Under the emperors, the archivist was an officer of great dignity, held equal to the proconfuls, vetted with the quality of a count, ftyled clariffimus, and exempted from all public offices and taxes. Among the ancient Greeks and Pertians, the truft was committed to none but men of the first rank; among the Franks, the clergy being the only men of letters, kept the office among themselves. Since the erection of the electoral college, the Archbishop of Mentz has had the direction of the archives of the empire. ARCHMARSHAL, the grand marfhal of the empire, a dignity belonging to the elector of Saxony. ARCHONS, in Grecian antiquity, were magistrates See the appointed after the death of Codrus*. They were choarticle At-fen from the moft illuftrious families till the time of Ariftides, who got a law paffed, by which it was enacted, that, in electing thefe magiftrates, lefs regard fhould be paid to birth than to merit. The tribunal of the archons was compofed of nine officers. The firft was properly the archen; by whofe name the year of his adminiftration was diftinguished. The title of the fecond was king; that of the third, polemarchus: to thefe were added fix the motheta. Thefe magiflrates, elected by the fcrutiny of beans, were obliged to prove, before their refpective tribes, that they had fprung, both in their father's and their mother's fide, for three defcents, from citizens of Athens. They were likewife to prove that they were attached to the worship of Apollo, the tutelary god of their country; that they had in their houle an altar confecrated to Apollo; and that they had been refpectfully obedient to their parents; an important and facred part of their character, which promifed that they would be faithful fervants to their country. They were likewife to prove, that they had ferved in a military capacity the number of years which the republic required of every citizen: and this qualification gave the itate experienced officers; for they were not allowed to quit the army till they were 40 years old. Their fortune too, of which they were to inform thofe before whom they were examined, was a warrant for their fidelity. After the commiffioners, who were appointed to inquire into their character and other requifites, had made a report of them, they were then to fwear that they would maintain the laws; which obligation if they neglected, they engaged to fend to Delphi a ftatue of the weight of their bodies. According to a law of Solon, if an archon got drunk, he was condemned to pay a heavy fine, and fometimes even punished with death. Such magiftrates as the Athenian archons were well intitled to refpect. Hence it was eternal infamy to infult them; and hence Demofthenes obferved, that to treat the thefmothete with difrespect, was to show difrefpect to the republic. Another qualification indifpenfably required of the fecond officer of this tribunal, who was called the king, was, that he had married the daughter of an Athenian citizen, and that he had efpoufed her a virgin. This was exacted of him, fays Demofthenes, because part of VOL. II. Part. I. , his duty was to facrifice to the gods jointly with his Archon wife, who, inftead of appeafing, would have irritated them, if he had not poffeffed both those honours. The inquiry into the private title of the nine archons was very fevere; and this attention was the more neceffary, as they had a right to take a feat in the Areopagus, after they had quitted their office, and given an account of their adminiftration. When any obfcurity occurred in the laws relative to religion and the worship of the gods, the interpretation was fubmitted to the tribunal of the archons. Ariftotle obferves, that Solon, whofe aim was to make his people happy, and who found their government in his time ariftocratical, by the election of the nine ar chons, who were annual magiftrates, tempered their power, by cftablishing the privilege of appealing from them to the people, called by lot to give their fuffrage, after having taken the oath of the Heliaftae, in a place near the Panathenæum, where Hiffus had formerly calmed a fedition of the people, and bound them to peace by an oath. The archons were the principal officers, not only in civil, but likewife in facred matters, and efpecially in the myfleries of Bacchus. The archons, however, who were furnamed eponymi, were chiefly employed in civil affairs; yet they prefided at the great feafts, and held the first rank there. Hence they are fometimes ftyled priests. ARCHON is