APRICOT

Irgendre; and the article Equations, in the Encyclol iiii Britannica, by Mr. Ivory. (See Equations.) '. PllICOT. (Lat. praecox, ea»-Zj/, or Arab, berkhach, I cr fruit.) The fruit of Arm eniac a vulgar is, a native oi e achmere, and probably of the mountains of Caubul, | and cultivated from Persia and the Oases of Egypt tliroughout the temperate parts of the world. In its wild state the apricot is a small round pale waxy yellow fruit, rosy on one side, and agreeably subacid; in that state it is dried in large quantities under the name of mishmish; in its most improved state it becomes three times as large and sweeter: but it is then apt to become insipid. For the confectioner's purpose, the Bru els and Breda apricots, which are near approaches to the wild fruit, are better adapted than the larger and sweeter kinds. A'PRIL. The fourth month of the year. The name is probably derived from Lat. aperire, to open, either from the opening of the buds, or of the bosom of the earth, in producing vegetation. A PRIO'RI. (The argument a pr/orj.) In Philosophy and Rhetoric, is a phrase somewhat loosely applied to designate a cla of reasonings. It is generally understood to apply to any argument in which a consequent conclusion is drawn from an antecedent fact, whether the consequence be in the order of time, or in the nece ary relation of cause and effect; — e. g., " The mercury sinks, therefore it will rain." This is an argument drawn from an antecedent in time, not from a cause to an effect. A murder has been committed; a party falls under suspicion, as having had an interest in the death of the deceased, or a quarrel with him: this suspicion is founded on the argument a prior i, from cause to effect; because the fact of his enmity or interest would afford a cause for his committing the murder. On the other hand, another party falls under suspicion, as having been seen to quit the house at a particular time, having marks of blood on his clothes: these are arguments d posterior i, in which we reason either from consequent in the order of time to antecedent, or from effect to antecedent cause. The famous a pviori argument of Clarke and others in favour of the existence of a God, was an argument drawn from certain primary axioms in metaphysics; while the common coarse of reasoning to prove the same truth from the visible proofs of design in the works of nature, is an instance of the latter or a posterior i form. A'PSIDES, or APSES. (Gr. k^ Page 83