Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/78

 AGU

A G U

AGUAR A QUIYA, in botany, a Brafil plant, thought to be the Solanwn vulgare, or common nightfhade, by Ray.

AGUARA PONDA, in botany, a plant otherwifc called, Viola fpicata Brafiliana, It grows to the height of a foot and an half, or more, with a fmooth round green and jointed ftalk. At each joint, come forth four, five, or more, narrow, fer- rated, pointed, green, and unequal leaves. The top of the ftalk bears an ear a foot long, fmooth, and covered with flowers of a fine violet azure ; or the colour of our viola mar- tia, confifting of five roundifh leaves. The whole flower is not unlike the viola martia, and has fomewhat of its fmell. The root is Itrait, of a moderate thicknefs, and moots out into abundance of lefler ones, and thefe again into fila- ments.

There is another kind, diftinguifhed by the widenefs of its ear of flowers, which reprefents a helmet of a green colour. It is marked with cubic pits, from whence proceed azure flowers, Ray, Synopf.

AGUE {Cycl.) — The quotidian Ague has its accefiion K«l) V*? B 'i or every day j the tertian T«e<* f*"**, every other day ; the quartan &« 3l>q npt^m pto-w, every third day. Alexander Aphro- difius alfo mentions the ireftwl*! ok, or quintan, the i®*p*m 9 or feptenary ; and the fw»1*isi>, or novenary Agues. In all which it is obfervable, that the days of intcrmiffion are fewer by two than the number, in the name of the Ague. Thus if the Ague be Tffl*«c 5 the day of intermiflion is but one; if relafaio?, two, if *\=f*wI*ios, three, if t^h^xi^, five, if w«1«k>{, feven,

The caufe and feat of Agues is vartoufly afltgned. Some with Sandlorius a, fuppofe it feated in the capillary veflels of the fkin, which being flopped, a putrid lympha accumulated pro- duces the fymptoms. Others with Sylvius de la Boc b, placi it in an obftrudlion of the pancreas, occafioned by an ac cumulation of lympha in that part, which prevents the due difcharge of the pancreatic juice into the duodenum, till that juice by its detention growing at length acrid, forces its way thro' the obftruclhig lymph, and enters the duodenum, where mixing with the bile, and thus pafling into the blood, it caufes a feverifh efFervefcence. Others afcribe it to a defect in digeftion, which furnifhing a crude four aliment, this as jt enters the blood raifes a fermentation, and according to the ftock or quantity of it, occasions the returns of the difeafe to be more or lefs frequent c. Others make the fpleen the prin- cipal feat of Agues, which being deficient, the blood wants its due ferment, and thus becomes obftru&ed in its circulation ; . whence the phasnomena of the difeafe d. — [ a Static. Aphor. 95. iSec. 1. Jour. desScav. T. 79. p. 365. It, T. 78. p. 421. fc Jour, des Scav. T. 47. p. 285. See alfo T. 40. p. 439 1 Gajlaldi, in Jour, des Scav. T. 63. p. 236. See alfo T. 9 p. 36. d Talb. of the caufe, csV. of Agues, c. 2. p. 20.] Others, as Slare c &c. account for it from the mixture of a foreign acid with the volatile fait of the blood, which caufes a congelation or coldnefs, on the going ofF of which a feverifh heat enfues. Others as Wedelius r, attribute Agues to a {harp, four, bilious ferment in the primes via, and inteftinal glands, which pafling thence, and fixing in the fubcutaneous pores, difcharges itfelf periodically into the blood. — [ c Phil. Tranf. N*. 150. p. 297. Le?nery, ap. Jour, des Scav. T. 7. p. 206. f Jour, des Scav. T. 42. p. 268. J

We meet with diversother methods of curing Agues, befidesthat by the cortex ; as by means of tea, which taken an hour before the accefs, is faid to remove the obftru£Hon, and correct the acidity e ; by fal volatile, which aits by attenuating the blood h : in the ifland of Tin'o, by an infufion of flowers of little cen- taury ' ; not to mention arcanums and fpecifics for this difeafe adminiftred by royal authority k ; or cures by ftroaking \ by charms" 1, efpecially by virtue of the word Abracadabra". — [ 6 Jour, des Scav. T. 40. p. 434. h Phil. Tranf. N° 145. p. 80. i Jour, des Scav. T. 8. p. 208. * Mem.de Trev. An. 17 13, p. 1851. ' Wood, Ath. Oxon. T. 2. p. 566. m Friend. Hift. Phyf. T. 1. p. 85. Phil. Tranf. N°. 178. p. 1289. n Mem. de Trev. Sept. 1701. p. 237-] Etmuller gives divers inftanccs of Agues cured by putting the patient in a fit of paflion °. Others have been effected by a fright, a fit of drunkennefs, &c. <c Do we not often fee " Agues cured by amulets and pericarpia? I myfelf, fays Mr. " Boyle p, was cured of a violent quotidian by applying to my " wrifts a parte made of bay fait, new hops and blue currants, " which has alfo relieved many others both of quotidians and " tertians." — [_" Etmull. Diflf. de Ira. ap. Mem. de Trev. 1707. p. 922. p Boyle, Phil. Work Abr. T. 1. p. 80.] As to the caufe of the periods and returns of Agues, if it be granted that there is fome morbific matter of a viicous, or not eafily diffipable texture harboured in fome part of the body, which requires a determinate time to be made fluid, and re- folvable, the cold fits of Agues need not appear furprizing, fince tho* juft before the fit, the fame parcel of matter which is to produce it, was actually in the body ; yet it was not by reafon of its damminefs actually refolved into fuch parts, and mixed with thofe of the blood, and confequently could not make fuch a change in the motion of the fluid, as is felt in the cold fit of an Ague. So, in fome other cafes, a fmall quantity of matter being refolyed into minute parts, may produce a great feme of coldnefs in a particular part of the body, which by

reafon of Its nxu&ure, may be particularly difpofed to be af- fected thereby, as hyfterical women complain of great cold- nefs fuddenly invading the head or back. And that if a cold vapour or matter be exceeding fubtile, an inconfiderable quantity of it being difperfed through the blood, may produce a great degree of coldnefs, appears from the effects of fome poifons, particularly the fting of a fcorpion, which frequently diffufes an univerfal coldnefs. Boyle, Phil. Work Abr. T. 1.

