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This is pra&iCcd every day by the Chinefe and Japanefe, and other nations in that part of the world. They perform the operation with a large gold, or filver needle, which they ftrike into the feveral parts of the body, either with their hand, or with a hammer made on purpoi'e. It is extremely fin-prizing that fo fevere and defperate an operation ftiould be pradtifed fo much by a people otherwife judicious, and that too in the head and breaft, as well as in the abdomen, arms, legs, thighs, and many other parts of the body, nay even in the abdomen of women with child, when the foetus is reftlefs. Heifter's Surgery p. 313.
The operators in the AcupunBure are called by a peculiar name, among the Chinefe^ Xinxieu ; among the Japanefe, Far- r'tatte. — In Kempfer, the former name is written Jenfuji, the latter Faritatte. Aft. Erud, Lipf. an. 1684. p. 341. Kempfer, Amcen. Exot. Fafc. 3. obf. 2. p. 585. We fometimes alfo find mention of an Acupuncture pradtifed in Europe ; but this amounts to no more than the perforating or opening a part, e. gr. the cornea, with the point of a needle ; which has been done with good fuccefs, for the cure of an hydropbthalmia and hypopyon-, Valentin, in Ephem. Germ. dec. 2. A. 6. p. 159. feq.
For the Chinefe operation of Acupuncture, the needle is made long, fliarp, fiender, of gold, or at leaft filver, with a wreathed handle : it is to be conveyed either by the hand, or a little mallet, into the part, gently, a finger's breadth* or more, as the cafe requires, and to be held there the fpace of thirty breathings* (if the patient can bear it) otherwife re- peated punctures are rather ufed.
It is chiefly ufed in difeafes of the head and lower belly : it is applied to the head, in head-aches, lethargies* convulfioiis, epilepfies, difeafes of the eyes, &C; To the abdomen, in cholics, dyfenteries, want of appetite, hyfterical diforders, furfeits, pains of the belly and joints, obftructions of the liver and fpleen, &c.
The furgeons keep images, wherein all the places in the body proper for the needle are defigncd by marks; M. Ten Ryne was an eye-witnefs of the ufe of this puncture on a foldier, who being afflicted with violent diforders of the ftomach, and frequent vomitings at fea, fuddenly relieved himfelf, by pricking a thumb's breadth deep into four different places about the region of his pylorus. Ten Ryn. DJff. de Acupundt. ap. Phil. Train". N°. 148. p. 231. feq. Kempf. loc. cit.
ACUS, in ichthyography, the name of a long and fiender fea fifh, of which there are two fpecies, a larger and a fmaller. The larger is often a cubit long, and not thicker than a finger. Its fnout is long, tubular, and not flit all the way up, but only open at the end j its eyes are prominent. From the head to the anus it is of an hexagonal figure, and from the anus to the tail it is fquare. The anus is nearly in the middle of the body, and near it is a long longitudinal fifTure for the eggs of the female. In all thefe refpects it very much refembles the hippocampus. It has two fins at the gills, and another on the back ; thefe are all very final!, and the laft, in particular, fcarce difcernible, unlefs when the fifth is alive and in motion. Its tail is a fmall ftngle fin. It has a hard variegated flan, and has fo little flefh about it, that it is not regarded as eatable. It is common in the Mediterranean, and is called by the Venetian fifhermen Bifcia, that is, the viper fifh. Its mouth is of a ftrange figure, opening upward at the end of the fnout. See Tab. of Fifties, N°. 25. Rondelet, de Pifc.
Acus fignifies alfo, with other authors, the Below or Papbix, called in Englifh the gar-fifh, and by fome the horn-fifh. The two diftinct kinds underftood by this too general term, arediftinguifhed by the names of the authors who firft named them ; the tobacco-pipe fifth, or that with the tubular nofe, being called the Acus of Ariftotle; and the gar-fifh, or that with the horizontal open mouth, the Acus of Oppian. This laft. is in fhape fomewhat like the former, being very long and fiender, with a round back, and a flat belly. Its nofe or fnout is very long, pointed and fharp, and its head flat. The back is of a greenifh colour, and the fides and belly of a filvery white. The head is of a bluifh green, and there is an obfeurely purple dotted line, which runs all along the back. The under jaw is longer than the upper, and both are thick fet with fliarp teeth. It has only one back fin, and its tail is forked. Willugbby, Hift. Pifc. p. 231. Bellonius has defcribed another fpecies of this fifh, which is fcaly, and has broader teeth, and is confiderably larger than the common one, which either has no fcales, or extremely mi- nute ones. Its dotted line on the back is faid by fome to be a fingle row of fcales ; and thefe authors affirm, that the fifh has no other. Rondelet, de Pile. p. 26. See the article La- certus.
Acus is alfo ufed by fome authors for the ammodytes, or fand- cel ; a fmall eel caught in the fands, tVMugbby, Hift. Pifc. p. 113. See Ammodytes.
ACUTE, {Cycl.) — Acute-angled cone, in geometry, is a right cone, the fection of which, through its axis, is an acute- angled triangle.
ACUTEIXA, in botany, a name ufed by fome to exprefs the common amfiis, or reft-harrow, a fmall prickly plant, with red or white flowers, and famous for its fpreading and tough roots. Ger t Emac. Ind. 2.
ACUTITION, orAcuiTiotf, in a general fenfe, the fame with acuating or fharpening.