alfo applied by fome authors to divers officers, both civil and religious, under the eastern or Greek empire. Thus bifhops are fometimes called archontes; and the fame may be faid of the lords of the emperor's court. We alfo read of the archon of the antimenfia, archon af archons, grand archon, archon of churches, archon of the gefpel, archon of the walls, &c. ARCHONTICI, in church-hiftory, a branch of Valentinians, who maintained that the world was not created by God, but by angels called Archontes.. ARCHPRIEST, ARCHPRESBYTER, a priest or prefbyter eftablished in fome diocefes, with a pre-eminence over the reft. Anciently the archprieft was the firft perfon after the bishop: he was feated in the church next after the bishop; and even acted as his vicar, in his abfence, as to all spiritual concerns. In the fixth century, there were found feveral archpriefts in the fame diocefe; from which time fome will have them to have been called deans. In the ninth century, they diftinguished two kinds of cures or parifhes: the fmaller governed by fimple prietts; and the baptifmal churches by archpriefts; who, befide the immediate concern of the cure, had the infpection of the other inferior priefts, and gave an account of them to the bishop, who governed the chief, or cathedral church, in perfon. There are archprefbyters still fubfifting in the Greek church; vefted with most of the functions and privileges of chorepifcopi or rural deans. ARCHTREASURER, the great treasurer of the German empire. This office was created with the eighth electorate, in favour of the elector Palatine, who had loft his former electorate, which was given to the duke of Bavaria, by the emperor Ferdinand II. who took it away from Frederic V. elector Palatine, after the battle of Prague, where he was defeated in maintaining his clection to the crown of Bohemia. The dignity of rentreafurer was contefted beKk tween Archtreafurer. ARCHILUTE, ARCILEUTO, a long and large lute, having its bass ftrings lengthened after the manner of the theorbo, and each row doubled, either with a little octave or an unifon. It is used by the Italians for playing a thorough bafs. ARCHYTAS of Tarentum, a philofopher of the ARCIS-SUR-AUBE, a fmall handfome town of ARCO, a strong town and caftle in the Trentin, of the ecliptic, round the poles of the equator, or of Arctium the world. ARCTIUM, BURDOCK: A genus of the polygamia æqualis order, belonging to the fyngenefia clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th order, Compofita-capitata: The calyx is globular; with fcales having hooks reflected at the tops.-The fpecies are three, viz. the lappa or common burdock, the tomentofum, and the perfonata. All these are troublesome weeds, fo require no direction for their culture. The tender ftems of the common kind, deprived of the bark, may be boiled and eat like 'sparagus. When raw, they are good with oil and vinegar. Boys catch bats by throwing the prickly heads of this fpecies up into the air. Cows and goats eat this herb; fheep and horfe refuse it; fwine are not fond of it. The feeds, which have a bitterish fubacrid taste, are recommended as very efficacious diuretics, given either in the form of emulfion, or in powder to the quantity of a dram. The roots, which tafte fweetish, with a flight aufterity and bitterifhnefs, are efteemed aperient, diuretic, and fudorific; and faid to act without irrita tion, fo as to be fafely ventured upon in acute disorders. ARCTOPHYLAX, (from xgxros, bear, and puxarls, I guard,) in aftronomy, a constellation, otherwise called Bootes. ARCTOPUS, in botany: A genus of the polygamia diœcia clafs; and in the natural method ranking under the 45th order, Umbellata. The umbella of the male is compound; the involucrum confifts of five leaves; the corolla has five petals; the ftamina are five; and two piftilli: The umbella of the hermaphrodite is fimple; the involucrum is divided into four parts, is spinous, large, and contains many male flowers in the difk. There is but one fpecies of arctopus, viz. the echinatus, a native of Ethiopia. ARCONA, a strong town fituated on the island of Rugen in the Baltic. It flood on'a high promontory, with the east, north, and fouth fides defended by fteep and lofty precipices, and the weft by a wall fifty feet high, proportionably thick, and fecured by a deep and ARCTOTIS, in botany: A genus of the polygamia broad ditch. It was, however, taken and ruined, in neceffaria order, belonging neceffaria order, belonging to the fyngenefia clafs