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diff --git a/34073.txt b/34073.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..60ce156 --- /dev/null +++ b/34073.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13008 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1 + A to Amide + +Author: Various + +Release Date: October 15, 2010 [EBook #34073] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW GRESHAM ENCYC. VOL 1 PART 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Keith Edkins and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcriber's note: In the pronunciation guides [=e] signifies "e macron"; +[)e] "e breve"; [a:] "a with diaeresis below"; [.a] "a with dot above"; +[n.] "n with dot below"; [:a] "a with diaeresis"; and so forth. + +THE +NEW GRESHAM +ENCYCLOPEDIA + +VOLUME I + + * * * * * + + + + + + + + _EDITORS_ + + ANGELO S. RAPPOPORT, Ph.D., B.es L. + + R. F. PATTERSON, M.A.(Cantab.), D.Litt.(Glasgow). + + JOHN DOUGALL, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.E.; Gold Medallist + of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. + + * * * * * + + + + + + + +ALGAE + +[Illustration: 1, The very broad Ulva. 2, Cornucopia. 3, Caulerpa +Cactoides. 4, Acetabularia Mediterranea. 5, Bladder-locks. 6, Long-stalked +Laminaria. 7, Sugared Laminaria. 8, Bladder Wrack. 9, Serrated Wrack. 10, +Gulf-weed. 11, Thalassiophyllum Clathrus. 12, Forked Dictyota. 13, +Medicinal Coralline. 14, Corallina Rubens. 15, Delesseria Lyalii. 16, +Nitophyllum Crosieri. 17, Membrane-leaved Phyllophira. 18, Peacock's-tail +Padina. 19, Banded Taonia.] + +THE + +NEW . GRESHAM + +ENCYCLOPEDIA + +VOLUME . I + +[Illustration] + +_The_ GRESHAM . PUBLISHING +COMPANY . _Limited_ + +66 CHANDOS STREET . STRAND +LONDON W.C.2. +1922 + + * * * * * + + + + + + + +LIST OF PLATES AND MAPS + + * * * * * + +VOLUME I + + * * * * * + +PLATES + + Page + ALGAE (_Coloured_) _Frontispiece_ + + AEROPLANE 44 + + AIR-SHIPS 72 + + ANATOMY (Human Skeleton and Muscles) 152 + + ARCHAEOLOGY (Antiquities of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages) 220 + + ARCHITECTURE 224 + + BACTERIA 348 + +MAPS IN COLOUR + + AFRICA 52 + + ASIA 274 + + AUSTRALIA 316 + + * * * * * + + + + + + + +CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME I + +ADOLPHE ABRAHAMS, O.B.E., B.A., M.D., late Major, R.A.M.C. + +GEORGE E. ALLAN, D.Sc., Lecturer in Electricity, University of Glasgow. + +R. E. ANDERSON, Maker of Artificial Limbs. + +F. L. ATTENBOROUGH, B.A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge. + +F. F. P. BISACRE, O.B.E., M.A., B.Sc., A.M.I.C.E. + +R. M. BROWN, B.Sc. + +GRENVILLE A. J. COLE, F.R.S., Professor of Geology, Royal College of +Science, Ireland. + +ARTHUR O. COOKE, Author of _A Book of Dovecotes_. + +J. R. AINSWORTH DAVIS, M.A., F.C.P., former Principal of The Royal +Agricultural College, Cirencester. + +MONTAGU DRUMMOND, M.A., Lecturer in Botany, University of Glasgow. + +CHARLES J. FFOULKES, B.Litt., Major, R.M.; Curator of the Armouries, Tower +of London. + +F. MORLEY FLETCHER, Director, College of Art, Edinburgh. + +Rev. WILLIAM FULTON, D.D., B.Sc., Professor of Systematic Theology, +University of Aberdeen. + +L. HADEN GUEST, M.C., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. + +R. N. HAYGARTH, B.A., B.Sc., Queens' College, Cambridge. + +W. A. HISLOP, M.B., late Captain, R.A.M.C. + +DONALD A. MACKENZIE, Folklorist; Author of _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, &c. + +MAGNUS MACLEAN, M.A., D.Sc., M.Inst.E.E., M.Inst.C.E., Editor of _Modern +Electrical Engineering_, &c. + +W. LOCKWOOD MARSH, O.B.E., M.A., A.F.R.Ae.S., Lieutenant-Colonel; late +R.A.F.; Secretary of the Royal Aeronautical Society. + +D. J. MACKELLOR, B.Sc., Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Royal Technical +College, Glasgow. + +R. F. PATTERSON, M.A., D.Litt., formerly Charles Oldham Shakespeare +Scholar, Cambridge University. + +ANGELO S. RAPPOPORT, Ph.D., B. es L. + +JAMES RITCHIE, M.A., M.D., Professor of Bacteriology, University of +Edinburgh. + +W. D. ROBIESON, M.A. + +JOHN J. ROSS, M.A., F.R.A.S. + +GEORGE SMITH, Procurator Fiscal. + +G. ELLIOT SMITH, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Anatomy, University of +London. + +C. S. STOOKS, D.S.O., Major, Indian Army; Instructor in Military +Organization, Royal Military College, Sandhurst. + +M. M. J. SUTHERLAND, D.Sc., F.I.C. + +THOMAS G. WRIGHT, LL.B., Professor of Mercantile Law, University of +Glasgow. + + * * * * * + + + + + + + +KEY TO PRONUNCIATION + + * * * * * + +The method of marking pronunciations here employed is either (1) by marking +the syllable on which the accent falls, or (2) by a simple system of +transliteration, to which the following is the Key:-- + +VOWELS + +[=a], as in f_a_te, or in b_a_re. + +[:a], as in _a_lms, Fr. _a_me, Ger. B_a_hn = a of Indian names. + +[.a], the same sound short or medium, as in Fr. b_a_l, Ger. M_a_nn. + +a, as in f_a_t. + +[a:], as in f_a_ll. + +_a_, obscure, as in rur_a_l, similar to _u_ in b_u_t, [.e] in h_e_r: common +in Indian names. + +[=e], as in m_e_ = _i_ in mach_i_ne. + +e, as in m_e_t. + +[.e], as in h_e_r. + +[=i], as in p_i_ne, or as _ei_ in Ger. m_ei_n. + +i, as in p_i_n, also used for the short sound corresponding to [=e], as in +French and Italian words. + +_eu_, a long sound as in Fr. j_eu_ne = Ger. long _oe_, as in S_oe_hne, +G_oe_the (Goethe). + +eu, corresponding sound short or medium, as in Fr. p_eu_ = Ger. _oe_ short. + +[=o], as in n_o_te, m_oa_n. + +o, as in n_o_t, s_o_ft--that is, short or medium. + +[:o], as in m_o_ve, tw_o_. + +[=u] as in t_u_be. + +u, as in t_u_b: similar to [.e] and also to a. + +[u:], as in b_u_ll. + +[:u], as in Sc. ab_u_ne = Fr. _u_ as in d_u_, Ger. _[:u]_ long as in +gr_ue_n, B_ue_hne. + +[.u], the corresponding short or medium sound, as in Fr. b_u_t, Ger. +M_ue_ller. + +oi, as in _oi_l. + +ou, as in p_ou_nd; or as _au_ in Ger. H_au_s. + +CONSONANTS + +Of the _consonants_, B, D, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, NG, P, SH, T, V, Z, always +have their common English sounds, when used to transliterate foreign words. +The letter C is not used by itself in re-writing for pronunciation, S or K +being used instead. The only consonantal symbols, therefore, that require +explanation are the following:-- + +ch is always as in ri_ch_. + +_d_, nearly as _th_ in _th_is = Sp. _d_ in Ma_d_ri_d_, &c. + +g is always hard, as in _g_o. + +_h_ represents the guttural in Scotch lo_ch_, Ger. na_ch_, also other +similar gutturals. + +[n.], Fr. nasal _n_ as in bo_n_. + +r represents both English _r_, and _r_ in foreign words, which is generally +much more strongly trilled. + +s, always as in _s_o. + +th, as _th_ in _th_in. + +_th_, as _th_ in _th_is. + +w always consonantal, as in _w_e. + +x = ks, which are used instead. + +y always consonantal, as in _y_ea (Fr. _ligne_ would be re-written +l[=e]ny). + +zh, as _s_ in plea_s_ure = Fr. _j_. + + * * * * * + +THE NEW +GRESHAM ENCYCLOPEDIA + +VOLUME I + +A, the first letter in many alphabets. The sound most commonly belonging to +it, as in French, Italian, German, &c., is that which is heard in _father_, +pronounced short or long. In English the letter is made to represent at +least seven sounds, as in _father_, _mat_, _mate_, _mare_, _many_, _ball_, +_what_, besides being used in such digraphs as _ea_ in _heat_, _oa_ in +_boat_.--A, in music, is the sixth note in the diatonic scale of C, and +stands when in perfect tune to the latter note in the ratio of 3/5 to 1. +The second string of the violin is tuned to this note. + +A 1, a symbol attached to vessels of the highest class in Lloyd's register +of shipping, A referring to the hull of the vessel, 1 to the rigging and +whole equipment. When A 1 has a number prefixed, as 100 A 1, 90 A 1, the +number denotes that the vessel is built according to certain +specifications. See _Shipbuilding_. + +AA ([:a]) (Old Ger. _aha_, water; allied to Lat. _aqua_, water), the name +of a great many streams of Central and Northern Europe. + +AACHEN ([:a]'_h_[.e]n). See _Aix-la-Chapelle_. + +AALAND ISLANDS. See _Aland Islands_. + +AALBORG ([=o]l'bor_h_: 'eel-town'), a seaport of Denmark, in Jutland, on +the Liimfiord, see of a bishop, with iron-founding, distilling, fishing, +&c. Pop. 33,449. + +AALEN ([:a]'l[.e]n), a town of Germany in Wuerttemberg, which manufactures +woollen and linen goods. It has important iron-works and tanneries. Pop. +11,347. + +AALESUND ([=o]'le-s[u:]nd), seaport and fishing centre on the west coast of +Norway, on a small island. Pop. 13,858. + +AALI PASHA. See _Ali Pasha_. + +AALST ([:a]lst). See _Alost_. + +AAR, or AARE ([:a]r), the name of several European rivers, of which the +chief (180 miles long) is a tributary of the Rhine, next to it and the +Rhone the longest river in Switzerland. It has its origin from the Upper +and Lower Glaciers of the Aar, in the Bernese Alps, traverses Lakes Brienz +and Thun, and receives the Saane, Reuss, Limmat, &c. On it are Interlaken, +Thun, Bern, Solothurn, and Aarau, to which, as to the canton of Aargau, it +gives its name. + +AARAU ([:a]'rou), a well-built and finely-situated town in Switzerland, +capital of canton Aargau, on the River Aar. Pop. 9536. + +AARD-VARK ([:a]rd'v[.a]rk: earth-pig), Dutch name for a burrowing +insect-eating animal of South Africa, _Orycter[)o]pus capensis_, order +Edentata, resembling the ant-eater and armadillo. It is called also +_ground-hog_ and _Cape pig_. + +[Illustration: Aardwolf (_Prot[)e]les crist[=a]tus_)] + +AARDWOLF ([:a]rd'w[u:]lf: earth-wolf) (_Prot[)e]les crist[=a]tus_), a +burrowing carnivore of S. and E. Africa, allied to the hyenas and civets. +It feeds on carrion, small mammals, insects, &c. + +AARE. See _Aar_. + +AARGAU ([:a]r'gou), or ARGOVIE ([.a]r-go-v[=e]), a northern canton of +Switzerland; area, 543 sq. miles; hilly, well wooded, abundantly watered by +the Aar and its tributaries, and well cultivated. Pop. 236,860. German is +almost universally spoken. Capital, Aarau. + +AARHUUS ([=o]r'h[:o]s), a seaport and ancient town of Denmark, on the east +coast of Jutland. It has a fine Gothic cathedral, a good harbour, and +manufactures woollens, gloves, hats, tobacco, &c. Pop. 65,858. + +AARON ([=a]'ron), of the tribe of Levi, brother of Moses. At Sinai, when +the people became impatient at the long-continued absence of Moses, he +complied with their request by making a golden calf, and thus became +involved with them in the guilt of gross idolatry. The office of +high-priest, which he first filled, was made hereditary in his family. He +died at Mount Hor at the age of 123, and was succeeded by his son Eleazer. + +AARON'S BEARD. See _Saint John's Wort_ and _Toad-flax_. + +AARON'S ROD. See _Golden-rod_ and _Mullein_. + +AASEN ([=o]'zen), Ivar Andreas, Norwegian poet and philologist, was born in +1813 and died in 1896. He wrote miscellaneous poems and a drama, but he is +chiefly known as the originator of the patriotic movement known as the +_Maulstroev_. He endeavoured to give Norway a literary language distinct +from the Danish, which has long served as the literary and official +language of the country. This he attempted to do mainly by the help of the +native dialects, which he studied thoroughly, setting forth their grammar +in special works and embodying their vocabulary in his _Norsk Ordbog med +Dansk Forklaring_ (Norse Dictionary, with Explanations in Danish, 1873), +supplemented by the _Norsk Ordbog_ of Hans Ross (1890-2). Numbers of poems, +tales, &c., have been written in the language, of which Aasen was in a +sense the inventor. + +AASVAER ([=o]s'v[=a]r), a group of small islands off the Norwegian coast, +under the Arctic Circle, where there is an important herring-fishery. + +AB, the eleventh month of the Jewish civil, the fifth of the +ecclesiastical, year--part of July and part of August. + +ABABDA, or ABABDEH (abab'de) (GEBADEI of Pliny), a nomadic African race +inhabiting Upper Egypt and part of Nubia, between the Nile and the Red Sea, +dark-brown in colour. Their language is Arabic and they are Mahommedans in +religion. They number about 40,000. + +AB'ACA, or MANILLA HEMP, a strong fibre yielded by the leaf-stalks of a +kind of plantain (_Musa text[)i]lis_) which grows in the Indian +Archipelago, and is cultivated in the Philippines. The outer fibres of the +leaf-stalks are made into strong and durable ropes, the inner into various +fine fabrics. + +AB'ACO, GREAT and LITTLE, two islands of the Bahamas group, (q.v.). Pop. +about 4000. + +[Illustration: Abacus for Calculations] + +[Illustration: Norman Capital--_a_, the Abacus] + +AB'ACUS, a Latin term applied to an apparatus used in elementary schools +for facilitating arithmetical operations, consisting of a number of +parallel cords or wires, upon which balls or beads are strung, the +uppermost wire being appropriated to units, the next to tens, &c.--The +uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, immediately under +the architrave. + +ABAD'DON (Heb. destruction), the name given in _Rev._ ix. 11 as that of the +angel of the bottomless pit, otherwise called _Apollyon_. In _Job_, xxvi, +6, it designates the underworld, or Hades. + +ABAKANSK', a fortified place in Siberia, near the Upper Yenisei, founded by +Peter the Great in 1707. + +ABALONE (ab-a-l[=o]'ne), a name in California for a species of ear-shell +(Haliotis) that furnishes mother-of-pearl. + +AB'ANA, or AMANAH, one of the two rivers of Damascus mentioned in the Bible +(2 _Kings_, v, 12). See _Barada_. + +ABAN'DONMENT, a term of marine insurance, employed to designate the case +where the party insured gives up his whole interest in the property to the +insurer, and claims as for a total loss.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. G. Phillimore, +_Marine Insurance_, in _Encyclopedia of the Laws of England_, vol. viii; +C. R. Tyser, _Law relating to Losses under a Policy of Marine Insurance_. + +AB'ANO, a village of North Italy, 5 miles from Padua, famous for its +mud-baths and warm springs. It is supposed to be the birthplace of Livy. + +ABA'RIM, a mountain range of Eastern Palestine, including Nebo, on which +Moses died. + +ABATEMENT, in law, has various significations. _Abatement of nuisances_ is +the remedy allowed to a person injured by a public or private nuisance, of +destroying or removing it himself. A _plea in abatement_ is brought forward +by a defendant when he wishes to defeat or quash a particular action on +some formal or technical ground. Abatement, in mercantile law, is an +allowance, deduction, or discount made for prompt payment or other reason. + +AB'ATTIS, or ABATIS, in field engineering, a mass of trees cut down and +laid with their branches turned towards the enemy in such a way as to form +a defence for troops stationed behind them. + +ABATTOIR (ab-at-w[:a]r'). See _Slaughter-house_. + +ABAUZIT, Firmin ([.a]-b[=o]-z[=e]), a French Protestant scholar, was born +in 1679 and died in 1767. He lived chiefly at Geneva, but visited England +and was highly esteemed by Newton, who considered him not unfit to be judge +between himself and Leibnitz in the quarrel as to the invention of the +integral and differential calculus. Collections of his works were published +at Geneva (1770) and at London (1773). + +ABBA, a Syrian word equivalent to 'father', which, being applied in the +Eastern Church to monks, superiors of monks, and other ecclesiastics, gave +rise to the word _abbot_. In the Syriac and Coptic Churches it is given to +bishops. + +ABBADIE ([.a]b-[.a]-d[=e]), Antoine Thomson and Arnaud Michel d', French +travellers, born in Dublin in 1810 and 1815 respectively. They lived for +years in Abyssinia, and published valuable works on that country: Arnaud, +_Douze Ans dans la Haute-Ethiopie_; Antoine, _Geodesie de la +Haute-Ethiopie_, &c. Arnaud died in 1893, Antoine in 1897. + +ABBAS I, the _Great_, Shah or King of Persia, born in 1557, ascended the +throne in 1586, at a time when the Turks and hordes of Usbek Tartars had +made great encroachments on the country. Having defeated the Usbeks, +recovered the provinces overrun by them, and reduced a great part of +Afghanistan, he made war against the Turks, and in 1605 defeated them near +Bussorah, thus getting back all the lost provinces. He extended his rule +beyond Persia proper, and at his death in 1628 his dominions stretched from +the Tigris to the Indus. He is looked upon by the Persians as their +greatest sovereign. + +ABBAS II, HILMI, ex-Khedive of Egypt, was born in 1874. He is the eldest +son of Tewfik Pasha, and succeeded his father in 1892. During his reign he +adopted an unfriendly attitude towards England, but he failed in his +attempt to form an anti-British Cabinet in 1893. On 19th Dec., 1914, the +British Government issued a proclamation deposing Abbas Hilmi and +conferring the title of Sultan of Egypt upon Hussein Kamil, eldest living +prince of the family of Mohammed Ali-Hussein Kamil, who died in 1917. See +_Egypt_. + +ABBAS MIRZA, a Persian prince and soldier, was the son of the shah Feth +Ali; born 1783, died 1833; he greatly distinguished himself in the wars +against Russia. + +ABBASIDS, or ABBASSIDES (ab'as-sidz), the name of the second Arabian +dynasty which supplanted the Ommiades. It traced its descent from Abbas +(born 566, died 652), uncle of Mahomet, and gave thirty-seven caliphs to +Bagdad between 749 and 1258. Harun al Rashid was a member of this dynasty. +See _Caliphs_. + +ABBATE ([.a]b-b[:a]'t[=a]), the Italian term corresponding to _Abbe_. + +ABBE ([.a]b-[=a]), a French word for abbot, or for anyone regularly wearing +the clerical dress. Before the Revolution, all who had studied theology, +either with the view of becoming ordained clergymen or merely of obtaining +some ecclesiastical appointment or benefice, were generally so designated. +Marked out by their special dress, a short, violet-coloured robe, they were +seen everywhere--at court, the ball, the theatre, and in private families, +where they acted sometimes as tutors and sometimes as confidential +advisers. Others, again, adopted the literary profession or became teachers +in the higher educational establishments. + +ABBE, Cleveland, American meteorologist and astronomer, born at New York in +1838, and educated at Harvard. He held various positions in connection with +observatories and other institutions in America, and was for some time +chief meteorologist in the United States Weather Bureau. He wrote much on +meteorology and kindred subjects. He died in 1916. His works include: _The +Mechanics of the Earth's Atmosphere_; _Relations between Climates and +Crops_, &c. + +ABBEOKU'TA, a town of West Africa, in the Lagos Province of S. Nigeria, on +the Ogun River, and on the railway from Lagos to N. Nigeria, 45 miles north +of Lagos, consists chiefly of mud houses, surrounded by a mud wall. Pop. +50,000 to 100,000. + +AB'BESS. See _Abbey_ and _Abbot_. + +ABBEVILLE (ancient ABBATIS VILLA), a town of France, department of the +Somme, on the River Somme (which is here tidal), 108 miles N.N.W. of Paris. +The town is first mentioned in the ninth century, when it belonged to the +Abbey of St. Riquier. It has a Gothic church (St. Vulfran) (begun in the +fifteenth century and completed in the seventeenth), which has a +magnificent west front in the Flamboyant style. It manufactures woollens, +sail-cloth, chemicals, &c. Pop. 20,373. + +AB'BEY, a monastery or religious community of the highest class, governed +by an _abbot_, assisted generally by a prior, sub-prior, and other +subordinate functionaries; or, in the case of a female community, +superintended by an _abbess_. An abbey invariably included a church. A +priory differed from an abbey only in being scarcely so extensive an +establishment, and was governed by a _prior_. In the English conventual +cathedral establishments, as Canterbury, Norwich, Ely, &c., the archbishops +or bishops held the abbot's place, the immediate governor of the monastery +being called a prior. Some priories sprang originally from the more +important abbeys, and remained under the jurisdiction of the abbots; but +subsequently any real distinction between abbeys and priories was lost. The +greater abbeys formed most complete and extensive establishments, including +not only the church and other buildings devoted to the monastic life and +its daily requirements, such as the refectory or eating-room, the +dormitories or sleeping-rooms, the room for social intercourse, the school +for novices, the scribes' cells, library, &c., but also workshops, +storehouses, mills, cattle and poultry sheds, dwellings for artisans, +labourers, and other servants, infirmary, guest-house, &c. Among the most +famous abbeys on the continent of Europe were those of Cluny, Clairvaux, +and Citeaux in France; St. Galle in Switzerland, and Fulda in Germany; the +most noteworthy English abbeys were those of Westminster, St. Mary's of +York, Fountains, Kirkstall, Tintern, Rievaulx, Netley; and of Scotland, +Melrose, Paisley, and Arbroath. + +[Illustration: Plan of Fountains Abbey] + +ABBIATEGRASSO ([.a]b-b[=e]-[:a]'t[=a]-gr[.a]s-s[=o]), a town in the north +of Italy, 15 miles W.S.W. of Milan. Pop. 13,148. + +AB'BOT (from the Syriac _abba_, father), the head of an abbey (see +_Abbey_), the lady of similar rank being called _abbess_ (_abbatissa_). An +abbess, however, was not, like the abbot, allowed to exercise the spiritual +functions of the priesthood, such as preaching, confessing, &c.; nor did +abbesses ever succeed in freeing themselves from the control of their +diocesan bishop. In the early age of monastic institutions (_circ._ A.D. +300-600) the monks were not priests, but simply laymen who retired from the +world to live in common, and the abbot was also a layman. In the course of +time the abbots were usually ordained, and when an abbey was directly +attached to a cathedral the bishop was also the abbot, but the functions +devolving on the head of a monastery were, in this case, performed by a +prior. At first the abbeys were more remarkable for their numbers than for +their magnitude, but afterwards many of them were large and richly endowed, +and the heads of such establishments became personages of no small +influence and power, more especially after the abbots succeeded (by the +eleventh century) in freeing themselves from the jurisdiction of the bishop +of their diocese. Hence families of the highest rank might be seen eagerly +striving to obtain the titles of abbot and abbess for their members. The +great object was to obtain control over the revenues of the abbeys, and for +this purpose recourse was had to the device of holding them under a kind of +trust, or, as it was called, _in commendam_. According to the original +idea, the abbot _in commendam_, or 'commendator', was merely a temporary +trustee, who drew the whole or part of the revenues during a vacancy, and +was bound to apply them to specific purposes; but ultimately the +commendator or lay abbot in many instances held the appointment for life, +and was allowed to apply the whole or a large portion of the revenues to +his own private use. Many of the abbots vied with the bishops and nobility +in rank and dignity. In England abbots long sat in the House of Lords, +ranking next after barons. Seventeen of them were present on 28th June, +1539, the last occasion when the abbots as a body sat in Parliament. The +Reformation introduced vast changes, not only in Protestant countries, +where abbeys and all other monastic establishments were generally +suppressed, but even in countries which still continued Roman Catholic; +many sovereigns, whilst displaying their zeal for the Roman Catholic Church +by persecuting its opponents, did not scruple to imitate them in the +confiscation of Church property. + +ABBOT (or Lord) OF MISRULE, the personage who took the chief part in the +Christmas revelries of the English populace before the Reformation. In +Scotland he was called Abbot of Unreason. + +ABBOT, George, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born in 1562 and died in 1633. +He studied at Oxford, assisted in the translation of the Bible, was made +Bishop of Lichfield in 1609, next year Bishop of London, and in 1611 +Archbishop of Canterbury. He retained the favour of James I to the last, +but after the accession of Charles I his influence at Court was superseded +by that of Laud. He published several works, chiefly theological, and _A +Brief Description of the Whole World_ (1599). + +AB'BOTSFORD, the country-seat of Sir Walter Scott, on the south bank of the +Tweed, in Roxburghshire, 3 miles from Melrose, in the midst of picturesque +scenery, forming an extensive and irregular pile in the Scottish baronial +style of architecture.--_Abbotsford Club_, a club established at Edinburgh +for printing works throwing light on matters of history or literature +connected with the writings of Sir Walter Scott; issued 34 vols. 1835-64. + +AB'BOTT, Rev. Edwin, D.D., prolific writer on theological, educational, and +other subjects, born in London, 1838, was educated at the City of London +School and St. John's College, Cambridge, where he highly distinguished +himself; he was head master of the City of London School from 1865 to 1889, +when he retired. His _Shakespearian Grammar_ (1870) is one of his best +contributions to English philology. Among his theological and kindred +writings are: _Through Nature to Christ_; _Bible Lessons_; _Cambridge +Sermons_; _Oxford Sermons_; the elaborate article _Gospels_ in the +_Encyclopaedia Britannica_ (9th edition); _From Letter to Spirit_. Other +works are: _Philochristus_ and _Onesimus_, both romances on the history of +the Early Christian Church; _Francis Bacon, an Account of his Life and +Works_; _St. Thomas of Canterbury, his Death and Miracles_; _The Anglican +Career of Cardinal Newman_ (a very depreciatory estimate); _Flatland, a +Romance of Many Dimensions_. He also wrote: _Johannine Grammar_ (1906), +_The Message of the Son of Man_ (1909), _The Fourfold Gospel_ (1913-7). + +AB'BOTT, Jacob, a popular American writer, especially of entertaining and +instructive books for the young. He was born in 1803 and died in 1879. For +a time he was a teacher and later a clergyman. + +AB'BOTT, Thomas Kingsmill, D.D., biblical scholar and writer on philosophic +and other subjects, born at Dublin, 1829, died 18th Dec., 1913. He studied +with distinction at Trinity College, and was successively professor in +Dublin University of moral philosophy, 1867-72; of biblical Greek, 1875-88; +and of Hebrew, 1879-1900; he was at one time librarian of the College. He +has written _Sight and Touch_, directed against the Berkeleian theory of +vision; _Elements of Logic_; _Essays, chiefly on the Original Texts of the +Old and New Testaments_; _Notes on some Epistles of St. Paul_; _Elementary +Theory of the Tides_; _Translation of Kant's Theory of Ethics_; _Kant's +Introduction to Logic_; _Commentary on Ephesians and Colossians_; &c. + +ABBREVIA'TIONS, devices used in writing and printing to save time and +space, consisting usually of curtailments effected in words and syllables +by the removal of some letters, often of the whole of the letters except +the first. The following is a list of the more important:-- + + A.B., _artium baccalaureus_, bachelor of arts (more commonly B.A.); + also, able-bodied seaman. Abp., archbishop. A.C., _ante Christum_, + before Christ. Ac., acre. Acc., A/c, or Acct., account. A.D., _anno + Domini_, in the year of our Lord: used also as if equivalent to 'after + Christ', or 'of the Christian era'. A.D.C., aide-de-camp. Ad lib., _ad + libitum_, at pleasure. A.D.O.S., assistant director of ordnance stores. + A.D.V.S., assistant director of veterinary services. Aet. or Aetat. + _aetatis_ (_anno_), in the year of his age. A.G., attorney-general, + adjutant-general. A.H., _anno Hegirae_, in the year of the Hegira. + A.I.A., associate of the Institute of Actuaries. A.Inst.C.E., associate + of the Institution of Civil Engineers. A.I.Mech.E., associate of the + Institute of Mechanical Engineers. A.M., _ante meridiem_, forenoon; + _anno mundi_, in the year of the world; _artium magister_, master of + arts. A.M.I.E.E., associate member of the Institute of Electrical + Engineers. A.M.I.Mech.E., associate member of the Institute of + Mechanical Engineers. A.M.Inst.C.E., associate member of the + Institution of Civil Engineers. Anon., anonymous. A.P.D., army pay + department. A.R.A., associate of Royal Academy (London). A.R.A.M., + associate of the Royal Academy of Music. A.R.C.O., associate of the + Royal College of Organists. A.R.I.B.A., associate of the Royal + Institute of British Architects. A.R.S.A., associate of the Royal + Scottish Academy. A.U.C., _ab urbe condita_, from the building of Rome + (753 B.C.). A.V., authorized version; artillery volunteers. + + B.A., bachelor of arts. Bart, or Bt., baronet. B.C., before Christ. + B.C.L., bachelor of civil law. B.D., bachelor of divinity. B.L., + bachelor of law. B.M., bachelor of medicine. Bp., bishop. B.S., + bachelor of surgery. B.Sc., bachelor of science. B.V.M., blessed Virgin + Mary. + + C., cap., or chap., chapter. C.A., chartered accountant. Cantab., + _Cantabrigiensis_, of Cambridge. Cantuar., _Cantuariensis_, of + Canterbury. C.B., companion of the Bath. C.B.E., commander of the + British Empire. C.C., Catholic curate; county councillor. C.D.V., + _carte de visite_. C.E., civil engineer. Cf., _confer_, compare. Ch.B., + _chirurgiae baccalaureus_, bachelor of surgery. C.I., order of the + Crown of India. C.I.E., companion of the order of the Indian Empire. + C.J., chief justice. C.M., _chirurgiae magister_, master in surgery; + common metre. C.M.G., companion of the order of St. Michael and St. + George. C.M.S., Church Missionary Society. Co., company or county. + C.O.D., cash on delivery. Col., colonel, colony. Coll., college. Cr., + creditor. C.S., civil service; clerk to the signet. C.S.I., companion + of the Star of India. C.T.C., Cyclists' Touring Club. Curt., current, + the present month. C.V.O., commander of the Royal Victorian Order. + Cwt., hundredweight. + + d., _denarius_, penny or pence. D.C.L., doctor of civil law. D.C.M., + Distinguished Conduct Medal. D.D., doctor of divinity. Del., + _delineavit_, drew it. D.F., defender of the faith. D.G., _Dei gratia_, + by the grace of God. D.L., deputy lieutenant. D.Lit., D.Litt., _doctor + litterarum_, doctor of letters or literature. Do., _ditto_, the same. + D.O.M., _Deo Optimo Maximo_, to God, the best and greatest. D.P.H., + diploma in public health. D.Phil., doctor of philosophy. Dr., doctor, + also debtor. D.Sc., doctor of science. D.S.O., Distinguished Service + Order. D.V., _Deo volente_, God willing. Dwt., pennyweight. + + E., east. Ebor., _Eboracensis_, of York. E.C., Established Church. + E.C.U., English Church Union. E.E., errors excepted. e.g., _exempli + gratia_, for example. Etc. or &c., _et cetera_, and the rest. + + F. or Fahr., Fahrenheit's thermometer. F.A., Football Association. + F.A.S., fellow of the Antiquarian Society. F.B.A., fellow of the + British Academy. F.C., Free Church. F.C.P., fellow of the College of + Preceptors. F.C.S., fellow of the Chemical Society. F.D., _fidei + defensor_, defender of the faith. Fec., _fecit_, he made or did it. + F.F.A., fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries. F.F.P.S., fellow of the + Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow). F.G.S., fellow of the + Geological Society. F.H.S., fellow of the Horticultural Society. + F.I.A., fellow of the Institute of Actuaries. Fl., flourished. F.L.S., + fellow of the Linnaean Society. F.M., field-marshal. F.O.B., free on + board (goods delivered). F.R.A.S., fellow of the Royal Astronomical + Society. F.R.C.O., fellow of the Royal College of Organists. F.R.C.P., + fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. F.R.C.S., fellow of the + Royal College of Surgeons. F.R.G.S., fellow of the Royal Geographical + Society. F.R.I.B.A., fellow of the Royal Institute of British + Architects. F.R.S., fellow of the Royal Society. F.R.S.E., fellow of + the Royal Society of Edinburgh. F.S.A., fellow of the Society of Arts + or Antiquaries. F.S.S., fellow of the Statistical Society. Ft., foot or + feet. F.Z.S., fellow of the Zoological Society. + + Gal., gallon. G.B.E., (knight) grand cross of the British Empire. + G.C.B., (knight) grand cross of the Bath. G.C.I.E., (knight) grand + commander of the Indian Empire. G.C.M.G., (knight) grand cross of St. + Michael and St. George. G.C.S.I., (knight) grand commander of the Star + of India. G.C.V.O., (knight) grand cross of the Royal Victorian Order. + G.R., Georgius Rex, King George. G.R.I., Georgius Rex Imperator; + George, King and Emperor. G.P.O., general post office. + + H.B.M., his or her Britannic majesty. H.E.I.C.S., honourable East India + Company's service. Hhd., hogshead. H.I.H., his or her imperial + highness. H.M.I.S., his majesty's inspector of schools. H.M.S., his or + her majesty's ship. Hon., honourable. H.Q., Head-quarters. H.R.H., his + (her) royal highness. H.S.H., his (her) serene highness. + + Ib. or Ibid., _ib[=i]dem_, in the same place. Id., _idem_, the same. + i.e., _id est_, that is. +I.H.S., _Jesus hominum salvator_, Jesus the + Saviour of men: originally it was [Greek: IES], the first three letters + of [Greek: IESOUS] (_I[=e]sous_), Greek for _Jesus_. Incog., + _incognito_, unknown. Inf., _infra_, below. I.N.R.I., _Iesus Nazarenus + Rex Iudaeorum_, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Inst., instant, or + of this month; institute. Inv., _invenit_, designed, invented. + I.O.G.T., Independent Order of Good Templars. I.O.U., I owe you. + I.S.O., Imperial Service Order. + + J.P., justice of the peace. Jr., junior. J.U.D., _juris utriusque + doctor_, doctor both of the civil and the canon law. + + K.B.E., knight commander of the British Empire. K.C., king's counsel. + K.C.B., knight commander of the Bath. K.C.M.G., knight commander of St. + Michael and St. George. K.C.I.E., knight commander of the Indian + Empire. K.C.S.I., knight commander of the Star of India. K.C.V.O., + knight commander of the Royal Victorian Order. K.G., knight of the + Garter. K.P., knight of St. Patrick. K.T., knight of the Thistle. Kt. + or Knt., knight. + + L., l, or L, pounds sterling. L.A., literate in arts. L.A.S., + licentiate of the Apothecaries' Society. Lat., latitude; Latin. Lb. or + lb., _libra_, a pound (weight). L.C., _loco citato_, in the place + cited. L.C.J., lord chief-justice. L.C.P., licentiate of the College of + Preceptors. Ldp., lordship. L.D.S., licentiate in dental surgery. + Litt.D., _litterarum doctor_, doctor of literature. L.L., Low Latin. + L.L.A., lady literate in arts. LL.B., _legum baccalaureus_, bachelor of + laws. LL.D., _legum doctor_, doctor of laws (that is, the civil and the + canon law). LL.M., _legum magister_, master of laws. Lon. or long., + longitude. Loq., _loquitur_, speaks. L.R.C.P., licentiate Royal College + of Physicians (with E., of Edinburgh). L.R.C.S., licentiate Royal + College of Surgeons (with E., of Edinburgh). L.R.C.V.S., licentiate of + the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. L.S., _locus sigilli_, the + place of the seal (on documents). L.S.A., licentiate of the Society of + Apothecaries. L.S.D., _librae, solidi, denarii_, pounds, shillings, + pence. + + M.A., master of arts. M.B., _medicinae baccalaureus_, bachelor of + medicine. M.B.E., member of the British Empire. M.D., _medicinae + doctor_, doctor of medicine. M.E., mining engineer. Messrs., messieurs, + gentlemen. M.F.H., master of fox-hounds. M.Inst.C.E., member of the + Institution of Civil Engineers. M.I.E.E., member of the Institute of + Electrical Engineers. M.I.M.E., member of the Institute of Mining and + Mechanical Engineers. M.I.Mech.E., member of the Institution of + Mechanical Engineers. Mlle., mademoiselle. Mme., madame. M.P., member + of Parliament. M.R.C.S., member of the Royal College of Surgeons. + M.R.C.V.S., member of the Royal College of Veterinary surgeons. + M.R.I.A., member of the Royal Irish Academy. MS., manuscript; MSS., + manuscripts. Mus.D., _musicae doctor_, doctor of music. M.V.O., member + of the Royal Victorian Order. + + N., north. N.B., _nota bene_, take notice; also North Britain, New + Brunswick. N.D., no date. Nem. con., _nemine contradicente_, no one + contradicting, unanimously. No., _numero_, number. N.P., notary public. + N.S., new style, Nova Scotia. N.S.W., New South Wales. N.T., New + Testament. N.Y., New York. N.Z., New Zealand. + + Ob., _obiit_, died. O.B.E., officer of the British Empire. Obs., + obsolete. Obt., obedient. O.C., officer commanding. O.H.M.S., on his + majesty's service. O.M., Order of Merit. O.P., out of print. Op. cit., + _opere citato_, in the work quoted. O.S., old style. O.T., Old + Testament. Oxon., _Oxoniensis_, of Oxford. Oz., ounce or ounces. + + P., page; pp., pages. Par., paragraph. P.C., privy-councillor. P.E., + Protestant Episcopal. Per cent., _per centum_, by the hundred. Ph.D., + _philosophiae doctor_, doctor of philosophy. Pinx., _pinxit_, painted + (it). P.M., _post meridiem_, afternoon. P.O., post office. P.O.O., post + office order. P.P., parish priest. P.P.C., _pour prendre conge_, to + take leave. Prox., _proximo (mense)_, next month. P.R.A., president of + the Royal Academy. P.R.S.A., president of the Royal Scottish Academy. + P.S., postscript. P.T.O., please turn over (the leaf). + + Q., question, queen. Q.E.D., _quod erat demonstrandum_, which was to be + demonstrated. Q.E.F., _quod erat faciendum_, which was to be done. + Q.M., quarter-master. Q.M.G., quarter-master-general. Qu., query. + Quant. suff., _quantum sufficit_, as much as is needful. Q.V., _quod + vide_, which see. + + R., _rex, regina_, king, queen. R.A., royal academician; Royal + Artillery. R.A.M., Royal Academy of Music. R.A.M.C., Royal Army Medical + Corps. R.A.O.D., Royal Army Ordnance Department. R.A.S.C., Royal Army + Service Corps. R.C., Roman Catholic. R.C.P., Royal College of + Physicians. R.C.S., Royal College of Surgeons. R.E., Royal Engineers. + Rev., reverend. R.I.P., _requiescat in pace_, may he rest in peace. + R.M., Royal Marines. R.N., Royal Navy. R.S.A., royal Scottish + academician. R.S.E., Royal Society of Edinburgh. R.S.L., Royal Society + of Literature. R.S.V.P., _repondez s'il vous plait_, reply, if you + please. Rt. Hon., right honourable. Rt. Wpful., right worshipful. R.V., + revised version. + + S., south. S. or St., saint. Sc., _scilicet_, namely, viz. S.J., + Society of Jesus (Jesuits). S.P.C.A., Society for the Prevention of + Cruelty to Animals. S.P.C.C., Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to + Children. S.P.C.K., Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. S.P.G., + Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. S.P.Q.R., _senatus + populusque Romanus_, the senate and people of Rome. S.S.C., solicitor + before the supreme courts. S.S.M., Society of the Sacred Mission. St., + saint, street. S.T.D., _sacrae theologiae doctor_, doctor of divinity. + S.T.P., _sacrae theologiae professor_, an old-fashioned equivalent of + D.D. + + T.C.D., Trinity College, Dublin. T.O., telegraph office. + + U.F.C., United Free Church. U.K., United Kingdom. Ult., _ultimo_, last + (month). U.P., United Presbyterian. U.S., United States. U.S.A., United + States of America. U.S.N., United States Navy. + + V., _vide_, see; also _versus_, against. V.C., Victoria Cross. Viz., + _videlicet_, to wit, or namely. V.P., vice-president. V.S., veterinary + surgeon. W., west. W.I., West Indies. W.L.F., Women's Liberal + Federation. W.O., War Office. W.S.P.U., Women's Social and Political + Union. W.S. writer to the signet (Scotland). + + Xmas, Christmas. + + Y.M.C.A., Young Men's Christian Association. Y.W.C.A., Young Women's + Christian Association. + + In LL.D., LL.B., &c., the letter is doubled, according to the Roman + system, to show that the abbreviation represents a plural noun. + +ABD-EL-KA'DER, an Arab chief, born in Algeria, 1807; died at Damascus, +1883. He was the chief opponent of the French in their conquest of Algeria, +but at last surrendered to them in 1847, and was imprisoned till set at +liberty by Napoleon III in 1852. He afterwards resided chiefly at Damascus, +but made various journeys, and visited the Paris exhibition of 1867. He +wrote a religious philosophical work in Arabic which has been translated +into French. + +ABDE'RA, an ancient Greek city on the Thracian coast, the birthplace of +Democritus (the laughing philosopher), Anaxarchus, and Protagoras. Its +inhabitants were proverbial for stupidity. + +ABDICA'TION, properly the voluntary, but sometimes also the involuntary, +resignation of an office or dignity, and more especially that of sovereign +power. Abdication does not necessarily require the execution of a formal +deed, but may be presumed from facts and circumstances, as in the case of +the English Revolution in 1688, when, after long debate, it was resolved by +both Houses of Parliament that King James II, having endeavoured to subvert +the constitution of the kingdom, had "_abdicated_ the government, and that +the throne is thereby vacant". Yet the sovereign of Great Britain cannot +constitutionally abdicate without the consent of both Houses of Parliament. +The principal abdications in recent years were: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, +14th March, 1917; King Constantine of Greece, 11th June, 1917; King +Ferdinand of Bulgaria, 6th Oct., 1918; Wilhelm II of Germany, 9th Nov., +1918; Karl I of Austria, 13th Nov., 1918; and Marie Adelaide, Grand-Duchess +of Luxembourg, 15th Jan., 1919. + +[Illustration: Abdominal Regions.] + +ABDO'MEN, in man, the belly, or lower cavity of the trunk, separated from +the upper cavity or thorax by the diaphragm or midriff, and bounded below +by the bones of the pelvis. It contains the viscera belonging to the +digestive and urinary systems. What are called the _abdominal regions_ will +be understood from the accompanying cut, in which 1 is the _epigastric_ +region, 2 the _umbilical_, 3 the _pubic_, 4 4 the right and left +_hypochondriac_, 5 5 the right and left _lumbar_, 6 6 right and left +_iliac_. The name is given to the corresponding portion of the body in +other animals. In insects it comprises the whole body behind the thorax, +usually consisting of a series of rings. See _Alimentary Canal_. + +ABDOM'INAL FISHES (Abdomin[=a]les), a group of the soft-finned (or +malacopterous) fishes, having fins upon the abdomen, and comprising the +herring, pike, salmon, carp, &c. + +ABDUC'TION, a legal term, generally applied to denote the offence of +carrying off a female either forcibly or by fraudulent representations. +Such a delinquency in regard to a man is styled _kidnapping_. There are +various descriptions of abduction recognized in criminal jurisprudence, +such as that of a child, of an heiress, or of a wife. + +AB'DUL-AZ'IZ, Sultan of Turkey, was born in Feb., 1830, and succeeded his +brother Abdul-Mejid, in June, 1861. He concluded treaties of commerce with +France and England, both of which countries he visited in 1867. Deposed in +May, 1876, he committed suicide, or more probably was assassinated, in June +of the same year. He was succeeded by his son Murad V. See next article. + +AB'DUL-HAM'ID, Sultan of Turkey, younger son of Abdul-Mejid, born 22nd +Sept., 1842, succeeded his brother Murad V, who was deposed on proof of his +insanity in 1876. At that time Turkey, which was at war with Serbia, was +compelled to agree to an armistice at the demand of Russia. The persecution +and oppression of the Christian population of Bulgaria had roused +remonstrances from other European countries, and a congress met at +Constantinople to consider a constitution which the Porte had proclaimed. +The conference was a failure, and in April, 1877, war was declared by +Russia. During the sanguinary struggle which ensued the Turks fought with +great bravery, but they had ultimately to sue for peace. A treaty was +signed at San Stefano in Feb., 1878, but its provisions were modified by a +congress of the Great Powers which met at Berlin. The island of Cyprus was +ceded to Britain. Serbia, Rumania, and Montenegro were freed from Turkish +suzerainty altogether; Bulgaria was left in nominal dependence; whilst +Bosnia and Herzegovina were placed under Austrian administration. In 1881 +Thessaly was transferred to Greece; in 1885 E. Roumelia became united to +Bulgaria. Ever since the treaty of Berlin, Abdul Hamid saw in Germany the +future friend of Turkey. He therefore entrusted Germans with the +reorganization of his army and finances. Subsequently there were massacres +of Christians, a war with Greece (1897), and troubles in Crete and +Macedonia. In April, 1909, the Sultan was deposed, and his brother, Rashid +Effendi, proclaimed sultan as Mohammed V. Abdul Hamid died in captivity +10th Feb., 1918. + +ABD-UL-LAT'IF, an Arab writer and physician, was born at Bagdad in 1161 and +died there in 1231. He was patronized by the celebrated Saladin, and +published an excellent description of Egypt, which is still extant. It was +translated into English by White, Oxford, 1800. + +AB'DUL-MEJ'ID KHAN, Sultan of Turkey, born in 1823, succeeded his father, +Mahmud II, 1st July, 1839. At the time of his accession Mehemet, Pasha of +Egypt, had risen a second time against the Turkish yoke; his son Ibrahim +had inflicted a severe defeat on the Turks at Nizib (24th June, 1839), and +was advancing on Constantinople. But the intervention of the leading +European Powers checked the designs of Mehemet Ali, and saved the Turkish +empire. Abdul-Mejid was desirous of carrying out reforms, but most of them +were not enforced, or caused bloody insurrections where attempts were made +to carry them out. Owing to disputes between the Latin and Greek Churches +regarding the rights of precedence and possession of the 'holy places' in +Palestine, and to demands made by the Tsar virtually implying the right of +protectorate over the Christian subjects of the Sultan, war broke out +between Turkey and Russia in 1853. In the following year the Porte effected +an alliance with France and England (hence the Crimean War), and later on +with Sardinia. (See _Crimean War_.) Abdul-Mejid died 25th June, 1861, and +was succeeded by his brother, Abdul-Aziz. + +ABECEDA'RIAN, a term formed from the first four letters of the alphabet, +and applied to the followers of Storch, a German Anabaptist (1522), because +they rejected all worldly knowledge, even the learning of the alphabet. + +A BECKET, Thomas. See _Becket_. + +A BECK'ETT, Gilbert Abbott, English writer, born near London in 1811. He +studied for the bar, and became one of the original staff of _Punch_, was +long a leader-writer to the _Times_ and the _Morning Herald_, and +contributed articles to the _Illustrated London News_. He wrote _Comic +History of England_, _Comic History of Rome_, and _Comic Blackstone_, and +between fifty and sixty plays. In 1849 he was appointed a metropolitan +police magistrate, which office he retained till his death in 1856. + +ABEL, properly _Hebel_ (Heb. breath, vapour, vanity), the second son of +Adam. He was a shepherd, and was slain by his brother Cain from jealousy +because his sacrifice was accepted while Cain's was rejected. Several of +the fathers, among others St. Chrysostom and Augustine, regard him as a +type of the new, regenerate man. + +ABEL, Sir Frederick Augustus, chemist, was born in London, 1827; died 1902. +Having adopted chemistry as a profession, he studied under Hofmann at the +Royal College of Chemistry, became professor of chemistry at the Royal +Military Academy in 1851, and was chemist to the War Department and +chemical adviser to the Government from 1854 to 1888. He did useful work in +connection with the chemistry of explosives (especially gun-cotton), the +flash-point of petroleum, &c.; was joint-inventor of cordite along with +Dewar; and was also an authority on the manufacture of steel. He was +honoured with a baronetcy, and was also a K.C.B. and a K.C.V.O. He wrote +works on gunpowder, gun-cotton, and explosives generally, and on +electricity as applied to explosive purposes. His works include: _The +Modern History of Gunpowder_; _Electricity applied to Explosive Purposes_, +&c. + +ABELARD (ab'e-l[:a]rd), or ABAILARD, Peter, a celebrated scholastic +teacher, born near Nantes, in Brittany, in 1079. He made extraordinary +progress with his studies, and, ultimately eclipsing his teachers, he +opened a school of scholastic philosophy near Paris, which attracted crowds +of students from the neighbouring city. His success in the fiery debates +which were then the fashion in the schools made him many enemies, among +whom was Guillaume de Champeaux, his former teacher, chief of the cathedral +school of Notre-Dame, and the most advanced of the Realists. Abelard +succeeded his adversary in this school (in 1113), and under him were +trained many men who afterwards rose to eminence, among them being the +future Pope Celestin II, Peter Lombard, and Arnold of Brescia. While he was +at the height of his popularity, and in his fortieth year, he fell +violently in love with Heloise--then eighteen years of age--niece of +Fulbert, a canon of Paris. They obtained a home in Fulbert's house under +the pretext of teaching Heloise philosophy, and their intercourse at length +became apparent. Abelard, who had retired to Brittany, was followed by +Heloise, who there gave birth to a son, named Astrolabius. A private +marriage took place, and Heloise returned to her uncle's house, but, +refusing to make public her marriage (as likely to spoil Abelard's career), +she was subjected to severe treatment at the hands of her uncle. To save +her from this Abelard carried her off and placed her in a convent at +Argenteuil, a proceeding which so incensed Fulbert that he hired ruffians +who broke into Abelard's chamber and subjected him to a shameful +mutilation. Abelard, filled with grief and shame, became a monk in the +abbey of St. Denis, and Heloise took the veil. When time had somewhat +moderated his grief, he resumed his lectures; but trouble after trouble +overtook him. His theological writings were condemned by the Council of +Soissons, and he retired to an oratory called the Paraclete, subsequently +becoming head of the abbey of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys in Brittany. For a short +time he again lectured at Paris (1136), but his doctrines once more brought +persecution on him, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the most powerful man in +the Church in those days, had him condemned by the Council of Sens and +afterwards by the Pope. Abelard did not long survive this, dying at St. +Marcel, near Chalon-sur-Saone, 21st April, 1142. Heloise, who had become +abbess of the Paraclete, had him buried there, where she herself was +afterwards laid by his side. Their ashes were removed to Paris in 1800, and +in 1817 they were finally deposited beneath a mausoleum in the cemetery of +Pere la Chaise. According to John of Salisbury, Abelard is credited with +the invention of a new philosophical system, midway between Realism and +Nominalism. In Ethics, Abelard seems to have attached importance to the +psychological element in the action, rather than to the action itself. "The +intention of sinning", he maintained, "is worse than the actual physical +sin." A complete edition of his works was published by Cousin (2 vols., +Paris, 1849-59), and the letters of Abelard and Heloise have been often +published in the original and in translations. Pope's _Eloisa to Abelard_ +is founded on them. Abelard's autobiography, entitled _Story of my +Calamities_, is still extant.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Charles de Remusat, _Abelard_ +(2 vols.); J. McCabe, _Life of Abelard_. + +ABELE (a-b[=e]l'), a name of the white poplar. + +A'BELITE, or Abe'lian, a member of a religious sect in Africa which arose +in the fourth century after Christ. They married, but lived in continence, +after the manner, as they maintained, of Abel, and attempted to keep up the +sect by adopting the children of others. + +ABELMOSCHUS (-mos'kus), a genus of tropical plants of the mallow family. +_A. esculentus_, cultivated in India, Algeria, &c., yields edible pods and +also a valuable fibre. The fruit, called _okro_ or _ochro_, is used in +soups. + +ABENCERRAGES (ab-en-ser'a-jez), a powerful and distinguished Moorish family +of Granada, the chief members of which, thirty-six in number, are said to +have been massacred in the Alhambra by the king Abu-Hassan (latter half of +the fifteenth century) on account of the attachment of his sister to one of +them. There is a room in the Alhambra which is still called 'the hall of +the Abencerrages'. The legend has furnished the subject of many poems both +Arabic and Spanish (_Las Guerras Civiles de Granada_, by Gines Perez de +Hita), and formed the basis for Chateaubriand's _Aventures du dernier des +Abencerages_. + +AB'EN EZRA (Ibn Ezra), a celebrated Jewish rabbi, born at Toledo about +1093, travelled in pursuit of knowledge in England, France, Italy, and +Greece, and is supposed to have died in Rhodes about 1167. He is best known +as a commentator on Scripture. + +ABENSBERG ([:a]'b[.e]ns-ber_h_), a village of Bavaria, in the Danube +valley, below Ingolstadt, celebrated for Napoleon's victory over the +Austrians, 20th April, 1809. + +ABEOKU'TA. See _Abbeokuta_. + +AB'ER, a prefix in Celtic geographical proper names signifying the mouth or +entrance of a river into the sea, or into another stream. It is used +chiefly in Wales and Scotland, having the same meaning as _inver_. + +ABERA'VON, a municipal borough of Wales in Glamorganshire, near the mouth +of the Avon in Swansea Bay, embracing Aberavon proper and its harbour Port +Talbot. There are collieries, ironworks, copper-works, &c. Since 1918 +Aberavon gives its name to a parliamentary division of the county. Pop. +(municipal borough) (1921), 15,370. + +ABERBROTH'OCK. See _Arbroath_. + +ABERCARN', an urban district or town of England, Monmouthshire, 10-1/2 +miles north-west of Newport, with collieries, ironworks, &c. Pop. (1921), +20,123. + +AB'ERCROMBIE, John, M.D., a Scottish writer on medical and moral science, +and an eminent physician, born in Aberdeen, 1781, died at Edinburgh in +1844. He graduated at the university of Edinburgh in 1803, and subsequently +pursued his studies in London, returning to Edinburgh in 1804, where he +acquired an extensive practice as a physician. Apart from medical +treatises, he is known from his _Inquiries concerning the Intellectual +Powers_ and his _Philosophy of the Moral Feelings_. + +AB'ERCROMBIE, Patrick, a Scottish historical writer and antiquary, born at +Forfar, 1656; date of death uncertain. Educated at St. Andrews and abroad, +he took the degree of M.D., and practised as a physician in Edinburgh. In +1685 he was appointed physician to James II. His chief work is _Martial +Atchievements of the Scots Nation_, 2 vols. folio, 1711-6. + +AB'ERCROMBY, Sir Ralph, a British general, born in 1734 in +Clackmannanshire, Scotland. He entered the army in 1756 as cornet in the +3rd Dragoon Guards; and he gradually passed through all the ranks of the +service until he became a major-general in 1787. He served as +lieutenant-general in Flanders, 1793-5, and was then appointed +commander-in-chief of the forces in the West Indies, where he captured the +islands of Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad, with the +settlements of Demerara and Essequibo. On his return in 1798 he was +appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland; and he afterwards held a +corresponding command in Scotland. His next and concluding service was in +the expedition to Egypt, of which he was commander-in-chief. He landed, +after a severe fight, at Aboukir, 8th March, 1801; and on the 21st of the +same month the battle of Alexandria was fought, in which Sir Ralph was +mortally wounded. + +ABERDARE (-d[=a]r'), a town of South Wales, in Glamorganshire, pleasantly +situated at the junction of the Cynon and Dare, 4 miles south-west of +Merthyr-Tydfil, with extensive coal and iron mines in the vicinity. It +belongs to the parliamentary borough of Merthyr-Tydfil. Pop. (1921), +55,010. + +ABERDEEN', a university city and royal, municipal, and parliamentary burgh +of Scotland, capital of the county of same name, mainly on the north bank +of the Dee at its entrance into the North Sea, and between this river and +the Don, with a part also on the south bank of the Dee, while the municipal +limits include the adjacent Woodside. The site is in places somewhat hilly. +Aberdeen is one of the oldest towns in Scotland, and was constituted a +royal burgh by William the Lion in 1179. The streets are generally spacious +and regular, the houses built of fine grayish-white granite. There are many +handsome public buildings, as the County and Municipal Buildings, Marischal +College, Grammar School, Infirmary, Arts School, Art Gallery, Music Hall +Buildings, public library, &c. The finest street, Union Street, made in +1800, is carried over a valley by a granite bridge having an arch of 132 +feet span. The small portion of the city called Old Aberdeen, long a +separate town, consists mainly of a single street, stretching northwards to +the River Don. Its chief buildings are King's College and St. Machar's +Cathedral. Noteworthy features of the college buildings are the crown-tower +and the chapel, the latter containing some very fine old carved woodwork. +The cathedral, now used as a parish church, was commenced about 1357. There +are several bridges over the Dee and Don. Over the latter is a fine old +bridge (Brig o' Balgownie) of one arch, erected according to some accounts +by Robert Bruce. There are docks 34 acres in area, an extensive tidal +harbour and basin, and a graving-dock. The shipping trade is extensive. The +industries embrace wool, jute, linen, combs, soap, preserved provisions, +chemicals, paper, shipbuilding, engineering, and especially the cutting and +polishing of granite. The fishing industry is of great importance. The city +of Aberdeen returns two members to Parliament. Pop. 158,969.--_The County +of Aberdeen_ forms the north-eastern portion of Scotland, and is bounded on +the east and north by the North Sea. Area, 1,261,521 acres. It is divided +into six districts (Mar, Formartine, Buchan, Alford, Garioch, and +Strathbogie), and is generally hilly, there being in the south-west some of +the highest mountains in Scotland, as Ben Macdhui (4295 feet), Cairntoul +(4245), Cairngorm (4090), Lochnagar, &c. Its most valuable mineral is +granite, large quantities of which are exported. The principal rivers are +the Dee and the Don, both of which enter the sea at the town of Aberdeen. +Cereals (except wheat) and other crops succeed well, and the number of +acres under cultivation is nearly double that of any other Scottish county. +Great numbers of cattle are fattened and sent to London and the south. On +the banks of the upper Dee is situated Balmoral, a favourite residence of +Queen Victoria. Aberdeenshire and Kincardine unite in sending three members +to Parliament. Pop. 300,980.--_Aberdeen University_, as now constituted, +derives its origin from two different foundations; one, the University and +King's College (Old Aberdeen), founded in 1494 by Bishop Elphinstone (who +was bishop of Aberdeen from 1483-1514) under the authority of a papal bull +obtained at the instance of James IV; the other, Marischal College and +University (New Aberdeen), founded in 1593 by Geo. Keith, Earl Marischal, +by a charter ratified by act of Parliament. The two foundations existed as +separate universities, both having the right of conferring degrees, till +1860, when they were united and incorporated into one university, the +University of Aberdeen. Holding the funds of both colleges and dating as +from the foundation of King's College in 1494, the university has about 300 +bursaries or exhibitions, mostly open to public competition, and a number +of money prizes and scholarships. The classes for arts and divinity are +held in King's College, and those for law and medicine in Marischal +College. There is a full teaching staff in the faculties of arts, medicine, +science, and divinity, and two professors in that of law. There are in all +25 professors and some 900 matriculated students. The constitution of the +university is similar to that of Edinburgh and the other Scottish +universities. The library contains over 80,000 volumes. The university +unites with those of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St. Andrews in sending three +members to Parliament. + +ABERDEEN', George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of, British statesman, born 28th +Jan., 1784, died 14th Dec., 1860. He began his diplomatic life in 1801 as +attache to Lord Cornwallis's embassy to France, which resulted in the +signing of the treaty of Amiens. In 1806 he entered Parliament as a +Scottish representative peer, and in 1813 was entrusted with a successful +mission to Austria for the purpose of inducing the emperor to join the +coalition of sovereigns against Bonaparte. In 1814 he was created a British +peer, and in 1828 he became foreign secretary in the Duke of Wellington's +administration. During the short premiership of Sir Robert Peel in 1834-5 +he acted as colonial secretary, and when Sir Robert again became premier in +1841 he took office as Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He was a warm +supporter of Catholic Emancipation, and endeavoured, though without result, +to bring in a compromise bill in 1846, during the struggle which divided +the Established Church of Scotland. Quitting office with his chief in 1846, +he came, on the death of Peel in 1850, to be regarded as the leader of the +Conservative free-trade party. On the Derby ministry failing to maintain +its place, Lord Aberdeen returned to office in the end of 1852 as head of a +coalition ministry. The principal event which marked his administration was +the Crimean war; but the bad management of this irritated the country, and +the ministry resigned in 1855. This event marks the close of Lord +Aberdeen's public career. From his travels and his acquaintance with Greece +and its antiquities he was called by Byron "the travelled thane, Athenian +Aberdeen". + +AB'ERDEVINE. See _Siskin_. + +ABERGAVEN'NY (sometimes pron. ab-[.e]r-ge'ni, the Roman GOBANNIUM), a +municipal borough and market town of England, in Monmouthshire, situated +amid delightful scenery in the beautiful valley of the Usk. It manufactures +woollens and shoes, and has considerable trade. Pop. (1921), 9252. + +ABERNETHY (ab-[.e]r-neth'i), John, an eminent English surgeon, of somewhat +eccentric habits, born in 1764 in London, a pupil of the celebrated John +Hunter. In 1787 he became assistant surgeon at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, +and shortly after lecturer on anatomy and surgery. In 1815 he was elected +principal surgeon, and under his auspices the hospital attained a celebrity +which it had never before enjoyed. He published _Surgical Observations_; +_The Constitutional Origin and Treatment of Local Diseases_; and +_Lectures_, explanatory of Hunter's opinions of the vital processes; +besides smaller essays. He died in 1831. + +ABERRA'TION, in astronomy, the difference between the true and the observed +position of a heavenly body, the result of the combined effect of the +motion of light and the motion of the eye of the observer caused by the +annual or diurnal motion of the earth; or of the motion of light and that +of the body from which the light proceeds. When the auxiliary cause is the +annual revolution of the earth round the sun it is called _annual +aberration_, in consequence of which a fixed star may appear as much as +20.4" from its true position; when the auxiliary cause is the diurnal +rotation of the earth on its axis it is called _diurnal aberration_, which +amounts at the greatest to 0.3"; and when the auxiliary cause is the motion +of the body from which the light proceeds it is called _planetary +aberration_. + +ABERSYCHAN (ab-[.e]r-sik'an), a town of Monmouthshire, England, about 10 +miles north of Newport, in a rich coal-mining district. Pop. (1921), +27,089. + +ABERTIL'LERY, an urban district or town of England, Monmouthshire, 16 miles +north-west of Newport, with tinplate works, coal-mines, &c. Since 1918 it +gives its name to a parliamentary division of the county. Pop. (1921), +38,805. + +ABERYSTWITH (ab-[.e]r-ist'with), a seaport and fashionable watering-place +of Wales, county of Cardigan, on Cardigan Bay. The town is well built, and +the surrounding country is picturesque. There is here a University College +of the University of Wales, occupying a handsome Gothic building. Pop. +(1921), 12,289. + +ABEYANCE, in law, a legal term meaning that the title to dignity, office, +or real or personal property is not vested in anyone, but is suspended +until the right thereto is determined by the appearance of the true owner. +Under English law, when a nobleman dies leaving no male issue, the title, +if descendible to his heirs general, as in the case of baronies by writ, is +said to be in abeyance, until the king, by his prerogative, terminates the +abeyance in favour of one of the co-heiresses. See _Property_. + +ABGAR, title of the Syrian rulers at Edessa. The fourteenth prince of the +dynasty, a contemporary of the Roman emperor Tiberius (A.D. 14-37), is said +to have written a letter to our Saviour. + +ABHOR'RERS, in English history a name given to the Court party in 1679-80, +who, on petitions being presented to Charles II praying him to summon +Parliament, signed counter-petitions expressing _abhorrence_ for those who +were thus attempting to encroach on the royal prerogative. + +A'BIB, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, and the seventh +of the civil year, corresponding to the latter part of March and the first +of April. Also called _Nisan_. + +ABIES (ab'i-es), a genus of trees. See _Fir_ and _Spruce_. + +AB'INGDON, a town of England, in Berkshire, 50 miles north-west of London, +on the right bank of the Thames. It was an important place in Anglo-Saxon +times, and Offa, King of Mercia, had a palace in it. Formerly a +parliamentary borough, it now gives name to a parliamentary division of +Berks. Pop. (1921), 7167. + +ABIOGENESIS (a-b[=i]-o-jen'e-sis), the doctrine or hypothesis that living +matter may be produced from non-living; spontaneous generation. See +_Generation (Spontaneous)_. + +ABJURA'TION, Oath of, an oath which by an English Act passed in 1701 had to +be taken by all holders of public offices, clergymen, teachers, members of +the universities, and lawyers, abjuring and renouncing the exiled Stuarts: +superseded in 1858 by a more comprehensive oath, declaring allegiance to +the present royal family.--_Abjuration of the realm_ was an oath that a +person guilty of felony, who had taken sanctuary, might take. This oath +permitted him to go into exile, and not return on pain of death, unless by +the king's permission. In ecclesiastical language the term is applied to +renunciation of heresy. + +ABKHA'SIA, a Russian district, at the western extremity and south of the +Caucasus, between the mountains and the Black Sea. The Abkhasians form a +race distinguished from their neighbours in various respects. At one time +they were Christians, but afterwards adopted Mahommedanism. Many of them +migrated into Turkish territory in 1864 and 1878. + +ABLAINCOURT. See _Somme_. + +AB'LATIVE, a term applied to a case of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns in +Latin, Sanskrit, and some other languages; originally given to the case in +Latin because separation from (_ab_, from _latus_, taken) was considered to +be one of the chief ideas expressed by the case. + +ABNAKI, a Confederacy of Algonquin tribes, formerly occupying what is now +Maine and Southern New Brunswick. Their territory, to which they removed +after 1724, is in Canada on the St. John River and at St. Francis. + +ABO ([=o]'b[=o]), a town and port in Finland, the see of an archbishop, and +the capital of Finland till 1819, when it was supplanted by Helsingfors. +Pop. (1919), 56,168. + +ABOLITIONISTS. See _Slavery_. + +ABOMA'SUM, or ABOMA'SUS, the fourth stomach of ruminating animals, next the +_omasum_ or third stomach. + +ABO'MEY, or AGBO'MEY, the capital of the French territory and former +kingdom of Dahomey, in West Africa, in a fertile plain, near the coast of +Guinea. Pop. 11,000. + +ABORIGINES (ab-o-rij'i-n[=e]z), the name given in general to the earliest +known inhabitants of a country, those who are supposed to have inhabited +the land from the beginning (Lat. _ab origine_). (The singular of the word +is _Aboriginal_, or sometimes _Aborigine_.) + +ABORTION, in medicine, the expulsion of the foetus before it is capable of +independent existence. This may take place at any period of pregnancy +before the completion of the twenty-eighth week. A child born after that +time is said to be _premature_. Abortion may be the result of the general +debility or ill-health of the mother, of a plethoric constitution, of +special affections of the uterus, of severe exertions, sudden shocks, &c. +Various medicinal substances, generally violent emmenagogues or drastic +medicines, are believed to have the effect of provoking abortion, and are +sometimes resorted to for this purpose. Attempts to procure abortion are +punishable by law in all civilized states. When the death of the woman +ensues as a result of the attempt, the crime is murder.--The term is +applied in botany to denote the suppression by non-development of one or +more of the parts of a flower, which consists normally of four +whorls--namely, calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir +W. O. Russell, _Crimes and Misdemeanours_ (3 vols.); A. S. Taylor, +_Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence_. + +ABOUKIR ([.a]-b[:o]-k[=e]r'; ancient ZEPHYRION, near ruins of Can[=o]pus), +a small village on the Egyptian coast, 10 miles east of Alexandria. In +Aboukir Bay took place the naval battle in which Nelson annihilated a +French fleet on the night of 1st and 2nd Aug., 1798, thus totally +destroying the naval power of France in the Mediterranean. Near this place, +on 25th July, 1799, Napoleon defeated the Turks under Mustapha; and on 8th +March, 1801, Sir Ralph Abercromby effected the landing of a British army +against the French. + +ABOU-SIMBEL. See _Ipsambul_. + +ABOUT ([.a]-b[:o]), Edmond Francois Valentin, a French novelist and +miscellaneous writer, born 14th Feb., 1828, died 17th Jan., 1885. He was +educated at the Lycee Charlemagne and the Ecole Normale, Paris; and was +sent at Government expense to the French school at Athens; on his return to +Paris, he devoted himself to literature. Principal novels: _Tolla_, _Le Roi +des Montagnes_, _Germaine_, _Madelon_, _Le Fellah_, _La Vieille Roche_, +_L'Infame_, _Les Mariages de Province_, _Le Roman d'un Brave Homme_ +(against Zola and the naturalist school), &c.; miscellaneous works: _La +Grece Contemporaine_, _La Question Romaine_, _La Prusse en 1860_, _Rome +Contemporaine_, &c. In 1884 he was elected a member of the Academy. About +wrote in a bright, humorous, and interesting style, and his novels have +been very popular. + +ABRACADAB'RA, a word of Eastern origin used in incantations. When written +on paper so as to form a triangle, the first line containing the word in +full, the one below it omitting the last letter, and so on each time until +only one letter remained, and worn as an amulet, it was supposed to be an +antidote against certain diseases. + + A B R A C A D A B R A + A B R A C A D A B R + A B R A C A D A B + A B R A C A D A + A B R A C A D + A B R A C A + A B R A C + A B R A + A B R + A B + A + +A'BRAHAM, originally ABRAM (Assyrian _Aburamu_, lofty father), the greatest +of the Hebrew patriarchs, was born at Ur in Chaldea in 2153 B.C. according +to Hales, in 1996 B.C. according to Ussher, while Bunsen says he lived 2850 +B.C. He migrated, accompanied by his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, to +Canaan, where he led a nomadic life, which extended over 175 years. His two +sons, Isaac and Ishmael, were the progenitors of the Jews and Arabs +respectively. + +ABRAHAM, Heights or Plains of. See _Quebec_. + +ABRAHAM A SANTA CLARA, a German pulpit orator, whose real name was Ulrich +Megerle, born in 1644. As a preacher he acquired so great a reputation +that, in 1669, he was appointed court-preacher in Vienna, where he died in +1709. His sermons are full of homely, grotesque humour, often of coarse +wit, and impartial severity towards all classes of society. His principal +work and masterpiece is _Judas, the Archknave_ (4 vols.), 1686-95. + +ABRAHAMITES, 1, A sect of Syrian Deists of the ninth century, whose +doctrines were allied to those of the Paulicians.--2, A sect of Bohemian +Deists of the late eighteenth century, who professed to be followers of +John Huss and claimed that they followed the religion of Abraham before his +circumcision. Believing in one God, they rejected the Trinity, and accepted +nothing of the Bible except the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. +Refusing to join either the Jewish or Christian folds, they were excluded +from the edict of toleration promulgated by the Emperor Joseph II, and +expelled to Transylvania in 1783. Some were martyred, others became Roman +Catholics. + +ABRAHAM-MEN, originally a set of vagabonds who had been discharged from +Bethlehem Hospital, London; but as many assumed, without right, the badge +worn by them, the term came to signify an impostor who travelled about the +country seeking alms, under the pretence of lunacy. + +ABRAM, a town (urban district) of England, Lancashire, 3-1/2 miles from +Wigan; a colliery centre. Pop. (1921), 6858. + +AB'RAMIS, a genus of fishes. See _Bream_. + +ABRAN'TES, a fortified town of Portugal, on the right bank of the Tagus +(here navigable), 73 miles north-east of Lisbon, with which it carries on +an active trade. Pop. 8000. + +ABRANTES, Duke of. See _Junot_. + +ABRAX'AS (or ABRASAX) STONES, the name given to stones or gems found in +Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere, cut into almost every variety of shape, but +generally having a human trunk and arms, with a cock's head, two serpents' +tails for the legs, &c., and the mystico-theosophical word Abraxas or +Abrasax in Greek characters engraved upon them. Eventually they came to be +used as charms and amulets. Basilides (A.D. 130) and other gnostics gave +the name of Abraxas to Almighty God, the Supreme Deity, since the numerical +value of its letters in Greek gave the sum of 365, and they believed that +365 orders of spirits emanated from God. Not all abraxas stones, however, +are of gnostic origin, just as the name of abraxas cannot be applied to all +gnostic stones. Cf. King: _The Gnostics and their Remains_, London, 1887. + +ABRIN, or ABRINE, a poisonous substance, being the active principle in the +seeds of _Abrus precatorius_ (see _Abrus_). A minute quantity introduced +into the blood is fatal to many animals, but it is employed in ailments of +the eyes, and as a remedy for lupus and certain skin diseases. + +ABROGA'TION, the repealing of a law by a competent authority. + +ABROLHOS (a-brole'-yoce) a group of rocky islands 50 miles off the east +coast of Brazil, the largest of which is Santa Barbara. Another group +called Abrolhos lies off the west coast of Australia. + +ABRO'MA, a genus of small trees, natives of India, Java, &c., one species +of which, _A. augusta_, has a bark yielding a strong white fibre, from +which good cordage is made. + +ABRUPT', in botany, terminating suddenly, as if a part were cut short off. + +AB'RUS, a genus of papilionaceous plants, order Leguminosae, one species of +which, _Abrus precatorius_, a delicate twining shrub, a native of the East +Indies, and found also in tropical parts of Africa and America, has round +brilliant scarlet seeds, used to make necklaces and rosaries. Its root is +sweetish and mucilaginous, and is used as a substitute for liquorice +_(Indian liquorice_). The seeds yield a strong poison. + +ABRUZZI ([.a]-br[u:]t's[=e]), a division of Italy on the Adriatic, between +Umbria and the Marches on the north, and Apulia on the south. It is united +with Molise to form a _compartimento_, comprising the four provinces of +Aquila degli Abruzzi, Campobasso, Chicti, and Teramo. The sea-coast of +about 80 miles does not possess a single harbour. The interior is rugged +and mountainous, being traversed throughout by the Apennines. The lower +parts consist of fertile plains and valleys, yielding corn, wine, oil, +almonds, saffron, &c.; area, 6387 sq. miles. Pop. 1,480,748. + +AB'SALON, or AXEL, a Danish prelate, statesman, and warrior, born in 1128, +died 1201. He became the intimate friend and counsellor of his sovereign +Waldemar I, who appointed him Archbishop of Lund. He cleared the sea of the +Slavonic pirates who had long infested it, secured the independence of the +kingdom by defeating a powerful fleet of the Emperor Barbarossa, and built +the castle of Axelborg, the nucleus of Copenhagen. He ultimately became +Primate of Denmark and Sweden. Turning his thoughts to literature he caused +the _History of Denmark_ to be drawn up by Saxo Grammaticus and Svend +Aagesen. + +AB'SCESS, any collection of purulent matter or pus formed in some tissue or +organ of the body, and confined within some circumscribed area, of varying +size, but always painful and often dangerous. + +ABSENTEEISM, a term applied to landlords who absent themselves from their +estates and live and spend their money elsewhere; in its more extended +meaning it refers to all those whose fixed residence is outside their own +country but who derive their income from sources within it. The social, +economic, political, and moral evils resulting from such a system are +considerable and hurtful to the interests of a region, the absentee being +apt to lose his interest in things and persons and the public welfare +generally. Some economists, however, have adduced arguments in favour of +it, as it may sometimes be for the good of the community that a rich and +luxurious landlord should be absent from his estate. + +The absenteeism of the Irish nobility, which became worse after the Union +with Great Britain and the transfer of Parliament from Dublin to London, +has been a constant source of mischief, whilst France before the +Revolution, Russia under the Tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I, and Hungary +in the eighteenth century suffered greatly from the practice. The first +statute concerning absentees was passed in the English Parliament in 1379, +and in 1729 a tax was levied on all moneys paid out of Ireland. + +AB'SINTH, French _Absinthe_ ([.a]b-sa[n.]t), a liqueur consisting of an +alcoholic solution strongly flavoured with an extract of several sorts of +wormwood, oil of anise, &c. When taken habitually, or in excess, its +effects are very pernicious. A favourite drink of the Parisians, it was +suppressed entirely throughout France by a law passed on 12th Feb., 1915. + +AB'SOLUTE, in a general sense, loosed or freed from all limitations or +conditions. In politics, an _absolute_ monarchy is that form of government +in which the ruler is unlimited or uncontrolled by constitutional checks. +In modern metaphysics _the Absolute_ represents the unconditioned, +infinite, and self-existent. + +ABSOLU'TION, remission of a penitent's sins in the name of God. It is +commonly maintained that down to the twelfth century the priests used only +what is called the _precatory_ formula, "May God or Christ absolve thee", +which is still the form in the Greek Church; whereas the Roman Catholic +uses the expression "I absolve thee", thus regarding the forgiveness of +sins as in the power of the priest (the _indicative_ form). This theory of +absolution was confirmed by the Council of Trent. The passages of Scripture +on which the Roman Catholic Church relies in laying down its doctrine of +absolution are such as _Mat._ xvi. 19, xviii. 18; _John_, xx. 23. Among +Protestants absolution properly means a sentence by which a person who +stands excommunicated is released from that punishment. + +ABSOLUTISM, a system of government in which the supreme power is vested in +a ruler not controlled or limited by any constitution or laws. It has +prevailed in Oriental countries, including Japan, until the latter part of +the nineteenth century. There are now no absolute monarchies in Europe. + +ABSOR'BENTS, the system of minute vessels by which the nutritive elements +of food and other matters are carried into the circulation of vertebrate +animals. The vessels consist of two different sets, called respectively +_lacteals_ and _lymphatics_. The former arise from the digestive tract, the +latter from the tissues generally, both joining a common trunk which +ultimately enters the blood-vessel system. Absorbents in medicine are +substances such as chalk, charcoal, &c., that absorb or suck up excessive +secretion of fluid or gas. + +ABSORP'TION, in physiology, one of the vital functions by which the +materials of nutrition and growth are absorbed and conveyed to the organs +of plants and animals. In vertebrate animals this is done by the lymphatics +and lacteals, in plants chiefly by the roots. See _Absorbents_. + +In physics, _absorption of colour_ is the phenomenon observed when certain +colours are retained or prevented from passing through transparent bodies; +thus pieces of coloured glass are almost opaque to some parts of the +spectrum, while allowing other colours to pass through freely. In chemistry +absorption is the taking up of a gas by a liquid, or by a porous solid. + +AB'STINENCE. See _Fasting, Temperance_. + +ABSTRAC'TION, the operation of the mind by which it disregards part of what +is presented to its observation in order to concentrate its attention on +the remainder. It is the foundation of the operation of generalization, by +which we arrive at general conceptions. In order, for example, to form the +conception of a horse, we disregard the colour and other peculiarities of +the particular horses observed by us, and attend only to those qualities +which all horses have in common. In rising to the conception of an animal +we disregard still more qualities, and attend only to those which all +animals have in common with one another. + +ABU (a-b[:o]'), a granitic mountain of India in Sirohi State, Rajputana, +rising precipitously from the surrounding plains, its top forming a +picturesque and varied tract 14 miles long and 2 to 4 broad; highest point +5653 ft. It is a hot-weather resort of Europeans, and is the site of two +most beautiful Jain temples, built in 1031 and 1200. + +ABU-BEKR, or FATHER OF THE VIRGIN, born 570 died 634, the father-in-law and +first successor of Mahomet. His right to the succession was unsuccessfully +contested by Ali, Mahomet's son-in-law, and a schism took place, which +divided the Mahommedans into the two great sects of Sunnites and Shiites, +the former maintaining the validity of Abu-Bekr's and the latter that of +Ali's claim. + +ABUKIR'. See _Aboukir_. + +ABU KLEA, a group of wells, surrounded by steep, black mountains, about 120 +miles from Khartoum, in the Sudan, where, on the 17th Jan., 1885, Sir +Herbert Stewart, with 1500 men, defeated the Mahdi's troops numbering +10,000. + +ABULFARA'GIUS, Gregory, a distinguished scholar, a Jew by birth (hence the +name of _Barhebraeus_, often given him), author of numerous works in Arabic +and Syriac, was born in Armenia in 1226, died in 1286. About 1264 he was +consecrated Bishop of Gubas; he was afterwards translated to Aleppo and was +appointed primate of the Jacobite Christians. His principal work is a +_History of the World_ from the Creation to his own day, written in Syriac, +with an abridged version in Arabic, entitled _The Abridged History of the +Dynasties_. + +ABUL'FEDA, Arab writer, Prince of Hamah, in Syria, of the same family as +Saladin, famous as an historian and geographer, was born at Damascus 1273, +died 1331. Amid the cares of government he devoted himself with zeal to +study, drew the learned around him, and rendered his power and wealth +subservient to the cause of science. His most important works are his +_History of the Human Race_ (the portion from the birth of Mahomet to his +own time being valuable), and his geography called _The True Situation of +Countries_. + +ABUNDA, a Bantu race of Angola, living on the coastlands and on the +terraces rising towards the interior, and divided into 'highlanders' and +'lowlanders'. They speak Portuguese and Umbunda, a trade language. + +ABUSHEHR ([:a]-b[:o]-sh[=a]r'). See _Bushire_. + +ABU-SIMBEL. See _Ibsambul_. + +ABU'TILON, a genus of plants, order Malvaceae, sometimes called Indian +mallows, found in the East Indies, Australia, Brazil, Siberia, &c. Several +of them yield a valuable hemp-like fibre, as _A. indicum_ and _A. +Avicennae_. The latter, now a troublesome weed in the Middle United States, +has been recommended for cultivation, and is sometimes called American +jute. + +ABUT'MENT, the part of a bridge which receives and resists the lateral +outward thrust of an arch; the masonry, rock, or other solid materials from +which an arch springs. + +ABY'DOS, 1, an ancient city of Asia Minor, on the Hellespont, at the +narrowest part of the strait, opposite Sestos. Leander, say ancient +writers, swam nightly from Abydos to Sestos to see his loved Hero--a feat +in swimming accomplished also by Lord Byron.