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therefore, that the phenomena of attraction are matter of physicalconsideration, and as such, entitled to a share in the system ofphysics ; but that the causes thereof will only become so whenthey become sensible; i. c. when they appear to be the effect ofsome other higher causes; for a cause is no otherwise seen than asitself is an effect, so that the first cause must needs be always invi-sible: we are therefore at liberty to suppose the causes of attrac-tion what we please, without any injury to the effects. The illus-trious author himself seems a little inaetermined as to the causes;inclining sometimes to attribute gravity to the action of an imma-terial cause, (Ontics, p. 343, &c.) and sometimes to that of a ma-terial one. (lb. p. 325.) The cause even of any of the grossestand most sensible action, is not adequately known. How impulseor percussion itself produces its effects, i. e. how motion is com-municated by body to body, confounds die deepest philosophers;yet impulse is received not only into philosophy, but into mathe-matics ; and the laws and plurnomena of its effects make the greatestpart of common mechanics. The other species of attraction,therefore, in which no impulse is observable, when their phamo-fnena are sufficiently ascertained, have the same title to be pro-moted from physical to mathematical consideration; and this with-out any previous inquiry into their causes, to which our concep-tions may not be proportionate. Our great philosopher, then, farfrom adulterating science with any thing foreign or metaphysical,as many have reproached him with doing, has the glory of havingthrown every tiling of this kind out of his system, and of havingopened a new source of sublimcr mechanics, which, duly culti-vated, might be of infinitely greater extent than all the mechanicsyet known. It is hence alone we must expect to learn the man-ner of the changes, productions, generations, corruptions, &c.of natural things ; with all that scene of wonders opened to us bythe operations of chemistry'.
Attraction of Cohesion. See Cohesion.
Attraction of Mountains . Sc“e Mountains.ATTRACTIYES, or ATTRACTIVE REMEDIES, medi-cines externally applied, to rarefy any obstructed matter, so as torender it fit for discharge.
ATTRAIIENTS, in medicine, are the same with Maturants,Digestives, &c.
ATTRIBUTE, in physics, a quality determining something to beafter a certain manner.—Thus, understanding is an attribute ofmind, and extension an attribute of body.
ATTRIBUTES, in logic, the predicates of any subject, or wluitwav be affirmed or denied of any thing.
Attributes, in painting and sculpture, symbols added to seve-ral figures, to intimate their particular office and character.
Attributes, in theology, the several qualities or perfections of'the divine nature, or such as we conceive to constitute the properessence of God ; as his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, See.The heathen mythologists divided the Deity into as many distinctbeings as he had attributes. Tims, his power was Jupiter; hisabsolute will, Fate ; his wrath and vengeance, Juno ; &c.
ATTR1BUT1VES, in grammar, are words which are significantof attributes; and thus include adjectives, verbs, and particles,which are attributes of substances; and adverbs, which denotethe attributes only of attributes.
ATTRITION, the rubbing or striking of bodies one againstanother, so as to throw off some of their superficial particles.—The grinding or polishing of bodies is performed by attrition, theeffects of which are heat, light, fire, and electricity.
Attrition, among divines, a sorrow or repentance for sin,arising chiefly from the apprehension of punishment, and the lossof heaven ; and differs from contrition, in as much as this latteris conceived to arise from a love to God .
ATTUAU, a town of Arabia, in Yomen. Long. 42. 10. E.Lat. 15. 57. N.
ATWOOD’S MACHINE, a curious and useful apparatus,invented by the late Mr. Atwood to illustrate the doctrines of ac-celerated motion. This machine indicates at once the quantityof matter moved, the force which moves it, the space describedfrom rest, the time of description, and the velocity acquiied. SeeAtwood on Rectilineal and Rotatory Motion, p. 298, orGregory’s Mechanics, vol. ii. p. 64.
ATYS, the son of Croesus , king of Lydia, is reported to havebeen born tongue-tacked, and of consequence to have been dumbfor many years; till observing one of Cyrus’s soldiers going tovol.,3.—no. 22.
kill his father, his passion suddenly broke the membrane that heldhis tongue, and he cried out, “Save the king !”
