Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/149

Rh A C T A D A 133 fiions now observed may be regarded as indicating, not so much forms of action in the old sense, as the character of the injury sus tained and the relief sought. ACTION (under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, 1873). By this Act, which establishes one supremo court in place of the Superior Courts of Common Law and the High Court of Chancery, action is the name given to the proceeding in the High Court of Justice, which takes the place of the old actions at common law, suits insti tuted by bill or information in the Court of Chancery, causes in rein in the Court of Admiralty, or by citation in the Court of Probate. For these various modes of obtain ing redress the Act substitutes one uniform proceeding, which retains most of the essential features of the common law action. The form of action established by the Act is in some measure a compromise between the old action at law and Chancery suit. It may be described as putting an end to the unintelligible and even misleading formulas of the one and reducing the prolixity and redundance of the other. (E. R.) ACTIUM, in Ancient Geography, a promontory in the north of Acarnania, at the mouth of the Sinus Ambracius, opposite the town of Nicopolis, built by Augustus on the north side of the strait. Eastwards from the promontory the strait widens out and forms a safe harbour. On the promontory was an ancient temple of Apollo (who is hence called by Virgil Actius), which was enlarged by Augustus. Actium became famous on account of Augustus s victory over Antony and Cleopatra (B.C. 31), and for the quin quennial games he instituted there, called Actia or Ludl Actiaci. Actiaca jEra was a computation of time from the battle of Actium. There was on the promontory a small town, or rather village, also called Actium. ACTON, a large village in Middlesex, about eight miles west of St Paul s. It was once much frequented because of its saline springs, but these have long lost their repute. Acton being near the metropolis and easily accessible by the Great Western Railway, and the price of building land being low, numerous villas have been erected in the neigh bourhood. The population of the parish increased from 3151 in 1861 to 8306 in 1871. ACTON, SIB JOHN FRANCIS EDWARD, son of Edward Acton, who practised as a physician at Besancon, was born there in 1 736, and succeeded to the title and estates in 1791, on the death of his cousin in the third degree, Sir Richard Acton. He served in the navy of France, and afterwards in that of Tuscany, and commanded a frigate in the joint expedition of Spain and Tuscany against Algiers in 1774. His gallantry in rescuing three or four thousand Spanish soldiers from slavery led to his advancement. Entering the Neapolitan service, he gained the favour of Queen Mary Caroline, became commander-in-chief of the land and sea forces, then minister of finance, and iltimately prime minister. His policy was devised in concert with the English ambassador Hamilton, and, of course, was hostile to France and to the French party in Italy. He has been held responsible for the arbitrary and despotic measures which, in 1798-99, filled the prisons of Naples with poli tical prisoners, and even brought some of them to the scaffold. In 1803 Acton was for a short time deprived of the reins of government at the demand of France; but he was speedily restored to his former position, which he held till, in Feb. 1806, on the entry of the French into Naples, he had to flee with the royal family into Sicily. He died at Palermo on the 12th Aug. 1811, leaving by his wife (eldest daughter of his brother, General Joseph Edward Acton, whom he had married by papal dispensation) three children, of whom the second, Charles Januarius Edward, was made Cardinal Santa Maria clella Pace in 1842. It may be well to state that Sir John has very frequently been confounded with his above-mentioned brother, born in 1737, who was also employed in the Neapolitan service. ACTUARY, in ancient Rome, was the name given to the clerks who recorded the Ada PMica of the Senate, and also to the officers who kept the military accounts and enforced the due fulfilment of contracts for military supplies. In its English usage the word has undergone a gradual limitation of meaning. At first it seems to have denoted any clerk or registrar; then more particularly the secretary and adviser of any joint-stock company, but especially of an insurance company; and it is now applied specifically to one who makes those calculations as to the probabilities of human life, on which the practice of life assurance and the valuation of reversionary interests, deferred annuities, &c., are based. The first mention of the word in law is in the Friendly Societies Act of 1819, where it is used in the vague sense, &quot; actuaries, or persons skilled in calculation.&quot; The word has been used with precision since the establishment of the &quot; Institute of Actuaries of Great Britain and Ire land&quot; in 1848. The &quot;Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland&quot; was formed at Edinburgh in 1856, and incorporated by royal charter in 1868. The registrar in the Lower House of Convocation is also called the actuary. ACUNA, CHRISTOVAL D, a Spanish Jesuit, born at Burgos in 1597. He was admitted into the society in 1612, and, after some years spent in study, was sent as a mis sionary to Chili and Peru, where he became rector of the College of Cuenca. In 1639 he was appointed by the Jesuits to accompany Pedro Texeira in his second explora tion of the Amazon, in order to take scientific observations, and draw up a report that might be sent to Spain. The journey lasted for ten months; and, on their arrival at Peru, no ship being ready to convey the explorer to Spain, Acuna employed himself in the preparation of a narrative of his journey. This was published at Madrid in 1641, under the title Nuevo Descubrimiento del Gran l?io de las AmazonaSf &amp;lt;kc. The King of Spain received Acuna coldly, and, it is said, even tried to suppress his book, fearing that the Portuguese, who had revolted from Spain, would avail themselves of the information which it contained. A translation into French was published by Gombcrville in 1682; and a translation from the French into English appeared in 1698. After occupying the positions of procu rator of the Jesuits at Rome, and calificador (censor) of the Inquisition at Madrid, Acuna returned to South America, where he died, probably soon after the year 1675. ACUPRESSURE, in Surgery (aczts, a needle, premo, I press), a method of restraining haemorrhage, introduced in 1869 by the late Sir J. Y. Simpson. The closure of the vessel near the bleeding point is attained by the direct pressure of a metallic needle, either alone or assisted by a loop of wire. The advantages claimed by the originator of this method over the old silk ligature were, that the needles can be removed within forty-eight hours after introduction, allowing the wound to heal rapidly; and that, being metallic and non-porous, they do not cause irritation and suppura tion like the silk ligature. The catgut ligature, which is rapidly absorbed, is gradually superseding both the silk ligature and the acupressure needle. A volume entitled Acupressure, by Sir J. Y. Simpson, was published in 1864. ACUPUNCTURE, the name of a surgical operation among the Chinese and Japanese, which is performed by pricking the part affected with a silver needle. They employ this operation in headaches, lethargies, convulsions, colics, &amp;lt;kc.; and it has more lately been introduced into British practice for the cure of some forms of neuralgia. ADAFUDIA, a large town of Western Africa, in the country of the Felattahs, in 13 6 N. lat., 1 3 E. long., about 400 miles S.E. of Timbuctoo. It is surrounded by a mud wall. The neighbouring country is rich and