--2, an ancient city of Upper +Egypt (Egyptian Abotu), about 6 miles west of the Nile, now represented +only by ruins of temples, tombs, &c. It was celebrated as the burial-place +of the god Osiris, and its oldest temple was dedicated to him. Here, in +1818, was discovered the famous _Abydos Tablet_, now in the British Museum, +and containing a list of the predecessors of Rameses the Great, which was +supplemented by the discovery of a similar historical tablet in 1864. The +tomb of Osiris was discovered in 1898 by Amelinau. Cf. Flinders Petrie, +_The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties_ (2 vols.), London, 1900-9. + +ABYSSIN'IA (Ar. _Habesha_), a country of Eastern Africa, which, with +dependencies, may be said to extend from lat. 5deg to 15deg N. and long. +35deg to 42deg E., having the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan on the W., British E. +Africa on the S., and on the S.E. and E. Somali-land and Eritrea (Italian +Red Sea coast); area, 350,000 sq. miles. Pop. over 8,000,000. The country +is now divided into 9 provinces, the principal being Harrar, Tigre, Amhara +or Gondar. Each province is governed by a ras, or prince, but Ras Michael, +the governor of Wollo and father of the deposed negus, Lij Yasu, was +crowned king on 1st June, 1914. Abyssinia proper is an elevated region, +with a general slope to the north-west. The more marked physical features +are a vast series of tablelands, of various and often of great elevations, +and numerous masses or ranges of high and rugged mountains, dispersed over +the surface in apparently the wildest confusion. Along the deep and +tremendous ravines that divide the plateaux rush innumerable streams, which +impart extraordinary fertility to the plains and valleys below. The +mountains in various parts of the country rise to 12,000 and 13,000 feet, +while some of the peaks are over 15,000 feet (Ras Dashan being 15,160), and +are always covered with snow. The principal rivers belong to the Nile +basin, the chief being the impetuous Tacazze ('the Terrible') in the north, +and the Abai in the south, the latter being really the upper portion of the +Blue Nile. The principal lake is Lake Tzana or Dembea (from which issues +the Abai), upwards of 6000 feet above the sea, having a length of about 45 +and a breadth of 35 miles. Round this lake lies a fertile plain, deservedly +called the granary of the country.--According to elevation there are +several zones of vegetation. Within the lowest belt, which reaches an +elevation of 4800 feet, cotton, wild indigo, acacias, ebony, baobabs, +sugar-canes, coffee trees, date palms, &c., flourish, while the larger +animals are lions, panthers, elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, +jackals, hyenas, bears, numerous antelopes, monkeys, and crocodiles. The +middle zone, rising to 9000 feet, produces the grains, grasses, and fruits +of southern Europe, the orange, vine, peach, apricot, the bamboo, sycamore +tree, &c. The principal grains are millet, barley, wheat, maize, and teff, +the latter a small seed, a favourite bread-stuff of the Abyssinians. Two, +and in some places three, crops are obtained in one year. All the domestic +animals of Europe, except swine, are known. There is a variety of ox with +immense horns. The highest zone, reaching to 14,000 feet, has but little +wood, and generally scanty vegetation, the hardier corn-plants only being +grown; but oxen, goats, and long-woolled sheep find abundant pasture.--The +climate is as various as the surface, but as a whole is temperate and +agreeable; in some of the valleys the heat is often excessive, while on the +mountains the weather is cold. In certain of the lower districts malaria +prevails.--The chief mineral products are sulphur, copper, coal, and salt, +the last-named serving to some extent as money. Iron is very abundant and +is manufactured into knives, hatchets, and spears. There has been a great +intermixture of races in Abyssinia. Those who may be considered the +Abyssinians proper seem to have a blood-relationship with the Bedouin +Arabs. Their complexion varies from very dark through different shades of +brown and copper to olive, and they are usually well built. Other races are +the black Gallas from the south; the Falashas, who claim descent from +Abraham and retain many Jewish characteristics; the Agows, Gongas, &c. The +great majority of the people profess Christianity, belonging, like the +Copts, to the sect of the Monophysites. The head of the church is called +the Abuna ('our father'), and is consecrated by the Coptic patriarch of +Alexandria. Geez or Ethiopian is the language of their sacred books: it has +long ago ceased to be spoken. The chief spoken language is the Amharic; in +it some books have been published. Mohammedanism appears to be gaining +ground in Abyssinia. A corrupt form of Judaism is professed by the +Falashas.--The bulk of the people are devoted to agriculture and +cattle-breeding. The trade and manufactures are of small importance. A good +deal of common cotton cloth and some finer woven fabrics are produced. +Leather is prepared to some extent, silver filagree-work is produced, and +there are manufactures of common articles of iron and brass, pottery, &c. +Trade is carried on through Zeila and Djibouti (French Ethiopian Railway +was completed in 1915) on the Gulf of Aden, and Massowa on the Red Sea +(Italian), exports being hides, coffee, wax, gum, ivory, &c., imports +textile fabrics, &c. The Abyssinians were converted to Christianity in the +fourth century, by some missionaries from Alexandria. In the sixth century +the power of the sovereigns of their kingdom, which was generally known as +Ethiopia, had attained its height; but before another had expired the Arabs +had invaded the country, and obtained a footing. For several centuries +subsequently the kingdom continued in a distracted state, being now torn by +internal commotions and now invaded by external enemies (Mahommedans and +Gallas). To protect himself from the latter the Emperor of Abyssinia +applied, about the middle of the sixteenth century, to the King of Portugal +for assistance, promising, at the same time, implicit submission to the +Pope. The solicited aid was sent, and the empire saved. The Roman Catholic +priests endeavoured to induce the emperor and his family to renounce the +tenets and rites of the Coptic Church, and to adopt those of Rome. This +attempt, however, was resisted by the ecclesiastics and the people, and +ended, after a long struggle, in the expulsion of the Catholic priests +about 1630. The kingdom gradually fell into a state of anarchy, and was +broken up into several independent States. An attempt to revive the power +of the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia was made by King Theodore about the +middle of the last century. He introduced European artisans, and went to +work wisely in many ways, but his cruelty and tyranny counteracted his +politic measures. In consequence of a slight, real or fancied, which he had +received at the hands of the British Government, he threw Consul Cameron +and a number of other British subjects into prison, in 1863, and refused to +give them up. To effect their release an army of nearly 12,000 men, under +Sir Robert (afterwards Lord) Napier, was dispatched from Bombay in 1867. +The force landed at Zoulla on the Red Sea, and marching up the country came +within sight of the hill-fortress of Magdala in April, 1868. After being +defeated in a battle, Theodore delivered up the captives and shut himself +up in Magdala, which was taken by storm on the 13th April, Theodore being +found among the slain. After the withdrawal of the British, fighting +immediately began among the chiefs of the different provinces, but at last +the country was divided between Kasa, who secured the northern and larger +portion (Tigre and Amhara) and assumed the name of King Johannes, and +Menelek, who gained possession of Shoa. Latterly Johannes made himself +supreme and in 1881 assumed the title of emperor (_negus negusti_--king of +kings), having under him the Kings of Shoa and Gojam. Debra Tabor, about 30 +miles east of Lake Dembea, was his chief residence. During the troubles in +Abyssinia the Egyptians annexed Massowa and the region adjacent, Abyssinia +being thus shut out from the sea. Afterwards the Italians gained and still +hold Massowa and the Red Sea littoral (Eritrea). Johannes fell at Metemmeh +in 1889, whilst fighting against the Mahdists, and was succeeded by Menelek +II. In 1916 Lij Yasu, who succeeded Menelek II in 1913, was deposed and +Waizeru Zauditu (born 1876) became empress.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. P. Skinner, +_Abyssinia of Today_. A. B. Wylde, _Modern Abyssinia_. + +[Illustration: Acacia arabica, showing leaves, flowers, and fruit] + +ACA'CIA, a genus of plants, nat. ord. Leguminosae, sub-order Mimoseae, +consisting of trees or shrubs with compound pinnate leaves and small +leaflets, growing in Africa, Arabia, the East Indies, Australia, &c. The +flowers, usually small, are arranged in spikes or globular heads at the +axils of the leaves near the extremity of the branches. The corolla is +bell- or funnel-shaped; stamens are numerous; the fruit is a dry unjointed +pod. Several of the species yield gum-arabic and other gums; some having +astringent barks and pods, used in tanning. _A. Catechu_, an Indian +species, yields the valuable astringent called catechu; _A. dealb[=a]ta_, +the wattle tree of Australia, from 15 to 30 feet in height, is the most +beautiful and useful of the species found there. Its bark contains a large +percentage of tannin, and is exported in large quantities. Some species +yield valuable timber; some are cultivated for the beauty of their flowers. + +ACAD'EMY, an association for the promotion of literature, science, or art; +established sometimes by Government, sometimes by the voluntary union of +private individuals. The name Academy was first applied to the +philosophical school of Plato, from the place where he used to teach, a +grove or garden at Athens which was said to have belonged originally to the +hero Acad[=e]mus. The home of Academies as associations of learned men (not +institutes for instruction), was Hellenized Egypt and afterwards Italy of +the Renaissance. The flourishing Academies at Florence, Naples, and Rome +became the models of academies in other countries. Academies devote +themselves either to the cultivation of science generally or to the +promotion of a particular branch of study, as antiquities, language, and +the fine arts. The most celebrated institutions bearing the name of +academies, and designed for the encouragement of science, antiquities, and +language respectively, are the French Academie des Sciences (founded by +Colbert in 1666), Academie des Inscriptions (founded by Colbert in 1663), +and Academie Francaise (founded by Richelieu in 1635), all of which are now +merged in the National Institute. The most celebrated of the academies +instituted for the improvement of language is the Italian Accademia della +Crusca, or Furfuratorum (now the Florentine Academy), formed in 1582, and +chiefly celebrated for the compilation of an excellent dictionary of the +Italian language (_Vocabulario della Crusca_, Venice, 1612), and for the +publication of several carefully-prepared editions of ancient Italian +poets. The (Imperial) Academy of Science of St. Petersburg was projected by +Peter the Great and established by Catherine I in 1725. The Academy of +Science in Berlin was founded by Frederick I in 1700. It was opened in 1711 +and had Leibnitz as its first president. In Britain the name of academy, in +the more dignified sense of the term, is confined almost exclusively to +certain institutions for the promotion of the fine arts, such as the Royal +Academy of Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy. The Royal Academy of Arts +(usually called simply the Royal Academy) was founded in London in 1768, +"for the purpose of cultivating and improving the arts of painting, +sculpture, and architecture". The number of academicians is now limited to +forty-two, among whom are two engravers. There are also thirty associates, +from whom the academicians are elected. Of the associates five are +engravers. Any person who is possessed of sufficient proficiency may be +admitted as a student and receive instruction gratis, and prizes are +annually bestowed on meritorious students. The annual exhibition of the +Academy is open to all artists whose works show sufficient merit. The Royal +Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture was founded in +1826 and incorporated in 1838. It consists of thirty academicians and +twenty associates. The Royal Hibernian Academy at Dublin was incorporated +in 1823 and reorganized in 1861. It consists of thirty members and ten +associates. A British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, +Philosophical, and Philological Studies was incorporated in 1902. (See +_British Academy_.) In the United States, the American Academy of Arts and +Sciences at Boston was founded in 1780, and since then various other +societies of similar character and name have been instituted, as the New +York Academy of Sciences, the Chicago Academy of Science, &c. + +ACA'DIA (Fr. _Acadie_), the name formerly given to Nova Scotia. It received +its first colonists from France in 1604, being then a possession of that +country, but it passed to Britain, by the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713. In +1756, 18,000 of the French inhabitants were forcibly removed from their +homes on account of their hostility to the British, an incident on which is +based Longfellow's _Evangeline_. Many Acadians afterwards wandered back to +their old homes, and their descendants are at present supposed to number +270,000, 100,000 of them living in French Canada. + +ACALE'PHA (Gr. _akal[=e]ph[=e]_, a nettle, from their stinging properties), +a term formerly used to denote the Medusae, or jelly-fishes, and allied +species. + +ACANTHA'CEAE, or ACANTHADS, a nat. ord. of dicotyledonous herbaceous plants +or shrubs, with opposite leaves and monopetalous corolla, mostly tropical; +species about 1400. See _Acanthus_. + +[Illustration: _a_, _b_, _c_, Spines of the dorsal, anal, and ventral fins +of Acanthopterygii] + +ACANTHOP'TERI, ACANTHOPTERYGII (Gr. _akantha_, a spine, _pterygion_, a +fin), a group of fishes, distinguished by the fact that at least the first +rays in each fin exist in the form of stiff spines; it includes the perch, +mullet, mackerel, gurnard, wrasse, &c. + +[Illustration: Acanthus. Examples of Greek and Roman decorative treatment] + +ACANTH'US, a genus of herbaceous plants or shrubs, order Acanthaceae, +mostly tropical, two species of which, _A. mollis_ and _A. spin[=o]sus_ +(the bear's-breech or brankursine), are characterized by large white +flowers and deeply-indented shining leaves. They are favourite ornamental +plants in British gardens.--In architecture the name is given to a kind of +foliage decoration said to have been suggested by this plant, and much +employed in Greek, Roman, and later styles. + +ACAPUL'CO, a seaport of Mexico, on the Pacific, with a capacious, +well-sheltered harbour; a coaling station for steamers, but with no great +trade. Pop. 5950. + +ACAR'IDA, a division of the Arachnida, including the mites, ticks, and +water-mites. See _Mite_. + +ACARNA'NIA, the most westerly portion of Northern Greece, together with +Aetolia now forming a nomarchy with a pop. of 188,597. The Acarnanians of +ancient times were behind the other Greeks in civilization, living by +robbery and piracy. + +AC'ARUS, the genus to which the mite belongs. + +ACCA'DIANS (Akkad), the primitive inhabitants of Northern Babylonia +(Akkad), who had descended from the mountainous region of Elam on the east, +and to whom the Assyrians ascribed the origin of Chaldean civilization and +writing. This race is believed to have belonged to the Turanian family, or +to have been at any rate non-Semitic. What is known of them has been +learned from the cuneiform inscriptions. See _Babylonia_ and _Summerians_. + +ACCELERA'TION is the rate of change of the velocity of a body under the +action of a force. A body falling from a height is one of the most common +instances of acceleration.--_Acceleration of the Moon_, the increase of the +moon's mean angular velocity about the earth, the moon now moving rather +faster than in ancient times. This phenomenon has not been fully explained, +but it is known to be partly owing to the slow process of diminution which +the eccentricity of the earth's orbit is undergoing, and from which there +results a slight diminution of the sun's influence on the moon's +motions.--_Diurnal acceleration of the fixed stars_, the apparent greater +diurnal motion of the stars than of the sun, arising from the fact that the +sun's apparent yearly motion takes place in a direction contrary to that of +his apparent daily motion. The stars thus seem each day to anticipate the +sun by nearly 3 minutes 56 seconds of mean time. + +AC'CENT, a term used in several senses. In English it commonly denotes +superior stress or force of voice upon certain syllables of words, which +distinguishes them from the other syllables. Many English words, as +_as'pi-ra"tion_, have two accents, a secondary and primary, the latter +being the fuller or stronger. Some words, as _in-com'pre-hen'si-bil"i-ty_, +have two secondary or subordinate accents. When the full accent falls on a +vowel, that vowel has its long sound, as in _vo'cal_; but when it falls on +a consonant, the preceding vowel is short, as in _hab'it_. This kind of +accent alone regulates English verse, as contrasted with Latin or Greek +verse, in which the metre depended on _quantity_ or length of syllables. In +books on elocution three marks or accents are generally made use of, the +first or _acute_ (') showing when the voice is to be raised, the second or +_grave_ (`), when it is to be depressed, and the third or _circumflex_ (^) +when the vowel is to be uttered with an undulating sound. In some languages +there is no such distinct accent as in English (or German), and this seems +to be now the case with French.--In music, accent is the stress or emphasis +laid upon certain notes of a bar. The first note of a bar has the strongest +accent, but weaker accents are given to the first notes of subordinate +parts of the bars, as to the third, fifth, and seventh in a bar of eight +quavers. + +ACCEN'TOR (_Accentor modul[=a]ris_), or HEDGE ACCENTOR, a British bird of +the warbler family. See _Hedge Warbler_. + +ACCEP'TANCE, in law, the act by which a person binds himself to pay a bill +of exchange drawn upon him. (See _Bill_.) No acceptance is valid unless +made in writing on the bill, but an acceptance may be either absolute or +conditional, that is, stipulating some alteration in the amount or date of +payment, or some condition to be fulfilled previous to payment. + +AC'CESSARY, or AC'CESSORY, in law, a person guilty of an offence by +connivance or participation, either before or after the act committed, as +by command, advice, concealment, &c. An accessary _before the fact_ is one +who procures or counsels another to commit a crime, and is not present at +its commission; an accessary _after the fact_ is one who, knowing a felony +to have been committed, gives assistance of any kind to the felon so as to +hinder him from being apprehended, tried, or suffering punishment. An +accessary before the fact may be tried and punished in all respects as if +he were the principal. In high treason, all who participate are regarded as +principals. + +ACCIDEN'TALS, notes introduced in the course of a piece of music in a +different key from that in which the passage where they occur is +principally written. They are represented by the sign of a sharp, flat, or +natural immediately before the note which is to be raised or lowered. + +ACCIPITRES (ak-sip'i-tr[=e]z), the name given by Linnaeus and Cuvier to the +rapacious birds now usually called Raptores (q.v.). + +ACCLIMATIZA'TION, the process of accustoming plants or animals to live and +propagate in a climate different from that to which they are indigenous, or +the change which the constitution of an animal or plant undergoes under new +climatic conditions, in the direction of adaptation to those conditions. +The systematic study of acclimatization has only been entered upon in very +recent times, and the little progress that has been made in it has been +more in the direction of formulating anticipative, if not arbitrary +hypotheses, than of actual discovery and acquisition of facts. The +best-known society founded, for the purpose of naturalizing animals and +plants, is the Societe d'Acclimatation in Paris. It opened the Jardin +d'Acclimatation in 1860. See _Tropical Hygiene_. The term is sometimes +applied to the case of animals or plants taking readily to a new country +with a climate and other circumstances similar to what they have left, such +as European animals and plants in America and New Zealand: but this is more +properly _naturalization_ than acclimatization.--In agriculture the word is +used with reference to stock, principally sheep, 'acclimatized' to a +particular area, a special allowance being made by the landlord on +transference of the farm and stock in respect of the acclimatization of the +sheep. The value assigned to the advantages resulting from acclimatization +of stocks varies considerably. In Argyllshire, for instance, +Dumbartonshire, and the western portion of Perthshire the rates are high, +while in the south of Scotland and the north of England they are much +lower. + +ACCOLADE (ak-o-l[=a]d'; Fr., from Lat. _ad_, to, _collum_, the neck), the +ceremony used in conferring knighthood, anciently consisting either in the +embrace given by the person who conferred the honour of knighthood or in a +light blow on the neck or the cheek, latterly consisting in the ceremony of +striking the candidate with a naked sword. + +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, _Encyclopaedia 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. + +ACCU'SATIVE CASE, in Latin and some other languages, the term applied to +the case which designates the object to which the action of any verb is +immediately directed, corresponding, generally speaking, to the _objective_ +in English. + +ACE, in aviation the name 'ace' is given to a flying-man who has +distinguished himself by bringing down a large number (sometimes given as +ten) of enemy machines. The word is used colloquially, and was borrowed +from the French Air Force during the European War. + +ACEPH'ALA, in zoology, the headless Mollusca or those which want a distinct +head, corresponding to those that have bivalve shells and are also called +_Lamellibranchiata_. + +A'CER, the genus of plants (nat. ord. Aceraceae) to which belongs the +maple. + +ACERRA ([.a]-cher'[.a]), a town in South Italy, 9 miles north-east of +Naples, the see of a bishop, in a fertile but unhealthy region. Pop. +17,878. + +ACETAB'ULUM, an anatomical term applied to any cup-like cavity, as that of +a bone to receive the protuberant end of another bone, the cavity, for +instance, that receives the end of the thigh-bone. + +ACETATES (as'e-t[=a]ts), salts of acetic acid. The acetates of most +commercial or manufacturing importance are those of aluminium and iron, +which are used in calico-printing; of copper, which as verdigris is used as +a colour; and of lead, best known as sugar of lead. The acetates of +potassium, sodium, and ammonium, of iron, zinc, and lead, and the acetate +of morphia, are employed in medicine. + +ACET'IC ACID, an acid produced by the oxidation of common alcohol, and of +many other organic substances. Pure acetic acid has a very sour taste and +pungent smell, burns the skin, and is poisonous. From freezing at ordinary +temperatures (58deg or 59deg) it is known as _glacial acetic acid_. Vinegar +is simply dilute acetic acid. Acetic acid is largely used in the arts, in +medicine, and for domestic purposes. See _Vinegar_. + +ACET'IC ETHERS, or ACETIC ESTERS, acetates of alcohol radicals. The common +ester--ethyl acetate--is a volatile colourless liquid, manufactured by +distilling a mixture of alcohol, oil of vitriol, and acetic acid, and used +for flavouring purposes. + +ACETONE (as'), a constituent of ordinary wood spirit, a colourless volatile +liquid used as a solvent, the simplest of the _ketones_. + +ACET'YLENE, C_2H_2, is a substance composed of two elements, carbon and +hydrogen, and belonging to a class of compounds known as hydrocarbons. It +is formed in the incomplete combustion of many hydrocarbons and also of +coal-gas, and may be produced in a variety of ways, but is now made almost +entirely from calcium carbide. Acetylene has been known for a long time, +but only since 1870 has it been produced in any quantity. After the +development of the electric furnace it was found that calcium oxide, +quicklime, heated with carbon to the high temperature possible in such a +furnace, is transformed into calcium carbide, and this compound reacts with +water, generating acetylene. A great deal of heat is developed on adding +water to calcium carbide, so that care has to be taken in generating +acetylene. Various devices are in use for bringing the two substances in +contact slowly, and for keeping the temperature low. When carbon and +hydrogen combine to form acetylene a large amount of heat is used up, so +that much heat is evolved when acetylene decomposes again, and once +decomposition starts sufficient heat is developed to decompose the whole +volume of gas. + +Acetylene is a colourless gas slightly soluble in water and very sparingly +soluble in brine. When pure it has little or no odour, but as ordinarily +prepared it has a strong unpleasant odour due to traces of impurities such +as sulphuretted hydrogen, phosphine, &c. The gas can be liquefied easily, +and in the liquid state is highly explosive. It burns with an exceedingly +sooty flame, but if it is allowed to pass through a very small orifice the +carbon liberated becomes incandescent and acetylene burns with an intense +white flame. It is largely used as an illuminant and for the production of +great heat. As an illuminant the gas is produced in specially-constructed +generators. It is led through iron pipes and burned from an acetylene +burner, or it may be used with special types of incandescent mantles. +Acetylene readily combines with copper and with silver to form metallic +acetylides which are very explosive, hence pipes through which acetylene is +passing must not be made of brass or copper. Acetylene mixed with air and +brought in contact with an ignited body explodes even more violently than a +mixture of air and coal-gas. + +Large quantities of acetylene are generated and stored for oxy-acetylene +welding. Acetylene, burning in oxygen, gives an intensely hot flame (about +2000deg-3000deg C.), sufficiently hot to melt iron. Although liquid +acetylene is unstable, and even the gas, under slight pressure, is also +unstable, it may be transported safely if dissolved in acetone. Acetone +dissolves a large volume of acetylene, and this solution is quite stable +and may be stored in iron cylinders and used for various purposes. If it is +to be stored it must be carefully purified from phosphine, which is apt to +cause sudden decomposition. Recently, numerous patents have been taken out +for the preparation of compounds such as acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetic +anhydride, &c., using acetylene as starting-point, so that many substances +may be prepared from acetylene just as many substances may be prepared from +benzene. + +ACHAEANS (a-k[=e]'anz), one of the four races into which the ancient Greeks +were divided. In early times they inhabited a part of Northern Greece and +of the Peloponnesus. They are represented by Homer as a brave and warlike +people, and so distinguished were they that he usually calls the Greeks in +general Achaeans. Afterwards they settled in the district of the +Peloponnesus, called after them Achaia, and forming a narrow belt of coast +on the south side of the Gulf of Corinth. From very early times a +confederacy or league existed among the twelve towns of this region. After +the death of Alexander the Great it was broken up, but was revived again, +280 B.C., and from this time grew in power till it spread over the whole +Peloponnesus. It was finally dissolved by the Romans, 147 B.C., and after +this the whole of Greece, except Thessaly, was called Achaia or Achaea. +Achaia with Elis now forms a nomarchy of the kingdom of Greece. Pop. +254,728. Cf. Freeman, _History of Federal Government in Greece and Italy_, +London, 1893. + +ACHAEMENIDAE (ak-[=e]-men'i-d[=e]) a dynasty of ancient Persian kings, +being that to which the great Cyrus belonged. + +ACHAIA (a-k[=a]'ya). See _Achaeans_. + +ACHALZIK. See _Akhalzik_. + +ACHARD ([.a]_h_'[.a]rt), Franz Karl, a German chemist, born 1753, died +1821, principally known by his invention (1789-1800) of a process for +manufacturing sugar from beetroot. In 1801 the first beet-sugar factory +ever established was started by him in Silesia. + +ACHARD ([.a]-sh[:a]r), Louis Amedee Eugene, born 1814, died 1875, French +journalist, novelist, and playwright. He was best known as a novelist; +wrote the novels _Belle Rose_, _La Chasse royale_, _Chateaux en Espagne_, +_Robe de Nessus_, _Chaines de fer_, &c. His _Lettres Parisiennes_ were +published in 1838 under the pseudonym of Grimm. + +ACHATES (a-k[=a]'t[=e]z), a companion of Aeneas in his wanderings +subsequent to his flight from Troy. He is always distinguished in Virgil's +_Aeneid_ by the epithet _fidus_, 'faithful', and has become typical of a +faithful friend and companion. + +ACHEEN, or ATCHIN ([.a]-ch[=e]n') (Du. _Atjeh_), a native State of Sumatra, +with a capital of the same name, in the north-western extremity of the +island, now nominally under Dutch administration. Though largely +mountainous, it has also undulating tracts and low fertile plains. By +treaty with Britain the Dutch were prevented from extending their territory +in Sumatra by conquest; but this obstacle being removed, in 1871 they +proceeded to occupy Acheen. It was not till 1879, however, after a great +waste of blood and treasure, that they obtained a general recognition of +their authority. But they have not been able to establish it firmly, and +have had to put down many determined risings, sometimes costing them losses +both in men and guns. In the seventeenth century Acheen was a powerful +State, and carried on hostilities successfully against the Portuguese, but +its influence decreased with the increase of the Dutch power. The principal +exports are rice and pepper. Area, 20,471 sq. miles; pop. 789,664. + +ACHELOUS (ak-e-l[=o]'us) (now ASPROPOT[)A]MO), the largest river of Greece, +rising on Mount Pindus, separating Aetolia and Acarnania, and flowing into +the Ionian Sea. In Greek legend, Achel[=o]us, the son of Oceanus and +Tethys, was the river-god. + +ACHENBACH ([.a]'_h_en-b[.a]ch), Andreas, was a distinguished German +landscape and marine painter, born in 1815, died in 1910. + +ACHENBACH, Oswald, born 1827, died 1905, brother of above, was also a +distinguished landscape painter. Both are of the Duesseldorf school, and +pupils of the famous painter Schadow. + +[Illustration: Achene of Buttercup (magnified) + +E, Embryo. En, Endosperm. T, Testa and pericarp.] + +ACHENE, or ACHENIUM (a-k[=e]n', a-k[=e]'ni-um), in botany, a small, dry +carpel containing a single seed, the pericarp of which is closely applied +but separable, and which does not open when ripe. It is either solitary, or +several achenia may be placed on a common receptacle as in the buttercup. + +ACHENSEE, a lake in Tyrol, 20 miles north-east of Innsbruck and 3018 feet +above sea-level. On its shores are beautiful villas and hotels frequented +as summer resorts. + +ACHERON (ak'e-ron) (modern FANARIOTICOS), the ancient name of several +rivers in Greece and Italy, all of which were connected by legend with the +lower world. The principal was a river of Thesprotia in Epirus, which +passes through Lake Acherusia and flows into the Ionian Sea. Homer speaks +of Acheron as a river of the lower world, and late Greek writers use the +name to designate the lower world. + +ACHEULIAN, a term applied by archaeologists to the late stage of Chellean +civilization in the Pleistocene Age. It is named after St. Acheul in the +Somme valley, where relics of it were found. The geological horizon, +according to Professor James Geikie, is late Second Interglacial and Third +Glacial periods. + +ACH'IAR, or AT'CHAR, an Indian condiment made of the young shoots of the +bamboo pickled. + +ACHIEVEMENT (a-ch[=e]v'ment), in heraldry, a term applied to the shield of +armorial bearings generally, or to a hatchment (q.v.). + +ACHILL (ak'il), the largest island on the Irish coast, separated from the +mainland of Mayo by a narrow sound, now bridged over. The chief occupation +is fishing. The island is mountainous, has fine scenery, and is visited by +many tourists, there being now a railway terminus here, and many recent +improvements. Pop. nearly 7000. + +ACHILLAE'A, the milfoil genus of plants. + +ACHILLEION, famous castle at Corfu, which used to belong to the Empress +Elizabeth of Austria. It was acquired by the ex-Kaiser William II, who +bought it from the Archduchess Gisela, wife of Prince Leopold of Bavaria. + +ACHILLES (a-kil'[=e]z), a Greek legendary hero, the chief character in +Homer's _Iliad_. His father was Peleus, ruler of Phthia in Thessaly, his +mother the sea-goddess Thetis. When only six years of age he was able to +overcome lions and bears. His guardian, Cheiron the Centaur, having +declared that Troy could not be taken without his aid, his mother, fearing +for his safety, disguised him as a girl, and introduced him among the +daughters of Lycomedes of Scyros. Her desire for his safety made her also +try to make him invulnerable when a child by anointing him with ambrosia, +and again by dipping him in the River Styx, from which he came out proof +against wounds, all but the heel, by which she held him. His place of +concealment was discovered by Odysseus (Ulysses), and he promised his +assistance to the Greeks against Troy. Accompanied by his close friend, +Patroclus, he joined the expedition with a body of followers (Myrmidons) in +fifty ships, and occupied nine years in raids upon the towns neighbouring +to Troy, after which the siege proper commenced. On being deprived of his +prize, the maiden Briseis, by Agamemnon, he refused to take any further +part in the war, and disaster attended the Greeks. Patroclus now persuaded +Achilles to allow him to lead the Myrmidons to battle dressed in his +armour, and he having been slain by Hector, Achilles vowed revenge on the +Trojans, and forgot his anger against the Greeks. He attacked the Trojans +and drove them back to their walls, slaying them in great numbers, chased +Hector, who fled before him three times round the walls of Troy, slew him, +and dragged his body at his chariot-wheels, but afterwards gave it up to +Priam, who came in person to beg for it. He then performed the funeral +rites of Patroclus, with which the _Iliad_ closes. He was killed in a +battle at the Scaean Gate of Troy by an arrow from the bow of Paris which +struck his vulnerable heel. In discussions on the origin of the Homeric +poems the term _Achilleid_ is often applied to those books (i, viii, and +xi-xxii) of the _Iliad_ in which Achilles is prominent, and which some +suppose to have formed the original nucleus of the poem. See _Iphigenia_. + +ACHILLES' TENDON, or TENDON OF ACHILLES, the strong tendon which connects +the muscles of the calf with the heel, and which may be easily felt with +the hand. The origin of the name will be understood from the above article. + +ACHILLES TATIUS (a-kil'[=e]z t[=a]'shi-us), a Greek romance writer of the +fifth century A.D., belonging to Alexandria; wrote a love story in 8 books +called _Leucipp[=e] and Cleitophon_. + +ACHIMENES (a-kim'e-n[=e]z), a genus of tropical American plants, with scaly +underground tubers, nat. ord. Gesneraceae, now cultivated in European +greenhouses on account of their white, blue, and red flowers. + +ACHLAMYDEOUS (ak-la-mid'i-us), in botany, wanting the floral envelopes, +that is, having neither calyx nor corolla, as the willow. + +ACHOR ([=a]'kor), a disease of infants, in which the head, the face, and +often the neck and breast become incrusted with thin, yellowish or greenish +scabs, arising from minute, whitish pustules, which discharge a viscid +fluid. + +ACHROMAT'IC (Gr. _a_, priv., and _chr[=o]ma, chr[=o]matos_, colour), in +optics, transmitting colourless light, that is, not decomposed into the +primary colours, though having passed through a refracting medium. A single +convex lens does not give an image free from the prismatic colours, because +the rays of different colour making up white light are not equally +refrangible, and thus do not all come to a focus together, the violet, for +instance, being nearest the lens, the red farthest off. If such a lens of +crown-glass, however, is combined with a concave lens of flint-glass--the +curvatures of both being properly adjusted--as the two materials have +somewhat different optical properties, the latter will neutralize the +chromatic aberration of the former, and a satisfactory image will be +produced. Telescopes, microscopes, &c., in which the glasses are thus +composed are called _achromatic_. + +ACID (Lat. _acidus_, sour), a name applied to a number of compounds, having +more or less the qualities of vinegar (itself a diluted form of acetic +acid). Their general properties are sour taste, the power of changing +vegetable blues into reds, of evolving hydrogen in presence of magnesium, +of decomposing chalk with effervescence, and of being in various degrees +neutralized by alkalies. An acid has been defined as a compound of +hydrogen, the whole or a part of which is replaceable by a metal when this +is presented in the form of a hydroxide; being _monobasic_, _dibasic_, or +_tribasic_, according to the number of replaceable hydrogen atoms in a +molecule. See _Chemistry_. + +ACIERAGE ([=a]'s[=e]-[.e]r-[=a]j), (Fr. _acier_, steel), a process by which +an engraved copper-plate or an electrotype from an engraved plate of steel +or copper has a film of iron deposited over its surface by electricity in +order to protect the engraving from wear in printing. By this means an +electrotype of a fine engraving, which, if printed directly from the +copper, would not yield 500 good impressions, can be made to yield 3000 or +more; and when the film of iron becomes so worn as to reveal any part of +the copper, it may be removed and a fresh coating deposited so that 20,000 +good impressions may be got. + +ACIPENSER (as-i-pen's[.e]r), the genus of cartilaginous ganoid fishes to +which the sturgeon belongs. + +ACI REALE ([:a]'ch[=e] r[=a]-[:a]'l[=a]), a seaport of Sicily, north-east +of Catania, a well-built town, with a trade in corn, wine, fruit, &c. Pop. +35,587. + +A'CIS, according to Ovid, a beautiful shepherd of Sicily, loved by Galatea, +and crushed to death by his rival the Cyclops Polyphemus. His blood, +flowing from beneath the rock which crushed him, was changed into a river +bearing his name, and renowned for the coldness of its water. It has been +identified as the Fiume di Jaci. + +ACLIN'IC LINE (Gr. priv. _a, klin[=o]_, to incline), the magnetic equator, +an irregular curve in the neighbourhood of the terrestrial equator, where +the magnetic needle balances itself horizontally, having no dip. See +_Magnetism_. + +ACNE (ak'n[=e]), a skin disease, consisting of small hard pimples, usually +on the face, caused by congestion of the follicles of the skin. + +[Illustration: Acolyte] + +ACOLYTES (ak'o-l[=i]ts), in the ancient Latin and Greek Churches, persons +of ecclesiastical rank next in order below the subdeacons, whose office it +was to attend the officiating priest. The name is still retained in the +Roman Church. Cf. Duchesne, _Christian Worship, its Origin and Evolution_. + +ACONCAGUA ([.a]-kon-k[:a]'gw[.a]), a province, a river, and a mountain of +Chile. The peak of Aconcagua, whose summit is just within the Argentine +Republic, rises to the height of 23,080 feet, and is probably the highest +mountain of the western hemisphere. Area of province, 5406 sq. miles. Pop. +(1919), 132,165. + +AC'ONITE (_Acon[=i]tum_), a genus of hardy herbaceous plants, nat. ord. +Ranunculaceae, represented by the well-known wolf's-bane or monk's-hood, +and remarkable for their poisonous properties and medicinal qualities, +being used internally as well as externally in rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, +&c. + +ACON'ITINE, an alkaloid extracted from monk's-hood and some other species +of aconite; used medicinally, though a virulent poison. + +ACONQUIJA ([.a]-kon-k[=e]'_h_[.a]), a range of mountains in the Argentine +Republic; the name also of a single peak, 17,000 feet high. + +A'CORN, the fruit of the different kinds of oak. The acorn-cups of one +species are brought from the Levant under the name of _valonia_, and used +in tanning. + +ACORN-SHELL. See _Balanus_. + +AC'ORUS, a genus of plants, including the sweet-flag. See _Sweet-flag_ and +_Calamus_. + +ACOS'TA, Gabriel, afterwards Uriel, a Portuguese of Jewish descent, born at +Oporto in 1590, died by his own hand 1640. Brought up a Christian, he +afterwards embraced Judaism. Having gone to Amsterdam, where he attacked +the practices of the Jews, and denied the divine mission of Moses, he +suffered much persecution at the hands of the Jews. He left an +autobiography, published in 1687, under the title _Exemplar Humanae Vitae_. +He is the hero of a novel, _Die Sadducaeer von Amsterdam_, and of a +tragedy, _Uriel Acosta_, both by Gutzkow. + +ACOTYLE'DONS, plants not furnished with cotyledons or seed-lobes. They +include ferns, mosses, seaweeds, &c., and are also called flowerless plants +or cryptogams. + +ACOUSIMETER, or ACOUMETER (Gr. _akouein_, to hear, and _metron_, measure), +an instrument used to determine the acuteness of hearing. It consists of a +small bar which gives a uniform sound when struck by a hammer. + +ACOUSTICS (a-kou'stiks), the science of sound. It deals with the production +of sound, its propagation and velocity in various media; the reflection, +refraction, and interference of sound waves; the properties of musical +notes; and the general phenomena of such vibrations of elastic bodies as +affect the organ of hearing. + +In order that a sound may be heard, it is necessary that an uninterrupted +series of particles of elastic matter should extend from the sounding body +to our ear. Sound is propagated by a longitudinal wave-motion in the medium +(gaseous, liquid, or solid), that is, the particles oscillate along the +line in which the wave is travelling, giving rise to regular series of +condensations and rarefactions. + +The velocity of sound varies directly as the square root of the elasticity, +and inversely as the square root of the density, of the medium in which it +is propagated. The velocity of sound in air at 0deg C. is 330.6 metres per +second, or 1085 feet per second; in water 1.49 kilometres per second, or +0.926 mile per second; in copper 5.01 kilometres per second, or 3.12 miles +per second. + +The intensity of sound varies inversely as the square of the distance from +the sounding body. Recently sound-ranging instruments have been produced by +means of which the position of a gun can be determined. + +A note produced by a musical instrument consists of a _fundamental_ of a +certain frequency, together with a number of _overtones_ of various higher +frequencies and much smaller amplitude. The _timbre_ of a note depends on +the overtones present, the _loudness_ depends on the amplitude of the +vibrations, and the _pitch_ depends on the frequency. The musical scale +consists of eight notes, C D E F G A B C, whose frequencies are in the +proportion of the numbers 24, 27, 30, 32, 36, 40, 45 and 48. The interval +between two notes is the ratio of the frequency of the higher note to the +frequency of the lower note. In order that the intervals may be the same in +all keys, a tempered scale is used in music. (See Table, p. 25.) + +BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lord Rayleigh, _Theory of Sound_; H. Smith, _The Making of +Sound in the Organ and Orchestra_; J. W. Capstick, _Sound_ (Cambridge +Natural Science Manuals); E. H. Barton, _Text-book of Sound_. + +ACQUI ([.a]k'w[=e]), a town of Northern Italy, 18 miles S.S.W. of +Alessandria, a bishop's see. It has warm sulphurous baths, which were known +to the Romans, and which still attract a great many visitors. Pop. 16,500. + +ACRE, a standard British measure of land, also used in the colonies and the +United States. The imperial statute acre consists of 4840 sq. yards, +divided into 4 roods. The old Scotch acre contains 6146.8 sq. yards, the +old Irish acre 7840 sq. yards. + +ACRE ([=a]'k[.e]r) (ancient ACCHO and PTOLEMAIS), a seaport of Syria, in +Northern Palestine, on the Bay of Acre, early a place of great strength and +importance. Taken from the Saracens under Saladin in 1191 by Richard I of +England and Philip of France; bravely defended by the Turks, assisted by +Sir Sidney Smith, in 1799 against Napoleon; in 1832, taken by Ibrahim +Pasha; in 1840, bombarded by a British, Austrian, and Turkish fleet, and +restored to the Sultan of Turkey. The town was occupied by British troops +under General Allenby in September, 1918. Pop. 10,000. + + * * * * * + + +MUSICAL INTERVALS.--See _Acoustics_ + + Intervals in Intervals in + Perfect Diatonic Diatonic Scale. Tempered Scale-- + Scale. Perfect on System of Mean tone. + Diatonic Scale Equal (2^{1/6} = 1.123). + Temperament. Semitone. + (2^{1/12}= 1.059). + --------------------------------------------------------------------- + C 1 1.000 + 9/8 major tone tone. + D 9/8 = 1.125 2-2/12 = 1.123 + 10/9 minor tone tone. + E 5/4 = 1.250 2-4/12 = 1.260 + 16/15 limma semitone. + F 4/3 = 1.333 2-5/12 = 1.335 + 9/8 major tone tone. + G 3/2 = 1.500 2-7/12 = 1.498 + 10/9 minor tone tone. + A 5/3 = 1.667 2-9/12 = 1.682 + 9/8 minor tone tone. + B 15/8 = 1.875 2-11/12 = 1.888 + 16/15 limma semitone. + C' 2 2.000 + + Major tone ratio = 9/8 = 1.125 Limma tone ratio = 16/15 = 1.067 + Minor " " = 10/9 = 1.111 Semitone " = 2^{1/12} = 1.059 + Mean " " = 2^{2/12} = 1.123 + +NOTES OF PERFECT DIATONIC SCALE (WITH THEIR FREQUENCIES) + + C,, 64. Ut_1 C, 128. Ut_2 C 256. Ut_3 C' 512. Ut_4 + D,, 72 D, 144 D 288 D' 576 + E,, 80 E, 160 E 320 E' 640 + F,, 85.3 F, 170.7 F 341.3 F' 682.7 + G,, 96 G, 192 G 384 G' 768 + A,, 106.6 A, 213.3 A 426.7 A' 853.2 + B,, 120 B, 240 B 480 B' 960 + C'' 1024. Ut_5 + +PERFECT DIATONIC SCALES (TRANSITION TO KEY OF DOMINANT) + +_Example_--Key of C to Key of G + + C D E F G A B C' D' E' F' G' + 1 9/8 5/4 4/3 3/2 5/3 15/8 2 9/4 5/2 8/3 3 + + G A` B C' D' E' F'# G' + 1 9/8 5/4 4/3 3/2 5/3 15/8 2 + + A = 10/9 G. F' = 16/9 G. + A`= 9/8 G. F'# = 15/8 G. + A`= 81/80 A. = 15/8 X 9/16 F'. + = (1 + 1/18{2/7}) F'. + + * * * * * + + +ACRI ([=a]'kr[=e]), a town of S. Italy, province of Cosenza. Pop. 4000. + +AC'RITA (Gr. _akritos_, undistinguishable, doubtful), a name sometimes +given to the animals otherwise called Protozoa. + +ACROCEPH'ALI, tribes of men distinguished by pyramidal or high skulls. + +ACROCERAU'NIA (thunder-smitten peaks) (now CAPE GLOSSA or LINGUETTA), a +promontory of Western Greece, in Epirus, running into the Adriatic. + +ACROCORIN'THUS, a steep rock in Greece, nearly 1900 feet high, overhanging +ancient Corinth, and on which stood the acropolis or citadel, the sacred +fountain of Pir[=e]n[=e] being also here. This natural fortress has proved +itself of importance in the modern history of Greece. + +AC'ROGENS (-jenz), lit. summit-growers, a term applied to the ferns, +mosses, and lichens (cryptogams), as growing by extension upwards, in +contradistinction to endogens and exogens. + +AC'ROLITH, an early form of Greek statuary in which the head, hands, and +feet only were of stone, the trunk of the figure being of wood draped or +gilded. + +ACROP'OLIS (Gr. _akros_, high, and _polis_, a city), the citadel or chief +place of a Grecian city, usually on an eminence commanding the town. That +of Athens contained some of the finest buildings in the world, such as the +Parthenon, Erechth[=e]um, &c. + +ACROS'TIC, a poem of which the first or last, or certain other, letters of +the line, taken in order, form some name, motto, or sentence. A poem of +which both first and last letters are thus arranged is called a double +acrostic. In Hebrew poetry, the term is given to a poem of which the +initial letters of the lines or stanzas were made to run over the letters +of the alphabet in their order, as in _Psalm_ cxix.--Acrostics have been +much used in complimentary verses, the initial letters giving the name of +the person eulogized. They were very popular among French poets of the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In modern times Edgar Allen Poe has +written quite remarkable acrostic verses. + +ACT, in special senses: (1) In dramatic poetry, one of the principal +divisions of a drama, in which a definite and coherent portion of the plot +is represented; generally subdivided into smaller portions called _scenes_. +The Greek dramas were not divided into acts. The dictum that a drama should +consist of five acts was first formally laid down by Horace, and is +generally adhered to by modern dramatists in tragedy. In comedy, especially +since the time of Moliere, more freedom is allowed, and a division into two +or three acts is common.--(2) Something formally done by a legislative or +judicial body; a statute or law passed.--(3) In universities, a thesis +maintained in public by a candidate for a degree. See _Act of God_, _of +Parliament_, _of Settlement_. + +ACTA DIUR'NA (Lat., proceedings of the day), a daily Roman newspaper which +appeared under both the republic and the empire. + +ACTAE'A. See _Baneberry_. + +ACTAE'ON, in Greek mythology, a great hunter, turned into a stag by +Art[)e]mis (Diana) for looking on her when she was bathing, and torn to +pieces by his own dogs. + +ACTA ERUDITO'RUM (Lat., acts of the learned), the first literary journal +that appeared in Germany (1682-1782). It was started by Otto Mencke, after +the model of the _Journal des Savants_. Among the contributors, the most +distinguished was Leibnitz. + +ACTA SANCTORUM (Lat., acts of the saints), a name applied to all +collections of accounts of ancient martyrs and saints, both of the Greek +and Roman Churches, more particularly to the valuable collection begun by +John Bolland, a Jesuit of Antwerp, in 1643, and which, being continued by +other divines of the same order (_Bollandists_), now extends to sixty +volumes, the lives following each other in the order of the calendar. + +ACTIN'IA, the genus of animals to which the typical sea-anemones belong. +See _Sea-anemone_. + +AC'TINISM, the property of those rays of light which produce chemical +changes, as in photography, in contradistinction to the light rays and heat +rays. The actinic property or force begins among the green rays, is +strongest in the violet rays, and extends a long way beyond the visible +spectrum. + +ACTINIUM, an element or elementary substance obtained in minute quantities +in connection with the study of radioactivity. It was discovered by +Debierne in 1899. In 1902 Giesel discovered another substance which he +called _emanium_, and which was considered to be identical with _actinium_. +Marckwald, however, came to the conclusion that these two substances are +not identical but closely related to each other. See _Radium_, _Chemistry_. + +ACTIN'OLITE, a mineral nearly allied to hornblende. + +ACTINOM'ETER, an instrument for measuring the intensity of the sun's +actinic rays. See _Actinism_. + +ACTINOZO'A (lit. ray-animals), a class of animals belonging to the +sub-kingdom Coelenterata, and including sea-anemones, corals, &c., all +having rayed tentacles round the mouth. + +ACTION, the mode of seeking redress at law for any wrong, injury, or +deprivation. Actions are divided into civil and criminal, the former again +being divided into real, personal, and mixed. + +AC'TIUM (now LA PUNTA), a promontory on the western coast of Northern +Greece, not far from the entrance of the Ambracian Gulf (Gulf of Arta), +memorable on account of the naval victory gained here by Octavianus +(afterwards the Emperor Augustus) over Antony and Cleopatra, 2nd Sept., 31 +B.C., in sight of their armies encamped on the opposite shores of the +Ambracian Gulf. Soon after the beginning of the battle Cleopatra escaped +with sixty Egyptian ships, and Antony basely followed her, and fled with +her to Egypt. The deserted fleet was not overcome without making a brave +resistance. Antony's land forces soon went over to the enemy, and the Roman +world fell to Octavianus. In 1538 a victory was gained at Actium by the +Turks over the Spanish and Venetian fleets. + +ACT OF GOD, a legal term defined as "a direct, violent, sudden, and +irresistible act of nature, which could not, by any reasonable cause, have +been foreseen or resisted". No one can be legally called upon to make good +loss so arising. + +ACT OF PARLIAMENT, a law or statute proceeding from the Parliament of the +United Kingdom passed in both houses, and having received the royal assent. +Before it is passed it is a _Bill_ and not an Act. Acts are either public +or private, the former affecting the whole community, the latter only +special persons and private concerns. The whole body of public Acts +constitutes the _statute law_. An Act of Parliament can only be altered or +repealed by the authority of Parliament. Acts are usually cited in this +way, "13 and 14 Vict. c. (or chap.) 21", which means the 21st Act in +succession passed in year 13th-14th of the queen's reign (that is, 1850). +Short titles, such as "the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854", are also used. Up +to the time of Edward I Acts of Parliament were in Latin; then French was +introduced, and for some time was exclusively employed. It was not till +Henry VII's reign that all Acts were in English. + +ACT OF SETTLEMENT, an Act passed by the English Parliament in 1700, by +which the succession to the throne of the three kingdoms, in the event of +King William and Princess (afterwards Queen) Anne dying without issue, was +settled on the Princess Sophia, electress of Hanover, and the heirs of her +body, being Protestants. The Princess Sophia was the youngest daughter of +Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I. By this act George I, son +of the Princess Sophia, succeeded to the crown on the death of Queen +Anne.--Another Act of Settlement was that by which, under Cromwell's +government, a new allotment was made of almost all landed property in +Ireland, in 1652. + +ACT OF TOLERATION, an Act of Parliament Passed in 1689, by which Protestant +dissenters from the Church of England, on condition of their taking the +oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and repudiating the doctrine of +transubstantiation, were relieved from the restrictions under which they +had formerly lain with regard to the exercise of their religion according +to their own forms. + +ACT OF UNIFORMITY, an English Act passed in 1662, enjoining upon all +ministers to use the _Book of Common Prayer_ on pain of forfeiture of their +livings. See _Nonconformity_. + +[Illustration: Quilted Acton of the fifteenth century] + +ACTON, a kind of padded or quilted vest or tunic formerly worn under a coat +of mail to save the body from bruises, or used by itself as a defensive +garment. Jackets of leather or other material plated with mail were also so +called. _Gambeson_ was an equivalent term. + +ACTON, a name of various places in England, one of them a western suburb of +London, pop. (1921), 61,314. Since 1918 Acton gives its name to a +parliamentary division of Middlesex, returning one member to Parliament. + +ACTON, John Emerich Edward Dalberg, first Baron Acton, born 1834, died +1902, was son of Richard Acton (seventh baronet) and the daughter of the +Duc de Dalberg, afterwards wife of Earl Granville, Mr. Gladstone's +colleague. As a Roman Catholic he was educated at Oscott, and afterwards on +the Continent, partly under Doellinger, and acquired a special taste for +and profound knowledge of history. He conducted the _Home and Foreign +Review_ from 1862 to 1864, and, in doing so, showed himself a strong +opponent of ultramontane pretensions. He next edited the _North British +Review_, which under him was rather overweighted with learning, and soon +came to an end. In 1869 he was raised to the peerage. He strongly opposed +the papal-infallibility movement, and took the side of Mr. Gladstone in his +attacks on Vaticanism. In 1895 he accepted the professorship of modern +history at Cambridge, delivered lectures, and planned and undertook the +editorship of the great work on modern history, _The Cambridge Modern +History_, comprising a series of contributions by various scholars, and +issued by the university press. Except essays, letters, or articles for +periodicals, he himself wrote little. Since his death have been published: +_Lectures in Modern History_ (1906); _The History of Freedom and other +Essays_ (1907); _Lectures on the French Revolution_ (1910). His library of +60,000 volumes he left to Mr. (now Lord) Morley, who handed it over to the +University of Cambridge. + +ACTOR, one who represents some part or character on the stage. Actresses +were unknown to the Greeks and Romans in the earliest times, men or boys +always performing the female parts. They appeared under the Roman empire, +however. Charles II first encouraged the public appearance of actresses in +England; in Shakespeare's time there were none. See _Drama_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: +C. F. Armstrong, _Century of Great Actors_; H. Simpson, _Century of Great +Actresses_. + +ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, fifth of the books of the New Testament, written in +Greek and assigned to the author of the gospel of St. Luke. Its date is +probably A.D. 63 or 64. It embraces a period of about thirty years, +beginning immediately after the resurrection, and extending to the second +year of the imprisonment of St. Paul in Rome. Very little information is +given regarding any of the apostles, excepting St. Peter and St. Paul, and +the accounts of them are far from being complete. It describes the +gathering of the infant Church; the fulfilment of the promise of Christ to +his apostles in the descent of the Holy Ghost; the choice of Matthias in +the place of Judas, the betrayer; the testimony of the apostles to the +resurrection of Jesus in their discourses; their preaching in Jerusalem and +in Judea, and afterwards to the Gentiles; the conversion of Paul, his +preaching in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, his miracles and +labours.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. T. Knowling, _The Expositor's Greek Testament_; +J. Moffatt, _The Historical New Testament_; J. M. Wilson, _Origin and Aim +of the Acts of the Apostles_. + +AC'TUARY, an accountant whose business is to make the necessary +computations in regard to a basis for life assurance, annuities, +reversions, &c. + +ACU'LEUS, in botany, a prickle, or sharp-pointed process of the epidermis, +as distinguished from a thorn or spine, which is of a woody nature. + +ACUPRESS'URE, a means of arresting bleeding from a cut artery introduced by +Sir James Simpson in 1859, and consisting in compressing the artery above +the orifice, that is, on the side nearest the heart, with the middle of a +needle (Lat. _acus_, a needle) introduced through the tissues. + +ACUPUNC'TURE, a surgical operation, consisting in the insertion of needles +into certain parts of the body for alleviating pain, or for the cure of +different species of rheumatism, neuralgia, eye diseases, &c. It is easily +performed, gives little pain, causes neither bleeding nor inflammation, and +seems at times of surprising efficacy. + +ADAGIO (It. [.a]-d[:a]'j[=o]), a musical term, expressing a slow time, +slower than _andante_ and less so than _largo_, _lento_, and _grave_. + +ADAL', a country in Africa, east of Abyssinia and north-westward of +Tajurrah Bay, inhabited by a dark-brown race of the same name, a tribe of +the Danakils, Mahommedans in religion; towns Aussa and Tajurrah. Part of +the coast here is held by the French. + +AD'ALBERT OF PRAGUE, called the apostle of the Prussians, son of a Bohemian +nobleman named Slavnik, born about 939. His real name was Voitech, but he +assumed the name of the Archbishop Adalbert, under whom he studied at +Magdeburg. He was appointed Bishop of Prague in 983, laboured in vain among +the heathenish Bohemians, resolved to convert the pagans of Prussia, but +was murdered in the attempt (997). _Boga-Rodzica_, a Polish war-song, is +said to have been composed by him. + +ADA'LIA, a seaport on the south coast of Asia Minor. Pop. 28,000. The +district of Adalia has a population of over 200,000. + +ADAM ([.a]-d[.a][n.]), Adolphe Charles, a French composer, more especially +of comic operas; born 1803, died 1856. Wrote _Le postillon de Longjumeau_, +_Le Brasseur de Preston_ (Brewer of Preston), _La Rose de Peronne_, _Le roi +d'Yvetot_, &c. + +ADAM, Albrecht, a German painter of battles and animals, born 1786, died +1862. Three sons of his have also distinguished themselves as painters, +especially Franz, born 1815, died 1886, among whose best pictures are +several representing scenes of the Franco-Prussian war. + +ADAM, Alexander, a Scottish classical scholar, born in 1741; became in 1768 +rector of the High School of Edinburgh, and died there in 1809. Wrote +_Principles of Latin and English Grammar_; _Roman Antiquities_, a useful +school-book; _Summary of Geography and History_; _Classical Biography_, &c. + +ADAM, Robert, an eminent Scottish architect, born in 1728, a son of William +Adam, architect. He resided several years in Italy, visited Spalatro, in +Dalmatia, and published a work on the ruined palace of Diocletian there. In +conjunction with his brother James he was much employed by the English +nobility and gentry in constructing modern and embellishing ancient +mansions. Among their works are the Register House and the University +Buildings, Edinburgh, and the Adelphi Buildings, London. Robert Adam died +in 1792, and was buried in Westminster Abbey; his brother James died in +1794. + +ADAM AND EVE, the names given in Scripture to our first parents, an account +of whom and their immediate descendants is given in the early chapters of +_Genesis_. Cain, Abel, and Seth are all their sons that are mentioned by +name; but we are told that they had other sons as well as daughters. There +are numerous Rabbinical additions to the Scripture narrative of an +extravagant character, such as the myth of Adam having a wife before Eve, +named _Lilith_, who became the mother of giants and evil spirits. Other +legends or inventions are contained in the Koran. + +ADAM DE LA HALE, an early French writer and musician, born 1235, died 1287. +His _Jeu de Robin et de Marion_ (first produced at Naples), may be regarded +as the first comic opera ever written. Cf. H. Guy, _Bibliographie Critique +du Trouvere_, Paris, 1900. + +AD'AMANT, an old name for the diamond; also used in a vague way to imply a +substance of impenetrable hardness. + +ADAMAN'TINE SPAR, a name of the mineral corundum or of a brownish variety +of it. + +ADAMA'WA (also called FUMBINA), a region of West Africa, between lat. 6deg +and 10deg N., and lon. 11deg and 17deg E. Much of the surface is hilly or +mountainous, Mount Atlantika being 9000 or 10,000 feet. The principal river +is the Benue. A great part of the country is covered with thick forests. +The oil palm and bananas are staple products. Chief town Yola (Nigeria). + +ADAMELLO. See _European War_. + +AD'AMITES, a religious sect dating from the second century, probably of +Gnostic origin. It was so called because both men and women were said to +appear naked in their assemblies, either to imitate Adam in the state of +innocence or to prove the control which they possessed over their passions. +Practices similar to those of the Adamites arose several times in later +ages. See _Beghards_. + +ADAM'NAN, St., born in Ireland about 624, was elected abbot of Iona in 679, +and died there about 703 or 704. He is best known from his _Life of St. +Columba_, valuable as throwing light on the early ecclesiastical history of +Scotland. (There are editions by Reeves, 1857; reissued with English +translation 1874; and by Fowler, 1895.) His feast is celebrated on 23rd +Sept. + +ADAMS, Charles Francis, American litterateur and statesman, was a son of +John Quincy Adams, and was born in 1807. His boyhood was spent in Europe, +partly in England; but he finished his education at Harvard, and afterwards +studied law. After serving some years in the Massachusetts legislature he +was sent to Congress in 1859. In 1861 Lincoln sent him to England as +American minister, and here he remained for seven years, performing the +arduous duties of his office with the utmost tact and ability. Between 1874 +and 1877 he edited a complete edition of his grandfather's works in 12 +vols. He was one of the arbitrators on the _Alabama_ claims. Died in 1886. + +ADAMS, John, second president of the United States, was born at Braintree +(now Quincy), Massachusetts, 19th Oct., 1735. He was educated at Harvard +University, and adopted the law as a profession. His attention was directed +to politics by the question as to the right of the English Parliament to +tax the colonies, and in 1765 he published some essays strongly opposed to +the claims of the mother country. As a member of the new American congress +in 1774, 1775, and 1776 he was strenuous in his opposition to the home +Government, and in organizing the various departments of the colonial +Government. On 13th May, 1776, he seconded the motion for a declaration of +independence proposed by Lee of Virginia, and was appointed a member of +committee to draw it up. The declaration was actually drawn up by +Jefferson, but it was Adams who fought it through Congress. In 1778 he went +to France on a special mission, but soon came back and again returned, and +for nine years resided abroad as representative of his country in France, +Holland, and England. After taking part in the peace negotiations he was +appointed, in 1785, the first ambassador of the United States to the Court +of St. James. He was recalled in 1788, and the following year elected +vice-president of the republic under Washington. In 1792 he was re-elected +vice-president, and at the following election in 1797 he became president +in succession to Washington. The commonwealth was then divided into two +parties, the Federalists, who favoured aristocratic and were suspected of +monarchic views, and the Republicans. Adams adhered to the former party, +with which his views of government had always been in accordance, but the +real leader of the party was Hamilton, with whom Adams did not agree, and +who tried to prevent his election. His term of office proved a stormy one, +which broke up and dissolved the Federalist party. His re-election in 1801 +was again opposed by the efforts of Hamilton, which ended in effecting the +return of the Republican candidate Jefferson. Thus it happened that when +Adams retired from office his influence and popularity with both parties +were at an end, and he sunk at once into the obscurity of private life. He +had the consolation, however, of living to see his son president. He died +4th July, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of +independence, and on the same day as Jefferson. His works have been ably +edited by his grandson Charles Francis Adams. + +ADAMS, John Couch, English astronomer, born 1819, died 1892, studied at +Cambridge, and was senior wrangler in 1843. His investigations into the +irregularities in the motion of the planet Uranus led him to the conclusion +that they must be caused by another more distant planet, and the results of +his labours were communicated in September and October, 1845, to Professor +Challis and Airy the Astronomer Royal. The French astronomer Leverrier had +by this time been engaged in the same line of research, and had come to +substantially the same results, which, being published in 1846, led to the +actual discovery of the planet Neptune by Galle of Berlin. In 1858 Adams +was professor of mathematics at Aberdeen University, and in 1859 was +appointed Lowndean professor of astronomy and geometry at Cambridge. + +ADAMS, John Quincy, sixth president of the United States, son of John +Adams, second president, was born 11th July, 1767. Accompanying his father +to Europe he received part of his education there, but graduated at Harvard +in 1788. Having adopted the legal profession, in 1791 he was admitted to +the bar. He now began to take an active interest in politics, and some +letters that he wrote having attracted general attention, in 1794 +Washington appointed him minister to the Hague. He afterwards was sent to +Berlin, and also on a mission to Sweden. In 1798 he received a commission +to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Sweden. On the accession of +Jefferson to the presidency in 1801 he was recalled. The Federalist party +(that of his father), which was now declining, had sufficient influence in +Massachusetts to elect him to the senate in 1803. On an important question +of foreign policy, that of embargo, he abandoned his party, and having lost +his re-election on this account, he retired to the professorship of +rhetoric at Cambridge, which he held from 1806 to 1809. In 1809 he went as +ambassador to Russia. He assisted in negotiating the peace of 1814 with +England, and was afterwards appointed resident minister at London. Under +Monroe as president he was secretary of state, and at the expiration of +Monroe's double term of office he succeeded him in the presidency (1825). +He was not very successful as president, and at the end of his term (1829) +he was not re-elected. In 1831 he was returned to Congress by +Massachusetts, and continued to represent this State till his death, his +efforts being now chiefly on behalf of the Abolitionist party. He died 21st +Feb., 1848. + +ADAMS, Samuel, an American statesman, second cousin of President John +Adams, was born in Boston, 27th Sept., 1722, and was educated at Harvard +College. He early devoted himself to politics, and in connection with the +dispute between America and the mother country he showed himself one of the +most unwearied, efficient, and disinterested assertors of American freedom +and independence. He was one of the signers of the declaration of 1776, +which he laboured most indefatigably to bring forward. He sat in congress +eight years; from 1789-94 was lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts; from +1794-7 governor, when he retired from public life. He died 2nd Oct., 1803. + +ADAM'S APPLE, the popular name of the prominence seen in the front of the +throat in man, and which is formed by the portion of the larynx known as +the _thyroid cartilage_. It is much smaller and less visible in females +than in males, and is so named from the supposition that it was caused by a +piece of the forbidden fruit having stuck in Adam's throat. In botany it is +the name given to the plantain tree and the _Citrus pomum_. It is the Heb. +_Ethrog_, which, according to Hebrew legend, was the fruit Adam and Eve ate +in the garden of Eden. + +ADAM'S BRIDGE, a chain of reefs, sandbanks, and islands stretching between +India and Ceylon; so called because the Mohammedans believe that when Adam +was driven from paradise he had to pass by this way to Ceylon (where is +also Adam's Peak). The Brahmans call it the bridge of Rama, the hero of the +Indian Epic, the _Ramayana_. + +ADAM'S NEEDLE, a popular name of the Yucca plant. + +ADAM'S PEAK, one of the highest mountains in Ceylon, 45 miles +east-south-east of Colombo, conical, isolated, and 7420 feet high. On the +top, a rocky area of 64 feet by 45, is a hollow in the rock 5 feet long +bearing a rude resemblance to a human foot, which the Brahmans believe to +be the footprint of Siva; the Buddhists, who call it Sri-pada (sacred +footmark), that of Buddha; the Mahommedans that of Adam. The last-named +believe that Adam stood here on one foot for a thousand years, lamenting +his exclusion from Eden. Devotees of all creeds meet here and present their +offerings (chiefly rhododendron flowers) to the sacred footprint. The +ascent is very steep, and towards the summit is assisted by steps cut and +iron chains riveted in the rock. + +ADAMSON, Patrick, a Scottish divine and Latin poet, born 15th March, 1536, +died 19th Feb., 1592. He was educated at St. Andrews, lived some years in +France, was minister of Paisley, and afterwards Archbishop of St. Andrews, +in which position he made himself very obnoxious to the Presbyterian party. +Deprived of the revenues of the see, he died in indigence. He turned +portions of the Bible into Latin verse. + +AD'ANA, town and capital of Adana vilayet, Asia Minor, on the Seihun-Irmak; +served by the Bagdad Railway. The district is claimed by Armenia. Cotton, +rice, wine, and fruit are exported. Pop. (town), 70,000; (vilayet), +1,000,000. + +ADANSON ([.a]-d[.a]n-s[=o][n.]), Michel, French naturalist and traveller +(of Scottish extraction), born 1727; died 1806. He lived five years in +Senegal, and wrote a natural history of this region as well as works on +botany. The baobab genus is named _Adansonia_ after him. Adanson's statue +was erected in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, in 1856. + +ADANSO'NIA. See preceding article and _Baobab_. + +ADAPTATION (from the Lat. _ad_, to, and _apt[=a]re_, to fit), the process +of modification or alteration of a thing so as to change its original +purpose and adapt it to other uses. Adaptation in biology is the power and +process by which an organism or species of animals or plants changes and +becomes modified, so as to suit the conditions of its life. In other words +it is the adjustment, or favourable reaction, of the living world to its +environment, the advantageous variation of animals and plants under changed +conditions. The term now includes both that which is hereditary and that +which is acquired. The powers of lower forms of life to adapt themselves to +changes of environment are limited, and frequently, when the conditions +vary suddenly, they are either arrested in their development or die +altogether.--In literature it is the process by which an author modifies +the work of another not in its essence but in its form and details, either +in the original or in a foreign language. + +A'DAR, the twelfth month of the Hebrew sacred and sixth of the civil year, +answering to part of February and part of March. + +ADDA (ancient ADDUA), a river of North Italy, which, descending from the +Rhaetian Alps, falls into Lake Como, and leaving this joins the Po, after a +course of about 170 miles. On the banks of the Adda Napoleon won the battle +of Lodi in 1796. + +ADDA, a species of lizard, more commonly called Skink. + +AD'DAX, a species of antelope (_Hippotr[)a]gus nasomacul[=a]tus_) of the +size of a large ass, with much of its make. The horns of the male are about +4 feet long, beautifully twisted into a wide-sweeping spiral of two turns +and a half, with the points directed outwards. It has tufts of hair on the +forehead and throat, and large broad hoofs. It inhabits the sandy regions +of Nubia and Kordofan, and is also found in Caffraria. + +[Illustration: Adder (_Vipera communis_)] + +ADDER, a name often applied to the common viper as well as to other kinds +of venomous serpents. See _Viper_. + +ADDER-PIKE (_Trach[=i]nus vip[)e]ra_), a small species of the weever fish, +called also the Lesser Weever or Sting-fish. See _Weever_. + +ADDER-STONE, the name given in different parts of Britain to certain +rounded perforated stones or glass beads found occasionally, and supposed +to have a kind of supernatural efficacy in curing the bites of adders. They +are believed to have been anciently used as spindle-whorls, that is, a kind +of small fly-wheels to keep up the rotatory motion of the spindle. + +ADDER'S-TONGUE, a species of British fern (_Ophioglossum vulg[=a]tum_), +whose spores are produced on a spike, supposed to resemble a serpent's +tongue. + +ADDER'S-WORT, a name of snakeweed or bistort (_Polyg[)o]num Bistorta_), +from its supposed virtue in curing the bite of serpents. + +AD'DINGTON, Henry, Viscount Sidmouth, born 1757, died 1844. Entered +Parliament, 1783, as a warm supporter of Pitt. Was elected speaker of the +House of Commons, 1789, and in 1801 invited by the king to form an +administration, chiefly signalized by the conclusion of the Peace of +Amiens. Quarrelled with Pitt, whom he bitterly attacked. Was home secretary +from 1812 till 1822, his repressive policy making him remarkably unpopular +with the nation at large. Retired from official life in 1824. + +ADDIS ABE'BA, or ADIS ABBA'BA, a town in the south of Abyssinia, in Shoa, +ranking as capital of the country, being chief residence of the negus or +sovereign. It stands among mountains, at the height of 10,000 feet, and is +a primitive place, but now has telegraphic connection with Jibouti and +Massawa, and since 1917 is the terminus of the railway running inland from +Jibouti by way of Harar. Pop. 50,000. + +AD'DISON, Rt. Hon. Christopher, P.C., M.D., Cabinet Minister. Dr. Addison +was born 19th June, 1869, and educated at Trinity College, Harrogate, and +St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he was a lecturer for a time. He +was elected Member of Parliament for the Hoxton Division, Shoreditch, in +1910, and was parliamentary secretary to the Board of Education from 1914 +to 1915. From 1916 to 1917 he was Minister of Munitions; he was President +of the Local Government Board from January to June, 1919, when he became +Minister of Health. He has written and edited several works on medical +subjects. + +AD'DISON, Joseph, an eminent English essayist, son of the Rev. Lancelot +Addison, afterwards Dean of Lichfield, born at Milston, Wiltshire, 1st May, +1672, died 17th June, 1719. He was educated at the Charterhouse, where he +became acquainted with Steele, and afterwards at Oxford. He held a +fellowship from 1697 till 1711, and gained much praise for his Latin verse. +He secured as his earliest patron the poet Dryden, who inserted some of his +verses in his _Miscellanies_ in 1693. A translation of the fourth +_Georgic_, with the exception of the story of _Aristaeus_, by Addison, +appeared in the same collection in 1694, and he subsequently translated for +it two and a half books of Ovid. Dryden also prefixed his prose essay on +Virgil's _Georgics_ to his own translation of that poem, which appeared in +1697. An early patron of his was Charles Montague, afterwards Earl of +Halifax; another was Lord Somers, who procured him a pension of L300 a year +to enable him to qualify for diplomatic employments by foreign travels. He +spent from the autumn of 1699 to that of 1703 on the Continent, where he +became acquainted with Malebranche, Boileau, &c. During his residence +abroad his tragedy of _Cato_ is supposed to have been written. During his +journey across Mont Cenis he wrote his _Letter from Italy_, esteemed the +best of his poems, and in Germany his _Dialogues on Medals_, which was not +published till after his death. His _Remarks on Several Parts of Italy in +the Years 1701-3_ was published in 1705. His political friends lost power +on the death of William III, but _The Campaign_, a poem on the battle of +Blenheim, procured him an appointment as a commissioner of appeal on +excise. In 1706 he received an under-secretaryship, in 1707 accompanied +Halifax on a mission to Hanover, in 1709 became secretary to the Viceroy of +Ireland, and keeper of the records. In 1708 he was elected Member of +Parliament for Lostwithiel, a seat he exchanged in 1710 for Malmesbury, +which place he continued to represent till his death. From Oct., 1709, to +Jan., 1711, he contributed 75 papers to the _Tatler_, either wholly by +himself or in conjunction with Steele, thus founding the new literary +school of the Essayists. For the _Spectator_ (2nd Jan., 1711, to 6th Dec., +1712) he wrote 274 papers, all signed by one of the four letters C., L., +I., O. His tragedy of _Cato_, produced April, 1713, ran for twenty nights, +and was translated into French, Italian, German, and Latin. His other +contributions to periodicals included 51 papers to the _Guardian_ (May to +Sept., 1713), 24 papers to a revived _Spectator_ conducted by Budgell, and +2 papers to Steele's _Lover_. On the death of Queen Anne he successively +became secretary to the lords justices, secretary to the Irish viceroy, and +one of the lords commissioners of trade. He published the _Freeholder_ +(23rd Dec., 1715, to 9th June, 1716), a political _Spectator_. In August, +1716, he married the Countess of Warwick, a marriage which did not increase +his happiness. He retired from public life, March, 1718, with a pension of +L1500 a year. He formed a close friendship with Swift, and was chief of a +distinguished literary circle. He had literary quarrels with Pope and Gay, +the former of whom in revenge wrote the satire contained in his lines on +Atticus in the _Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot_. He also had a paltry quarrel +over politics with his old friend Steele. His death took place at Holland +House, its cause being dropsy and asthma. He was buried in Westminster +Abbey. Of his style as a writer so much has been said that nothing remains +to say but to quote the dictum of Johnson: "Whoever wishes to attain an +English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, +must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison". He had great +conversational powers, and his intimates speak in the strongest terms of +the enjoyment derived from his society, but he was extremely reserved +before strangers. His _Dialogues on Medals_ and _Evidences of the Christian +Religion_ were published posthumously in Tickell's collected edition of his +works.