NUM
(642)
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Hence this Period, call'd by the Greeks Enneadecaeteris, is not perfectly juir 5 there being a Proempofis, or Leap, at the end of each 312 Years, i. e. in that time, the Lunations fall out a Day fooner than the Golden Number expreffes them. See Proemptosis.
This, among other things, was what engag'd Pope Gre- gory XIII. to reform the Calendar, to throw out the Golden Number, and fubllitute the Cycle" of Epafts inftead of it. For the Ufe of the Golden Number, which, in the "Julian Calendar, ferves to find the New Moons, only ferves in the Gregorian to find the Cycle of Enacts. See Epact ; fee alfo Cycle, and Calendar.
This Number is faid to have had its Name, Golden, from the. Greatnefs of its Ufe ; or becaufe the Athenians received it with fo much Applaufe, that they had it wrote in the publick Market in Letters of Gold.
M.Caffini defines the Golden Number after a new manner. He fays, 'tis the Number of Years elaps'd fmce that which had the New Moon on its firft Day 5 as that of the Year 1 500, whofe Golden Number was o '■> which he takes for his Epocha. See Metonic.
NUMBER, in Grammar, is a Modification of Nouns, "Verbs, %£c. to accommodate them to the Varieties in their Objects, confider'd with regard to Number. See Noun, £5?c Nouns or Names agreeing to feveral Things, may be confider'd either as apply'd to one of thofe Things Angu- larly, or to a Number of them J and thofe either confider'd as feveral, or as united. To diftingui/h thefe Cafes, two Numbers have been invented, the Singular and Plural.
When a Noun indicates an Object confider'd as fingle, or alone, or a number of them confider'd as united together, 'tis faid to be of the Singular Number ■> as a Tree, a Troop, aTemple. See Singular.
When it indicates feveral ObjeQs, and thofe as diftin£t, it is of the Plural Number; as Trees, Temples. Thus when I fpeak of myfelf, as making part of feveral others, inftead of I, I fay We i i§c. See Plural.
The Greenes have a third Number, which they call the Dual Number, as fignifying two. The Hebrews have fomc- thing like it; bur then ir only takes place when the Words fignify a thing double either by Nature, as the Hands, the Eyes, &c. or by Art, as Sciffars, Tongs, £f?c.
As to Common and Appellative Names, they feem all naturally to require a Plural Number, yet are there feveral which have none ; as the Names of Gold, Steel, £i?c.
Tin Difference of Numbers in Nouns is exprefs'd by a Difference of Termination or Ending.
In EngUfi, the Singular is ufually converted into Plural, by adoingjj as Tree, Trees 5 Hand, Hands, &c. Where the Pronunciation requires it, as when the Singular ends in s, or :e, fo, or ch, 'tis ufually done by the Addition of es inftead of s.
The Plurals of Adjectives, tho' vary'd from the Slngtn lars in molt other Languages ; yet in Englifo are generally the fame. See Verb.
NUMBERS, in Poetry, Oratory, Mafic, #ft are certain Meafures, Proportions, or Cadences, which render an Air, Verfe, or Period, agreeable to the Ear. See Verse, Mea- sure, i$c.
Poetical and Profaic Numbers, are fomewhat different : Poetical Numbers confift in a certain Harmony, in the Or- der, Quantities, £5?e. of the Feet and Syllables ; which make the Piece mufical to the Ear, and fit it for Singing : for which all the Verfes of the Antients were intended. 'Tis of thefe Numbers Virgil fpeaks in his tVth Eclogue.
—Numeros memini fi -verba temrem.
And again, in the YIth Eclogue:
Turn vero hi Nttmerum Fzunofqj Feraff, videres Ludere
The Numbers are what conftitute the Air and Character of a Verfe j and denominate it fmooth, or fo ft, at low, or rough, or rapid, or fonorous. The following Lines of Milton furnifti an Inflance of foft eafy Numbers,
Then feed on Thoughts, which voluntary move Harmonious Numbers ; as the tuneful Bird Sings darkling, and in fhadiefl Covert hid, Tunes her NoBumal Note :
How different from the Numbers of thefe :
Jrms meet with Arms, Faucheons with Faucheons clafk, And Sparh of Firc } jiruck out from Armour, fiajh. But when loud Surges lap the founding Shore, The hoarfe rough Verfe flmdd like the Torrent roar.
Rhetorical or Profaic Numbers, are a fort of fimple un- tffefled Harmony, lefs glaring than that of "Verfe 5 yet
fuch as is perceiv'd, and affects the Mind with Pleafure a The Numbers are that by which the Style is faid to be eafy^ free, round, flowing, £J>c. See Style.