AVA, a kingdom and town of Asia , in the peninsula beyond theGanges, bounded by Mogulstan on the W. and Siam on the S.Several large rivers run through this country, winch annually over-flow their oauks like the Nile, and thus render it extremely ier-lile. It has mines of lead and copper, together with some ot goldand silver, besides large quantities of the lineal oriental rubies,sapphires, emeralds, &c.
Ava, a kingdom and town of Japan , in the island of Xicoco.
Ava, a kingdom of Japan in the peninsula of Niphon.
Ava, a large river of Asia, which rises in Thibet , crosses thekingdoms of Bannali aild Pegu, and falls into the Bay Ot' Bengal byseveral mouths.
Ava, a long tract of coast, on the E. side of the Gulph ofBengal.
AUAD, a mountainous district of Arabia, in the province ofYemen .
AVADOUTAS, a sect of Indian Bramins, who in austerity sur-pass all the rest.
AVALANCHES, or LAVANCHES, prodigious snow-ballsthat frequently roll down the mountains in Savoy, particularlyMount Blanc , to the extreme danger of such adventurous travel-lers as attempt to ascend these stupendous heights. Some of theavalanches are about 200 feel diameter ; being fragments of theice-rocks which break by their own weight from the tops of theprecipices.
AVALON, a city of France, in the department of Yonne , 20miles S. E. of Auxerre , Long. 3. 58. E. Lat. 47. 30. N.
Avalon, or Avolon, a peninsula of Newfoundland .
AVANT, is defined by Mr. Chambers, a French preposition,signifying before, or any priority in respect to time, or place ;sometimes used in composition, in our language, but more usuallycontracted, and wrote vaunt, vant, or van.
Avant-Guard, [avantgarde, French, ] the van, the first bodyof an armv.
AVANFURINE, in natural history, a yellowish stone full ofsparkles, resembling gold, very common in France . An artificialimitation of it is made by mixing sparkles of copper with glass,while in fusion, which is used by enamellers, and to sprinkle uponwriting.
AVARICUM, a town in Gallia Celtica, now called Bourges .Long. 2. 28. E. Lat. 47. 5. N.
AVAST, [from hasta, ltal. it is enough,] a sea term, signifyingto stop, to hold, or to stay.
AVAUNCHERS, among hunters, the second branches of adeer’s horns.
AUBAGNE, a town of Provence, in France , seven miles S. E.of Marseilles . Long. 5. 52. E. Lat. 43. 17. N.
AUBE, a department of France , so named from the river
Aube, which rises in the department of L : ppcr Marne, andrunning through that of Aube, falls into the sea near Nogent . Itschief town is Troyes .
AUBENAS, a town and district of France in the departmentof Ardeche , which produces oranges, tigs, olives, walnuts, ches-nuts, trutiles, &c.
ALBENTON, a town of France , 10 miles S. of Yirvins.
AUBLTERRE/a town of France, 22 miles S. of Angouleme .Long. 0. 12. E. Lat. 45. 17. N.
AUBIGNE, D’, Theodore Agrippa, an illustrious French au-thor, grandfather of the famous Madame de Maintenon , was bornin 1550. He made such an early progress in letters, that he issaid to have translated Plato’s Grito, from the Greek into French ,when he was onlv eight years old. Ilis chief production is his“ Histoire Universelle, from 1550 to 1601 ; with a short accountof the death of Henry IV .” 3 vols. folio. The tiist vol. wasscarcely published, when the parliament of Paris condemned it tolie burnt ; as a “ work wherein kings ai'e treated not only withlittle respect, but even outraged!” lie died at Geneva, iiFlOdO,age 80.
Aubigne, or Aubigny, a smalltown of France , in the depart-ment of Cher.
AUB1N, AUBUN, or AUBIN DU CORMIER, a town ofFranc, 10 miles E. of Rennes .
Aubin, in horsemanship, a broken kind of gait, between anamble and a gallop, accounted a defect.
4 U AUBJN