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. J. Courthope, _Addison_ (English Men of Letters +Series); _Essays from the Spectator_, edited by Henry Morley. + +ADDISON'S DISEASE (from Dr. Addison, Guy's Hospital, London, who traced the +disease to its source), a fatal disease, the seat of which is the two +glandular bodies placed one at the front of the upper part of each kidney, +and called _suprarenal capsules_. It is characterized by anaemia or +bloodlessness, extreme prostration, and the brownish or olive-green colour +of the skin. Death usually results from weakness, and commonly takes place +within a year. + +ADDLED PARLIAMENT, a Parliament called 5th April, 1614, in order to +legalize the customs duties imposed by James I, but which, proceeding to +the redress of grievances instead of granting supply, was dissolved, 7th +June, without passing a single Bill. + +ADDRESS, a document containing an expression of thanks, congratulation, +satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, &c. It is the custom of the British +Parliament to return an address to the speech delivered by the Sovereign at +the commencement of every session. + +ADDRESS, Forms of. The following are the principal modes of formally +addressing titled personages or persons holding official rank in Great +Britain:-- + + _The King or Queen._--Address in writing: To the King's (Queen's) most + excellent Majesty. Say: Sire or Madam, Your Majesty. + + _The Royal Family._--His Royal Highness (H.R.H.) the Prince of Wales, + His Royal Highness the Duke of C----, His Royal Highness Prince A----. + A royal duke should be addressed as Sir, not My Lord Duke; and referred + to as Your Royal Highness. A princess is addressed Her Royal Highness + the Duchess of ----, Her Royal Highness Princess A----; and personally + as Madam, Your Royal Highness. + + _Duke and Ducal Family._--His Grace the Duke of ----; My Lord Duke, + Your Grace. Her Grace the Duchess of ----; Madam, Your Grace. The + duke's eldest son is in law only an esquire, but in courtesy takes a + secondary title of his father, and is addressed as if he held it by + right. A younger son is addressed Lord J---- B----; My Lord, Your + Lordship; a daughter, Lady M---- B---- (Christian and surname); Madam, + Your Ladyship. A duke's, marquis's, or earl's daughter marrying a + commoner simply changes her surname for his. + + _The Lord-lieutenant of Ireland_ is styled His Excellency, or, if a + duke, His Grace, and addressed according to his titular rank. + + _Marquess._--The Most Honourable the Marquess of ----; My Lord + Marquess, My Lord. The eldest son has a secondary title of his father, + as in the case of a duke's eldest son; the younger sons and the + daughters are all addressed as the younger sons and daughters of a + duke. + + _Earl._--The Right Honourable the Earl of ----; My Lord, Your Lordship. + The Right Honourable the Countess of----; Madam, Your Ladyship. The + eldest son is addressed by a secondary title of his father; younger + son, The Honourable G---- T----; Sir; the daughter, as duke's and + marquess's daughter. + + _Viscount._--The Right Honourable the Viscount ----; My Lord, Your + Lordship. The Right Honourable the Viscountess ----; Madam, Your + Ladyship. Son: The Honourable A---- B---- (Christian and surname); Sir. + Daughter: The Honourable J---- C---- (Christian and surname); Madame; + if married, The Honourable Mrs. ---- (married name). + + _Baron._--The Right Honourable Lord ----; My Lord, Your Lordship. The + Right Honourable the Lady ----; Madam, your Ladyship. Son: The + Honourable J---- C----; Sir. Daughter: The Honourable M---- H----; if + married, The Honourable Mrs. ----, same as viscount's daughter. + + _Baronet._--Sir A---- B----, Baronet; Sir; more familiarly Dear Sir + A----. + + _Knight._--Sir C---- D----, Kt., or K.C.S.I., K.C.B., G.C.B., &c., + according to rank. The wives of baronets and knights are styled Lady, + Lady ----. + + _Archbishop._--His Grace the Lord Archbishop of ----; My Lord + Archbishop; Your Grace. An archbishop is also styled Most Reverend. + + _Bishop._--The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of ----; My Lord. The wives + of prelates have no special title. Bishops not connected with the + English established church may be addressed--The Right Reverend Bishop + ----; Right Reverend Sir. + + _Dean._--The Very Reverend; Sir; Mr. Dean. + + Members of the Privy Council, members and ex-members of cabinet, the + Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief + Justice and the Lords Justices, the Lord Advocate, the lords of the + treasury and admiralty, are called Right Honourable; the justices (not + being _lords_ justices) are styled Honourable. Ambassadors, governors + of colonies, &c., are styled Excellency. + + The Lord Mayors of London, York, Dublin, &c., and the Lord Provost of + Edinburgh, are styled Right Honourable; the Lord Provost of Glasgow, + Honourable. A Mayor is addressed as Right Worshipful. Lords of Session + (Scotland) have the courtesy title of Lord, are addressed as My Lord, + Your Lordship, and also called Honourable. Sheriffs and their + substitutes are addressed in their courts in Scotland as My Lord. + + In the United States persons holding official rank are similarly + addressed; thus the President is styled His Excellency, as are also + governors of states and foreign ministers; the vice-president, + lieutenant-governors, senators, representatives, judges, and mayors are + styled Honourable. + +ADDUC'TOR, a muscle which draws one part of the body towards another: +applied in zoology to one of the muscles which bring together the valves of +the shell of the bivalve molluscs. + +ADEL'. See _Adal._ + +ADELA, born 1062, died 1137, fourth daughter of William the Conqueror, wife +of Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres, and mother of Stephen, King of +England. She proved herself an able ruler and a generous patroness of +learning while her husband was abroad with the First Crusade; and after his +death she acted as regent for his sons. + +ADELAIDE (ad'e-l[=a]d), the capital of South Australia, 6 miles east from +Port Adelaide (on St. Vincent Gulf), its port, with which it is united by +railway, founded in 1837, and named after the queen of William IV. Situated +on a large plain, it is built nearly in the form of a square, with the +streets at right angles, and is divided into North and South Adelaide, +separated by the river Torrens, which is crossed by several bridges, and by +means of a dam is converted into a fine sheet of water. The public +buildings comprise the Government House, the town hall, the post and +telegraph offices, the Government offices, court-houses, the houses of +legislature, the University, South Australian Institute, &c. There is a +good service of tramway cars. Adelaide is connected by railway with +Melbourne, and is the terminus of the overland telegraph to Port Darwin. It +has a large trade. Pop. (including suburbs), (1919), 256,660. + +ADELAIDE, daughter of George, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Meiningen, and wife of +the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV, King of England; born 1792, +died 1849; married 11th July, 1818, had two daughters, who died in infancy. +She became queen-consort on William attaining the throne in 1830, and was +for a time unpopular from being supposed to be averse to reform. On the +death of William she passed into private life, with an allowance of +L100,000 a year. + +ADELARD OF BATH, an English philosophical writer of the twelfth century. He +travelled through Spain, the north of Africa, Greece, and Asia Minor, and +acquired from the Arabs much knowledge, which he put in systematic shape. +Chief works, _Perdifficiles Quaestiones Naturales_ and _De Eodem et +Diverso._ + +ADELSBERG ([:a]'d[.e]lz-ber_h_), a small town of North Italy, in Carniola, +midway between Trieste and Laibach, remarkable for the wonderful stalactite +cave in its vicinity. The most extended of the ramifications which compose +it reaches to over 2 miles from the entrance, at which the River Poik +disappears, and is heard rushing below. The stalactites and stalagmites are +of the most varied and often beautiful forms, and have received fanciful +appellations, as they resemble columns, statues, &c. + +ADELUNG ([.a]d'e-l[u:]ng), Friedrich von, nephew of J. C. Adelung, was a +distinguished philologist. He was tutor to the Grand-duke Nicholas, +afterwards Emperor of Russia, and became president of the Academy of +Sciences at St. Petersburg (now Petrograd). Born 1768, died 1843. + +ADELUNG, Johann Christoph, a German philologist, born 1732, died 1806. In +1759 he was appointed professor in the Protestant academy at Erfurt, and +two years after removed to Leipzig, where he applied himself to the works +by which he made so great a name, particularly his German dictionary, +_Grammatisch-kritisches Woerterbuch der hochdeutschen Mundart_ (Leipzig, +1774-86), and his _Mithridates_, a work on general philology. In 1787 he +was appointed librarian of the public library in Dresden--an office which +he held till his death. + +A'DEN, a seaport town and territory belonging to Britain, on the south-west +coast of Arabia, in a dry and barren district, the town being almost +entirely closed in by an amphitheatre of rocks, and possessing an admirable +harbour. Occupying an important military position, Aden is strongly +fortified and permanently garrisoned. It is of importance also as a coaling +station for steamers, and carries on a great amount of commerce, forming an +entrepot and place of transhipment for goods valued at L6,000,000 a year. +Its greatest drawback is the scarcity of fresh water, which is obtained +partly from wells, partly from rock-cisterns that receive the rain, and +partly by condensation from salt water--the only unfailing means of supply. +The peninsula on which it stands somewhat resembles the rock of Gibraltar, +and could be rendered as formidable. Aden was a Roman colony, and in the +Middle Ages it was a great entrepot of the Eastern trade. It was acquired +by Britain in 1839, after which it was attacked repeatedly by the Arabs. +With the additional territory latterly acquired, the total British area is +75 sq. miles (or with the island of Perim, 80); while a large tract is +under British influence. Aden is attached to the Bombay Presidency. Pop. +46,165. + +ADENANTHE'RA, a genus of trees and shrubs, natives of the East Indies, nat. +ord. Leguminosae. _A. pavon[=i]na_ is one of the largest and handsomest +trees of India, and yields hard solid timber called red sandal-wood. The +bright scarlet seeds, from their equality in weight (each=4 grains), are +used by goldsmiths in the East as weights. + +ADENI'TIS (Gr. _ad[=e]n_, a gland), in medicine, inflammation of one or +more of the lymphatic glands. + +AD'ENOIDS, small growths often occurring in the back wall of the throat in +children, blocking the nostrils and commonly causing deafness. They can be +removed by a simple operation. + +ADERER'. See _Adrar_. + +ADERNO', a town of Sicily, 18 miles N.W. of Catania and about 10 miles +W.S.W. of Mount Etna. Pop. 25,000. + +ADESSENA'RIAN, one of a sect of Christians which holds that there is a real +presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but denying that it is effected by +transubstantiation. + +ADHESION, the tendency of two bodies to stick together when put in close +contact, or the mutual attraction of their surfaces; distinguished from +_cohesion_, which denotes the mutual attraction between the particles of a +homogeneous body. Adhesion may exist between two solids, between a solid +and a fluid, or between two fluids. A plate of glass or of polished metal +laid on the surface of water and attached to one arm of a balance will +support much more than its own weight in the opposite scale from the force +of adhesion between the water and the plate. From the same force arises the +tendency of most liquids, when gently poured from a jar, to run down the +exterior of a vessel or along any other surface they meet. + +ADIAN'TUM, a genus of ferns; the maiden-hair fern. + +ADIAPH'ORIST (Gr. _adiaphoros_, indifferent), a name given in the sixteenth +century to Melanchthon's party, who held some opinions and ceremonies to be +indifferent which Luther condemned as sinful or heretical. + +ADIGE ([:a]'d[=e]-j[=a]), Ger. _Etsch_ (ancient ATH[)E]SIS), a river of +Northern Italy, which rises in the Rhaetian Alps, and after a south and +east course of about 180 miles, during which it passes Verona and Legnago, +falls into the Adriatic, forming a delta connected with that of the Po. + +AD'IPOCERE (-s[=e]r) (Lat. _adeps_, fat, and _cera_, wax), a substance of a +light-brown colour formed by animal matter when protected from atmospheric +air, and under certain circumstances of temperature and humidity. It was +first observed by Fourcroy, and a quantity discovered at the Cimetiere des +Innocents, Paris. A similar substance is found in peat-bogs in Wales and +Ireland. + +AD'IPOSE TISSUE, the cellular tissue containing the oily or fatty matter of +the body. It underlies the skin, surrounds the large vessels and nerves, +invests the kidneys, &c., and sometimes accumulates in large masses. + +ADIRON'DACK MOUNTAINS, in the United States, a group belonging to the +Appalachian chain, extending from the N.E. corner of the State of New York +to near its centre. The scenery is wild and grand, diversified by numerous +beautiful lakes, and the whole region is a favourite resort of sportsmen +and tourists. + +AD'IT, a more or less horizontal opening, giving access to the shaft of a +mine. It is made to slope gradually from the farthest point in the interior +to the mouth, and by means of it the principal drainage is usually carried +on. See _Mine_. + +AD'JECTIVE, in grammar, a word used to denote some quality in the noun or +substantive to which it is accessory. The adjective is indeclinable in +English (but has _degrees_ of comparison), and generally precedes the noun, +while in most other European languages it follows the inflections of the +substantive, and is more commonly placed after it, though in German it +precedes it, as in English. + +ADJUDICA'TION, in English law, is the decree of the court in bankruptcy +declaring a person bankrupt. + +ADJUST'MENT, in marine insurance, is the settling of the amount of the loss +which the insurer is entitled under a particular policy to recover, and if +the policy is subscribed by more than one underwriter, of the amounts which +the underwriters respectively are liable to pay. + +AD'JUTANT, an officer appointed to each regiment or battalion, whose duty +is to assist the commander. He is charged with instruction in drill, and +all the interior discipline, duties, and efficiency of the corps. He has +the charge of all documents and correspondence, and is the channel of +communication for all orders. + +[Illustration: Adjutant-bird (_Leptopt[)i]lus arg[)a]la_)] + +ADJUTANT-BIRD (_Leptopt[)i]lus arg[)a]la_), a large grallatorial or wading +bird of the stork family, native of the warmer parts of India, where it is +known as Hurg[)i]la or Arg[)a]la. It stands about five feet high, has an +enormous bill, nearly bare head and neck, and a pouch hanging from the +under part of the neck. It is one of the most voracious carnivorous birds +known, and in India, from its devouring all sorts of carrion and noxious +animals, is protected by law. From underneath the wings are obtained those +light downy feathers known as _marabou_ feathers, from the name of an +allied species of bird (_L. marabou_) inhabiting Western Africa, and also +producing them. + +ADJUTANT-GENERAL, in Great Britain the second military member of the Army +Council, and styled Adjutant-general to the Forces. He is a general +officer, and at the head of his department at the War Office, which is +charged with all duties relative to personnel.--Among the Jesuits this name +was given to a select number of fathers, who resided with the general of +the order, and had each a province or country assigned to him. + +AD'JUTATORS, in English history, representatives elected by the +parliamentary forces in 1647 to act with the officers in compelling +Parliament to satisfy the demands of the army. + +ADLER, Victor, Austrian socialist leader, born in 1852. Educated as a +physician, he gave up his profession for socialist propaganda. He visited +England, and wrote a book on factory inspection in this country. He was the +founder and editor of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_; was a member of the Lower +Austrian Diet and of the Imperial Council in 1907. His son, Dr. Friedrich +Adler, assassinated Count Stuergkh, the Austrian premier, on 20th Oct., +1916. He died in 1918. + +AD'LINGTON, a straggling place in Lancashire to the south-east of Chorley, +engaged in the cotton manufacture. Pop. (1921), 4393. + +ADME'TUS, in Greek mythology, King of Pherae, in Thessaly, and husband of +Alcestis, who gave signal proof of her attachment by consenting to die in +order to prolong her husband's life. See _Alcestis_. + +ADMINISTRA'TION, in politics, the executive power or body, the ministry or +cabinet. + +ADMIN'ISTRATOR, in law, the person to whom the goods of a man dying +intestate are committed by the proper authority, and who is bound to +account for them when required. + +AD'MIRAL, the commander-in-chief of a squadron or fleet of ships of war, or +of the entire naval force of a country, or simply a naval officer of the +highest rank. In the British navy admirals are of four ranks--admiral of +the fleet, admiral, vice-admiral, and rear-admiral. They were also divided +formerly into three classes, named after the colours of their respective +flags, admirals of the _red_, of the _white_, and of the _blue_. In 1864, +however, this distinction was given up, and now there is one flag common to +all ships of war, namely, the white ensign divided into four quarters by +the cross of St. George, and having the union in the upper corner next the +staff.--The title _admiral of the fleet_ is conferred on a few admirals, +and carries an increase of pay along with it.--A _vice-admiral_ is next in +rank and command to the admiral: he carries his flag at the +foretop-gallant-mast head, while an admiral carries his at the main. A +_rear-admiral_, next in rank to the vice-admiral, carries his flag at the +mizzentop-gallant-mast head.--_Lord high admiral_, in Great Britain, an +officer who (when this rare dignity is conferred) is at the head of the +naval administration of Great Britain. There have been few high admirals +since 1632, when the office was first put in commission. James Duke of York +(afterwards James II) held it for several years during Charles II's reign. +In the reign of William and Mary it was vested in lords commissioners of +the admiralty, and since that time it has been held for short periods only +by Prince George of Denmark (1702-8) in the time of Queen Anne, and by +William IV, then Duke of Clarence, in 1827-8. + +AD'MIRALTY, that department of the Government of a country that is at the +head of its naval service. In Britain the board of Admiralty now consists +of the First Lord of the Admiralty and seven other commissioners, four of +them being Sea Lords, and one a Civil Lord. The First Lord is always a +member of the cabinet, and it is he who principally exercises the powers of +the department. Under the 1912 Admiralty Organization Scheme, the various +members of the board are responsible for special business. Several changes +in Admiralty organization were made during the European War, but after the +cessation of hostilities the system reverted to that of peace time. + +ADMIRALTY CHARTS are charts issued by the hydrographic department of the +Admiralty of Britain; they are prepared by specially appointed surveyors +and draughtsmen, and besides being supplied to every ship in the fleet, are +sold to the general public at prices much less than their cost. In +connection with these charts there are published books of sailing +directions, lists of lights, &c. The navigating charts are generally on the +scale of half an inch to a mile, and show all the dangers of the coasts +with sufficient distinctness to enable the seamen to avoid them; the charts +of larger size exhibit all the intricacies of the coast. + +ADMIRALTY COURT, a court which takes cognizance of civil and criminal +causes of a maritime nature, including captures made in war, and offences +committed on the high seas, and has to do with many matters connected with +maritime affairs. In England the Admiralty Court was once held before the +Lord High Admiral, and at a later period was presided over by his deputy or +the deputy of the Lords Commissioners. It now forms a branch of the +Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty division of the High Court of Justice. +There is a separate Irish Admiralty Court. In Scotland Admiralty cases are +now prosecuted in the Court of Session, or in the Sheriff Court. In the +United States, Admiralty cases are taken up in the first instance by the +district courts. + +ADMIRALTY ISLAND, an island belonging to the United States off the +north-west coast of North America, 80 or 90 miles long and about 20 broad, +covered with fine timber and inhabited by Sitka Indians. + +ADMIRALTY ISLANDS, a cluster of 40 islands, north of New Guinea, in what +was once called the Bismarck Archipelago. Discovered by the Dutch explorer +Shouten in 1616, they were in German possession from 1884 to 12th Sept., +1914, when they were occupied by an Australian force. They have since been +in British occupation. The largest is about 60 miles in length; the rest +are much smaller. They are covered with a luxuriant vegetation, and possess +dense groves of coco-nut trees. There are valuable pearl and other shell +fisheries. Capital, Lorengau. Pop. (native), 4000; (European), 50. + +[Illustration: Stipule adnated to Leaf-stalk of Rose] + +AD'NATE, in botany, applied to a part growing attached to another and +principal part by its whole length, as stipules adnated to the leaf-stalk. + +ADOBE ([.a]-d[=o]'b[=a]), the Spanish name for a brick made of loamy earth, +containing about two-thirds fine sand and one-third clayey dust, sun-dried; +in common use for building in Mexico, Texas, and Central America. Building +material in ancient Egypt and Assyria was adobe. + +ADOL'PHUS, John, 1768-1845, an able English criminal lawyer, and author of +the _History of England from the Accession of George III_ and _Biographical +Memoirs of the French Revolution_. + +ADOLPHUS OF NASSAU, elected Emperor of Germany, 1292. In 1298 the college +of electors transferred the crown to Albert of Austria, but, Adolphus +refusing to abdicate, a war ensued in which he fell, after a heroic +resistance, 2nd July, 1298. + +ADONAI (ad'o-n[=i]), a name bestowed upon God in the Old Testament. See +_Jehovah_. + +ADO'NI, a town and district in Madras; pop. of former 30,416, of latter +179,418. It is well known for excellent silk and cotton fabrics. + +ADO'NIS, son of Myrrha, a mythological personage, originally a deity of the +Phoenicians, but borrowed into Greek mythology. He was represented as being +a great favourite of Aphrodit[=e] (Venus), who accompanied him when engaged +in hunting, of which he was very fond. He received a mortal wound from the +tusk of a wild boar, and when the goddess hurried to his assistance she +found him lifeless, whereupon she caused his blood to give rise to the +anemone. The worship of Adonis, which arose in Phoenicia, was afterwards +widely spread round the Mediterranean. He is the reproductive principle, +nature's decay in winter and its revival in spring. The name Adonis is akin +to the Heb. _Adonai_, Lord. See _Tammuz_. + +ADO'NIS, a small river rising in Lebanon and flowing to the Mediterranean. +When in flood it is tinged with a red colour, and so is connected with the +legend of Adonis. + +ADO'NIS, a genus of ranunculaceous plants. In the corn-adonis or pheasant's +eye (_A. autumn[=a]lis_) the petals are bright scarlet like the blood of +Adonis, from which the plant is fabled to have sprung. + +ADOPTIANISM, the theory according to which Christ as a man is the adopted +Son of God. Elipandus, Archbishop of Toledo, and Felix, Bishop of Urgella, +asserted this double sonship in Christ, maintaining that He was indeed the +Son of God in His divine nature, but as man He was the Son of God only by +grace and adoption. 'The Man Christ' is therefore only the adopted and not +the natural Son of God. The doctrine was vigorously opposed by Alcuin, and +condemned by the councils of Ratisbon (792) and Frankfort (794). The +theory, however, found advocates during the Middle Ages, and has given rise +to theological disputes in modern times. Adoptianism was attributed both to +Abelard and Duns Scotus. + +ADOP'TION, the admission of a stranger by birth to the privileges of a +child. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, and also some modern nations, +adoption is placed under legal regulation. In Rome the effect of adoption +was to create the legal relation of father and son, just as if the person +adopted was born of the blood of the adopter in lawful marriage. The +adopted son took the name of his adopter, and was bound to perform his new +father's religious duties. Adoption is not recognized by the law of England +and Scotland; there are legal means to enable a person to assume the name +and arms, and to inherit the property of another. In some of the United +States adoption is regulated by laws not very dissimilar to those which +prevailed among the Romans. + +ADOUR ([.a]-d[:o]r), a river of France, rising in the Hautes Pyrenees, and +falling into the sea a little below Bayonne; length about 200 miles; partly +navigable. + +ADO'WA, a town of Abyssinia, in Tigre, at an elevation of 6270 feet; the +chief commercial depot on the caravan route from Massawa to Gondar. Pop. +about 4000. Here the Italians suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of +the Abyssinians, 1st March, 1896. + +ADRA ([:a]'_d_r[.a]), a seaport of Southern Spain, in Andalusia, near the +mouth of the Adra, on the Mediterranean; with marble quarries and lead +works. Pop. 9000. + +ADRAMIT'TI (ancient ADRAMYTTIUM; Turk. _Edremid_), a town of Turkey in +Asia, near the head of the gulf of the same name, 80 miles north of Smyrna. +Pop. about 5000. + +ADRAR', a district in the Western Sahara, peopled by Berbers possessing +camels, sheep, and oxen, and cultivating dates, wheat, barley, and melons. +Chief towns, Wadan and Shingit, which has inexhaustible beds of rock-salt. + +ADREN'ALIN, or SUPRARENIN, a crystalline substance obtained from the +adrenals or suprarenal capsules of cattle and sheep, which possesses the +property of checking bleeding by its styptic or contractive powers, and is +used in medical practice, more especially in the case of bleeding at the +nose and nervous catarrh. + +ADRIA ([:a]'dri-[.a]), a cathedral city of Northern Italy, province of +Rovigo, between the Po and the Adige, on the site of the ancient town of +same name, whence the Adriatic derives its appellation. Owing to alluvial +deposits the sea is now 17 miles distant. Pop. 11,878. + +A'DRIAN, the name of six Popes. The first, a Roman, ruled from 772-795; a +contemporary and friend of Charlemagne. He expended vast sums in rebuilding +the walls and restoring the aqueducts of Rome.--ADRIAN II, a Roman, was +elected Pope in 867, at the age of seventy-five years. He died in 872, in +the midst of conflicts with the Greek Church.--ADRIAN III, a Roman, elected +884, was Pope for one year and four months only. He was the first Pope who +changed his name on the occasion of his exaltation.--ADRIAN IV, originally +named NICOLAS BREAKSPEAR, the only Englishman who ever occupied the papal +chair, was born about 1100, and died 1159. He is said to have been a native +of Hertfordshire, studied in France, and became abbot of St. Rufus in +Provence, cardinal and legate to Norway. Chosen Pope in 1154, his reign is +chiefly remarkable for his almost constant struggle for supremacy with +Frederick Barbarossa, who on one occasion had been forced to hold his +stirrup, and had been crowned by him at Rome (1155). He issued the famous +bull (1158) granting the sovereignty of Ireland, on condition of the +payment of Peter's pence, to Henry II.--ADRIAN V, previously called +OTTOBUONO FIESCHI, of Genoa, settled, as legate of the Pope, the dispute +between King Henry III of England and his nobles, in favour of the former; +but died a month after his election to the papal chair (1276).--ADRIAN VI +(the last pontifice barbaro), born at Utrecht in 1459, was elected to the +papal chair, 9th Jan., 1522. He tried to reform abuses in the Church, but +opposed the zeal of Luther with reproaches and threats, and even attempted +to excite Erasmus and Zuinglius against him. Died 1523, after a reign of +one year and a half. + +A'DRIAN, a town of the United States, in Michigan, 70 miles W.S.W. of +Detroit. Its extensive water-power is employed in works of various kinds. +Pop. 9654. + +A'DRIAN, Publius Aelius Hadrianus. See _Hadrian_. + +ADRIANO'PLE (Turk. _Edreneh_), an important city in the Balkans, about 135 +miles W.N.W. from Constantinople, on the Maritza (ancient _Hebrus_), at its +junction with the Tundja and the Arda. It has a great mosque, among the +most magnificent in the world; a palace, now in a state of decay; a grand +aqueduct, and a splendid bazaar; manufactures of silk, woollen, and cotton +stuffs, otto of roses, leather, &c., and an important trade. Adrianople +received its present name from the Roman emperor Adrian (Hadrian). In 1361 +it was taken by Amurath I, and was the residence of the Turkish sovereigns +till the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. In 1829 it was taken by the +Russians, and here was then concluded the peace of Adrianople, by which +Russia received important accessions of territory in the Caucasus and on +the coast of the Black Sea. The Russians occupied it also in 1878. +Adrianople was bombarded by the Balkan allied forces in Feb., 1913, and +fell 28th March; it was recaptured by the Turks, under Enver Bey, 20th +July. Pop. 83,000. + +ADRIAN'S (or HADRIAN'S) WALL. See _Roman Walls_. + +ADRIAT'IC SEA, or GULF OF VENICE, an arm of the Mediterranean, stretching +in a north-westerly direction from the Straits of Otranto, between Italy +and the Balkan Peninsula (Yugo-Slavia). Length, about 480 miles; average +breadth, about 100; area, about 60,000 sq. miles. The rivers which it +receives, particularly the Po, its principal feeder, have produced, and are +still producing, great geological changes in its basin by their alluvial +deposits. Hence Adria, between the Po and the Adige, which gives the sea +its name, though once a flourishing seaport, is now 17 miles inland. An +oceanographic investigation of the Adriatic Sea took place in Feb. and +March, 1911. The principal trading ports on the Italian side are Brindisi, +Bari, Ancona, Sinigaglia, and Venice; on the east side Ragusa, Fiume, +Pirano, Pola, and Trieste (Italian). + +ADSCRIPTI GLEBAE (Lat., persons attached to the soil), a term applied to a +class of Roman slaves attached in perpetuity to and transferred with the +land they cultivated. Colliers and salt workers in Scotland were in a +similar position till 1775. + +ADULA'RIA, a very pure, limpid, translucent variety of the common felspar, +called by lapidaries _moonstone_, on account of the play of light exhibited +by the arrangement of its crystalline structure. It is found on the Alps, +but the best specimens are brought from Ceylon. It is so called from +_Adula_, one of the peaks of St. Gothard, where fine specimens are got. + +ADUL'LAM, CAVE OF, a cave to which David fled when persecuted by Saul, and +whither he was followed by "every one who was in distress, in debt, or +discontented" (1 _Sam._ xxii, 1, 2).--The name _Adullamites_ was given to +an English political party, consisting of R. Lowe, Lord Elcho, and other +Liberals, who opposed the majority of their party on the Franchise Bill of +1866. The term originated from a speech of John Bright on 13th March, 1866. + +ADULTERA'TION, a term applied to the fraudulent mixture of articles of +commerce, foods, drugs, beverages, seeds, &c., with inferior ingredients, +and also to any accidental impurity found in a substance. The chief objects +of adulteration are to render a substance more pleasing in appearance, to +increase the weight, to make an inferior article appear as good as the +article of superior quality. Any substance added to an article to increase +its bulk, weight, colour, &c., is spoken of as an adulterant. Milk is often +adulterated with water and with colouring-matter. Butter may be adulterated +by mixing with it other fats or by the addition of colouring-matter. Nearly +every article of food can be adulterated in some way to make it appear of +finer quality. _Preservatives_ added to foods and drugs generally may be +classed as adulterants. Thus cream is preserved by adding small quantities +of boric acid. Beer sometimes contains salicylic acid added as a +preservative. Chloroform contains a small quantity of alcohol to prevent +decomposition. Methylated spirits is alcohol adulterated in several ways to +render it unfit for human consumption. Tobacco contains benzoic acid as +preservative, and sometimes saltpetre to aid burning. Many of these +adulterants are harmful, so that such added to foods and beverages must be +present only in very small quantities. Food and Drug Acts lay down the +limits of the quantities of foreign matter permitted either as preservative +or impurity. Practically every article of commerce is adulterated in some +way, and pure substances are seldom used. Cf. Walker, _The Food Inspector's +Encyclopaedia_. + +ADUL'TERY, the voluntary sexual intercourse of a married person with any +other than the offender's husband or wife; when committed between two +married persons, the offence is called double, and when between a married +and single person, single adultery. The Mosaic, Greek, and early Roman law +only recognized the offence when a married woman was the offender. By the +Jewish law it was punished with death. In Greece the laws against it were +severe. By the laws of Draco and Solon adulterers, when caught in the act, +were at the mercy of the injured party. In early Rome the punishment was +left to the discretion of the husband and parents of the adulteress. The +punishment assigned by the Lex Julia, under Augustus, was banishment or a +heavy fine. Under Constantius and Constans, adulterers were burned or sewed +in sacks and thrown into the sea; under Justinian the wife was to be +scourged, lose her dower, and be shut up in a monastery; at the expiration +of two years the husband might take her again; if he refused she was shaven +and made a nun for life. By the ancient laws of France this crime was +punishable with death. In Spain personal mutilation was frequently the +punishment adopted. In several European countries adultery is regarded as a +criminal offence, but in none does the punishment exceed imprisonment for a +short period, accompanied by a fine. In England formerly it was punishable +with fine and imprisonment, and in Scotland it was frequently made a +capital offence. In Great Britain at the present day, however, it is +punishable only by ecclesiastical censure. The aggrieved husband, however, +can obtain damages against his wife's seducer. In England a man can obtain +a dissolution of his marriage on the ground of his wife's adultery, and a +wife can obtain a judicial separation on the ground of her husband's +adultery, or a dissolution of the marriage if the offence is coupled with +cruelty, desertion, or bigamy. In Scotland it is not necessary to prove +cruelty. In the United States the punishment of adultery has varied +materially at different times. It is, however, very seldom punished +criminally in the States. A person divorced for adultery is by the laws of +France and Scotland prohibited from intermarrying with the co-respondent. + +AD VALO'REM (Lat., according to the value), a term applied to customs or +duties levied according to the worth of the goods, as sworn to by the +owner, and not according to number, weight, measure, &c. + +ADVANCE-NOTE, a draft on the owner of a vessel, generally for one month's +wages, given by the master to the sailors on their signing the articles of +agreement. The granting of such notes to British sailors was made illegal +by an Act passed in 1880. + +AD'VENT (Lat. _adventus_, an arrival, 'the coming of our Saviour'), the +name applied to the holy season which occupies the four or, according to +the Greek Church, six weeks preceding Christmas, and which forms the first +portion of the ecclesiastical year, as observed by the Anglican, the Roman +Catholic, and the Greek Church. + +AD'VENTISTS, a group of six American religious sects who believe in the +speedy coming of Christ, and generally practise adult immersion. The first +sect of Adventists was founded by William Miller in 1831.--There is also a +sect called _Seventh-day Adventists_, who hold that the coming of Christ is +at hand, and maintain that the Sabbath is still the seventh day of the +week. + +AD'VERB, one of the parts of speech used to limit or qualify the +signification of an adjective, verb, or other adverb; as, _very cold_, +_naturally brave_, _much more clearly_, _readily agreed_. Adverbs may be +classified as follows: (1) Adverbs of time, as, _now_, _then_, _never_, +&c.; (2) of place, as, _here_, _there_, _where_, &c.; (3) of degree, as, +_very_, _much_, _nearly_, _almost_, &c.; (4) of affirmation, negation, or +doubt, as, _yes_, _no_, _certainly_, _perhaps_, &c.; (5) of manner, as, +_well_, _badly_, _clearly_, &c. + +ADVERTIS'ING. Advertising on a small scale is a practice as old as +commerce; but modern advertising on a large scale cannot be dated further +back than 1785, when the _Times_ was founded. The last thirty years have +witnessed a great increase in the importance of advertisements as part of +the policy of a progressive business. Much more intelligence and vastly +more money is now spent on advertising than ever was before. America led +the way, but the British are not now far behind in the number and ingenuity +of their advertisements. + +There are roughly speaking five distinct types of advertisement:-- + +(1) Press advertising, under which heading is included daily and weekly +newspapers, monthly magazines and year books, directories, &c. + +(2) Mail-order advertising, which comprises form-letters, catalogues. + +(3) Poster and showcard advertising. This includes large and small posters, +on hoardings, in railway stations or tubes, &c. + +(4) Illuminated signs either outside buildings on a large scale or in +frames of various sizes inside business premises, theatres, &c. + +(5) Cinema advertising--a recent development which has proved extremely +effective. + +Advertising to be successful must be carefully organized. A firm wishing to +advertise must first of all settle how much money it is willing to spend on +this object. A common practice is to devote a fixed proportion of the +profits--at least five per cent--to advertising. The firm must then +carefully consider the period of time over which the expenditure agreed +upon is to be spread. Occasional or spasmodic advertising does not produce +satisfactory results; advertising must be constant and must move with the +times in order to be effective. A firm not uncommonly reviews the results +of its advertising every six months, when it also arranges its plans for +future advertisements. Mistakes in policy can thus be corrected and +successful schemes can be readopted or improved upon. Advertising on any +large scale must be handled by experts. Many thousands of pounds are wasted +yearly by firms which hand over this work to a director who has no +knowledge of how to advertise. The proper way for a firm to act, if it +wishes to enter upon a campaign of publicity, is to engage an efficient +advertising staff or to employ a reliable advertising agent. These agents +in many cases obtain their profits from the commission given to them by +newspapers--this often being about ten per cent of the cost of the space +booked. In return for this they give their advice and copy--everything, +indeed, except blocks and sketches.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Henry Sampson, _A +History of Advertising_; _Edinburgh Review_, Feb., 1843, _On the +Advertising System_. A good account of the more recent developments of +advertising is to be found in H. G. Wells's novel _Tono-Bungay_; T. +Russell, _Commercial Advertising_. + +AD VITAM AUT CULPAM (Lat., for life or till a fault), a formula often used +in regard to appointments to posts or offices, intimating that they are +held for life or till the person forfeits his position by some fault or +misdeed. + +AD'VOCATE (Lat., _advocatus_--_ad_, to, _voco_, to call), a lawyer +authorized to plead the cause of his clients before a court of law. It is +only in Scotland that this word seems to denote a distinct class belonging +to the legal profession, the advocates of Scotland being the pleaders +before the supreme courts, and corresponding to the _barristers_ of England +and Ireland. These advocates all belong to the _Faculty of Advocates_, +Edinburgh, to whom the oral pleadings in the Court of Session are for the +most part limited, while they are also competent to plead in all the +inferior Scottish courts and in the House of Lords in cases of appeal from +the Court of Session. The supreme judges in Scotland, as well as the +sheriffs of the various counties, are always selected from among them. +Candidates for admission must undergo two separate examinations, one in +general scholarship and the other in law.--The _Lord-Advocate_, called also +the _King's_ or _Queen's Advocate_, is the principal law officer of the +crown in Scotland. He is the public prosecutor of crimes in the Supreme +Court, and senior counsel for the crown in civil causes. Being appointed by +the crown, he goes out of office with the administration to which he +belongs. As public prosecutor he is assisted by the solicitor-general and +by four junior counsel called advocates-depute. The lord-advocate and the +solicitor-general, in addition to their official duties, accept of ordinary +bar practice. + +ADVOCATES' LIBRARY, the chief library in Scotland, located in Edinburgh, +and founded about 1682 by the Faculty of Advocates. It was increased by +donations and by sums granted by the Faculty from time to time. As the +donations were not confined to advocates the library was considered a kind +of public library, and it has continued to retain this character. In 1709 +it obtained, along with eight other libraries, the right to demand a copy +of every new book published in Britain, which right it still possesses. The +number of volumes is over 600,000 and MSS. over 3200. + +ADVOCA'TUS DIAB'OLI (Devil's advocate), in the Roman Catholic Church, a +functionary who, when a deceased person is proposed for canonization, +brings forward and insists upon all the weak points of the character and +life of the deceased, endeavouring to show that he is not worthy of +sainthood. The first formal mention of such an officer occurs under Pope +Leo X (1513-21). The opposite side is taken by the _Advocatus Dei_ (God's +advocate). + +ADVOW'SON, in English law, a right of presentation to a vacant benefice, +or, in other words, a right of nominating a person to officiate in a vacant +church. Those who have this right are styled _patrons_. Advowsons are of +three kinds--_presentative_, _collative_, and _donative_: _presentative_, +when the patron presents his clerk to the bishop of the diocese to be +instituted; _collative_, when the bishop is the patron, and institutes or +_collates_ his clerk by a single act; _donative_, when a church is founded +by the king, or any person licensed by him, without being subject to the +ordinary, so that the patron confers the benefice on his clerk without +presentation, institution, or induction. An advowson cannot be held by +either a Roman Catholic or an alien. + +AD'YTUM, a secret place of retirement in the ancient temples, esteemed the +most sacred spot; the innermost sanctuary or shrine. From this place the +oracles were given, and none but the priests were permitted to enter it. +The Holy of Holies or Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple at Jerusalem was of a +similar character. + +ADZE, a cutting instrument used for chipping the surface of timber, +somewhat of a mattock shape, and having a blade of steel forming a portion +of a cylindrical surface, with a cutting edge at right angles to the length +of the handle. + +AEDILES ([=e]'d[=i]lz), Roman magistrates who had the supervision of the +national games and spectacles; of the public edifices, such as temples (the +name comes from _aedes_, a temple); of private buildings, of the markets, +cleansing and draining the city, &c. + +AE'DUI, one of the most powerful nations of Gaul, between the Liger (Loire) +and the Arar (Saone). On the arrival of Julius Caesar in Gaul (58 B.C.) +they were subject to Ariovistus, but their independence was restored by +Caesar. Their chief town was Bibracte (Mont Beuvray, near Autun). + +AEGADE'AN ISLANDS, a group of small islands lying off the western extremity +of Sicily, and consisting of Maritimo, Favignana, Levanso, and Le Formiche. + +[Illustration: Grecian Ibex (_Capra aegagrus_)] + +AEGAG'RUS, a wild species of ibex (_Capra aegagrus_), found in herds on the +Caucasus, and many Asiatic mountains, believed to be the original source of +at least one variety of the domestic goat. + +AEGEAN CIVILIZATION, a term applied to the pre-Hellenic civilization of +south-eastern Europe, including Crete, Greece and the Cyclades, and the +Danubian or Mid-European area. See _Crete_ and _Danubian Civilization_. + +AEGEAN SEA ([=e]-j[=e]'an), that part of the Mediterranean which washes the +eastern shores of Greece, and the western coast of Asia Minor. See +_Archipelago_. + +AE'GILOPS, a genus of grasses, very closely allied to wheat, and somewhat +remarkable from the alleged fact that by cultivation one of the species +becomes a kind of wheat. + +AEGINA ([=e]-j[=i]'na), a Greek island in the Gulf of Aegina, south of +Athens, triangular in form; area about 32 sq. miles; pop. 8500. It forms +part of the nomarchy of Attica and Boeotia. Except in the west, where the +surface is more level, the island is mountainous and unproductive. The +inhabitants are chiefly engaged in trade, seafaring, and agriculture, the +chief crops being almonds, olives, and grain. The greater number of them +reside in the seaport town of Aegina. Aegina was anciently colonized by +Dorians from the opposite coast of Peloponnesus. In the latter half of the +sixth century B.C. it had a flourishing commerce, a large navy, and was the +seat of a distinct school of art. At the battle of Salamis (480 B.C.) the +Aeginetans behaved with great valour. In 456 the island fell under the +power of the Athenians, and in 431 the Aeginetans were expelled to make +room for Athenian settlers, but were afterwards restored. On a hill are the +remains of a splendid temple of Athena (Minerva), many of the columns of +which are still standing. Here was found in 1811 a considerable amount of +sculpture from the pediments (the _Aeginetan marbles_), which is now at the +Glyptothek at Munich, and is prized as throwing light on the early history +of Greek art. Though in these figures there is a wonderfully exact +imitation of nature, yet there is a certain stiffness about them and an +unnatural sameness of expression in all. They should probably be assigned +to the period 500-480 B.C. + +AEGIS ([=e]'jis), the shield of Zeus, according to Homer, but according to +later writers and artists a metal cuirass or breastplate, in which was set +the head of the Gorgon Medusa, and with which Athena (Minerva) is often +represented as being protected. In a figurative sense the word is used to +denote some shielding or protecting power. + +AEGLE ([=e]'gl[=e]), a genus of plants. See _Bel._ + +AEGOSPOT'AMI ('goat-rivers'), a place on the Hellespont, of some note in +Greek history, the Athenian fleet being here completely defeated in 405 +B.C. by the Spartan Lysander, thus ending the Peloponnesian war. + +AELFRIC (al'frik), Abbot, called _Grammaticus_ (the grammarian), was a +celebrated English author of the eleventh century. He became a monk of +Abingdon, was afterwards connected with Winchester, and died Abbot of +Eynsham. His principal works are two books of homilies, a _Treatise on the +Old and New Testaments_, a translation and abridgment of the first seven +books of the Bible, a _Latin Grammar and Glossary_, &c. He has been +frequently confounded both with Aelfric, Archbishop of Canterbury, and +Aelfric, Archbishop of York, surnamed Putta, who lived about the same time. +There was also an Aelfric of Malmesbury. + +AELIA'NUS, Claudius, often called simply AELIAN, a Roman author who lived +about A.D. 221, and wrote in Greek a collection of stories and anecdotes +and a natural history of animals. + +AELIA'NUS TACTICUS, so called to distinguish him from Claudius Aelianus, +lived at Rome, and wrote a work _On the Military Tactics of the Greeks_, +which he dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian, who was emperor from A.D. 117 to +138. This book was closely studied by soldiers of the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries. + +AELST ([:a]lst), Belgian town, same as ALOST. + +AENE'AS, the hero of Virgil's _Aen[=e]id_, a Trojan, who, according to +Homer, was, next to Hector, the bravest of the warriors of Troy. When that +town was taken and set on fire, Aeneas, according to the narrative of +Virgil, with his father, son, and wife Creusa, fled, but the latter was +lost in the confusion of the flight. Having collected a fleet he sailed for +Italy, but after numerous adventures he was driven by a tempest to the +coast of Africa, where Queen Dido of Carthage received him kindly, and +would have married him. Jupiter, however, sent Mercury to Aeneas, and +commanded him to sail to Italy. Whilst the deserted Dido ended her life on +the funeral pile, Aeneas set sail with his companions, and after further +adventures by land and sea reached the country of King Latinus, in Italy. +The king's daughter Lavinia was destined by an oracle to wed a stranger, +this stranger being Aeneas, but was promised by her mother to Turnus, King +of the R[)u]t[)u]li. This occasioned a war, which was ended by Aeneas +slaying Turnus and marrying Lavinia. His son by Lavinia, Aeneas Sylvius, +was the ancestor of the kings of Alba Longa, and of Romulus and Remus, the +founders of the city of Rome. + +AEOLIAN HARP, or AEOLUS' HARP, a musical instrument, generally consisting +of a box of thin fibrous wood (often of deal), to which are attached from +eight to fifteen fine catgut strings or wires, stretched on low bridges at +either end, and tuned in unison. Its length is made to correspond with the +size of the window or other aperture in which it is intended to be placed. +When the wind blows athwart the strings it produces very beautiful sounds, +sweetly mingling all the harmonic tones, and swelling or diminishing +according to the strength or weakness of the blast. + +AEOLIANS (Gr. _Aioleis_), one of the four races into which the ancient +Greeks were divided, originally inhabiting the district of AE[)o]lis, in +Thessaly, from which they spread over other parts of Greece. In early times +they were the most numerous and powerful of the Hellenic races, chiefly +inhabiting Northern Greece and the western side of Peloponnesus, though +latterly a portion of them went to Lesbos and Tenedos and the north-west +shores of Asia Minor, where they possessed a number of cities. Their +language, the Aeolian dialect, was one of the three principal dialects of +the Greek. It was cultivated for literary purposes chiefly at Lesbos, and +was the dialect in which Alcaeus and Sappho wrote. + +AEOL'IPILE (Lat. _AE[)o]li pila_, the ball of AE[)o]lus), a spherical +vessel of metal, with a pipe of small aperture, through which the vapour of +heated water in the ball passes out with considerable noise; or having two +nozzles so placed that the steam rushing out causes it to revolve on the +principle of the Barker's mill. It was known to the ancient Greeks. + +AE'OLUS, in Greek mythology, the god of the winds, which he kept confined +in a cave in the Aeolian Islands, releasing them when he wished or was +commanded by the superior gods. + +AE'ON, a Greek word signifying life, an age, and sometimes eternity, but +used by the Gnostics to express spirits or powers that had emanated from +the Supreme Mind before the beginning of time. They held both Christ and +the Holy Spirit to be aeons; but as they denied the divine origin of the +books of Moses, they said that the spirit which had inspired him and the +prophets was not that exalted aeon whom God sent forth after the ascension +of Christ, but an aeon very much inferior, and removed at a great distance +from the Supreme Being. + +AEPYOR'NIS, a genus of gigantic birds whose remains have been found in +Madagascar, where they are supposed to have lived perhaps not longer than +200 years ago. It had three toes, and is classed with the cursorial birds +(ostrich, &c.). Its eggs measured 14 inches in length, being about six +times the bulk of those of the ostrich. The bird which laid them may well +have been the roc of Eastern tradition. + +AE'QUI, an ancient people of Italy, conspicuous in the early wars of Rome, +and inhabiting the mountain district between the upper valley of the Anio +(Teverone) and Lake Fuc[)i]nus. They were probably akin to the Volscians, +with whom they were in constant alliance. They were defeated by Cincinnatus +in 458 B.C., and again by the dictator Postumius Tubertus in 428 B.C., and +were finally subdued about 304-302 B.C. Soon after they were admitted to +Roman citizenship. + +A'ERATED BREAD, bread which receives its sponginess or porosity from +carbonic acid supplied artificially, and not produced by the fermentation +caused by leaven or yeast. + +A'ERATED WATERS, waters impregnated with carbonic acid gas, and forming +effervescing beverages. Some mineral waters are naturally aerated, as +Vichy, Apollinaris, Rosbach, &c.; others, especially such as are used for +medicinal purposes, are frequently aerated to render them more palatable +and exhilarating. Water simply aerated, as soda-water, or aerated and +flavoured with lemon or fruit syrups, is largely used, especially in +summer, as a refreshing beverage. There are numerous varieties of apparatus +for manufacturing aerated waters. The essential parts of an aerated-water +machine are a generator in which the gas is produced, a vessel containing +the water to be impregnated, and an apparatus for forcing the gas into the +water. This last may be effected by force-pumps or by the high pressure of +the impregnating gas itself. The quantity of gas with which the water is +charged is usually equal to a pressure of 5 atmospheres. See also _Mineral +Waters_.--Cf. W. Kirkby, _Evolution of Artificial Mineral Waters_. + +AERIAL ROPEWAYS or CABLEWAYS, a means of transport or carriage in which a +great rope or cable, elevated above the ground on fixed supports, is made +use of in conveying from place to place materials or articles of various +kinds. Such a cable may be said to serve the purpose of a rail, from which +are suspended the carriages, buckets, or carriers of whatever sort are +employed to convey the materials dealt with, the cable being actuated by +means of a steam-engine and winding-gear of suitable construction. Such +cables are now much used in carrying materials over a comparatively short +space, as in quarries, excavations for canals, docks, &c.; in the +construction of bridges, in shipbuilding, &c. Besides being employed in +such works--not to mention the coaling of a battleship at sea from a coal +transport standing by--elevated ropeways miles in length have also been +constructed between places where no roads exist, or where road carriage is +much more expensive. The greatest aerial line yet in existence is in the +Argentine Republic, being built to connect a mining locality in the Andes, +about 15,000 feet above sea-level, with a station on the Northern Railway +11,500 feet lower down and about 22 miles off, the line running across deep +chasms and hollows, and being in places supported on iron towers 130 feet +high. The wire rope is said to have a length of 87 miles. + +AE'RIANS, the followers of Aerius of Pontus, who in the fourth century +originated a small heretical sect, objecting to the established feast-days, +fasts or abstinences, the distinction between bishops and presbyters, +prayers for the dead, &c. + +AERODYNAM'ICS, a branch of physical science which treats of the properties +and motions of elastic fluids (air, gases), and of the appliances by which +these are exemplified. This subject is often explained in connection with +hydrodynamics. See also _Meteorology_. + +AEROE, or ARROE ([:a]r'eu-e), an island of Denmark, in the Little Belt, 15 +miles long by 5 broad, with 12,000 inhabitants. Though hilly, it is very +fertile. + +A'EROLITE, a meteoric stone, meteorite, or shooting-star. See _Meteoric +Stones_. + +[Illustration: "Montgolfiere", or Hot-air Balloon, above Furnace] + +AERONAU'TICS, the art or science of navigating the air, including Aviation +(see _Aeroplane_ and _Sea-planes_) and Aerostation (see _Balloons_ and +_Air-ships_). From the days of the mythical exploit of Daedalus and Icarus, +students of 'experimental philosophy', or scientists, of all ages, turned +their thoughts and inventive genius to the evolution of a machine by means +of which man could fly. Most of the early schemes of which any details have +survived were based upon the observation of birds and embodied the flapping +of wings affixed to the arms or legs. Among the very early experimenters +may be mentioned the monk Oliver of Malmesbury (A.D. 1050), de Perouse +(1420), who is said to have succeeded in flying over Lake Trasimene, and +the great Leonardo da Vinci. All these produced designs for what are known +as Ornithopters, or flapping-wing machines. There was, however, another +school which believed in the future of machines which would be themselves +lighter than air. The idea in the minds of the experimenters of this school +was in the early days the replacing of the air in brass globes by a vacuum. +If the brass were thin enough it was believed that the globe would then be +sufficiently light to rise. It was, however, not realized that under such +circumstances the globe would inevitably collapse under the pressure of the +atmosphere with no corresponding internal pressure to withstand it. Among +this 'lighter-than-air' school of experimenters were the famous Roger Bacon +(twelfth century), Robert Hooke of the Royal Society (1644), and Francesco +de Lana, a Jesuit priest (1660). It was this school which ultimately +achieved success by providing the first machine of any sort to leave the +ground and rise into the air. On 5th June, 1783, the first balloon ascended +from the village of Annonay in France. It owed its inception to the genius +of two brothers, paper-makers by trade, named Etienne and Joseph +Montgolfier. Struck by the sight of smoke ascending from a chimney, after +many failures with flapping-wing models, they conceived the idea of filling +a receptacle with smoke and seeing if it would rise. They built a balloon +or 'globe' of paper and canvas, and lit a fire of wood and straw below the +aperture in it. The balloon gradually filled and rose into the air to a +height reported to be 6000 feet, though this is probably an exaggeration. +It remained in the air for ten minutes and landed 1-1/2 miles away. This +was the forerunner of the 'Montgolfieres', or hot-air balloons, which are a +feature of fetes and Guy Fawkes' Day celebrations. It was followed by the +sending up of a 'Montgolfiere' from Versailles on 18th Sept. of the same +year, carrying a basket containing a sheep, a cock, and a duck. The first +human beings to make an ascent were Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis +d'Arlande, who went away from Paris on 21st Nov., 1783. They passed right +over Paris, and were in the air for twenty-five minutes, during which time +they replenished the fire suspended in a brazier below the neck of the +balloon. + +The real genesis of the balloon, or air-ship as we know it to-day, was due +to the discovery of hydrogen as the lightest gas, which discovery was made +in 1766 by an English chemist, Henry Cavendish. Various people claim the +credit of having been the first to call attention to the possibilities of +this gas for aerial navigation. In 1781 Dr. Joseph Black of Edinburgh +suggested to his pupils that a thin bladder filled with 'the inflammable +gas' (hydrogen) would rise into the air, but it appears doubtful whether he +ever actually made the experiment. Tiberius Cavallo the same year, before +the Royal Society, demonstrated that soap-bubbles filled with hydrogen +would rise and float in the air. The honour of building the first hydrogen +balloon belongs, however, to three Frenchmen--the brothers Robert, and +Charles, a physicist. They sent up a hydrogen-filled balloon of varnished +silk from the Champ de Mars, Paris, on 7th Aug., 1783. One of the Roberts +and Charles themselves made the second human ascent in their balloon--the +first in a hydrogen balloon as opposed to a Montgolfiere (as above)--on 1st +Dec. the same year. In 1784 the same Frenchmen constructed the first +'air-ship' or navigable balloon to the order of the Duc de Chartres +(Philippe Egalite). The gas container of this was elongated in form, and it +could be propelled to some small extent by means of oars, and steered by a +rudder. In the same year a French military officer, named Meusnier, +produced a completely detailed design for an air-ship. This embodied the +first suggestion of screw-propellers, to be worked by man-power, and also +provided for a 'ballonet' into which air could be driven to replace +hydrogen lost owing to expansion during the ascent. Meusnier's design was +the genesis of the modern non-rigid air-ship, all the essential features +remaining. This air-ship was, however, never built. + +[Illustration: Giffard's Steam-driven Air-ship] + +The first ascent in the British Isles was made in a Montgolfiere by James +Tytler at Edinburgh, on 27th Aug., 1784, though he travelled only a few +hundred yards. He was followed by Vincent Lunardi, an Italian, who ascended +from the artillery ground in London three weeks later (Sept., 1784), +landing near Ware in Hertfordshire. The first Channel crossing by air was +made in a hydrogen balloon from Dover to Calais on 7th Jan., 1785, by +Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries. + +Subsequent developments in air-ships are due to the pioneer work of Giffard +(1852) (the first steam-driven air-ship), Dupuy de Lome (1872), the +brothers Tissandier (electric propulsion) (1883), Renard and Krebbs (1884), +Woelfert (1897), Santos Dumont (1898-1905), Zeppelin (1900), Lebaudy +(1903), Barton (English) (1905), Willows (English) (1910). + +In the meantime experimental work was being carried on by the exponents of +the heavier-than-air school, who soon abandoned the flapping-wing principle +and eventually evolved the modern aeroplane. The modern aeroplane was +evolved from the brain of an Englishman, Sir George Cayley, who in 1809 +contributed an article to _Nicholson's Journal_ in which he outlined the +outstretched wings, vertical and horizontal steering surfaces, +screw-propeller, 'explosion' motor, and 'stream-line' form of the modern +aeroplane. In 1842 Henson and Stringfellow, both Englishmen, constructed a +steam-driven model on this principle, which is now in the South Kensington +Museum. Wenham in 1866 contributed a valuable paper to the Royal +Aeronautical Society on the subject. In 1896 Lillienthal in Germany carried +out a number of glides with rigid wings, provided with a movable tail, +fixed to his body. He was followed by Chanute, who in America emphasized +the biplane principle in his glider. In 1896 Ader, a Frenchman, built an +'avion' which is claimed to have risen from the ground at Satory, but this +is doubtful. In 1895 a huge steam-propelled aeroplane built by Sir Hiram +Maxim burst the rails holding it down and lifted for a few feet. + +[Illustration: A Handley Page Biplane, showing the principal parts] + +[Illustration: Wright's Biplane Glider] + +The real credit for the evolution of a man-carrying aeroplane is, however, +due to the American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio. +Encouraged by the advice of Chanute, they commenced experimenting with +biplane gliders on the sand-hills at Kittyhawk. Meeting with considerable +success, they fitted a petrol motor of their own design in 1903 and made +several straight flights during the same year. In 1904 they succeeded in +making the first turn in the air. These experiments were carried out in +great secrecy, and it was not until 1908 that their first public flights +were made in France, the first taking place in October of that year. The +first aviator to fly in Europe was Santos Dumont, who, on 12th Nov., 1906, +covered 220 metres, having previously in the same year flown for shorter +distances. At this time and during the two or three ensuing years many +experiments were carried out, and flights made, by Farman, Voisin, +Esnault-Pelterie, and Bleriot in France; Wright and Curtiss in America; and +Roe, Ogilvie, and Moore-Brabazon in England. A prize of L2000 offered by +MM. Deutsch de la Meurthe and Ernest Archdeacon for the first circular +flight over a distance of 1 kilometre, returning to the point of starting, +was won in Jan., 1908, by Henry Farman. + +The second crossing of the Channel, and the first by a 'heavier-than-air' +machine, was effected by Louis Bleriot in a machine of his own construction +with an Anzani engine from Calais to Dover on 25th July, 1909. From that +date the science of aviation (flight by heavier-than-air machines) may be +said to have begun, and progress was merely a record of improvements. By +the end of 1919 the Atlantic had been crossed four times; once by +sea-plane, once by a non-stop aeroplane flight, and twice (outward and +return) by non-stop air-ship flights. Aeroplanes had achieved a speed of +190 miles an hour, had attained to a height of over 34,000 feet, and had +covered upwards of 1900 miles in one non-stop flight.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: De St. +Fond, _Description de la Machine Aerostatique_; Cavallo, _History and +Practice of Aerostation_; Lunardi, _The First Aerial Voyage in England_; +Moedebeck, _Pocket Book of Aeronautics_; Santos Dumont, _My Air-ships_; +_The Aeronautical Classics_ (Aeronautical Society); G. Tissandier, +_Histoire des Ballons_; A. Berget, _The Conquest of the Air_. + +[Illustration: Early Types of Aeroplanes +(a) Wright Biplane (1908). (b) Bleriot Monoplane (1909). +(c) Santos Dumont Biplane (1906).] + +AEROPLANE, a flying-machine deriving its power of sustentation from the +reaction of the air driven downwards by the rapid transit of fixed wings or +'planes' through the air. The term 'plane' for the wing of an aeroplane is +strictly a misnomer, as the word implies a flat plate, whereas a wing is +'cambered' or curved in section from front to back. This is due to the +discovery of Lillienthal (see _Aeronautics_) that a cambered 'aerofoil' +when set at an angle to a wind current gives more 'lift' than a flat plane. +The wing of an aeroplane is normally set at an angle horizontally (or +rather at an angle to the relative wind) varying from 0deg to 4deg. This +angle is known as the 'angle of incidence'. As the wing is driven through +the air under the influence of the propeller, the air meets the 'leading' +or 'entering' edge and is divided into two streams along the top and bottom +surfaces. It does not, however, follow the surface closely, but in the case +of the lower stratum is deflected downwards at an angle to the surface, +which results in an upward reaction. The upper of the two streams of air is +correspondingly deflected upwards at an angle to the surface for a short +distance. This causes an 'area of discontinuity of flow', or eddy, which +results in 'negative pressure', causing an upward suction. This fact was +first discovered by Sir Hiram Maxim, though it was G. Eiffel who measured +the effects of the positive pressure on the lower surface and the negative +pressure on the upper surface, and found, contrary to all expectation, that +the latter is responsible for three-quarters of the total lifting effect of +the wing. In addition to the lift, the wings offer resistance to progress +through the air, which effect is known as 'drag'. The ratio of lift to drag +is a measure of the efficiency of a wing-section. A well-designed wing will +have a L/D ratio at an angle of incidence of 4deg of about 16, i.e. the +lift effect in pounds will be 16 times that of the drag. The fundamental +equation of an aeroplane is R = KSV^2, where R = the resistance, K = a +constant (usually 0.003), S = area of surface, and V = the velocity in feet +per second. From this it will be seen that the resistance for the same area +increases as the square of the speed, which shows the importance of +reducing the resistance to the lowest possible degree if high speeds are to +be obtained. For this purpose it is necessary that the flow of air round +the component parts of the aeroplane caused by its passage should be as +little disturbed and broken up into eddies as possible. It is found that +the best theoretical shape for this purpose is a body of circular +cross-section tapering from front to rear, with the maximum cross-section +toward the _front_. The 'fineness ratio' (ratio of length to maximum +diameter) should be about 6 to 1, and the maximum cross-section situated +about one-third of the distance from the nose. Such a form will offer only +about 1/20 the resistance of a flat plate of similar cross-section, and is +known as a 'stream-line form'. The width of a wing from side to side at +right angles to the wind is known as the 'span', and the breadth from front +to back as the 'chord'. The ratio of span to chord is the 'aspect ratio'. +Owing to the increase in drag resulting from low aspect ratio (large chord +relative to span) the higher the aspect ratio the more efficient the wing. +This is in practice about 6, owing to structural difficulties in +constructing a wing of larger relative span. The essential parts of an +aeroplane are the wings, fuselage (body), tail (comprising fixed vertical +and horizontal surfaces behind which are hinged movable rudders and +elevators), and chassis, or landing-carriage. The majority of modern +machines are biplanes, i.e. with one set of wings superposed on the other +and connected by upright wooden members called 'struts'. Aeroplanes with +one set of wings only are called 'monoplanes'; those with three, +'triplanes'; with four, 'quadruplanes'; and with more than four, +'multiplanes'. Aeroplanes are also divided into 'tractor' and 'pusher', +according to whether the propeller is situated in front or rear of the +wings. + +When the engine is started, the revolution of the propeller causes the +aeroplane to move along the ground until such a speed is reached (usually +about 35-50 miles per hour) that it is able to support its own weight in +the air when it leaves the ground. When in the air it is made to ascend or +descend by moving the elevators, which are operated by a vertical stick in +front of the pilot through control cables or levers. Steering to right or +left is effected by the rudder, which is operated by a foot-bar through +cables or levers. Lateral balance is obtained by means of 'ailerons' or +flaps on the outer extremities of the wings. If one wing tends to dip, the +aileron on that side is depressed. This increases the resistance of that +wing and so causes it to rise. By a combination of movements of the +elevators, rudder, and ailerons almost any evolution can be performed with +a modern aeroplane. A well-designed machine will, on cutting off the +engine-power, turn its nose slightly down and automatically assume its own +'gliding-angle' to the ground. The gliding-angle is the ratio of descent to +forward travel and is usually 1 in 12 to 1 in 14. + +Speeds of 190 miles per hour have been attained and a height of 34,600 feet +reached. The greatest distance covered in one flight is the crossing of the +Atlantic--slightly more than 1900 miles--while an aeroplane has remained in +the air for 24 hours. Aeroplanes range in size from small single-seater +'scouts' with a duration of only some three hours, to large +multiple-engined machines with a weight, fully loaded, of from 15 to 20 +tons. The essential feature of the aeroplane is, as already stated, that it +is heavier than air and therefore subject to the laws of gravity in the +event of engine failure. Its choice of a landing-ground is then dependent +upon its height at the moment and gliding-angle. + +Aeroplanes are normally constructed throughout of wood, though steel is +occasionally used. The wings are built of wooden 'spars', of which there +are usually two along the length of each wing, connected together by wooden +'ribs'. The wings of a biplane are braced by the struts (see above) and by +wires. 'Landing-wires' support the weight of the wing on the ground, while +'flying-wires' prevent them folding upwards under the influence of the lift +in flight. 'Drift-wires' are to prevent the wings folding backwards under +the pressure of the air in flight. See also _Aeronautics_, +_Sea-planes_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. Barber, _The Aeroplane Speaks_; H. Barber, +_Aerobatics_; Hamel and Turner, _Flying_; Borlase Mathews, _Aviation Pocket +Book_; Pippard and Pritchard, _Aeroplane Structures_; Judge, _Design of +Aeroplanes_; Judge, _Properties of Aerofoils_; Loening, _Military +Aeroplanes_. + +AEROSTATIC PRESS, a contrivance for extracting the colouring matter from +dye-woods and for similar purposes. A liquid intended to carry with it the +extract is brought into contact with the substance containing it, and a +vacuum being made by an air-pump suitably applied, the pressure of the +atmosphere forces the liquid through the intervening mass, carrying the +colour or other soluble matter with it. + +AEROSTAT'ICS, that branch of physics which treats of the weight, pressure, +and equilibrium of air and gases. See _Air_; _Air-pump_; _Barometer_; +_Gases, Properties of_; _Hydrostatics_; _Meteorology_; &c. + +AEROTHERAPEUTICS is the treatment of disease by atmospheres artificially +prepared and differing from the normal in compression or pressure or +temperature. It is divided into: + +1. _Medical atmospheres_ artificially produced by changing the proportions +of the normal gases of the atmosphere, or by adding gases to the +atmosphere. These are applied by inhalation in various ways: + +(a) By the inhalation of gases--_ether_; _chloroform_; _nitrous oxide_ (see +_Anaesthetics_). _Oxygen_ under pressure in a cylinder, with outlet applied +close to the patient's mouth and nose, is used in severe cases of +pneumonia, cardiac disease, or wherever breathing is difficult. _Amyl +nitrate_ is inhaled on the breaking of the glass capsules in which it is +contained close to the patient's mouth; this treatment is used in cardiac +disease and other conditions to recover blood pressure. _Chlorine_ and +_iodine_ are used in cases of throat and bronchial affections by inhaling +the vapour itself for a short time, or by inhaling air strongly impregnated +with the substance. + +(b) By inhalation of substances requiring heat for volatilization, e.g. +_mercury_ and _sulphur_. The patient, enveloped in a sheet, sits on a +chair, while the substance, placed in a vessel on the floor inside the +enveloping sheet near the patient, is heated by a spirit lamp or similar +method. _Mercury_ is used for chronic and syphilitic laryngitis and +pharyngitis; _sulphur_ for scabies and other skin diseases. + +(c) By inhalation of steam or warm-water vapour with a drug added. +Apparatus of various kinds is used, the simplest of which is a wide-mouthed +jug filled with boiling water to which the drug has been added. The patient +takes a deep breath, drawing the vapour into his mouth up a napkin arranged +in the form of a tube. More complicated forms of apparatus are steam-sprays +and nebulizers for laryngeal and bronchial troubles. + +(d) Cold medicated sprays and inhalations. Throat- and nose-sprays are much +used, also sprays for the administration of local anaesthetics (ethyl +chloride). Respirators are made of wire gauze with cotton wool or a sponge; +the substance is poured on and inhaled by the patient. + +For (c) and (d) the following drugs are used: carbolic acid, creosote, +terebine, thymol, eucalyptol, zinc sulphate, in phthisis and bronchial +affections; and eusol, izal, lysol, &c., for disinfection and fumigation. + +2. _Changes produced by variation in barometric pressure considered in +treatment of disease_: + +Normal barometric pressure at sea-level, 29-30 inches; at Davos (5200 +feet), 25 inches; at summit of Pike's Peak, Colorado (14,000 feet), 17 1/2 +inches; in balloon ascent (Glaisher and Coxwell) of 29,000 feet, 9 3/4 +inches. + +The effects of high pressure are seen in divers, caisson workers, miners. +The effects of low pressure are seen in balloonists, airmen. The effect of +sudden return to normal from high pressure is seen in cases of caisson +disease (q.v.). The effects of low pressure were first applied to the human +body in 1835 by V.T. Junot. He contrived a hollow copper ball, 4 yards in +diameter, capable of containing a man, and by pumping out air gradually, +produced the effects of low pressure. This principle was then applied by +him locally by cupping-glasses similar in shape to the upper part of a +wineglass. There are two types of cupping: + +(a) In _wet cupping_ an incision is made in the skin of the part to be +treated. The air inside the glass is exhausted by introducing a lighted +match, then the open end of the glass is immediately applied to the surface +of the skin. + +(b) In _dry cupping_ the treatment is similarly carried out, but no +incision is made. + +The low pressure (partial vacuum) draws blood to the part. Cupping is used +in congestion of internal organs, e.g. lungs, kidneys. + +The artificial application of air to lungs at varying pressure is carried +out by inspiring rarefied air or compressed air and expiring into rarefied +air or into compressed air. Only inspiring compressed air, or expiring into +rarefied air, can be practically applied. There are many kinds of apparatus +for this. The best is the compressed-air bath (seen at Brompton Hospital, +London), consisting of three parts--the engine, receiver, and air-chamber. + +The patient is placed in this air-chamber, where he remains for two hours, +during which time the pressure is usually raised from half again to double +normal. For the first half-hour the pressure is gradually raised, and is +maintained at the same abnormal height for one hour; for the last half-hour +it is reduced again gradually to normal. The patient first experiences an +unpleasant sensation in the throat. This is relieved by swallowing or by +drinking water; then pain in the ear-drums; the voice becomes shriller. +These are early signs of the effects of high pressure, and are seen to a +more marked degree in cases where a man has descended suddenly into a mine, +caisson, &c. Compressed air-baths are used in cases of asthma, bronchitis, +emphysema, anaemia. + +Respiratory gymnastics are of value for defective breathing due to badly +formed chests or injury and disease of the lungs. There are various forms +of artificial breathing exercises and many ways of using artificial aids, +e.g. breathing into bottles connected together by tubes and partly filled +with water. The water is forced from one bottle to another by the +respiratory effort of the patient. + +AERSCHOT, town in Belgium, province of Brabant, on the Demer, a tributary +of the Dyle. It was occupied by the Germans in Aug., 1914. Pop. 7800. + +AESCHINES (es'ki-n[=e]z), a celebrated Athenian orator, the rival and +opponent of Demosthenes, was born in 389 B.C. and died in 314. He headed +the Macedonian party in Greece, or those in favour of an alliance with +Philip, while Demosthenes took the opposite side. Having failed in 330 B.C. +in a prosecution against Ctesiphon for proposing to bestow a crown of gold +upon Demosthenes for his services to the State (whence the oration of +Demosthenes 'On the Crown') he left Athens, and subsequently established a +school of eloquence at Rhodes. Three of his orations are extant. Aeschines +should not be confounded with his namesake, the Athenian philosopher and +intimate friend of Socrates. + +AESCHYLUS (es'ki-lus), the first in time of the three great tragic poets of +Greece, born at Eleusis, in Attica, 525 B.C., died in Sicily 456. Before he +gained distinction as a dramatist he had fought at the battle of Marathon +(490), as he afterwards did at Artemisium, Salamis, and Plataea. He first +gained the prize for tragedy in 484 B.C. _The Persians_, the earliest of +his extant pieces, formed part of a trilogy which gained the prize in 472 +B.C. In 468 B.C. he was defeated by Sophocles, and then is said to have +gone to the Court of Hiero, King of Syracuse. Altogether he is reputed to +have composed ninety plays and gained thirteen triumphs. Only seven of his +tragedies are extant: _The Persians_, _Seven against Thebes_, _Suppliants_, +_Prometheus_, _Agamemnon_, _Choephori_, and _Eumenides_, the last three +forming a trilogy on the story of Orestes, represented in 458 B.C. +Aeschylus may be called the creator of Greek tragedy, both from the +splendour of his dramatic writings and from the scenic improvements and +accessories he introduced. Till his time only one actor had appeared on the +stage at a time, and by bringing on a second he was really the founder of +dramatic dialogue. His style was grand, daring, and full of energy, and his +choruses, though difficult, are among the noblest pieces of poetry in the +world. His plays have little or no plot, and his characters are drawn by a +few powerful strokes. There are English poetical translations of his plays +by Blackie, Plumptre, Swanwick, Campbell, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth +Barrett Browning.