Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/80

60 ACCOLTI ACCUSATION cies. In order to secure this result, the ani- mals which have been imported must them- selves thrive and reach their usual term of existence, and produce offspring; the parent must willingly take the natural care of her young; the young animals must themselves have sufficient vigor to arrive at maturity and again reproduce their kind. Either one of these conditions may fail, and in certain in- stances have done so, notwithstanding that all the preceding ones had fully succeeded. Finally, in order that acclimatization may be in any case practically useful, the animals of the naturalized species must, in addition, be able in their new habitation to bear the labors or produce the material for the sake of which man has taken them under his care. Plants may be acclimatized to a certain extent, and if slowly accustomed to a change of climate, and well cared for, they . will in their offspring undergo changes which will fit them for the new conditions under which they live.. Ex- periments in this direction have in some in- stances met with unexpected success ; and on the ground of this, societies have been fonned in some of the principal European cities to accomplish the acclimatization of sub-tropical und some tropical plants to their latitude, and also of those belonging to colder regions. in 01. 1 1, Benedetto, an Italian lawyer, born at Arezzo in 1415, died in 1466. He became secretary of the Florentine republic in 1459. He is said to have had so fine a memory that, having heard an ambassador of Hungary de- liver a Latin speech before the senate of Flor- ence, he repeated it afterward, word for word. He wrote a work on the first crusade, from which Tasso drew the materials for his Geru- salemme liberata. ACCOMACK, an E. county of Virginia, border- ing on Maryland, and forming with Northamp- ton county, from which it was set off in 1672, the peninsula on the E. side of Chesapeake bay ; area, 480 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 20,409, of whom 7,842 were colored. The surface is level and the soil light and moderately fertile. In 1870 the productions were 530,560 bushels of corn, 336,860 of oats, 97,730 of Irish and 212,507 of sweet potatoes, 7,991 Ibs. of wool, and 40,284 of butter. Capital, Accomack Court House, or Drummond Town. ACCORDION, a musical instrument, invented by Damian at Vienna in 1829, the sounds of which are produced by the action of the wind from bellows upon metallic reeds. It is played altogether by the hands, in which it is held. ACCRA, a country in western Africa, on the Gold Coast, over which England and Denmark exercise jurisdiction. The British division consists of Fort St. James, in lat. 5 32' N., Ion. 12' W., and a very small terri- tory, with a negro population of about 3,000. Crevecoeur, situated about one mile E. of Fort St. James, is an ancient Dutch settlement, which was destroyed by the English in 1782, partially rebuilt in 1839, and ceded to Eng- land in 1872. Accra is said to be one of the most salubrious localities on the coast. ACCRINGTON, a town of Lancashire, Eng- land, 19 m. N. of Manchester, divided into Old and New, the latter the larger and of recent growth; pop. in 1861, 19,688; in 1851, 9,747. It is situated in a deep valley, is the centre of the Manchester cotton-printing business, and has besides several cotton factories, dyeing, bleaching, and chemical works, and coal mines. The streets are well paved and lighted. ACCUSATION, a table posture, between sit- ting and lying, invented by the Greeks and adopted by the Romans and Jews. About the low dining table were placed two or three long couches, furnished with more or less sumptuous draperies, on each of which lay usu- ally three persons, on their left side, resting either their heads or elbows upon pillows, the Accubation. the third. The middle place was considered the most honorable. Though this posture was at first considered immodest for Roman ladies, feet of the first being behind the back of the second, and those of the second behind that of they soon indulged in it ; but it was never per- mitted to children or persons of mean condition.