about 12 pounds. If therefore the syringe be one inch in diameter, when one atmosphere is injected, there will be a resistance of 12 pounds against the piston; and when 10 are injected, there will be a force of 120 pounds to be overcome; whereas ten atmospheres act against the circular half-inch piston (whose area is only part so big) with only a force equal to 30 pounds; or 40 atmospheres may be injected with such a syringe, as well as 10 with the other. In short, the facility of working will be inversely as the squares of the diameter of the syringe.

AIR-SHAFTS, in mining. See MINING.

ALARM, is a sudden apprehension upon some report, which makes men run to their arms to stand upon their guard; it implies either the apprehension of being suddenly attacked, or the notice given of such an attack being actually made; generally signified by the firing of a cannon, the beat of a drum, &c.

ALARM-Post, in the field, the ground appointed by the quarter-master general for each regiment to march to, in case of an alarmi.

ALARM-Post, in a garrison, is the place allotted by the governor for the troops to draw up in, on any sudden alarm.

Fulse-ALARMS, are stratagems of war, frequently made use of to harrass an enemy, by keeping them perpetually under arms. They are often conveyed by false reports, occasioned by a fearful or negligent sentinel. A vigilant officer will sometimes make a false alarm, to try if his guards are strict upon duty.

ALARM-Bell, the bell rung upon any sudden emergency, as a fire, mutiny, approach of an enemy, or the like, called by the French, Tocsin.

ALCANTARA, knights of a Spanish military order, who gained great honour during the wars with the Moors.

ALERT, originally derived from the French word alerte, which is formed of a and airte. The French formerly said airte for air; so that alerte means something continually in the air, and always ready to be put in action. A general is said to be alert when he is particularly vigilant.

To be kept upon the alert, is to be in continual apprehension of being sur

prized. Alerte, among the French, is an expression which is used to put soldiers upon their guard. It is likewise used by a post that may be attacked in the night, to give notice to the one that is destined to support it; and by a sentry to give warning when any part of the enemy is approaching. We have had an || alert, is a military phrase.

ALGEBRA, the science of numbers in general, in which, by general marks for numbers and others for operations with them, the properties of numbers are demonstrated, and questions relative to them are solved in an easy and concise manner. This science has been rendered obscure by an affectation of mystery, and the supposition, that numbers might be less than nothing, and impossible. But as number is definite in itself, and one of the clearest ideas, whenever such a mysterious expression occurs, it must be owing to the negligence of the person using it, not to any fault in the science. The study of this easy branch of knowledge might be recommended to officers in general, from the example set them by Descartes, the great philsopher of France, who when a young man, and encamped near an university, solved a difficult problem, which exercised the talents of their deepest students. To officers in the ordnance department the knowledge of Algebra is indispensably necessary. See Mr. Frend's very able publication on this science.

ALIEN, in law, implies a person born in a foreign country, not within the king's dominions, in contradistinction to a denizen, or natural-born subject.

ALIGNEMENT, implies any thing strait-For instance, the alignement of a battalion means the situation of a body of men when drawn up in line. The alignement of a camp signifies the relative position of the tents, &c. so as to form a strait line, from given points.

ALLAY. See ALLOY.

ALLE, in the ancient military art, the two wings or extremes of an army ranged in order of battle.

ALLEGIANCE, in law, implies the obedience which every subject ought to pay to his lawful sovereign.

Oath of ALLEGIANCE, is that taken by the subject, by which he acknow

ledges

lede de king his lawful sovereign.
itaphed to the oath taken by
efs and soldiers in pledge of their
to the monarch, prince, or state,
which they serve.
ALLEGIANT, loyal.

ALLEZER, Fr. to cleanse the mouth fan or other piece of ordnance, and to crease the bore, so as to pro

tuce as determined calibre. ALLEZOIR, Fr. a frame of timber iry suspended in the air with strong on which is placed a piece of ace with the muzzle downwards. the stuation the bore is rounded and ared by means of an instrument wca has a very sharp and strong edge made to traverse the bore by men or tres, and in an horizontal direction. ALLEZURES, Fr. the metal taken

the cannon by boring. ALLIAGE, a term used by the Frach, to denote the composition of es used for the fabrication of cana and mortars, &c.