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bishop Copleston, _Aeschylus_, in English +Classics for Modern Readers Series (Blackwood & Son); Miss J. Case, +Translation of _Prometheus Vinctus_ (Dent). + +AESCULA'PIUS (Gr. _Askl[=e]pios_), the god of medicine among the Greeks and +afterwards adopted by the Romans, usually said to have been a son of Apollo +and the nymph Coronis. He was worshipped in particular at Epidaurus, in the +Peloponnesus, where a temple with a grove was dedicated to him. The sick +who visited his temple had to spend one or more nights in the sanctuary, +after which the remedies to be used were revealed in a dream. Those who +were cured offered a sacrifice to Aesculapius, commonly a cock. He is often +represented with a large beard, holding a knotty staff, round which is +entwined a serpent, the serpent being specially his symbol. The staff and +serpent have been adopted as a badge by the Royal Army Medical Corps. +Sometimes Aesculapius is represented under the image of a serpent +only.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. Dyer, _The Gods of Greece_; W. H. D. Rouse, _Greek +Votive Offerings_. + +AES'CULUS, the genus of plants to which belongs the horse-chestnut. + +AESIR, in Scandinavian mythology, the eleven chief gods, besides Odin. They +are: Thor, Balder, Ty or Tyr, Bragi, Heimdal, Hod, Vidar, Vali, Ull, +Forseti, and Loki or Lopt. See _Scandinavian Mythology_. + +AE'SOP, the Greek fabulist, is said to have been a contemporary of Croesus +and Solon, and thus probably lived about the middle of the sixth century +(620-550) B.C. But so little is known of his life that his existence has +been called in question. He is said to have been originally a slave, and to +have received his freedom from a Samian master, Iadmon. He then visited the +court of Croesus, and is also said to have visited Pisistratus at Athens. +Finally he was sent by Croesus to Delphi to distribute a sum of money to +each of the citizens. For some reason he refused to distribute the money, +whereupon the Delphians, enraged, threw him from a precipice and killed +him. No works of Aesop are extant, and it is doubtful whether he wrote any. +Bentley inclined to the supposition that his fables were delivered orally +and perpetuated by repetition. Such fables are spoken of both by +Aristophanes and Plato. Phaedrus turned into Latin verse the Aesopian +fables current in his day, with additions of his own. In modern times +several collections claiming to be Aesop's fables have been published. Cf. +J. Jacobs, _The Fables of Aesop_. + +AESTHET'ICS (Gr. _aisth[=e]tikos_, pertaining to perception), the +philosophy of the beautiful; the name given to the branch of philosophy or +of science which is concerned with that class of emotions, or with those +attributes, real or apparent, of objects generally comprehended under the +term _beauty_, and other related expressions. The term aesthetics first +received this application from Baumgarten (1714-62), a German philosopher, +who was the first modern writer to deal systematically with the subject, +though the beautiful had received attention at the hands of philosophers +from early times. Socrates, according to Xenophon, regarded the beautiful +as coincident with the good, and both as resolvable into the useful. Plato, +in accordance with his idealistic theory, held the existence of an absolute +beauty, which is the ground of beauty in all things. He also asserted the +intimate union of the good, the beautiful, and the true. Aristotle treated +of the subject in much more detail than Plato, but chiefly from the +scientific or critical point of view. In his treatises on _Poetics_ and +_Rhetoric_ he lays down a theory of art, and establishes principles of +beauty. His philosophical views were in many respects opposed to those of +Plato. He does not admit an absolute conception of the beautiful; but he +distinguishes beauty from the good, the useful, the fit, and the necessary. +He resolves beauty into certain elements, as order, symmetry, definiteness. +A distinction of beauty, according to him, is the absence of lust or desire +in the pleasure it excites. Beauty has no utilitarian or ethical object; +the aim of art is merely to give immediate pleasure; its essence is +imitation. Plotinus agrees with Plato, and disagrees with Aristotle, in +holding that beauty may subsist in single and simple objects, and +consequently in restoring the absolute conception of beauty. He differs +from Plato and Aristotle in raising art above nature. Baumgarten's +treatment of aesthetics is essentially Platonic. He made the division of +philosophy into logic, ethics, and aesthetics; the first dealing with +knowledge, the second with action (will and desire), the third with beauty. +He limits aesthetics to the conceptions derived from the senses, and makes +them consist in confused or obscured conceptions, in contradistinction to +logical knowledge, which consists in clear conceptions. Kant, in his +_Critique of the Power of Judgment_, defines beauty in reference to his +four categories, quantity, quality, relation, and modality. In accordance +with the subjective character of his system he denies an absolute +conception of beauty, but his detailed treatment of the subject is +inconsistent with the denial. Thus he attributes a beauty to single colours +and tones, not on any plea of complexity, but on the ground of purity. He +holds also that the highest meaning of beauty is to symbolize moral good, +and arbitrarily attaches moral characters to the seven primary colours. The +value of art is mediate, and the beauty of art is inferior to that of +nature. The treatment of beauty in the systems of Schelling and Hegel could +with difficulty be made comprehensible without a detailed reference to the +principles of these remarkable speculations. English writers on beauty are +numerous, but they rarely ascend to the heights of German speculation. +Shaftesbury adopted the notion that beauty is perceived by a special +internal sense; in which he was followed by Hutcheson, who held that beauty +existed only in the perceiving mind, and not in the object. Numerous +English writers, among whom the principal are Alison and Jeffrey, have +supported the theory that the source of beauty is to be found in +association--a theory analogous to that which places morality in sympathy. +The ability of its supporters gave this view a temporary popularity, but +its baselessness has been effectively exposed by successive critics. Dugald +Stewart attempted to show that there is no common quality in the beautiful +beyond that of producing a certain refined pleasure; and Bain agrees with +this criticism, but endeavours to restrict the beautiful within a group of +emotions chiefly excited by association or combination of simpler +elementary feelings. Herbert Spencer has a theory of beauty which is +subservient to the theory of evolution. He makes beauty consist in the play +of the higher powers of perception and emotion, defined as an activity not +directly subservient to any processes conducive to life, but being +gratifications sought for themselves alone. He classifies aesthetic +pleasures according to the complexity of the emotions excited, or the +number of powers duly exercised; and he attributes the depth and apparent +vagueness of musical emotions to associations with vocal tones built up +during vast ages. Among numerous writers who have made valuable +contributions to the scientific discussion of aesthetics may be mentioned +Winckelmann, Lessing, Richter, the Schlegels, Gervinus, Helmholtz, Ruskin, +Home, Hogarth, Burke, Taine, and others.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Herbert Spencer, +_Principles of Psychology_; Grant Allen, _Physiological Aesthetics_; A. +Bain, _Emotions and Will_; B. Bosanquet, _History of Aesthetics_; W. +Knight, _Philosophy of the Beautiful_. + +AESTIVA'TION, a botanical term applied to the arrangement of the parts of a +flower in the flower-bud previous to the opening of the bud.--The term is +also applied to the summer sleep of animals. See _Dormant State_. + +AETH'ELING. See _Atheling_. + +AE'THER. See _Ether_. + +AETHIO'PIA. See _Ethiopia_. + +AE'THRIOSCOPE (Gr. _aithrios_, clear, cloudless), an instrument (devised by +Sir John Leslie) for measuring radiation towards a clear sky, consisting of +a metallic cup with a highly-polished interior of paraboloid shape, in the +focus of which is placed one bulb of a differential thermometer, the other +being outside. The inside bulb at once begins to radiate heat when exposed +to a clear sky, and the extent to which this takes place is shown by the +scale of the thermometer. The aethrioscope also indicates the presence of +invisible aqueous vapour in the atmosphere, radiation being less than when +the air is dry. + +AETHU'SA, a genus of umbelliferous plants. See _Fool's Parsley_. + +AETIOLOGY (Gr. _aitia_, cause, and _logos_, discourse), the theory of the +physical causes of any class of phenomena, or the science of causation. It +is, however, mainly used in medicine, and deals with the causes and origin +of disease. + +AE'TIUS, a general of the western Roman Empire, born A.D. 396; murdered +454. As commander in the reign of Valentinian III he defended the empire +against the Huns, Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians, &c., completely defeating +the Huns under Attila in a great battle at Chalons in 451. For twenty years +he was at the head of public affairs, and in the end was murdered by +Valentinian, who was jealous of his power. + +AET'NA. See _Etna_. + +AETO'LIA, a western division of northern Greece, separated on the west by +the Achelous from Acarnania and washed by the Corinthian Gulf on the south. +The inhabitants are little heard of in Greek history till the Peloponnesian +war, at which time they were notorious among the Greeks for the rudeness of +their manners. Aetolia, in conjunction with Acarnania, now forms a nomarchy +of the kingdom of Greece. + +AFANASIEV, Alexander Nicolaievitsh, Russian folklorist, born in 1826. +Besides numerous articles and essays he wrote several monumental works: +_The Ancient Slav's Poetic View of Nature_ (3 vols., 1866-9), _Russian +Tales and Fables for Children_ (3 vols., 1870), &c. He died in 1871. + +AFFIDA'VIT, a written statement of facts upon oath or affirmation. +Affidavits are generally made use of when evidence is to be laid before a +judge or a court, while evidence brought before a jury is delivered orally. +The person making the affidavit signs his name at the bottom of it, and +swears that the statements contained in it are true. The affidavit may be +sworn to in open court, or before a magistrate or other duly qualified +person; it may be made abroad before a qualified British state official. + +AFFIN'ITY, in chemistry, the force by which unlike kinds of matter combine +so intimately that the properties of the constituents are lost, and a +compound with new properties is produced. Of the force itself we know +little or nothing. It is not the same under all conditions, being very much +modified by circumstances, especially temperature. The usual effect of +increase of temperature is to diminish affinity and ultimately to cause the +separation of a compound into its constituents; and there is probably for +every compound a temperature above which it could not exist, but would be +broken up. Where two elements combine to form a compound, heat is almost +always evolved, and the amount evolved serves as a measure of the affinity. +In order that chemical affinity may come into play it is necessary that the +substances should be in contact, and usually one of them at least is a +fluid or a gas. The results produced by chemical combination are endlessly +varied. Colour, taste, and smell are changed, destroyed, or created; +harmless constituents produce strong poisons, strong poisons produce +harmless compounds. + +AFFINITY, in law, is that degree of connection which subsists between one +of two married persons and the blood relations of the other. It is no real +kindred (consanguinity). A person cannot, by legal succession, receive an +inheritance from a relation by affinity; neither does it extend to the +nearest relations of husband and wife so as to create a mutual relation +between them. The degrees of affinity are computed in the same way as those +of consanguinity or blood. All legal impediments arising from affinity +cease upon the death of the husband or wife, excepting those which relate +to the marriage of the survivor. + +AFFIRMA'TION, a solemn declaration by Quakers, Moravians, Dunkers, and +others, who object to taking an oath, in confirmation of their testimony in +courts of law, or of their statements on other occasions on which the +sanction of an oath is required of other persons. In England the form for +Quakers is, 'I do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm'. +Affirmation is generally allowed to be substituted for an oath in all cases +where a person refuses to take an oath from conscientious motives, if the +judge is satisfied that the motives are conscientious. False affirmation is +subjected to the same penalties as perjury. + +AFFREIGHTMENT means the contract of carriage of goods by sea, by which the +shipowner undertakes to carry goods in his ship for hire or _freight_. +Unless otherwise stipulated, the merchant or freighter is only bound to pay +the freight upon delivery of the goods at the agreed destination. If the +voyage is abandoned, the merchant may claim his goods without any payment. +The merchant must load and discharge his cargo within the _lay-days_ or +stipulated time, if any; otherwise within a reasonable time. Failure +entails liability in damages--known as _demurrage_--for undue detention of +the ship. The merchant will also be liable in damages--known as +_dead-freight_--if he fails to furnish the full cargo promised. The +shipowner has a lien on the goods for their own freight and charges, but +not for a general balance. Nor has he any lien for dead-freight or +demurrage. All such liens may be validly stipulated for in the contract. +They are purely possessory as contrasted with the so-called maritime liens +for seamen's and shipmasters' wages, which are valid without possession. +There is no lien for _advance freight_, which in Scotland is repayable if +the cargo is lost at sea or delivery otherwise prevented, but not so in +England. In Scotland, accordingly, the burden of insuring advance freight +falls upon the shipowner, in England upon the merchant. + +The main obligations upon the shipowner are to provide a seaworthy vessel, +carry without undue delay, and deliver the goods in the same condition as +they were shipped. Unless otherwise agreed, he is liable for damage or loss +through negligence, and if he be a common carrier, as he frequently is, +even the absence of negligence may not save him. There is nothing in +British law, however, to prevent him from contracting out of all +responsibility for the safety of goods committed to his care, and he +generally does so, either by inserting what is known as an 'exception +clause' in the document evidencing the contract, viz. the Bill of Lading, +or by giving public notice that he only accepts goods upon that footing. In +this respect the position of shipowners is more favourable than that of +railway companies and other land carriers, whose freedom of contract is +curtailed by statute.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: T. G. Carver, _Carriage by Sea_; Sir +T. E. Scrutton, _Contract of Affreightment_. + +AFFRIQUE ([.a]f-r[=e]k), St., a town of southern France, department of +Aveyron. + +AFGHANISTAN ([.a]f-g[:a]n'i-st[:a]n), that is, the land of the Afghans, a +country in Asia, bounded on the east by the N. W. Frontier Province, &c., +on the south by Baluchistan, on the west by the Persian province of +Khorasan, and on the north by Bukhara and Russian Turkestan. The eastern +and southern boundaries were settled in 1893, whilst the boundary towards +Persia was demarcated between March, 1903, and May, 1905. The area may be +set down at about 250,000 sq. miles. The population is estimated at +6,000,000. Afghanistan consists chiefly of lofty, bare, uninhabited +tablelands, sandy barren plains, ranges of snow-covered mountains, offsets +of the Hindu Kush or the Himalaya, and deep ravines and valleys. Many of +the last are well watered and very fertile, but about four-fifths of the +whole surface is rocky, mountainous, and unproductive. The surface on the +north-east is covered with lofty ranges belonging to the Hindu Kush, whose +heights are often 18,000 and sometimes reach perhaps 25,000 feet. The whole +north-eastern portion of the country has a general elevation of over 6000 +feet; but towards the south-west, in which direction the principal mountain +chains of the interior run, the general elevation declines to not more than +1600 feet. In the interior the mountains sometimes reach the height of +15,000 feet. Great part of the frontier towards India consists of the +Suleiman range, 12,000 feet high. There are numerous practicable avenues of +communication between Afghanistan and India, among the most extensively +used being the famous Khyber Pass, by which the River Kabul enters the +Punjab; the Gomul Pass, also leading to the Punjab; and the Bolan Pass on +the south, through which the route passes to Sind. Of the rivers the +largest is the Helmund, which flows in a south-westerly direction more than +400 miles, till it enters the Hamoon or Seistan swamp. It receives the +Arghandab, a considerable stream. Next in importance are the Kabul in the +north-east, which drains to the Indus, and the Hari Rud in the north-west, +which, like other Afghan streams, loses itself in the sand. The climate is +extremely cold in the higher, and intensely hot in the lower regions, yet +on the whole it is salubrious. The most common trees are the pine, oak, +birch, and walnut. In the valleys fruits, in the greatest variety and +abundance, grow wild. The principal crops are wheat (forming the staple +food of the people), barley, rice, and maize. Other crops are tobacco, +sugar-cane, and cotton. The chief domestic animals are the dromedary, the +horse, ass, and mule, the ox, sheep with large fine fleeces and enormous +fat tails, and goats; of wild animals there are the tiger, bears, leopards, +wolves, jackal, hyena, foxes, &c. The chief towns are Kabul (the capital), +Kandahar, Ghuzni, and Herat. The inhabitants belong to different races, but +the Afghans proper form the great mass of the people. They are allied in +blood to the Persians, and are divided into a number of tribes, among which +the Duranis and Ghiljis are the most important. The Afghans, claiming +descent from King Saul, are called by their own ancient chroniclers +Beni-Israel. They are bold, hardy, and warlike, fond of freedom and +resolute in maintaining it, but of a restless, turbulent temper, and much +given to plunder. Tribal dissensions are constantly in existence, and +seldom or never do all the Afghans pay allegiance to the nominal ruler of +their country. Their language (Pushtu) is distinct from the Persian, though +it contains a great number of Persian words, and is written, like the +Persian, with the Arabic characters. In religion they are Mahommedans of +the Sunnite sect. + +After having been subjugated by Alexander the Great, the country of the +Afghans fell successively under the sway, actual or nominal, of Parthians, +Seleucidae, Persians, and Arabs. Djinghiz Khan conquered Afghanistan in the +twelfth century and Timur in the fourteenth. In 1504 Sultan Baber took +Cabul and founded the Mogul dynasty in India; Afghanistan thus formed part +of the great empire of Delhi. In 1738 the country was conquered by the +Persians under Nadir Shah. On his death in 1747 Ahmed Shah, one of his +generals, obtained the sovereignty of Afghanistan, and became the founder +of a dynasty which lasted about eighty years. At the end of that time Dost +Mohammed, the ruler of Cabul, had acquired a preponderating influence in +the country. On account of his dealings with the Russians the British +resolved to dethrone him and restore Shah Shuja, a former ruler. In April, +1839, a British army under Sir John Keane entered Afghanistan, occupied +Cabul, and placed Shah Shuja on the throne, a force of 8000 being left to +support the new sovereign. Sir W. Macnaghten remained as envoy at Cabul, +with Sir Alexander Burnes as assistant envoy. The Afghans soon organized a +widespread insurrection, which came to a head on 2nd Nov., 1841, when +Burnes and a number of British officers, besides women and children, were +murdered, Macnaghten being murdered not long after. The other British +leaders now made a treaty with the Afghans, at whose head was Akbar, son of +Dost Mohammed, agreeing to withdraw the forces from the country, while the +Afghans were to furnish them with provisions and escort them on their way. +On 6th Jan., 1842, the British left Cabul and began their most disastrous +retreat. The cold was intense, they had almost no food--for the treacherous +Afghans did not fulfil their promises--and day after day they were assailed +by bodies of the enemy. By the 13th 26,000 persons, including +camp-followers, women and children, were destroyed. Some were kept as +prisoners, but only one man, Dr. Brydon, reached Jelalabad, which, as well +as Kandahar, was still held by British troops. In a few months General +Pollock, with a fresh army from India, retook Cabul and soon finished the +war. Shah Shuja having been assassinated, Dost Mohammed again obtained the +throne of Cabul, and acquired extensive power in Afghanistan. He joined +with the Sikhs against the British, but afterwards made an offensive and +defensive alliance with the latter. He died in 1863, having nominated his +son Shere Ali his successor. Shere Ali entered into friendly relations with +the British, but in 1878, having repulsed a British envoy and refused to +receive a British mission (a Russian mission being meantime at his Court), +war was declared against him, and the British troops entered Afghanistan. +They met with comparatively little resistance; the Ameer fled to Turkestan, +where he soon after died; and his son Yakoob Khan having succeeded him +concluded a treaty with the British (at Gandamak, May, 1879), in which a +certain extension of the British frontier, the control by Britain of the +foreign policy of Afghanistan, and the residence of a British envoy in +Cabul, were the chief stipulations. Not long after this settlement, the +British resident at Cabul, Sir Louis P. Cavagnari, and the other members of +the mission were treacherously attacked and slain by the Afghans, and +troops had again to be sent into the country. Cabul was again occupied, and +Kandahar and Ghazni were also relieved; while Yakoob Khan was sent to +imprisonment in India. In 1880 Abdur-Rahman, a grandson of Dost Mohammed, +was recognized by Britain as ameer of the country. He was on friendly terms +with the British during his reign, which ended with his death in 1901, his +son Habibullah being his successor. He had adopted the title of +Sirajul-Millat wa ud-din, 'Lamp of the Nation and Religion'. In a treaty +signed on 21st March, 1905, the Ameer recognized the engagements which his +father had entered into with the British Government. Encroachments by the +Russians on territory claimed by Afghanistan almost brought about a rupture +between Britain and Russia in 1885, and led to the delimitation of the +frontier of Afghanistan on the side next Russia. On 31st Aug., 1907, an +Anglo-Russian Convention relating to Afghanistan was signed. The Russian +Government recognized Afghanistan as outside the Russian sphere of +influence, whilst Great Britain undertook neither to annex nor occupy any +portion of Afghanistan. In spite of German intrigues, the Ameer refused, in +1915, the inducements held out to him to abandon his British ally. He was +assassinated on 20th Feb., 1919, and was succeeded by his third son +Amanullah. The new Ameer sought to gain popularity with his subjects by +embarking on an unprovoked war of aggression upon India. Hostilities broke +out in May, 1919, and ended with a peace treaty signed at Rawalpindi on 8th +Aug., 1919. In 1922 the first Afghan minister was appointed to London +(instead of to Delhi).--BIBLIOGRAPHY: MacGregor, _Gazetteer of +Afghanistan_; Malleson, _History of Afghanistan_; Forbes, _The Afghan +Wars_; Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, _Forty-one Years in India_; J. G. Lyons, +_Afghanistan: the Buffer State_. + +AFIUM-KARA-HISSAR ('opium-black-castle'), a city of Asia Minor, 170 miles +E.S.E. of Constantinople, with manufactures of woollen goods, and a trade +in opium (_afium_), &c. Pop. about 20,000. + +AFRAG'OLA, a town of Italy, about 6 miles N.N.E. of Naples. Pop. 23,155. + +AFRA'NIUS, Lucius, a Roman comic dramatist who flourished about the +beginning of the first century B.C., and of whose writings only fragments +remain. + +[Illustration] + +AF'RICA, one of the three great divisions of the Old World, and the second +in extent of the five principal continents of the globe, forming a vast +peninsula joined to Asia by the Isthmus of Suez. It is of a compact form, +with few important projections or indentations, and having therefore a very +small extent of coast-line (about 16,000 miles, or much less than that of +Europe) in proportion to its area. This continent extends from 37deg 21' N. +lat. to 34deg 51' S. lat., and the extreme points, Cape Blanco and Cape +Agulhas, are nearly 5000 miles apart. From west to east, between Cape +Verde, lon. 17deg 34' W., and Cape Guardafui, lon. 51deg 16' E., the +distance is about 4600 miles. The area is estimated at 11,500,000 sq. +miles, or more than three times that of Europe. The islands belonging to +Africa are not numerous, and, except Madagascar, none of them are large. +They include Madeira, the Canaries, Cape Verde Islands, Fernando Po, +Principe, Sao Thome, Ascension, St. Helena, Mauritius, Reunion, the +Comoros, Socotra, &c. + +The interior of Africa is as yet imperfectly known, but we know enough of +the continent as a whole to be able to point to some general features that +characterize it. One of these is that almost all round it at no great +distance from the sea, and, roughly speaking, parallel with the coast-line, +we find ranges of mountains or elevated lands forming the outer edges of +interior plateaux. The most striking feature of Northern Africa is the +immense tract known as the Sahara or Great Desert, which is enclosed on the +north by the Atlas Mountains (greatest height, 12,000 to 15,000 feet), the +plateau of Barbary and that of Barqa, on the east by the mountains along +the west coast of the Red Sea, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on +the south by the Sudan. The Sahara is by no means the sea of sand it has +sometimes been represented: it contains elevated plateaux and even +mountains radiating in all directions, with habitable valleys between. A +considerable nomadic population is scattered over the habitable parts, and +in the more favoured regions there are settled communities. The Sudan, +which lies to the south of the Sahara, and separates it from the more +elevated plateau of Southern Africa, forms a belt of pastoral country +across Africa, and includes the countries on the Niger, around Lake Tchad +(or Chad), and eastwards to the elevated region of Abyssinia. Southern +Africa as a whole is much more fertile and well watered than Northern +Africa, though it also has a desert tract of considerable extent (the +Kalahari Desert). This division of the continent consists of a tableland, +or series of tablelands, of considerable elevation and great diversity of +surface, exhibiting hollows filled with great lakes, and terraces over +which the rivers break in falls and rapids, as they find their way to the +low-lying coast tracts. The mountains which enclose Southern Africa are +mostly much higher on the east than on the west, the most northerly of the +former being those of Abyssinia, with heights of 10,000 to 14,000 or 16,000 +feet, while the eastern edge of the Abyssinian plateau presents a steep +unbroken line of 7000 feet in height for many hundred miles. Farther south, +and between the great lakes and the Indian Ocean, we find Mounts Kenya and +Kilimanjaro (19,500 feet), the loftiest in Africa, covered with perpetual +snow. Of the continuation of this mountain boundary we shall only mention +the Drakenberg Mountains, which stretch to the southern extremity of the +continent, reaching, in Cathkin Peak, Natal, the height of over 10,000 +feet. Of the mountains that form the western border the highest are the +Cameroon Mountains, which rise to a height of 13,000 feet at the inner +angle of the Gulf of Guinea. The average elevation of the southern plateau +is from 3000 to 4000 feet. + +The Nile is the only great river of Africa which flows into the +Mediterranean. It receives its waters primarily from the great lake +Victoria Nyanza, which lies under the equator, and in its upper course is +fed by tributary streams of great size, but for the last 1200 miles of its +course it has not a single affluent. It drains an area of more than +1,000,000 sq. miles. The Indian Ocean receives numerous rivers; but the +only great river of South Africa which enters that ocean is the Zambezi, +the fourth in size of the continent, and having in its course the Victoria +Falls, one of the greatest waterfalls in the world. In Southern Africa +also, but flowing westward and entering the Atlantic, is the Congo, which +takes its origin from a series of lakes and marshes in the interior, is fed +by great tributaries, and is the first in volume of all the African rivers, +carrying to the ocean more water than the Mississippi. Unlike most of the +African rivers, the mouth of the Congo forms an estuary. Of the other +Atlantic rivers, the Senegal, the Gambia, and the Niger are the largest, +the last being third among African streams. + +With the exception of Lake Tchad there are no great lakes in the northern +division of Africa, whereas in the number and magnificence of its lakes the +southern division almost rivals North America. Here are the Victoria and +Albert Nyanza, Lakes Tanganyika, Nyasa, Shirwa, Bangweulu, Moero, and other +lakes. Of these the Victoria and Albert belong to the basin of the Nile; +Tanganyika, Bangweulu, and Moero to that of the Congo; Nyasa, by its +affluent the Shire, to the Zambezi. Lake Tchad on the borders of the +northern desert region is now known to be much smaller than was formerly +believed, but varies in area according to the season. Lake Ngami in the far +south is now a mere swamp. + +The climate of Africa is mainly influenced by the fact that it lies almost +entirely within the tropics. In the equatorial belt, both north and south, +rain is abundant and vegetation very luxuriant, dense tropical forests +prevailing for about 10deg on either side of the line. To the north and +south of the equatorial belt the rainfall diminishes, and the forest region +is succeeded by an open pastoral and agricultural country. This is followed +by the rainless regions of the Sahara on the north and the Kalahari Desert +on the south, extending beyond the tropics, and bordering on the +agricultural and pastoral countries of the north and south coasts, which +lie entirely in the temperate zone. The low coast regions of Africa are +almost everywhere unhealthy, the Atlantic coast within the tropics being +the most fatal region to Europeans. + +Among mineral productions may be mentioned gold, which is found in the +rivers of West Africa (hence the name Gold Coast), and in Southern Africa, +most abundantly in the Transvaal; diamonds have been found in large numbers +in recent years in the south; iron, copper, lead, tin, and coal are also +found.--Among plants are the baobab, the date-palm (important as a food +plant in the north), the doum-palm, the oil-palm, the wax-palm, the +shea-butter tree, trees yielding caoutchouc, the papyrus, the castor-oil +plant, indigo, the coffee-plant, heaths with beautiful flowers, aloes, &c. +Among cultivated plants are wheat, maize, millet, and other grains, cotton, +coffee, cassava, ground-nut, yam, banana, tobacco, various fruits, &c. As +regards both plants and animals, Northern Africa, adjoining the +Mediterranean, is distinguished from the rest of Africa in its great +agreement with Southern Europe.--Among the most characteristic African +animals are the lion, hyena, jackal, gorilla, chimpanzee, baboon, African +elephant (never domesticated, yielding much ivory to trade), hippopotamus, +rhinoceros, giraffe, zebra, quagga, antelopes in great variety and immense +numbers.--Among birds are the ostrich, the secretary-bird or serpent-eater, +the honey-guide cuckoo, sacred ibis, guinea fowl.--The reptiles include the +crocodile, chameleon, and serpents of various kinds, some of them very +venomous. Among insects are locusts, scorpions, the tsetse-fly whose bite +is so fatal to cattle, and white-ants. + +The great races of which the population of Africa mainly consists are the +Eastern Hamites (who are not a distinct race but a blend), the Semites, the +Negroes, and the Bantus. To the Semitic stock belong the Arabs, who form a +considerable portion of the population in Egypt and along the north coast, +while a portion of the inhabitants of Abyssinia is of the same race. The +Hamites are represented, according to Sergi, by the Copts of Egypt, the +Berbers, Kabyles, &c., of Northern Africa, and the Somali, Danakil, &c., of +East Africa. The Negro races occupy a vast territory in the Sudan and +Central Africa, while the Bantus occupy the greater part of Southern Africa +from a short distance north of the equator, and include the Kaffirs, +Bechuanas, Swahili, and allied races. In the extreme south-west are the +Hottentots and Bushmen (the latter a dwarfish race), distinct from the +other races as well as, probably, from each other. In Madagascar there is a +large Malay element. To these may be added the Fulahs on the Niger and the +Nubians on the Nile and elsewhere, who are of a brownish colour, and are +often regarded as distinct from the other races, though sometimes classed +with the Negroes. In religion a great proportion of the inhabitants are +heathens of the lowest type; Mohammedanism numbers a large number of +adherents in North Africa, and is rapidly spreading in the Sudan; +Christianity prevails only among the Copts, the Abyssinians, and the +natives of Madagascar, the last-named having been converted in recent +times. Elsewhere the missionaries seem to have made but little progress. +Over a great part of the continent civilization is at a low ebb, yet in +some parts the natives have shown considerable skill in agriculture and +various mechanical arts, as in weaving and metal working. Of African trade +two features are the caravans that traverse great distances, and the trade +in slaves that still widely prevails, though it has been greatly restricted +in recent years. Among articles exported from Africa are palm-oil, +diamonds, ivory, ostrich feathers, wool, cotton, gold, esparto, caoutchouc, +&c. The population is estimated at 180,000,000. Of these a small number are +of European origin--French in Algeria and Morocco, British and Dutch at the +southern extremity. + +Great areas in Africa have been apportioned among European Powers as +protectorates or spheres of influence. Among native States still more or +less independent are Egypt, Abyssinia, Waday, Bagirmi, Liberia. To Britain +belong the Cape Province, Natal, the Orange Free State and Transvaal, with +Rhodesia, &c., farther north, a region in Eastern Africa extending from the +sea to Lake Victoria and the headwaters of the Nile, Nigeria, Gold Coast, +and other tracts on the west, with Mauritius, &c.; to France belong Algeria +and Tunis, Senegambia, Zone of Morocco, territory north of the Lower Congo, +Madagascar, &c.; the Portuguese possess Angola on the west coast and +Mozambique on the east; Italy has a territory on the Red Sea, and part of +Somaliland; Spain has a part of the coast of the Sahara; the Congo State is +a colony of Belgium; Zanzibar is merged in Kenya Colony. Germany was +deprived of her possessions in Africa during the European War, and the +Peace Conference of 1919 appointed Great Britain, France, and Belgium to +act as mandatories of the League of Nations. + +The name Africa was given by the Romans at first only to a small district +in the immediate neighbourhood of Carthage. The Greeks called Africa Libya, +and the Romans often used the same name. The first African exploring +expedition on record was sent by Pharaoh Necho about the end of the seventh +century B.C. to circumnavigate the continent. The navigators, who were +Phoenicians, were absent three years, and according to report they +accomplished their object. Fifty or a hundred years later, Hanno, a +Carthaginian, made a voyage down the west coast and seems to have got as +far as the Bight of Benin. The east coast was probably known to the +ancients as far as Mozambique and the island of Madagascar. Of modern +nations the Portuguese were the first to take in hand the exploration of +Africa. In 1433 they doubled Cape Bojador, in 1441 reached Cape Blanco, in +1442 Cape Verde, in 1462 they discovered Sierra Leone. In 1484 the +Portuguese Diego Cam discovered the mouth of the Congo. In 1486 Bartholomew +Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached Algoa Bay. A few years later +a Portuguese traveller visited Abyssinia. In 1497 Vasco da Gama, who was +commissioned to find a route by sea to India, sailed round the southern +extremity as far as Zanzibar, discovering Natal on his way. The first +European settlements were those of the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique, +soon after 1500. In 1650 the Dutch made a settlement at the Cape. In 1770 +James Bruce reached the source of the Blue Nile in Abyssinia. For the +exploration of the interior of Africa, however, little was done before the +close of the eighteenth century. + +Modern African exploration may be said to begin with Mungo Park, who +reached the upper course of the Niger (1795-1805). Dr. Lacerda, a +Portuguese, about the same time reached the capital of the Cazembe, in the +centre of South Africa, where he died. During 1802-6 two Portuguese traders +crossed the continent from Angola, through the Cazembe's dominions, to the +Portuguese possessions on the Zambezi. During 1822-4 extensive explorations +were made in Northern and Western Africa by Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney, +who proceeded from Tripoli by Murzuq to Lake Tchad, and explored the +adjacent regions; Laing, in 1826, crossed the desert from Tripoli to +Timbuktu; Caillie, leaving Senegal, made in 1827-8 a journey to Timbuktu, +and thence through the desert to Morocco. In 1830 Lander traced a large +part of the course of the Niger downward to its mouth, discovering its +tributary the Benue. In the south Livingstone, who was stationed as a +missionary at Kolobeng, setting out from that place in 1849 discovered Lake +Ngami. In 1851 he went north again, and came upon numerous rivers flowing +north, affluents of the Zambezi. In 1848 and 1849 Krapf and Rebmann, +missionaries in East Africa, discovered the mountains Kilimanjaro and +Kenya. An expedition sent out by the British Government started from +Tripoli in 1850 to visit the Sahara and the regions around Lake Tchad, the +chiefs being Richardson, Overweg, and Barth. The last alone returned in +1855, having carried his explorations over 2,000,000 sq. miles of this part +of Africa, hitherto almost unknown. During 1853-6 Livingstone made an +important series of explorations. He first went north-westwards, tracing +part of the Upper Zambezi, and reached St. Paul de Loanda on the west coast +in 1854. On his return journey he followed pretty nearly the same route +till he reached the Zambezi, and proceeding down the river, and visiting +its falls, called by him the Victoria Falls, he arrived at Quelimane at its +mouth on 20th May, 1856, thus crossing the continent from sea to sea. In +1858 he resumed his exploration of the Zambezi regions, and in various +journeys visited Lakes Shirwa and Nyasa, sailed up the Shire to the latter +lake, and established the general features of the geography of this part of +Africa, returning to England in 1864. By this time the great lakes of +equatorial Africa were becoming known, Tanganyika and Victoria having been +discovered by Burton and Speke in 1858, and the latter having been visited +by Speke and Grant in 1862 and found to give rise to the Nile, while the +Albert Nyanza was discovered by Baker in 1864. In 1866 Livingstone entered +on his last great series of explorations, the main object of which was to +settle the position of the watersheds in the interior of the continent, and +which he carried on till his death in 1873. His most important explorations +on this occasion were west and south-west of Tanganyika, including the +discovery of Lakes Bangweulu and Moero, and part of the upper course of the +River Congo (here called Lualaba). For over two years he was lost to the +knowledge of Europe till met with by H. M. Stanley at Tanganyika in 1871. +Gerhard Rohlfs, in a succession of journeys from 1861 to 1874, traversed +the Sahara in different directions, and also crossed the continent entirely +from Tripoli to Lagos by way of Murzuq, Bornu, &c. During 1873-5 Lieutenant +Cameron, who had been sent in search of Livingstone, surveyed Lake +Tanganyika, explored the country to the west of it, and then travelling to +the south-west, finally reached Benguella on the Atlantic coast. During +1874-7 Stanley surveyed Lakes Victoria Nyanza and Tanganyika and explored +the intervening country; then going westward to where Livingstone had +struck the Congo he followed the river down to its mouth, thus finally +settling its course and completing a remarkable and valuable series of +explorations. In 1879 Serpa Pinto completed a journey across the continent +from Benguella to Natal, and in 1881-2 Wissman and Pogge crossed it again +from St. Paul de Loanda to Zanzibar. In recent years our knowledge of all +parts of Africa has been greatly increased, thanks to the efforts of +travellers, missionaries, and commercial agents. Steamers now ply on the +Congo, and on Lakes Tanganyika, Nyasa, and Victoria, and numerous railways +('Cape to Cairo', &c.) extend far into the continent.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mungo +Park, _Travels_; D. Livingstone, _Missionary Travels_; Sir H. M. Stanley, +_In Darkest Africa_; Sir H. H. Johnston, _Africa_. + +AFRIDIS ([.a]-fr[=e]'diz), a tribe or clan on the north-west frontier of +India, about the Khyber Pass, who have at various times given trouble to +the British, and are included in a new (1922) scheme of Khassadars +(irregulars). In 1897-8 a campaign ('the Tirah campaign') had to be +undertaken against them, costly both in men and money, before British +authority was asserted. In 1905 the Afridis of the force called the Khyber +Rifles formed an escort for the Prince and Princess of Wales on their visit +to the famous pass, which was long in their charge.--Cf. Holdich, _The +Indian Borderland_. + +AFRIKANDER BUND, an association dating from 1880 and founded for the +purpose of consolidating Afrikander influence in South Africa. For a time +it supported the policy of Cecil Rhodes, but after 1895 separated itself +from him. After the war in 1902 the Bund was reorganized, and identified +with the South African party whose policy is to further the federation of +the South African colonies under the British crown. + +A'GA, formerly title of Turkish officers of a lower military rank, now of +men of great wealth and influence except learned men and ecclesiastics, to +whom the corresponding title of _effendi_, meaning 'elder brother' and +subsequently 'master', is given. + +AG'ADES, a town of Africa, near the middle of the Sahara, capital of the +Saharan oasis of Air or Asben; at one time a seat of great traffic, +probably containing 60,000 inhabitants, now with a pop. of about 7000. + +AGADIR, a little town on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, the Santa Cruz May +of the Spaniards. It was seized by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, +and captured by Mulai Ahmed in 1536. It was once one of the most important +seaports of Morocco, but is now closed to commerce and only used as a +customs station, its place being taken by Mogador. In July, 1910, the +appearance of a French cruiser in the port of Agadir gave rise to a +Franco-German dispute, and in 1911 Germany sent the gunboat _Panther_, and +a few days later the _Berlin_, to Agadir for the protection of German +subjects. See _France_, _Germany_. + +AGALLOCHUM (a-gal'o-kum), a fragrant wood obtained from _Aloex[)y]lon +Agall[)o]chum_, a leguminous tree of Cochin-China, and _Aquil[=a]ria +Agall[)o]cha_, a large tree found in north-east Bengal, abounding in resin +and an essential oil which yields a perfume used as incense. + +AGAL'MATOLITE (Gr. _agalma_, image), a kind of stone, a clay-slate altered +by heat and by the addition of alkalies, which is carved into images, &c., +by the Chinese. + +AG'AMA, a name of several lizards allied to the iguana, natives of both +hemispheres. + +AGAMEM'NON, in Greek mythology, son of Atreus, King of Mycenae and Argos, +brother of Menelaus, and commander of the allied Greeks at the siege of +Troy. Returning home after the fall of Troy, he was treacherously +assassinated by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her paramour, Aegisthus, +Agamemnon's cousin. He was the father of Orestes, Iphigen[=i]a, and +Electra. + +AG'AMI. See _Trumpeter_. + +AGAMOGENESIS (-jen'e-sis; Gr. _a_, priv., _gamos_, marriage, _genesis_, +reproduction), the production of young without the congress of the sexes, +one of the phenomena of alternate generation. See _Generation_ and +_Parthenogenesis_. + +AGANIPPE (-nip'[=e]), daughter of the river-god Parmessos, or Termessos, +nymph of a fountain on Mount Helicon, in Greece, sacred to the Muses, which +had the property of inspiring with poetic fire whoever drank of it. The +name is often given to the wife of Acrisius and mother of Danae. + +AGAPE (ag'a-p[=e]; Gr. _agap[=e]_, love), in ecclesiastical history, the +love-feast or feast of charity, in use among the primitive Christians, when +a liberal contribution was made by the rich to feed the poor. For a time +the agape coincided with the _eucharist_, which, at its origin, was clearly +funerary in its intention. "For as often as ye eat this bread and drink +this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." During the first three +centuries love-feasts were held in the churches without scandal, but in +after-times they acquired a bad reputation, not undeservedly, and they were +condemned at the Council of Carthage in 397. Some modern sects, as the +Wesleyans, Sandemanians, Moravians, &c., have attempted to revive this +feast. + +AGAPEMONE (ag-a-pem'o-n[=e]; lit. 'the abode of love'), the name of a +singular conventual establishment which has existed at Spaxton, near +Bridgewater, Somersetshire, since 1859, the originator of it being a +certain Henry James Prince, at one time a clergyman of the Church of +England, who called himself the Witness of the First Resurrection. The life +spent by the inmates appears to be a sort of religious epicureanism. Some +of the proceedings of the inmates of the 'Abode of Love' have resulted in +applications to the courts of law, where parties formerly members of the +society have returned to the world and sought to regain their rights from +Prince and his followers, and such cases have caused some scandal. In 1902 +Prince was succeeded by T. H. Smyth-Pigott. + +A'GAR-A'GAR, a dried seaweed of the Asiatic Archipelago, the _Gracilaria +lichenoides_, much used in the East for soups and jellies, and also by +paper and silk manufacturers. + +[Illustration: _Agaricus campestris_, the Common Mushroom] + +AGAR'IC (_Agar[)i]cus_), a large and important genus of fungi, +characterized by having a fleshy cap or pileus, and a number of radiating +plates or gills on which are produced the naked spores. The majority of the +species are furnished with stems, but some are attached to the objects on +which they grow by their pileus. Over a thousand species are known, and are +arranged in five sections according to whether the colour of their spores +is white, pink, brown, purple, or black. The chief British representatives +are the common wild mushroom (_A. campestris_, L.), the Horse mushroom (_A. +arvensis_, Schaeff.), _A. elvensis_, B. and Br., _A. silvaticus_, Schaeff., +&c. Many of the species are edible, like the common mushroom, and supply a +delicious article of food, while others are deleterious and even poisonous. + +AGARIC MINERAL, or MOUNTAIN-MEAL, one of the purest of the native +carbonates of lime, found chiefly in the clefts of rocks and at the bottom +of some lakes in a loose or semi-indurated form resembling a fungus. The +name is also applied to a stone of loose consistence found in Tuscany, of +which bricks may be made so light as to float in water, and of which the +ancients are supposed to have made their floating bricks. It is a hydrated +silicate of magnesium, mixed with lime, alumina, and a small quantity of +iron. + +AGA'SIAS, a Greek sculptor of Ephesus, about 400 B.C., whose celebrated +statue, known as the Borghese Gladiator, representing a soldier contending +with a horseman, is now in the Louvre, Paris. + +AGASSIZ (ag'as-[=e]), Louis John Rudolph, an eminent naturalist, born 1807, +died 1873, son of a Swiss Protestant clergyman at Motiers, near the eastern +extremity of the Lake of Neufchatel. He completed his education at +Lausanne, and early developed a love of the natural sciences. He studied +medicine at Zuerich, Heidelberg, and Munich. His attention was first +specially directed to ichthyology by being called on to describe the +Brazilian fishes brought to Europe from Brazil by Martius and Spix. This +work was published in 1829, and was followed in 1830 by _Histoire Naturelle +des Poissons d'eaux douces de l'Europe Centrale_ (Fresh-water Fishes of +Central Europe). Directing his attention to fossil ichthyology, five +volumes of his _Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles_ appeared between 1834 +and 1844. His researches led him to propose a new classification of fishes, +which he divided into four classes, distinguished by the characters of the +skin, as ganoids, placoids, cycloids, and ctenoids. His system has not been +generally adopted, but the names of his classes have been taken as useful +terms. In 1836 he began the study of glaciers, and in 1840 he published his +_Etudes sur les Glaciers_, in 1847 his _Systeme Glaciaire_. From 1838 he +had been professor of natural history at Neufchatel, when in 1846 pressing +solicitations and attractive offers induced him to settle in America, where +he was connected as a teacher first with Harvard University, Cambridge, and +afterwards with Cornell University as well as Harvard. After his arrival in +America he engaged in various investigations and explorations, and +published numerous works, including: _Principles of Zoology_, in connection +with Dr. A. Gould (1848); _Contributions to the Natural History of the +United States_ (4 vols., 1857-62); _Zoologie Generale_ (1854); _Methods of +Study in Natural History_ (1863). In 1865-6 he made zoological excursions +and investigations in Brazil, which were productive of most valuable +results. Agassiz held views on many important points in science different +from those which prevailed among the scientific men of the day, and in +particular he strongly opposed the evolution theory. Cf. _Letters and +Recollections_, edited by G. R. Agassiz. + +AGASSIZ (ag'a-s[=e]), Mount, an extinct volcano in Arizona, United States, +10,000 feet in height; a place of summer resort, near the Great Canon of +the Colorado. + +AG'ATE, a semi-translucent compound mineral mass formed in the cavities of +rocks by the successive deposition of various types of silica, or by the +staining of a siliceous mass thus deposited along concentric zones. Bands +or layers of various colours blended together, the base generally being +chalcedony, and this mixed with variable proportions of jasper, amethyst, +quartz, opal, heliotrope, and carnelian. The varying manner in which these +materials are arranged causes the agate when polished to assume some +characteristic appearances, and thus certain varieties are distinguished, +as the ribbon agate, the fortification agate, the zone agate, the star +agate, the moss agate, the clouded agate, &c. In Scotland they are cut and +polished under the name of Scottish pebbles. + +AGATHAR'CHUS, a Greek painter, native of Samos, the first to paint a scene +for the acting of tragedies. The view, however, that he applied the rules +of perspective to theatrical scene-painting is doubtful. He flourished +about 480 B.C. + +AGATH'IAS, a Greek poet and historian, born at Myrina, Asia Minor, about +A.D. 530; author of an anthology, a collection of love poems, and a history +of his own times, which is our chief authority for the period 552-8, during +which time the Byzantine army was struggling against the Goths, Vandals, +and Franks. + +AGATHOCLES (a-gath'o-kl[=e]z), a Sicilian Greek, one of the boldest +adventurers of antiquity, born 361 B.C. By his ability and energy, and +being entirely unscrupulous, he raised himself from being a potter to being +tyrant of Syracuse and master of Sicily. Wars with the Carthaginians were +the chief events of his life. He died at the age of seventy-two. + +AG'ATHON, a Greek tragic poet, a friend of Euripides, and contemporary with +Socrates and Alcibiades, born about 445 B.C., died about 402 B.C. The +banquet which he gave to celebrate his first dramatic victory was made the +groundwork of Plato's _Symposium_. + +[Illustration: Agave (_Agave americana_)] + +AGAVE (a-g[=a]'v[=e]), a genus of plants, nat. ord. Amaryllidaceae (which +includes the daffodil and narcissus), popularly known as American aloes. +They are generally large, and have a massive tuft of fleshy leaves with a +spiny apex. They live for many years--ten to seventy according to +treatment--before flowering. When this takes place, the tall flowering stem +springs from the centre of the tuft of leaves, and grows very rapidly until +it reaches a height of 15, 20, or even 40 feet, bearing towards the end a +large number of flowers. The best-known species is _A. americ[=a]na_, known +as the Maguey or 'tree of wonders', introduced into Spain in 1561, and now +extensively grown in the warmer parts of this continent as well as in Asia +(India in particular). This and other species yield various important +products, the chief being the fibre obtained by maceration from the leaves +and roots, and known commercially as American aloe, pita flax, or vegetable +silk. The sap when fermented yields a beverage resembling cider, the +_pulque_ beer of the Spaniards, or is distilled into an intoxicating spirit +(Mezcal or Aguardiente). The leaves are used for feeding cattle; the fibres +of the leaves are formed into thread, cord, and ropes, and are also good +material for paper-making; an extract from the leaves is used as a +substitute for soap; slices of the withered flower-stem are used as +razor-strops. + +AGDE ([.a]gd), a seaport of southern France, department of Herault, with a +cathedral, an ancient and remarkable structure. The trade, chiefly +coasting, is extensive. Pop. 9265. + +AGE, a period of time representing the whole or a part of the duration of +any individual thing or being, but used more specifically in a variety of +senses. In law _age_ is applied to the periods of life when men and women +are enabled to do that which before, for want of years and consequently of +judgment, they could not legally do. A male at twelve years old may take +the oath of allegiance; at fourteen is at years of discretion, and +therefore may choose his guardian or be an executor, although he cannot act +until of age; and at twenty-one is at his own disposal, and may alienate +and devise his lands, goods, and chattels. In English law a male at +fourteen and a female at twelve may consent or disagree to marriage, but it +cannot be celebrated without the consent of the parents or guardians until +the parties are of age. A female at fourteen is at years of legal +discretion, and may choose a guardian; at seventeen may be an executrix; +and at twenty-one may dispose of herself and her lands. So that full age in +male or female is twenty-one years, which age is completed on the day +preceding the anniversary of a person's birth, who till that time is an +infant, and so styled in law. In France majority is attained at twenty-one, +whilst the marriageable age is eighteen for males and fifteen for females, +subject to consent of parents or guardians. In England no one can take a +seat in Parliament under twenty-one, be ordained a priest under +twenty-four, nor made a bishop under thirty. In France a seat in the +Chamber of Deputies may be taken only at twenty-five and in the Senate at +forty. The law of Scotland divides life into three periods--pupilarity, +minority, and majority. The first extends up to the time of legal puberty, +that is, twelve years for a female and fourteen for a male, when they may +marry; the second extends from this point up to twenty-one years, which is +the time when majority is attained. + +The term is also applied to designate the successive epochs or stages of +civilization in history or mythology. Hesiod speaks of five distinct +ages:--1. The _golden_ or _Saturnian age_, a patriarchal and peaceful age. +2. The _silver age_, licentious and wicked. 3. The _brazen age_, violent, +savage, and warlike. 4. The _heroic age_, which seemed an approximation to +a better state of things. 5. The _iron age_, when justice and honour had +left the earth. The term is also used in such expressions as the _dark +ages_, the _middle ages_, the _Elizabethan age_, &c. + +The _Archaeological Ages_ or _Periods_ are three--the Stone Age, the Bronze +Age, and the Iron Age, these names being given in accordance with the +materials chiefly employed for weapons, implements, &c., during the +particular period. The Stone Age of Europe has been subdivided into +two--the Palaeolithic or earlier, and Neolithic or later. The word _age_ in +this sense has no reference to the lapse of time--or not necessarily +so--but simply refers to the stage at which a people has arrived in its +progress towards civilization; thus there are races still in their stone +age. The Palaeolithic or earlier stone age in Europe was doubtless +immensely earlier than the Neolithic, the latter being marked by implements +of much greater finish than the former. See _Stone Age_. + +AGEN ([.a]-zha[n.]), one of the oldest towns in France, capital of +department Lot-et-Garonne on the Garonne, 74 miles south-east of Bordeaux; +see of a bishop; manufactures sailcloth and other articles, and has an +extensive trade. The river is here crossed by a stone bridge, a suspension +bridge, and a canal aqueduct. Pop. 23,294. + +AGENOR (a-j[=e]'nor), a mythical Greek hero, King of Phoenicia, and father +of Europa and Cadmus. Also one of the bravest among the Trojans, slain by +Neoptolemus. + +A'GENT, a person appointed by another to act for or perform any kind of +business for him, the latter being called in relation to the former the +_principal_. Ambassadors were originally styled diplomatic agents.--In +India, it is the name for an officer to whom political power is given to +deal with native states.--_Army Agent_ is a kind of military banker, +authorized by the Government to manage the monetary affairs of a regiment. +There are only a few of these agents, and consequently each has in charge +the affairs of a number of different regiments.--_Crown Agents_ are +officials appointed by the secretary of state for the colonies to act as +commercial and financial agents in this country for the different British +colonies that are not self-governing; those that are self-governing appoint +their own agents, who are designated _agents-general_.--_Agent_ in +mechanics is the general force producing a movement. + +AGERATUM (a-jer'a-tum), a genus of composite plants of the warmer parts of +America, one species of which, _A. mexic[=a]num_, is a well-known +flower-border annual with dense lavender-blue heads. From it have been +derived several varieties with flowers of different colours used chiefly as +bedding plants. + +AGER PUBLICUS. See _Agrarian Law_. + +AGESILAUS (a-jes-i-l[=a]'us), a king of Sparta, born in 444 B.C., and +elevated to the throne after the death of his brother Agis II. He acquired +renown by his exploits against the Persians, Thebans, and Athenians. Though +a vigorous ruler, and almost adored by his soldiers, he was of small +stature and lame from his birth. He died in Egypt in the winter of 361-360 +B.C. His life has been written by Xenophon, Plutarch, and Cornelius Nepos. + +AGGLOM'ERATE, in geology, a collective name for masses consisting of +angular fragments ejected from volcanoes. When a rock mass consists largely +of fragments worn and rounded by water it is called a _conglomerate_, and +such masses were originally, no doubt, gravels and shingles on sea beaches +and river channels. + +AGGLU'TINATE LANGUAGES, languages in which the modifying suffixes are, as +it were, glued on to the root, both it and the suffixes retaining a kind of +distinctive independence and individuality, as in the Japanese, Turkish, +and other Turanian languages, and the Basque language. + +AGG'REGATE, a term applied in geology to rocks composed of several +different mineral constituents capable of being separated by mechanical +means, as granite, where the quartz, felspar, and mica can be separated +mechanically.--In botany it is applied to flowers composed of many small +florets having a common undivided receptacle, the anthers being distinct +and separate, the florets commonly standing on stalks, and each having a +partial calyx. + +AGGRY BEADS, glass beads of various forms and colours, prized by the +natives of West Africa as ornaments, and as having magical and medicinal +virtues. Their origin and history are not well known. Such beads have been +found in various parts of the world, including North and South America, and +often in graves. Some authorities believe that the oldest of them are the +work of the ancient Egyptians, or the Phoenicians, while the later are +probably of Venetian origin. + +AGHA, see _Aga_. + +AGHRIM, see _Aughrim_. + +AGINCOURT ([.a]-zha[n.]-k[:o]r), a village of Northern France, department +Pas de Calais, famous for the battle of 25th Oct., 1415, between the French +and English. Henry V, King of England, eager to conquer France, landed at +Harfleur, took the place by storm, and wished to march through Picardy to +Calais, but was met by a French army under the Constable d'Albret. The +English numbered about 15,000 men, while the French numbers are variously +given as from 50,000 to 150,000. The confined nature and softness of the +ground were to the disadvantage of the French, who were drawn up in three +columns unnecessarily deep. The English archers attacked the first division +in front and in flank, and soon threw them into disorder. The second +division fled on the fall of the Duc d'Alencon, who was struck down by +Henry himself; and the third division fled without striking a blow. Of the +French 10,000 were killed, including the Constable d'Albret, with six dukes +and princes. The English lost 1600 men killed, among them the Duke of York, +Henry's uncle. After the battle the English continued their march to +Calais. + +AGIO ([=a]'ji-[=o]), the difference between the real and the nominal value +of money, as between paper money and actual coin. It is used to denote both +the difference between two currencies in the same country and the +variations in the currencies of different countries. The term is derived +from the It. _aggiungere_, to add, augment, hence _agiotage_. See _Disagio_ +and _Balance of Trade_. + +AGIRA ([.a]-j[=e]'r[.a]), (ancient AGYRIUM), a town of Sicily south-west of +Etna. Pop. 22,485. + +AGIS ([=a]'jis), the name of four Spartan kings, the most important of whom +was Agis IV, who succeeded to the throne in 244 B.C., and reigned four +years. He attempted a reform of the abuses which had crept into the +State--his plan comprehending a redistribution of the land, a division of +wealth, and the cancelling of all debts. Opposed by his colleague Leonidas, +advantage was taken of his absence, in an expedition against the Aetolians, +to depose him. Agis at first took sanctuary in a temple, but he was +treacherously seized and strangled, after going through the form of a +trial. + +AGISTMENT (from the Lat. _ad_, to, and Fr. _giste_, lodging), a term +designating the pasturing of horses, cattle, or sheep of another. See +_Bailment_. + +AGITATORS, an alternative form of _Adjutators_, a name given to the +representatives elected in 1647 by the different regiments of the English +parliamentary army. + +AGLAIA (a-gl[=a]'ya), wife of Hephaistos, in Greek mythology, one of the +three Graces, the other two being Euphrosyne and Thalia. + +AGLOSSA, a sub-order of anurous amphibia, the frogs, without a tongue. + +AGNANO ([.a]-ny[:a]'n[=o]), until 1870 a lake of Italy, west of Naples, +occupying probably the crater of an extinct volcano, but now drained. + +AG'NATES, in the civil law, relations on the male side, in opposition to +_cognates_, relations on the female side. + +AGNELLO PASS, see _European War_. + +AGNES, St., a virgin martyr who, according to the story, suffered martyrdom +because she steadfastly refused to marry Sempronius, the prefect of Rome, +and adhered to her religion in spite of repeated temptations and threats, +A.D. 303. She was first led to the stake, but as the flames did not injure +her she was beheaded. Her festival is celebrated on 21st Jan. For +superstitions connected with St. Agnes' Eve see Keats's poem _The Eve of +St. Agnes_. Tintoret's most remarkable picture is _The Martyrdom of St. +Agnes_. + +AGNES, St., the most southerly of the Scilly Islands. A lighthouse was +erected here as early as 1680; another on the Wolf Rock near the island was +completed in 1858. + +AGNESI ([.a]-ny[=a]'s[=e]), Maria Gaetana, a learned Italian lady, born at +Milan in 1718. In her ninth year she was able to speak Latin, in her +eleventh Greek; she then studied the oriental languages, and at the age of +thirteen mastered Hebrew, besides French, Spanish, and German. She was +called the 'Walking Polyglot'. She next studied geometry, philosophy, and +mathematics. She was appointed, in 1750, professor of mathematics in the +University of Bologna, ultimately took the veil, and died in 1799. Her +sister, Maria Theresa, composed several cantatas and three operas. + +[Illustration: Agni--Moore's _Hindoo Pantheon_] + +AG'NI, the Hindu god of fire, second only to Indra, and one of the eight +guardians of the world, and especially the lord of the south-east quarter. +He is celebrated in many of the hymns of the Rig Veda. He is often +represented as of a red or flame colour, and rides on a ram or a goat. He +is still worshipped as the personification of fire, and the friction of two +sticks for procuring the temple fire is still regarded as the symbol of +Agni's miraculous rebirth. + +AGNOETAE, a monophysitic sect of the sixth century. + +AGNOLO, Baccio d' (b[.a]ch'[=o] d[.a]n'yo-l[=o]), a Florentine wood-carver, +sculptor, and architect; designed some of the finest palaces, &c., in +Florence, such as the Villa Borghese, the Palais Bartolini, &c.; born 1460, +died 1543. + +AGNO'MEN (Lat.), an additional name given by the Romans to an individual in +allusion to some quality, circumstance, or achievement by which he was +distinguished, as _Africanus_ added to P. Cornelius Scipio. + +AGNONE ([.a]-ny[=o]'n[=a]), a town of S. Italy, province of Molise, famous +for the excellence of its copper wares. Pop. 6000. + +AGNOSTICS (ag-nos'tiks; Gr. _a_, not, _gign[=o]skein_, to know), a modern +term invented by Huxley in 1869 and applied to those who disclaim any +knowledge of God, the origin of the universe, immortality, &c. The +agnostics, or adherents of this doctrine, hold that the mind of man is +limited to a knowledge of phenomena and of what is relative, and that, +therefore, the infinite, the absolute, and the unconditioned, being beyond +all experience, are consequently beyond its range. Agnosticism is therefore +the attitude of 'solemnly suspended judgment', and cannot be identified +with atheism. The agnostics do not deny the existence of a Divine Being, +but merely maintain that we have no scientific ground for either belief or +denial.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir Leslie Stephen, _An Agnostic's Apology_; R. +Flint, _Agnosticism_; J. Ward, _Naturalism and Agnosticism_. + +AGNUS CASTUS, a shrub, _Vitex Agnuscastus_, nat. ord. Verbenaceae, a native +of the Mediterranean countries, with white flowers and acrid, aromatic +fruits. It had anciently the imagined virtue of preserving chastity--hence +the term _castus_ (Lat., chaste). + +AGNUS DEI (d[=e]'[=i]; Lat., 'the Lamb of God'), a term applied to Christ +in _John_, i, 29, and in the Roman Catholic liturgy a prayer beginning with +the words 'Agnus Dei', generally sung before the communion. The term is +also commonly given to a medal, or more frequently a disk of wax, round, +oblong, or oval, consecrated by the pope, stamped with the figure of a lamb +supporting the banner of the cross; supposed to possess great virtues, such +as preserving those who carry it in faith from accidents, &c. Jean Chatel, +the assassin of Henri IV, was found covered with such medals. + +AGON'IC LINE (Gr. _a_, not, and _g[=o]nia_, an angle), in terrestrial +magnetism a name applied to the line which joins all the places on the +earth's surface at which the needle of the compass points due north and +south, without any declination. See _Magnetism_. + +AG'ONY COLUMN, a column in the advertising sheet of some of the daily +journals, in which disappearances, losses, mysterious appeals and +correspondence, and generally any advertising eccentricity appear. + +AG'ORA, the market-place of a Greek town, corresponding to the Roman +_forum_. The Agora of Athens is situated in a valley partially enclosed by +the Acropolis, Areopagus, Pnyx, and Museum. + +AGOS'TA. See _Augusta_. + +AGOUARA ([.a]-g[u:]-[:a]'r[.a]), a name given to the crab-eating racoon +(_Proc[)y]on cancriv[)o]rus_) of S. America. + +AGOULT ([.a]-g[:o]), Marie de Flavigny, Comtesse d', a French writer of +fiction, history, politics, philosophy, and art; daughter of Vicomte de +Flavigny; born at Frankfort in 1805, died at Paris 1876. She contributed +many articles to the _Revue des Deux-Mondes_, &c., under the pseudonym of +_Daniel Stern_, and wrote _Lettres Republicaines_ (1848); _Histoire de la +Revolution de 1848_; _Esquisses Morales et Politiques_; _Trois Journees de +la Vie de Marie Stuart_; _Florence et Turin_ (a series of artistic and +political studies); _Dante et Goethe_; dialogues, and numerous romances, +&c. + +AGOUTA (a-g[:o]'ta), _Solen[)o]don paradoxus_, an insectivorous mammal +peculiar to Hayti, of the tanrec family, somewhat larger than a rat. It has +its tail devoid of hair and covered with scales, its eyes small, and an +elongated nose like the shrews. Another species (_S. cub[=a]nus_) belongs +to Cuba. + +AGOUTI (a-g[:o]'ti), the name of several rodent mammals, forming a family +by themselves, genus Dasyprocta. There are eight or nine species, all +belonging to S. America and the W. Indies. The common agouti, or +yellow-rumped cavy (_D. agouti_), is of the size of a rabbit. It burrows in +the ground or in hollow trees, lives on vegetables, doing much injury to +the sugar-cane, is as voracious as a pig, and makes a similar grunting +noise. Its flesh is white and good to eat. + +AGRA ([:a]'gra), a city of India, in the United Provinces, on the right +bank of the Jumna, 841 miles by rail from Calcutta. It is a well-built and +handsome town and has various interesting structures, among which are the +imperial palace, a mass of buildings erected by several emperors; the Moti +Masjid or Pearl Mosque (both within the old and extensive fort); the mosque +called the Jama Masjid (a cenotaph of white marble); and, above all, the +Taj Mahal, 'a dream in marble', a mausoleum of the seventeenth century, +built by the Emperor Shah Jehan (1628-58) for his favourite queen, Mumtaz +Mahal. It is made of white marble, and is adorned throughout with exquisite +mosaics. Its cost is estimated at L800,000, and 20,000 workmen, under the +direction of Austin of Bordeaux, were engaged on it for twenty-two years. +There are several Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, a government +college, and three other colleges or high schools, besides a medical +college. Agra has a trade in grain, sugar, &c., and some manufactures, +including beautiful inlaid mosaics. It was founded in 1566 by the Emperor +Akbar, and was a residence of the emperors for over a century. Pop. +185,449. The Agra division has an area of 10,078 sq. miles, and a pop. of +5,007,900. + +AGRAFFE', a sort of ornamental buckle, clasp, or similar fastening for +holding together articles of dress, &c., often adorned with precious +stones. + +AGRAM, or ZAGREB, a city in Yugo-Slavia, capital of the former Hungarian +province of Croatia and Slavonia, near the River Save; contains the +residence of the ban or governor of Croatia and Slavonia, Government +buildings, cathedral (being the see of a Roman Catholic archbishop), +university, theatre, &c.; carries on an active trade, and manufactures +tobacco, leather, and linens. Pop. 79,038. + +AGRA'PHIA. See _Aphasia_. + +AGRARIAN LAWS, laws enacted in ancient Rome for the division of the public +lands, that is, the lands belonging to the State (_ager publicus_). As the +territory of Rome increased, the public land increased, the land of +conquered peoples being always regarded as the property of the conqueror. +The right to the use of this public land belonged originally only to the +patricians or ruling class, but afterwards the claims of the plebeians on +it were also admitted, though they were often unfairly treated in the +sharing of it. Hence arose much discontent among the plebeians, and various +remedial laws were passed with more or less success. Indeed an equitable +adjustment of the land question between the aristocracy and the common +people was never attained. + +AGRAVAINE, Sir, one of the knights of the Round Table. + +AGREEMENT OF THE PEOPLE. See _Levellers_. + +AGRIC'OLA, Gnaeus Julius, lived from A.D. 37 to 93, a Roman consul under +the Emperor Vespasian, and governor in Britain, the greater part of which +he reduced to the dominion of Rome; distinguished as a statesman and +general. His life, written by his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, gives +the best extant account of Britain in the early part of the period of the +Roman rule. He was the twelfth Roman general who had been in Britain, but +was the only one who effectually subdued the southern portion of it and +reconciled the Britons to the Roman yoke. This he did by teaching them the +arts of civilization and to settle in towns. He constructed the chain of +forts between the Forth and the Clyde, defeated Galgacus at the battle of +Mons Graupius, and sailed round the island, discovering the Orkneys. + +AGRIC'OLA, Georg (originally Bauer, that is, peasant = Lat. _agricola_), +born in Saxony 1490, died at Chemnitz 1555, German physician and +mineralogist. Though tinged with the superstitions of his age, he made the +first successful attempt to reduce mineralogy to a science, and introduced +many improvements in the art of mining. A complete edition of his works was +published at Basel in 1550 and 1558. + +AGRICOLA, Johann, the son of a tailor at Eisleben, was born in 1492, and +called, from his native city, _master of Eisleben_ (_magister Islebius_); +one of the most active among the theologians who propagated the doctrines +of Luther. In 1537, when professor in Wittenberg, he stirred up the +Antinomian controversy with Luther and Melanchthon. He afterwards lived at +Berlin, where he died in 1566, after a life of controversy. Besides his +theological works he composed a work explaining the common German proverbs. + +AGRICOLA, Johann Friedrich, German musician and composer, born near +Altenburg 1720, died at Berlin 1774; pupil of Sebastian Bach; wrote several +operas, including _Iphigenia in Tauris_. He wrote under the pseudonym of +'Olibrio'. + +AGRICOLA, Rodolphus, German scholar, born at Groningen 1443, died at +Heidelberg 1485. After travelling in France and Italy he was appointed +professor of philosophy at Heidelberg, and did good service in +transplanting the revived classical learning into Germany. + +AG'RICULTURE is the art of cultivating the ground, more especially with the +plough and in large areas or fields, in order to raise grain and other +crops for man and beast; including the art of preparing the soil, sowing +and planting seeds, removing the crops, and also the raising and feeding of +cattle or other live stock. This art is the basis of all other arts, and in +all countries coeval with the first dawn of civilization. At how remote a +period it must have been successfully practised in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and +China we have no means of knowing, but there is sufficient evidence of +agriculture having attained considerable development many centuries before +the Christian era. Egypt was renowned as a corn country in the time of the +Jewish patriarchs, and had probably been so for centuries before. The +hieroglyphics on ancient monuments furnish records of the early development +of agriculture in Egypt and of the use of the plough and other agricultural +implements. The advanced methods of the Egyptians and Syrians were +introduced into Europe by the Saracens. Land culture also attained a more +or less considerable development in ancient China and Hindustan. Among the +ancient Greeks the implements of agriculture were very few and simple. +Hesiod, who wrote a poem on agriculture as early as the eighth century +B.C., mentions a plough consisting of three parts, the share-beam, the +draught-pole, and the plough-tail, but antiquarians are not agreed as to +its exact form. The ground received three ploughings, one in autumn, +another in spring, and a third immediately before sowing the seed. Manures +were applied, and the advantage of mixing soils, as sand with clay or clay +with sand, was understood. Seed was sown by hand, and covered with a rake. +Grain was reaped with a sickle, bound in sheaves, thrashed, then winnowed +by wind, laid in chests, bins, or granaries, and taken out as wanted by the +family, to be ground. Agriculture was highly esteemed among the ancient +Romans, and very full accounts are contained in the works of Pliny, Virgil, +Cato, Varro, and Palladius. The Romans used a great many different +implements of agriculture. The plough is represented by Cato as of two +kinds, one for strong, the other for light soils. Varro mentions one with +two mould-boards, with which, he says, "when they plough, after sowing the +seed, they are said to ridge". Pliny mentions a plough with one +mould-board, and others with a coulter, of which he says there were many +kinds. Fallowing was a practice rarely deviated from by the Romans. In most +cases a fallow and a year's crop succeeded each other. Manure was collected +from various sources, and irrigation was practised on a large scale. + +The Romans introduced their agricultural knowledge among the Britons, and +during the most flourishing period of the Roman occupation large quantities +of corn were exported from Britain to the Continent. During the time that +the Angles and Saxons were extending their conquests over the country +agriculture must have been greatly neglected; but afterwards it was +practised with some success among the Anglo-Saxon population, especially, +as was generally the case during the Middle Ages, on lands belonging to the +Church. Swine formed at this time a most important portion of the live +stock, finding plenty of oak and beech mast to eat. The feudal system +introduced by the Normans, though beneficial in some respects as tending to +ensure the personal security of individuals, operated powerfully against +progress in agricultural improvements. War and the chase, the two ancient +and deadliest foes of husbandry, formed the most prominent occupations of +the Norman princes and nobles. Thriving villages and smiling fields were +converted into deer forests, vexatious imposts were laid on the farmers, +and the serfs had no interest in the cultivation of the soil. But the monks +of every monastery retained such of their lands as they could most +conveniently take charge of, and these they cultivated with great care, +under their own inspection, and frequently with their own hands. The +various operations of husbandry, such as manuring, ploughing, sowing, +harrowing;, reaping, thrashing, winnowing, &c., are incidentally mentioned +by the writers of those days; but it is impossible to collect from them a +definite account of the manner in which those operations were performed. + +While there is much in the writings of the old English chroniclers +concerning the tenure of land, upon which subject the _Domesday Book_ gives +much enlightenment, there is a great lack of information as to the manner +in which the land was cultivated. Information began to be recorded in the +middle of the thirteenth century, but only one treatise is known to have +been written, namely, _La Dite de Husbanderye_, an essay in Norman French +by Walter de Henley. This work was superseded by another treatise, the best +of the early works on the subject, and published in the reign of Henry VIII +(in 1523) by Sir A. Fitzherbert, judge of the Common Pleas. It is entitled +the _Book of Husbandry_, and contains directions for draining, clearing, +and enclosing a farm, for enriching the soil, and rendering it fit for +tillage. Lime, marl, and fallowing are strongly recommended. The subject of +agriculture attained some prominence during the reign of Elizabeth. The +principal writers of that period were Tusser, Googe, and Sir Hugh Platt. +Tusser's _Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandry_ (first complete edition +published in 1580) conveys much useful instruction in metre, but few works +of this time contain much that is original or valuable. The first half of +the seventeenth century produced no systematic work on agriculture, though +several on different branches of the subject. About 1645 the field +cultivation of red clover was introduced into England, the merit of this +improvement being due to Sir Richard Weston, author of a _Discourse on the +Husbandry of Brabant and Flanders_, to whom also belongs the credit of +first growing turnips in England. The Dutch had devoted much attention to +the improvement of winter roots, and also to the cultivation of clover and +other artificial grasses, and the farmers and proprietors of England soon +saw the advantages to be derived from their introduction. Potatoes had been +introduced during the latter part of the sixteenth century, but were not +for long in general cultivation. A number of writers on agriculture +appeared in England during the Commonwealth, the most important works on +the subject being Blythe's _Improver Improved_ and Hartlib's _Legacy_. The +former writer speaks of a rotation, or rather alternation of crops, and +well knew the use of lime, as also of other manures. In the eighteenth +century the first name of importance in British agriculture is that of +Jethro Tull, a gentleman of Berkshire, who began to drill wheat and other +crops about the year 1701, and whose _Horse-hoeing Husbandry_ was published +in 1731. Tull was a great advocate of the system of sowing crops in rows or +drills with an interval between every two or three rows wide enough to +allow of ploughing or hoeing to be carried on. This enabled the ground to +be cleared with crops still growing, thus obviating the necessity for 'bare +fallow' and leading to the _four-course_ or Norfolk Rotation of Charles, +second Viscount Townshend, the first agriculturist to cultivate turnips on +a large scale. After the time of Tull and Townshend no great alteration in +British agriculture took place till Robert Bakewell and others effected +some important improvements in the breeds of cattle, sheep, and swine in +the latter half of the eighteenth century. The raising and maintenance of +live stock, especially of sheep, was a characteristic of English farming +from a very early time, and for several centuries the country had almost a +monopoly in the supply of wool. To Bakewell we owe the well-known breed of +Leicester sheep. By the end of the century it was a common practice to +alternate green crops with grain crops, instead of exhausting the land with +a number of successive crops of corn. A well-known writer on agriculture at +this period, and one who did a great deal of good in diffusing a knowledge +of the subject, was Arthur Young. Scotland was for a long time behind +England in agricultural progress. Great progress was made during the +eighteenth century, however, especially in the latter half of it, turnips +being introduced as a field-crop, and new implements such as the +swing-plough and the thrashing-machine coming into general use. The +construction of good roads through the country also gave agriculture a +great impulse. During the wars caused by the French revolution (1795-1815) +the high price of agricultural produce led to an extraordinary improvement +in agriculture all over Britain. The establishment of the institution +called the National Board of Agriculture was also of very great service to +British husbandry at this period. Though a private association, it was +assisted by an annual parliamentary grant, and prizes were given by it for +the encouragement of experiments and improvements in agriculture. It +existed from 1793 to 1816. + +Among other societies which have greatly furthered the progress of +agriculture in Britain, the chief in existence at the present day are the +Smithfield Club, inaugurated in 1798; the Royal Agricultural Society of +England, established in 1838; the Highland and Agricultural Society of +Scotland, founded in 1783; and the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, +instituted in 1841. The objects of these and similar societies are such as +the following: To encourage the introduction of improvements in +agriculture; to encourage the improvement of agricultural implements and +farm buildings; the application of chemistry to agriculture; the +destruction of insects injurious to vegetation; to promote the discovery +and adoption of new varieties of grain, or other useful vegetables; to +collect information regarding the management of woods, plantations, and +fences; to improve the education of those supported by the cultivation of +the soil; to improve the veterinary art; to improve the breeds of live +stock, &c. Shows are held, at which prizes are distributed for live stock, +implements, and farm produce. + +Through the efforts of the above-mentioned and other societies, the +investigations of scientific men, the general diffusion of knowledge among +all classes, and the necessity of competing with producers in foreign +countries, agriculture made vast strides in Britain during the nineteenth +century and the beginning of the twentieth. Among the chief improvements we +may mention deep ploughing and thorough draining. By the introduction of +new or improved implements the labour necessary to the carrying out of +agricultural operations has been greatly diminished, and advancement in +this direction has been promoted by the necessities of the Great War. +Labour-saving machinery is likely to be used in future on an increasingly +large scale. Science, too, has been called in to act as the handmaid of +art, and in its application we owe very much to the researches conducted at +the Rothamsted Experimental Station, founded in 1834 by Lawes, who endowed +the Lawes Trust in 1889. Gilbert and he worked together from 1843 to the +end of last century. It is primarily by the investigations of the chemist +and physicist that agriculture has been put on a really scientific basis. +The physiology of plants and animals, and the complex properties of soils, +have all been investigated, and most important results obtained. Artificial +manures, in great variety to supply the elements wanted for plant growth, +have come into common use, and the free nitrogen of the air is now worked +up into various substances by which the nitrate of soda imported from South +America can be replaced. An improvement in all kinds of stock is becoming +more and more general, feeding is conducted on more scientific principles, +and improved varieties of crop-plants are created by applying the +principles of Mendel and other scientists. Much attention is also devoted +to seed-testing, and the applications of electricity to agriculture are +being developed. + +As a result of the new conditions, to be a thoroughly-trained and competent +agriculturist requires a special education, partly theoretical, partly +practical. In many countries there are now agricultural schools or colleges +supported by the State, and many such institutions exist in Britain. In +Scotland, the Edinburgh chair of Rural Economy was founded in 1790; in +Ireland, the Glasnevin Institution was inaugurated in 1838; and the +establishment of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, dates from +1845. In the United States nearly all the States have now colleges, or +departments of colleges, devoted to the teaching of agriculture, and large +allotments of public land have been made for their support. There are also +numerous experimental stations. In Britain there has been a Board of +Agriculture since 1889, under a cabinet minister, which was constituted a +ministry in 1919; previously there was only a department under a committee +of the Privy Council. + +It is probable that on the whole the agriculture of Britain is farther +advanced than that of any other region of similar size. Wheat, barley, and +oats are the chief cereals in Britain; the chief roots are turnips and +potatoes; other crops (besides grass and clover) are beans, peas, mangold, +hops, and flax. In Europe at large the principal cereals are wheat, oats, +barley, and rye, wheat being mostly grown in the middle and southern +regions, such as France, Spain, part of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, +and southern Russia, the others in the more northern portion, while maize +is grown in the warmest parts. Turnips are comparatively little grown out +of Britain, beet-root in some sense taking their place; potatoes, however, +are largely cultivated, except in the south. In the United States maize is +the chief corn crop, next to which comes wheat, then oats; potatoes are an +important crop, but turnips are only grown to a very small extent. In +Canada large quantities of wheat are grown (more especially in Manitoba and +the North-West), much is also now produced in the Australian colonies, in +India, Argentina, &c.