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A. Betula lias springy legs, and the whole body is of a darkred. It irequents the leaves of the birch.

A- Coryi. 1 is black, with red elytra, or crustaceous wings.

A. Melanurus is black, with "testaceous elytra, blaclT at theapex.- 1 1 is a native of Sweden .

ATTEMPhiRAl lON, in rhetoric, &c. the casting a restric-tion, or softening, on something said by the formulas, Faina est,tit perhibcnt, &c.

ATTENUANTS, or ATTENUATING MEDICINES,are such as subtilize and break the humours into finer parts; andthus dispose them for motion, circulation, excretion, &c. Atle-nuating and inciding medicines are of very extensive use inphysic, and come under different denominations, according tothe different effects they produce.

ATTENUATION , in medicine, the lessening the power orquantity of the morbific matter.

ATTERBURY, Bp. Frax- ers, son of Dr. Lewis Atterbury ,was born at Milton in Buckinghamshire , 1662 ; he was educatedat Westminster school, from whence he was elected to Christ-church , Oxford, in 1681. In 1687 he took his degree of M. A.and the same year vindicated the character of Luther againstObadiah Walker . lie had for a pupil the hon. Charles Boyle,whom he assisted in his controversy with Bentley. In 1691," hecame to London , where his eloquence brought him into notice ;he became chaplain to William and Mary , lecturer of St. Bride’s,and preacher at the Bridewell chapel. In 1712 he was made deanof Christchurch , and the year following promoted to the bishopricof Rochester , and the cleanry of Westminster. The death ofque.en Anne put a stop to further advancement. When the rebel-lion broke out in Scotland lie and bishop Smalridge refused tosign the Declaration of the Bishops; besides which Atterbury drew up some violent protests in the house of lords. In 1772he was apprehended on suspicion of being engaged in a plot tobring in the pretender, for whicli he was committed to the Tower.An act of parliament having passed, though not without muchopposition, for “ inflicting pains and penalties on the bishop,”he was banished for life, and left the kingdom in June 1723. Fiedied at Paris in 1731. The proceedings against him were arbitraryand illegal; his remains were brought to England and interredin Westminster Abbey . Not long before his death he publisheda vindication of himself, bishop Smalridge and dean Aldrich,from the charge brought against them, of having corrupted theMS. of lord Clarendon’s history. Bishop Atterbury was a man of great learning and brilliant talents, and he shines as a finewriter and an elegant preacher. Bishop Attevbury’s “ Sermons”are extant in four volumes in octavo: those contained in the twofirst were published by himself, and dedicated to his great patronSir Jonathan Trelawny, bishop of Winchester; those in the twolast were published alter his death, by Dr. Thomas Moore , hislordship’s chaplain . Four admirable “ Visitation Charges” ac-company his “ Epistolary Correspondence.”

ATTESTATION, in military affairs, is a certificate made bysome justice of the peace, within four days after the enlistmentof a recruit. This certificate is to bear testimony that the saidrecruit has been brought before him in conformity to the mutinvact, and has declared his assent or dissent to such enlistment; andif duly enlisted, that the proper oaths have been administered,and that the 2nd and 6th sections of the articles of war against de-sertion have been read to him.

ATTIC Base, a peculiar kind of base used bv the ancientarchitects in the Ionic order; and by Palladio, and some others,in the Doric .

Attic Muse, a fine poetic vein.

Attic Order, or Attics , in Architecture, a kind of littleorder, after the manner of a pedestal, raised upon another largerorder, by wav of crowning, or to finish the building. SeeArchitecture.

Attic Salt, a delicate poignant kind of wit, peculiar to theancient Athenians . The term is applied to any similar piece ofhumour in modern writings.

Attic Story, in architecture, a story in the upper part of ahouse, where the windows are usually square.

Attic Witness, a witness incapable of corruption.

