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account of intermarriages, or the like. Quartering is also used for jjdistinguishing younger brothers from the elder. See Heraldry", jlCounter-Quartering a Coat, is when the quarters are jsubdivided each into four. There are counter-quartered coats that !have twenty or twenty-five quarters.

Quartering, or Quartkrization, is part of the punishmentof a traitor, which consists of dividing his body into four quarters.

QUARTERLY, in heraldry. A person is said to bear quarter-ly, when he bears arms quartered.

QUARTERN, a diminutive of quart, signifying a quarter of a :pint. See Measure. i

QUARTILE, an aspect of the planets, when they are three jsigns, or !)0° distant, marked thus □ . ij

QUARTO, or 4TO , a book of which four leaves, or eight pages, jlmake a sheet. jj

Quarto-Decimans, an ancient sect in the Christian church, !"'ho taught that Easter should always be celebrated according to jthe c ustom of the Jews , on the fourteenth day of the moon in the jmonth of March, whensoever that day fell out. And hence theyderived their name quarto decimani, q. d. I'ourteenthers.

QUARTZ, in mineralogy, a species of the Flint genus, winch isdivided into live sub-species, viz. the Amethyst ; the rock-crystal;milk-quartz; common-quartz; and prase. The rock-crystal iswhite, passing to brown through all the intermediate shades. Itoccurs rarely massive, often in rolled pieces, and often in crystals ofdifferent forms. Externally, the crystals are generally splendent,the rolled pieces are only glistening ; internally, they are splendent !and vitreous. It is harder than glass, and gives vivid sparks whenstruck against steel. It is brittle, and easily frangible. Specificgravity 2.65 when pure. It is composed of

Silica.93.0

Alumina. . . 6.0

Lime... 1

100

It is found in abundance in the Alps; also in Hungary, Saxony ,and in many parts of the British islands. It is used as an articleof jewelry, and is very much prized, particularly the wine andorange-yellow.

QUASHING, in law. .The overthrowing and annulling of anything.

QUASI, As if; used in several law-terms: such as

Quasi Contract, in the civil law, an act without the strictform of a contract, but yet having the torce thereof.

Quasi Chime, or Quasi Delicit, in the civil law, the actionof a person who does damage, or evil, involuntarily. The repa-ration of quasi crimes consists in making good the damages, withinterest.

QUASS, a fermented liquor drunk in Russia .

QUASSIA, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, anddecandria class of plants ; natural order, Gruinales. It was so na-med from Quassi, a negro-slave, who discovered its virtues. Calyxfive-leaved; petals five; nectary tive-leaved ; perianth five, dis-tant, each having one seed. 'I here are three species, viz. Q.amai'R, Q. excelsa, or polygama, and Q. simaruba.

QUATCH EOU, a town of Asia , in Ilami: 33 miles E. ofTche-tcheou. Lon. 94. 30. E. Lat. 40. 28. N.

QUATFORD, a town of England, in Shropshire; on the Se-vern : a mile below' Bridgnorth .

QUATRAIN, [quatrain, Er.] a stanza of four lines rhymingalternately.

QUATRIDI, the fourth day of the decad in the new Frenchcalendar.

QUATUORV1R, in antiquity, formerly written IIII.Vir, aRoman magistrate, who had three colleagues joined with him inthe same administration, and had the care of conducting and set-tling the coh.nies sent into the provinces. There were also qua-tnorviri appointed to inspect and take care of repairs, Ac .

QUAVER, in music, a measure of lime equal to half a crotchet,or an eighth part of a semibreve.

QUAY, or KEY, a long wharf, usually built of stone, by theside of a harbour or river, and having several storehouses for theconvenience of Jailing and discharging merchant-ships; with posts

andring , wn-reoy they are secureu ; together with cranes, cap-sterns, ana other engines, to lift the goods into or out of the vesselswhich lie along side. The old verb cujare, according to Scaliger ,signifies to keep in or restrain; and hence key or quay, the groundwhere they are made being bound in with planks or posts.

