Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/208

 ARG

A R G

came down from the mountains, not only for the accommo- dation of the inhabitants of that city, and the watering their lands, hut alfo to keep the country in better lubjcftion, -by being matter of their water. The Arem ftood like a moun- tain above their city, almoft eighty fathoms high, and was built fo ftrong, that there were no apprehenfions of its ever failing: But it gave way, at length, in the night, and carried away the whole city, with all the towns and people in the country. Pocock, Specim. Hilt. Dynaft. p. 57. Sale, Pre- lim. Dif. loc. cit. . ARENARIA, in zoology, the name of a bird, called in Engliin the fanderling, and in fome places, particularly in Cornwall, the curwillet.

It is a water-bird, of the long legg'd, and open footed, not webbed kind, and is a little larger than the tringa minor, or fand-piper ; its body is of a longifh fhape, and its beak ftrait, black, {lender, and about a finger's breadth long. Its head is fmall, and variegated with black and grey j its neck is more perfeaiy grey, and its fhoulders are very beautifully variegated with black and white, and black and grey ; the reft of the back is paler. The wings are long, reaching, when folded, beyond the end of the tail ; the long feathers of them are va- riegated with brown and white. The tail is fhort, and va negated with grey and black. The belly is white as fnow, and the breafl white, but with a reddifh call:, and fometimes variegated with reddifh fpots. It is common about the fea fhores, and generally flies in large flocks. Arenaria, in antient writers, is ufed for land pits, or ground

out of which fand is dug. Vitruv. Arch. 1. 2. 4. ARENARII, in antiquity, gladiators who combated with hearts in the arena, or amphitheatre. The Arenarii were flaves of the loweft rank, fo that though manumitted, they were not capable of being Roman citizens. They were the fame with what were otlierwife called Bejliarii. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. T. 1. p. 167. feq. See Bestiarii, Cycl. ARENARIUM, in ecclefiaftical writers, denotes a cemitery or burying-ground.

The Arenaria were properly a kind of pits, or holes under ground, wherein the antient chriftians, not only buried their dead, but held their religious affemblics, in times of persecu- tion. Baron. Annal. an. 130. n. 2. Du Cangc, doff. Lat. T. 1. p. 317. ARES, a term framed by Paracelfus, to exprefs a hidden difpofer, in the three principles of things, from which each being receives its proper form and fubftance, and affumes its own fpecific nature, not that of any other being. Rui Lex. Alch. p. 54. feq.

To conceive this occult fyftem of the antient chemifts, we are to fuppofe one general or univerfal fubftance, called iliaftes, which makes the matter of all bodies. This iliaftes is difpofed by the archaeus, into three kinds, viz. fait, fulpbur, and mercury, by which all things are dipofed into their feveral gerrufes. Here the Ares, or fecond difpofer, comes in, and, from thefe genera, produces fpecies and individuals. See the article Arch^US.

Paracelfus diftinguiihes the Ares into archcical, which is na- tural, and chemical, which is artificial. Brun. Lex. Med. p. 122. b. ARETALOGI, in antiquity, a fort of philofophers, chiefly of the Cynic or Stoic tribe, who having no fchool or difciples of their own, haunted the tables of great men, and entertained them in their banquets with difputations on virtue, vice, and other popular topics. V. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. T. 1. p. 167, Thefe are fometimes alfo denominated Circulatores Pbilofophi. In this fenfe, the word is derived from the Greek «?/Iu, vir- tue, and My®-, difcourfe. Some authors chufe to derive the word from agsV, grains, agreeable ; and define Aretalogi, by perfons who ftrive to divert and entertain their audience with jokes and pleafant tales ; which latter feems the more natu- ral explication. Calv. Lex. Jur. p. 87. b. ARGEMON, orARGEMA, Agyi^, or Agyipa, in medicine, an ulcer about the iris of the eye, comprehending part of the white, and part alfo of the black. Gorr. Def. Med. in voc. The Argemon appears of a red colour, on the outfide of the iris, and white within it. When it fpreads far, and eats deep : it fometimes cccafions the uvea to fall. ARGEMONE, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : The flower is of the rofaceous kind, or compofed of feveral leaves, arranged in a circular form. From the center of the flower there arifes a piftill, which finally becomes an unicapfular feed-veflel, of an oval figure, with feveral ribs running from its bafe to its apex, the intermediate fpaces being occupied by valves, which finally open at their tops ; and from every rib there runs out a pla- centa, which is loaded with feeds, ufually of an orbicular fi- gure. Tourn. Inft. p. 239.

There is only one known fpecies of Argemone, which is the plant, ufually called by botanical writers, the thorny Mexican poppy.

