Vickipedia

CRYSTALLO’MANCY, a mode of divination by means of transparent bodies, at one time very popular. A precious stone, crystal globe, or other transparent object, was employed, but a beryl was deemed most effective. In using it, the operator first muttered over it certain formulas of prayer, and then gave it into the hands of a youth or virgin�none others were pure enough to discern its revelations�who beheld in it the information required. Sometimes the desiderated facts were conveyed by means of written characters on the crystal; sometimes the spirits invoked appeared in the crystal to answer the questions asked.

FIFTH MONARCHY MEN. Among the strange and whimsical forms of opinion which the religious and political fermentation of the 17th c. brought to the surface of society, and embodied in the shape of religious sects, were those of the Fifth Monarchy Men. The date which has been assigned to their first appearance is 1654.

Notwithstanding the ridicule with which they have often been overwhelmed, there seems nothing in their tenets more objectionable than we find in those of many of the other sects of the period, and there is no reason to believe that the practices of their leaders exceeded in absurdity, or equalled in impiety, those of Robbins, Reeve, Muggleton, and other apostles of the Ranters. In common with most persons who hold the literal interpretation of prophecy, they believed in the four great monarchies of Antichrist marked out by the prophet Daniel; and quite consistently with Christian orthodoxy, they added to them & fifth�viz., the kingdom of Christ on earth. So far, there was nothing peculiar in their views. But their error was twofold. 1st. They believed in the immediate, or at least in the proximate, advent of Christ (a tenet which was common to them with the early church); and 2d. They held that the fulfilment of God’s promise to this effect must be realized by the forcible destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist. Every obstacle which opposed itself to the setting up the Messiah’s throne was to be thrown down, and what these obstacles were was a question for the solution of which the only criterion which presented itself was their own fanatical prejudices and hatreds. It is obvious that such doctrines in such times must have given rise to practical as well as speculative disorder. The Fifth Monarchy Men became extinct as a sect shortly after the Restoration; a fact which, by depriving them of exponents of their own body, may have exposed them to misrepresentation (Marsden’s History of the Later Puritans, p. 387). In politics, the Fifth Monarchy Men were republicans of the extremest section; and when their conspiracy to murder the Protector, and revolutionize the government, was discovered in 1657, their leaders, Vennar, Grey, Hopkins, &c., were imprisoned in the Gate House till after the Protector’s death. Amongst their arms and ammunition which was seized, was found a standard exhibiting a lion couchant, supposed to represent the lion of the tribe of Judah, with the motto, ‘Who will rouse him up?’�Neal’s Puritans, vol. iv. p. 186. See also Carlyle’s Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches, vol. iii. p. 31.

AMERICA, spanish. Spanish A. is now shrunk into Porto Rico and Cuba, and belongs rather to history than to geography. Yet for many years it embraced absolutely the entire continent. Its decay was caused by the colonists becoming mere hunters after the precious metals, instead of agriculturists, and by the exclusion of all but natives of the mother country from public employment.

AMERICA, british. From the small beginnings specified in the general article above, British A., in the proper sense of the words, is now, in mere extent, at least equal to the American republic, and vastly superior to any other state in the western hemisphere�occupying, as it does, a breadth of about 90� of long, and stretching, with more or less interruption over a length of 120�. Besides touching, actually or virtually, every considerable power on the continent, England, in the new world as in the old, commands nearly every turning-point in navigation and commerce. In cooperation with Ireland, Newfoundland has linked together the two continents by submarine telegraph. Again, with the gulf and river of St. Lawrence as its main artery, British A., in its ordinary acceptation, comprising Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Canadas, confederated in one ‘Dominion,’ has received from nature an advantage in respect of the western mule winch even the energy of Pennsylvania and New York cannot counterbalance; Halifax, the Bermudas, and the Bahamas, are so many guardians of the gulf-stream, freighted as it is with the exports of half a continent. Jamaica forms the first link of a chain which girds the Caribbean Sea; Trinidad fronts the Orinoco, which is connected by the Cassiquiare with the Amazon; Western Guiana also, as already mentioned under another head, finds, up the Essequibo, its own communication with the ‘King of Waters;’ and, lastly, on the Atlantic side, the Falklands, with their Port Egmont, flank alike the river Plate and the Strait of Magellan. Round, again, in the Pacific, British A. exerts an influence, which is perhaps relatively greater. At the upper extremity of a coast which is, as a whole, singularly deficient in harbors, British Columbia, with its breastwork of islands from Vancouver’s upwards, and its succession of indentations, bids fair, more especially with its inexhaustible supplies of magnificent timber, to form an admirable base of operations for sustaining the maritime greatness of Britain.