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Fream, _Elements of Agriculture_; +C. W. Burkett, _Agriculture for Beginners_; _Encyclopaedia of Agriculture_ +(Gresham Publishing Company). + +AGRIGENTUM (-jen'tum) (modern GIRGENTI), an ancient Greek city of Sicily, +founded about 580 B.C., and long one of the most important places on the +island. The town is also famous as the birthplace of the philosopher +Empedocles. Extensive ruins of splendid temples and public buildings yet +attest its ancient magnificence. See _Girgenti_. + +AG'RIMONY (Agrimonia), a genus of plants, nat. ord. Rosaceae, consisting of +slender perennial herbs found in temperate regions. _A. Eupatoria_, or +common agrimony, was formerly of much repute as a medicine in England. Its +leaves and rootstock are astringent, and the latter yields a yellow dye. +The plant is a common weed on the borders of cornfields and on roadsides. + +AGRIPPA, Herod. See _Herod Agrippa_. + +AGRIPPA, Marcus Vipsanius, a Roman statesman and general, the son-in-law of +Augustus; born 63 B.C., died 12 B.C. He was praetor in 41 B.C.; consul in +37, 28, and 27; aedile in 33; and tribune from 18 till his death. He +commanded the fleet of Augustus in the battle of Actium. To him Rome is +indebted for three of her principal aqueducts, the Pantheon, and several +other works of public use and ornament. + +AGRIP'PA, von Nettesheim, Cornelius Henry, born in 1486 at Cologne, +soldier, doctor, and, by common reputation, a magician. In his youth he was +secretary to the Emperor Maximilian I; he subsequently served seven years +in Italy, and was knighted. On quitting the army he devoted himself to +science, became famous as a magician and alchemist, and was involved in +disputes with the churchmen. After an active, varied, and eventful life he +died at Grenoble in 1534 or 1535. His works were published at Lyons in +1550. + +AGRIPPI'NA, the name of several Roman women, among whom we may mention: 1. +The youngest daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and wife of C. +Germanicus; a heroic woman, adorned with great virtues. Tiberius, who hated +her for her virtues and popularity, banished her to the Island of +Pandataria, where she starved herself to death in A.D. 33. 2. A daughter of +the last mentioned, and the mother of Nero, by Domitius Ahenobarbus. Her +third husband was her uncle, the Emperor Claudius, whom she subsequently +poisoned to secure the government of the Empire through her son Nero. After +ruling a few years in her son's name he became tired of her ascendency, and +caused her to be assassinated (A.D. 60). + +AGROPYRON, a genus of grasses most of which are perennials. The root-stalks +of _Agropyron repens_ (_Radix Graminis_) have aperient and diuretic +properties. + +AGROSTEM'MA. See _Corncockle_. + +AGROS'TIS, a genus of grasses, consisting of many species, and valuable as +pasture-grasses. The bent-grasses belong to the genus. + +AG'TELEK, a village in Hungary, near the road from Pesth to Kassa, with +about 600 inhabitants, celebrated for one of the largest and most +remarkable stalactitic caverns in Europe. + +AGUA ([.a]g'w[.a]), an active volcano of Central America, in Guatemala, +rising to the height of 15,000 feet. It has twice destroyed the old city of +Guatemala, in its immediate vicinity. + +AGUARA ([.a]-gw[:a]'r[.a]). See _Agouara_. + +AGUARDIENTE ([.a]-gw[:a]r-d[=e]-en'te), a popular spirituous beverage of +Spain and Portugal, a kind of coarse brandy, made from red wine, from the +refuse of the grapes left in the wine-press, &c., generally flavoured with +anise; also a Mexican alcoholic drink distilled from the fermented juice of +the agave. + +AGUAS CALIENTES ([.a]g'w[.a]s k[.a]-l[=e]-en't[=a]s; lit. 'warm waters'), a +town 270 miles N.W. of Mexico, capital of the State of its own name, named +from the thermal springs near it; has manufactures of cottons and a +considerable trade. Pop. 45,198.--Aguas Calientes State has an area of +2,968 sq. miles, and a pop. of 124,500. + +AGUE ([=a]'g[=u]), a kind of fever, which may be followed by serious +consequences, but generally is more troublesome than dangerous. According +to the length of the interval between one febrile paroxysm and another, +agues are denominated _quotidian_ when they occur once in twenty-four +hours, _tertian_ when they come on every forty-eight hours, _quartan_ when +they visit the patient once in seventy-two hours. Ague arises from marsh +miasmata, a temperature above 60deg being, however, apparently required to +produce it. To cure the disease and prevent the recurrence, quinine and +various other bitter and astringent drugs are given with complete success +in the majority of cases. + +AGUE-CAKE, a tumour caused by enlargement and hardening of the spleen, +often the consequence of ague or intermittent fever. + +AGUESSEAU ([.a]-ges-[=o]), Henri Francois d', a distinguished French jurist +and statesman, born at Limoges in 1668; was in 1690 advocate-general at +Paris, and at the age of thirty-two procureur-general of the Parliament. He +risked disgrace with Louis XIV by successfully opposing the famous papal +bull _Unigenitus_. He was made chancellor in 1717, was deprived of his +office in 1718 on account of his opposition to Law's system of finance, but +had to be recalled in 1720. In 1722 he had to retire a second time; but was +recalled in 1727 by Cardinal Fleury, and in 1737 again got the +chancellorship, which he held till 1750. He died in 1751. + +AGUILAR ([.a]-g[=e]-l[:a]r'), a town of Spain, province of Cordova, in +Andalusia, in a good wine-producing district, and with a trade in corn and +wine. Pop. 12,635. + +AGUILAR (a-gi-l[:a]r'), Grace, an English writer, born at Hackney 1816, +died at Frankfort 1847. Of Jewish parentage, she at first devoted herself +to Jewish subjects, such as _The Women of Israel_, _The Jewish Faith_, &c.; +but her fame rests on her novels, _Home Influence_, _A Mother's +Recompense_, _Home Scenes and Heart Studies_, &c., most of which were +published posthumously by her mother. + +AGUILAS ([.a]-g[=e]'l[.a]s), a flourishing seaport of Southern Spain, +province of Murcia, with copper and lead smelting works. Pop. 15,967. + +AGULHAS ([.a]-g[u:]l'y[.a]s), Cape, a promontory, forming the most southern +extremity of Africa, about 90 miles south-east of the Cape of Good Hope, +rising to 455 feet above the sea, with a lighthouse. + +AGU'TI. See _Agouti_. + +A'HAB, the seventh King of Israel, succeeded his father Omri, 918-897 or +875-853 B.C. At the instigation of his wife Jezebel he erected a temple to +Baal, and became a cruel persecutor of the true prophets. He was killed by +an arrow at the siege of Ramoth-Gilead. He was succeeded by his son +Ahaziah. + +AHAG'GAR, a mountainous region of the Sahara, south of Algeria, with some +fertile valleys, inhabited by the Tuaregs. + +AHANTA. See _Gold Coast_, _West Africa_. + +AHASUE'RUS, in Scripture history, a king of Persia, probably the same as +Xerxes, the husband of Esther, to whom the Scriptures ascribe a singular +deliverance of the Jews from extirpation.--_Ahasuerus_ is also a Scripture +name for Cambyses, the son of Cyrus (_Ezra_, iv, 6), and for Astyages, King +of the Medes (_Dan._ ix, 1). Ahasuerus is also the traditional name of the +wandering Jew. + +A'HAZ, the twelfth King of Judah, succeeded his father Jotham, 742-727 or +734-715 B.C. Forsaking the true religion, he gave himself up completely to +idolatry, and plundered the temple to obtain presents for Tiglath-Pileser, +King of Assyria. + +AHAZI'AH.--1. Son of Ahab and Jezebel, and eighth King of Israel, died from +a fall through a lattice in his palace at Samaria after reigning two years +(896, 895 B.C.).--2. Fifth or sixth King of Judah, and nephew of the above. +He reigned but one year, and was slain (884 B.C.) by Jehu. + +AHITH'OPHEL, privy-councillor to David, and confederate and adviser of +Absalom in his rebellion against his father. When Hushai's advice +prevailed, Ahithophel, despairing of success, hanged himself. + +AHMEDABAD, or AHMADABAD ([:a]-m_a_d-[:a]-b[:a]d), a town of India, +presidency of Bombay, in district of its own name, on the left bank of the +Sabarmati, 310 miles north of Bombay. It was founded in 1412 by Ahmed Shah, +and was converted by him into a great capital, adorned with splendid +edifices. It came finally into the hands of the British in 1818. It is +still a handsome and populous place, enclosed by a wall, with many +noteworthy buildings; manufactures of fine silk and cotton fabrics, cloths +of gold and silver, pottery, paper, enamel, mother-of-pearl, &c. There were +disturbances here in 1919. (See _Rowlatt Act_.) Pop. 216,777.--Area of +district, 3949 sq. miles; pop. 795,094. + +AHMED MIRZA, Shah of Persia, born in 1898. He succeeded his father, +Mohammed Ali, when the latter was deposed on 16th July, 1909. + +AHMEDNAG'AR, a town of India, presidency of Bombay, in district of its own +name, surrounded by an earthen wall; with manufactures of cotton and silk +cloths. Near the city is the fort, built of stone and 1-1/2 miles round. +Pop. (including military) 42,032.--Area of district, 6645 sq. miles; pop. +945,305. + +AHMED SHAH, born 1724, died 1773, founder of the Durani dynasty in +Afghanistan. On the assassination of Nadir he proclaimed himself shah, and +set about subduing the provinces surrounding his realm. Among his first +acts was the securing of the famed Koh-i-noor diamond, which had fallen +into the hands of his predecessor. He crossed the Indus in 1748, and his +conquests in Northern India culminated in the defeat of the Mahrattas at +Panipat (6th Jan., 1761). Affairs in his own country necessitated his +withdrawal from India, but he extended his empire vastly in other +directions far beyond the limits of modern Afghanistan. He was succeeded by +his son Timur. + +AHRIMAN ([:a]'ri-man; in the Zend _Angromainyus_, 'spirit of evil or +annihilation'), according to the dualistic doctrine of Zoroaster, the +origin or the personification of evil, sovereign of the Devas or evil +spirits, lord of darkness and of death, being thus opposed to Ormuzd +(_Ahuramazda_), the spirit of good and of light. + +AH'WAZ, a small Persian town on the River Karun, province of Khuzistan, at +the head of river navigation, a place of some commercial note. In the +neighbourhood are the vast ruins of a city supposed to date from the time +of the Parthian Empire. + +AI ([:a]'[=e]). See _Sloth_. + +AID, a subsidy paid in ancient feudal times by vassals to their lords on +certain occasions, the chief of which were: when their lord was taken +prisoner and required to be ransomed, when his eldest son was to be made a +knight, and when his eldest daughter was to be married and required a +dowry. From the Norman Conquest to the fourteenth century the collecting of +aids by the Crown was one of the forms of taxation, being afterwards +regulated by Parliament. + +AI'DAN, Saint, Bishop of Lindisfarne, was originally a monk of Iona, in +which monastery Oswald I, who became king of Northumberland in 635, had +been educated. At the request of Oswald, Aidan was sent to preach +Christianity to his subjects, and established himself in Lindisfarne as the +first Bishop of Durham. He died in 651. + +AIDE-DE-CAMP ([=a]d-d[.e]-k[.a][n.]), a military officer who conveys the +orders of a general to the various divisions of the army on the field of +battle, and at other times acts as his secretary and general confidential +agent. + +AIDIN ([.a]-i-d[=e]n'), or GUZEL HISSAR, a town in Asia Minor, about 60 +miles south-east of Smyrna, with which it is connected by rail; has fine +mosques and bazaars, is the residence of a pasha, and has an extensive +trade in cotton, leather, figs, grapes, &c. Pop. 35,000. + +AIGRETTE' (French), a term used to denote the feathery crown attached to +the seeds of various plants, such as the thistle, dandelion, &c. (called in +botany _pappus_).--It is also applied to any head-dress in the form of a +plume, whether composed of feathers, flowers, or precious stones. + +AIGUES MORTES ([=a]g mort; Lat. _Aquae Mortuae_, 'dead waters'), a small +town of Southern France, near the mouths of the Rhone, department of Gard; +with ancient walls and castle; near it are lagoons, from which great +quantities of salt are extracted. Pop. 4000. + +AIGUILLE ([=a]'gwil; Fr., lit. a needle), a name given in the Alps to the +needle-like points or tops of granite, gneiss, quartz, and other +crystalline rocks and mountain masses; also applied to sharp-pointed masses +of ice on glaciers and elsewhere.--It is also the name given to a +peculiarly-shaped French mountain in Isere, 6500 feet high. + +AIGUN ([=i]-g[u:]n'), a town of China, in Manchuria, on the Amur, with a +good trade. Pop. 15,000. + +AI'KIN, John, M.D., an English miscellaneous writer, born 1747, died 1822. +He practised as physician at Chester, Warrington (where he taught +physiology and chemistry at the Dissenters' Academy), and London; turned +his attention to literature and published various works of a miscellaneous +description, some in conjunction with his sister Mrs. Barbauld, including +the popular _Evenings at Home_ (1792-5), written with the view of +popularizing scientific subjects. His _General Biographical Dictionary_ (in +10 vols.) was begun in 1799 and finished in 1815. He was editor of the +_Monthly Magazine_ from 1796 till 1807. + +AI'KIN, Lucy, daughter of the preceding, was born in 1781, and died 1864. +In 1810 she published _Poetical Epistles on Women_, which was followed by a +number of books for the young and a novel _Lorimer_ (1814). In 1818 +appeared her _Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth_, a very popular +work. She afterwards produced similar works on the reigns of James I (1822) +and Charles I (1833), and a _Life of Addison_ (1843). In 1824 she had +published the literary remains and biography of her father. She carried on +an interesting correspondence with Dr. Channing from 1826-42, which was +published in 1874. + +AIKMAN, William, an eminent Scottish portrait-painter, born in Forfarshire +in 1682, died in 1731. He studied at Edinburgh and in Italy, visited +Turkey, and spent the later portion of his life in London, where he enjoyed +the friendship of most of the distinguished men of Queen Anne's time. The +portrait of President Duncan Forbes (1685-1747) in the National Gallery is +attributed to him. + +AILAN'TO, or AILANTHUS (meaning tree of the gods), a tree, genus Ailantus, +nat. ord. Simarubaceae. The _A. glandul[=o]sa_, a large and handsome tree, +with pinnate leaves 1 or 2 feet long, is a native of China, but has been +introduced into Europe and North America. A species of silk-worm, the +ailanthus silk-worm (_Saturnia cynthia_), feeds on its leaves, and the +material produced, though wanting the fineness and gloss of mulberry silk, +is produced at less cost, and is more durable. The wood is hard, heavy, +yellowish-white, and will take a fine polish. The tree has been in +cultivation in England since 1751. + +AILERON. See _Aeronautics_, _Aeroplane_. + +AIL'RED (contracted form of ETHELRED), a religious and historical writer, +supposed to have been born in 1097, but whether in Scotland or in England +is not known, died 1166; abbot of Rievaulx, in the North Riding of +Yorkshire. Wrote lives of Edward the Confessor and St. Margaret, Queen of +Scotland, _Genealogy of the Kings of England_, _The Battle of the +Standard_, &c. + +AILSA CRAIG, a rocky islet in the Firth of Clyde, 10 miles from the coast +of Ayr, of a conical form, 1097 feet high, and about 2 miles in +circumference, precipitous on all sides except the north-east, where alone +it is accessible, frequented by innumerable sea-fowl, including +solan-geese, and covered with grass. On it is a lighthouse. + +AILU'RUS. See _Panda_. + +AIMARD ([=a]-m[:a]r), Gustave, French novelist, born 1818, died 1883. He +lived for ten years among the Indians of North America, and wrote a number +of stories dealing with Indian life, such as _Les Trappeurs de l'Arkansas_ +(1858), _La Loi de Lynch_ (1859), _Les Nuits Mexicaines_ (1863), _Les +Bohemes de la Mer_ (1865), which have been popular in English translations. +His work is not unlike that of Fenimore Cooper. + +AIN (a[n.]), a south-eastern frontier department of France, mountainous in +the east (ridges of the Jura), flat or undulating in the west, divided into +two nearly equal parts by the River Ain, a tributary of the Rhone; area, +2248 sq. miles; pop. (1921), 315,757. Capital, Bourg. + +AINGER ([=a]n'j[.e]r), Rev. Alfred, born in 1837, died in 1904, was +educated at King's College, London, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, took +orders after gaining his degree, and in 1866 was appointed reader of the +Temple Church, London. He was made Master of the Temple in 1893, while +holding also a canonry in Bristol Cathedral, to which he had been appointed +in 1887. He was highly successful as a preacher, but is chiefly known by +his literary labours, especially those connected with Lamb and Hood, whose +works he edited. The volumes on Lamb and on Crabbe in the 'English Men of +Letters' series are by him, and he wrote a memoir of Hood for his edition +of the works. A volume of his sermons under the title of _The Gospel of +Human Life_ was published after his death in 1904. Cf. Edith Sichel, _Life +and Letters of Canon Ainger_. + +AINMILLER ([=i]n'mil-er), Max Emanuel, a German artist who may be regarded +as the restorer of the art of glass-painting, born 1807, died 1870. As +inspector of the State institute of glass-painting at Munich he raised this +art to a high degree of perfection by the new or improved processes +introduced by him. Under his supervision this establishment (which +afterwards became his own) produced a vast number of painted windows for +ecclesiastical and other buildings, among the principal being a series of +forty windows, containing a hundred historical and scriptural pictures, in +Glasgow Cathedral. Some of his work is in St. Paul's Cathedral, and his +finest productions are the windows in the Cathedrals of Cologne and +Regensburg. + +AINOS ([=i]'n[=o]z; that is, men), the native name of an uncivilized race +of people inhabiting the Japanese island of Yesso, as also Sakhalien, and +the Kurile Islands, and believed to be the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan. +They do not average over 5 feet in height, but are strong and active. They +are very hairy, wear matted beards, and have black hair which they allow to +grow till it falls over their shoulders. Their complexion is dark brown, +approaching to black. They support themselves by hunting and fishing. There +are numerous legends relating to the Ainos. According to one of these, of +Japanese origin, they descended from the constellation of the Bear, whilst +another mentions as their ancestor a certain Okikurumi who came down from +heaven. The Ainos call themselves Ainu Utara, and the Chinese refer to them +as the Tungi (barbarians of the East). They are very superstitious, and +worship a number of gods, such as the universal god (Opitta-Kamui), the sun +(Tsup-Kamui), the bear (Isho-Kamui), &c. Cf. J. Batchelor, _The Ainu and +their Folklore_. + +AINSWORTH, Henry, a Puritan divine and scholar, born 1571, died 1622. He +passed great part of his life in Amsterdam, being from 1610 pastor of a +'Brownist' church there (the Brownists being forerunners of the +Independents). He was a voluminous writer, a controversialist and +commentator, and a thorough Hebrew scholar. + +AINSWORTH, Robert, born in Lancashire, 1660, earned his living by keeping a +private school in or near London, and died there in 1743. Among other +learned works he compiled the well-known _Latin and English Dictionary_, +first published in 1736, which passed through many editions, but is now +entirely superseded. + +AINSWORTH, William Francis, an English physician, geologist, and traveller, +born 1807. He was surgeon and geologist to the Euphrates expedition under +Colonel Chesney, and published _Researches in Assyria, Babylonia, and +Chaldaea_ (1838); _Travels in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Armenia_ (1842); +_Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand Greeks_ (1844), &c. Died 1896. + +AINSWORTH, William Harrison, an English novelist, born 1805, died 1882. He +was the son of a Manchester solicitor and intended for the profession of +law, but devoted himself to literature. He wrote _Rookwood_ (1834), _Jack +Sheppard_, illustrated by Cruickshank (1839), and about forty other novels, +including _Guy Fawkes_, _Tower of London_, _Windsor Castle_, _Lancashire +Witches_, _Flitch of Bacon_, &c. His literary models were at first Sir +Walter Scott and afterwards Victor Hugo's _Notre Dame de Paris_. + +AIN-TAB ([.a]-in-t[:a]b'), a town of Northern Syria, 60 miles north of +Aleppo; with manufactures of cottons, woollens, leather, &c., and an +extensive trade. There is here an American Protestant mission. Pop. 45,000. + +AINU. See _Ainos_. + +AIR, the gaseous substance of which our atmosphere consists, being a +mixture mainly of about 78 per cent by volume of nitrogen and 21 per cent +of oxygen. The latter is absolutely essential to animal life, while the +purpose chiefly served by the nitrogen appears to be to dilute the oxygen. +Oxygen is more soluble in water than nitrogen, and hence the air dissolved +in water contains about 10 per cent more oxygen than atmospheric air. The +oxygen therefore available for those animals which breathe by gills is +somewhat less diluted with nitrogen, but it is very much diluted with +water. For the various properties and phenomena connected with air see such +articles as _Atmosphere_, _Aeronautics_, _Air-pump_, _Barometer_, +_Combustion_, _Respiration_, &c. + +AIR, in music (in It. _aria_), a continuous melody, in which some lyric +subject or passion is expressed. The lyric melody of a single voice, +accompanied by instruments, is its proper form of composition. Thus we find +it in the higher order of musical works; as in cantatas, oratorios, operas, +and also independently in concertos.--_Air_ is also the name often given to +the upper or most prominent part in a concerted piece, and is thus +equivalent to _treble_, _soprano_, &c. + +AIR, or ASBEN. See _Asben_. + +AIRA. See _Hair-grass_. + +AIR BEDS AND CUSHIONS, often used by the sick and invalids, are composed of +india-rubber or of cloth made air-tight by a solution of india-rubber, and +when required for use filled with air, which thus supplies the place of the +usual stuffing materials. They tend to prevent bed-sores from continuous +lying in one position. They are also cheap and easily transported, as the +bed or cushion, when not in use, can be packed in small compass, to be +again inflated with air when wanted. + +AIR-BLADDER. See _Swimming-bladder_. + +AIR-BRAKE, a brake operated by air pressure, usually applied to brake, +simultaneously, all the wheels of a moving train. In the Westinghouse type, +by means of an ingenious 'triple valve' carried one on each carriage, the +train pipe is made to serve the dual purpose of supply and control. An +air-pump on the engine compresses air into the main receiver, from which it +flows through a reducing valve into the train pipe. The pressure, acting on +the under side of the triple valve, moves the valve to its extreme +position, thereby opening a passage to an auxiliary receiver on the +carriage and also putting the brake cylinder into communication with the +atmosphere. A spring in the brake cylinder keeps the brakes in the 'off' +position. + +To apply the brakes, the pressure is lowered in the train pipe. The air +pressure in the auxiliary receiver reverses the triple valve, thus +admitting air to the brake cylinder and closing the outlet to atmosphere. + +To remove the brakes, air from the main receiver is passed into the train +pipe, and the triple valve is restored to the 'off' position. See +_Traction_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. W. Wood, _Westinghouse Air-brake_; R. H. +Blackhall, _Air-brake Catechism_. + +AIR-CELLS, cavities in the cellular tissue of the stems and leaves of +plants which contain air only, the juices of the plants being contained in +separate vessels. They are largest and most numerous in aquatic plants, as +in the _Vallisneria spir[=a]lis_ and the _Victoria regia_, the gigantic +leaves of which latter are buoyed up on the surface of the water by their +means.--The minute cells in the lungs of animals are also called air-cells. +There are also air-cells in the bodies of birds. They are connected with +the respiratory system, and are situated in the cavity of the thorax and +abdomen, and sometimes extend into the bones. They are most fully developed +in birds of powerful and rapid flight, such as the albatross. + +AIRD, Thomas, a Scottish poet and miscellaneous writer, friend of Professor +Wilson, De Quincey, and Carlyle, long editor of a newspaper in Dumfries; +born 1802, died 1876. He wrote _The Devil's Dream on Mount Aksbeck_; _The +Old Bachelor_, &c. + +AIRDRIE, a municipal and parliamentary burgh of Scotland, in Lanarkshire, +near the Monkland Canal, 11 miles east of Glasgow, in the centre of a rich +mining district, with a large cotton-mill, foundries and machine shops, +breweries, &c., and collieries and ironworks in its vicinity. Pop. 24,160. + +AIR-ENGINE, an engine in which air heated, and so expanded, or compressed +air is used as the motive power. A great many engines of the former kind +have been invented, some of which have been found to work pretty well where +no great power is required. They may be said to be essentially similar in +construction to the steam-engine, though of course the expansibility of air +by heat is small compared with the expansion that takes place when water is +converted into steam. Engines working by compressed air have been found +very useful in mining, tunnelling, &c., and the compressed air may be +conveyed to its destination by means of pipes. In such cases the waste air +serves for ventilation and for reducing the oppressive heat. + +AIRE ([=a]r), a river of England, W. Riding of Yorkshire, rising to the +south-east of Penyghent and flowing in a south-easterly direction to join +the Ouse above Goole, having passed through Leeds on its way; length, 70 +miles. It is navigable up to Leeds, and forms an important portion of the +Aire and Calder Navigation system, which connects Goole, Hull, &c., with +Liverpool. The Calder enters the Aire at Castleford. The district specially +known as _Airedale_ is the valley of the Aire above Leeds.--A large breed +of terrier, of which there are several varieties, is known as the _Airedale +terrier_, a strongly-built animal, rather long in the legs, with a hard, +close coat. + +AIRE, a river of France, in the Argonne region, a tributary of the Aisne. + +AIRE-SUR-L'ADOUR ([=a]r-s[.u]r-l[.a]-d[:o]r), a small but ancient town of +France, department of Landes, the see of a bishop. Pop. 3000. + +AIRE-SUR-LA-LYS ([=a]r-s[.u]r-l[.a]-l[=e]), an old fortified town of +France, department of Pas de Calais, 10 miles south-east of St. Omer. Pop. +5000. + +AIR-GUN, a gun from which the bullet is propelled by means of compressed +air. Until about the middle of the nineteenth century air-guns were made +with a metal reservoir in the butt; this reservoir was charged with air by +means of a pump, and although one pumping put in enough air for six or +seven shots, the process of loading was awkward and laborious. The +well-known 'Gem' air-gun was worked by means of a spring, which compressed +the air; the great defect of this gun was that the barrel was used as a +cocking-lever, and so was apt to become bent and inaccurate. The 'Gem' was +a smooth-bore gun, and early attempts at rifled air-guns failed, as the +pellet was apt to stick in the barrel, owing to the low velocity not +allowing it to take the grooves. The 'Quackenbush' air-gun made an attempt +to get over this difficulty; its slugs were felted, and the felt took the +rifling and greatly increased the accuracy of the weapon, but, of course, +the ammunition was much more expensive than ordinary air-gun pellets. The +B.S.A. air-rifle is an excellent weapon which has overcome all the early +difficulties of construction. It has a fixed barrel, a separate +cocking-lever, and a rotating breech-plug, and the muzzle velocity of its +16-grain pellet is 600 feet per second, which compares not unfavourably +with the 1000 feet per second of the 40-grain bullet of a .22 long-rifle +cartridge. An air-gun is a splendid weapon for practising markmanship, as +it is almost noiseless, and as its ammunition costs little. It does not +need to be elaborately cleaned, as a miniature rifle does; an occasional +oiling is all that it requires to keep it in order, and with care it should +fire an indefinite number of shots without losing its accuracy. + +AIROLO ([.a]-i-r[=o]'l[=o]), a small town of Switzerland, canton Ticino, at +the southern end of the St. Gothard Tunnel, and the first place on this +route at which Italian is spoken. Pop. 2000. + +AIR-PLANTS, or EPIPHYTES, are plants that grow upon other plants or trees, +apparently without receiving any nutriment otherwise than from the air. The +name is restricted to flowering plants (mosses or lichens being excluded) +and is suitably applied to many species of orchids. The conditions +necessary to the growth of such plants are excessive heat and moisture, and +hence their chief localities are the damp and shady tropical forests of +Africa, Asia, and America. They are particularly abundant in Java and +tropical America. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Air-pump (sectional view)] + +AIR-PUMP, an apparatus by means of which air or other gas may be removed +from or compressed into an enclosed space. It was invented by Otto von +Guericke of Magdeburg about the year 1654, and described in 1657 by Gaspar +Schott. An ordinary suction-pump for water is on the same principle as the +air-pump; indeed, before water reaches the top of the pipe the air has been +pumped out by the same machinery which pumps the water. An ordinary +air-pump (see fig. 1) consists essentially of a cylinder or barrel with a +piston and valves. The barrel is connected to the vessel from which the air +is to be pumped. A is the vessel to be exhausted, C the air-pump cylinder, +P the piston, VV valves in the piston, and O the connection to the vessel +A. When the piston moves downwards from the position shown, it cuts off the +connection with A by passing over O. The length L is made long enough so +that O is kept covered up during the downstroke. The air filling the space +D is compressed, and so lifts the valves VV and passes out through them. +This goes on till the end of the downward stroke, when the volume is very +small indeed. When the upward motion begins, the valves VV close, and the +piston rises and creates a vacuum in D. When the piston rises sufficiently +to uncover O (as in figure), air rushes from A into the highly-exhausted +space D and fills it. The process is repeated indefinitely, and A is +gradually exhausted. + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Toepler Pump Fig. 3.--Sprengel Pump] + +Air-pumps for compressing air are constructed on the same principle, but +the valves act the reverse way. The bicycle pump is a well-known example of +this form of pump. In the Fleuss or Geryk pump greater efficiency is +attained by having layers of oil in the barrel and above the piston. In +nearly all pumps for producing the high vacua necessary, e.g. for the +electric glow-lamp and the X-ray tube, mercury is employed. In one form, +the Toepler pump, a reservoir containing mercury is connected by a flexible +tube to the receiver. (See fig 2. T tube connecting pump to vessel to be +exhausted; R, reservoir, raised above A to drive air in B and C through D +and out into open air; R is then lowered, and B and C fill with air from +receiver. Process then repeated.) By alternately lowering and raising the +reservoir, gas is first withdrawn from the receiver and then expelled +through D, which also acts as a barometer. The process is repeated until +the desired degree of exhaustion is reached. In a second type, the Sprengel +pump, a stream of mercury from a reservoir situated above the vessel to be +exhausted falls in drops through a narrow vertical tube which communicates +with the vessel. (See fig. 3. A, reservoir; B, tube leading to vessel to be +exhausted; C, bubbles of air carried down by mercury.) The air is entrapped +between the falling drops of mercury, and is carried down and expelled with +it. In the filter-pump, water is used instead of mercury, the pump being +connected to an ordinary water-tap. + +A more recent form, the Gaede pump, is of the rotary type. (See fig. 4. C, +iron case; G, glass front; P two-chamber porcelain drum rotated +counter-clockwise about axle A. As mercury leaves chamber R, air enters +from receiver by tube T and opening B. When B is immersed, mercury enters +and air is driven into case C and removed through tube S.) A porcelain +drum, divided into two cells, rotates within an air-tight case more than +half filled with mercury. Each cell has an opening which, when above the +mercury surface, places the cell in communication with the receiver. When +the opening is immersed, the entrapped air passes by another channel into +the outer case, from which it is removed by another less efficient pump. +The pump will reduce the pressure within a 6-litre bulb from 10 millimetres +to .00001 millimetre of mercury in fifteen minutes. Langmuir's pump employs +the principle of the aspirator. A current of mercury vapour passes from a +mercury boiler past a tube communicating with the apparatus to be +exhausted, and sucks the air from it; the mercury is condensed in the upper +part of the pump, returns by side tubes to the boiler and leaves the +extracted air in this condenser. A less efficient pump is employed to +remove the air from the mercury condenser as it accumulates. This pump is +said to be simple and rapid in action, and capable of exhausting an +11-litre bulb from atmospheric pressure to .00001 millimetre in eighty +seconds. + +[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Gaede Pump] + +Air-pumps are largely used in steam engineering, both on land and at sea, +to extract the air which enters the condenser with the steam (see +_Condenser_). Several varieties of air-pumps are in use. 1. The ordinary +piston-pump (fig. 1) in which the piston extracts air by first sucking it +into the cylinder and then expelling it to the atmosphere. The opening +leading to the condenser is closed during the stroke in which the air is +expelled. Two or three cylinders are usually provided on each air-pump set, +the former type being known as a 2-throw pump and the latter a 3-throw +pump. One of the best-known makes is the _Edwards_ air-pump. Piston +air-pumps are driven either by the main engine through a suitable +mechanism, or by a separate electric motor. The amount of power required to +drive them varies with the size of the set, and with large engines of over +10,000 h.p. it is about 1/2 per cent or less. Vacua as high as 29 inches +(Bar. 30 inches) can be readily maintained on large plants by this type of +pump, provided the condenser is suitably designed. In well-maintained +plants bad vacua are commonly due to deficient air extraction, which may +arise from the low-pressure air-piping not being air-tight, or from the +air-pump being too small. 2. The water-ejector type uses the momentum of a +jet of water to extract the air entrained with it. Well-known types of this +plant are the ordinary barometric jet-condenser and the _Leblanc_ air-pump. +In the latter type, a rotating wheel, which carries vanes, forcibly throws +sheets of water into a pipe communicating with the condenser. The sheets of +water lie across the pipe, and the space between them is filled up with air +sucked from the condenser. This water, with the entrained air, is thrown +out, against the atmospheric pressure, by the momentum imparted to the +water sheets by the rotating wheel. Very high vacua can be obtained with +the Leblanc pump, but the power required to drive it is more than is +required with a 3-throw piston-pump. (Cp. Sprengel pump above). 3. A +steam-ejector is also used, a jet of steam taking the place of the sheets +of water in the Leblanc type. Parsons' _augmentor condenser_ works on this +principle. A small jet of steam sucks the air from the main condenser and +compresses it into a small so-called augmentor condenser. The pressure in +this condenser is a little higher than the pressure in the main condenser, +but it is sufficient to enable an ordinary 3-throw pump to be used +efficiently. The steam used to extract the air is condensed in the +augmentor condenser by cold water, and the interior of the augmentor +condenser is connected to the inlet of an ordinary 3-throw pump. The +3-throw pump is called upon to deal with the air at a slightly higher +pressure than the condenser pressure, and the vacuum in the main condenser +is improved by the drop of pressure which exists between the augmentor +condenser and the main condenser. In a well-designed plant, for instance, a +3-throw pump might be used to maintain a vacuum of 29 inches in the +augmentor condenser, while the steam jet would provide another 1/2 inch of +vacuum, giving 29-1/2 inches vacuum in the main condenser. The _pressure_ +in the main condenser is thereby reduced from 1 inch Hg. to 1/2 inch Hg.; a +reduction of _one-half_. (Cp. Langmuir's pump above--using a mercury-vapour +jet instead of a steam jet.)--BIBLIOGRAPHY: S. P. Thompson, _The +Development of the Mercurial Air-Pump_; E. Hausbrand, _Evaporating, +Condensing, and Cooling Apparatus_. + +AIR-RAIDS. Apart from various sporadic bomb-dropping attacks by the +Italians in Tripoli in 1913, the first air-raid proper was made by a +Zeppelin on Antwerp during the investiture of that city by the Germans in +1914. Later on this new method of warfare was developed to a considerable +extent by both sides during the Great European War, both air-ships and +aeroplanes being used. Air-craft for this purpose have been likened to +long-range guns, with the advantage of greater precision, because the +target is in view, and very much longer effective range--the Germans, for +example, used to raid London, and on one occasion Edinburgh, from bases +situated in North Germany and on the Schleswig coast. Air-raids are of +great value in affecting the _moral_ of the enemy country by bringing home +the effects of war in its most terrifying aspect to the civilian population +at home, and thus causing the dislocation of traffic and diminishing the +output of munitions. Their practical value is in attacking and destroying +munition-factories, army head-quarters, naval bases, &c., in addition to +such important work as the demolition of ammunition-dumps, and cutting +lines of communication behind the front. + +Various protective devices against raiding aircraft have been invented. +Among these are high-angle guns, capable of throwing shells to a height of +some 30,000 feet, though possibly the most effective defence is small +high-speed aeroplanes armed with machine-guns and capable of reaching great +heights in a short space of time. For use at night, kite-balloons (see +_Balloons_) are sent up in clumps connected together by cables. From the +cables is suspended a network of steel wires, which is invisible to the +hostile air-craft, and in which they may become entangled and so brought +down. These have been raised to a height of as much as 12,000 feet. For +raiding purposes two types of aeroplane--in addition to air-ships--have +been developed. 'Day bombers' carry out raids in daylight at heights of +12,000 to 20,000 feet on points from 50 to 100 miles behind the lines. +'Night-bombers' are slower machines which raid well into the enemy's +territory--up to 200 or more miles--at heights varying from 8000 to 12,000 +feet. It is usual for night-raids to be carried out by squadrons of +machines flying in formation, each machine carrying about a ton of bombs +(in 1918). Air-ships can carry 5-10 tons of bombs to places up to 1000 +miles distant from their bases. + +During the last months of the war, our Independent Air Force dropped 500 +tons of bombs on German objectives, and this raiding over a wide area of +industrial Germany played no small part in causing that loss of spirit +among the enemy which led eventually to their request for an armistice, and +their virtual capitulation. + +AIR-SHIPS + +[Illustration] + +AIR-SHIPS, lighter-than-air craft provided with means of propulsion and +steering. The air-ship, unlike the aeroplane, is not dependent upon its +engines for its power to remain in flight, but derives its sustentation +from the hydrogen gas with which it is filled. Hydrogen, first weighed by +Henry Cavendish in 1766, is the lightest gas known, being 14.47 times +lighter than air. In the pure state it has a lifting force of 71.155 lb. +per 1000 cu. feet, but for calculation purposes is usually assumed to +contain 5 per cent of impurities, giving a 'lift' of approximately 68 lb. +per 1000 cu. feet. Hydrogen is, when mixed with air, highly inflammable, +and helium has therefore been suggested as a substitute. This has a lift, +when pure, of about 65 lb. per 1000 cu. feet, but is only found in a few +places in America and is therefore at present too expensive to be used in +quantities. The lift of any given quantity of hydrogen depends upon the +difference between its weight and that of an equal volume of air. As the +amount, and therefore weight, of air contained in a given space varies with +the barometric pressure and temperature, the lift of hydrogen given above +varies also. These figures are based upon a temperature of 60deg F. and a +barometric pressure of 30 inches. As an air-ship rises from the ground, the +density, and therefore pressure, of the air decreases, which causes the +hydrogen in the envelope to expand proportionately. Rise in temperature has +the same effect. When an air-ship ascends, the gas therefore expands, and +at a certain point would burst the envelope were valves not provided to +allow some of the gas to escape. It is important to realize that as the +expansion occurs at a rate corresponding to the decrease in density no +alteration in lift occurs so long as gas is not lost through the valves. +This would continue indefinitely if the gas-chamber were capable of +stretching indefinitely, but with the cotton-fabric used in practice a +height is reached when gas commences to escape from the automatic valves. +From this moment the lift of the air-ship begins to decrease. At a certain +point this decrease will have reached such a point that the air-ship is 'in +equilibrium', i.e. she weighs precisely the same as the volume of air she +displaces. This is known as the 'maximum height'. Up to 10,000 feet it is +roughly true that 1/30 of the lift is lost per 1000 foot rise. + +The simplest form of air-ship is the _non-rigid_, which consists of a +rubberized cotton-fabric gas-container (the 'envelope'), from which the +'car', containing engines, crew, &c., is hung by flexible steel-wire ropes. +To resist the bending moment introduced by the weight of the car, the +envelope is inflated with hydrogen under pressure--usually about 25 mm. of +water. So long as this pressure is greater than any local compression due +to bending or loading in the fabric, the envelope will retain its shape. On +coming down from a height, owing to the loss of gas, as already explained, +the pressure will be reduced, and something must be done to restore it or +the envelope will buckle. Fabric bags, known as 'ballonets', are therefore +fitted inside the envelope, and as the air-ship descends air is forced into +these bags, which supplies the lost pressure and maintains the shape of the +envelope. The height to which a non-rigid air-ship can go, on returning +from which the ballonets will be just full of air and the pressure the same +as at starting, is known as the 'maximum ballonet height'. Ballonets are +usually equivalent in volume to rather less than a quarter of the total +volume of the air-ship--giving a maximum ballonet height of 6000 to 7000 +feet. Usually from two to three ballonets are provided, according to the +size of the air-ship. During the Great European War British non-rigid +air-ships were constructed varying in size from a capacity of 70,000 cu. +feet to 360,000 cu. feet. The former had one 75-h.p. engine, and the latter +two of 375 h.p. each. Owing to difficulties in maintaining the shape and +distributing the weight of the car over a long envelope, it is generally +considered that 500,000 cu. feet probably represents the maximum size in +which the non-rigid form of construction can be used. Above this size the +_semi-rigid_ type is used. In this case the envelope remains as in the +non-rigid, but a girder or 'keel' is introduced between the envelope and +the car, the weight of which is therefore taken by the keel and thence +distributed to the envelope instead of being taken direct from the envelope +as in non-rigids. There has been little development of non-rigids in Great +Britain. The most prominent types are the Italian 'Forlanini', 'Verduzzio', +and military air-ships. The keel, in all these examples, is not a rigid +girder in the vertical sense, as it consists of a number of sections +connected together by links. It is designed to resist compression only so +long as it is held straight by the pressure of the envelope, and is not +capable of taking a bending moment. When a size of about +1,000,000-cu.-foot-hydrogen capacity is reached it becomes economical to +use the _rigid_ method of construction. This is totally distinct from the +other two types, as the non-rigid envelope is replaced by a rigid hull of +sufficient strength to retain its shape without the assistance of any +internal gas-pressure. The hull consists of a number of longitudinal +members--usually built-up girders of 'duralumin', an aluminium +alloy--connected together at distances of 25-30 feet by a number of +'transverse frames', or rings, forming bulkheads. The transverse frames are +also of duralumin girders, and are braced by 'radical wires' running from +the joints of these girders to a ring in the centre. Between each pair of +these transverse frames is a gas-bag containing hydrogen. The gas-bags are +made of rubberized cotton on to which is stuck 'gold-beater's skin', made +from the lining of the intestines of an ox. This is done to prevent +hydrogen leakage. This is necessary, as the fabric of the gas-bags of a +rigid air-ship is lighter and contains less rubber than the envelope of a +non-rigid. + +A '[Delta]'-shaped keel runs along the interior of the ship, its weight +being taken on the two bottom longitudinal girders. The chief function of +the keel is to distribute the load of the various weights to the transverse +frames of the air-ship. In it are slung the petrol-tanks, water-ballast +tanks, bombs, &c., and living accommodation for the crew is also provided +there. Along the bottom runs a walking-way from which access is gained to +the cars and various parts of the air-ship. The cars containing the +engines, wireless-cabin, and pilot's cabin are suspended from the +transverse frames. Some of the cars, instead of being slung below the +centre-line, are slung in pairs some little way up the side of the +air-ship. + +All air-ships are steered by means of rudders and, in the vertical sense, +elevators, in precisely the same way as aeroplanes. Up to the end of 1919 +speeds of 84 miles per hour had been reached and air-ships had climbed to +24,000 feet. The greatest distance covered in one flight was 4500 miles, +while the longest time in the air was effected by R34 on her voyage to +America, which occupied 108 hours--4 days 8 hours. Rigid air-ships of +2,750,000-cu.-foot capacity had been built with a length of nearly 300 feet +and a gross lift of 60 tons. See also _Aeronautics_, +_Balloons_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. Sazerac de Forges, _La Conquete de l'Air_; +Santos Dumont, _My Airships_; Hildebrandt, _Airships: Past and Present_; +Major G. Whale, _British Airships: Past, Present, and Future_. + +AIRY, Sir George Biddell, a distinguished English astronomer, was born at +Alnwick, 27th July, 1801, and educated at Hereford, Colchester, and Trinity +College, Cambridge, where he was senior wrangler in 1823. At Cambridge he +was Lucasian professor of mathematics, and subsequently Plumian professor +of astronomy and experimental philosophy, in the latter capacity having +charge of the observatory. In 1835 he was appointed Astronomer Royal, and +as such his superintendence of the observatory at Greenwich was able and +successful. He resigned this post with a pension in 1881. His important +achievement is the discovery of a new inequality in the motions of Venus +and the earth. He wrote much and made numerous valuable investigations on +subjects connected with astronomy, physics, and mathematics. Among separate +works published by him may be mentioned _Popular Astronomy_, _On Sound and +Atmospheric Vibrations_, _A Treatise on Magnetism_, _On the Undulatory +Theory of Optics_, _On Gravitation_. He died 2nd Jan., 1892. He left an +autobiography, published in 1896. + +AISLE ([=i]l; from Lat. _ala_, a wing), in architecture, one of the lateral +divisions of a church in the direction of its length, separated from the +central portion or nave by piers or pillars. There may be one aisle or more +on each side of the nave. The cathedrals at Chichester, Milan, and Amiens +have five aisles, Antwerp and Paris seven, and that of Cordova nineteen +aisles in all. The nave is sometimes called the central aisle. See +_Cathedral_. + +AISNE ([=a]n), a north-eastern frontier department of France; area, 2838 +sq. miles. It is an undulating, well-cultivated, and well-wooded region, +chiefly watered by the Oise in the north, its tributary the Aisne in the +centre, and the Marne in the south. It contains the important towns of St. +Quentin, Laon (the capital), Soissons, and Chateau Thierry. In the European +War (1914-18) severe fighting took place on the Aisne, and a great battle +was fought on 12th Sep., 1914. General Nivelle's offensive on the Aisne +began in April, 1917. Pop. (1921), 421,575. + +AIVA'LIK, or KIDONIA, a seaport of Asia Minor, on the Gulf of Adramyti, 66 +miles north by west of Smyrna, carrying on an extensive commerce in +olive-oil, soap, cotton, &c. Pop. 21,000. + +AIX ([=a]ks), a town of Southern France, department Bouches-du-Rhone, on +the River Arc, the seat of an archbishop. It is well built, has an old +cathedral and other interesting buildings, including a university, a +library (over 100,000 vols.), museum, &c.; manufactures cotton and woollen +goods, oil, soap, hats, flour, &c.; warm springs, now less visited than +formerly. Aix was founded in 123 B.C. by the Roman consul Gaius Sextius +Calvinus, and from its mineral springs was called _Aquae Sextiae_ (Sextian +Waters). Between this town and Arles, Marius gained his great victory over +the Teutons, 102 B.C. In the Middle Ages the counts of Provence held their +court here, to which the troubadours used to resort. Pop. 29,836. + +AIX, or AIX-LES-BAINS ([=a]ks-l[=a]-ba[n.]), a finely-situated village of +France, department of Savoie, 8 miles north of Chambery, on the side of a +fertile valley, with much-frequented hot springs known to the Romans by the +name of _Aquae Gratianae_, and with ruins of a Roman triumphal arch, and of +a temple of Diana. Pop. 8900. + +AIX-LA-CHAPELLE ([=a]ks-l[.a]-sh[.a]-pel; Ger. _Aachen_), a city of Rhenish +Prussia, 38 miles west by south of Cologne, pleasantly situated in a fine +vale watered by the Wurm, formerly surrounded by ramparts, now converted +into pleasant promenades. It is well built, and though an ancient town has +now quite a modern appearance. The most important building is the +cathedral, the oldest portion of which, often called the nave, was erected +in the time of Charles the Great (Charlemagne) as the palace chapel about +796. It is in the Byzantine style, and consists of an octagon, surrounded +by a sixteen-sided gallery and surmounted by a cupola, in the middle being +the tomb of Charlemagne. The adjoining Gothic choir, begun in 1353 and +finished in 1413, forms the other chief division of the cathedral; it is +lofty and of great elegance, and has fine painted windows. Another +noteworthy building is the Rathaus (town hall), erected in the fourteenth +century. Aix-la-Chapelle, with the adjoining Burtscheid, which may be +considered a suburb, is a place of great commerce and manufacturing +industry, the chief productions being woollen yarns and cloths, needles, +machinery, cards (for the woollen manufacture), railway and other +carriages, cigars, chemicals, silk goods, hosiery, glass, soap, &c. A +considerable portion of its importance and prosperity arises from the +influx of visitors to its sulphur and chalybeate springs and +baths.--Aix-la-Chapelle was known to the Romans as _Aquisgranum_. It was +the favourite residence of Charles the Great, who made it the capital of +all his dominions north of the Alps, and who died here in 814. During the +Middle Ages it was a free imperial city and very flourishing. Thirty-seven +German emperors and eleven empresses have been crowned in it, and the +imperial insignia were preserved here till 1795, when they were carried to +Vienna. The town was in possession of France from 1794 to 1814. Pop. +156,143.--_Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle_, a congress held in 1818, by which +the army of the allies in France was withdrawn after France had paid the +contribution imposed at the peace of 1815, and by which independence was +restored to France.--A _treaty_ of peace concluded at this city, 2nd May, +1668, as a result of the Triple Alliance, put an end to the war carried on +against Spain by Louis XIV in 1667, after the death of his father-in-law, +Philip IV, in support of his claims to a great part of the Spanish +Netherlands, which he urged in the name of his queen, the infanta Maria +Theresa. By this France obtained Lille, Charleroi, Douai, Tournai, +Oudenarde, &c. The _second peace_ of Aix-la-Chapelle, 18th Oct., 1748, +terminated the Austrian war of succession. + +AJACCIO ([.a]-y[.a]ch'[=o]), the capital of Corsica, on the south-west +coast of the island, on a tongue of land projecting into the Gulf of +Ajaccio, the birthplace of Napoleon and the seat of a bishop, with coral +and sardine fisheries, and a considerable trade. There are here a +cathedral, a college with library and museum, marble statue of Napoleon, +monument of the Bonaparte family, &c. Ajaccio is connected by railway with +Bastia and other places, and is becoming a winter resort for people with +weak lungs. Pop. 20,946. + +AJAN'TA, a village and ravine of India, in the north-west of the Nizam's +dominions, about 50 miles north-north-east of Aurangabad. The ravine, 4 +miles N.W. of the village, is celebrated for its cave temples and +monasteries, twenty-nine in number, excavated out of a wall of almost +perpendicular rock about 250 feet high. They are all richly ornamented with +sculpture, and covered with highly-finished paintings, representing +subjects of almost all kinds. The oldest are assigned to about 200 B.C., +the most modern to about A.D. 600, and they may be said to furnish a +continuous record of Buddhist art during 800 years, the faith at the latter +date being practically expelled from India. + +A'JAX (Gr. _Aias_), the name of two Grecian chiefs who fought against Troy, +the one being son of O[)i]leus, King of Locris, surnamed the Little, the +other son of Telamon, the Great or Telamonian Ajax. The latter was from +Salamis, and sailed with twelve ships to Troy, where he is represented by +Homer as the boldest and handsomest of the Greeks, after Achilles. He had +more than one combat with Hector, against whom he was well matched. On the +death of Achilles, when his arms, which Ajax claimed, were awarded to +Ulysses, he became insane and killed himself. This is the subject of +Sophocles' tragedy _Ajax_. The other Ajax was hardly of less importance as +a champion on the Greek side in the Trojan war. At the fall of Troy he +entered the temple of Pallas Athena and seized Cassandra. He lost his life +during his homeward voyage, either by shipwreck or by a flash of lightning +sent by Athena, who was offended at the violation of her temple. + +AJMERE, AJMIR, or AJMER, a British commissionership or province in India, +Rajputana, divided into the two districts of Ajmere and Mairwara (or +Merwara); area, 2711 sq. miles. The surface of the province, which is +entirely surrounded by native States, is hilly in the north and west, where +there is a branch of the Aravali range, but level in the south and east. +The soil is partly fertile, but there are large barren sandy plains, and +there are no rivers of any importance. There are a large number of tanks +which collect the water of small streams, and are useful for irrigation. +The province suffered severely from famine in 1899-1900, the population +being reduced by 12 or 13 per cent. Pop. 501,395.--_Ajmere_, the capital, +an ancient city, a favourite residence of the Mogul emperors, is 279 miles +S.W. of Delhi, at the foot of Taragarh Hill (2853 feet), on which is a +fort. It is surrounded by a wall, has well-built streets, and possesses a +Government college, as also Mayo College for Rajput nobles, a Scottish +mission, a mosque that forms one of the finest specimens of early +Mahommedan architecture extant, and an old palace of Akbar, now the +treasury. There is a trade in cotton, sugar, salt, &c., and the town is an +important station on the Rajputana railway. Pop. 86,200. + +AJOWAN' (_Ptych[=o]tis Ajowan_), an umbelliferous plant cultivated in +India, Persia, and Egypt, the seeds of which are used in cookery and in +medicine, having carminative properties. The seeds much resemble caraway +seeds, have a strong smell of thyme, and are exported in some quantity to +Europe as a source of _thymol_, now so well known. + +AJU'GA, a genus of plants belonging to the labiate family. See _Bugle_. + +AJ'UTAGE, a short tube of a tapering shape fitting into the side of a +reservoir or vessel to regulate the discharge of water from it. Also, the +nozzle of a tube for regulating the discharge of water to form a _jet +d'eau_. + +AKABAH', Gulf of, an arm of the Red Sea, on the east side of the Peninsula +of Sinai, which separates it from the Gulf of Suez; nearly 100 miles long. +The village of Akabah, at the northern extremity of the gulf, is supposed +to be near the site of the _Ezion-geber_ of the Old Testament; and here +also was Elath, long a place of note. Akabah still carries on a small +trade. It was captured by the Arabs in 1917. + +AKAGAMASEKI. Same as _Simonoseki_. + +AKAROID RESIN, a resin obtained from some of the grass-trees of Australia, +used in varnishes. + +AKASSA, a seaport of Southern Nigeria, on a small island nearly opposite +the chief mouth of the Niger. There are here engineering and other works, +at which ships may be repaired, belonging to the Government. + +AK'BAR (that is 'very great'), a Mogul emperor, the greatest Asiatic prince +of modern times. He was born at Amerkote, in Sind, in 1542, succeeded his +father, Humayun, a grandson of Sultan Baber, at the age of thirteen, and +governed first under the guardianship of his minister, Beyram, but took the +chief power into his own hands in 1560. He fought with distinguished valour +against his foreign foes and rebellious subjects, conquering all his +enemies, and extending the limits of the empire farther than they had ever +been before, although on his accession they embraced only a small part of +the former Mogul Empire. Although a Mohammedan by birth, he abandoned Islam +and founded a new religion which he called 'Divine Faith' (_Diu-i-Olahi_). +His contemporaries bestowed upon him the title of 'Guardian of Mankind'. He +was also a generous patron of literature, and commissioned the Jesuit +missionary, Jerome Xavier, to translate the four gospels into Persian. His +government was remarkable for its mildness and tolerance towards all sects; +he was indefatigable in his attention to the internal administration of his +empire, and instituted inquiries into the population, character, and +productions of each province. The result of his statistical labours, as +well as a history of his reign, were collected by his minister, Abul Fazl, +in a work called _Akbar-Nameh_ (Book of Akbar), the third part of which, +entitled _Ayini-Akbari_ (Institutes of Akbar), was published in an English +translation at Calcutta (1783-6, 3 vols.), and reprinted in London. He died +in 1605. His mausoleum at Secundra, near Agra, is a fine example of +Mohammedan architecture. Cf. V. A. Smith, _Akbar, The Great Mogul_. + +AKEE' (_Blighia sap[)i]da_), a tree of the nat. ord. Sapindaceae, much +esteemed for its fruit. The leaves are somewhat similar to those of the +ash; the flowers are small and white, and produced in branched spikes. The +fruit is lobed and ribbed, of a dull orange colour, and contains several +large black seeds, embedded in a succulent and slightly bitter arillus of a +pale straw colour, which is eaten when cooked. The akee is a native of +Guinea, from whence it was carried to the West Indies by Captain Bligh in +1793. + +A KEMPIS, Thomas. See _Thomas a Kempis_. + +AKEN ([:a]'ken), a Prussian town, province of Saxony, on the left bank of +the Elbe, with manufactures of tobacco, cloth, beetroot sugar, leather, &c. +Pop. 7358. + +A'KENSIDE, Mark, a poet and physician, born in 1721, at +Newcastle-upon-Tyne, died in London in 1770. He was the son of a butcher, +and was sent to the University of Edinburgh to qualify for the ministry, +but chose the study of medicine instead. After three years' residence at +Edinburgh he went to Leyden, and in 1744 became Doctor of Physic. In the +same year he published the _Pleasures of Imagination_, which he is said to +have written in Edinburgh, and which was translated into French by Baron +d'Holbach (1769). In 1746 he wrote his much-praised _Hymn to the Naiads_. +Having settled in London, he became a fellow of the Royal Society, and was +admitted into the College of Physicians. In 1759 he was appointed first +assistant and afterwards head physician to St. Thomas's Hospital. In his +later days he wrote little poetry, but published several medical essays and +observations. The place of Akenside as a poet is not very high, though Dr. +Johnson praised the blank verse of his poems, and his somewhat cumbrous +_Pleasures of Imagination_ was once considered one of the most pleasing +didactic poems in our language. + +AKERMANN', a fortified town and seaport in Bessarabia, near the mouth of +the Dniester, with a good port. The vicinity produces quantities of salt, +and also fine grapes from which excellent wine is made. A treaty was signed +here, 6th Oct., 1826, between Russia and the Porte, by which Moldavia, +Walachia, and Serbia were released from all but nominal dependence on +Turkey. Pop. 40,000. + +AKHALZIK, or ACHALZIK ([.a]-_h_[.a]l'tsik), a town of Russia in Asia, in +the Trans-Caucasian government of Tiflis, 97 miles west of Tiflis, with a +citadel. It was taken by the Russians in 1828. Pop. 15,977. + +AK-HISSAR ('white castle'), a town in Asia Minor, 46 miles N.E. of Smyrna, +occupying the site of the ancient Thyatira, relics of which city are here +abundant. Here the Emperor Valens defeated the usurper Procopius in 366, +and Murad defeated the Prince of Aidin in 1425. Pop. 20,000. + +AKHTYRKA ([.a]_h_-tir'k[.a]), a cathedral town of the Ukraine, government +of Kharkov, with a good trade and some manufactures. Pop. 31,918. + +AKJERMANN ([.a]k-yer-m[.a]n'). Same as _Akermann_. + +AKKAD, the northern portion of ancient Babylonia occupied by the earliest +Semitic invaders when the southern portion was Sumer (or Sumeria) and +occupied by non-Semites. There was also a city of the same name, the +Biblical Accad (_Gen._ x), which was prominent before 2000 B.C. Its ruins +were unearthed between 1917 and 1919. See _Babylonia_. + +AKKAS, a dwarfish race of Central Africa, dwelling in scattered settlements +to the north-west of Lake Albert Nyanza, about lat. 3deg N., lon. 29deg E. +Their height averages about 4-1/2 feet; they are of a brownish or coffee +colour; head large, jaws projecting (or prognathous), ears large, hands +small. They are timid and suspicious, and live almost entirely by the +chase, being exceedingly skilful with the bow and arrow. They were first +seen by the traveller G. A. Schweinfurth in 1870. + +AKMOLINSK', a Russian province in Central Asia, largely consisting of +steppes and wastes; the chief rivers are the Ishim and Sari-Su; and it +contains the larger part of Lake Balkash. Capital, Omsk. Area, about +225,070 sq. miles. Pop. 1,523,700.--_Akmolinsk_ is a place of some +importance for its caravan trade. Pop. 11,000. + +AKO'LA, a town of India, in Berar, the residence of the commissioner of +Berar, on the River Morna, 150 miles W. by S. of Nagpur; with walls and a +fort, and some trade in cotton. Pop. 29,289. + +AK'RON, a town of the United States, in Ohio, 100 miles N.E. of Columbus, +on an elevated site. Being furnished with ample water-power by the Little +Cuyahoga, it possesses large flour-mills, woollen factories, manufactures +of iron goods, &c. In the vicinity extensive beds of mineral paint are +worked. Pop. (1920), 208,435. + +AKSU' ('white water'), a town of Eastern or Chinese Turkestan, 300 miles +from Kashgar, in the valley of the Aksu. It is an important centre of trade +between Russia, China, and Tartary, and has manufactures of cotton cloth, +leather, and metal goods. Formerly the residence of the kings of Kashgar +and Yarkand. Pop. 30,000. + +AKYAB', a seaport of Lower Burmah, capital of the province of Arracan, at +the mouth of the River Kuladan or Akyab, of recent upgrowth, well built, +possessing a good harbour, and carrying on an important trade, its chief +exports being rice and petroleum. Pop. 35,680. + +AL, the article in the Arabic language. It appears in English words derived +from the Arabic, such as Algebra, Alchemy, Alcove. + +ALABAMA (al-a-b[.a]'ma), one of the United States, bounded by Tennessee, +Georgia, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi; area, 51,998 sq. +miles. The southern part, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, is +low and level, and wooded largely with pine, hence known as the 'pine-woods +region'; the middle is hilly, with some tracts of level sand or prairies; +the north is broken and mountainous. The State is intersected by the Rivers +Alabama, Tombigbee, Mobile, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Tennessee, &c., some of them +navigable for several hundred miles. The soil is various, being in some +places, particularly in the south, sandy and barren, but in most parts is +fertile, especially in the river valleys and in the centre, where there is +a very fertile tract known as the 'cotton belt'. The climate in general is +warm, and in the lowlying lands skirting the rivers is rather unhealthy. In +the more elevated parts it is healthy and agreeable, the winters being mild +and the summers tempered by breezes from the Gulf of Mexico. The staple +production is cotton, especially in the middle and south, where rice and +sugar are also grown; in the north the cereals (above all maize) are the +principal crops. Alabama possesses extensive beds of iron ore and coal, +with marble, granite, and other minerals; and coal and iron mining, and the +smelting and working of iron, are now important industries. The manufacture +of cotton goods is extensively carried on. The foreign trade is +concentrated in Mobile, whence cotton is the principal export. The State +sends eight representatives to Congress. Its principal towns are +Montgomery, the seat of government, and Mobile, the chief port. There is a +State university at Tuscaloosa, a university connected with the Methodist +Episcopal body, several State normal colleges, besides professional +schools, &c., in the principal towns. Alabama became a State in 1819. It +was one of the slave States. Pop. (1920), 2,348,174. + +ALABAMA, a river of the United States, in the State of Alabama, formed by +the junction of the Coosa and the Tallapoosa. After a course of 300 miles +it joins the Tombigbee and assumes the name of the Mobile. + +ALABAMA, The, a ship built at Birkenhead to act as a privateer in the +service of the Confederate States of North America during the civil war +begun in 1861. She was a wooden screw steamer with two engines of 350 h.p. +each, 1040 tons burden, and carried eight 32-pounders. Before she was +launched her destination was made known to the British Government, but +owing to some legal formalities the orders given for her detention did not +reach Liverpool till the day after she had left that port (29th July, +1862). She received her armament and stores at the Azores, and entered on +her destructive career, capturing and burning merchant vessels, till she +was sunk in a fight with the Federal war steamer _Kearsarge_, off +Cherbourg, 19th June, 1864. As early as the winter of 1862 the United +States Government declared that they held themselves entitled at a suitable +period to demand full compensation from Britain for the damages inflicted +on American property by the _Alabama_ and several other cruisers that had +been built, supplied, or recruited in British ports or waters. After a long +series of negotiations it was agreed to submit the final settlement of the +question to a court of arbitration, consisting of representatives of +Britain and the United States, and of three other members, appointed by the +King of Italy, the President of Switzerland, and the Emperor of Brazil. +This court met at Geneva, 17th Dec., 1871, and a claim for indirect damages +to American commerce having been abandoned by the United States Government, +the decree was given in Sept., 1872, that Britain was liable to the United +States in damages to the amount of 15,500,000 dollars (about L3,229,200). +After all awards were made to private claimants about 8,000,000 dollars +still remain unclaimed. + +ALABANDITE, or MANGANBLENDE, a black submetallic mineral. + +ALABAS'TER, a name applied to a granular variety of gypsum or hydrated +sulphate of lime. It was much used by the ancients for the manufacture of +ointment and perfume boxes, vases, and the like. It has a fine granular +texture, is usually of a pure white colour, and is so soft that it can be +scratched with the nail. It is found in many parts of Europe; in great +abundance and of peculiarly excellent quality in Tuscany. From the finer +and more compact kinds, vases, clock-stands, statuettes, and other +ornamental articles are made, and from inferior kinds the cement known as +plaster of Paris. A variety of carbonate of lime, closely resembling +alabaster in appearance, is used for similar purposes under the name of +_Oriental alabaster_. It is usually stalagmitic or stalactitic in origin +and is often of a yellowish colour. It may be distinguished from true +alabaster by being too hard to be scratched with the nail. + +ALAC'TAGA (_Alact[)a]ga jac[)u]lus_), a rodent mammal, closely allied to +the jerboa, but somewhat larger in size, with a still longer tail. Its +range extends from the Crimea and the steppes of the Don across Central +Asia to the Chinese frontier. + +ALADDIN, son of Mustafa, a poor tailor of China. A magician, who pretended +to be his uncle, gave him a magic ring and sent him to fetch 'the wonderful +lamp' from a cave. Aladdin secured the lamp, but refused to give it to the +magician, who shut him in the cave. Aladdin was rescued by the Genie of the +Ring, and by means of the Genie of the Lamp acquired great wealth, built a +magnificent palace, and married the Sultan's daughter. Afterwards the +magician got possession of the lamp, and caused the palace to be +transported into Africa. Aladdin was arrested, but was again saved by the +Genie of the Ring. He poisoned the magician, recovered the lamp, and by its +means restored his palace to its original site. + +ALAGO'AS, a maritime State of Brazil; area, 22,577 sq. miles; pop. +946,617.