ATTICA, an ancient State of Greece , situated along the N.coast of the gulph of Saron, bounded on the W. by Megara,mount Cithxron, and part of Bocotia ; on the N. by the gulph of

Euripus, (now called Stretto di Negro-polite, or the Strait of Ne-gropont,) and the rest of Bmotia ; and on the E. by the Euripus.It extended in length from N. \Y. to S. E. about 60 miles;its breadth from N. to S. was 36, decreasing as it approached thesea. Tiie soil of this country was naturally barren and craggy,and hence was less exposed to invasions than other more fertilecountries ; and on this account it preserved its ancient inhabitants,beyond all the other neighbouring kingdoms: so that, they werereputed to be the spontaneous productions of the soil; and, asa badge 6f this, Thucydides tells us, they wore golden grass-hoppers in their hair, 'l'he inhabitants were denominated Athe-nians. 'l he chief cities were Athens the capital ; Eleusis , nearthe coasts of Megara; and Rhamnus, famed for the temple ofAmphiaraus , and the statue of the goddess Nemesis.

ATTICUS, one of Gaiba’s servants, who boasted that lie hadkilled Otho. Also T. Pomponius, who received the surname ofAlticus, from his great knowledge of the Greek language. Cicero addressed a great inanv letters to him which are still extant anddivided into seventeen" books. lie died regretted by all goodmen, in his 77th year, B. C. 32. His life is elegantly written byCornelius Nepos, his intimate friend .

ATTIGNY, an ancient town of France , in the department ofArdennes, 20 miles N. E. of Rheims .

ATTILA, king of the Huns, lived in the 5th century. Hewas sirnamed the Scourge of God, a title which all offensive con-querors have more or less merited, though none but Attila is re-corded to have assumed and gloried in it. lie may justly indeedbe ranked among the greatest of those murderers, called con-querors; for theie was scarcely any province in Europe , whichdid not feel the weight of Ills victorious arms. Attila deducedhis descent from the ancient Huns, who had formerly contendedwith the monarchs of China . His features, according to theobservation of a Gothic historian, bore the stamp of his nationalorigin ; and the portrait of Attila exhibits the genuine deformityof a modern Calmuck; a large head, a swarthy complection,small deep-sealed eyes, a hooked nose; a few hairs in the placeof a beard, broad shoulders, and a short square body, ofnervous strength, though of a disproportioned form.

ATTITUDE, [from utto, Ital.j the posture or action in whicha statue or painted figure is placed.

ATTIUM, a promontory on the N. W, of Corsica, now calledPunta di Acciuolo.

ATTLEBO ROUGH, a town inNorfolk, 12 miles from Norwich.

ATTOLLENS, in anatomy, an appellation given to severalmuscles otherwise called levatores andelevatores. See Anatomy.

ATTORNEY, [ attenuutus , low Lat. from tour, Fr. Celuigui rinU a tour d’ uutrui; qui alterius vices subit.'\ such aperson as by consent, , commandment, or request, takes uponhim the charge of other men’s business, in their absence.

Attorney at Law is one who is put in tlr; place, stead, orturn, of another, to manage his matters of law. Formerly everysuitor was obliged to appear in person, to prosecute or defend hissuit (according to the old Gothic constitution,) unless by speciallicence under the king’s letters patent. This is still the law incriminal cases: and an idiot cannot to this day appear by at-torney, but in person: for he hath not discretion to enable him toappoint a proper substitute ; and upon his being brought beforethe court m so defenceless a condition, the judges are bound tofake care of his interests, and they shall admit the best pica inIris behalf, that any one present can suggest. Attorneys, beingproperly those who sue out writs or process, or commence, curryon, anti defend actions, in any of the courts of common law, aredistinguished from solicitors, as tlVe latter do the same business inthe courts of equity; and none are admitted, either as an attor-ney or solicitor, unless they have served a clerkship of fiveyears, been enrolled, and taken the oath in that case provided ;and the judges of their respective courts are required to examinetheir several capacities. By 34 Geo. Ill. c. 14. a stamp duty of100L is charged upon all articles of clerkship to an attorney orsolicitor. Also, every attorney, solicitor, notary, proctor, oragent, within the bills of mortality, shall annually take out a cer-tificate, charged with a stamp duty of 5/. and of 3 1. in anv part ofthe kingdom. Attorneys may he punished for ill practices; andif an attorney, or his clerks, of which he must have but two at onetime articled, do any thing against the express.rules of the courthe or they may be committed. Neither a plaintiff nor defendan,

may