P; 555- %

Agues feem to be much altered from what they were among the antients, both as to their type, or form, and the method of cure; Phlebotomy which made the chief part of the cure among them, is now found rather prejudicial 2. The old En- glifli proverb, an Ague in the Spring is phyfic for a king, Mr. Ray b fhews is reducible to juft phyfical principles. The The Italians have another proverb no lefs grounded on obfer- Vation, Fcbre quartana ammaza i Vccchii CS* / Giovani rifana, A quartan Ague kills old men and cures young c. — [ a Ncedb. Medel. Med. c. 2. p. 19. feq. b Ray, Coll. Engl. Proverb, p. 32. c Boyle, loc. cit. p. 41.]

Streater d, Talbor% Gaftaldi f , have pieces exprefsly on Agues: other particulars on the fubject may be found in the writers on pathology, and the praxis medica &.-— [ d Of an Ague and the curing thereof, Lond. 1641. Wood, Ath. Oxon. 1". 2. p. 29. c n^iloAoyia, a rational account of the caufe and cure of Agues, Lond. 1672. 12 . f Quseft. Med. AnP'ebrib. Intermit. Quin- quina, bV. Par. 1717- 12°. An extract of which is given in Jour, des Scav. T. 63. p. 233. E See concerning the nature, caufe and cure of Agues, Cockb. See Difeaf. p. 161. feq. Jour, des Scav. T. 75. p. 370. It. T. 45. p. 134. Phil. Tranf. N°. 12. p. 210. Boyle, loc. cit. T. 1. p. 14.80, Jt.T, 3. p. 548. 604. feq. 607. Their kinds and varieties, Jour, des Scav. T. 30. p. 873. It. T. 70. p. 75. Their frequency in bincoln- fhire, Phil. Tranf. N a . 223. p. 351. Rarity in Scotland. Boyle, loc. cit. T. 3. p. 70, 71, 520.] Tho' the hark be the moil effectual remedy in this diftemper, yet it has been known to caufe worfe difordcrs. See Peru- vian.

Ague free is a name given by fome to faffafras, on account of its febrifuge vertue. Skin. £tym. Bot. in voc. See Sassa- fras.

AGUGLIA, (Cjt/.Jisfometimesufed by travellers for thcobelifks in Egypt, Conftantinople, bY.

The word is Italian, and literally fignifies needle. Some writers of the latter ages ufe Aguglla in the fame fenfe. Du Gauge, GlofT. Lafc T. 1. p. 114.

Aguglia is alfo the name given by the Italian fifhermen to the acus of Oppian, called in Englifli the garfifh. IVillugb- by, Hift. Pifc. p. 232. See Acus and Lacertus.

AGUILLANEUF, or Auguillaneuf, a form of rejoic- ing, ufed among the antient Franks on the firft day of the year.

The word is compounded of the French, A, to, gui t mifsleto, and fan neuf, i. e. the new year.

Its origin is traced from a druid-ceremony : the prieftsufed to go yearly in December, which with them was reputed a fa- cred month, to gather mifsleto of the oak in great folemnity. The prophets marched in the front, finging hymns in honour of their deities ; after thefe came a herald with a caduceus in his hand ; thefe were followed by three druids a-breaft, bearing the things neceffary for facrifice. Laft of all came the chief, or arch-druid, accompanied with the train of people.

The chief druid climbing the oak, cut off the musleto with a golden fickle, and the other druids received it in a white cloth ; on the firft day of the year, it was diftributed among the people, after having bleffed and confecrated it by crying Au Gui I'an neuf, to proclaim the new year. This cry is ftill continued in Picardy, with the addition of Plantez, Planter, to wifh a plentiful year. In Burgundy and fome other parts, the children ufe the fame word to beg a new-year's gift.

Of later times the name Auguillaneuf was alfo given to a fort of begging, pra£tifed in fome diocefes, for church tapers, on new-year's day, by a troop of young people of both fexes, having a chief &c. It was attended with divers ridiculous ce- remonies, as dancing in the church, C9V. which occafioned the fynods to ftipprefsit. V, Merul. Cofmog. P, 2. 1. 3. e. 11. Tbterf. Tr. des Jeux. Menage, Etym. p. 12. Aubert, ap* Richel. Drft. T. 1. p. 52. Moreri, Die*. Hift. T. 1. p. 65.

AGUL, in botany, a fmall fhrub very prickly. Its leaves are longifh, and refemble thofe of the knot grafs. It abounds with flowers of a reddilh colour. Thefe are fucceeded by red hufks. Its root is long, and of a purple colour. This plant is otherwife called Albag't maurorum, by Rauwolf : it grows in Arabia, Perfia, and Mefopotamia. Manna ts found on it leaves, as large as the grains of co- riander, of the fame tafte and fmell as ours, buf it melts if the fun fhines upon it. The leaves of this plant are purgative. Lemery, Diet, des Drog.

AGURAH, in Jewifii antiquity, the twentieth part of an antient filver fhekel. Cumber!. Eff. Jew. Meaf. c. 4. p. 138. Bibl. Univ. T. 5. p. 182. feq. See Shekel, Cycl

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