--_Alagoas_, the former capital of the province, is situated on the +south side of an arm of the sea, about 20 miles distant from Maceio, to +which the seat of government was transferred in 1839. Pop. about 4000. + +ALAIS ([.a]-l[=a]), a town of Southern France, department of Gard, 87 miles +N.W. of Marseilles, with coal, iron, and lead mines, which are actively +worked, and chalybeate springs, which have many visitors during the autumn +months. The treaty of Alais, signed on 28th June, 1629, ended the Huguenot +wars in France. Pop. 29,800. + +ALAJUELA ([.a]-l[.a]-_h_u-[=a]'l[.a]), a town of Central America, in the +State of Costa Rica. Pop. 12,000. + +ALA-KUL, a lake in Russian Central Asia, near the borders of Mongolia, in +lat. 46deg N. lon. 81deg 40' E.; area, 660 sq. miles. + +ALAMANNI. See _Alemanni_. + +ALAMAN'NI, Luigi, an Italian poet, of noble family, born at Florence in +1495. Suspected of conspiring against the life of Cardinal Giulio de' +Medici, who then governed Florence in the name of Pope Leo X, he fled to +Venice, and when the cardinal ascended the papal chair under the name of +Clement VII he took refuge in France, where he henceforth lived, being +employed by Francis I and Henry II in several important negotiations. He +died in 1556. His principal works are a didactic poem, _La Coltivazione_, a +splendid imitation of Virgil's _Georgics_ (1546); a comedy entitled +_Flora_; two epics, _Girone il Cortese_ (1548) and _L'Avarchide_, an +imitation of the _Iliad_ (1570); and a collection of eclogues, satires, +psalms, &c., partly in blank verse, the invention of which is contested +with him by Trissino, a contemporary. + +AL'AMO, a fort in Bexar county, Texas, United States, celebrated for the +resistance its occupants (140 Texans) made to a Mexican force of 4000 from +23rd Feb. to 6th March, 1836. At the latter date only six Texans remained +alive, and on their surrendering they were slaughtered by the Mexicans. + +AL'AMOS, a town of Mexico, State of Sonora, the capital of a mining +district. Pop. 12,000. + +ALAND (o'land) ISLANDS, a numerous group of islands and islets, about +eighty of which are inhabited, formerly in Russia, situated in the Baltic +Sea, near the mouth of the Gulf of Finland; area, 468 sq. miles. The +principal island, Aland, distant about 30 miles from the Swedish coast, is +18 miles long and about 14 broad. The fortress of Bomarsund, here situated, +was destroyed by an Anglo-French force in Aug., 1854. The inhabitants, who +are of Swedish extraction, employ themselves mostly in fishing. The islands +were ceded by Sweden to Russia in 1809, and proclaimed a province of +Finland in 1918. A referendum of the inhabitants, taken in Dec., 1918, +decided in favour of union with Sweden, but on 22nd Oct., 1921, an +agreement for the neutralization of the islands was signed at Genoa. Pop. +18,000. + +ALA'NI, or ALANS, one of the warlike tribes which migrated from Asia +westward at the time of the decline of the Roman Empire. They are first met +with in the region of the Caucasus, where Pompey fought with them. From +this centre they spread over the south of modern Russia to the confines of +the Roman Empire. About the middle of the fifth century they joined the +Vandals, among whom they became lost to history. + +ALARCON' Y MENDO'ZA, Don Juan Ruiz de, one of the most distinguished +dramatic poets of Spain, born in Mexico about the end of the sixteenth or +the beginning of the seventeenth century. He came to Europe about 1622, and +in 1628 he published a volume containing eight comedies, and in 1634 +another containing twelve. One of them, called _La Verdad Sospechosa_ (The +Truth Suspected), published in 1630 in a collection bearing the name of +Lope de Vega, furnished Corneille with the groundwork and greater part of +the substance of his _Menteur_. Hence Corneille's declaration in the +preface to that play that he had borrowed the subject from Lope de Vega. +His _Tejedor de Segovia_ (Weaver of Segovia) and _Las Paredes Oyen_ (Walls +have Ears) are still performed on the Spanish stage. He died in 1639. + +AL'ARIC I, King of the Visigoths, was born about the middle of the fourth +century, probably in 370, and is first mentioned in history in A.D. 394, +when Theodosius the Great gave him the command of his Gothic auxiliaries. +The dissensions between Arcadius and Honorius, the sons of Theodosius, +inspired Alaric with the intention of attacking the Roman Empire. In 396 he +ravaged Greece, from which he was driven by the Roman general Stilicho, but +made a masterly retreat to Illyria, of which Arcadius, frightened at his +successes, appointed him governor. In 400 he invaded Italy, but was +defeated by Stilicho at Pollentia (403), and induced to transfer his +services from Arcadius to Honorius on condition of receiving 4000 lb. of +gold. Honorius having failed to fulfil this condition, Alaric made a second +invasion of Italy, during which he besieged Rome three times. The first +time (408) the city was saved by paying a heavy ransom; the second (409) it +capitulated, and Honorius was deposed, but shortly afterwards restored. His +sanction of a treacherous attack on the forces of Alaric brought about the +third siege, and the city was taken 24th Aug., 410, and sacked for six +days, Alaric, however, doing everything in his power to restrain the +violence of his followers. He quitted Rome with the intention of reducing +Sicily and Africa, but died at Cosenza in 410. Legend has it that he was +buried beneath the river-bed of the Busenzo, the course of which was +temporarily turned aside for the purpose. + +AL'ARIC II, King of the Visigoths from A.D. 484 to 507. At the beginning of +his reign the dominions of the Visigoths were at their greatest extent, +embracing three-fourths of the modern Spain and all Western Gaul to the +south of the Loire. His unwarlike character induced Clovis, King of the +Franks, to invade the kingdom of the Visigoths. In a battle near Poitiers +(507) Alaric was slain and his army completely defeated. The _Breviarium +Alaricianum_, a code of laws derived exclusively from Roman sources, was +compiled by a body of Roman jurists at the command of this King Alaric. + +ALARM, in military language, a signal, given by beat of drum, bugle-call, +or firing of a gun, to warn a camp or garrison of a surprise intended or +actually made by the enemy. A place, called the _alarm-post_, is generally +appointed at which the troops are to assemble when an alarm is +given.--_Alarm_ is also the name given to several contrivances in which +electricity is made use of, as a _fire-alarm_, by which intelligence is at +once conveyed to the proper quarter when a fire breaks out; a +_burglar-alarm_, an arrangement of wires and a battery in a house intended +to set a bell or bells ringing should a burglar attempt to gain entrance. + +ALARM-CLOCK, one which can be set so as to ring loudly at a certain hour to +wake from sleep or excite attention. + +ALA-SHEHR ([.a]-l[.a]-sh[=a]r') (ancient PHILADELPHIA), a town in Asia +Minor, 100 miles east of Smyrna, famous as the seat of one of the first +Christian churches, and still having a vast number of interesting remains +of antiquity, consisting of fragments of beautiful columns, sarcophagi, +fountains, &c. It is a place of some importance, carrying on a thriving +trade, chiefly with Smyrna, to which runs a railway. Pop. 15,000. + +ALAS'KA, a territory belonging to the United States, comprising all that +portion of the north-west of North America which lies west of the 141st +meridian of west longitude, together with an irregular strip of coast-land +(and the adjacent islands), extending south to lat. 54deg 40' N., and lying +between Canada and the Pacific (the boundary being adjusted in 1903); total +area, about 590,884 sq. miles. The chief river is the Yukon, a great +stream, now navigated in summer for most of its course. The principal +mountains (among which are several volcanoes) are Mounts McKinley (20,470 +feet) and Wrangell (17,400 feet). The climate of the interior is very +severe in winter, but in summer the heat is intense; on the Pacific coast +it is mild but moist. Alaska produces excellent timber. Numbers of +fur-bearing animals abound, such as the fur-seal, sea-otter, beaver, fox, +mink, marten, &c.; and the fur trade has long been valuable. The coasts and +rivers swarm with fish, and salmon and cod are caught and exported. Gold is +now mined in several localities, especially Cape Nome, where a town has +sprung up. The aboriginal inhabitants consist of Esquimaux and Indians. +Alaska, called Russian America until 1867, was sold to the United States +for 7,200,000 dollars, the acquisition being ratified by Congress on 20th +June, 1867. It has a legislative assembly consisting of eight senators and +sixteen representatives, and the legislature meets biennially since 1913. +The capital was formerly Sitka, on Baranoff Island, but is now Juneau, on +Gastineau Channel. Pop. 64,356, latest estimate being +75,000.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. W. Greely, _Handbook of Alaska_; J. Muir, +_Travels in Alaska_. + +ALASKITE, an igneous rock consisting of quartz and felspar. See _Granite_. + +ALAS'SIO, a seaport of North Italy, on the Gulf of Genoa, a winter resort +of people from England. Pop. 5000. + +ALASTOR, in Greek mythology, is a surname of Zeus (cf. Lat. Jupiter +_Vindex_) describing him as the avenger of evil deeds. The name or epithet +is also used to designate any deity or demon who avenges wrongs committed +by men. _Alastor_ is the title of a poem by Shelley. + +ALATAU ([.a]-l[.a]-tou'), the name of three considerable mountain ranges of +Central Asia, on the Russian and Chinese frontiers. + +ALATYR ([.a]-l[.a]-tir'), a town in Russia, government Simbirsk, at the +confluence of the Alatyr with the Sura, with a considerable trade. Pop. +11,000. + +ALAU'DA, a genus of insessorial birds, which includes the larks. See +_Lark_. + +A'LAVA, a hilly province in the north of Spain, one of the three Basque +provinces; area, 1175 sq. miles; covered by branches of the Pyrenees, the +mountains being clothed with oak, chestnut, and other timber, and the +valleys yielding grain, vegetables, and abundance of fruits. There are iron +and copper mines, and inexhaustible salt springs. Capital, Vittoria. Pop. +97,692. + +[Illustration: A, Alb with its Apparels _a_, _b_, and Girdle _c_; B, Amice; +C, Stole] + +ALB (from Lat. _albus_, white), a clerical vestment of the Catholic Church +worn by priests while officiating in the more solemn functions of divine +service. It is a long robe of white linen reaching to the feet, bound round +the waist by a cincture, and fitting more closely to the body than the +surplice. It is now little used except during Mass. After the Reformation +the _alb_ was not used in the Church of England, but since the ritualistic +revival in the nineteenth century it has again been introduced into a +number of churches. + +ALBA, the name of several towns in ancient Italy, the most celebrated of +which was Alba Longa, a city of Latium, according to tradition built by +Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, 300 years before the foundation of Rome, at +one time the most powerful city of Latium. It ultimately fell under the +dominion of Rome, when the town was destroyed, it is said. In later times +its site became covered with villas of wealthy Romans. + +ALBA (anciently ALBA POMPEIA), a town of Northern Italy, about 30 miles +S.E. of Turin, is the see of a bishop, has a cathedral, bishop's palace, +church with fresco paintings by Perugino, &c. Pop. 6872. + +ALBA, Duke of. See _Alva_. + +ALBACETE ([.a]l-b[.a]-th[=a]'t[=a]), a town in Southern Spain, capital of +the province of the same name, 106 miles N.N.W. of Cartagena, with a +considerable trade, both direct and transit, and manufactures of knives, +daggers, &c. Pop. 24,805.--The province has an area of 5737 sq. miles, and +a pop. of 273,380. + +ALBA LONGA. See _Alba_. + +ALBAN, St., the earliest British martyr, flourished in the third century, +and was, it is said, converted from Paganism by a confessor whom he had +saved from his persecutors. He refused to sacrifice to the gods, and was +executed outside the city of Verulamium (St. Albans) in 285 or 305. + +ALBANI ([.a]l-b[:a]'n[=e]), Francesco, a famous Italian painter, born at +Bologna in 1578, died in 1660. He studied with Guido Reni under the Flemish +painter Calvaert and the Caracci. It is said that his second wife, Doralice +Fioraventi, bore him twelve children of such beauty that they served him as +models for his paintings. Among the best known of his compositions are _The +Sleeping Venus_, _Diana in the Bath_, _Danae Reclining_, _Galatea on the +Sea_, _Europa on the Bull_. + +ALBA'NI, Madame, maiden name Marie Louise Emma Cecile Lajeunesse, famous +singer, was born near Montreal in 1852, was trained at home by her father, +and studied also in Paris and Milan. She made her first public appearance +in Europe at Messina, in Bellini's _La Sonnambula_, and in 1872 sang in the +Royal Italian Opera in London. Since then she has attained the position of +one of the world's foremost singers, both in opera and oratorio. In 1878 +she was married to Mr. Ernest Gye, the operatic manager. She adopted the +professional name of Albani from Albany, in the United States, where as a +girl she sang in the Roman Catholic cathedral. In 1911 she published her +memoirs under the title of _Forty Years of Song_. + +ALBA'NIA, an extensive region stretching along the coast of the Adriatic +for about 290 miles, and having a breadth varying from about 90 to about 50 +miles. The boundary on the east is formed by a range of mountains, and the +country is composed of at least nine ridges of hills, of which six are in +Lower or Southern Albania (ancient Epirus) and the remainder in Central and +Upper or Northern Albania. There are no large rivers, and in summer many of +the streams are completely dry. The Drin or Drino is the largest. The most +beautiful lake is that of Ochrida, 20 miles long, 8 broad at the widest +part. The Lake of Scutari, in Upper Albania, is the largest. Among trees +Albania has many species of oak, the poplar, hazel, plane, chestnut, +cypress, and laurel. The vine flourishes, together with the orange, almond, +fig, mulberry, and citron; maize, wheat, and barley are cultivated. Its +fauna comprises bears, wolves, and chamois; sheep, goats, horses, asses, +and mules are plentiful. The chief exports are live stock, wool, hides, +timber, oil, salt-fish, cheese, and tobacco. The chief ports are Prevesa, +Valona, and Durazzo. The population, about 850,000, consists chiefly of +Albanians or Arnauts, or, as they call themselves, Skupetars, i.e. +inhabitants of the mountains (by the Turks they are called Arnauts, by the +Greeks Arbanites, and by the Serbs Arbanasi). They are spread along the +coasts of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. History and legend afford little or +no record of the arrival of the Albanian race in the Balkan Peninsula. It +may, however, be safely asserted that the Albanians are the direct +descendants of the earliest Aryan immigrants, who were represented in +historical times by the kindred Illyrians, Macedonians, and Epirots. The +majority live in Albania, the rest in Montenegro, Greece, Southern Italy, +Sicily, Bessarabia, and Asia Minor. As regards religion they are either +Christians or Mohammedans. They are divided into several tribes, among whom +the Suliotes are partly of Greek origin. The Albanian language is a branch +of the Indo-European languages, and related to the long-ago extinct +language of the Messapians. The language consists of numerous dialects, +which may be divided into those of the Tosks in the south and the Gheggas +in the north. Though their country became a province of the Turkish +dominions in 1431, they maintained for centuries a certain degree of +independence, which the Porte never found it possible to overcome. On 28th +Nov., 1912, the complete independence of Albania was proclaimed at Valona, +a provisional government was founded under Ismail Kemal Bey, and Albanian +autonomy was agreed to at the Ambassadorial Conference in London on 20th +Dec. On 21st Feb., 1914, the crown was offered to Prince William of Wied, +who arrived at Durazzo on 7th March. The prince was supported and advised +by an International Commission of Control, but he left the country at the +outbreak of hostilities in 1914. Attempts made by Essad Pasha to establish +a military government failed, and the country was overrun by the Austrians, +who captured Durazzo on 28th Feb., 1916. On 3rd June, 1917, the general in +charge of the Italian forces proclaimed Albania an independent country, and +a provisional government was set up at Durazzo. Albanian independence was +recognized by the Powers and Albania admitted to the League of Nations in +Dec., 1920.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. F. Tozer, _Researches in the Highlands of +Turkey_; W. Peacock, _Albania, The Foundling State_. + +ALBA'NO, a city and lake in Italy, the former about 15 miles south-east of +Rome, and on the west border of the lake, amid beautiful scenery. An +ancient tomb in the Etruscan style was for a long time looked upon as the +sepulchre of the Horatii and Curiatii. Here are also the ruins of the +villas of Pompey and Domitian. Pop. 8000.--The lake, situated immediately +beneath the Alban Hill, is of an oval form, 6 miles in circumference, +surrounded by steep banks of volcanic tufa 300 or 400 feet high, and +discharges its superfluous waters by an artificial tunnel at least 2000 +years old. + +ALBANS, St. See _St. Albans_. + +AL'BANY, the original Celtic name probably at first applied to the whole of +Britain, but afterwards restricted to the Highlands of Scotland. It gave +the title of duke formerly to a prince of the blood-royal of Scotland. The +first duke was Robert Stuart (1345-1420), son of Robert II by his mistress +Elizabeth Mure, and brother of Robert III. He was virtual ruler of the +kingdom during the latter years of his brother's reign, and acted as regent +for his nephew James I (kept a prisoner in England) till his own death. +Another nephew, David, Duke of Rothesay, is said to have been starved to +death in Falkland Castle at his instigation. His son Murdoch, second duke, +succeeded him as regent, and was put to death by James for +maladministration. The third duke was Alexander, second son of James II and +brother of James III. A large part of his life was passed in France. His +son John was the fourth who bore the title. He was regent of Scotland +during the minority of James V (1515-23). + +AL'BANY, a city of the United States, capital of the State of New York on +the west bank of the Hudson, 132 miles north of New York city, from and to +which steamboats run daily. The Erie Canal and the numerous railway lines +centring here from all directions greatly contribute to the growth and +prosperity of the city, which carries on an extensive trade. It is a great +mart for timber, and has foundries, breweries, tanneries, &c. Albany was +settled by the Dutch between 1610 and 1614, and the older houses are in the +Dutch style, with the gable-ends to the streets. There is a university, an +observatory, and a State library with 90,000 volumes. The principal public +buildings are the capitol or State-house, which cost about L5,000,000, and +the State-hall for the public offices, a State arsenal, and numerous +churches. Pop. (1920), 113,344. + +AL'BANY, Louisa Maria Caroline, Countess of, a princess of the +Stolberg-Gedern family, was born in 1753, and married, in 1772, the +pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, after which event she bore the above +title. To escape from the ill-treatment of her husband she retired, in +1780, to the house of her brother-in-law at Rome, where she met the poet +Alfieri, whose mistress she became. After the death of Alfieri in 1793 she +opened her famous political and literary salon frequented by the Duchess of +Devonshire, the Duchess of Hamilton, Cardinal Consalvi, Samuel Rogers, +Thomas Moore, Lamartine, and Chateaubriand. She died at Florence in 1824, +where she was buried at the Church of Sta Croce, by the side of Alfieri, +whom she is supposed to have married secretly. + +ALBA'TA, a name sometimes given to German silver. + +[Illustration: Wandering Albatross (_Diom[=e]dea ex[)u]lans_)] + +AL'BATROSS, a large marine swimming bird of several species, of which the +wandering albatross (_Diomed[=e]a ex[)u]lans_) is the best known. The bill +is straight and strong, the upper mandible hooked at the point and the +lower one truncated; there are three webbed toes on each foot. The upper +part of the body is of a greyish brown, and the belly white. It is the +largest sea-bird known, some measuring 17-1/2 feet from tip to tip of their +expanded wings. They abound at the Cape of Good Hope and in other parts of +the southern seas, and in Behring's Straits, and have been known to +accompany ships for whole days without ever resting on the waves. From this +habit the bird is regarded with feelings of attachment and superstitious +awe by sailors, it being reckoned unlucky to kill one. Coleridge has +availed himself of this feeling in his _Ancient Mariner_. The albatross is +met with at great distances from the land, settling down on the waves at +night to sleep. It is exceedingly voracious, whenever food is abundant, +gorging to such a degree as to be unable to fly or swim. It feeds on fish, +carrion, fish-spawn, oceanic mollusca, and other small marine animals. Its +cry is harsh and disagreeable. Its nest is a heap of earth; its eggs are +larger than those of a goose. + +ALBATROSS, a name applied to a certain type of German aeroplanes, much used +for scouting purposes during the European War. + +ALBAY ([.a]l-b[=i]'), a province, town, bay, and volcano in the south-east +part of the Island of Luzon, one of the Philippines. The province is +mountainous but fertile; the town regularly built, with a pop. of 34,000; +the bay capacious, secure, and almost landlocked; and the volcano, which is +always in activity, forms a conspicuous landmark. + +ALBEMARLE, Duke of. See _Monk, George_. + +AL'BENDORF, a village in Prussia, province of Silesia, 50 miles S.W. of +Breslau, remarkable for the pilgrimages made to its church, chapels, +statues, &c. Pop. 1800. + +ALBERONI, Cardinal Giulio (j[=u]'li-o [.a]l-b[=a]-r[=o]'n[=e]), born in +1664 in North Italy, and educated for the Church. In his youth he laboured +as a gardener, but thanks to the protection of the Duc de Vendome, whose +secretary he became, and afterwards of the Duc de Parma, he rose to high +position. The latter sent him as his minister to Madrid, where he gained +the affection of Philip V. He rose by cunning and intrigue to the position +of Prime Minister, became a cardinal, was all-powerful in Spain after the +year 1715, and endeavoured to restore it to its ancient splendour. In +pursuance of this object he invaded Sardinia and Sicily, and indeed +entertained the idea of stirring up a general war in Europe. The alliance +of France and England, however, rendered his schemes abortive, and led to +his dismissal and exile in 1720. He wandered about a long time under false +names, but on the accession of Pope Innocent XIII he was restored to all +the rights and honours of a cardinal. He died in 1752, and was buried at +Piacenza. + +ALBERT, Prince, Albert Francis Augustus Charles Emmanuel, Prince of +Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Prince Consort of England, second son of Ernest I, +Duke of Saxe-Coburg, was born at the Rosenau, a castle near Coburg, on 26th +Aug., 1819. In 1837 he entered the University of Bonn, where he devoted +himself to the studies of political and natural science, history, +philosophy, &c., as well as to those of music and painting. On leaving the +university he made a tour through the chief cities of Italy with Baron +Stockmar. On 10th Feb., 1840, he married his cousin, Queen Victoria of +England. Leopold I, King of the Belgians and uncle of Queen Victoria, was +greatly instrumental in bringing about the marriage. An allowance of +L30,000 a year was settled upon the prince, who was naturalized by Act of +Parliament, received the title of Royal Highness by patent, was made a +field-marshal, a Knight of the Garter, of the Bath, &c. Other honours were +subsequently bestowed upon him, the chief of which was the title of Prince +Consort (1857). His foreign birth at first caused him to be regarded with +some suspicion, but his unfailing tact and genuine ability were not long in +gaining their due recognition. He always carefully abstained from party +politics, but his knowledge of the politics of his adopted country, both +domestic and foreign, was profound and accurate, and must often have been +of service to the queen and her advisers. He always took a deep and active +interest in the welfare of the people in general. His services to the cause +of science and art were very important; he presided over the commission +appointed in 1841 to consider the best means of rebuilding the Houses of +Parliament, and the great exhibition of 1851 owed much of its success to +his activity, knowledge, and judgment. The amendment of the Articles of War +in 1844 which ultimately put an end to duelling was due to his suggestion. +Cambridge University conferred upon him the degree of LL.D., and in 1847 he +was elected Chancellor. He presided and delivered the inaugural address at +the meeting of the British Association at Aberdeen in 1859. He died of +typhoid fever on 14th Dec., 1861, after a short illness. A collection of +his speeches and addresses was published in 1862. A biography of the prince +by Sir Theodore Martin was published in 5 volumes, London, 1875-80. + +ALBERT, first Duke of Prussia, and last grand-master of the Teutonic Order, +was born in 1490; died in 1568. In 1511 he was chosen by the Teutonic +knights grand-master of their order. Being nephew of Sigismund, King of +Poland, the knights hoped by his means to be freed from the feudal +superiority of Poland, and placed under the protection of the empire. This +superiority, however, Sigismund refused to surrender, and war broke out +between uncle and nephew. He subsequently became reconciled to his uncle, +and obtained his investiture as hereditary Duke of Prussia under the Polish +Crown, the territorial rights of the Teutonic Order being thus set aside. +The latter years of his reign were spent in organizing the government and +promoting the prosperity of his duchy; he founded schools and churches, +established a ducal library, and opened the University of Koenigsberg in +1543. + +AL'BERT I, Duke of Austria, and afterwards Emperor of Germany, son of +Rudolph of Hapsburg, was born in 1248. On the death of his father in 1292 +he claimed the Empire, but his arrogant conduct drove the electors to +choose Adolphus of Nassau emperor. Adolphus, after a reign of six years, +having lost the regard of all the princes of the Empire, Albert was elected +to succeed him. A battle ensued near Goellheim, in which Adolphus was slain +by his adversary, who was elected and crowned. Pope Boniface VIII, however, +refused to acknowledge him as emperor, and ordered the electoral princes to +renounce their allegiance to him. On the other hand, Albert formed an +alliance with Philip le Bel of France, and offered so determined and +successful a resistance to the papal authority that Boniface was induced to +withdraw his opposition, on condition that Albert would break with his +French ally. During the subsequent years of his reign the Emperor was +engaged in unsuccessful wars with Holland, Hungary, Bohemia, and other +States. His measures still further to strengthen his authority over the +Swiss Forest Cantons of Unterwalden, Schwyz, and Uri drove the inhabitants +into open revolt in Jan. 1308. While on his way to crush the Swiss he was +assassinated, at Windisch in May, 1308, by his nephew John, Duke of Suabia, +called afterwards the Parricide, whose inheritance he had seized upon. + +ALBERT I, King of the Belgians, born on 8th April, 1875, at Brussels. He is +the son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders (died 17th Nov., 1905), and +of Princess Marie of Hohenzollern (born 17th Nov., 1845). After the death +of his cousin, the Duke of Brabant, and of his father in 1905, Prince +Albert became heir apparent. In 1906 he became member of the Belgian Senate +and in 1907 was appointed by his uncle, Leopold II, Lieutenant-General. On +2nd Oct., 1900, he married Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Duke Charles +Theodor of Bavaria; there are three children. He ascended the Belgian +throne in Nov., 1909, after the death of his uncle Leopold II. + +ALBERT EDWARD, or simply EDWARD, one of the equatorial lakes of Africa, +otherwise known as _Muta Nzige_ (q.v.). + +ALBERT HALL, an amphitheatre in the Italian Renaissance style in +Kensington, London, built during 1867-71 for concerts and assemblies. It +can seat 9000 people, and its organ, which has nearly 9000 pipes, is one of +the largest in the world. + +ALBERT MEMORIAL, the monument erected in Kensington Gardens, London, in +memory of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. It is the work of Sir +Gilbert Scott, and its style is Victorian Gothic. + +ALBERT NYAN'ZA, a lake of Africa, one of the headwaters of the Nile, lying +(approximately) between lat. 2deg 30' and 1deg 10' N., and with its +north-east extremity in about lon. 28deg E.; general direction from +north-east to south-west, surface about 2500 feet above sea-level. It is +surrounded by precipitous cliffs, and bounded on the west and south-west by +great ranges of mountains. It abounds with fish, and its shores are +infested with crocodiles and hippopotami. It receives the Victoria Nile +from the Victoria Nyanza, and the White Nile issues from its northern +extremity. + +ALBERT-BAPAUME. Along the great trunk road from Albert to Bapaume and on +either side of it, fierce fighting took place during the Somme offensive of +1916, marked by the stages La Boiselle, Pozieres and Le Sars. When, in +Feb., 1917, the Germans began the great retreat, the fortified village of +Pys on the left of the road was seized at a rush. On the 26th the village +of Warlencourt fell, and two days later Thilley village 1-1/2 miles from +Bapaume, was taken. The British troops, avoiding direct assaults, gradually +encircled the town, forcing the Germans to withdraw. It was entered on 17th +March. + +ALBERTA, a province of Canada, established on 1st Sept., 1905, and +comprising the former territory of Alberta and the part of the former +territory of Athabasca lying west of the meridian 110deg, and having the +new province of Saskatchewan on the east, British Columbia on the west, the +United States on the south, and Mackenzie territory on the north; area, +255,285 sq. miles. A large part of the area on the west is occupied by the +Rocky Mountains, which are shared in common with Alberta and British +Columbia, and consist mostly of a series of more or less parallel ridges. +One or two of the loftier summits are in the province, others on the +boundary. There is much valuable timber in this district. The general slope +of the surface is from west to east and north-east. The province is +intersected by numerous rivers and streams that have their sources in the +Rockies, some of them, such as the Peace River and the Athabasca, sending +their waters to the Arctic Ocean, while the others, such as the North and +South Saskatchewan and their tributaries, belong to the Hudson Bay basin. +In the extreme south are one or two small tributaries of the Missouri. +There are a number of lakes, the largest being the Lesser Slave Lake and +Lake Athabasca (partly in this province). Notwithstanding the number of the +streams, there are districts, especially in the south, where agriculture +cannot be successfully carried on without irrigation. Farther to the north +there are areas highly suitable for agriculture, and timber is also +abundant. Cattle ranching is successfully carried on in the south, but +tillage, with and even without irrigation, is also carried on, fine crops +of wheat being grown. The most valuable mineral is coal, which is found at +various places, but is chiefly mined in the south at Lethbridge, and +farther north in the Banff district. Here there are hot springs and grand +scenery, and a large tract of land has been set apart as a national park. +Near Edmonton, the capital, coal is found on the bank of the North +Saskatchewan, and is readily worked. Iron, petroleum, and other minerals +are found. The climate is very warm in summer, and in winter less severe +and prolonged than might be supposed. The warm _chinook_ winds from the +Pacific often blow in winter, and speedily melt the snow. The province is +crossed in the south by the Canadian Pacific Railway, running by way of +Calgary and Banff, and crossing the Rockies. From Calgary one branch runs +north to Edmonton, another runs south to McLeod, where other lines make a +connection with the States railroads and British Columbia. Edmonton, being +also on the Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific, is bound to +become a great centre of trade and provincial development. It and Calgary +are the chief towns. The population in 1911 was returned at 374,663, the +latest estimate being nearly 500,000. + +ALBERTITE, an asphaltic hydrocarbon compound, a soft black material, +obtained in Canada. + +ALBER'TUS MAGNUS, or ALBERT THE GREAT, Count of Bollstaedt, a distinguished +German scholar of the thirteenth century, born in 1193, or 1205, studied at +Padua, became a monk of the Dominican order, teaching in the schools of +Hildesheim, Ratisbon, and Cologne, where Thomas Aquinas became his pupil. +In 1245 he went to Paris and publicly expounded the doctrines of Aristotle, +notwithstanding the prohibition of the Church. He is called Doctor +Universalis, for he was one of the most proficient scholars of his day, +second only to Roger Bacon in his knowledge of nature. He became rector of +the school of Cologne in 1249; in 1254 he was made provincial of his order +in Germany; and in 1260 he received from Pope Alexander IV the appointment +of Bishop of Ratisbon. In 1263 he retired to his convent at Cologne, where +he composed many works, especially commentaries on Aristotle. He died in +1280. Owing to his profound knowledge he did not escape the imputation of +using magical arts and trafficking with the Evil One. + +AL'BI. See _Alby_. + +ALBIGENSES (al-bi-jen's[=e]z), a neo-Manichaean sect which spread widely in +the south of France and elsewhere about the twelfth century, and which +differed in doctrine and practice from the Roman Catholic Church, by which +they were subjected to severe persecution. They are said to have been so +named from Albi, on the banks of the Tarn, a tributary of the Garonne, +where, and about Toulouse, Narbonne, &c., they were numerous. They were +also known as Catharists (q.v.) and their doctrines were similar to those +of several other religious sects such as the Gnostics, Manichaeans, and +Bogomils. Among the principal doctrines of the Albigenses was the belief in +the existence of two principles, good and evil, the creators of the +spiritual and material worlds. Since all matter is under the control of the +evil principle, maintained the Albigenses, all flesh is evil. The +extinction of bodily life, therefore, the deliverance of the soul from the +prison-house of the body, should be the aim of man. Suicide by means of +starvation was consequently highly meritorious. It is admitted even by +Catholic writers (see _Catholic Encyclopaedia_, vol. i, p. 268) that the +Albigenses were principally antisacerdotal and opposed to the Roman Church +on account of the scandalous life led by the Catholic clergy. A crusade was +begun against them, and Count Raymond VI of Toulouse for tolerating them, +in 1209, the army of the cross being called together by Pope Innocent III. +The war was carried on with a cruelty which reflected deep disgrace upon +the Catholic Church. Beziers, the capital of Raymond's nephew Roger, was +taken by storm, and 20,000 of the inhabitants, without distinction of +creed, were put to the sword. Simon de Montfort, the military leader of the +crusade, was equally severe towards other places in the territory of +Raymond and his allies. After the death of Raymond VI, in 1222, his son, +Raymond VII, was obliged, notwithstanding his readiness to do penance, to +defend his inheritance against the papal legates and Louis VIII of France. +When hundreds of thousands had fallen on both sides, a peace was made in +1229, by which Raymond was obliged to cede Narbonne with other territories +to Louis IX, and make his son-in-law, a brother of Louis, his heir. The +heretics were now delivered up to the proselytizing zeal of the Dominicans, +and to the courts of the Inquisition, by which means it was brought about +that the Albigenses disappeared after the middle of the thirteenth century. +Cf. C. Schmidt, _Histoire et doctrine de la Secte des Cathares ou +Albigeois_ (2 vols.) + +ALBINOS (al-b[=i]'n[=o]z), the name given to those persons from whose skin, +hair, and eyes, in consequence of some defect in their organization, the +dark colouring matter is absent. The skin of albinos, therefore, whether +they belong to the white, Indian, or negro races, is of a uniform pale +milky colour, their hair is white, while the iris of their eyes is pale +rose colour, and the pupil intensely red, the absence of the dark pigment +allowing the multitude of blood-vessels in these parts of the eye to be +seen. For the same reason their eyes are not well suited to endure the +bright light of day, and they see best in shade or by moonlight. The +peculiarity of _albinism_ or _leucopathy_ is hereditary and not confined to +the human race, having been observed also in horses, rabbits, rats, mice, +&c., birds (white crows or blackbirds are not particularly uncommon), and +fishes. Albinos are not of necessity lacking in mental vigour or capacity. +Cf. Karl Pearson, _A Monograph on Albinism in Man_. + +AL'BION (Celtic _Albainn_), the earliest name by which the island of Great +Britain was known, employed already by writers of the sixth century B.C., +who speak not of Britannia but of the land of the Albiones, and in poetry +still used for Great Britain. It is connected with Lat. _albus_, white, on +account, perhaps, of the chalk cliffs of Dover. The same word as _Albany_, +_Albyn_. + +AL'BITE, or SODA-FELSPAR, a mineral, a kind of felspar, usually of a white +colour, to which property it owes its name (Lat. _albus_, white), but +occasionally bluish, greyish, greenish, or reddish white. + +ALBIZZIA (al-bit'si-a), a genus of leguminous trees and shrubs, allied to +the genus Acacia, with doubly-pinnate leaves and white, yellow, or red +flowers often in globular heads, and broad, straight, flat pods. They +number over fifty species, and inhabit tropical and subtropical Asia, +Africa, and Australia. _A. lophanta_, a native of south-western Australia, +has a bark that contains tannin. _A. Lebbek_, a native of Asia and Africa, +yields valuable timber, and in Egypt is much cultivated as a shade tree. +_A. Julibrissin_, a tree with rose-red flowers, is found in Asia and +Africa, and has been introduced into Southern Europe. + +AL'BOIN, King of the Lombards, succeeded his father Audoin in 561, and +reigned in Noricum and Pannonia. Narses, the general of Justinian, sought +his alliance, and received his aid, in the war against Totila, King of the +Ostrogoths. Alboin afterwards (in 568) undertook the conquest of Italy, +where Narses, who had subjected this country to Justinian, offended by an +ungrateful Court, sought an avenger in Alboin, and offered him his +co-operation. After a victorious career in Italy he was slain at Verona, in +573 or 574, by an assassin, instigated by his wife Rosamond, whose hatred +he had incurred by sending her, in one of his fits of intoxication, a cup +wrought from the skull of her father, and forcing her to drink from it. + +ALBORAK, in Mohammedan mythology, the animal said to have been brought by +the angel Gabriel to carry Mohammed to the seventh heaven. It had the face +of a man, the body of a horse, the wings of an eagle, and spoke with a +human voice. + +ALBRECHT ([.a]l'bre_h_t), the German form of _Albert_ (q.v.). + +ALBRECHTSBERGER ([.a]l'bre_h_ts-ber-g[.e]r), Johann Georg, a German +composer and writer on music; a teacher of Beethoven, Moscheles, &c. Born +1736, died 1809. + +ALBRET, Jeanne d' (zh[.a]n d[.a]l-br[=a]), Queen of Navarre, wife of +Antoine de Bourbon and mother of Henri IV of France, a zealous supporter of +the reformed religion, which she established in her kingdom; born 1528, +died (probably poisoned) 1572, shortly before the massacre of St. +Bartholomew. + +ALBUERA ([.a]l-b[u:]-[=a]'r[.a]), a village of Spain, in Estremadura, 12 +miles S.S.E. of Badajoz. A battle was fought here, 16th May, 1811, between +the army of Marshal Beresford (30,000) and that of Marshal Soult (25,000), +when the latter was obliged to retreat to Seville, leaving Badajoz to fall +into the hands of the allies. + +ALBU'GO, an affection of the eye, consisting of a white opacity in the +cornea; called also _leucoma_. + +AL'BUM, in ancient Rome a board painted white, on which edicts and public +notices were inscribed in black. It is now a name generally given to a +blank book for the reception of pieces of poetry, autographs, engravings, +photographs, &c. In law it is applied to rent paid in silver (white money). + +ALBU'MEN, or ALBUMIN (Lat., from _albus_, white), a substance, or rather +group of substances, so named from the Latin for the white of an egg, which +is one of its most abundant known forms. It may be taken as the type of the +protein compounds or the nitrogenous class of food-stuffs. One variety +enters largely into the composition of the animal fluids and solids, is +coagulable by heat at and above 160deg, and is composed of carbon, +hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, with a little sulphur. It abounds in the +serum of the blood, the vitreous and crystalline humours of the eye, the +fluid of dropsy, the substance called coagulable lymph, in nutritive +matters, the juice of flesh, &c. The blood contains about 7 per cent of +albumen. Another variety, called vegetable albumen, exists in most +vegetable juices and many seeds, and has nearly the same composition and +properties as egg albumen. When albumen coagulates in any fluid it readily +encloses any substances that may be suspended in the fluid. Hence it is +used to clarify syrupy liquors. In cookery, white of eggs is employed for +clarifying, but in large operations, like sugar-refining, the serum of +blood is used. From its being coagulable by various salts, and especially +by corrosive sublimate, with which it forms an insoluble compound, white of +egg is a convenient antidote in cases of poisoning by that substance. With +lime it forms a cement to mend broken ware. + +In botany the name albumen is given to the farinaceous matter which +surrounds the embryo, the term in this case having no reference to chemical +composition. It constitutes the meat of the coco-nut, the flour or meal of +cereals, the roasted part of coffee, &c. + +ALBUMINU'RIA, a condition in which the urine contains albumen, evidencing a +diseased state of the kidneys. + +ALBUNOL ([.a]l-b[u:]-nyol'), a seaport of Southern Spain, province Granada, +on the Mediterranean. Pop. 7451. + +ALBUQUERQUE ([.a]l-b[u:]-kerk'[=a]), Affonso de, surnamed 'the Great', an +eminent Portuguese admiral, born 1453, died in 1515. Portugal having +subjected to its power a large part of the western coast of Africa, and +begun to extend its sway in the East Indies, Albuquerque was appointed +viceroy of the Portuguese acquisitions in this quarter, and arrived in 1503 +with a fleet on the coast of Malabar. His career here was extremely +successful, he having extended the Portuguese power over Malabar, Ceylon, +the Sunda Islands, and the Peninsula of Malacca, and made the Portuguese +name respected by all the nations and princes of India. Notwithstanding his +services and his virtues, he was unjustly superseded in his commands by his +personal enemy Lopez Soarez, and so severely did he feel the ingratitude of +his sovereign, King Emanuel, that he died a few days after receiving the +intelligence. His famous letter to the king was discovered and published in +1542 by J. M. de Fonseca. The first volume of his letters was published in +1884 by the Royal Academy of Lisbon. + +[Illustration: Alburnum +_a a_, Alburnum or sapwood. _b b_, Heart-wood. _c_, Pith. _d_, Bark] + +ALBUR'NUM, the soft white substance which, in trees, is found between the +liber or inner bark and the wood, and, in progress of time acquiring +solidity, becomes itself the wood. A new layer of wood, or rather of +alburnum, is added annually to the tree in every part just under the bark. + +ALBURY (al'ber-i), a rising town of New South Wales on the borders of +Victoria, on the right bank of the Murray, 190 miles north-east of +Melbourne, in a good agricultural and wine-producing district. Pop. 6750. + +ALBY, or ALBI ([.a]l'b[=e]), an old town of southern France, department of +Tarn, 42 miles north-east of Toulouse, on the Tarn, in an extensive plain. +It has a cathedral, a Gothic structure, begun in 1282. It manufactures +linens, cottons, leather, &c. Alby is said to have given the Albigenses +their name. Pop. 18,262. + +ALCAE'US, one of the greatest Grecian lyric poets, was born at Mitylene, in +Lesbos, and flourished there at the close of the seventh and beginning of +the sixth centuries B.C.; but of his life little is known. A strong manly +enthusiasm for freedom and justice pervades his lyrics, of which only a few +fragments are left. He wrote in the Aeolic dialect, and was the inventor of +a metre that bears his name (Alcaics), which Horace has employed in many of +his odes. + +ALCALA' DE GUADAIRA (gw[.a]-d[=i]'r[.a]; 'the castle of Guadaira'), a town +of southern Spain, on the Guadaira, 7 miles east of Seville, chiefly +celebrated for its manufacture of bread, with which it supplies a large +part of the population of Seville. Pop. 8930. + +ALCALA' DE HENARES (en-[:a]'res), a beautiful city of Spain, 16 miles +E.N.E. of Madrid, 1 mile from the Henares. It has an imposing appearance +when seen from some distance, but on nearer inspection is found to be in a +state of decay. There was formerly a university here, at one time attended +by 10,000 students; but in 1836 it was removed with its library to Madrid. +Cervantes was born here. Pop. 11,728. + +ALCALA' LA REAL (r[=a]-[.a]l'), a town of Spain, 18 miles south-east of +Jaen, with a fine abbey and some trade. It was captured in 1340 by Alphonso +XI of Leon, from whence it derives the epithet Real ('Royal'). Pop. 15,901. + +ALCALDE (Sp.; [.a]l-k[.a]l-d[=a]), or ALCAIDE (Port.; al-k[=i]'d[=a]; Ar. +_alqadi_ (Cadi), the judge, not to be confused with _alcaide_, the governor +of a fortress), the name of a magistrate in the Spanish and Portuguese +towns, to whom the administration of justice and the regulation of the +police is committed. His office nearly corresponds to that of justice of +the peace. The name and the office are of Moorish origin. + +AL'CAMO, a city in the west of Sicily, 2-1/2 miles south of the Gulf of +Castellamare, near the site of the ancient Segesta, the ruins of which, +including a well-preserved Doric temple and a theatre, as well as the +remains of Moorish occupation, are still to be found here. The district is +celebrated for its wine. Pop. 32,200. + +ALCANIZ ([.a]l-k[.a]n-y[=e]th'), a town of north-eastern Spain (Aragon). +Pop. 8750. + +ALCAN'TARA (Ar., 'the bridge'), an ancient town and frontier fortress of +Spain, on the Tagus, on a rocky acclivity, and enclosed by ancient walls. +Pop. 3224.--_Order of Alcantara_, an ancient Spanish order of knighthood +instituted for defence against the Moors in 1156, and made a military +religious order in 1197. + +ALCARRAZA ([.a]l-k[.a]r-r[:a]'th[.a]), a vessel made of a kind of porous, +unglazed pottery, used in Spain to hold drinking-water, which, oozing +slightly through the vessel, is kept cool by the evaporation that takes +place at the surface. Similar vessels have been long used in Egypt and +elsewhere. + +ALCAZAR DE SAN JUAN ([.a]l-k[:a]'th[.a]r d[=a] s[.a]n-_h_w[:a]n), a town of +Spain, province of Ciudad-Real (New Castile), with manufactures of soap, +saltpetre, gunpowder, chocolate, &c. Pop. 13,645. + +ALCE'DO. See _Kingfisher_. + +ALCES'TIS, in Greek mythology, wife of Admetus, King of Thessaly. Her +husband was ill, and, according to an oracle, would die unless someone made +a vow to meet death in his stead. This was secretly done by Alcestis, and +Admetus recovered. After her decease Hercules brought her back from the +infernal regions. + +AL'CHEMY, or ALCHYMY, the art which in former times occupied the place of +and paved the way for the modern science of chemistry (as astrology did for +astronomy), but whose aims were not scientific, being confined solely to +the discovery of the means of indefinitely prolonging human life, and of +transmuting the baser metals into gold and silver. Among the alchemists it +was generally thought necessary to find a substance which, containing the +original principle of all matter, should possess the power of dissolving +all substances into their elements. This general solvent, or _menstruum +universale_, which at the same time was to possess the power of removing +all the seeds of disease out of the human body and renewing life, was +called the _philosophers' stone_, _lapis philosophorum_, and its pretended +possessors were known as _adepts_. Alchemy flourished chiefly in the Middle +Ages, though how old such notions might be as those by which the alchemists +were inspired it is difficult to say. There are many stories about the +mystic origin of alchemy. The art is said to have been taught by the fallen +angels, by Isis, or by Miriam, sister of Moses, or by John the Baptist. +According to Suidas, Egypt was the home of alchemy, and the mythical Hermes +Trismegistus of pre-Christian times was said to have left behind him many +books of magical and alchemical learning, and after him alchemy received +the name of the _hermetic art_. At a later period chemistry and alchemy +were cultivated among the Arabians, and by them the pursuit was introduced +into Europe. Many of the monks devoted themselves to alchemy, although they +were afterwards prohibited from studying it by the popes. Thus Albertus +Magnus is said to have been the author of a work _De Alchimia_, and several +treatises on the subject are attributed to Thomas Aquinas. But even Pope +John XXII is said to have worked at the science at Avignon. Raymond Lully, +or Lullius, a famous alchemist of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, +is said to have changed for King Edward I a mass of 50,000 lb. of +quicksilver into gold, of which the first rose-nobles were coined. Among +other alchemists may be mentioned John Cremer, Abbot of Westminster +(1327-77), Nicholas Flamel (1330-80), Basilius Valentinus, Isaac of +Holland, and Paracelsus (1493-1541). With the growth of chemistry, the +recognition of the chemical elements as forming a large number of distinct +substances, and the conception of the fixed unalterable nature of the +atoms, attempts to transform the base metals into gold were largely +abandoned as being unscientific. But the most modern view of matter, +namely, that the atoms of all elements are composed of numerous electrons, +favours the idea of the transmutability of elements, and the production of +helium from radium (see these articles) by Ramsay shows the possibility of +this transmutation.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Pattison-Muir, _Alchemy, or the +Beginnings of Chemistry_ (Hodder & Stoughton: Useful Knowledge Series); +H. S. Redgrove, _Alchemy, Ancient and Modern_. + +ALCIBI'ADES (-d[=e]z), a famous Athenian statesman and general of high +family and of great abilities, but of no principle, was born at Athens in +the 82nd Olympiad, 450 B.C., being the son of Cleinias, and a relative of +Pericles, who also was his guardian. In youth he was remarkable for the +beauty of his person, no less than for the dissoluteness of his manners. He +came under the influence of Socrates, but little permanent effect was +produced on his character by the precepts of the sage. He acquired great +popularity by his liberality in providing for the amusements of the people, +and after the death of Cleon attained a political ascendancy which left him +no rival but Nicias. Thus he played an important part in the long-continued +Peloponnesian war. In 415 he advocated the expedition against Sicily, and +was chosen one of the leaders, but before the expedition sailed he was +charged with profaning and divulging the Eleusinian mysteries, and +mutilating the busts of Hermes, which were set up in public all through +Athens. Rather than stand his trial he went over to Sparta, divulged the +plans of the Athenians, and assisted the Spartans to defeat them. Sentence +of death and confiscation was pronounced against him at Athens, and he was +cursed by the ministers of religion. He soon left Sparta and took refuge +with the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, ingratiating himself by his +affectation of Persian manners, as he had previously done at Sparta by a +similar affectation of Spartan simplicity. He now began to intrigue for his +return to Athens, offering to bring Tissaphernes over to the Athenian +alliance, and after a while he was recalled and his banishment cancelled. +He, however, remained abroad for some years in command of the Athenian +forces, gained several victories, and took Chalcedon and Byzantium. In 407 +B.C. he returned to Athens, but in 406, the fleet which he commanded having +suffered a severe defeat, he was deprived of his command. He once more went +over to the Persians, taking refuge with the satrap Pharnabazus of Phrygia, +and here he was assassinated in 404 B.C. The authorities for his life are +Thucydides, Xenophon, Plutarch, and Cornelius Nepos. + +ALCINOUS (al-sin'o-us), King of the Phaeacians. See _Ulysses_. + +ALCIRA ([.a]l-th[=e]'r[.a]), a town of Spain, province of Valencia, on the +Jucar, founded by the Carthaginians. Fruits, rice, &c., are grown. Pop. +22,050. + +ALC'MAN, the chief lyric poet of Sparta, a Lydian by birth, flourished +between 671 B.C. and 631, and wrote (in the Doric dialect) love songs, +hymns, paeans, &c., of which only fragments remain. + +ALCME'NA. See _Amphitryon_. + +ALCO, a small variety of dog, with a small head and large pendulous ears, +found wild in Mexico and Peru, and also domesticated. + +ALCOBACA ([.a]l-k[=o]-b[:a]'s[.a]), a small town of Portugal, 50 miles +north of Lisbon, celebrated for a magnificent Cistercian monastery founded +in 1148 by Don Alphonso I, and completed in 1222. It contains the tombs of +Alphonso II, Alphonso III, Pedro I and his wife Ines de Castro. + +AL'COHOL, or ETHYL ALCOHOL, C_2H_6O, is a substance obtained by allowing +the juice of the grape to undergo a change known as fermentation. It is +only in modern times that alcohol has been isolated and its properties +examined. Alcohol is now prepared in enormous quantities, both for +industrial purposes and for the preparation of alcoholic beverages, from +substances rich in sugar or in starch. Potatoes and maize form the main +source of alcohol. These are treated with steam under pressure in +specially-constructed tanks to extract starchy materials. The starch so +liberated is then fermented by means of a substance diastase. This +treatment transforms sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. The solution +is then filtered to remove all insoluble matter, proteids, &c., and from +this solid residue, cattle-feeding cakes are made. This treatment yields a +solution containing 9-10 per cent alcohol. The solution is fractionally +distilled, using a special form of distilling column. The most volatile +part of the distillate, first runnings, contains acetaldehyde, the second +fraction contains the bulk of the alcohol and some water, and the least +volatile portion, last runnings, fusel oil and higher alcohols. By this +means a liquid containing 80-95 per cent alcohol, rectified spirits, is +obtained. For preparation of beverages, fusel oil must be carefully +separated from alcohol, as fusel oil has an injurious effect +physiologically. The removal of the last traces of water from alcohol is +very troublesome. It is repeatedly distilled over quicklime or +freshly-ignited potassium carbonate, giving an alcohol containing 98-99 per +cent alcohol. The small quantity of water still contained is removed by +leaving it in contact with metallic calcium. An alcohol containing more +than 96 per cent alcohol is known as _absolute_. Pure alcohol is a +colourless poisonous liquid boiling at 78deg C., possessing a strong odour +and a burning taste. It is inflammable and mixes with water in all +proportions and has a specific gravity 0.80625 at 0deg C. Very low +temperatures convert it into a glassy solid, melting at -117deg C., hence +it may be used in thermometers for low-temperature measurements. Alcohol +burns with a non-luminous flame and gives out great heat; it is used, +therefore, in various types of lamps for heating purposes. It is also used +as a fuel for motors and is a very valuable solvent for many substances +such as resin, oils, colouring-matter, varnishes, and ethereal essences. +The so-called 'solid alcohol' can be obtained by dissolving 30 to 40 parts +of collodion in 100 parts of alcohol, a solid which separates and burns +like alcohol, leaving no residue. Alcohol is the important constituent of +all alcoholic beverages and it is due to its presence that wine, whisky, +&c., have a stimulating and intoxicating effect on the nervous system. +Beverages such as beer, wine, cider, &c., are prepared by direct +fermentation of sugars obtained in fruit juices in the case of wine and +cider and from barley in the case of beer. These contain varying amounts of +alcohol, thus wine may contain from 8 to 10 per cent of alcohol, whilst +beer contains 3 to 5 per cent. Whisky, brandy, &c., contain more alcohol, +50-70 per cent, and for the preparation of these the alcohol used must be +distilled and purified after fermentation. The alcohol content of an +aqueous solution may be deduced from a determination of the specific +gravity of the solution or directly by the Alcoholometer. This gives +percentage by volume. The amount of alcohol present in any alcoholic +beverage cannot be obtained directly, but if 1/3 of the liquid be distilled +and the distillate made up to the original volume, then the alcohol may be +determined by the Alcoholometer. The name alcohol is applied generally in +chemistry to a large group of substances, containing carbon, hydrogen, and +oxygen, which have chemical properties analogous to those of ethyl alcohol. + +AL'COHOLISM, a morbid condition of the body (especially of the nervous +system) brought on by the immoderate use of alcoholic liquors. + +ALCOHOLOM'ETER, an instrument constructed on the principle of the +hydrometer, to determine from the specific gravity of spirituous liquors +the percentage of alcohol they contain, the scale marking directly the +required proportion. If the liquor contain anything besides water and +alcohol, previous distillation is necessary. + +ALCO'RAN. See _Koran_. + +AL'COTT, LOUISA MAY, a distinguished American authoress, born in 1833. She +wrote a number of books chiefly intended for the young: _Little Women_ +(1867), _An Old-fashioned Girl_ (1869), _Little Men_ (1871), _Jack and +Jill_ (1880), &c. Died in 1888. + +[Illustration: Alcove. French; late sixteenth century] + +AL'COVE, a recess in a room, usually separated from the rest of the room by +columns, a balustrade, or by curtains, and often containing a bed or seats. + +ALCOY', a town of Spain, in Valencia, 24 miles north by west of Alicante, +in a richly-cultivated district. There is a Roman bridge over the river, +and the town has a very picturesque appearance; its chief manufactures are +paper and woollen goods. On the 22nd of April an annual feast is celebrated +by the inhabitants of the town commemorating a victory over the Moors in +1257. Pop. 33,896. + +ALCUDIA, Duke of. See _Godoy_. + +ALCUIN (alk'win; in his native tongue _Ealhwine_), a learned Englishman, +the confidant, instructor, and adviser of Charles the Great (Charlemagne). +He was born at York in 735, and was educated at York School, of which he +subsequently was head master. Alcuin having gone to Rome, Charlemagne +became acquainted with him at Parma, invited him in 782 to his Court, and +made use of his services in his endeavours to civilize his subjects. To +secure the benefit of his instructions, Charlemagne established at his +Court a school, called _Schola Palatina_, or the Palace School. In the +royal academy Alcuin was called _Flaccus Albinus_. Most of the schools in +France were either founded or improved by him; thus he founded the school +in the abbey of St. Martin of Tours, in 796, after the plan of the school +in York. Alcuin left the Court in 801, and retired to the abbey of St. +Martin of Tours, but kept up a constant correspondence with Charles to his +death in 804. He left works on theology, philosophy, rhetoric, also poems +and letters, all of which have been published. His letters, 232 of which +were addressed to Charlemagne, form the most important part of his work. As +a philosopher, Alcuin, though lacking in originality, exercised a +considerable influence over his contemporaries. The expression of +'scholasticism' is attributed to him.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. J. B. Gaskoin, +_Alcuin, His Life and his Work_, J. B. Mullinger, _The Schools of Charles +the Great_. + +ALCYONA'RIA, coelenterate animals forming a great division of the class +Actinozoa (see _Sea-anemone_). These animals are nearly all composite, and +the individual polyps have mostly eight tentacles. They include the +organ-pipe corals, sea-pens, fan-corals, &c., as also the red coral of +commerce. The polyps resemble those of the genus Alcyonium in structure, +and in the number and arrangement of the tentacles. See _Alcyonium_. + +ALCYO'NIUM, a genus of coelenterate animals, one familiar species of which, +dredged around the British coasts--_A. digit[=a]tum_--is named 'Dead-Men's +Fingers', or 'Cow's Paps', from its lobed or digitate appearance. It grows +attached to stones, shells, and other objects. It consists of a mass of +little polyps, each polyp possessing eight little fringed tentacles +disposed around a central mouth. The Alcyonium forms the type of the +_Alcyonaria_. + +AL'DAN, a river of Eastern Siberia, a tributary of the Lena, 1200 miles in +length. The Aldan Mountains run along parallel to it on the left for 400 +miles. + +ALDEB'ARAN, a star of the first magnitude, forming the eye of the +constellation Taurus or the Bull, the brightest of the five stars known to +the Greeks as the Hyades. Spectrum analysis has shown it to contain +antimony, bismuth, iron, mercury, hydrogen, sodium, calcium, &c. + +ALDEBURGH ([a:]ld'bu-ru), a municipal borough of England, on the coast of +Suffolk, more important formerly than it is now, having suffered from +encroachments of the sea. The poet Crabbe was born there in 1754. Pop. +2892. + +AL'DEHYDE, in chemistry, the generic name given to the compounds of alcohol +intermediate between the alcohols and the acids. Common aldehyde (C_2H_4O) +is derived from spirit of wine by oxidation, and is a colourless, limpid, +volatile, and inflammable liquid, with a peculiar ethereal odour, which is +suffocating when strong; specific gravity, 0.79. Atmospheric oxygen +converts it into acetic acid. It decomposes oxide of silver, depositing a +brilliant film of metallic silver; hence it is used in silvering curved +glass surfaces. + +[Illustration: Common Alder (_Alnus glutinosa_)] + +ALDER ([a:]l'd[.e]r; Alnus), a genus of plants of the sub-ord. Betulaceae +(Birch), (nat. ord. Amentaceae). Fourteen species are known as small trees +or shrubs indigenous to temperate and colder regions of the globe; eight of +these are found in Central and Western Europe. The only species indigenous +to Britain is the common alder (_Alnus glutin[=o]sa_), a tree growing in +wet situations in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Its wood, light and +soft and of a reddish colour, is used for a variety of purposes, and is +well adapted for work which is to be kept constantly in water. Alder is +still largely used in gunpowder manufacture, and the roots and knots +furnish a beautifully-veined wood well suited for cabinet work; it is used +for cigar-boxes in East Prussia and West Russia. The bark is used in +tanning and leather-dressing, and by fishermen for staining their nets. +This and the young twigs are sometimes employed in dyeing, and yield +different shades of yellow and red. With the addition of copperas it yields +a black dye. + +ALDERLEY EDGE, a town of England, Cheshire, about 8 miles south-west of +Stockport. Pop. (1921), 3072. + +AL'DERMAN ([a:]l'd[.e]r-; Anglo-Saxon _ealdorman_, from _ealdor_, older, +and _man_), among the Anglo-Saxons a person of a rank equivalent to that of +an earl or count, the governor of a shire or county, and member of the +_witena-gemot_ or great council of the nation. Aldermen played an important +role already before the Constitution of Egbert, but reached their highest +power during the reign of Alfred the Great, who had married the daughter of +an alderman. Aldermen, at present, are officers associated with the mayor +of a city for the administration of the municipal government in England and +the United States. + +AL'DERNEY (Fr. _Aurigny_), an island belonging to Britain, off the coast of +Normandy, 10 miles due west of Cape La Hogue, and 60 from the nearest point +of England, the most northerly of the Channel Islands, between 3 and 4 +miles long, and about 1-1/4 broad. The coast is bold and rocky; the +interior is fertile. About a third of the island is occupied by grass +lands; and the Alderney cows, a small-sized but handsome breed, are famous +for the richness of their milk. The climate is mild and healthy. A judge, +with six 'jurats', chosen by the people for life, and twelve 'douzainiers', +representatives of the people, form a kind of local legislature. The French +language still prevails among the inhabitants, but all understand and many +speak English. The _Race of Alderney_ is the strait between the coast of +France and this island. Pop. 2561. + +ALDERSHOT ([:a]l'd[.e]r-), a town and military station in England, the +latter having given rise to the former. The 'camp' was originated in 1854 +by the purchase by Government of a tract of moorland known as Aldershot +Heath, on the confines of Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The object was +to accustom both officers and soldiers to act more readily when drawn up in +brigades and divisions, their practice having been limited for the most +part, since the termination of the French war, to the movements of +battalions and companies. It was also deemed advisable to accustom the army +to camp life, and to exercise the men in all the evolutions and movements +which they might be required to perform when brought into actual contact +with the enemy. The accommodation provided for the army, officers as well +as men, consisted at first of wooden huts; but these have been superseded +by brick barracks, and altogether the money expended on the camp has +amounted to over L3,000,000. The men are exercised in marching, +skirmishing, and similar field operations, which are carried on during the +summer months with great activity; they are also instructed in the camp in +cooking and other duties. The troops at Aldershot in summer include a +number of Territorials, Senior and Junior O.T.C., &c. The town is in the +neighbourhood of the barracks, immediately beyond the Government ground, +and in Hampshire. It contains several churches, and has schools, +newspapers, literary institutes, music-halls &c. Aldershot gives its name +to a parliamentary division of Hants. Pop. (1921), 28,756. + +ALD'HELM, an Anglo-Saxon scholar and prelate, Abbot of Malmesbury and +Bishop of Sherborne, born 640 (?), died 709. He was a great fosterer of +learning and builder of churches, and has left Latin writings on +theological subjects. + +AL'DINE EDITIONS, the name given to the works which proceeded from the +press of Aldus Manutius and his family at Venice (1494-1592), Rome +(1562-70), and Bologna. (See _Manutius_.) Recommended by their value, as +well as by a splendid exterior, they have gained the respect of scholars +and the attention of book-collectors. Many of them are the first printed +editions (_editiones principes_) of Greek and Latin classics. Others are +texts of the modern Italian authors. These editions are of importance in +the history of printing. The editions printed by Aldus Manutius the Elder +are, however, much more valuable than those issued by his descendants. +Among the former are the first edition of the works of Aristotle in 5 +vols., and the works of Virgil, Horace, and Petrarch. Aldus had nine kinds +of Greek type, and no one before him printed so much and so beautifully in +this language. Of the Latin character he procured fourteen kinds of type. + +ALDOBRANDI'NI, the name of a Florentine family, subsequently of princely +rank (now extinct), which produced one Pope (Clement VIII) and several +cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and men of learning.--_Aldobrandini +Marriage_, one of the most beautiful ancient fresco paintings, belonging +probably to the time of Augustus, discovered in 1606 on Mount Aquilinus at +the very spot where once were the gardens of Maecenas, and acquired by +Cardinal Aldobrandini, nephew of Clement VIII, now in the Vatican. It +represents a marriage scene in which ten persons are portrayed. There is a +beautiful copy of this fresco by Poussin in the Galleria Doria at Rome. + +AL'DRED, or EALDRED, Anglo-Saxon prelate, Bishop of Worcester and +Archbishop of York, born 1000(?), died 1069. He improved the discipline of +the Church and built several monastic churches. On the death of Edward the +Confessor he is said to have crowned Harold. Having submitted to the +Conqueror, whose esteem he enjoyed and whose power he made subservient to +the views of the Church, he also crowned him as well as Matilda. + +ALD'RICH, Henry, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford; born in 1647, died in 1710; +distinguished as a philosopher, an architect, and as a musician. His +_Compendium of Logic_ was a textbook till long past the middle of last +century. He adapted many of the works of the older musicians, such as +Palestrina and Carissimi, to the liturgy of the Church of England, and +composed many services and anthems, some of which are still heard in +English cathedrals. + +ALDRICH, Thomas Bailey, the most conspicuous American poet of his +generation. Born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 11th Nov., 1836; died at +Boston in March, 1907. He edited _Every Saturday_ in Boston from 1865 to +1874, and the _Atlantic Monthly_ from 1881 to 1890. He was a poet of some +skill, the chief characteristic of his lyrics being refinement and finish. +Some of his short stories have been rarely surpassed by other American +writers. Among his volumes of verse are: _The Ballad of Babie Bell_ (1856); +_Cloth of Gold_ (1874); _Lyrics and Sonnets_ (1880); _Friar Jerome's +Beautiful Book_ (1881); _Unguarded Gates and other Poems_ (1895), &c. His +prose works include: _Story of a Bad Boy_ (1870); _Marjorie Daw and other +People_ (1873); _The Stillwater Tragedy_ (1880); _Two Bites of a Cherry_ +(1893). + +ALDROVAN'DI, Ulysses, a distinguished Italian naturalist; born 1522, died +1607. He was professor at Bologna, and established botanical gardens and a +museum of natural history there; wrote a work on natural history in 14 +vols. His _Antidotarii Bononiensis epitome_ (1574) has served as a model +for all Pharmacopoeias published in later years. + +ALE and BEER, well-known and extensively-used fermented liquors, the +principle of which is extracted from several sorts of grain but most +commonly from barley, after it has undergone the process termed malting. +Beer is a more general term than ale, being often used for any kind of +fermented malt liquor, including porter, though it is also used in a more +special signification. See _Brewing_. + +ALEARDI ([.a]-l[=a]-[.a]r'd[=e]), ALEARDO, a distinguished Italian lyrical +and political poet and patriot, born 1812, died 1878; he was a member of +the Italian board of higher education and a senator. His best work is his +poem _Il Monte Circello_ (1844). + +ALE-CONNER, formerly an officer in England appointed to assay ale and beer, +and to take care that they were good and wholesome, and sold at a proper +price. The duty of the ale-conners of London was to inspect the measures +used in public-houses, to prevent frauds in selling liquors. Four of these +were chosen annually by the liverymen, in common hall, on Mid-summer's Day. + +ALE-COST. See _Costmary_. + +ALEC'TO, in Greek mythology, one of the Furies (q.v.). + +ALEMAN ([.a]-le-m[.a]n'), Mateo, a Spanish novelist, born about the middle +of the sixteenth century, died in 1610. His fame rests on his _Life and +Adventures of the Rogue Guzman de Alfarache_ (translated into French in +1600 and into English in 1623), one of the best of the _picaresque_ or +rogue novels, which give such a lively picture of the shady classes of +society in Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The hero +becomes in succession stable-boy, beggar, porter, thief, man of fashion, +soldier, valet, merchant, student, robber, galley-slave, and lastly his own +biographer. + +ALEMAN'NI, or ALAMANNI, a confederacy of several German tribes which, at +the commencement of the third century after Christ, lived near the Roman +territory, and came then and subsequently into conflict with the imperial +troops. Caracalla first fought with them in 213, but did not conquer them; +Severus was likewise unsuccessful. About 250 they began to cross the Rhine +westwards, and in 255 they overran Gaul along with the Franks. In 259 a +body of them was defeated in Italy at Milan, and in the following year they +were driven out of Gaul by Postumus. But the Alemanni did not desist from +their incursions, notwithstanding the numerous defeats they suffered at the +hands of the Roman troops. In the fourth century they crossed the Rhine and +ravaged Gaul, but were severely defeated by the Emperor Julian and driven +back. Subsequently they occupied a considerable territory on both sides of +the Rhine; but at last Clovis broke their power in 496 and deprived them of +a large portion of their possessions. Part of their territory was formed +into a duchy called Alemannia or Swabia, this name being derived from Suevi +or Swabians, the name which they gave themselves. It is from the Alemanni +that the French have derived their names for Germans and Germany in +general, namely, _Allemands_ and _Allemagne_, though strictly speaking only +the modern Swabians and northern Swiss are the proper descendants of that +ancient race. + +ALEMBERT ([.a]-l[.a][n.]-b[=a]r), Jean le Rond d', a French mathematician +and philosopher, born in Paris, 16th Nov., 1717, and died there 29th Oct., +1783. He was the illegitimate son of Madame de Tencin and Chevalier +Destouches, and was exposed at the Church of St. Jean le Rond (hence his +name) soon after birth. He was brought up by the wife of a poor glazier, +and with her he lived for more than forty years. His parents never publicly +acknowledged him, but his father settled upon him an income of 1200 livres. +He showed much quickness in learning, entered the College Mazarin at the +age of twelve, and studied mathematics with enthusiasm and success, but +received little encouragement from his teachers. Having left college he +studied law and became an advocate, but did not practise, and long +continued to occupy himself with mathematics, in which he made immense +advances by his own efforts, often arriving at results that other +mathematicians had previously arrived at unknown to him. A pamphlet on the +motion of solid bodies in a fluid, and another on the integral calculus, +which he laid before the Academy of Sciences in 1739 and 1740, showed him +in so favourable a light that the Academy received him in 1741 into the +number of its members. He soon after published his famous work on dynamics, +_Traite de Dynamique_ (1743) and another work dealing with fluids, _Traite +des Fluides_. His _Reflexion sur la cause generale des vents_ was also a +work that added to D'Alembert's reputation. He also took a part in the +investigations which completed the discoveries of Newton respecting the +motion of the heavenly bodies, and published at intervals various important +astronomical dissertations--on the perturbations of the planets, for +instance, and on the precession of the equinoxes--as well as on other +subjects. He also took part, with Diderot and others, in the celebrated +_Encyclopedie_ in 33 vols., for which he wrote the _Discours Preliminaire_, +as well as many philosophical and almost all the mathematical articles. +Literature, history, and philosophy also received attention from him, and +his _Elements de Philosophie_ (1759), in which he agrees with the theories +of Condillac and Locke, was a work of much value. His great philosophical +aim seems to have been the idea of secularizing morality upon a rational +basis. Among his miscellaneous works are _Melanges de Philosophie, +d'Histoire, et de Litterature_; _Traduction de quelques Morceaux choisis de +Tacite_; _Sur la Destruction des Jesuites_; _Histoire des Membres de +l'Academie Francaise_; _Elements de Musique theorique et pratique_. He +received an invitation from the Russian empress Catherine II to go to St. +Petersburg (now Petrograd) as tutor to her son, a very large sum being +offered; and Frederick the Great invited him to settle in Berlin, but in +vain. From Frederick, however, he accepted a pension, and he also paid a +visit to Berlin. There was an intimate friendship between him and Voltaire. +He never married, but he was on terms of the closest friendship with Madame +L'Espinasse, and they occupied the same house for a number of years. He was +held in high esteem by David Hume, who left him a legacy of L200. + +ALEM'BIC, a simple apparatus sometimes used by chemists for distillation, +and consisting of three main parts, body, head, and receiver. The +_cucurbit_, or body, contains the substance to be distilled, and is usually +somewhat like a bottle, bulging below and narrowing towards the top; the +_head_, of a globular form, with a flat under-ring, fits on to the neck of +the cucurbit, condenses the vapour from the heated liquid, and receives the +distilled liquid on the ring enclosing the neck of the lower vessel, and +thus causes it to find egress by a discharging-pipe into the third section, +called the _receiver_. See _Distillation_. + +ALEMTEJO ([.a]-l[=a][n.]-t[=a]'zh[=o]; 'beyond the Tagus'), the largest +province of Portugal, and the most southern except Algarve; area, 9219 sq. +miles; pop. 478,584. The capital is Evora. It has about 30 miles of coast, +but no good harbour and no navigable river. Large areas are devoted to +pasturage, and the cultivated portions are comparatively limited, though in +the east there are fertile valleys where grain, fruits, &c., are +cultivated. There are valuable cork forests in this portion also. Excellent +horses are reared. Copper and iron mines are worked; but on the whole this +province is in a backward condition, and is the most thinly inhabited in +the country. + +ALENCON ([.a]-l[.a][n.]-s[=o][n.]), a town of France, capital of department +Orne, and formerly of the Duchy of Alencon, on the right bank of the +Sarthe, 105 miles west by south of Paris; well built; has a fine Gothic +church (fifteenth century) and interesting remains of the old castle of the +ducs d'Alencon. Alencon was long famed for its point-lace, called 'point +d'Alencon', an industry established at the instigation of Colbert in 1673 +but now much fallen off; it has cotton and flax spinning and weaving, &c. +Fine rock-crystal, yielding the so-called 'diamants d'Alencon', is found in +the neighbouring granite quarries. Alencon is mentioned as a city for the +first time in 717. Pop. 16,590.--_Alencon_, originally a county, later a +dukedom, became united with the crown in 1221, and was given by Louis XI as +an appanage to his fifth son, with whom the branch of the Alencon-Valois +commenced. The first duke of the name lost his life at the battle of +Agincourt in 1415; another, called Charles IV, married the celebrated +Margaret of Valois, sister of Francis I. He commanded the left wing of the +French army at the battle of Pavia, where, instead of supporting the king +at a critical moment, he fled at the head of his troops, the consequence of +which was the loss of the battle and the capture of the king. + +ALEP'PO, a city in North Syria, on the River Koik, in a fine plain 60 miles +south-east of Alexandretta, which is its port, and 129 miles N.N.E. of +Damascus. It has a circumference of about 7 miles, and consists of the old +town and numerous suburbs. Its appearance at a distance is striking, and +the houses are well built of stone. On a hill stands the citadel, and at +its foot the governor's palace. Previous to 1822 Aleppo contained about 100 +mosques, but in that year an earthquake laid the greater part of them in +ruins, and destroyed nearly the whole city. The aqueduct built by the +Romans is the oldest monument of the town. Among the chief attractions of +Aleppo are its gardens, in which the pistachio-nut is extensively +cultivated. The branch railway to Hamah from the Beyrout-Damascus line has +been continued to Aleppo. Formerly the city was a great centre of trade and +manufactures, but the earthquake and other causes have combined greatly to +lessen its prosperity. It has still a trade, however, in the products of +the country, such as wool, cotton, silk, wax, skins, soap, tobacco, &c., +and imports a certain quantity of European manufactures.