of 1168, by Valdemar king of Denmark. One of the plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 49th conditions impofed by the conqueror was, that the in- order, Compofita-difcoides. The receptacle is briftly; the habitants fhould deftroy a temple they had erected to corona of the pappus is pentaphyllous; and the calyx St Vitus, and deliver up the vast treasure belonging to is imbricated with fcales loofe at the top. It is comthis tutelary faint. Another was, that they should pay monly called anemofpermos, from the resemblance of its 40 filver yokes for oxen, by way of tribute, and enter feeds to those of the anemone. The fpecies are 11; as foldiers in the Danish fervice when called upon. all of them natives of Ethiopia, or the Cape of Good ARCOS, a ftrong city of Andalufia, in Spain, Hope. Of these the anguftifolia with fpear-fhaped feated on a high craggy rock, at the bottom of which leaves, and the afpera with wing-fhaped woolly leaves,, runs the Gaudeleto. Its ftrength lies not only in its are most remarkable for their beauty, having rays of a fituation, but in the works erected for its defence, and fine yellow or deep gold colour. They flower in May it is inacceffible on every fide but one. The governor and June. refides in an old castle, from whence there is a delightful profpect, which extends very far into the neighbouring country. W. Long. 2. 10. N. Lat. 36. 40. ARCTIC, in aftronomy, an epithet given to the north pole, or the pole raifed above our horizon. It is called the arctic pole, on occafion of the conftellation of the little bear, in Greek called axos; the laft ftar in the tail whereof nearly points out the north pole. ARCTIC Circle is a leffer circle of the fphere, parallel to the equator, and 23° 30′ diftant from the north pole; from whence its name. This, and its oppofite, the antarctic, are called the two polar circles; and may be conceived to be defcribed by the motion of the poles Culture. All the fpecies of arctotis may be propa gated by cuttings; which fhould be frequently renewed, as the old plants are fubject to decay in winter. They may be planted in any of the fummer months, in a bed of light fresh earth; observing to shade them from the fun until they have taken root. They should be expofed to the open air until the latter end of October, or longer, if the weather is favourable, when they must be removed into the green-houfe. ARCTURUS, in altronomy, a fixed ftar, of the firft magnitude, in the conftellation of Aretophylax, or Bootes. The word is formed of «pxтos, bear, and "pa, tail; q. d. bear's tail, as being very near it. This Arcturus ftar Arcuation star was known to the ancients, as in the following verfe 11 of Virgil: A:dea. Arturam, pluviafque Hyades, geminofque Triones. See alfo Job ix. 9. xxxviii. 32. things as the heron tribe ufually feed on; alfo vegetables of all kinds. It often fleeps on one leg; runs very faft; and is faid not only to fly well, but to continue on the wing for a long time together. The flesh is faid to be very tough. ARCUATION, in gardening, the method of raifing trees by layers, which is done in the following manner: Strong mother-plants or stools must be planted in a clear border, and in a straight line, about fix feet afunder. When these have fhot five or fix main branches from the root, and as many collateral branches, the former must be bent to the ground, and there faftened. The small branches must be covered three inches deep upon the joints, and have a large bafon of earth made round them to hold the water. About the middle of September they may be open ed, and, if they have taken root, may be immediately removed into the nursery; but if they have not fufficiently extended their roots, they must be suffered to remain till the spring, and then tranfplanted. ARCUCCIO, ARCUTIO, a machine made of a board, covered with pieces of hoops, like the tilt of a waggon; ufed in Italy to prevent children from being overlaid and fmothered by nurfes or others. Every nurse in Florence is obliged to lay her child in an arcutio, under pain of excommunication. ARDAMON, or ARDAMA, in antiquity, a veffel of water placed at the door of a perfon deceased, till the time of burial, as a token that the family was in mourning, and to ferve to sprinkle and purify persons as they came out of the houfe. ARDASSES, in commerce, the coarfeft of all the filks of Perfia; and as it were the refufe of each kind. In this fenfe, they fay, the legis, the houfets, the choufs, and the payas ar laffes, to