the matter for a trial; and it then made its report to the people, without coming to any conclusion. The accused then had it in his power to offer new pleas in his defence; and the people named orators, to conduct the prosecution before one of the superior courts. Trials in the areopagus were preceded by tremendous ceremonies. The two parties, placed amidst the bleeding members of the victims, took an oath, which they confirmed by dreadful imprecations against themselves and families. They called to witness the Eumenides, who, from a neighbouring temple, dedicated to their worship, seemed to listen to the invocation, and prepared to punish the perjured. They then proceeded to the trial, requiring all pleadings to be conducted in the simplest terms, without exordium, epilogue, or appeal to the passions. After the question had been sufficiently discussed, the judges silently deposited their suffrages in two urns, one of brass, called the urn of death; and the other of wood, called the urn of mercy. This mode of giving votes was afterwards abandoned, and they were delivered in public, by casting their calculi or flints upon two tables, one for those that were acquitted, and the other for those condemned: when the numbers were equal, an inferior officer added, in favour of the accused, the suffrage of Minerva, so called, because, according to an ancient tradition, this goddess, being present in the court of areopagus at the trial of Orestes, gave her casting vote to turn the scale of justice. In some causes the sentence of this court was not final; but an appeal might be made to the courts to which they respectively belonged. ARETHUSA, in botany, a genus of the Gynandria Decandria class of plants, having no other calyx than a foliacious spatha; the corolla is ringent, and consists of five oblong sub-equal petals; the nectarium consists of a single leaf, divided into two segments; the fruit is an oblong oval capsule, consisting of three valves, and containing one cell, in which are several seeds. There are seven species. ARETIA, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class of plants, the calyx of which is a perianthium, consisting of a single campanulated, semiquinquefid, and permanent leaf, without any involucrum; the corolla consists of a single petal; the tube is oval, and of the length of the cup; the limb is divided into four segments; and the fruit is a capsule, in which are contained many seeds. There are four species. ARGEMONE, in botany, a genus of the Polyandria Monogynia class of plants, the calyx of which is a roundish spatha, composed of three hollow, pointed, deciduous leaves; the corolla consists of three roundish, erecto-patent petals, larger than the cup; the fruit is an oval pentangular capsule, containing one cell, and seeming as if formed of five valves; the seeds are numerous and very small; the receptacles are linear, and grow to the angles of the pericarpium: they do not burst. There are three species. ARGENT, in heraldry, the white colour in the coats of gentlemen, knights, and baronets: the white in the arms of sovereign princes is called luna, and that in the arms of the nobility pearl; this is expressed in engraving by the parts being left plain without any strokes from the graver. ARGENTINA, in natural history, a genus of fishes of the order Abdominales; teeth in the jaws and tongue; gill membrane with eight rays: vent near the tail; ventral fins many rayed. There are four species. A sphyræna, or European atherine, inhabits the Mediterranean, and sometimes wanders to the British coast, it is from two to four inches long; body round and tapering; back and sides, as far as the lateral line, pale ash mixed with green, below the line and belly fine silvery; the air-bladder is conic on both sides, appearing as if covered with silver leaf, and is used in the manufacture of artificial pearls. A. glossodonta, is a very elegant species, found in the Red Sea : as is also A. machnata; but the other species, A. carolina, which is the size of a small herring, is found in the fresh waters of Carolina. ARGENTUM, vivum. See MERCURY. ARGONAUTA, in natural history, a genus of worms, of the order Testacea. Animal a sepia or clio; shell univalve, spiral, involute membranaceous, one celled. There are five species. A. argo has the keel or ridge of the shell slightly toothed on each side; it inhabits the Mediterranean and Indian oceans, and is the famous nautilus, supposed, in the early ages of society, to have first taught men the use of sails. When it means to sail it discharges a quantity of water, by which it is made lighter than the sea, and rising to the surface, erects its arms, and throws out a membrane between them, by which means it is driven forwards like a vessel under sail; two of the arms it hangs over the shell, to serve as oars or a rudder. The shell is white or yellowish, with smooth or knotty striæ or ribs, which are sometimes forked; the keel is generally brownish. ARGOPHYLLUM, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Calyx five-cleft, superior; corol. five-petalled; nectary pyramidal, fiveangled, as long as the corol; capsule three-celled, many seeded: found in New Caledonia. ARGUMENT, in rhetoric and logic, an inference drawn from premises, the truth of which is indisputable, or at least highly probable. The arguments of orators receive particular denominations, according to the topics from whence they are derived: thus, we meet with arguments from affection, which interest the passions of the person to whom they are addressed; also with the arguments a tuto, ad ignaviam, ab invidia, &c. In reasoning, Mr. Locke observes, that men ordinarily use four sorts of arguments. The first is, to allege the opinions of men, whose parts and learning, eminency, power, or some other cause, has gained a name, and settled their reputation in the common esteem, with some kind of authority; this may be called argumentum ad verecundiam. Secondly, another way is, to require the adversaries to admit what they allege as a proof, or to assign a better; this he calls argumentum ad ignorantiam. A third way is, to press a man with consequences, drawn from his own principles or concessions; this is known by the name of argumentum ad hominem. Fourthly, the using proofs drawn from any of the foundations of knowledge or probability; this he calls argumentum ad judicium; and observes, that it is the only one of all the four that brings true instruction with it, and advances us in our way to knowledge. For, 1. It argues not another man's opinion to be right, because I, out of respect, or any other consideration, but that of conviction, will not contradict him. 2. It proves not another man to be in the right way, nor that I ought to take the same with him because I know not a better. 3. Nor does it follow that another man is in the right way, because he has shewn me that I am in the wrong; this may dispose me, perhaps, for the reception of truth, but helps me not to it; that must come from proofs and arguments, and light arising from the nature of things themselves, not from my shamefacedness, ignorance, or error. See the articles REASON and REASONING. ARGUMENT, in astronomy, denotes a known arch, by means of which we seek another one unknown. The argument of the moon's latitude is her distance from the node; and the argument of inclination is an arch of a planet's orbit, intercepted between the ascending node and the place of the planet from the sun, numbered according to the succession of the signs. |