--Aleppo was a +place of considerable importance in very remote times. By the Greeks and +Romans it was called _Beroea_. It was conquered by the Arabs in 638, and +its original name _Chalybon_ was then turned into _Haleb_, whence the +Italian form _Aleppo_. The town was occupied by British troops on 27th +Oct., 1918. Its population, 200,000 at the beginning of last century, is +now estimated at over 250,000. The language generally spoken is Arabic. The +vilayet of Aleppo has a pop. of 1,500,000. + +ALESH'KI, a town of Southern Russia, government Taurida. Pop. 8915. + +ALE'SIA, a town and fortress of ancient Gaul, at which in 52 B.C. Julius +Caesar inflicted a crushing defeat on the Gauls under Vercingetorix. It is +now represented by the village of Alise, department Cote d'Or, near which +Napoleon III erected a colossal statue of Vercingetorix in 1865. + +ALESSAN'DRIA, a town and fortress in North Italy, capital of the province +of the same name, in a marshy country, near the junction of the Bormida and +the Tanaro. It was built in 1168 by the Cremonese and Milanese, and was +named in honour of Pope Alexander III, who made it a bishop's see. It has a +cathedral, important manufactures of linen, woollen, and silk goods, and an +active trade. It ranks as one of the first fortresses of Europe, the +fortifications including a surrounding wall and bastions, and a strong +citadel on the opposite side of the Tanaro, connected by a bridge with the +town. Pop. (with suburbs) 78,159. + +ALES'SI, Galeazzo, a distinguished Italian architect, born at Perugia, +1512, died there in 1572. Many palaces, villas, and churches were erected +after his designs, and at the request of Philip II of Spain he drew a plan +for the Escurial. + +ALETSCH'-GLACIER, the greatest glacier in Switzerland, canton Valais, a +prolongation of the immense mass of glaciers connected with the Jungfrau, +the Aletschhorn (14,000 feet), and other peaks; about 15 miles long. + +ALEURITES, a tree belonging to the nat. ord. Euphorbiaceae, is found in +tropical and subtropical parts of the world. _Aleurites triloba_, the +'candleberry tree', is cultivated in the Moluccan Islands for its fruit. +The oil extracted from its seeds is valuable both for food and light. + +ALEUROM'ETER, an instrument for indicating the bread-making qualities of +wheaten flour. The indications depend upon the expansion of the gluten +contained in a given quantity of flour when freed of its starch by +pulverization and repeated washings with water. + +ALEU'TIAN ISLANDS, a chain of about eighty small islands belonging to the +United States, separating the Sea of Kamchatka from the northern part of +the Pacific Ocean, and extending nearly 1000 miles from east to west +between lon. 172deg E. and 163deg W.; total area, 6391 sq. miles; pop. +1220. They are of volcanic formation, and in a number of them there are +volcanoes still in activity. Their general appearance is dismal and barren, +yet grassy valleys capable of supporting cattle throughout the year are met +with, and potatoes, turnips, and other vegetables are successfully +cultivated. They afford also an abundance of valuable fur and of fish. The +natives belong to the same stock with those of Kamchatka. + +ALE'WIFE (corruption of the Indian name), the _Al[=o]sa tyrannus_, a fish +of the same genus as the shad, growing to the length of 12 inches, and +caught in great quantities in the mouths of the rivers of New England, New +Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, being salted and exported. + +[Illustration: Coin of Alexander the Great] + +ALEXANDER, surnamed THE GREAT, was the son of Philip of Macedon and his +queen Olympias, and was born at Pella, 356 B.C. In youth he had Aristotle +as instructor, and he early displayed uncommon abilities. The victory of +Chaeronea in 338, which brought Greece entirely under Macedonia, was mainly +decided by his efforts. Philip having been assassinated, 336 B.C., +Alexander, not yet twenty years of age, ascended the throne. His father had +been preparing an expedition against the Persians, and Alexander determined +to carry it out; but before doing so he had to chastise the barbarian +tribes on the frontiers of Macedon as well as quell a rising in Greece, in +which he took and destroyed Thebes, put 6000 of the inhabitants to the +sword, and carried 30,000 into captivity. Leaving Antipater to govern in +his stead in Europe, and being confirmed as commander-in-chief of the Greek +forces in the general assembly of the Greeks, he crossed over the +Hellespont into Asia, in the spring of 334, with 30,000 foot and 5000 +horse. His first encounter with the Persian forces (assisted by Greek +mercenaries) was at the small river Gran[=i]cus, where he gained a complete +victory. Most of the cities of Asia Minor now opened their gates to the +victor, and Alexander restored democracy in all the Greek cities. In +passing through Gordium he cut the Gordian knot, on which it was believed +the fate of Asia depended, and then conquered Lycia, Ionia, Caria, +Pamphylia, and Cappadocia. A sickness, caused by bathing in the Cydnus (333 +B.C.), checked his progress; but scarcely was he restored to health when he +continued his advance, and this same year defeated the Persian emperor +Darius and his army of 500,000 or 600,000 men (including 50,000 Greek +mercenaries) near Issus (inner angle of the Gulf of Alexandretta). Darius +fled towards the interior of his dominions, leaving his family and +treasures to fall into the hands of the conqueror. Alexander did not pursue +Darius, but proceeded southwards, and secured all the towns along the +Mediterranean Sea, though he only got possession of Tyre (taken 332 B.C.) +after besieging it for seven months. Palestine and Egypt now fell before +him, and in the latter he founded Alexandria, which became one of the first +cities of ancient times. Hence he went through the desert of Libya, to +consult the oracle of Zeus Ammon, and it was said that the god recognized +him as his son. On his return Alexander marched against Darius, who had +collected an immense army in Assyria, and rejected the proposals of his +rival for peace. A battle was fought at Gaugamela, about 50 miles from +Arbela, 331 B.C., and notwithstanding the immense numerical superiority of +his enemy, Alexander (who had but 40,000 men and 7000 horse) gained a +complete victory. Babylon and Susa opened their gates to the conqueror, who +marched towards Persepolis, the capital of Persia, and entered it in +triumph. He now seems for a time to have lost his self-command. He gave +himself up to arrogance and dissipation, and is said in a fit of +intoxication to have set fire to the palace of Persepolis, one of the +wonders of the world. Rousing himself up, however, he set out in pursuit of +Darius, who, having lost his throne, was kept prisoner by Bessus, satrap of +Bactriana. Bessus, on seeing himself closely pursued, caused Darius to be +assassinated (330 B.C.). Continuing his progress he subdued Bessus, and +advanced to the Jaxartes, the extreme eastern limit of the empire, but did +not fully subdue the whole of this region till 328, some fortresses holding +out with great tenacity. In one of these he took prisoner the beautiful +Roxana, daughter of Oxyartes, a nobleman of Sogdiana, and having fallen in +love with her he married her. Meantime disaffection had once or twice +manifested itself among his Macedonian followers and had been cruelly +punished; and he had also, to his lasting remorse, killed his faithful +friend Cleitus in a fit of drunken rage. Alexander now formed the idea of +conquering India, then scarcely known even by name. He passed the Indus +(326 B.C.), marched towards the Hydaspes (Jhelum), at the passage of which +he conquered a king named Porus in a fierce battle, and advanced +victoriously through the north-west of India, and intended to proceed as +far as the Ganges, when the murmurs of his army compelled him to return. On +the Hydaspes he built a fleet, in which he sent a part of his army down the +river, while the rest proceeded along the banks. By the Hydaspes he reached +the Acesines (Chenab), and thus the Indus, down which he sailed to the sea. +Nearchus, his admiral, sailed hence to the Persian Gulf, while Alexander +directed his march by land to Babylon, losing a great part of his troops in +the desert through which he had to pass. In Susa he married Statira, the +eldest daughter of Darius, and rewarded those of his Macedonians who had +married Persian women, because it was his intention to unite the two +nations as closely as possible. At Opis, on the Tigris, a mutiny arose +among his Macedonians (in 324), who thought he showed too much favour to +the Asiatics; by firmness and policy he succeeded in quelling this rising, +and sent home 10,000 veterans with rich rewards. Soon after, his favourite, +Hephaestion, died at Ecbatana, and Alexander's grief was unbounded. The +favourite was royally buried at Babylon, and here Alexander was engaged in +extensive plans for the future, when he became suddenly sick, after a +banquet, and died in a few days (323 B.C.), in his thirty-third year, after +a reign of twelve years and eight months. His body was after a time +conveyed to Egypt with great splendour by his general Ptolemy. He left +behind him an immense empire, which was divided among his chief generals, +and became the scene of continual wars. The reign of Alexander constitutes +an important period in the history of humanity. His career was not merely a +series of empty conquests, but was attended with the most important +results. The language, and much of the civilization of Greece, followed in +his track; large additions were made to the sciences of geography, natural +history, &c.; a road was opened to India; and the products of the farthest +east were introduced into Europe. Greek kingdoms, under his generals and +their successors, continued to exist in Asia for centuries.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: +B. I. Wheeler, _Alexander the Great_ (Heroes of the Nations Series: +Putnam); Grote, _History of Greece_; Holm, _History of Greece_; Dodge, +_Alexander_ (Great Captains Series). + +ALEXANDER, the name of eight popes, the earliest of whom, ALEXANDER I, is +said to have reigned from 108 to 119. ALEXANDER III, elected 1159, died +1181, exercised his authority with great vigour against Henry II when the +latter was accused of the assassination of Thomas Becket. The most famous +(or infamous) is ALEXANDER VI (Borgia), who was born at Valencia, in Spain, +in 1431, and died in 1503. When he was only twenty-five years of age his +uncle, Pope Calixtus III, made him a cardinal, and shortly afterwards +appointed him to the dignified and lucrative office of vice-chancellor. By +bribery he prepared his way to the papal throne, which he attained in 1492, +after the death of Innocent VIII. Both the authority and revenues of the +popes being at this time much impaired, he set himself to reduce the power +of the Italian princes, and seize upon their possessions for the benefit of +his own family. To effect this end he is said not to have scrupled to use +the vilest means, including poison and assassination. His policy, foreign +as well as domestic, was faithless and base, and his private life was +stained by immorality. He understood how to extract immense sums of money +from all Christian countries under various pretexts. He sold indulgences, +and set aside, in favour of himself, the wills of several cardinals. His +excesses roused against him the powerful eloquence of Savonarola, who, by +pen and pulpit, urged his deposition, but had to meet his death at the +stake in 1498. Not long after his election Alexander had the honour of +deciding the dispute between the kings of Portugal and Castile concerning +their respective claims to the foreign countries recently discovered. It +must, however, be admitted that Pope Alexander, whilst striking the wealthy +and powerful, interested himself in the welfare of the people, and that he +was a patron of arts and letters. His son, Cesare Borgia, and his daughter, +Lucrezia, are equally notorious with himself. + +ALEXANDER, the name of three Scottish kings. ALEXANDER I, a son of Malcolm +III, Canmore, and Margaret of England, succeeded his brother Edgar in 1107, +and governed with great ability till his death in 1124. He was a great +benefactor of the Church, and a firm vindicator of the national +independence.--ALEXANDER II was born in 1198, and succeeded his father, +William the Lion, in 1214. He was a wise and energetic prince, and Scotland +prospered greatly under him, though disturbed by the Norsemen, by the +restlessness of some of the Celtic chiefs, and by the attempts of Henry III +of England to make Alexander do homage to him. He helped Robert FitzWilliam +to capture London and compel King John to sign Magna Charta. Alexander +married Henry's sister, Joan, in 1221, who lived till 1238. In 1244 war +with England almost broke out, but was fortunately averted. Alexander died +in 1248 at Kerrera, an island opposite Oban, when on an expedition in which +he hoped to wrest the Hebrides from Norway. He was succeeded by his son, +ALEXANDER III, a boy of eight, who in 1251 married Margaret, eldest +daughter of Henry III of England. Like his father, he was eager to bring +the Hebrides under his sway, and this he was enabled to accomplish in a few +years after the defeat of the Norse King Haco at Largs, in 1263. The +mainland and islands of Scotland were now under one sovereign, though +Orkney and Shetland still belonged to Norway. Alexander was strenuous in +asserting the independence both of the Scottish kingdom and the Scottish +Church against England. He died in 1285 by the falling of his horse while +he was riding in the dark between Burntisland and Kinghorn. He left as his +heiress Margaret, the Maid of Norway, daughter of Eric of Norway, and of +Alexander's daughter, Margaret. Under him Scotland enjoyed greater +prosperity than for generations afterwards. + +ALEXANDER I, Emperor of Russia, son of Paul I and Maria, daughter of Prince +Eugene of Wuertemberg, was born in 1777, and died in 1825. On the +assassination of his father, in 1801, Alexander ascended the throne, and +one of his first acts was to conclude peace with Britain, against which his +predecessor had declared war. In 1803 he offered his services as mediator +between England and France, and two years later a convention was entered +into between Russia, England, Austria, and Sweden for the purpose of +resisting the encroachments of France on the territories of independent +States. He was present at the battle of Austerlitz (1805), when the +combined armies of Russia and Austria were defeated by Napoleon. In the +succeeding campaign the Russians were again beaten at Eylau (8th Feb., +1807) and Friedland (14th June), the result of which was an interview +between Alexander and Napoleon, and the treaty at Tilsit. The Russian +emperor now for a time identified himself with the Napoleonic schemes, and +soon obtained possession of Finland and an extended territory on the +Danube. The French alliance, however, he found to be too oppressive, and +his having separated himself from Napoleon led to the disastrous French +invasion of 1812. In 1813 he published a manifesto which served as the +basis of the coalition of the other European powers against France, which +was followed by the capture of Paris (in 1814), the abdication of Napoleon +and the restoration of the Bourbons, and the utter overthrow of Napoleon +the following year. After Waterloo, Alexander, accompanied by the Emperor +of Austria and the King of Prussia, made his second entrance into Paris, +where they concluded the treaty known as the Holy Alliance. The remaining +part of his reign was chiefly taken up with measures of internal reform, +including the gradual abolition of serfdom, and the promotion of education, +agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, as well as literature and the fine +arts. + +ALEXANDER II, Emperor of Russia, was born 29th April, 1818, and succeeded +his father Nicholas in 1855, before the end of the Crimean war. After peace +was concluded, the new emperor set about effecting reforms in the empire, +the greatest of all being the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, a measure +which gave freedom, on certain conditions, to 50,000,000 of human beings +who were previously in a state little removed from that of slavery. Under +him, too, representative assemblies in the provinces were introduced, and +he also did much to improve education, and to reorganize the judicial +system. During his reign the Russian dominions in Central Asia were +extended, a piece of territory south of the Caucasus, formerly belonging to +Turkey, was acquired, and a part of Bessarabia restored to Russia. The +latter additions resulted from the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-8. He was +killed by an explosive missile flung at him by a Nihilist in a street in +St. Petersburg (now Petrograd), 13th March, 1881. He was succeeded by his +son, Alexander III. His only daughter was married to the Duke of Edinburgh. + +ALEXANDER III, Emperor of Russia, son of Alexander II, born in 1845, became +heir to the throne on the death of his eldest brother, Nicholas (1865). In +1863 he married Princess Dagmar of Denmark; he succeeded to the throne in +1881, on the assassination of his father, being crowned in Moscow in 1883. +He gave up the reforms begun by his father, and ruled in the old autocratic +fashion, restricting the liberties of Finland and the Baltic Provinces, and +encouraging persecution of the Jews. He spent much time in the +closely-guarded castle of Gatchina, to be safe from Nihilistic attempts, +several of which he narrowly escaped. He endeavoured to put down corruption +and underhand dealing among the bureaucracy, and in his own habits gave an +example of simplicity and economy. While showing himself suspicious of +Germany and Austria-Hungary, he entered on friendly relations with France. +He began to suffer from disease of the kidneys in 1893, and died at Livadia +on 1st Nov., 1894. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Nicholas II. + +ALEXANDER I, King of Serbia, born in 1876. He was the son of King Milan, +and on the abdication of his father in 1889 was proclaimed king under a +regency. He married Madame Draga Mashin, a widow, who was much older than +himself. Both were assassinated on 11th June, 1903. + +ALEXANDER OF HALES. See _Hales, Alexander de._ + +ALEXANDER, Boyd, British explorer and naturalist, born in 1873. He led many +expeditions for research and exploration to the Cape Verde Islands, the +Zambesi River, and various parts of the world. He also discovered many new +birds when he ascended the Mount St. Isabel. In 1908 he received the gold +medal of the Royal Geographical Society. He was murdered by natives in May, +1910, while exploring the French Congo. He wrote _From the Niger to the +Nile_ (1907), &c. _Boyd Alexander's Last Journey_ was published in 1912. + +ALEXANDER NEVSKOI, a Russian hero and saint, son of the Grand-Duke +Jaroslav, born in 1219, died in 1263. He fought valiantly against assaults +of the Mongols, the Danes, Swedes, and Knights of the Teutonic Order. He +gained the name of _Nevskoi_ in 1240, for a splendid victory, on the Neva, +over the Swedes. The gratitude of his countrymen commemorated the hero in +popular songs, and raised him to the dignity of a saint. Peter the Great +built a splendid monastery at St. Petersburg (Petrograd) in his honour, and +in memory of him established the Order of Alexander Nevskoi. + +ALEXANDER SEVE'RUS, a Roman emperor, born in 208, died A.D. 235. He was +raised to the imperial dignity in A.D. 222 by the praetorian guards, after +they had put his cousin the Emperor Heliogabalus to death. He governed ably +both in peace and war; and also occupied himself in poetry, philosophy, and +literature. He was very tolerant in religious matters, and although not +professing Christianity intended to erect a temple to Christ, but was +prevented by the pagan priests from carrying out this plan. In 232 he +defeated the Persians under Artaxerxes, who wished to drive the Romans from +Asia. When on an expedition into Gaul, to repress an incursion of the +Germans, he was murdered with his mother in an insurrection of his troops, +headed by the brutal Maximin, who succeeded him as emperor. + +ALEXANDERS (_Smyrnium Olus[=a]trum_), an umbelliferous biennial plant, a +native of the Mediterranean region, but found in Great Britain and Ireland. +It was formerly cultivated for its leaf-stalks, which, having a pleasant +aromatic flavour, were blanched and used instead of celery--a vegetable +that has taken its place. + +ALEXANDRA, the queen mother, widow of Edward VII, daughter of Christian IX, +King of Denmark, was born at Copenhagen on 1st Dec., 1844, and was married +on 10th March, 1863, being Princess of Wales up to the death of Queen +Victoria and the accession of King Edward in Jan., 1901. She was highly +popular from the first in the country of her husband, as she constantly +showed an interest in all benevolent causes. She has been the mother of six +children, one of whom died in infancy, while the eldest, Edward, Duke of +Clarence and Avondale, died in 1892 at the age of twenty-eight. Cf. S. A. +Tooley, _Queen Alexandra_. + +ALEXANDRET'TA, or ISKANDEROON (ancient ALEXANDRIA AD ISSUM), a small +seaport in Asia Minor, on the Gulf of Iskanderoon, the port of Aleppo and +Northern Syria. Named after Alexander the Great, and founded in memory of +the battle of Issus. In 1832 Mehemet Ali won a victory over the Turks near +Alexandretta. There is a large export and import trade. It was occupied by +British and French troops in Nov., 1918. Pop. 10,000. + +ALEXAN'DRIA, an ancient city and seaport in Egypt, at the north-west angle +of the Nile delta, on a ridge of land between the sea and Lake Mareotis. +Ancient Alexandria was founded by, and named in honour of, Alexander the +Great, in 332 B.C., and was long a great and splendid city, the centre of +commerce between the east and west, as well as of Greek learning and +civilization, with a population at one time of perhaps 1,000,000. It was +especially celebrated for its great library, and also for its famous +lighthouse, one of the wonders of the world, standing upon the little +island of Pharos, which was connected with the city by a mole. Under Roman +rule it was the second city of the empire, and when Constantinople became +the capital of the East it still remained the chief centre of trade; but it +received a blow from which it never recovered when captured by Amru, +general of Caliph Omar, in 641, after a siege of fourteen months. Its ruin +was finally completed by the building of Cairo (969) and the discovery of +the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope (1498) which opened up a new +route for the Asiatic trade. See _Alexandrian Library_, _Alexandrian +School_.--Modern Alexandria stands partly on what was formerly the island +of Pharos, partly on the peninsula which now connects it with the mainland +and which was formed by the accumulation of soil, and partly on the +mainland. The streets in the Turkish quarter are narrow, dirty, and +irregular; in the foreign quarter they are regular and wide, and it is here +that the finest houses are situated. Here also are the principal shops and +hotels, banks, offices of companies, &c.; this part of the city being +supplied with gas, and with water brought by the Mahmudieh Canal from the +western branch of the Nile. Alexandria is connected by railway with Cairo, +Rosetta, and Suez. A little to the south of the city are the catacombs, +which now serve as a quarry. Another relic of antiquity is Pompey's Pillar, +98 feet 9 inches high. Alexandria has two ports, on the east and west +respectively of the isthmus of the Pharos peninsula, the latter having a +breakwater over 3000 yards in length, with fine quays and suitable railway +and other accommodation. The trade of Alexandria is large and varied, the +exports being cotton, beans, pease, rice, wheat, &c.; the imports chiefly +manufactured goods, machinery, timber, and coal. The origin of its more +recent career of prosperity it owes to Mohammed Ali. In 1882 the +insurrection of Arabi Pasha and the massacre of Europeans led to the +intervention of the British, and the bombardment of the forts by the +British fleet in July. The administrative district has an area of 19 sq. +miles; pop. 444,617 (or 23,401 per square mile). + +ALEXANDRIA, a town and port of the United States, in Virginia, on the right +bank of the Potomac (which is of sufficient depth for large vessels), 7 +miles south of Washington, carries on a considerable trade, chiefly in +flour. Pop. (1920), 18,060. + +ALEXANDRIA, a town of Scotland, in Dumbartonshire, on the Leven, 4 miles +north of Dumbarton, with extensive cotton-printing and bleaching works. +Pop. 9850. + +ALEXANDRIA, a town of the Ukraine, in the former Russian government of +Kherson, on a tributary of the Dnieper. Pop. 10,521. + +ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY, the largest and most famous of all the ancient +collections of books, founded by Ptolemy Soter (died 283 B.C.), King of +Egypt, and greatly enlarged by succeeding Ptolemies. The first librarian +was Zenodotus (234 B.C.). At its most flourishing period it is said to have +numbered 700,000 volumes, accommodated in two different buildings, one of +them being the Serapeion, or temple of Jupiter Serapis. The other +collection was burned during Julius Caesar's siege of the city, but the +Serapeion library existed to the time of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, +when, at the general destruction of the heathen temples, the splendid +temple of Jupiter Serapis was gutted (A.D. 391) by a fanatical crowd of +Christians, and its literary treasures destroyed or scattered. A library +was again accumulated, but was burned by the Arabs when they captured the +city under the caliph Omar in 641. Amru, the captain of the caliph's army, +would have been willing to spare the library, but Omar is said to have +disposed of the matter in the famous words: "If these writings of the +Greeks agree with the Koran they are useless, and need not be preserved; if +they disagree they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed". This story, +however, which rests solely on the authority of Abulfaragius, a writer who +lived six centuries later, is now generally discredited. + +ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL or AGE, the school or period of Greek literature and +learning that existed at Alexandria in Egypt during the three hundred years +that the rule of the Ptolemies lasted (323-30 B.C.), and continued under +the Roman supremacy. Ptolemy Soter founded the famous library of Alexandria +(see above) and his son, Philadelphus, established a kind of academy of +sciences and arts. Many scholars and men of genius were thus attracted to +Alexandria, and a period of literary activity set in, which made Alexandria +for long the focus and centre of Greek culture and intellectual effort. It +must be admitted, however, that originality was not a characteristic of the +Alexandrian age, which was stronger in criticism, grammar, and science than +in pure literature. Among the grammarians and critics were Zenodotus, +Eratosthenes, Aristophanes, Aristarchus, and Zoilus, proverbial as a +captious critic. Their merit is to have collected, edited, and preserved +the existing monuments of Greek literature. To the poets belong Apollonius, +Lycophron, Aratus, Nicander, Euphorion, Callimachus, Theocritus, Philetas, +&c. Among those who pursued mathematics, physics, and astronomy was Euclid, +the father of scientific geometry; Archimedes, great in physics and +mechanics; Apollonius of Perga, whose work on conic sections still exists; +Nicomachus, the first scientific arithmetician; and (under the Romans) the +astronomer and geographer Ptolemy. Alexandria also was distinguished in +philosophical speculation, and it was here that the New Platonic school was +established by Ammonius of Alexandria (about A.D. 193), whose disciples +were Plotinus and Origen. Being for the most part Orientals, formed by the +study of Greek learning, the writings of the New Platonists are strikingly +characterized--for example, those of Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, Iamblicus, +Porphyrius--by a mixture of Asiatic and European elements. The connection +of Neo-Platonism with Alexandria is, however, less than is commonly +supposed.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mahaffy, _Greek Life and Thought from the Age of +Alexander to the Roman Empire_; Kingsley, _Alexandria and her Schools_; +Vacherot, _Histoire critique de l'ecole d'Alexandrie_ (3 vols.). + +ALEXANDRIAN VERSION. See _Codex Alexandrinus_. + +ALEXANDRINE, in prosody, the name given, from an old French poem on +Alexander the Great, to a species of verse, which consists of six iambic +feet, or twelve syllables, the pause being, in correct Alexandrines, always +on the sixth syllable; for example, the second of the following verses:-- + + A needless Alexandrine ends the song, + That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. + +In English Drayton's _Polyolbion_ is written in this measure, and the +concluding line of the Spenserian stanza is an Alexandrine. In France the +verse fell into disuse during the early part of the sixteenth century, but +was again revived by Jean Antoine de Baif, one of the poets of the Pleiade. +Jodelle introduced the verse into the drama, and Ronsard made it very +popular. French epics and dramas being confined to this verse, it is +therefore called the _heroic_. + +ALEXANDRO'POL, formerly a Russian town and fortress in the Transcaucasian +government of Erivan, near the highway from Erivan to Kars; now belonging +to Armenia; it has silk manufactories. Pop. 48,938. + +ALEXAN'DROV, a town of Russia, government of Vladimir, with a famous +convent, in the church of which are interred two sisters of Peter the +Great; manufactures of steel and cotton goods. Pop. 7179. + +ALEX'ISBAD, a bathing-place of Germany, Anhalt, in the Harz Mountains, with +two mineral springs strongly impregnated with iron. + +ALEX'IS MIKHAI'LOVITSH (son of Michael), second Russian Tsar of the line of +Romanov, born in 1629, succeeded his father Mikhail Feodorovitsh in 1645, +and died in 1676. He did much for the internal administration and for the +enlargement of the empire; reconquered Little Russia from Poland, and +carried his authority to the extreme east of Siberia. He was father of +sixteen children, the most famous of them being Peter the Great and his +sister Sophia. + +ALEXIS PETRO'VITSH, eldest son of Peter the Great and Eudoxia Lopukhina, +repudiated in 1698, was born in Moscow, 1690, and died in 1718. He opposed +the innovations introduced by his father, who on this account disinherited +him by a ukase in 1718, and when he discovered that Alexis was paving the +way to succeed to the crown he had his son tried and condemned to death. A +few days afterwards Alexis died, after having received twenty-five strokes +with the knout, leaving a son, afterwards the Emperor Peter II. + +ALEX'IUS COMNE'NUS, Byzantine Emperor, was born in 1048, and died in 1118. +He was a nephew of Isaac the first emperor of the Comneni, and attained the +throne in 1081, at a time when the Empire was menaced from various sides, +especially by the Turks and the Normans. From these dangers he managed to +extricate himself by policy or warlike measures, and maintained his +position till the age of seventy, during a reign of thirty-seven years. His +daughter Anna wrote a life of him (_The Alexiad_), which is one continuous +eulogy, but all the Latin historians are very severe on him. + +AL'FA. See _Esparto_. + +ALFAL'FA, generally known in Britain as lucerne, a prolific forage plant +largely grown in California, &c. + +ALFARA'BI, an eminent Arabian scholar of the tenth century; died at +Damascus in 950; wrote on Aristotelian philosophy, and compiled a kind of +encyclopedia. + +AL'FENID, an alloy of nickel plated with silver, used for spoons, forks, +candlesticks, tea services, &c. + +ALFIERI ([.a]l-f[=e]-[=a]'r[=e]), Vittorio, Count, Italian poet, was born +at Asti in 1749, and died in 1803. After extensive European travels he +began to write, and his first play, _Cleopatra_ (1775), being received with +general applause he determined to devote all his efforts to attaining a +position among writers of dramatic poetry. At Florence he became intimate +with the Countess of Albany, wife of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and on +the death of the prince she lived with him as his mistress. This connection +he believed to have served to stimulate and elevate his poetic powers. He +died at Florence and was buried in the church of Santa Croce, between +Macchiavelli and Michael Angelo, where a beautiful monument by Canova +covers his remains. He wrote twenty-one tragedies and six comedies. His +theatrical work has been rightly styled a creation of his pride as much as +of his genius; he endeavoured to turn the theatre into a platform and was +constantly preaching from the stage. Anxious to use his characters as +exponents of his theories, and to make them _talk_, he often forgot to make +them _act_. Alfieri himself admitted that he was writing with a view to +"teaching men how to become free, strong, generous, and passionate for real +virtue", but such an attitude is opposed to true art. His tragedies are +full of lofty and patriotic sentiments, but the language is stiff and +without poetic grace, and the plots poor. Nevertheless he is considered the +first tragic writer of Italy, and has served as a model for his successors. +Alfieri composed also an epic, lyrics, satires, and poetical translations +from the ancient classics. He left an interesting autobiography. The best +edition of his works is that published at Pisa (1805-13) in 22 vols. + +ALFON'SO. See _Alphonso_. + +AL'FORD, Henry, D.D., Dean of Canterbury, an English poet, scholar, and +miscellaneous writer, was born in London in 1810. After attending various +schools he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1827, graduated B.A. in +1832, was elected fellow in 1834, and next year became vicar of Wymeswold, +Leicestershire. In 1842 he was appointed examiner in logic and moral +philosophy to the University of London, and held the appointment till 1857. +He early began the great work of his life, his edition of the Greek +Testament with commentary, which occupied him for twenty years, the first +volumes being published in 1849, the fourth and last in 1861. In 1853 he +was transferred to Quebec Chapel, London, and in 1857 was appointed Dean of +Canterbury. He was the first editor of the _Contemporary Review_ (1866-70). +He died in 1871. Among other works he wrote _Chapters on the Poets of +Ancient Greece_, _Sermons_, _Psalms and Hymns_, _Homilies on the Acts of +the Apostles_, _Letters from Abroad_, _Poetical Works_, _Plea for the +Queen's English_. + +AL'FRED (or AEL'FRED) THE GREAT, King of England, was born at Wantage, in +Berkshire, A.D. 849, his father being Ethelwulf, son of Egbert, King of the +West Saxons. He succeeded his brother Ethelred in 872, at a time when the +Danes, or Northmen, had extended their conquests widely over the country, +and they had completely overrun the kingdom of the West Saxons by 878. +Alfred was obliged to flee in disguise. At length he gathered a small +force, and having fortified himself on the Isle of Athelney, formed by the +confluence of the Rivers Parret and Tone, amid the marshes of Somerset, he +was able to make frequent sallies against the enemy. It was during his +abode here that he went, according to legend, disguised as a harper into +the camp of King Guthrum (or Guthorm), and, having ascertained that the +Danes felt themselves secure, hastened back to his troops, led them against +the enemy, and gained such a decided victory that fourteen days afterwards +the Danes begged for peace. This battle took place in May, 878, near +Edington, in Wiltshire. Alfred allowed the Danes who were already in the +country to remain, on condition that they gave hostages, took a solemn oath +to quit Wessex, and embraced Christianity. Their king, Guthrum, was +baptized, with thirty of his followers, and ever afterward remained +faithful to Alfred. They received that portion of the east of England now +occupied by the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, as a place of +residence. The few years of tranquillity (886-93) which followed were +employed by Alfred in rebuilding the towns that had suffered most during +the war, particularly London; in training his people in arms and no less in +agriculture; in improving the navy; in systematizing the laws and internal +administration; and in literary labours and the advancement of learning. He +caused many manuscripts to be translated from Latin, and himself translated +several works into Anglo-Saxon, such as the _Psalms_, _Aesop's Fables_, +_Boethius on the Consolation of Philosophy_, the _History of Orosius_, +_Bede's Ecclesiastical History_, &c. He also drew up several original works +in Anglo-Saxon. These peaceful labours were interrupted, about 894, by an +invasion of the Northmen, who, after a struggle of three years, were +finally driven out. Alfred died in 901. He had married, in 868, Alswith or +Ealhswith, the daughter of a Mercian nobleman, and left two sons: Edward, +who succeeded him, and Ethelwerd, who died in 922.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Plummer, +_Life and Times of Alfred the Great_; A. Bowker, _Alfred the Great, +Chapters on his Life and Times_; B. A. Lees, _Alfred the Great_. + +ALGAE (al'j[=e]), a nat. ord. of cryptogamic or thallogenous plants, found +for the most part in the sea and fresh water, or on the surface of damp +walls, rocks, the bark of trees, and in similar moist situations. They are +either some shade of bluish-green, green, brown, or red colour. The higher +forms have stems bearing leaf-like expansions, and they are often attached +to the rocks by roots, which, however, do not derive nutriment from the +rocks. A stem, however, is most frequently absent. The plants are nourished +through their whole surface by the medium in which they live. They vary in +size from the microscopic diatoms to forms whose stems resemble those of +forest trees, and whose fronds rival the leaves of the palm. They are +entirely composed of cellular tissue, and many are edible and nutritious, +as carrageen or Irish-moss, dulse, &c. Kelp, iodine, and bromine are +products of various species. The Algae are also valuable as manure. They +are often divided into five orders: Diatomaceae, Confervaceae, Fucaceae, +Ceramiaceae, and Characeae. + +ALGAR'DI, Alessandro, one of the chief Italian sculptors of the seventeenth +century; born 1602, died 1654. He lived and worked chiefly at Rome; +executed the tomb of Leo XI in St. Peter's, a bronze statue of Innocent X, +and a marble relief with life-size figures over the altar of St. Leo there. + +ALGARO'BA-BEAN. See _Carob Tree_. + +AL'GAROT, a violently purgative and emetic white powder, precipitated from +chloride of antimony in water; it was used in medicine by the physician +Victor Algarotus in the sixteenth century. + +ALGAROT'TI, Francesco, Count, born in 1712, died in 1764, an Italian writer +on science, the fine arts, &c. He lived for some years in France and for a +long time in Germany, Frederick the Great of Prussia having made him +chamberlain and count. He wrote _Neutonianismo per le donne_; _Saggi sopra +le belle arti_, his principal work on art; poems, letters, &c. Algarotti's +works published at Venice in 17 vols. (1791-4) and illustrated by Tesi and +Novelli are a _chef-d'oeuvre_ of typography. Frederick the Great erected at +Pisa a monument to his memory. + +ALGARVE (al-g[.a]r'v[=a], meaning the land situated in the west), a +maritime province of Portugal occupying the southern portion of the +country, mountainous but with some fertile tracts. The title King of +Algarve was held by the Kings of Portugal. Area, 1937 sq. miles; pop. +274,122. + +ALGAU ([.a]l'gou), a name for the south-western portion of Bavaria and the +adjacent parts of Wuertemberg and Tyrol, intersected by the Algau Alps. The +Algau breed of cattle is one of the best in Germany. + +ALGAZZALI ([.a]l-g[.a]z-[:a]'l[=e]), Abu Hamed Mohammed, an Arabian +philosopher, Persian by birth; born 1058, died 1111. He was a most prolific +author; an opponent of the prevailing Aristotelian philosophy of the day, +and wrote against it the _Destruction of the Philosophers_, answered by +Averroes in his _Destruction of the Destruction_. + +AL'GEBRA (from the Arabic _al_, definite article, and _jabbara_, to make +equal), a kind of generalized arithmetic, in which numbers or quantities +and operations, often also the results of operations, are represented by +symbols. Thus the expression xy + cz + dy^2 denotes that a number +represented by x is to be multiplied by a number represented by y, a number +c multiplied by a number z, a number d by a number y multiplied by itself +(or squared), and the sum taken of these three products. So the _equation_ +(as it is called) x^2 - 7x + 12 = 0 expresses the fact that if a certain +number x is multiplied by itself, and this result made less by seven times +the number and greater by twelve, the result is 0. In this case x must +either be 3 or 4 to produce the given result; but such an equation (or +formula) as (a + b)(a - b) = a^2 - b^2 is always true whatever values may +be assigned to a and b. Algebra is an invaluable instrument in intricate +calculations of all kinds, and enables operations to be performed and +results obtained that by arithmetic would be impossible, and its scope is +still being extended. + +The beginnings of algebraic method are to be found in Diophantus, a Greek +of the fourth century of our era, but it was the Arabians that introduced +algebra to Europe, and from them it received its name. The first Arabian +treatise on algebra was published in the reign of the great Caliph Al Mamun +(813-33) by Mohammed Ben Musa. Italian merchants were the first algebraists +in Europe, and in 1202 Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, who had travelled and +studied in the East, published a work treating of algebra as then +understood in the Arabian school. From this time to the discovery of +printing considerable attention was given to algebra, and the work of Ben +Musa and another Arabian treatise, called the _Rule of Algebra_, were +translated into Italian. The first printed work treating on algebra (also +on arithmetic, &c.) appeared at Venice in 1494, the author being a monk +called Luca Pacioli da Bergo, a Minorite friar. Rapid progress now began to +be made, and among the names of those to whom advances are to be attributed +are Tartaglia and Geronimo Cardano. About the middle of the sixteenth +century the German Stifel introduced the signs +, -, [sqrt], and Robert +Recorde the sign =. The last-named wrote the first English work on algebra +in 1557. Francois Vieta, a French mathematician (1540-1603), first adopted +the method which has led to so great an extension of modern algebra, by +being the first who used general symbols for known quantities as well as +for unknown. It was he also who first made the application of algebra to +geometry. Albert Girard, a Flemish mathematician in the seventeenth +century, extended the theory of equations by the introduction of imaginary +quantities. The Englishman Harriot, early in the seventeenth century, +discovered negative roots, and established the equality between the number +of roots and the units in the degree of the equation. He also invented the +signs < >, and Oughtred that of x. Descartes, though not the first to apply +algebra to geometry, has, by the extent and importance of his applications, +commonly acquired the credit of being so. The same discoveries have also +been attributed to him as to Harriot, and their respective claims have +caused much controversy. He obtained by means of algebra the definition and +description of curves. Since his time algebra has been applied so widely in +geometry and higher mathematics that we need only mention the names of +Fermat, Wallis, Newton, Leibnitz, De Moivre, MacLaurin, Taylor, Euler, +D'Alembert, Lagrange, Laplace, Fourier, Poisson, Gauss, Horner, De Morgan, +Sylvester, Cayley. Boole, Jevons, and others have applied the algebraic +method not only to formal logic but to political economy.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: +Chrystal, _Algebra_ (2 vols.); Hobson, _Trigonometry_; Hardy, _Pure +Mathematics_; Whittaker and Watson, _Modern Analysis_. + +ALGECIRAS ([.a]l-_h_e-th[=e]'r[.a]s) (perhaps Portus Albus of the Romans), +a seaport of Spain, on the west side of the Bay of Gibraltar, a well-built +town carrying on a brisk coasting trade. It was the first conquest of the +Arabs in Spain (711), and was held by them till 1344, when it was taken by +Alphonso XI of Castile after a long siege. Near it, in 1801, Admiral Sir +James Saumarez defeated a Franco-Spanish fleet. Differences between France +and Germany regarding Morocco led to a conference of European Powers here +from 16th Jan.-7th April, 1906. Pop. 15,800. + +ALGE'RIA, a French dependency in N. Africa, having on the north the +Mediterranean, on the east Tunis, on the west Morocco, and on the south the +Desert of Sahara; area, 122,878 sq. miles, or including the Algerian Sahara +343,500. The country is divided into three departments--Algiers, Oran, and +Constantine. The coastline is about 550 miles in length, steep and rocky, +and though the indentations are numerous, the harbours are much exposed to +the north wind. The country is traversed by the Atlas Mountains, two chains +of which--the Great Atlas, bordering on the Sahara, and the Little, or +Maritime Atlas, between it and the sea--run parallel to the coast, the +former attaining a height of 7000 feet. The intervals are filled with lower +ranges, and numerous transverse ranges connect the principal ones and run +from them to the coast, forming elevated tablelands and enclosed valleys. +The rivers are numerous, but many of them are mere torrents rising in the +mountains near the coast. The Shelif is much the largest. Some of the +rivers are largely used for irrigation, and artesian wells have been sunk +in some places for the same purpose. There are, both on the coast and in +the interior, extensive salt lakes or marshes (_Shotts_), which dry up to a +great extent in summer. The country bordering on the coast, called the +_Tell_, is generally hilly, with fertile valleys; in some places a flat and +fertile plain extends between the hills and the sea. In the east there are +_Shotts_ that sink below the sea-level, and into these it has been proposed +to introduce the waters of the Mediterranean. The climate varies +considerably according to elevation and local peculiarities. There are +three seasons: winter from November to February, spring from March to June, +and summer from July to October. The summer is very hot and dry. In many +parts of the coast the temperature is moderate and the climate so healthy +that Algeria is now a winter resort for invalids. + +The chief products of cultivation are wheat, barley, and oats, tobacco, +cotton, wine, silk, and dates. Early vegetables, especially potatoes and +pease, are exported to France and England. A fibre called _alfa_, a variety +of esparto, which grows wild on the high plateaux, is exported in large +quantities. Cork is also exported. There are valuable forests, in which +grow various sorts of pines and oaks, ash, cedar, myrtle, pistachio-nut, +mastic, carob, &c. The Australian _Eucalyptus glob[)u]lus_ (a gum tree) has +been successfully introduced. Agriculture often suffers much from the +ravages of locusts. Among wild animals are the lion, panther, hyena, and +jackal; the domestic quadrupeds include the horse, the mule, cattle, sheep, +and pigs (introduced by the French). Algeria possesses valuable minerals, +including iron, copper, lead, sulphur, zinc, antimony, marble (white and +red), phosphate, and lithographic stone. + +The trade of Algeria has greatly increased under French rule, France, +Spain, and England being the countries with which it is principally carried +on, and three-fourths of the whole being with France. The exports (besides +those mentioned above) are olive-oil, raw hides, wood, wool, tobacco, +oranges, &c.; the imports, manufactured goods, wines, spirits, coffee, &c. +The manufacturing industries are unimportant, and include morocco leather, +carpets, muslins, and silks. French money, weights, and measures are +generally used. The chief towns are Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Bona, and +Tlemsen. There are about 2800 miles of railways opened; there is also a +considerable network of telegraph lines. + +The two principal native races inhabiting Algeria are Arabs and Berbers. +The former are mostly nomads, dwelling in tents and wandering from place to +place, though a large number of them are settled in the Tell, where they +carry on agriculture and have formed numerous villages. The Berbers, here +called Kabyles, are the original inhabitants of the territory and still +form a considerable part of the population. They speak the Berber language, +but use Arabic characters in writing. The Jews form a small but influential +part of the population. Various other races also exist. Except the Jews, +all the native races are Mahommedans. There are now a considerable number +of French and other colonists, provision being made for granting them +concessions of land on certain conditions. There are over 260,000 colonists +of French origin in Algeria, and over 200,000 colonists natives of other +European countries (chiefly Spaniards and Italians). Algeria is governed by +a governor-general, who is assisted by a council appointed by the French +Government. The settled portion of the country, in the three departments of +Algiers, Constantine, and Oran, is treated much as if it were a part of +France, and each department sends two deputies and one senator to the +French chambers. The rest of the territory is under military rule. The +colony costs France a considerable sum every year. Pop. of Algeria proper +in 1911, 5,523,449; of the Algerian Sahara, 40,379. + +The country now called Algeria was known to the Romans as Numidia. It +flourished greatly under their rule, and early received the Christian +religion. It was conquered by the Vandals in A.D. 430-1, and recovered by +Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire in 533-4. About the middle of the +seventh century it was overrun by the Saracens. The town of Algiers was +founded about 935 by Yussef Ibn Zeiri, and the country was subsequently +ruled by his successors and the dynasties of the Almoravides and Almohades. +After the overthrow of the latter, about 1269, it broke up into a number of +small independent territories. The Moors and Jews, who were driven out of +Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella at the end of the fifteenth century, +settled in large numbers in Algeria, and revenged themselves on their +persecutors by the practice of piracy. On this account various expeditions +were made by Spain against Algeria, and by 1510 the greater part of the +country was made tributary. A few years later the Algerians invited to +their assistance the Turkish pirate Horush (or Haruj) Barbarossa, who made +himself Sultan of Algiers in 1516, but was not long in being taken by the +Spaniards and beheaded. His brother and successor put Algiers under the +protection of Turkey (about 1520), and organized the system of piracy which +was long the terror of European commerce, and was never wholly suppressed +till the French occupation. Henceforth the country belonged to the Turkish +Empire, though from 1710 the connection was little more than nominal. The +depredations of the Algerian pirates were a continual source of irritation +to the Christian Powers, who sent a long series of expeditions against +them. For instance, in 1815 a United States fleet defeated an Algerian one +and forced the Dey to agree to a peace in which he recognized the American +flag as inviolable. In 1816 Lord Exmouth with an English fleet bombarded +Algiers, and exacted a treaty by which all the Christian slaves were at +once released, and the Dey undertook for the future to treat all his +prisoners of war as the European law of nations demanded. But the piratical +practices of the Algerians were soon renewed. + +At last the French determined on more vigorous measures, and in 1830 sent a +force of over 40,000 men against the country. Algiers was speedily +occupied, the Dey retired, and the country was without a government, but +resistance was organized by Abd-el-Kader, an Arab chief whom the emergency +had raised up. He began his warlike career of fifteen years by an attack on +Oran in 1832, and after an obstinate struggle the French, in Feb., 1834, +consented to a peace, acknowledging him as ruling over all the Arab tribes +west of the Shelif by the title of Emir of Maskara. War was soon again +renewed with varying fortune, and in 1837, in order to have their hands +free in attacking Constantine, the French made peace with Abd-el-Kader, +leaving to him the whole of Western Algeria except some coast towns. +Constantine was now taken, and the subjugation of the province of +Constantine followed. Meanwhile Abd-el-Kader was preparing for another +conflict, and in Nov., 1838, he suddenly broke into French territory with a +strong force, and for a time the supremacy of the French was endangered. +Matters took a more favourable turn for them when General Bugeaud was +appointed governor-general in Feb., 1841. In the autumn of 1841 Saida, the +last fortress of Abd-el-Kader, fell into his hands, after which the only +region that held out against the French was that bordering on Morocco. +Early in the following year this also was conquered, and Abd-el-Kader found +himself compelled to seek refuge in the adjoining empire. From Morocco +Abd-el-Kader twice made a descent upon Algeria, on the second occasion +defeating the French in two battles; and in 1844 he even succeeded in +raising an army in Morocco to withstand the French. Bugeaud, however, +crossed the frontier, and inflicted a severe defeat on this army, while a +French fleet bombarded the towns on the coast. The Emperor of Morocco was +at length compelled to agree to a treaty, in which he not only promised to +refuse Abd-el-Kader his assistance, but even engaged to lend his assistance +against him. Reduced to extremities Abd-el-Kader surrendered on 27th Dec., +1847, and was at first taken to France a prisoner, but was afterwards +released on his promise not to return to Algeria. The country was yet far +from subdued. The Kabyles, and the Arabs in the south, made protracted +resistance, and rose again and again against the yoke which it was +attempted to impose upon them. The numerous risings that successively took +place thus rendered Algeria a school for French generals, such as +Pelissier, Canrobert, St. Arnaud, and MacMahon. In 1864 MacMahon succeeded +Pelissier as governor-general, and had as his first work to put down an +insurrection. About this time the Emperor Napoleon III, who had visited the +colony, introduced considerable modifications into the government, +recognizing that the native races had grievances to complain of, and that +the French rulers were in various ways astray in the methods of government +adopted. Fresh disturbances broke out in the south nearly every year till +1871, when, owing to the Franco-Prussian war, a great effort was made to +throw off the French yoke, the colony being nearly denuded of French +soldiers. It was, however, completely suppressed, and in order to remove +what was believed to be one principal cause of the frequent insurrections, +a civil government was established instead of the military government in +the northern parts of the colony. The southern parts, inhabited by nomadic +tribes, are still subject to military rule. When the French took in hand +the occupation of Tunis, a rising took place (in 1881) in the west of +Algeria, under a chieftain who was able to inflict some loss and damage on +the French forces and colonists, but with no permanent result. Since then +quietness has generally prevailed in the colony, where the French, however, +continue to maintain a considerable military force. Owing to this and other +expenditure Algeria has always formed a burden on the resources of France. +The great aid rendered by Algeria to France during the European War led the +French Government to introduce new laws. The law of 4th Feb., 1919, gives +French citizenship to all Algerian natives under certain +conditions.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. D. Stott, _The Real Algeria_; Sir R. Lambert +Playfair, _Handbook for Travellers in Algeria_ (Murray's Handbooks). + +ALGESI'RAS. See _Algeciras_. + +ALGHERO, or ALGHERI ([.a]l-g[=a]'r[=o], [.a]l-g[=a]'r[=e]), a fortified +town and seaport on the north-west coast of the island of Sardinia, 15 +miles south-west of Sassari; the seat of a bishop, with a handsome +cathedral. One of the remarkable edifices of Alghero is the Casa Arbia, +where Charles V was lodged. The necropolis of Anghelu Ruju, situated in the +vicinity, was excavated in 1904. + +ALGIERS (al'j[=e]rz; Fr., _Alger_), a city and seaport on the +Mediterranean, capital of the French colony of Algeria, is situated on the +west side of the Bay of Algiers, partly on the slope of a hill facing the +sea. The old town, which is the higher, is oriental in appearance, with +narrow, crooked streets, and houses that are strong, prison-like edifices. +Its crowning point is the Kasbah, or ancient fortress of the Deys, about +500 feet above the sea, now serving as barracks. The modern French town, +which occupies the lower slope and spreads along the shore, is handsomely +built, with broad streets and elegant squares. It contains the Government +buildings, the central military and civil establishments, the residence of +the governor-general and the officials of the general and provincial +Government, the superior courts of justice, the archbishop's palace and the +cathedral, various other churches, including an English church and library, +the great commercial establishments, &c. A fine boulevard built on a series +of arches, and bordered on one side by handsome buildings, runs along the +sea-front of the town overlooking the bay, harbour, and shipping. Forty +feet below are the quay and railway-station, reached by inclined roads +leading from the centre of the boulevard. The harbour is good and +capacious, enclosed by piers or jetties, and otherwise improved at great +expense, and it and the city are defended by a strong series of +fortifications. Algiers is well provided with educational institutions, +including high schools or colleges for law, medicine, literature, +mathematics, and natural science; besides normal schools, an observatory, +public library, &c. Algiers is in every way far the most important place in +Algeria. There is a large shipping trade carried on, especially with +Marseilles, Cette, and some of the Spanish ports. Trade routes from the +interior and also railways centre in Algiers, and the exports include +grain, wine, cattle, wool, ore, tobacco, fruit, olive-oil, &c. Algiers is +now an important coaling station The city possesses widely-extended +suburbs. The climate, though variable, makes it a very desirable winter +residence for invalids and others from colder regions. Though warm, it is +bracing. There is a considerable rainfall (average 29 inches), but the dry +air and absorbent soil prevent it from being disagreeable. The winter +months resemble a bright, sunny English autumn, while the heat of summer is +not so intense as that of Egypt. The sirocco or desert wind is troublesome, +however, during summer, but in the winter it is merely a pleasant, warm, +dry breeze. Hailstorms are not infrequent, but frost and snow in Algiers +are so rare as to be almost unknown. Pop. 172,397. + +ALGIN, a viscous, gummy substance obtained from certain seaweeds, more +especially those of the genus Laminaria. It can be utilized for all +purposes where starch or gum is now required; may be used in cookery for +soups and jellies; and in an insoluble form it can be cut, turned, and +polished, like horn or vulcanite. + +ALGO'A BAY, a bay on the south coast of the Cape Province, 425 miles east +of the Cape of Good Hope, the only place of shelter on this coast for +vessels during the prevailing north-west gales. It was the first +landing-place of British immigrants in 1820. The usual anchorage is off +Port Elizabeth, on its west coast, a place of large and increasing trade, +but open on the east and south-east. + +ALGOL', Arabic name of a star in the constellation Perseus (head of +Medusa), remarkable as a variable star, changing in brightness from the +second to the fifth magnitude. + +ALGO'MA, a district of Canada, on the north of Lake Superior, forming part +of the north-west portion of Ontario, rich in silver, copper, iron, &c. + +ALGON'KINS, or ALGONQUINS, a family of North American Indians, formerly +spread over a great extent of territory, and still forming a large +proportion of the Indians of Canada. They consisted of four groups, +namely--(1) the eastern group, comprising the Massachusetts, Narragansets, +Mohicans, Delawares, and other tribes; (2) the north-eastern group, +consisting of the Abenakis, &c.; (3) the western group, made up of the +Shawnees, Miamis, Illinois, &c.; and (4) the north-western group, including +the Chippewas or Ojibbewas, the largest of all the tribes. + +ALGORISM, or ALGORITHMUS, in arithmetic, a word derived from the name of +Algoritmi or Al-Khowarizmi, from whose works European scholars received +much of their early information concerning Hindu numerals. The word is now +used to designate any particular arrangement of numerical work. + +ALGRAPHY. See _Lithography_. + +ALGUACIL, or ALGUAZIL ([.a]l-gw[.a]-th[=e]l'), in Spain, an officer whose +business it is to execute the decrees of a judge; a sort of constable. In +ancient times the Alguacil was the great provost of the palace. + +ALGUM. See _Almug_. + +ALHA'GI. See _Camel's-thorn_. + +ALHAMA ([.a]-l[:a]'m[.a]; that is, 'the bath'), a town of Southern Spain, +province of Granada, on the Marchan, 25 miles south-west of Granada, +celebrated for its warm medicinal (sulphur) baths and drinking waters. It +formed a Moorish fortress, the recovery of which in 1482 by the Spaniards +led to the entire conquest of Granada. It was occupied by the French from +Feb., 1810-Aug., 1812, and thrown into ruins by an earthquake in Dec., +1884. Pop. 8000.--There is also an _Alhama_ in the province of Murcia, with +a warm mineral spring. Pop. 6000. + +[Illustration: Alhambra--The Court of the Lions] + +ALHAM'BRA (Ar. _al_ and _hamrah_, 'the' and 'red'), a famous group of +buildings in Spain, forming the citadel of Granada when that city was one +of the principal seats of the empire of the Moors in Spain, situated on a +height, surrounded by a wall flanked by many towers, and having a circuit +of 2-1/4 miles. Within the circuit of the walls are two churches, a number +of mean houses, and some straggling gardens, besides the palace of Charles +V and the celebrated Moorish palace which is often distinctively spoken of +as the Alhambra. This building, to which the celebrity of the site is +entirely due, was the royal palace of the Kings of Granada. The greater +part of the present building belongs to the first half of the fourteenth +century. In the course of centuries, both through neglect and acts of +vandalism, the beauty of the Alhambra has suffered considerably. The work +of restoration was, however, undertaken in 1824 by the architect Jose +Contreras, and continued by his son Rafael from 1847-90. It consists mainly +of buildings surrounding two oblong courts, the one, called the Court of +the Fishpond (or of the Myrtles), 138 by 74 feet, lying north and south; +the other, called the Court of the Lions, from a fountain ornamented with +twelve lions in marble, 115 by 66 feet, lying east and west, described as +being, with the apartments that surround it, "the gem of Arabian art in +Spain, its most beautiful and most perfect example". Its design is +elaborate, exhibiting a profusion of exquisite detail gorgeous in +colouring, but the smallness of its size deprives it of the element of +majesty. The peristyle or portico on each side is supported by 128 pillars +of white marble, 11 feet high, sometimes placed singly and sometimes in +groups. Two pavilions project into the court at each end, the domed roof of +one having been restored. Some of the finest chambers of the Alhambra open +into this court, and near the entrance a museum of Moorish remains has been +formed. On the opposite side of the Court of the Lions is the Hall of the +Abencerrages. The prevalence of stucco or plaster ornamentation is one of +the features of the Alhambra, which becomes especially remarkable in the +beautiful honeycomb 'stalactite vaulting'. Arabesques and geometrical +designs with interwoven inscriptions are present in the richest profusion. +Cf. Owen Jones's work, _The Alhambra_ (2 vols., London, 1842-5. + +ALHAURIN ([.a]l-ou-r[=e]n'), a town of Southern Spain, province of Malaga, +with sulphureous baths. Pop. 7000. + +ALI ([.a]'l[=e]), cousin and son-in-law of Mahomet, the first of his +converts, and the bravest and most faithful of his adherents, born A.D. +602. He married Fatima, the daughter of the prophet, but after the death of +Mahomet (632) his claims to the caliphate were set aside in favour +successively of Abu-Bekr, Omar, and Othman. On the assassination of Othman, +in A.D. 656, he became caliph, and after a series of struggles with his +opponents, including Ayesha, widow of Mahomet, finally lost his life by +assassination at Kufa in 661. A Mahommedan schism arose after his death, +and has produced two sects. One sect, called the Shiites, put Ali on a +level with Mahomet, and do not acknowledge the three caliphs who preceded +Ali. They are regarded as heretics by the other sect, called Sunnites. The +Turks hold his memory in abhorrence, whilst the Persians call him the Lion +of God, and venerate him as second only to the prophet. The _Maxims_ and +_Hymns_ of Ali are yet extant. See _Caliph_. + +ALI, Pasha of Yan[)i]na, generally called _Ali Pasha_, a bold and able, but +ferocious and unscrupulous Albanian, born in 1741, son of an Albanian +chief, who was deprived of his territories by rapacious neighbours. Ali by +his enterprise and success, and by his entire want of scruple, got +possession of more than his father had lost, and made himself master of a +large part of Albania, including Yan[)i]na, which the Porte sanctioned his +holding, with the title of pasha. Among the travellers who visited his +Court at Yan[)i]na was Byron, who has left a record of his impressions in +_Childe Harold's Pilgrimage_. Ali Pasha was an apostle of European culture +in the East, and the first to feel the necessity for energetic reforms in +the old Moslem institutions. He displayed excellent qualities, putting an +end to brigandage and anarchy, making roads, and encouraging commerce. He +still farther extended his sway by subduing the brave Suliotes of Epirus, +whom he conquered in 1803, after a three years' war. Aiming at independent +sovereignty, he intrigued alternately with England, France, and Russia, and +became almost independent of the Porte, which at length determined, in +1820, to pronounce his deposition. Ali resisted several pashas who were +sent to carry out this decision, only surrendering at last in 1822, on +receiving assurances that his life and property would be granted him. Faith +was not kept with him, however; he was killed, and his head was cut off and +conveyed to Constantinople, while his treasures were seized by the Porte. + +AL'IAS (Lat., 'at another time'), a word often used in judicial proceedings +in connection with the different names that persons have assumed, most +likely for prudential reasons, at different times, and in order to conceal +identity, as Joseph Smith _alias_ Thomas Jones. + +ALIBERT ([.a]-l[=e]-b[=a]r), Jean Louis, Baron, a distinguished French +physician, born 1766, died 1837. He was a professor in Paris, and chief +physician at the Hospital St. Louis. He wrote many valuable works on +medical subjects, such as _Description des maladies de la peau_. + +ALI BEY, a ruler of Egypt, born in the Caucasus in 1728, was taken to Cairo +and sold as a slave, but having entered the force of the Mamelukes, and +attained the first dignity among them, he succeeded in making himself +virtual governor of Egypt. He then refused the customary tribute to the +Porte, and coined money in his own name. In 1769 he took advantage of a +war, in which the Porte was then engaged with Russia, to endeavour to add +Syria and Palestine to his Egyptian dominion, and in this he had almost +succeeded, when the defection of his own adopted son Mohammed Bey drove him +from Egypt. Joining his ally Sheikh Daher in Syria, he still pursued his +plans of conquest with remarkable success, till in 1773 he was induced to +make the attempt to recover Egypt with insufficient means. In a battle near +Cairo his army was completely defeated and he himself taken prisoner, dying +a few days afterwards either of his wounds or by poison. + +AL'IBI (Lat., 'elsewhere'), a defence in criminal procedure, by which the +accused endeavours to prove that when the alleged crime was committed he +was present in a different place. + +ALICANTE ([.a]-l[=e]-k[.a]n't[=a]), a fortified town and Mediterranean +seaport in Spain, capital of the province of the same name, picturesquely +situated partly on the slope of a hill, partly on the plain at the foot, +about 80 miles south by west of Valencia. The lower town has wide and +well-built streets; the upper town is old and irregularly built. The +principal manufactures are cotton, linen, and cigars; the chief export is +wine, which largely goes to England. Alicante is an ancient town. In 718 it +was taken by the Moors, from whom it was wrested about 1240. In modern +times it has been several times besieged and bombarded, as by the French in +1709, and in 1812, and by the federalists of Cartagena in 1873. Pop. +58,088.--The province is very fruitful and well cultivated, producing wine, +silk, fruits, &c. The wine is of a dark colour (hence called _vino tinto_, +deep-coloured wine), and is heavy and sweet. Area, 2185 sq. miles. Pop. +502,607. + +ALICATA, or LICATA ([.a]-l[=e]-k[:a]'t[.a], l[=e]-k[:a]'t[.a]), the most +important commercial town on the S. coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the +Salso, 24 miles E.S.E. of Girgenti, with a considerable trade in sulphur, +grain, wine, oil, nuts, almonds, and soda. It occupies the site of the town +which the Tyrant Phintias of Acragas erected and named after himself, when +Gela was destroyed in 280. Pop. 22,931. + +ALICE MAUD MARY, Princess, second daughter of Queen Victoria, Duchess of +Saxony, and Grand-duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt, born 1843, died 1878. In 1862 +she married Frederick William Louis of Hesse, nephew of the grand-duke, +whom he succeeded in 1877. She showed exemplary devotion to her father +Prince Albert during his fatal illness and to the Prince of Wales during +his attack of fever in 1871. During the Franco-Prussian war she organized +hospitals for the relief of the sick and wounded. She died from diphtheria +caught while nursing her husband and children. A selection of her letters +to her mother was published in 1883 by Dr. Carl Sell. + +A'LIEN, in relation to any country, a person born out of the jurisdiction +of the country, and not having acquired the full rights of a citizen of it. +The position of aliens depends upon the laws of the respective countries, +but generally speaking aliens owe a local allegiance, and are bound equally +with natives to obey all general rules for the preservation of order which +do not relate specially to citizens. Aliens have been often treated with +great harshness by the laws of some States. Thus in France there long +existed what was known as the _droit d'aubaine_, a law which claimed for +the benefit of the State the effects of deceased foreigners leaving no +heirs who were natives. Aliens have been repeatedly the objects of +legislation in Britain, and the tendency at the present day is to +communicate some of the rights of citizenship to aliens, and to widen the +definition of subjects. According to the Act of 1870 that now regulates the +matter, real and personal property of every description may be acquired, +held, and disposed of by an alien, in the same manner in all respects as by +a natural-born British subject. No other right or privilege (such as the +right to hold any office or any municipal, parliamentary, or other +franchise) is by this Act conferred on an alien except such as are +expressly given in respect of property. Previously aliens could hold only +personal property; they were incompetent to hold landed property, except +under certain conditions of residence or business occupancy for a term of +years not exceeding twenty-one. The children of aliens born in Britain are +natural-born subjects. Formerly the only mode of naturalization was by Act +of Parliament; but now an alien who has resided in the United Kingdom for +not less than one year immediately preceding his application, and has +previously resided in any part of His Majesty's dominions for four years +during the last eight years before the application, or who has been in the +service of the Crown for not less than five years, and intends to reside in +the kingdom, or to serve the British Crown, may apply to the Secretary of +State for a certificate of naturalization, and on giving evidence of +particulars may obtain it, being thereby entitled to almost all the +political and other rights of a natural-born British subject. At present +the law is laid down in the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act, +1914 and 1918. It used to be a principle in English law, that a +natural-born subject could not divest himself of his allegiance by becoming +naturalized in a foreign State (_nemo potest exuere patriam_); but it is +now laid down that a British subject who has voluntarily become naturalized +in a foreign State thereby ceases to be a British subject. Any British +subject who has become an alien may apply for a certificate of readmission +to British nationality on the same terms as those provided for aliens in +general. In the United States the position of aliens as regards acquisition +and holding of real property differs somewhat in the different States, +though in recent times the disabilities of aliens have been removed in most +of them. Personal property they can take, hold, and dispose of like native +citizens. Individual States have no jurisdiction on the subject of +naturalization, though they may pass laws admitting aliens to any privilege +short of citizenship. A naturalized citizen is not eligible for election as +president or vice-president of the United States, and cannot serve as +senator until after nine years' citizenship, nor as a member of the House +of Representatives until after seven years' citizenship. Five years' +residence in the United States and one year's permanent residence in the +particular State are necessary for the attainment of citizenship. + +ALIEN IMMIGRATION. In various countries certain classes of aliens have long +been prohibited from gaining admission. In the United States, for instance, +admission is refused to such persons as idiots, epileptics, persons +suffering from loathsome or dangerous contagious diseases, paupers, +criminals (except political criminals), illiterate persons, &c. Chinese +labourers as a whole are excluded, and even any persons coming to America +under a definite agreement to engage in any kind of labour or service. +Similar laws are in force in Australia, where there is a test that a person +proposing to settle in the country must be able to write fifty words of a +European language. Towards the end of last century the great influx of +foreigners into Britain, and into London in particular, drew public +attention to the matter. A select committee appointed in 1888 reported in +favour of the exclusion of destitute aliens, in 1894 a bill was introduced +into the House of Lords, while in 1898 a bill to regulate the immigration +of aliens was passed in the Lords, but made no further progress. In 1902 a +royal commission was appointed, and drew up a report, published in 1903, +containing valuable information and various recommendations. Among these +were the establishment of an immigration department, and the granting of +powers to deport criminals, prostitutes, and other undesirable aliens, and +to prevent the landing of persons mentally unfit or suffering from +infectious or loathsome diseases. In 1904 an Aliens Immigration Bill was +introduced and read a second time in the House of Commons. It was based on +the recommendations of the commission, and in its favour it was argued that +a large amount of British labour had been displaced by aliens, in London +especially, that the prevalence of crime among aliens was out of proportion +to their numbers, that many of them were paupers, criminals convicted in +their own country, or other undesirables. In 1905 another bill on the +subject was introduced by the Government, which succeeded in passing it, so +that the matter can now be dealt with, and undesirable aliens kept out. +Since the European War (1914-8) and the new passport regulations it is easy +to ascertain the number of aliens that enter the country and settle. At the +census of 1901 the whole alien population was set down at 286,925, as +against 219,523 in 1891, but there has been a very large influx from 1901 +to 1914, by far the largest number consisting of Russian and Polish Jews. +The restrictions imposed upon aliens during the European War are still in +force, so far as they prohibit landing by any alien, except at specified +ports by leave of an immigration officer, and, in case of former enemy +aliens, by special permission of the Home Secretary. Cf. J. M. Landa, _The +Alien Problem_. + +ALIGANJ (_a_-l[=e]-g_a_nj'), a town of Bengal, 54 miles from Dinapur, noted +for its pottery. It has a trade in grain, indigo-seed, and cotton, and +contains two mosques, and a large mud fort. Pop. 7436. + +ALIGARH (_a_-l[=e]-g_a_r'), a fort and town in India, in the United +Provinces, on the East Indian railway, 84 miles south-east of Delhi. The +town, properly called Koel or Coel, is distant about 2 miles from the fort, +and is connected with it by a beautiful avenue. It is handsome and well +situated, and has a trade in cotton, &c. The fort, which had been skilfully +strengthened by French engineers in the service of the Mahrattas, was taken +by storm after a desperate resistance in 1803 by the British forces under +Lord Lake, when the whole district was added to the British possessions. +Pop. 64,825. The district has an area of 1946 sq. miles. Pop. 1,165,680. + +ALIGN'MENT (a-l[=i]n'ment), a military term, signifying the act of +adjusting to a straight line or in regular straight lines, or the state of +being so adjusted. + +AL'IMENT, food, a term which includes everything, solid or liquid, serving +as nutriment for the bodily system. Aliments are of the most diverse +character, but all of them must contain nutritious matter of some kind, +which, being extracted by the act of digestion, enters the blood, and +effects by assimilation the repair of the body. Alimentary matter, +therefore, must be similar to animal substance, or transmutable into such. +All alimentary substances must, therefore, be composed in a greater or less +degree of soluble parts, which easily lose their peculiar qualities in the +process of digestion, and correspond to the elements of the body. The food +of animals consists for the most part of substances containing little +oxygen and exhibiting a high degree of chemical combination, in which +respects they differ from most substances that serve as sustenance for +plants, which are generally highly oxidized and exhibit little chemical +combination. According to the nature of their constituents most of the +aliments of animals are divided into nitrogenous (consisting of carbon, +hydrogen, and oxygen along with nitrogen, and also of sulphur and +phosphorus) and non-nitrogenous (consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen +without nitrogen). Water and salts are usually considered as forming a +third group, and, in the widest sense of the word aliment, oxygen alone, +which enters the blood in the lungs, forms the fourth. The articles used as +food by man do not consist entirely of nutritious substances, but with few +exceptions are compounds of various nutritious with indigestible and +accordingly innutritious substances. The only nitrogenous aliments are +albuminous substances, and these are contained largely in animal food +(flesh, eggs, milk, cheese). The principal non-nitrogenous substance +obtained as food from animals is fat. Sugar is so obtained in smaller +quantities (in milk). While some vegetable substances also contain much +albumen, very many of them are rich in starch. Among vegetable substances +the richest in albumen are the legumes (peas, beans, and lentils), and +following them come the cereals (wheat, oats, &c.). Sugar, water, and salts +may pass without any change into the circulatory system; but albuminous +substances cannot do so without being first rendered soluble and capable of +absorption (in the stomach and intestines); starch must be converted into +sugar and fat emulsified (chiefly by the action of the pancreatic juice). +One of the objects of cooking is to make our food more susceptible of the +operation of the digestive fluids. + +The relative importance of the various nutritious substances that are taken +into the system and enter the blood depends upon their chemical +constitution. The albuminous substances are the most indispensable, +inasmuch as they form the material by which the constant waste of the body +is repaired, whence they are called by Liebig the substance-formers. But a +part of the operation of albuminous nutriments may be performed equally +well, and at less cost, by non-nitrogenous substances, that part being the +maintenance of the temperature of the body. As is well known, the +temperature of warm-blooded animals is considerably higher than the +ordinary temperature of the surrounding air, in man about 98deg F., and the +uniformity of this temperature is maintained by the heat which is set free +by the chemical processes (of oxidation) which go on within the body. Now +these processes take place as well with non-nitrogenous as with nitrogenous +substances. The former are even preferable to the latter for the keeping up +of these processes; by oxidation they yield larger quantities of heat with +less labour to the body, and they are hence called the heat-givers. The +best heat-giver is fat. Albuminous matters are not only the tissue-formers +of the body; they also supply the vehicle for the oxygen, inasmuch as it is +of such matters that the blood corpuscles are formed. The more red blood +corpuscles an animal possesses, the more oxygen can it take into its +system, and the more easily and rapidly can it carry on the process of +oxidation and develop heat. Now only a part of the heat so developed passes +away into the environment of the animal; another part is transformed within +the body (in the muscles) into mechanical work. Hence it follows that the +non-nitrogenous articles of food produce not merely heat but also work, but +only with the assistance of albuminous matters, which, on the one hand, +compose the working machine, and, on the other hand, convey the oxygen +necessary for oxidation. + +The wholesome or unwholesome character of any aliment depends, in a great +measure, on the state of the digestive organs in any given case, as also on +the method in which it is cooked. Very often a simple aliment is made +indigestible by artificial cookery. In any given case the digestive power +of the individual is to be considered in order to determine whether a +particular aliment is wholesome or not. In general, therefore, we can only +say that that aliment is healthy which is easily soluble, and is suited to +the power of digestion of the individual. Man is fitted to derive +nourishment both from animal and vegetable aliment, but can live +exclusively on either. The nations of the North incline generally more to +animal aliments; those of the South, and the Orientals, more to vegetable. +The inhabitants of the most northerly regions live almost entirely upon +animal food, and very largely on fat on account of its heat-giving +property. See _Dietetics_, _Digestion_, _Adulteration_, &c. + +ALIMENTARY CANAL, a common name given to the oesophagus, stomach, and +intestines of animals. See _Oesophagus_, _Intestine_, _Stomach_. + +ALI-MIRZA, Shah of Persia, son of Muzaffar-ed-Din, born in 1872. He +succeeded his father on 8th Jan., 1907. Although his European education had +given him sympathies for Western civilization, he showed himself despotic, +and became very unpopular. He was deposed by the National Assembly or +Mejliss in July, 1909, and his son proclaimed Shah in his place. + +AL'IMONY (Lat. _alere_, to nourish), in law, the allowance to which a woman +is entitled while a matrimonial suit is pending between her and her +husband, or after a legal separation from her husband, not occasioned by +adultery or elopement on her part. It is either temporary or permanent, the +former being the provision made by the husband pending the suit, the latter +after the decree. + +AL'IQUOT PART is such part of a number as will divide and measure it +exactly without any remainder. For instance, 2 is an aliquot part of 4, 3 +of 12, and 4 of 20. + +ALISMA'CEAE, the water-plantain family, a natural order of endogenous +plants, the members of which are herbaceous, annual or perennial; with +petiolate leaves sheathing at the base, hermaphrodite (rarely unisexual) +flowers, disposed in spikes, panicles, or racemes. They are floating or +marsh plants, and many have edible fleshy rhizomes. They are found in all +countries, but especially in Europe and North America, where their rather +brilliant flowers adorn the pools and streams. The principal genera are +_Alisma_ (water-plantain) _Sagittaria_ (arrow-head), _Damasonium_ +(star-fruit), and _Butomus_ (flowering-rush). + +AL'ISON, Rev. Archibald, a theologian and writer on aesthetics, born at +Edinburgh in 1757; died there in 1839. He studied at Glasgow and at Balliol +College, Oxford, entered the English Church, and finally (1800) settled as +the minister of an Episcopal chapel at Edinburgh. He published 2 volumes of +sermons, and a work entitled _Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste_ +(1790), in which he maintains that all the beauty of material objects +depends upon the associations connected with them. + +AL'ISON, Sir Archibald, lawyer and writer of history, son of the above, was +born in Shropshire in 1792, and died in 1867, near Glasgow. He was educated +at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1814 was admitted to the Scottish +bar. He spent the next eight years in Continental travel. On his return he +was appointed advocate depute, which post he held till 1830. In 1832 he +published _Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland_, and in 1833 _The +Practice of the Criminal Law_. He was appointed sheriff of Lanarkshire in +1834, and retained this post till his death. He was made a baronet in 1852. +His chief work--_The History of Europe, from 1789 to 1815_--was first +issued in 10 vols., 1833-42, the narrative being subsequently brought down +to 1852, the beginning of the second French Empire. This work displays +industry and research, and is generally accurate, but not very readable. It +has been translated into French, German, Arabic, Hindustani, &c. Among Sir +Archibald's other productions are _Principles of Population_; _Free-trade +and Protection_; _England in 1815 and 1845_; _Life of the Duke of +Marlborough_, &c. + +AL'ISON, General Sir Archibald, G.C.B., son of the above, was born 1826, +entered the army in 1846, and served in the Crimea, in India during the +mutiny, and in the Ashantee expedition of 1873-4. In Egypt, in 1882, he led +the Highland Brigade at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, and in 1882-3 remained +in command of the army of occupation (of 12,000 men). He retired from the +army in 1893, and died in 1907. + +ALIWAL', a village of Hindustan in the Punjab, on the left bank of the +Sutlej, celebrated from the battle fought in its vicinity, 28th Jan., 1846, +between the Sikhs and a British army commanded by Sir Harry Smith, +resulting in the total defeat of the Sikhs. + +ALIWAL NORTH, a town in the eastern part of Cape Province, on the Orange +River, which here forms the boundary with the Orange Free State, and is +crossed by a fine bridge--the Frere Bridge. It stands at the height of 4350 +feet, in a locality said to be highly suitable for consumptives, and the +warm sulphur springs in the neighbourhood also attract many invalids. It is +a well-built place, with churches, hotels, golf links, race-course, &c.; +and has railway connection with East London, Port Elizabeth, &c. Pop. +5557.