Accol′ti, Benedetto, an Italian lawyer, born at Arezzo in Tuscany in 1415, died at Florence in 1466. He was secretary to the Florentine republic, 1459, and author of a work on the Crusades which is said to have furnished Tasso with matter for his Jerusalem Delivered.
Accommoda′tion Bill, a bill of exchange drawn and accepted to raise money on, and not given, like a genuine bill of exchange, in payment of a debt, but merely intended to accommodate the drawer: colloquially called a wind bill and a kite.
Accommoda′tion Ladder, a light ladder hung over the side of a ship at the gangway to facilitate ascending from, or descending to, boats.
Accom′paniment, in music, is that part of music which serves for the support of the principal melody.
Accor′dion, a keyed musical wind-instrument similar to the concertina, being in the form of a small box, containing a number of metallic reeds fixed at one of their extremities, the sides of the box forming a folding apparatus which acts as a bellows to supply the wind, and thus set the reeds in vibration, and produce the notes both of melody and harmony. The accordion was invented by Damian of Vienna in 1829.
Accountant, a person whose chief business is with accounts and the drawing up of financial statements and balance-sheets. An accountant is an important official in banks, railways, and certain other institutions, and many persons carry on the business of accountant as a distinct profession, auditing the books of merchants, joint-stock companies, &c. There are several bodies of accountants in the United Kingdom incorporated by royal charter, and hence specially distinguished as 'chartered accountants' (C.A.). Since 1919 women are admitted as members of the Society of Incorporated Accountants.—Bibliography: L. R. Dicksee, Advanced Accounting; G. Lisle, Encyclopædia of Accounting (8 vols.).
Ac′cra, a British settlement in Africa, in a swampy situation, capital of Gold Coast, about 75 miles east of Cape Coast Castle. Exports gold-dust, ivory, gums, palm-oil; imports cottons, cutlery, &c. Pop. 20,000.
Ac′crington, a municipal borough of England, Lancashire, 5 miles east of Blackburn, with large cotton factories, print-works and bleaching-greens, and coal-mines. Pop. 43,610. Accrington was created a parliamentary borough in 1918.
Accu′mulator, a name applied to a kind of electric battery by means of which electric energy can be stored and rendered portable. In the usual form each battery forms a cylindrical leaden vessel, containing alternate sheets of metallic lead and minium wrapped in felt and rolled into a spiral wetted with acidulated water. On being charged with electricity the energy may be preserved till required for use.