fignify the worst of thofe four forts of Perfian filks. ARDASSINES, in commerce, called in France ablaques; a very fine fort of Perfian filks, little inferior in finencfs to the fourbaftis, or rather cherbaffis, and yet it is little ufed in the filk manufactures of Lyons and Tours, because that kind of filk will not bear hot water in the winding. ARDEA, in ornithology, a genus of the order of grallæ. The general characters of this order are thefe: The bill is ftraight, fharp, long, and fomewhat compreffed, with a furrow that runs from the noftrils towards the point; the noftrils are linear; and the feet have four toes. Under this genus Linnæus comprehends the grus or crane, the ciconia or ftork, and the ardea or heron, of other authors. See Plates LIV. LV. 1. The firft fpecies is the pavonia, or crowned crane, which has an erect briftly creft, with the temples and two wattles naked. The head is black; the creft is yellowish, and tipped with black at the top; the wings are white; and the feathers of the tail black, and of an equal length. It is a native of Africa, particularly the coaft of Guinea, as far as Cape Verd; at this laft place they are faid to be exceedingly tame, and will often come into the court-yards to feed with the poultry. Thefe birds are often kept in our menageries, and, with shelter of nights, live a good while. Their chief food is fuppofed to be worms, and fuch other 2. The virgo, with a ftraight greenish bill and crimfon irides. The crown of the head is afh-colour; the reft of the head, the upper part of the neck behind, and all the under parts, to the breast, black; the back, rump, and tail, and all the under part from the breast, are of a bluish afh-colour: behind each eye springs a tuft of long white feathers, which decline downwards, and hang in an elegant manner: the quills and tail are black at the ends; the legs black. This fpecies is found in many parts of Africa and Afia, where they frequent marfhes and the neighbourhood of rivers, as their food is fifh, like most of the heron genus. It is frequently kept in menageries, being endowed with great gentlenefs of manners, added to its being an elegant bird. At various times puts itself into ftrange and uncouth attitudes, especially thofe which imitate dancing; and Keyfler mentions one in the Great Duke's gallery, at Florence, which had been taught to dance to a certain tune, when played or fung to it. The name this bird is known by in the eaft is kurki, or querky. Sometimes it will breed in confinement: one is recorded to have lived 24 years at Verfailles, where it had been bred. 3. The leucogeranos of Pallas, or Siberian crane of Pennant, is four and a half feet when standing erect. The bill is of a red colour; the irides are white: the plumage is white as fnow, except the 10 firft greater quills, with the coverts of them, which are black: the legs are long and red. This fpecies inhabits the vast marshes and lakes in Siberia, especially thofe about the Ifchim, and along the rivers Ob and Irtifh. It makes its neft among the reeds, feldom acceffible by man, upon rifing green graffy tufts, made up of herbs and grass heaped together; and lays two afh-coloured eggs, spotted with brown. They are fhy birds, and always upon their guard against an enemy; having a centinel to warn them of an approach: on the leaft alarm they cry aloud, not unlike the fwan, and fly off directly. The fportfman finds, in courfe, much difficulty in approaching them within gunshot; for, as they stand near five feet high from the ground, they are enabled to espy him at a greater diftance. Sometimes indeed he approaches them under cover of a stalking-horse, or other object; at other times a small dog will divert their attention, as they will without fear attack the dog, while his mafter gets within reach. In breeding time, however, they are more bold, as they will defend their young even against men, fo as to make it dangerous to come near their haunts. The male and female are faid to guard the nest by turns. 4. The grus, or common crane of English authors, has a naked papillous crown; the prime feathers of the wings are black; the body is afh-coloured; the prime feathers of the tail are ragged. This fpecies is far spread, being met with in great flocks throughout northern Europe and Afia; in Sweden, Ruffia throughout, and Siberia as far as the river Anadyr, migrating even to the arctic circle. In Kamtfchatka they are only feen on the fouthern promontory: are migratory, returning K k 2 north Arlea. |