Acutition, hi grammar, denotes the pronouncing, or mark- ing a fyllable with an acute accent. See Acote and Ac- cent, Cycl. The Acuition, fays Gaza, is where the found is higheft in
the pronunciation of a word Short fyllables are oftener
acuted than long ones. V. Ga%. Gram. Inftit. p. 64. Manwaring cries out againft the error of the moderns, in pronouncing acuted fyllables in the Greek as long, when they are naturally fiiort. Manwar. Stichol. c. 14. p. 55.
Acutition, or Acuition, in medicine and chemiftry, is ufed for fharpening, or increafing the force of any medicine. Cajhl. Lex, voc. Acuitlo.
ACUTENESS, {Cycl.) — The caufe or principle of the A'cute- Kefs of founds, is refolved into the greater degree of tenfion of the fonorous body ; by virtue of which, its parts vibrate more fwiftly, or make a greater number of returns in the fame time. But this is not the only principle, founds being alfo more or lefs acute, according to the fpecies of matter, and the lefs or greater quantity of it. Thus a filver body- yields a more acute found than a gold one : one fohd foot, than two ; a fhorter firing gives a more acute found than one that is longer, of the fame matter, diameter, and tenfion. V. Holder, on Harmon, c. 2. p. 6. and c. 4. p. 56. feq. Jour, des Scav: T. 35. p. 549. Hobb. Elem. de Corp. c. 29. p. 279. feq. Malcolm. Mufic. c. I. fee. 1. §. 3. p. 16. feq. lb. c. 14. fee. 4. §. 1. p. 500. Id. c. 2. §. I. p. 34. and c. 2. p. 44. See Chord.
ACU FIATOR, in writers of the barbarous age, denotes a per- Ion that whets, or grinds cutting initruments ; called alfo in antlent gloflaries, Acutor, Awnh^ Samiarius; Cobarius, &c. Du Cang. Gloff. Lat. T. 1. p. 51.
In the antient armies there were Acutiatorcs, a kind of fmiths retained for wetting or keeping the arms fharp. Actuin. Lex. Mil. T.i. p. 16:
ACYROLOGIA, denotes an improper acceptation, or ex- preflion, wherein a word or phrafe is ufed in fome unufual or oblique fenfe, hardly reducible to the rules of language. The word is Greek, uxv^oXoym, compounded of axv^, im- proper, and Vyos, fermo.
Such e. gr. is the word fpero fometimes ufed in Roman writers for timeo.
The Acyrologia bears a near affinity to the Catacbrefis, info- much that divers terms and expreffions, alledged as inftances of the latter, are by others brought as examples of the former.
AD bejlias, in antiquity, is underftood of a kind of punifhmc-nt of criminals, condemned to be thrown to wild beafts. V id. Kenn. Rom. Ant. P. 2. c. 3. 1. 20. p. 147. Calv. Lex. Jur. p. 36.
The term was alfo applied to a fort of gladiators hired to fight with wild beafts; Thefe were otherwife called bejliarii. Calv. loc. clt.
AD extra, a term ufed among fchool divines, in fpeaking of the eternal operations of the Godhead.
Acts or operations ad extra^ are properly thofe whofe term. or effect is not within the divine effence ; by which they ftand oppofed to operations ad Intra. Creation, prefervation^ regeneration, converfion, renovation, &c. are actions of God ad extra. Hebenjlr. Metaph. P. 3. fee. 2. c.4 p. 703.
AD intra, among fchool divines, is underftood of thofe aits of the divine being, whofe term and effect is within his own eflence. In which fenfe, acts or operations ad intra, ftand oppofed to thofe ad extra.
AD bominem, among logicians, is underftood of a kind of argu- ment drawn from the belief or principles of thofe we argue with, and which of confequence mull be conclufive to them, though otherwife difbelieved by us j or, it is where a dif- putant quits his own language and fyftem, and borrows that of his opponent, to convince him by turning his own preju- dices or errors againft himfelf. See Argument. This the fchoolmen call argumentum ad bominem, or KaT a»- 0§wt(.v. Bayle a made great ufe of the argument ad bominem. Sextus Empiricus argues ad bominem, from the popular opi- nions, to overthrow the popular fvftcm b . The apoflles themfelves appear to have argued ad bominem againft the Jews, from methods of interpretation pradtifed by them, and texts which they underftood as fpoken of the Mef- fia, though in reality they were fpoken of others c . This is what divines call the method or fyftem of accommodation. — [ a Vid. Bibl. Choif. T. 12. p. 255. b Bibl. Anc. Mod. T. 14. p. 32. & 92. c Bibl. Choif. T. 27. p. 410. It. T. 23. p. 433. Nouv. Rep. Lett. T. 18. p. 524.J See Accommodation and Accomplishment.
AD libitum, is fometimes ufed in mufic, for, fe piace^ at dis- cretion. Broff. Diet. Muf. p. 8.
AD ludos, in antiquity, a Roman fentence,. whereby criminals were condemned to entertain the people, either by fighting with beafts, or with each other, and thus executing juftice on themfelves. Ken. Rom. Ant. P. 2. 1. 3. e. 10. p. 147. See Gladiator, Cycl.
Ad metalla, in antiquity, the punifhment of being doomed to work in the mines. J&b. Rom, Ant. P. 2. 1. 3. c. 20. p. 147.
Criminals;