The rough headed poppies, called Arge?nones by fome writers, are by no means of this genus, but properly of the corn-poppy kind. See Papaver. ARGEMONION, in botany, a name given by fome of the later Greek writers, to the plant called farcocolla by the

other writers of their times. This was fuppofed by fome to' be the fame with the argemone, a kind of wild poppy ; but 011 examining the defcription of it, given by Neopbytus, who calls it Argemone altera, as a plant very different from the common kind, we find that it is the agrimony that is meant by this name. ARGENTARIA Creta, Silver Chalk, in natural hiftory, a name given to an earth, not properly a chalk, but a kind of tripela. It is a very beautiful earth, of a loofe friable texture, and perfectly pure white. While in the ftratum it is dry, friable, and dufty, and flies from the pickax in large irregular manes* of an obfeurely plated, or laminated ftrudture ; and fplits more readily into flat pieces, than in any other direction ; but its la- mina are always very irregular. When dry, it becomes fome- thing harder, and retains the fame chalky whitenefs, and is of a loofe, fpungy texture, very light,andofa rough, uneven, dufty furface. It adheres very {lightly to the tongue, is hard and harfh to the touch, breaks eafily between the fingers, and a little ftains the hands. It makes no effervefcence with acids, and fuffers very little change in the fire. It is dug in Pruflia, and is much efteemed for cleaning plate. It has alfo been found in France, and of late in Ireland. i/;7/'sHift. of Foff. p. 807. ARGENTARIUS is more freqently ufed in Roman writers for a money-changer or banker.

In this fenfe, Argcntarii amount to the fame with the Greek Ajsyugowplai, or A^yi^o/AotjSoi, and the Latin nummularU, cambiatores, coaftores. Du Cange, Gloll". Lat. T. 1. p. 320. The Argcntarii were monied people, who made a profit ei- ther by the changing, or lending of money at intereft. Thefe had their tabenwe, or offices, in the forum romanum, built there as early as the reign of L. Tarquinius Prifcus. The Argcntarii and faneratores were much hated, on ac- count of their covetoufnefs and extortion. Mark Anthony taxed Auguftus Casfar with being the grandfon of an Argentarius ; hence he was alfo called by Caffius Par- menfis, nummularii nepos. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. in voc, Argentarii is alfo applied, in the civil law, to thofe who adorned military arms with filver or gold. In which fenfe the word amounts to the fame with Barbari- earii. See Barbaricarii. Argentarius, in writers of the middle age, an officer en- trufted with the cuftody of money.

In this fenfe Argentarius amounts to the fame with the Greek Agyufo<pt*«!, and our cafhier.

The French had antiently their Argentarius Regis, or Argen- tier du Roy, into whofe hands the treafurer yearly paid a cer- tain fum out of the revenue, for fupport of the houfhold. Du Cange, Gloff. Lat. T. 1. p. 320. Aegentarius miles, in our old writers, an officer of the ex- chequer, whofe bufinefs it was to carry up the bag of money from the lower exchequer to the higher, in order to its being examined or told. Spe/m. Gloff. p. 40. ARGENTATI Militcs, in antiquity. — Livy, 1. 6. fpeaks of Argent at i Milites, as diftinguiihed from Aurati. Aquinas fuppofes thefe to have been fimilar to the argyrafpides and chryfafpides ; but the defcriptions do not quadrate. Livy only reprefents the Argcntati as cloathed in white linen coats. Aquin. Lex. Milit. in voc. See the article Arc yraspides, Cycl. ARGENTEUM Os, in natural hiftory. See Os Argeniewn. ARGENTJCOMUS, among antient aftrologers, denotes a kind of filver- hair'd comet, of uncommon luftre, fuppofed to be the caufe of great mutations below. Vital. Lex. Math. p. 62. ARGENTIL, an old Englifh name for the plant called Perci- pier Anglorum ; in Englifh, parfly piert, or pariley break- ftone. Ger. Emac. Ind. 4. ARGENTINA, in ichthyology, the name of a genus of fifties of the malacopterygious kind ; the characters of which, ac- cording to Artedi, are thefe : The body is oblong and cylindric; the teeth are placed on the tongue and palate. Ar- tedi mentions only one fpecies of this genus ; this has large eyes, and the tail forked : The back fin contains ten bones; the pectoral fins contain fourteen bones ; the belly fin eleven, and the pinna ani nine. The anus is placed very near the tail ; and the ventricle is blackifh. The appendices of the pylorus are fix or feven in number. The air bladder is conic at each end, and is of a fine filvery colour. It is caught about the mores of Italy. Artedi, Gen. Pifc. 5. Mr. Ray defcribes the Argentina to be a fmall fifh of the ha- rengiform kind, caught in the Mediterranean, and common in the markets of Rome, &c. Its body, he fays, is oblong and rounded, not flat, like that of the herring. Its back is of a greenifh grey, and very pale ; its belly, and the lower part of its fides, are white, filvery, and fhining, looking as if covered with leaf filver. Its mouth is moderately large, but it has no teeth ; but on the extremity of the tongue there are placed fix or eight crooked ones, and there are fome afperities anfwering to thefe in the palate. The eyes are large, and the part of the head which is between the eyes, is of a purphfh colour. The Brain is feen through the fkull, divided into three lobes. Its tail is forked, and its air bladder is of a Angular fhape, not being divided into two, but tapering to a point at each end. Ray's Ichthyography, p. 2209.

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