ALLIANCE, Fr. in a military sense, spies a treaty entered into by sove

praces and states, for their mual safety and defence. In this sense arances may be divided into such as are five, where the contracting parties tge themselves jointly to attack some her power; and into such as are defee, whereby the contracting powers bad themselves to stand by, and defend the another, in case of being attacked ny other power.

Amances are variously distinguished, ading to their object, the parties in ,&c. Hence we read of equal, unaa, triple, quadruple, grand, offensive, desive alliances, &c.

ALLODIAL, independent; not feu

The Allodii of the Romans were kodes of men embodied on any emneracy, in a manner similar to our voKader associations.

ALLOGNE, the cordage used with fat bridges, by which they are Fed from one side of a river to the

ALLONGE, Fr. a pass or thrust with arger or small sword; also a long rein en the exercising of horses. ALLOWANCE, a sum paid monthly or otherwise, as the case may be, for ervices rendered, &c. The French use the word traitement in this sense,

ALLOY, is the mixture of metals that enter into the composition of the metal proper for cannon and mortars.

ALLY, in a military sense, implies any nation united to another, under a treaty, either offensive or defensive, or both.

ALMADIE, a kind of military canoe, or small vessel, about 24 feet long, made of the bark of a tree, and used by the negroes of Africa.

ALMADIE, is also the name of a longboat used at Calcutta, near 80 feet long, and generally six or seven broad.

ALTIMETRY, the taking or measuring altitude, or heights.

ALTITUDE, height or distance from the ground, measured upwards, and may be both accessible, and inac cessible.

ALTITUDE of a figure, is the distance of its vertex from its base, or the length of a perpendicular let fall from the ver tex to the base,

ALTITUDE of a shot or shell, is the perpendicular height of the vertex of the curve in which it moves above the ho rizon. See GUNNERY and PROJ EC

TILES.

ALTITUDE, in optics, is usually considered as the angle subtended between a line drawn through the eye, parallel to the horizon, and a visual ray emitted from an object to the eye.

ALTITUDE, in cosmography, is the perpendicular height of an object, or its distance from the horizon upwards.

ALTITUDES are divided into accessible and inaccessible.

Accessible ALTITUDE of an object, is that whose base you can have access to, i. e. measure the nearest distance be tween your station and the foot of the object on the ground,

Inaccessible ALTITUDE of an object, is that when the foot or bottom of it cannot be approached, by reason of some impediment; such as water, or the like. The instruments chiefly used in measuring of altitudes, are the quadrant, theodolite, geometric quadrant, or line of shadows, &c.

ALTITUDE of the eye, in perspective, is a right line let fall from the eye, perpendicular to the geometrical plane.

ALTITUDE of motion, a term used by some writers, to express the measure of B

any

AMAZON, one of those women who inhabited the country so called. They are said to have composed a nation of themselves, exclusive of males, and to have derived their name from their cutting off one of their breasts, that it might not hinder or impede the exercise of their arms. This term has often by modern writers been used to signify a bold daring woman, whom the delicacy of her sex does not hinder from engaging in the most hazardous attempts. The last and former wars with France have furnished us with several instances of females who have undergone the fatigue of a campaign with alacrity, and run the hazards of a battle with the greatest intrepidity.

AMBIT, the compass or circuit of any work or place, as of a fortification or encampment, &c.

AMBITION, in a military sense, signifies a desire of greater posts, or preferment. Every gentleman in the army ar navy ought to have a spirit of ambition to arrive at the very summit of the profession.

AMBULANT, Fr. changing situation according to circumstances; hence Hopital ambulant, an hospital which follows the army; Chirurgien ambulant, a surgeon who follows the line of action. AMBUSCADE, a snare set for the enemy, either to surprise him when marching without precaution; or by posting yourself advantageously, and drawing him on by different stratagems, to attack him with superior force,

a

persons, in the following manner: the offender being delivered into the hands of the hangman, his shirt is stripped off, a rope put about his neck, and taper in his hand; then he is led into court, where he must beg pardon of God, the king, the court, and his country. Sometimes the punishment ends here; but sometimes it is only a prelude to death, or banishment to the gallies.

AMMUNITION, implies all sorts of powder and ball, shells, bullets, cartridges, grape-shot, tin and case-shot, carcasses, granades, &c.

AMMUNITION, or gun-powder, may be prohibited to be exported at the king's pleasure, by Car. II. cap. 4.

sect. 13.