QUEBEC, a handsome and large town of America , capital ofCanada, 312 miles from the sea-coast, and 590 N. W. of Boston .Lon. 71.0. W. Lit. 46. 49- N.

QUKDA, a kingdom of Asia , in the peninsula beyond theGanges, and near the strait of.Malacca . The king is tributary toSiam .

Q.ueda, the capital of the above kingdom, 300 miles N. of Ma-lacca . Lon. 100.5. E. Lat. 7. 5. N.

QUEHLINGBURG, a town in Upper Saxony, 10 miles S. E.of Halberdadt. Lon. 11.34. E. Eat. 52. 1. N.

QUEE1.A, a town of Africa, in the kingdom of Fezzan , N. ofJeimal, and E. of Mourzook ; in which are relics of ancient build-ings, cisterns, See. that testify its former splendor.

QUEEN, a woman who holds a crown singly, in her own right.The title of queen is given by war of courtesy to her that ismarried to a king, who is called by way of distinction QueenConsort.

Queen Dowager, the widow of the king, and as such enjoysmost of the privileges belonging to her as queen consort; no mancan marry her without special license from the king, on pain offorfeiting his lands and goods.

Quf.f.n Anne, a county of Maryland , bounded on the N. byKent county, and W. by Chesupeak bay. It is 14 miles long fromN. to S. and 6j broad. It is low but fertile; its E. side is border-ed with salt-marsh. Kent island belongs to it.

Queen Anne, a town of Maryland , in Prince George’s county,13 miles S. W. of Annapolis, and 39 S. by W. of Baltimore .

QUEENBO ROUGH, a town of the isle of Shcppey in Kent.Lon. 0 .50. E. Lat. 51.25. N.

Quf.enborougij, a town of S. Carolina , on the Great Pedee •76 miles N.N. E. of Charlestown. Lon. 79. 18. W. Lat 33*58. N. ' "

Quef.n Charlotte’s Island, an island in the S. Pacific ocean ,about 0 miles long and one broad. Lon. 138. 4. W. Lat. 19.18. S.

Queen Charlotte’s Islands , a cluster of islands in Hie N.Pacific ocean, near the W. coast of N. America . The largest is170 miles long, and from 10 lo 60 broad. They are called Wash-ington Isles, by the Americans. They are inhabited by a race ofpeople differing in language, features, and manners, from all theother tribes of this coast. They extend from Lon. 129. 54, to 133.18. W. and from Lat. 51. 42. to 54. 18. N.

Queen Charlotte’s Sound, a sound on the N. extremity ofthe S. island of New Zealand , near Cook’s Strait. 'The climate ismild, and vegetables abound on the coast. Lon. 174. 19 . p. Lat.41.6. S.

Queen Charlotte’s Sound, a bay of the N. Pacific Ocean ,on the W. coast of America ; 80 miles long from E. to W. and 20fiom N. toS. Lon. 126° to 128° W. lit. from 50" 30'to 51*10' N.

Queen-Gold, is a royal duty or revenue belonging to everyqueen of England during her marriage to the king, payable bypersons in this kingdom and Ireland , on divers grants of the kingby way of line or oblation, Ac . being one full tenth part above theentire fines, on pardons, contracts, or agreements, which becomesa real debt to the queen, by the name of durum regime, upon theparty’s bare agreement with the king for his line, and recording thesame.

Queen’s County, a county of the province of Leinster in Ire-land ; so called from Queen Mary I. in whose reign it was firstmade a county by lh<: earl of Sussex, then lord deputy. It isbounded on the S’, by Kilkenny and Calherlogh. 'l'liis county wasanciently full of bogs and woods, though now preltv wei! inclosed,cultivated, and inhabited. 'Pile baronies contained in it are 7, andit sends two members to the imperial British parliament.

Queen’s County', a county of New York , the middle countyof Long island . It is 30 miles long and 12 broad.

QUEENSFERRY, a royal borough in Scotland , on the S,bank of the Frith of Forth. Lon. 3. 20. \V. Lat. 56. 0. Nv

QUE-ESTA1 E, in law, a plea whereby a man entitling him-self