26

ACQ

A C 11

times they can even distinguish whether anv person be in the room | tals, on opposite sides of a room. I.et a tin tube of an inch inor not. A great deal of furniture in a room checks in a great | ; diameter pass from the ear of one head through the pedestal uu-measure the sounds that are produced in it, for they hinder the i der (lie floor, and up to the mouth of the other. When a personfree communication of the viorations of the air from one part of } speaks low into the ear of one bust, the sound is reverberatedt!\e room to the other. The fittest rooms for declamation, or for ■ through the tube, and will lie distinctly heard by any person plac-music, are such as contain few ornaments that obstruct the sound, , ing his ear to the mouth of the other. The end of the tube whichand at the same time have the least echo possible. A strong and s! is next the ear of the one head should lie considerably larger thancontinued sound fatigues tiie ear. The strokes of heavy hammers, > that end which conies to the mouth of the other. If there be twoof artillery, &c. are apt to make people deaf for a time: and it ij tubes, one going to the ear, and the other to the mouth of eachhas been known that persons who have been long exposed to the il head, two persons may converse together, by applying theircontinued and confused noise of certain manufactories, or of wa- ;| mouth and ear reciprocally to the mouth and car of the bust-,ter-falh, or oilier noisy places, can hear what is spoken to them while oilier people standing in the middle of the room, betweenmuch better in the midst of that noise than elsewhere. The fol- .1 the heads, will not hear any part of the conversation,lowing experiments are entertaining: I l’.x. 3. l*’ip. 10, repre-ents the .'F.olian harp, probably invented

Experiment 1. Place a concave mirror, AH, fig. !), of two I by kireher. This instrument may he easily made; it con i-Us of afeet in diameter, in a perpendicular direction, and at the distance :! long narrow box of very thin deal, about live or six inches broad,of about five or six feet 1rom a partition E F, in which there is an d and two inches deep, with a circle in the middle of the upper side•opening equal in size to tlie mirror; against this opening place a jj of an inch and a half in diameter, in which are drilled small holes.

picture printed in water-colours, on a thin doth, that the soundmay easily pass through it. lieliind the partition, at the distanceof a few feet, place another mirror Gil, of the same size as tiieformer, and directly opposite to it. At tiie point C is to lie placedthe figure of a man seated on a pedestal, with his ear exactly inthe focus of the first mirror; his lower jaw must lie made to openby a wire, and shut by a spring. The wire must pass through the

On tlfis side seven, ten, or more strings of very line gut arestretched over bridges at each end, like the bridge of a fiddle,and screwed up or relaxed villi screw-pins. The strings are alltuned to one and the same note; and the instrument is placed insome current of air, where the wind can pass freely over its strings.A window with the sash just raised to give the air admission, is aproper situation. The air blowing upon these strings with diffe-

j;> ii YYllC} dim oJlV.lt u > a u|/i nil^< J uv, >1 itv. uiiiov. jJii.w uu c/u^u me j;i v|yi t iiiuinuuio 1 m till inuit 111;^ ti|ruu tin at, mi nif^u vviuii iiiuv.

figure, and under the iloor, to come up behind the partition. Let ; rent degrees of force, will excite dille,cut tones of sound; soinc-

a person properly instructed he placed behind tiie partition, nearthe mirror; any one may now whisper into tiie ear of the image, Swith the assurance of being answered. Tiie deception is managedby giving a signal to the person behind the partition, who by plac- ;ing his ear to the focus I, of the mirror G il, will hear distinctlywhat tiie other said, and moving the jaw of tiie statue by the con-cealed wire, will return the answer directly, which will be hearddistinctly by tiie first speaker. This experiment is taken from theCentury of inventions of the Marquis of \\ oreester.

Ex. 2. Let two heads of plaster of Paris be placed on pedes-

times the blast brings out all the tones in full concert, anil some-times it sinks them to tiie softest murmurs. The tension of tiiestrings should not be great, for then a gentle air could not makethem vibrate. There are different kinds of these instruments;one, invented by tiie Rev. IV. Jones, has (he strings fixed to asounding-board, or belly, within a wooden case, and the wind isadmitted to them through an horizontal aperture, in this formthe instrument is portable, and may he used any where in theopen air. For tiie ratios of Sound, 'Melody, &c. See Music.

W.