Arms, utensils of war, or gun-powder, imported without licence from his majesty, are to be forfeited with treble the value. Such licence obtained, except for the furnishing his majesty's public stores, is to be void, and the offender to incur a premunire, and be disabled to hold any office from the

crown.

AMMUNITION bread, such as is contracted for by government, and served in camp, garrison, and barracks.

AMMUNITION shoes, shockings, shirts, stocks, &c. such of those articles as are served out to the private soldiers by government. See HALF MOUNTINGS.

AMMUNITION-Wagon, is generally a four-wheel carriage with shafts; the sides are railed in with staves and raves, and lined with wicker work, so as to carry bread and all sorts of tools. It is drawn by four horses, and loaded with 1200 pound weight. See WAGON.

AME, a French term, similar in its import to the word chamber, as applied to cannon, &c.!.

AMENDE Honourable, among the French, signifies an apology for some injury done to another, or satisfaction given for an offence committed against the rules of honour or military etiquette, and was also applied to an infamous kind of punishment inflicted upon traitors, parricides, or sacrilegious

AMNESTY, in a military or political sense, is an act by which two bellige rent powers at variance promise to forget and bury in oblivion all that is past.

AMNESTY is either general and unli mited, or particular and restrained, though most commonly universal, without conditions or exceptions; such as that which passed in Germany at the peace of Osnaburg in the year 1618,

AMNESTY, in a more limited sense,

denotes

AMPOULETTE, an old military used by the French to express the samusket, &c.

AMUSETTE, a species of offensive pon which was invented by the celeLale Marshal Saxe. It is tired off in the same manner as a musquet, but is early like a cannon. It has bres and of considerable use during the present war, especially among the Fe, who have arined their horse ar

with it, and have found it supeFar to the one adopted by the Prussians. The hat with which it is loaded is from end and a half to two pounds

* of lead.

AVABASII, in antiquity, were expes couriers, who carried dises of great importance, in the Ro

ANACLETICUM, in the ancient art , a particular blast of the trumwhereby the fearful and flying solfe were rallied and recalled to the

ANCIENT, a term used formerly to the grand ensign or standard of

ANCILE, in antiquity, a kind of which fell, as was pretended, heaven, in the reign of Numa ms; at which time, likewise, -a we was heard, declaring, that Rome be mistress of the world as long the should preserve this holy buckler. Authors are much divided about its pe: however, it was kept with great in the temple of Mars, under the on of twelve priests; and lest any d attempt to steal it, eleven others

were made so like it, as not to be distinguished from the sacred one. These Ancilia were carried in procession every year round the city of Rome.

ANDABATE, in military antiquity, a kind of gladiators, who fought hoodwinked, having a sort of helmet that covered the eyes and face. They fought mounted on horseback, or out of cha riots.

St. ANDREW, or the Thistle, a military order of knighthood in Scotland; the motto is Nemo me impune lacessit. The occasion of instituting this order is variously related by different authors. John Lesley, bishop of Ross, reports, that the night before the battle betwixt Athelstane, king of England, or rather Northumberland, and Hungus, king of the Picts, a bright cross, in the fashion of that whereon St. Andrew suffered martyrdom, appeared in the air to Hungus; he having gained the victory, bore the figure of that cross at all times after in his ensigns and banners; from which time all succeeding kings of Scotland have religiously observed the same bearing. Others assert, that this extraordinary appearance was not to Hungus, but to the Scots, whom Achaius, king of Scotland, sent to his assistance. This victory is said to have been obtained in the year 819 (though, according to Buchanan, Achaius died nine years before) and that Hungus and Achaius went bare-footed in solemn procession to the kirk of St. Andrew, to return thanks to God and his apostle, promising, that they and their posterity would ever use in their ensigns the cross of St. Andrew, which custom prevailed among the Picts, and continues among the Scots unto this day; and that both these kings instituted an order, which they named the order of St. Andrew.

Others, who allow that Achaius instituted this order, give the following account of its origin: Achaius having formed that famous league, offensive and defensive, with Charlemagne, against all other princes, found himself thereby so strong, that he took for his device the Thistle and the Rue, which he composed into a collar of his order, and for his motto, Pour ma defense, intimating thereby, that he feared not the powers of foreign princes, seeing he leaned on the succour and alliance of the French. And

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