A fine lnitance of Numbers we have in that Paffage of Tw//y for Marcellus : Nulla efi tanta vis^ tantaq$ copa qua non ferrp ac z-iribus debiluari frangiqj p°Jfit. All the Beauty of which would be entirely loll to any tolerable Ear, if the Numbers were a little inverted, thus : Nulla ejt vis tanta, & co£ia tanta qu.e non Pojjit debilitar't frangiqj viribus & ferro.
Numbers are a Thing absolutely neceffary in all Writing, and even all Speech. Hence Arijtotle, Tally, Quintil'tan, &c. lay down abundance of Rules as to the bell manner of in- termixing DuByls, Spondees, Anapefls i Iambus's, Chorale and Dichoraic Molojjus's, "i$c. in order to have the Numbers per-
f e a.
The Subftance of what they have done* is reducible to what follows: 1. The Style becomes numerous, by the alternate Difpofition and Temperature of long and ftiort Syllables; fo, as that the Multitude of fhort ones neither: render it too hafty, nor that of long ones too How and languid.
Thus, Tufly toGejar: Domui_ftiGentes immanitate barba- ros ; multitudme innumerabiles, locis infinitas, omni cogtarum generz abundantes, &c.
Sumetimes, indeed, long or fhort Syllables are design- edly thrown together, without any fuch Mixture; to paint the Celerity ot Slownefs of a Thing by that of the Num- bers 5 as,
Quadrupedante putrem fon'ttu auatit itngula campum.
--Eneid. 1, $. LuBantes Ventos, Tem£>ejtatefq$ Sonoras.
Id, I. 1.
2. The The Style becomes numerous by the intermixing of Words of one, two, and mote Syllables ; e, gr. Vtvis £5? vivis non ad deponendam fed ad confrmandam audaciam. Whereas the too frequent repetition of Monofyllables ren- ders the Style pitiful, and grating ; e. gr. Mac in Re noshic nan feret.
3. It contributes greatly to the numeroufnefs of a Period, to have it clofed by magnificent and well founding Words 5 as, Qui locus quietis ac tra.nquilita.tis fleniffimus fore videhatur t in eo maxima moleftiarum, & titrbulentijfima* temfefiates ex- titerunt.
4. The Numbers depend not only on the noblenefs of the Words in the Clofe, but of thofe in the whole tenor of the Period ; as in the fine Oration of Cicero for Fonteius, Brother of one of the Veital Maids. Nolite pan, Radices, aras Deorum immortalium, Vefiteque matris, qttotidianh Virginum, Lamenta~ tionibus de Vefiro Judicio commoveri.
5. To have the Period flow eafily and equably, the harfh concurrence of Letters and Words is to be itudioufly avoided, particularly the frequent meeting of rough Confonants ; as Arsfiudtoritm, Rex Xerxes : The beginning the firil Syl- lable of a Word with the laft of the preceding ; as, Res mihiinviftc funt : The frequent repetition of the fame Letter or Syllable ; as in that "Verfe of Ennius, Africa terribilt tre- mit horrida terra tumultu ; And the frequent ufe of like- ending Words y as Amatrices, Adjutrices, Proefiigiatrices fuerunt.
Laftly, Theutmoft Care is to be taken, left in aiming at Oratorial Numbers, you fall into Poetical ones ; and inftead of Profe, write Verfe ; which even Cicero himfelf is fome- times guilty of; witnefs, Cum loquitur tanti fietus gemitufqtie fiebant. See VersEj
NUMERAL Letters, thofe Letters of the Alphabet, which are generally ufed for Figures; as I,V,X,C, D.
Numeral Characters. See Character.
NUMERALS, in Grammar, are thofe Words which ex- prefs Numbers ; as &'», Eight, Ten, &c. See Ordinals.
NUMERATION, in Arithmetic, the Art of valuing, pronouncing, or reading, any Number, or Series of Numbers. See Number.
The Characters whereby Numbers are ordinarily ex- prefs'd, are the nine following ones, viz* 1, 1, 3,4, 5,6",7,8,s?. It being the Law of the common Numeration, that when you are arrived at ten, you begin again, and repeat as before 5 only exprefling the Number of Tens.
Weigelius, indeed, ihews how to number without going beyond a Quaternary, i. e. by beginning to repeat at each Fourth. And Leihiitz, in what he calls his Binary Arith- metic, begins to repeat at every Second ; only ufing two Characters, 1 and o. But thefe are rather Matters of Cu- riofity than Ufe. See Binary Arithmetic.
That the nine Numerical Notes may exprefs not only Units, but alfo Tens or Decads, Hundreds or Centuries, Thoufands, &c. they have a local Value given them 5 fo, as that when either alone, or when placed in the right- hand place, they denote Units ; in the fecond place, Tens 5 in the third, Hundreds; in the fourth, Thoufands. See Notation, S?c.
Now,