ACQS, a town at the foot of the Pyrenees , in the department jof Arriege. It is famous for hot springs in its neighbourhood,from which it takes its name. Lon. 1. 40. FI Lat. 43. 0. N. |

Accis, Auue, or Dax, a city on the river Adour, belonging tothe government of Guienne and Gascony, in France . 1 here arewarm baths both in the city and its environs. Lon. 1. 10. E. Lat.

43. 47. N.

AC QUA, a town in Tuscany famous for warm baths. Lon. 12.10. IL Lat. 43. 45. N.

Acqua-che-faveli.a, a celebrated fountain of Italy in Cala-bria Gitcrior.

ACQUAPENDENTE, a pretty large town of Italy in the pa-trimony of St. Peter, with a bishop’s see, 30 miles "N. by \V.trom Home. Lon. 12. 17. E. Lat. 42. 43. N.

ACQUARIA, a smail town of Italy , remarkable for its medici-nal waters. It lies 12 in. S. of Modena . Lon. 11. 19. E. Lat.

44. 12. N.

AC QUA VIVA, a small town, in Terra de Bari, a province ofNaples. Lon. lb. 20. E. Lat. 41. 10. N.

Acquaviva (Andrew Matthew), duke of Atri, and prince ofTeramo in the kingdom of Naples was horn in 1450. lie was-one of the greatest luminaries ot his age; and seems to have beentiie first who conceived the idea of an En< yelopjedia, or Univer-se l Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, lie published a work underthat title in 2 vols. fol. which, though scanty and defective, wassufficient to give some hints for conducting a compilation oi -thatkind. He died in 1528. .

ACQU EST, conquest; a place acquired by the sword.

Acuuest, in law, goods acquired by purchase or donation, notbv iieritag".

’ ACQU I, .a town of Italy , in the duchy of Montserrat, with abishop’s see, and commodious baths, it is seated on tiie riveiBo.mo, 25 miles N. \V. of Genoa. Lon. 8. 35. E. Lat. 44.4). N.

AC'QUt E.I’AN DIS pi.kgjis, a writ of. j articles lying for asurety against tiie creditor, Tint reius -s to acquit a debtor idler thedebt is paid- .1

AcauiF.TAX'ms in Shirts et IIundrf.dis, the being free fromsuits and services in shires and hundreds.

ACQUIETAIIE, in law, to disc harge or pay the debts of aperson deceased; as tiie heir those of his father, &c.

ACQUISITION, inlaw, the right or title to an estate obtainedhv purchase or donation.

: 'ACQUI TTAL is of two kinds: in law, and in fact. Whentwo are indicted of felony, the one as principal, the cither as acces-sory; the principal being discharged, the accessory is, hv conse-quence, also freed: in which case, as the accessory is acquitted bylaw, so is the principal in fact.

ACQUITTANCE, in law, a release or discharge in writingfor a sum of money, witnessing that the party has paid (lie saidj sum. No man is obliged to pay a sum of money, it the deman-! uant refuse to give an acquittance, which is a full discharge, andj bars all actions, &c.

ACHA, a land measure among the ancients, containing 10 feet,

; from which Salmasius supposes the word acre is derived,j Acra, a town of Africa, on the coast of Guinea , where the| English, Dutch , and Danes, have strong forts, and cacli fort itsparticular village. Lon. 0. 2. W. Lat. 5. U. ,N.

Acra, in ancient geography, one of-the lulls of Jerusalem , onwhich stood the lower town, or Old Jeru idem: to which was af-terwards added Zion.

Acra Japygia, in ancient geography, called Salcntia bvPtolemy; now Capo ili San Maria di Lrnca: A promontory inthe kingdom of Naples, to the south-east of Otranto .

AGILE, in ancient geography, a town of Sicily , which stood24 m. S. from Syracuse .

ACKAGAS, or AGHAGAS, in ancient geography, so calledby the Greeks, and sometimes by the Romans, but more generally-Agrigentum, by the l.ttcr; a town ot Sicily , it was a place ofgreat strength, standing on the top of a very steep rock, and ' ;washed on the S. side by tiie river Aeragas, now called I'iume diGergcnti. Lon. 13. 30. F. Lat, .37. 2o. N.

AURAL ; n Arabic void, signify ing either satyriasis, or fu-ror uii.RiNts, which see.

AURAPULA,