AMERICA, russian, the name long given to what is now a territory of the United States, called Alaska, and which was purchased from the Russian government in 1867 for 7,200,000 dollars. It forms the north-western extremity of the American continent, and is bounded N. by the Arctic Ocean, E. by British America, W. and S. by the Pacific. It was discovered by a Russian expedition conducted by Behring (q. v.), which sailed from Kamtchatka in 1741. It is little better than a vast hunting-ground, and was long held by the Imperial Fur Company, which differed but little from the imperial government itself. Its only town, or rather village, worthy of the name, is New Archangel (now called Sitka), on the island of Sitka. The most noticeable points in geography are Cape Prince of Wales, on Behring’s Strait; Kotzebue’s Sound, Norton’s Sound, peninsula of Alaska, Cook’s Inlet, and Mount St. Elias.

ABO’RTION is the term used in Medicine to denote the expulsion of the product of conception (the impregnated ovum) from the womb before the sixth month of pregnancy. If the expulsion takes place after that date, and before the proper time, it is termed a premature labor or miscarriage. In law, no such distinction is made. The frequency of abortion as compared with normal pregnancy is very differently estimated by different writers ; but the best evidence leads us to the belief that abortion is of far more common occurrence than is generally supposed, and that it takes place on an average in one out of every three or four cases of pregnancy. The following are amongst the causes predisposing to this accident: (1) A diseased condition of either parent, and especially a syphilitic taint. (2) A peculiar temperament on the part of the mother. Those women who present a strongly-marked nervous or sanguine temperament seem to abort with singular facility; and the same tendency is observed in those in whom the catamenial or monthly discharges is abundant or excessive. Again, very fat women, while they have a tendency to sterility, are liable to abort when pregnancy does occur. Any cause interfering with the normal oxidation of the blood�as, for instance, the constant breathing of impure air, may provoke abortion�a fact excellently illustrated by the experiments of Brown-Sequard on pregnant animals (rabbits),when he showed that the application of a ligature to the windpipe excited uterine contractions, ending, if the experiment were continued long enough, in abortion, but ceasing if air was freely readmitted into the lungs. Change of climate, as from India to England, certainly predisposes to this accident; and it has been observed by various writers that great political events, the horrors of war, and famine, exert a similar action. The marvelous events that occurred in Paris in 1848 were speedily followed by an extraordinary number of abortions and of still-born children ; and a similar fact had been previously noticed by the elder Nagele and Hoffmann ‘during the famine of 1816 and during the siege of Leyden. Nor can there be a doubt that, amongst the causes predisposing to abortion, must be included the employment of such corsets and other garments as by their tightness interfere with the circulation of the blood, and alter the natural position of the womb and of the abdominal viscera. Many diseases supervening during the course of pregnancy, especially the eruptive fevers (as small-pox, scarlatina, &c.), almost invariably lead to abortion of a very dangerous character : and it has been known from the time of Hippocrates that intermittent fevers have this effect. Amongst the direct causes of abortion may be placed blows on the abdomen, falls, any violent muscular efforts, too long a walk or ride on horseback (indeed, women with a tendency to abort should avoid horseback during pregnancy), a severe mental shock, &c. Moreover, the death of the f�tus from any cause is sure to occasion abortion.

The symptoms of abortion vary according to the state of pregnancy at which it is threatened, and according to the exciting cause. Many of these resemble those of congestion of the womb, such as a sensation of weight or painful pressure in the region of the loins or sacrum, extending to the bladder and rectum (with or without Tenesmus, q.v.); these symptoms being aggravated by standing or walking, and being accompanied by chills, accelerated pulse, loss of appetite, and a general feeling of discomfort. A discharge of serous fluid, sometimes slightly tinged with blood, is then observed. The feeling of weight is replaced by pains, leading to the expulsion of the ovum, which, during the first two months, is so small as commonly to escape detection. In more advanced stages of pregnancy, the pains are more severe, the discharge is more abundant, and consists chiefly of blood; and after more or less time, the product of conception escapes either in whole or in part. In the former case, the patient has little further trouble ; in the latter, h�morrhage will probably continue, and the parts retained may putrefy, and give rise to serious symptoms. After about the commencement of the fourth month, the symptoms gradually approximate to those presented in ordinary parturition.

In the treatment, of abortion, prophylactics (or the guarding against causes likely to lead to it) hold the first place. Women liable to this affection should, on the slightest threatening, assume as much as possible the horizontal position, avoiding all bodily exertion or mental excitement. They should use non-stimulating foods and drinks, and keep the bowels open by gentle aperients� such as manna and castor-oil, and carefully-avoid aloes and other medicines irritating the lower bowel. Moreover, a separate bed-room must be insisted on by the physician. We shall only enter into the curative treatment so far as to state that if it is deemed necessary to check h�morrhage before professional aid can be called in, cloths soaked in cold water may be applied locally (care being taken to change them before they grow warm), and iced water containing an astringent, such as a little alum, may be given internally. Further proceedings must be left to the medical attendant.

There are occasional cases (as where the outlet of the pelvis is very contracted) in which it is necessary to induce abortion by professional means, but it would be out of place to enter into this subject in these pages. It cannot be too generally known, that all attempts at procuring criminal abortion, either by the administration of powerful drugs, or the application of instruments, are accompanied with extreme danger to the pregnant woman.