--_Aliwal South_ was a name formerly given to Mossel Bay, the small +seaport midway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. + +ALIZ'ARINE, a substance contained in the madder root (_Rubia tinctorum_), +and largely used in dyeing reds of various shades, as Turkey red, &c. Until +1868 it was obtained entirely from madder root, but the use of the root has +been almost superseded by the employment of alizarine itself, prepared +artificially from one of the constituents of coal-tar. It forms +yellowish-red prismatic crystals, nearly insoluble in cold, but dissolved +to a small extent by boiling water, and readily soluble in alcohol and +ether. It possesses exceedingly strong tinctorial powers. + +AL'KAHEST, the so-called universal solvent or menstruum of the alchemists. +The word is believed to have been invented by Paracelsus. + +AL'KALI (from Ar. _al-qali_, the ashes of the plant from which soda was +first obtained, or the plant itself), a term first used to designate the +soluble parts of the ashes of plants, especially of seaweed, and designated +_fixed alkali_, as marking a distinction from ammonia, which was termed +_volatile alkali_. Now the term is applied to various classes of bodies +having the following properties in common: (1) solubility in water; (2) the +power of neutralizing acids, and forming salts with them; (3) the property +of corroding animal and vegetable substances; (4) the property of altering +the tint of many colouring matters--thus, they turn litmus, reddened by an +acid, into blue; turmeric, brown; and syrup of violets and infusion of red +cabbages, green. The alkalies may be regarded as water in which part of the +hydrogen is replaced by a metallic radicle. The caustic alkalies are strong +alkalies which have a powerful corrosive action on the skin, and the common +ones are potassic hydroxide or caustic potash, sodic hydroxide or caustic +soda, and lithic hydroxide. _Volatile Alkali_, or ammonic hydroxide, is a +much feebler alkali than the others, and when the solution is heated all +the ammonia is driven off. Other alkalies are calcic hydroxide or slaked +lime, a solution of which in water is known as _lime-water_; baric +hydroxide and strontic hydroxide, derived from the metals barium and +strontium. Quicklime is the only alkali extensively used in agriculture. + +ALKALIM'ETER, an instrument for ascertaining the quantity of free alkali in +any impure specimen, as in the potashes of commerce. These, besides the +carbonate of potash, of which they principally consist, usually contain a +portion of foreign salts, as sulphate and chloride of potassium, and as the +true worth of the substance, or price for which it ought to sell, depends +entirely on the quantity of carbonate, it is of importance to be able to +measure it accurately by some easy process. This process depends on the +neutralization of the alkali by an acid of known strength, the point of +neutralization being determined by the fact that neutral liquids are +without action on either red or blue litmus solution. The alkalimeter is +merely a graduated tube--a burette--with a stopcock at the lower extremity, +from which the standard acid is dropped into water in which a known weight +of the substance is dissolved. The quantity required to produce +neutralization being noted, the strength of the liquid tested is easily +arrived at. A process of neutralization, exactly the same in principle, may +be employed to test the strength of acids by alkalies, the one process +being called _alkalimetry_ the other _acidimetry_. + +AL'KALOID, a term applied to a class of nitrogenous compounds having basic +properties, found in living plants, usually in combination with organic +acids. They are usually given names ending in _-ine_, as _morphine_, +_quinine_, _aconitine_, _nicotine_, _caffeine_, &c. Most alkaloids occur in +plants, but some are formed by decomposition. Most natural alkaloids +contain carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, but a few contain no +oxygen. The nitrogen they contain imparts to them basic properties--they +are organic bases--and hence they all form salts with acids. They all +possess a pronounced bitter taste, and the poisonous nature of many plants, +e.g. hemlock, yew, deadly nightshade, &c., are due to the alkaloids they +contain. Although formed originally within the plant, it has been found +possible to prepare several of these alkaloids by artificial means. + +AL'KANET, a dyeing drug, the bark of the root of the _Anch[=u]sa_ or +_Alkanna tinctoria_, a plant of the order Boraginaceae, with downy and +spear-shaped leaves, and clusters of small purple or reddish flowers. The +plant is sometimes cultivated in Britain, chiefly on the east coast of +England, but most of the alkanet of commerce is imported from the Levant or +from southern France. It imparts a fine deep-red colour to all unctuous +substances and is used for colouring oils, plasters, lip-salve, +confections, &c.; also in compositions for rubbing and giving colour to +mahogany furniture, and to colour spurious port-wine. + +ALKAN'NA, a name of henna. See also _Alkanet_. + +ALKAR'SIN, an extremely poisonous liquid containing kakodyle, together with +oxidation products of this substance, and formerly known as _Cadet's fuming +liquor_, characterized by its insupportable smell and high degree of +spontaneous combustibility when exposed to air. + +AL-KATIF, a town of Arabia, on the Persian Gulf, carrying on a considerable +trade. Pop. 6000. + +ALKMAAR ([.a]lk'm[:a]r), a town of the Netherlands, province of North +Holland, on the North Holland Canal, and 20 miles N.N.W. of Amsterdam; +regularly built, with a fine church (St. Lawrence) and a richly decorated +Gothic town-house; manufactures of salt, sail-cloth, vinegar, leather, &c., +and an extensive trade in cattle, corn, butter, and cheese. Pop. 22,685. + +AL-KO'RAN, or QU`RAN. See _Koran_. + +ALLA BREVE (br[=a]'v[=a]), a musical direction expressing that a breve is +to be played as fast as a semibreve, a semibreve as fast as a minim, and so +on. It is also called a capella, as it is employed in church music. + +AL'LAH, in Arabic, the name of God, a word of kindred origin with the +Hebrew word _Elohim_. _Alla Akbar_ (God is great) is a Mahommedan war-cry. + +ALLAHAB[=A]D' ('city of Allah'), an ancient city of India, capital of the +United Provinces, on the wedge of land formed by the Jumna and the Ganges, +largely built of mud houses, though the English quarter has more of a +European aspect. Among the remarkable buildings are the fort, occupying the +angle between the rivers, and containing the remains of an ancient palace, +and now also the barracks, &c.; the mausoleum and garden of Khosru, the +tomb being a handsome domed building; the Government offices and courts; +Government house; the Roman Catholic cathedral; the Central College for the +United Provinces; the Mayo Memorial and town hall. Allahabad is one of the +chief resorts of Hindu pilgrims, who have their sins washed away by bathing +in the waters of the sacred rivers Ganges and Jumna at their junction; and +is also the scene of a great fair in December and January. There are no +manufactures of importance, but a large general and transit trade is +carried on. The town is as old as the third century B.C. In the mutiny of +1857 it was the scene of a serious outbreak and massacre. Pop. +171,697.--The division of _Allahabad_ contains the districts of Cawnpur, +Futtehpur, Hamirpur, Banda, Jaunpur, and Allahabad; area, 17,265 sq. miles. +Pop. 5,535,803.--The district contains an area of 2852 sq. miles, about +five-sixths being under cultivation. Pop. 1,487,904. + +ALLAMAN'DA, a genus of American tropical plants, ord. Apocynaceae, with +large yellow or violet flowers; some of them are grown in European +greenhouses. _A. cathartica_ has strong emetic and purgative properties. + +ALLAN, David, a Scottish painter, born 1744, died 1796. He studied in +Foulis's academy of painting and engraving in Glasgow, and for sixteen +years in Italy; finally establishing himself at Edinburgh, where he +succeeded Runciman as master of the Trustees' Academy. His illustrations of +the _Gentle Shepherd_, _The Cotter's Saturday Night_, and other sketches of +rustic life and manners in Scotland are his best-known works. + +ALLAN, Sir William, a distinguished Scottish artist, born in 1782, died in +1850. He was a fellow student with Wilkie in Edinburgh, afterwards a +student of the Royal Academy, London. After residing in Russia for ten +years, he returned to Scotland, and publicly exhibited his pictures, one of +which (_Circassian Captives_) made his reputation. He now turned his +attention to historical painting, and produced _Knox admonishing Mary Queen +of Scots_, _Murder of Rizzio_, _Exiles on their way to Siberia_, _The Slave +Market at Constantinople_, &c.; and afterwards also battle scenes, as the +_Battle of Prestonpans_, _Nelson boarding the San Nicolas_, and two +pictures of _The Battle of Waterloo_, the one from the British, the other +from the French position, and delineating the actual scene and the +incidents therein taking place at the moment chosen for the representation. +One of these Waterloo pictures was purchased by the Duke of Wellington. He +travelled extensively, visiting Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Spain, and +Barbary. In 1835 he became a Royal Academician, in 1838 president of the +Scottish Academy, and in 1842 he was knighted. + +ALLAN'TOIS, a structure appearing during the early development of +vertebrate animals--Reptiles, Birds, and Mammalia. It is largely made up of +blood-vessels, and, especially in Birds, attains a large size. It forms the +inner lining to the shell, and may thus be viewed as the surface by means +of which the respiration of the embryo is carried on. In Mammalia the +allantois is not so largely developed as in Birds, and it enters largely +into the formation of the placenta. + +ALLEGHANY (al-le-g[=a]'ni), a river of Pennsylvania and New York, which +unites with the Monongahela at Pittsburg to form the Ohio; navigable nearly +200 miles above Pittsburg. + +ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS, or the ALLEGHANIES, a name sometimes used as +synonymous with Appalachians, but also often restricted to the portion of +those mountains that traverses the states of Virginia, Maryland, and +Pennsylvania from south-west to north-east, and consists of a series of +parallel ridges for the most part wooded to the summit, and with some +fertile valleys between. Their mean elevation is about 2500 feet; but in +Virginia they rise to 4473. + +ALLEGHENY (al-le-gen'i), a city of the United States, in Pennsylvania, on +the River Allegheny, opposite Pittsburg, of which it may be considered +virtually to be a suburb, and with which it is connected by six bridges. +The principal industries are connected with iron and machinery. Pop. +132,283. Also called Allegheny City. + +ALLE'GIANCE (from mid-Eng. _ligeaunce_, formed from _liege_), according to +Blackstone, is "the tie or _ligamen_ which binds the subject to the +sovereign in return for that protection which the sovereign affords the +subject", or, generally, the obedience which every subject or citizen owes +to the Government of his country. It used to be the doctrine of the English +law that natural-born subjects owe an allegiance which is intrinsic and +perpetual, and which cannot be divested by any act of their own (_Nemo +potest exuere patriam_); but this is no longer the case since the +Naturalization Act passed in 1870, A British subject, however, or a child +who has acquired a British domicile by the naturalization of an alien +parent, cannot in time of war divest himself of British nationality for the +purpose of becoming an enemy alien. Aliens owe a temporary or local +allegiance to the Government under which they for the time reside. Usurpers +in undisturbed possession of the Crown are entitled to allegiance; and thus +treasons against Henry VI were punished in the reign of Edward IV, though +the former had, by Act of Parliament, been declared a usurper. + +AL'LEGORY, a figurative representation in which the signs (words or forms) +signify something besides their literal or direct meaning. In rhetoric, +allegory is often but a continued simile. Parables and fables are a species +of allegory. Sometimes long works are throughout allegorical, as Spenser's +_Faerie Queene_ and Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_. When an allegory is thus +continued it is indispensable to its success that not only the allegorical +meaning should be appropriate, but that the story should have an interest +of its own in the direct meaning apart from the allegorical significance. +Allegories are frequent in the Old Testament, whilst in the New they take +the form of parables. One of the best-known allegories in classical +literature is the story of the stomach and the members of the body in the +speech attributed to Menenius Agrippa by Plutarch and Livy. (Cf. +Shakespeare, _Coriolanus_, i, 1.) Allegory is often made use of in painting +and sculpture as well as in literature. + +ALLEGRI ([.a]l-l[=a]'gr[=e]), Gregorio, an Italian composer, born at Rome +in 1560 or 1585, died there about 1650; celebrated for his _Miserere_, a +setting of the fifty-first psalm (the fiftieth in the _Vulgate_), which in +the Latin version begins with that word. Allegri's _Miserere_ is annually +performed in the Sistine Chapel at Rome. + +ALLEGRO (It., [.a]l-l[=a]'gr[=o]), a musical term expressing a more or less +quick rate of movement, or a piece of music or movement in lively time. +_Allegro moderato_, moderately quick; _allegro maestoso_, quick but with +dignity; _allegro assai_ and _allegro molto_, very quick; _allegro con +brio_ or _con fuoco_, with fire and energy; _allegrissimo_, with the utmost +rapidity. + +ALLEIN (al'en), Joseph, English Nonconformist divine; born 1633, died 1668; +the author of a popular religious book entitled, _An Alarm to Unconverted +Sinners, or The Sure Guide to Heaven_ (1672). + +ALLEIN (al'en), Richard, English Nonconformist divine; born in 1611, died +1681; rector for twenty years of Batcombe (Somerset); deprived of his +living at the Restoration, and imprisoned for preaching. He wrote, among +other things, _Vindiciae Pietatis_ ('A Vindication of Godliness'), +published in 1660, which was condemned to be burned in the royal kitchen. + +ALLELUIA. See _Halleluia_. + +ALLEMANDE ([.a]l-m[.a][n.]d), a kind of slow, graceful dance, invented in +France in the time of Louis XIV, and again in vogue in the time of the +First Empire. The name is also given to pieces of music based on the dance +movement. Bach and Handel have composed a great number of Allemandes, and +Beethoven has written twelve for orchestra. + +ALLEN, Bog of, the name applied to a series of bogs in Ireland (not to one +continuous morass), dispersed, often widely apart, with extensive tracts of +dry cultivated soil between, over a broad belt of land stretching across +the centre of the country, the bogs being, however, all on the east side of +the Shannon. + +ALLEN, Ethan, an American revolutionary partisan and general; born 1737, +died 1789. He surprised and captured Ticonderoga Fort (1775); attacked +Montreal, and was captured and sent to England, being exchanged in 1778; +wrote against Christianity, _Reason, the only Oracle of Man_ (1784).--His +younger brother, Ira (1751-1814), was also prominent in the revolutionary +era. + +ALLEN, Grant, writer on scientific subjects and novelist, was born at +Kingston, Canada, 1848, died in 1899. His earlier education he received in +America, but he also studied in France and graduated at Oxford with honours +in 1870. From 1873 to 1879 he was connected with Queen's College, Jamaica, +but afterwards resided chiefly in England, and became well known as an +exponent of evolutionary science, and as a novelist. His first important +work, _Physiological Aesthetics_, appeared in 1877; his other scientific or +semi-scientific works include _The Colour Sense_; _The Evolutionist at +Large_; _Colin Clouts Calendar (the record of a summer)_; _Vignettes from +Nature_; _The Colours of Flowers_; _Flowers and their Pedigrees_; and +_Force and Energy, a Theory of Dynamics_. Other works by him are: +_Anglo-Saxon Britain_; _Charles Darwin_; and _The Evolution of the Idea of +God_. His novels, about thirty in number, include: _The Devil's Die_; _The +Woman Who Did_, &c. + +ALLEN, John, a Scottish political and historical writer; born in 1771, died +in 1843. He studied medicine, and became M.D. of Edinburgh University. In +1801 he went abroad with Lord Holland and family, and henceforth he +maintained this connection, being long an inmate of Holland House (London) +and a member of the brilliant society that assembled there. He contributed +many articles to the _Edinburgh Review_; and wrote _An Inquiry into the +Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in England_; _Vindication of the +Ancient Independence of Scotland_; &c. + +ALLEN, Ralph, celebrated as a philanthropist, and as the friend of Pope, +Fielding, and the elder Pitt, was born in 1694, died in 1764. He lived +mostly at Bath, where he made a large income as farmer of a system of posts +and as owner of quarries. He is the prototype of Squire Allworthy in +Fielding's _Tom Jones_; and after the novelist's death he took charge of +his family. Pope, who received many kindnesses at his hands, referred to +him in the lines: + + Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame, + Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. + +With Pitt he was on intimate terms, and left him L1000 in his will. Hurd, +Sherlock, and Warburton were also his friends. + +ALLEN, Thomas, an English mathematician, philosopher, antiquarian, and +astrologer, born in 1542, died in 1632. He studied at Oxford, and lived the +greater part of his life in learned retirement, corresponding with many of +the famous men of his time. In his own day he was generally reputed a +dealer in the black art. + +ALLEN, William, cardinal, an English Roman Catholic of the time of Queen +Elizabeth. Influenced by the Jesuit Robert Parsons, he became a strenuous +opponent of Protestantism and supporter of the claims of Philip II to the +English throne; born 1532, died 1594. It was by his efforts that the +English college for Catholics at Douai was established. He was made +cardinal in 1587. His numerous writings include: _The Declaration of the +Sentence of Sixtus V_, and _An Admonition to the Nobility and People of +England_. + +ALLEN, William, D.D., American clergyman and author; born 1784, died 1868. +He was president of Bowdoin College, 1820-39; author of _American +Biographical and Historical Dictionary_; _Junius Unmasked_; &c. + +ALLENBY, VISCOUNT, Edmund Henry Hynman, British soldier, born on 23rd +April, 1861, and educated at Haileybury. He joined the Inniskilling +Dragoons, and in 1884 served with that regiment in the Bechuanaland +Expedition. He was with the British forces in Zululand in 1888, took part +in the South African war, and commanded the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 1905-10. +In the European War he at first commanded the British Third Army, +contributing largely to the victories of the Somme and the Aisne. After a +reverse, south of Gaza, suffered on 26th March, 1917, by the British troops +under the command of Sir Archibald Murray, the latter was relieved, and +General Allenby was placed in command of the operations. He made thorough +preparations for the next offensive, and his progress was very rapid. +Beersheba and Gaza were captured, and on 9th Dec., 1917 Jerusalem, the Holy +City, was surrendered to the general by the mayor. His formal entry took +place on the 11th. He was awarded the G.C.M.G. on 16th Dec., 1917, and is a +Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. In Aug., 1919, he was voted a sum of +L50,000 and created a viscount, adopting the title of Viscount Allenby of +Megiddo and of Felixstowe in Suffolk. In Oct., 1919, he was appointed High +Commissioner for Egypt. + +ALLENSTEIN ([.a]l'len-st[=i]n), a town in East Prussia, 65 miles south of +Koenigsberg, on the Alle, with breweries and manufactures of iron and +lucifer matches. Pop. 24,295. + +ALLENTOWN, a town in the United States, Pennsylvania, on Lehigh River, 18 +miles above its junction with the Delaware. It has an important trade in +coal and iron ore, with large blast-furnaces, rolling-mills, &c. Pop. +(1920), 73,502. + +ALLEP'PI. See _Aulapolay_. + +ALLEYN (al'len), Edward, an actor and theatre proprietor in the reigns of +Elizabeth and James I, friend of Ben Jonson and Shakespeare; born 1566, +died 1626. Nashe called him "the famous Ned". Having become wealthy, he +built Dulwich College, under the name of "The College of God's Gift", +between 1613-17, at a cost of L10,000. See _Dulwich_. + +ALL-FOURS, a game at cards, which derives its name from the four chances of +which it consists, for each of which a point is scored. These chances are +_high_, or the ace of trumps, or next best trump out; _low_, or the deuce +of trumps, or next lowest trump out; _jack_, or the knave of trumps; +_game_, the majority of pips collected from the tricks taken by the +respective players. The player who has all these is said to have +_all-fours_. It is played by two or four persons with the full pack. The +ace counts four, the king three, queen two, knave one, ten ten. The game is +known in America as _Seven-up_, _Old-sledge_, or _High-low Jack_. + +ALL-HALLOWS, or ALL-HALLOWMAS, a name for All-saints' Day. + +AL'LIA, a small affluent of the Tiber, joining it about 12 miles from Rome, +famous for the victory won by the Gauls, under Brennus, over the Roman +army. This battle resulted in the capture and sack of Rome in 390 B.C. + +ALLIA'CEOUS PLANTS, plants belonging to the genus Allium (ord. Liliaceae), +that to which the onion, leek, garlic, shallot, &c., belong, or to other +allied genera, and distinguished by a certain peculiar pungent smell and +taste characterized as _alliaceous_. This flavour is also found in a few +plants having no botanical affinities with the above, as in the _Alliaria +officin[=a]lis_, or Jack-by-the-hedge, a plant of the order Cruciferae. + +ALLI'ANCE, a league between two or more Powers. Alliances are divided into +offensive and defensive. The former are for the purpose of attacking a +common enemy, and the latter for mutual defence. An alliance often unites +both of these conditions. Offensive alliances, of course, are usually +directed against some particular enemy; defensive alliances against anyone +from whom an attack may come. Among the more famous alliances in history +are: The Triple Alliance of 1688 between Great Britain, Sweden, and the +Netherlands; The Grand Alliance of 1689 between the Emperor, Holland, +England, Spain, and Saxony; The Quadruple Alliance of 1814 between Great +Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia; The Triple Alliance of 1882 between +Germany, Austria, and Italy; and The Dual Alliance between Russia and +France. + +ALLIANCE, HOLY. See _Holy Alliance_. + +ALLIANCE ISRAELITE UNIVERSELLE, an association founded in Paris in 1860 for +the protection of the Jews all over the world, but particularly with a view +to advocating by various means the emancipation of the Jews in those +countries where they did not enjoy equal civil and political rights with +the other inhabitants. It was established by six Jews of Paris: Aristide +Astruc, Isidore Cahen, Jules Carvallo, Narcisse Leven, Eugene Manuel, and +Charles Netter. Adolphe Cremieux and Salomon Munk were among the first +presidents of the association. It is managed by a central committee +resident in Paris, and consisting of 62 members, 23 of whom live in Paris. +The Alliance has done a great deal towards raising the status of the Jews +in the East by establishing educational institutions and industrial and +agricultural schools, especially in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Persia, +Bulgaria, Tunis, and Abyssinia. The chief sources of its income are the +subscriptions and donations of the members. Its annual income amounts to +about 200,000 francs. It also manages a fund of about L400,000 founded by +Baron and Baroness de Hirsch for the establishment of Jewish Schools in +Turkey. The Alliance Israelite works in unison with the Anglo-Jewish +Association and the Board of Deputies in London, two organizations pursuing +the same aims. + +ALLIA'RIA, a genus of plants, ord. Cruciferae, containing two species, one +of which (_A. officin[=a]lis_), commonly called Jack-by-the-hedge, is +widely spread in Europe, and often used as a pot-herb. See _Alliaceous +Plants_. + +AL'LIBONE, Samuel Austin, LL.D., American author, born 1816, died 1889. He +compiled a most useful _Critical Dictionary of English Literature and +British and American Authors_ (3 vols., 1859, 1870, 1871, containing 50,000 +biographies, 2 vols. of supplement by J. F. Kirk, 1891). + +ALLICE, a name of the common shad. + +ALLIER ([.a]l-l[=e]-[=a]), a central department of France, intersected by +the River Allier, and partly bounded by the Loire; its surface is +diversified by offsets of the Cevennes and other ranges, rising in the +south to over 4000 feet, and in general richly wooded. It has extensive +beds of coal as well as other minerals, which are actively worked, there +being several flourishing centres of mining and manufacturing enterprise; +mineral waters at Vichy, Bourbon, L'Archambault, &c. Large numbers of sheep +and cattle are bred. Area, 2848 sq. miles. Capital, Moulins. Pop. (1921), +370,950.--The River Allier flows northward for 200 miles through Lozere, +Upper Loire, Puy de Dome, and Allier, and enters the Loire, of which it is +the chief tributary. + +ALLIGA'TION, a rule of arithmetic, chiefly found in the older books, +relating to the solution of questions concerning the compounding or mixing +together of different ingredients, or ingredients of different qualities or +values. Thus if a quantity of tea worth 10d. the pound and another quantity +worth 18d. are mixed, the question to be solved by alligation is, what is +the value of the mixture by the pound? + +[Illustration: Alligators--1, Mississippi Alligator; 2, Banded Cayman; 3, +Chinese Alligator] + +ALLIGA'TOR (a corruption of Sp. _el lagarto_, lit. the lizard--Lat. +_lacertus_), a genus of reptiles of the family Crocodilidae, differing from +the true crocodiles in having a shorter and flatter head, in having +cavities or pits in the upper jaw, into which the long canine teeth of the +under jaw fit, and in having the feet much less webbed. Their habits are +less perfectly aquatic. They are confined to the warmer parts of America, +where they frequent swamps and marshes, and may be seen basking on the dry +ground during the day in the heat of the sun. They are most active during +the night, when they make a loud bellowing. The largest of these animals +grow to the length of 18 or 20 feet. They are covered by a dense armour of +horny scales, impenetrable to a bullet, and have a large mouth, armed with +strong, conical teeth. They swim with wonderful celerity, impelled by their +long, laterally-compressed, and powerful tails. On land their motions are +proportionally slow and embarrassed because of the length and unwieldiness +of their bodies and the shortness of their limbs. They live on fish, and +any small animals or carrion, and sometimes catch pigs on the shore, or +dogs which are swimming. They even sometimes make man their prey. In winter +they burrow in the mud of swamps and marshes, lying torpid till the warm +weather. The female lays a great number of eggs, which are deposited in the +sand or mud, and left to be hatched by the heat of the sun, but after this +has taken place the mother alligator is very attentive to her young. The +most fierce and dangerous species is that found in the southern parts of +the United States (_Alligator Lucius_), having the snout a little turned +up, slightly resembling that of the pike. The alligators of South America +are there very often called _Caymans_. _A. sclerops_ is known also as the +_Spectacled Cayman_, from the prominent bony rim surrounding the orbit of +each eye. The flesh of the alligator is sometimes eaten, the tail being +considered a great delicacy by the negroes. Among the fossils of the south +of England are remains of a true alligator (_A. Hantoniensis_) in the +Eocene beds of the Hampshire basin. + +ALLIGATOR-APPLE (_An[=o]na palustris_), a fruit allied to the +custard-apple, growing in marshy districts in Jamaica, little eaten on +account of its narcotic properties. + +ALLIGATOR-PEAR (_Pers[=e]a gratissima_), an evergreen tree of the nat. ord. +Lauraceae, with a fruit resembling a large pear, 1 to 2 lb. in weight, with +a firm marrow-like pulp of a delicate flavour; called also avocado-pear, or +subaltern's butter. It is a native of tropical America and the West Indies. + +AL'LINGHAM, William, an Irish poet, born in Ireland in 1824 or 1828, died +in 1889. He published his first volume (_Poems_) in 1850; _Day and Night +Songs_ in 1855; _Lawrence Bloomfield in Ireland_, narrative poem, in 1864; +_Songs, Poems, and Ballads_ in 1877 (including a number of new poems). He +was a frequent contributor to periodicals, and for some time edited +_Fraser's Magazine_. + +ALLITERA'TION, the repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or +more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as +"_m_any _m_en _m_any _m_inds"; "_d_eath _d_efies the _d_octor". "_A_pt +_a_lliteration's _a_rtful _a_id" (_Churchill_). "_P_uffs, _p_owders, +_p_atches, _b_ibles, _b_illet-doux" (_Pope_). "_W_eave the _w_arp and +_w_eave the _w_oof" (_Gray_). In the ancient German and Scandinavian and in +early English poetry alliteration took the place of terminal rhymes, the +alliterative syllables being made to recur with a certain regularity in the +same position in successive verses. In the _Vision of William Concerning +Piers the Ploughman_, for instance, it is regularly employed as in the +following lines:-- + + Hire _r_obe was ful _r_iche . of _r_ed scarlet engreyned, + With _r_ibanes of _r_ed gold . and of _r_iche stones; + Hire a_rr_aye me _r_avysshed . such _r_icchesse saw I nevere; + I had _w_ondre _w_hat she _w_as . and _w_has _w_yf she _w_ere. + +Alliteration was known to the Latin authors: "O _T_ite _t_ute, _T_ati, +_t_ibi _t_anta, _t_yranne _t_ulisti" (_Ennius_). In the hands of some +English poets and prose writers of later times alliteration became a mere +conceit. It is still employed in Icelandic and Finnish poetry. So far has +alliteration sometimes been carried that long compositions have been +written every word of which commenced with the same letter. It may also be +employed in the middle of words: "Un _f_rais par_f_um sortait des tou_ff_es +d'as_f_odile" (_Victor Hugo_). + +AL'LIUM, a genus of plants, ord. Liliaceae;, containing numerous well-known +species of pot-herbs. They are umbelliferous, and mostly perennial, +herbaceous plants, but a few are biennial. Among them are garlic (_A. +sat[=i]vum_), onion (_A. Cepa_), leek (_A. Porrum_), chives (_A. +Schoenopr[)a]sum_), shallot (_A. ascalon[)i]cum_). The peculiar alliaceous +flavour that belongs to them is well known. + +AL'LOA, a river port of Scotland, on the north bank of the Forth (where +there is now a bridge), 7 miles from Stirling, county of Clackmannan. It +carries on brewing, distilling, and shipbuilding; has manufactures of +woollens, bottles, &c., and a shipping trade. Pop. (1921), 12,421. + +ALLOCU'TION, an address, a term particularly applied to certain addresses +on important occasions made by the Pope to the cardinals, and through them +to the Church in general. + +ALLO'DIUM (probably derived from _all_ and _odh_, property), land held in +one's own right, without any feudal obligation to a superior or lord. In +England, according to the theory of the British constitution, all land is +held of the crown (by _feudal_ tenure); the word _allodial_ is, therefore, +never applied to landed property there. + +ALLOGAMY (from the Gr. _allos_, other, and _gamos_, wedding), meaning the +transfer of the pollen of one flower to the pistil of another. The opposite +of allogamy is _autogamy_, or self-pollination. + +ALLOPHANE, a hydrous aluminium silicate, with the composition Al_2SiO_5 + +5H_2O, forming crusts in the cavities of various rocks and commonly of a +delicate blue colour. + +ALLOT'MENT SYSTEM, the system of allotting small portions of land (an acre +or less) to farm-labourers or other workers, to be cultivated after their +regular work by themselves and their families, a system believed by many to +be calculated greatly to improve their condition. An Allotment Act for +England, passed in 1887, authorizes the sanitary authorities in any +locality to determine if there is a sufficient demand for allotments there, +and to acquire land to be let to the labouring population resident in their +district. Such land may be compulsorily acquired, due compensation being +given; but land belonging to a park, pleasure-ground, &c., is not to be so +acquired. No person is to hold more than 1 acre as an allotment; and the +rents are to be fixed at such amount as may reasonably be deemed sufficient +to guarantee the sanitary authority from loss. No building is to be erected +on any allotment other than a tool-house, pig-sty, shed, or the like. In +the Allotment Acts of 1887 and 1892 (Scotland) the definition is applied to +a plot of land not exceeding 1 acre, but the Local Government Act of 1894 +authorized the letting of an allotment up to the area of 4 acres to one +person, while the Small Holdings and Allotments Act of 1907 definitely +extends the limit of an allotment to 5 acres. The distinction between +allotments and small holdings has therefore been obliterated, at least as +far as England and Wales are concerned. County councils will let plots of 1 +to 5 acres as small holdings, and parish councils as allotments. During the +European War 183,000 allotments were registered under the Cultivation of +Lands Order, and the number of allotments in Great Britain not exceeding 1 +acre now amounts to over 1,000,000. In proportion to the total agricultural +area or population it is much smaller in Scotland than in England. The +rents of allotments vary greatly, and near towns, or even villages, they +are very high, often from L4 to L8 per acre. A measure corresponding to the +English Small Holdings and Allotments Act of 1907 was passed for Scotland +in 1911, and came into operation in 1912. In recent years a large number of +co-operative allotment associations have come into existence. + +ALLOT'ROPY (Gr. _allos_, other, _tropos_, manner), a term used by Berzelius +to express the fact that one and the same element may exist in different +forms, differing widely in external physical properties. Thus carbon occurs +as the diamond, and as charcoal and plumbago, and is therefore regarded as +a substance subject to allotropy. + +AL'LOWAY, a parish of Scotland, now included in Ayr parish. Here Burns was +born in 1759, and the "auld haunted kirk", near his birthplace, was the +scene of the dance of witches in _Tam o' Shanter_. + +ALLOY' is the substance produced by melting together two or more metals. +Sometimes a chemical compound is formed, but more generally one metal is +interspersed throughout the other, much as sugar is through water in which +it is dissolved. In this case the alloy is called a 'solid solution' of one +metal in another. Many metals mix together in all proportions, others only +in certain proportions, while some will not mix in any proportion. + +Scientific research has led to great advances in the use of alloys +industrially. An alloy differs from its components in most of its physical +properties, such as its hardness, ductility, strength, melting-point, and +colour. The minutest trace of certain metals frequently produces an +extraordinary change in the property of the body with which it is mixed. +For instance, if bismuth is present in copper to the extent of more than +0.5 per cent, the copper cannot be used successfully in the construction of +electrical machinery. Frequently the addition of a small proportion of a +metal produces highly-desirable effects in one direction, but is +deleterious in other directions. For instance, the presence of a small +amount of manganese in cast-iron gives clean castings, but the magnetic +qualities of the material are impaired. + +Alloys are classified as ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. + +_Ferrous Alloys._--These alloys are of great industrial importance, as they +include cast irons and steels. Pure iron is very little used in industry. +Ordinary _cast iron_ contains iron and about 3 per cent of carbon. The +ordinary wrought iron of the blacksmith contains less than 0.25 per cent of +carbon. Cast iron is brittle, and unreliable when used to sustain tensile +stresses, and it cannot be forged; but wrought iron can be safely used in +tension, is not brittle, and can be forged. The raw material from which +steel is made is cast iron or wrought iron. (For manufacture of steel see +_Steel_.) The properties of steel can be varied within very wide limits by +adding to it traces of certain metals. For instance, the addition of nickel +up to 5 per cent makes the steel much stronger and tougher; the addition of +tungsten up to about 19 per cent makes it hard (tool-steel, magnet steel), +while molybdenum has a similar effect. Chromium and vanadium have a +'stabilizing' effect, i.e. tend to make large masses of the alloy +homogeneous, and to make the alloy retain its hardness over wide ranges of +temperature. Cobalt has a similar stabilizing effect. Molybdenum high-speed +steel is more expensive than tungsten high-speed steel, but is said to wear +better. + +_Non-ferrous Alloys._--Of the non-ferrous alloys the most important have +copper as the basic metal. They do not become rusty on exposure. Copper, +when used for electrical purposes, must be nearly pure. It is deposited +electrolytically (see _Electrolysis_) and then made into bars (electrolytic +copper). + +_Brass_ is an alloy of copper and zinc and varies much in composition. The +best-known varieties are:-- + + Best brass Copper 70%, Zinc 30%. + Admiralty brass Copper 70%, Zinc 29%, Tin 1%. + Ordinary brass Copper 67%, Zinc 30%, Lead 3%. + +Gun-metal is a mixture of copper, tin, and zinc. The standard Admiralty +mixture is copper 88, tin 10, zinc 2. It possesses a tensile strength of 14 +tons per sq. inch. + +_Bronzes._--The bronzes are alloys of copper, with zinc or tin mainly. They +can be cast easily, and when heated to a dull red the metal can be forged, +stamped, rolled, pressed, or extruded. They are largely free from +corrosion. + +_Phosphor Bronze._--This is a specially strong bronze. A typical +composition is copper 89.5, tin 10, phosphorus 0.5. The tensile strength is +higher than that of pure copper or brass (about 15 tons per sq. inch), and +it has about one-half the electrical conductivity of pure copper. It is +used for small castings, and it can be drawn into wire, which is used in +alternating-current electric-railway construction for the overhead +conductor. + +_Delta metals_ are bronzes of specially high tensile strength (30-50 tons +per sq. inch). + +_Manganese bronzes_ are bronzes of high tensile strength and ductility, and +are largely used for marine propellers. Manganese bronze is not affected by +sea-water. It usually contains copper, zinc, and manganese, with a little +aluminium and tin. + +A recently-discovered copper alloy is known as _monel metal_. It is a +naturally-occurring alloy of copper, nickel, iron, and manganese (copper +27-29 per cent, nickel 68-70 per cent, iron and manganese 4-5 per cent), +and possesses, roughly, the qualities of a mild steel and copper. It has a +high tensile strength, which it retains over a wide range of temperature +change. It is ductile, is not affected by immersion in sea-water, and can +be machined. It is used for pump-valves, pump-pistons, turbine blading, &c. + +In the British silver coinage silver is alloyed with 7.5 per cent copper, +which renders it harder and more durable. British gold coinage contains 8.3 +per cent of copper.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Law, _Alloys_; Osmond and Stead, +_Microscopic Analysis of Metals_; Mellor, _Crystallization of Iron and +Steel_; Desch, _Metallography_. + +ALL SAINTS' DAY, a festival of the Christian Church, instituted in 835, and +celebrated on 1st Nov. in honour of the saints in general. + +ALL SOULS' COLLEGE, a college of Oxford University, founded in 1437 by +Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury. Attached to it are the Chichele +Professorship of International Law and the Chichele Professorship of Modern +History. + +ALL SOULS' DAY, a festival of the Roman Catholic Church, instituted in 998, +and observed on 2nd Nov. for the relief of souls in purgatory. + +[Illustration: Allspice (_Myrtus Pimenta_)] + +ALLSPICE ([a:]l'sp[=i]s), or PIMENTA, is the dried and ground berry of a +West Indian species of myrtle (_Myrtus Pimenta_), a beautiful tree with +white and fragrant aromatic flowers and leaves of a deep shining green. The +tree is often 30 feet high, and may yield 150 lb. of raw berries, +equivalent to 100 lb. of dried spice. Pimenta is thought to resemble in +flavour a mixture of cinnamon, nutmegs, and cloves, whence the popular name +of _allspice_; it is also called Jamaica pepper, the trees being cultivated +there extensively. It is employed in cookery, also in medicine as an +agreeable aromatic, and forms the basis of a distilled water, a spirit, and +an essential oil. + +ALL'STON ([:a]l'stun), Washington, an American painter, born 1779, died +1843. He studied in London and Rome, and is most celebrated for his +pictures on scriptural subjects. Among his pictures _The Angel Uriel_ is at +Stafford House; _The Prophet Jeremiah_ at Yale College, Newport. A portrait +of Coleridge by Allston is in the National Gallery. He also wrote poems and +a tragical romance (_Monaldi_). + +ALLU'VIUM (Lat. _alluvium_--_ad_, to, and _luo_, to wash), deposits of soil +collected by the action of water, such as are found in valleys and plains, +consisting of loam, clay, gravel, &c., washed down from the higher grounds. +Great alterations are often produced by alluvium--deltas and whole islands +being often formed by this cause. Much of the rich land along the banks of +rivers is alluvial in its origin. There are great tracts of alluviums lying +along the banks of the Derwent, the Ouse, and the Trent, and the Romney +Marsh of Kent along the banks of the Thames. + +ALLYGURH. See _Aligarh_. + +ALMA, a small river of Russia, in the Crimea, celebrated from the victory +gained by the allied British and French over the Russians, 20th Sept., +1854. + +AL'MACK'S, the name formerly given to certain assembly-rooms in King +Street, St. James's, London, derived from Almack, a tavern-keeper, by whom +they were built, and whose real name is said to have been McCall, of which +Almack is an anagram; afterwards called _Willis's Rooms_. They were first +opened about 1770, and became famous for the extreme exclusiveness +displayed by the lady patronesses in regard to the admission of applicants +for tickets to the balls held here--only those of the most assured social +standing being admitted. They were turned into a restaurant in 1890. + +ALMA'DA, a town of Portugal, on the Tagus, opposite Lisbon. Pop. 7913. + +AL'MADEN, a place in California, United States, about 60 miles S.E. of San +Francisco, with rich quicksilver-mines, the product of which has been +largely employed in gold and silver mining. + +ALMADEN', a town of Spain, province of Ciudad-Real, celebrated both in +ancient and modern times for its mines of quicksilver (in the form of +cinnabar). Pop. 7410. + +ALMADEN PROCESS. See _Mercury_. + +AL'MAGEST (Ar. _al_, the, and Gr. _megist[=e]_, greatest, _sc._ 'treatise') +the name of a celebrated astronomical work composed by Claudius Ptolemy. + +ALMA'GRO, an old town of Spain, province of Ciudad-Real (New Castile), with +important lace manufactures. Pop. 7700. + +ALMA'GRO, Diego de, Spanish 'Conquistador', a foundling, born in 1475, +killed 1538. He took part with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and after +frequent disputes with Pizarro about their respective shares in their +conquests led an expedition against Chile, which he failed to conquer. On +his return a struggle took place between him and Pizarro, in which Almagro +was finally overcome, taken prisoner, strangled, and afterwards beheaded. +He was avenged by his son, born in 1520, who raised an insurrection, in +which Pizarro was assassinated, in 1541. The younger Almagro was put to +death at Cuzco in 1542 by De Castro, the new Viceroy of Peru. + +ALMALEE', a town of Asia Minor, 50 miles from Adalia, with thriving +manufactures and a considerable trade. Pop. 3500. + +AL'MA MA'TER (Lat., fostering or bounteous mother), a term familiarly +applied to their own university by those who have had a university +education. + +AL-MAMUN (m[.a]-m[:o]n'), a caliph of the Abasside dynasty, son of +Harun-al-Rashid, born 786, died 833. Under him Bagdad became a great centre +of art and science. + +AL'MANAC, a calendar, in which are set down the rising and setting of the +sun, the phases of the moon, the most remarkable positions and phenomena of +the heavenly bodies, for every month and day of the year; also the several +fasts and feasts to be observed in the Church and State, &c., and often +much miscellaneous information likely to be useful to the public. The term +is of Arabic origin, but the Arabs were not the first to use almanacs, +which indeed existed from remote ages. In England they are known from the +fourteenth century, there being several English almanacs of this century +existing in MS. They became generally used in Europe within a short time +after the invention of printing; and they were very early remarkable, as +some are still, for the mixture of truth and falsehood which they +contained. Their effects in France were found so mischievous, from the +pretended prophecies which they published, that an edict was promulgated by +Henry III in 1579 forbidding any predictions to be inserted in them +relating to civil affairs, whether those of the State or of private +persons. In the reign of James I of England letters-patent were granted to +the two universities and the Stationers' Company for an exclusive right of +printing almanacs, but in 1775 this monopoly was abolished. During the +civil war of Charles I, and thence onward, English almanacs were +conspicuous for the unblushing boldness of their astrological predictions, +and their determined perpetuation of popular errors. The most famous +English almanac was _Poor Robin's Almanack_, which was published from 1663 +to 1775. Gradually, however, a better taste began to prevail, and in 1828 +the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, by publishing the +_British Almanac_, had the merit of taking the lead in the production of an +unexceptionable almanac in Great Britain. The example thus set has been +almost universally adopted. The circulation of almanacs continued to be +much cramped by the very heavy duty of one shilling and threepence per copy +till 1834, when this duty was abolished. About 200 new almanacs were +started immediately on the repeal. Almanacs, from their periodical +character, and the frequency with which they are referred to, are now more +and more used as vehicles for conveying statistical and other useful +information, some being intended for the inhabitants of a particular +country or district, others for a particular class or party. Some of the +almanacs that are regularly published every year are extremely useful, and +are indeed almost indispensable to men engaged in official, mercantile, +literary, or professional business. Such in Great Britain are _Thom's +Official Directory of the United Kingdom_, _The British Almanac_, _Oliver +and Boyd's New Edinburgh Almanac_, and _Whitaker's Almanac_, started in +1868. In the United States is published _The American Almanac_, a useful +compilation. The _Almanach de Gotha_, which has appeared at Gotha since +1764, contains in small bulk a wonderful quantity of information regarding +the reigning families and Governments, the finances, commerce, population, +&c., of the different States throughout the world. Since 1871 it is +published both in a French and in a German edition. Among French almanacs +the most famous was the _Almanach Liegeois_, whilst the _Almanach +National_, first published in 1679 as _Almanach Royal_, is the most +important of modern almanacs in France. Almanacs that pretend to foretell +the weather and occurrences of various kinds are still popular in Britain, +France, and elsewhere.--_The Nautical Almanac_ is an important work +published annually by the British Government, two or three years in +advance, in which is contained much useful astronomical matter, more +especially the distances of the moon from the sun, and from certain fixed +stars, for every three hours of apparent time, adapted to the meridian of +the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. By comparing these with the distances +carefully observed at sea the mariner may, with comparative ease, infer his +longitude to a degree of accuracy unattainable in any other way, and +sufficient for most nautical purposes. This almanac was commenced in 1767 +by Dr. Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal. The French _Connaissance des Temps_ is +published for the same purpose as the English _Nautical Almanac_, and +nearly on the same plan. It commenced in 1679. Of a similar character is +the _Astronomisches Jahrbuch_ published at Berlin. + +ALMAN'DINE, a mineral of a reddish or violet colour, a variety of precious +or noble garnet. + +ALMAN'SA, a town of south-eastern Spain (Murcia), near which was fought +(25th April, 1707) a decisive battle in the War of the Spanish Succession, +when the French, under the Duke of Berwick, defeated the Anglo-Spanish army +under the Earl of Galway. Pop. 11,887. + +ALMAN'ZUR, or ALMANSUR, a caliph of the Abasside dynasty, reigned 754-75. +He was cruel and treacherous and a persecutor of the Christians, but a +patron of learning. + +ALMA-TAD'EMA, Sir Lawrence, Dutch painter, born in 1836, resided since 1870 +in England, where he became a naturalized subject. He was made A.R.A. in +1876, R.A. in 1879, knighted in 1899, and awarded the Order of Merit in +1905. He died at Wiesbaden, 25th June, 1912. He is especially celebrated +for his pictures of ancient Roman, Greek, and Egyptian life, which are +painted with great realism and archaeological correctness. + +AL'MEH, the name given in Egypt to a class of girls whose profession is to +sing for the amusement of the upper classes, as distinguished from the +_gawasi_, who perform before the lower classes. They perform at feasts and +other entertainments (including funerals), and many of them are skilful +improvisatrici. One of their most famous dances is called 'The Bee'. + +ALMEIDA ([.a]l-m[=a]'i-d[.a]), one of the strongest fortresses in Portugal, +in the province of Beira, near the Spanish border, on the Coa. Pop. 2350. +Taken by Massena from the English in 1810, retaken by Wellington in 1811. + +ALMEIDA (d[.a]l-m[=a]'i-d[.a]), Francisco d', first Portuguese viceroy of +India, son of the Conde de Abrantes, born about the middle of the fifteenth +century. He fought with renown against the Moors, and being appointed +governor of the new Portuguese settlements on the African and Indian +coasts, he sailed for India in 1505, accompanied by his son Lorenzo and +other eminent men. In Africa he took possession of Quiloa and Mombas, and +in the East he conquered Cananor, Cochin, Calicut, &c., and established +forts and factories. His son Lorenzo discovered the Maldives and +Madagascar, but perished in an attack made on him by a fleet sent by the +Sultan of Egypt, with the aid of the Porte and the Republic of Venice. +Having signally defeated the Mussulmans (1508), and avenged his son, and +being superseded by Albuquerque, he sailed for Portugal, but was killed in +a skirmish on the African coast in 1510. + +ALMELO', a town of Holland, province of Overyssel, on the Vechte; with +manufactures of linen. Pop. 7360. + +ALMENDRALEJO (-[=a]'h[=o]), a town of Spain, province of Badajoz, in a +district rich in grain, wine, and fruits, with many brandy distilleries. +Pop. 12,587. + +ALMERIA ([.a]l-m[=a]-r[=e]'[.a]), a fortified seaport of Southern Spain, +capital of province of Almeria, near the mouth of a river and on the gulf +of same name, with no building of consequence except a Gothic cathedral, +but with a large trade, exporting grapes, iron ore, lead, esparto, &c. The +province, which has an area of 3360 sq. miles, is generally mountainous, +and rich in minerals. Pop. of town, 48,614; of province, 393,689. + +ALMODO'VAR, a town of Spain, province of Ciudad-Real (New Castile), near +the Sierra Morena. Pop. 12,640. + +ALMOHADES (al'mo-h[=a]dz), a Moorish dynasty that ruled in Africa and Spain +in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, founded by Mohammed Ibn Tumart, a +religious enthusiast, who assumed the title of _Mahdi_. They overthrew the +Almoravides in Spain, but themselves received a defeat in 1212 from which +they did not recover, and in 1269 were overthrown in Africa, when Idris +El-Wathik, their last emir, was murdered by a slave. + +AL-MOKANNA. See _Mokanna_. + +ALMOND ([.a]'mund), the fruit of the almond tree (_Amygd[)a]lus +comm[=u]nis_), a tree which grows usually to the height of 20 feet, and is +akin to the peach, nectarine, &c. (ord. Rosaceae). It has beautiful pinkish +flowers that appear before the leaves, which are oval, pointed, and +delicately serrated. It is a native of Africa and Asia, naturalized in +Southern Europe, and cultivated in England for its beauty, as it seldom +produces edible fruit even in the warmer portions of Southern England. The +fruit is a drupe, ovoid, and with downy outer surface; the fleshy covering +is tough and fibrous; it covers the compressed wrinkled stone enclosing the +seed or almond within it. There are two varieties, one sweet and the other +bitter; both are produced from _A. communis_, though from different +varieties. Most of the sweet almonds imported into Britain come from +Southern Europe, the Levant, and California, the finest being the +Valencian, Jordan, and Malaga. They contain a bland fixed oil, consisting +chiefly of olein. Bitter almonds come from Mogador, and besides a fixed oil +they contain a substance called _emulsin_, and also a bitter crystalline +substance called _amygdalin_, which, acting on the emulsin, produces +prussic acid, whence the aroma of bitter almonds when mixed with water. +_Almond-oil_, a bland fixed oil, is expressed from the kernels of either +sweet or bitter almonds, and is used by perfumers and in medicine. A +poisonous essential oil is obtained from bitter almonds, which is used for +flavouring by cooks and confectioners, also by perfumers and in medicine. +The name _almond_, with a qualifying word prefixed, is also given to the +seeds of other species of plants; thus _Java almonds_ are the kernels of +_Canarium commune_. + +ALMONDBURY ([.a]'mund-be-ri), a town of England, West Riding of Yorkshire, +S.E. of Huddersfield, in which it is now included, with manufactures of +woollens, cotton and silk goods. + +AL'MONER, an officer of a religious establishment to whom belonged the +distribution of alms. The grand almoner (_grand aumonier_) of France was +the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in that kingdom before the revolution. +The lord almoner, or lord high almoner of England, is generally a bishop, +whose office is well-nigh a sinecure. He distributes the sovereign's doles +to the poor on Maundy Thursday. + +ALMO'RA, a town and fortress of India, in the United Provinces, capital of +Kumaon, 170 miles E.N.E. of Delhi, a thriving little place. Pop. about +10,560. + +ALMO'RAVIDES (-v[=i]dz), a Moorish dynasty which arose in North-Western +Africa in the eleventh century, and reigned from 1055-1147. The town of +Marrakesh, built in 1062, became the capital of this dynasty. Having +crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, the family gained possession of all +Arabic Spain, but was overthrown by the Almohades in the following century. + +AL'MUG (or AL'GUM) TREE, names which occur in _1 Kings_, x, 11, 12, and _2 +Chron_., ii, 8, and ix, 10, 11, as the names of trees of which the wood was +used for pillars in the temple and the king's house, for harps and +psalteries, &c. They are said in one passage to be hewn in Lebanon, in +another to be brought from Ophir. They have been identified by critics with +the red sandalwood of India. Some of them may possibly have been +transplanted to Lebanon by the Phoenicians. + +ALMUNECAR ([.a]l-m[u:]n-ye-k[:a]r'), a seaport of Spain, Granada, on the +Mediterranean. Pop. 8000. + +AL'NAGER, formerly, in England, an official whose duty it was to inspect, +measure, and stamp woollen cloth. + +AL'NUS. See _Alder_. + +ALNWICK (an'ik), a town of England, county town of Northumberland, 34 miles +north of Newcastle, near the Aln. It is well built, and carries on tanning, +brewing, and a general trade. The town is famous for the curious ceremonies +which take place there annually during the election of the common council +(25th March). Alnwick Castle, residence of the Dukes of Northumberland, for +many centuries a fortress of great strength, stands close to the town. Pop. +(1921), 6991. + +[Illustration: Socotrine Aloe (_Aloe socotr[=i]na_)] + +ALOE (al'[=o]), the name of a number of plants belonging to the genus Aloe +(ord. Liliaceae), some of which are not more than a few inches, whilst +others are 30 feet and upwards in height; natives of South Africa and +Socotra; leaves fleshy, thick, and more or less spinous at the edges or +extremity; flowers with a tubular corolla. Some of the larger kinds are of +great use, the fibrous parts of the leaves being made into cordage, fishing +nets and lines, cloth, &c. The inspissated juice of several species is used +in medicine, under the name of _aloes_, forming a bitter purgative. The +medicinal value of bitter aloes was known to the Greeks in the fourth +century B.C. According to the Arabian historian Edrisi, the occupation of +Socotra by the Macedonians was due to Aristotle's persuading Alexander the +Great to secure the monopoly of the supplies of the drug. The drug is said +to have been commended to Alfred the Great by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, +but a direct trade in it between Socotra and Britain was opened only in the +seventeenth century. The principal drug-producing species are the Socotrine +aloe (_A. Socotr[=i]na_); the Barbados aloe (_A. vulg[=a]ris_), first +imported into Britain in 1693; the Cape aloe (_A. spic[=a]ta_), 1780; and +Natal aloes, 1870; &c. A beautiful violet colour is yielded by the leaves +of the Socotrine aloe. The American aloe (see _Agave_) is a different plant +altogether; as are also the aloes or lign-aloes of Scripture, which are +supposed to be the _Aquilaria Agall[)o]chum_, or aloes-wood (q. v.). _Aloe +fibre_ is obtained from species of Aloe, Agave, Yucca, &c., and is made +into coarse fabrics, ropes, &c. + +ALOES-WOOD, EAGLE-WOOD, or AGILAWOOD, the inner portion of the trunk of +_Aquil[=a]ria ov[=a]ta_ and _A. Agall[)o]chum_, forest trees belonging to +the ord. Aquilariaceae, found in tropical Asia, and yielding a fragrant +resinous substance, which, as well as the wood, is burned for its perfume. +Another tree, the _Aloex[)y]lon Agall[)o]chum_ (ord. Leguminosae), also +produces aloes-wood. This wood is supposed to be the lign-aloes (a +corruption of the Lat. _lignum aloe_) of the Bible. + +ALOPE'CIA, a variety of baldness in which the hair falls off from the beard +and eyebrows, as well as the scalp. + +ALOPECU'RUS, a genus of grasses. See _Foxtail-grass_. + +ALO'RA, a town of Southern Spain, province of Malaga. Pop. 6200. + +ALOST, or AALST ([:a]'lost, [:a]lst), a town of Belgium, 15 miles W.N.W. of +Brussels, on the Dender (here navigable), with a beautiful, though +unfinished, church, and an ancient town hall (thirteenth century); +manufactures of lace, thread, linen and cotton goods, &c., and a +considerable trade. In the market-place stands a statue of Thierry +Maartens, who introduced the art of typography into the Netherlands in +1473. The town was occupied by the Germans in 1914. Pop. 35,603. + +[Illustration: Alpaca (_Auch[=e]nia Paco_)] + +ALPAC'A, a ruminant mammal of the camel tribe, and genus Auch[=e]nia (_A. +Paco_), a native of the Andes, especially of the mountains of Chile and +Peru, and closely allied to the llama. Llamas and alpacas are mutually +fertile when crossed, and this explains the existence of intermediate forms +between the two breeds. It has been domesticated, and remains also in a +wild state. In form and size it approaches the sheep, but has a longer +neck. It is valued chiefly for its long, soft, and silky wool, which is +straighter than that of the sheep, and very strong, and is woven into +fabrics of great beauty, used for shawls, clothing for warm climates, +coat-linings, and umbrellas, and known by the same name. Cloth made from +imported alpaca wool is manufactured in England, principally in Yorkshire. +Attempts have been made to introduce and acclimatize the alpaca in Europe +and in Australia, but no measure of success has attended the experiments. +Its flesh is pleasant and wholesome. + +ALPE'NA, a town of the United States, Michigan, at the entrance of the +Thunder into Lake Huron, with saw-mills, woollen factories, &c. Pop. +12,706. + +ALPEN-HORN, or ALP-HORN (Ger.), a long, nearly-straight horn, curving +slightly, and widening towards its extremity, used in the Alps to convey +signals, or notice of something. + +ALPEN-STOCK (Ger.), a strong, tall stick shod with iron, pointed at the end +so as to take hold in, and give support on, ice and other dangerous places +in climbing the Alps and other high mountains. + +ALPES ([.a]lp), the name of three departments in the south-east of France, +all more or less covered by the Alps or their offshoots:--_Basses-Alpes_ +(b[:a]s-[.a]lp; Lower Alps) has mountains rising to a height of 8000 to +10,000 feet, is drained by the Durance and its tributaries, and is the most +thinly-peopled department in France; area, 2697 sq. miles; capital, Digne. +Pop. (1921), 91,882.--_Hautes-Alpes_ ([=o]t-[.a]lp; Upper Alps), mostly +formed out of ancient Dauphine, traversed by the Cottian and Dauphine Alps +(highest summits 12,000 feet), drained chiefly by the Durance and its +tributaries. It is the lowest department in France in point of absolute +population; area, 2178 sq. miles; capital, Gap. Pop. (1921), +89,275.--_Alpes-Maritimes_ ([.a]lp-m[.a]-ri-t[=e]m; Maritime Alps) has the +Mediterranean on the south, and mainly consists of the territory of Nice, +ceded to France by Italy in 1860. The greater part of the surface is +covered by the Maritime Alps; the principal river is the Var. It produces +in the south, cereals, vines, olives, oranges, citrons, and other fruits; +and there are manufactories of perfumes, liqueurs, soap, &c., and valuable +fisheries. It is a favourite resort for invalids; area, 1443 sq. miles; +capital, Nice. Pop. 357,759. + +AL'PHA and O'MEGA, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, +sometimes used to signify the beginning and the end, or the first and the +last of anything; also as a symbol of the Divine Being (_Rev._ i, 8; xxi, +6; xxii, 13). They were also formerly the symbol of Christianity, and +engraved accordingly on the tombs of the ancient Christians. Some of these +engravings are to be seen in the Louvre. + +AL'PHABET (from _Alpha_ and _Beta_, the two first letters of the Greek +alphabet), the series of characters used in writing a language, and +intended to represent the sounds of which it consists. The English +alphabet, like most of those of modern Europe, is derived directly from the +Latin, the Latin from the ancient Greek, and that from the Phoenician, +which again is believed to have had its origin in the Egyptian +hieroglyphics, although Egyptologists are not unanimous on this point. +There is little evidence in support of the theory that the Phoenician +alphabet had developed from the Assyrian cuneiform. Some scholars, like Sir +Arthur Evans, are of opinion that the Philistines established on the coast +of Palestine had brought the alphabet over from Crete, and that from them +it passed to the Phoenicians. The names of the letters in Phoenician and +Hebrew must have been almost the same, for the Greek names, which, with the +letters, were borrowed from the former, differ little from the Hebrew. By +means of the names we may trace the process by which the Egyptian +characters were transformed into letters by the Phoenicians. Some Egyptian +character would, by its form, recall the idea of a house, for example, in +Phoenician or Hebrew _beth_. This character would subsequently come to be +used wherever the sound b occurred. Its form might be afterwards +simplified, or even completely modified, but the name would still remain, +as _beth_ still continues the Hebrew name for b, and _beta_ the Greek. Our +letter m, which in Hebrew was called _mim_, water, has still a considerable +resemblance to the zig-zag wavy line which had been chosen to represent +water, as in the zodiacal symbol for _Aquarius_. The letter o, of which the +Hebrew name means eye, no doubt was originally intended to represent that +organ. While the ancient Greek alphabet gave rise to the ordinary Greek +alphabet and the Latin, the Greek alphabet of later times furnished +elements for the Coptic, the Gothic, and the old Slavic alphabets. The +Latin characters are now employed by a great many nations, such as the +Italian, the French, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the English, the Dutch, +the German, the Hungarian, the Polish, &c., each nation having introduced +such modifications or additions as are necessary to express the sound of +the language peculiar to it. The Greek alphabet originally possessed only +sixteen letters, though the Phoenician had twenty-two. The original Latin +alphabet, as it is found in the oldest inscriptions, consisted of +twenty-one letters; namely, the vowels a, e, i, o, and u (v), and the +consonants b, c, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, x, z. The Anglo-Saxon +alphabet had two characters for the digraph th, which were unfortunately +not retained in later English; it had also the character ae. It wanted j, +v, y (consonant), and z. The German alphabet consists of the same letters +as the English, but the sounds of some of them are different. Anciently +certain characters called _Runic_ were made use of by the Teutonic nations, +to which some would attribute an origin independent of the Greek and Latin +alphabets. Wimmer, the Danish scholar, is, however, of opinion that the +_runes_ were developed from the Latin alphabet. While the alphabets of the +west of Europe are derived from the Latin, the Russian, which is very +complete, is based on the Greek, with some characters borrowed from the +Armenian, &c; it is called _azbouka_, from the first two letters _az_, a, +and _bouki_, b. Among Asiatic alphabets, the Arabian (ultimately of +Phoenician origin) has played a part analogous to that of the Latin in +Europe, the conquests of Mohammedanism having imposed it on the Persian, +the Turkish, the Hindustani, &c. The Sanskrit or Devan[=a]gari alphabet is +one of the most remarkable alphabets of the world. As now used it has +fourteen characters for the vowels and diphthongs, and thirty-three for the +consonants, besides two other symbols. Our alphabet is a very imperfect +instrument for what it has to perform, being both defective and redundant. +An alphabet is not essential to the writing of a language, since ideograms +or symbols may be used instead, as in Chinese. See +_Writing_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. Clodd, _The Alphabet_ (Useful Knowledge +Series, Hodder & Stoughton); Canon J. Taylor, _The Alphabet_; Philippe +Berger, _Histoire de l'Ecriture dans l'Antiquite_. + +ALPH[=E]'US (now RUFIA), the largest river of Peloponnesus, flowing +westwards into the Ionian Sea. In Greek mythology Alph[=e]us is supposed to +have been the son of Oceanus and Tethys. + +ALPHON'SO, the name of a number of Portuguese and Spanish kings. Among the +former may be mentioned ALPHONSO I, the Conqueror, first King of Portugal, +son of Henry of Burgundy, the Conqueror and first Count of Portugal; born +1110, fought successfully against the Spaniards and the Moors, named +himself King of Portugal, and was as such recognized by the Pope; died +1185.--ALPHONSO V, the African, born in 1432; succeeded his father, Edward +I, 1438; conquered Tangiers in 1471; died 1481. During his reign Prince +Henry the Navigator continued the important voyages of discovery already +begun by the Portuguese. Under him was drawn up an important code of +laws.--Among kings of Spain may be mentioned ALPHONSO X, King of Castile +and Leon, surnamed the _Astronomer_, the _Philosopher_, or the _Wise_ (El +Sabio); born in 1226; succeeded in 1252. Being grandson of Philip of +Hohenstaufen, son of Frederick Barbarossa, he endeavoured to have himself +elected Emperor of Germany, and in 1257 succeeded in dividing the election +with Richard, Earl of Cornwall. On Richard's death in 1272 he again +unsuccessfully contested the imperial crown. Meantime his throne was +endangered by conspiracies of the nobles and the attacks of the Moors. The +Moors he conquered, but his domestic troubles were less easily overcome, +and he was finally dethroned by his son Sancho, and died two years after, +1284. Alphonso was the most learned prince of his age. Under his direction +or superintendence were drawn up a celebrated code of laws, valuable +astronomical tables which go under his name (_Alphonsine Tables_), the +first general history of Spain in the Castilian tongue, and a Spanish +translation of the Bible.--ALPHONSO V of Aragon, I of Naples and Sicily, +born in 1385, was the son of Ferdinand I of Aragon, the throne of which he +ascended in 1416, ruling also over Sicily and the Island of Sardinia. Queen +Joanna of Naples made him her heir, but after her death in 1435 her will +was disputed by Rene of Anjou. Alphonso now proceeded to take possession of +Naples by force, which he succeeded in doing in 1442, and reigned till his +death in 1458. He was an enlightened patron of literary men, by whom, in +the latter part of his reign, his Court was thronged.--ALPHONSO XII, King +of Spain, the only son of Queen Isabella II and her cousin Francis of +Assisi, was born in 1857 and died in 1885. He left Spain with his mother +when she was driven from the throne by the revolution of 1868, and till +1874 resided partly in France, partly in Austria. In the latter year he +studied for a time at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, being then +known as Prince of the Asturias. His mother had given up her claims to the +throne in 1870 in his favour, and in 1874 Alphonso came forward himself as +claimant, and in the end of the year was proclaimed by General Martinez +Campos as king. He now passed over into Spain and was enthusiastically +received, most of the Spaniards being by this time tired of the republican +Government, which had failed to put down the Carlist party. Alphonso was +successful in bringing the Carlist struggle to an end (1876), and +henceforth he reigned with little disturbance. His minister Canovas del +Castillo ruined, however, Alphonso's popularity when he advised the king to +conclude an alliance with Bismarck and Germany. He married first his cousin +Maria de las Mercedes, daughter of the Duc de Montpensier; second, Maria +Christina, Archduchess of Austria, whom he left a widow with two daughters +and a son.--ALPHONSO XIII, King of Spain, born in 1886, the posthumous son +of Alphonso XII. His mother was appointed regent during his minority, and +acted as such until 1902. On attaining his sixteenth year, the king assumed +personal charge of the Government. In 1906 (31st May) he married Princess +Ena, daughter of Princess Henry of Battenberg, a daughter of Queen +Victoria. + +ALPINE CLUB, an association of English gentlemen, originating in 1856 or +1857, having as their common bond of union a delight in making the ascent +of mountains, in the Alps or elsewhere, difficult to ascend, and in +investigating everything connected with mountains. Similar associations now +exist in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France. + +ALPINE CROW, or ALPINE CHOUGH (_Pyrrhoc[)o]rax alp[=i]nus_), a European +bird closely akin to the chough of England. + +ALPINE MUSEUM, a museum established at Munich in 1911 by the German and +Austrian Alpine Club. Its purpose is to spread knowledge about the Alps, +and to disseminate the results of scientific research by means of exhibits +and literary publications. Not only alpine geology, botany, and zoology, +but also industry, custom, and costumes are well demonstrated in the +exhibits. + +ALPINE PLANTS, the name given to those plants whose habitat is in the +neighbourhood of the snow, on mountains partly covered with it all the year +round. As the height of the snow-line varies according to the latitude and +local conditions, so also does the height at which these plants grow. The +mean height for the alpine plants of Central Europe is about 6000 feet; but +it rises in parts of the Alps and in the Pyrenees to 9000 feet, or even +more. The high grounds clear of snow among these mountains present a very +well marked flora, the general characters of the plants being a low +dwarfish habit, a tendency to form thick turfs, stems partly or wholly +woody, and large brilliantly-coloured and often very sweet-smelling +flowers. They are also often closely covered with woolly hairs. In the Alps +of Middle Europe the eye is at once attracted by gentians, saxifrages, +rhododendrons, primroses of different kinds, &c. Ferns and mosses of many +kinds also characterize these regions. Some alpine plants are found only in +one locality. Considerable success has attended the attempt to grow alpine +plants in gardens, the first necessity being a situation where there is +plenty of sunlight, and which is free from the shade of trees. + +ALPINE WARBLER (_Accentor alp[=i]nus_), a European bird of the same genus +as the hedge-sparrow. + +ALPIN'IA, a genus of plants. See _Galanga_. + +ALPS, the highest and most extensive system of mountains in Europe, +included between lat. 44deg and 48deg N., and long. 5deg and 18deg E., +covering great part of Northern Italy, several departments of France, +nearly the whole of Switzerland, and a large part of Austria, while its +extensive ramifications connect it with nearly all the mountain systems of +Europe. The culminating peak is Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet high, though the +true centre is the St. Gothard, or the mountain mass to which it belongs, +and from whose slopes flow, either directly or by affluents, the great +rivers of Central Europe--the Danube, Rhine, Rhone, and Po. Round the +northern frontier of Italy the Alps form a remarkable barrier, shutting it +off from the mainland of Europe, so that formerly it could hardly be +approached from France, Germany, or Switzerland, except through high and +difficult passes. In the west this barrier approaches close to the +Mediterranean coast, and near Nice there is left a free passage into the +Italian peninsula between the mountains and the sea. From this point +eastward the chain proceeds along the coast till it forms a junction with +the Apennines. In the opposite direction it proceeds north-west, and +afterwards north to Mont Blanc, on the boundaries of France and Italy; it +then turns north-east and runs generally in this direction to the Gross +Glockner, in Central Tyrol, between the Rivers Drave and the Salza, where +it divides into two branches, the northern proceeding north-east towards +Vienna, the southern towards the Balkan Peninsula. The principal valleys of +the Alps run mostly in a direction nearly parallel with the principal +ranges, and therefore east and west. The transverse valleys are commonly +shorter, and frequently lead up through a narrow gorge to a depression in +the main ridge between two adjacent peaks. These are the passes or _cols_, +which may usually be found by tracing a stream which descends from the +mountains up to its source. + +The Alps in their various great divisions receive different names. The +_Maritime Alps_, so called from their proximity to the Mediterranean, +extend westward from their junction with the Apennines for a distance of +about 100 miles; culminating points Aiguille de Chambeyron, 11,155 feet, +and Grand Rioburent, 11,142 feet; principal pass, the Col di Tende (6158 +feet), which was made practicable for carriages by Napoleon I. Proceeding +northward the next group consists of the _Cottian Alps_, length about 60 +miles; principal peaks: Monte Viso, 12,605 feet; Pic des Ecrins, 13,462; +Pelvoux, 12,973. Next come the _Graian Alps_, 50 miles long, with extensive +ramifications in Savoy and Piedmont; principal peaks: Aiguille de la +Sassiere, 12,326 feet; Grand Paradis, 13,300; Grande Casse, 12,780. To this +group belongs Mont Cenis (6765 feet), over which a carriage road was +constructed by Napoleon I, while a railway now passes through the mountain +by a tunnel nearly 8 miles long. These three divisions of the Alps are +often classed together as the _Western Alps_, while the portion of the +system immediately east of this forms the _Central Alps_. The _Pennine +Alps_ form the loftiest portion of the whole system, having Mont Blanc (in +France) at one extremity and Monte Rosa at the other (60 miles), and +including the Alps of Savoy and the Valais. In the east the valley of the +Upper Rhone separates the Pennine Alps from the great chain of the _Bernese +Alps_ running nearly parallel, the great peaks of the two ranges being +about 20 miles apart. The principal heights of the Pennine Alps are Mont +Blanc, 15,781 feet; Monte Rosa, 15,217; Mischabelhoerner (Dom), 14,935; +Weisshorn, 14,804; Matterhorn, 14,780. In the Bernese Alps, the +Finsteraarhorn, 14,026; Aletschhorn, 13,803; Jungfrau, 13,671. The pass of +Great St. Bernard is celebrated for its hospice. The most easterly pass is +the Simplon, 6595 feet, with a carriage road made by Napoleon I, and a +tunnel leading into Italy, fully 12 miles long. Farther east are the +_Lepontine Alps_, which give off a number of streams that feed the Italian +lakes--Maggiore, Como, &c. The principal pass is the St. Gothard (6936 +feet), over which a carriage road leads to Italy, while through this +mountain mass a railway tunnel more than 9 miles long has been opened. +Highest peaks: Toedi, 11,887 feet; Monte Leone, 11,696. The _Rhaetian +Alps_, extending east to about lat. 12deg 30', are the most easterly of the +Central Alps, and are divided into two portions by the Engadine, or valley +of the Inn, and also broken by the valley of the Adige; principal peaks: +Piz Bernina, 13,294 feet; Ortlerspitze, 12,814; Monte Adamello, 11,832. The +Brenner Pass (4588 feet), from Verona to Innsbruck, and between the Central +and the Eastern Alps, is crossed by a railway. On the railway from +Innsbruck to the Lake of Constance is the Arlberg Tunnel, over 6 miles +long. The _Eastern Alps_ form the broadest and lowest portion of the +system, and embrace the _Noric Alps_, the _Carnic Alps_, the _Julian Alps_, +&c.; highest peak, the Gross Glockner, 12,405 feet. The height of the +south-eastern continuations of the Alps rapidly diminishes, and they lose +themselves in ranges having nothing in common with the great mountain +masses which distinguish the centre of the system. + +The Alps are very rich in lakes and streams. Among the chief of the former +are the Lakes of Geneva, Constance, Zuerich, Thun, Brienz, on the north +side; on the south Maggiore, Como, Lugano, Garda, &c. The drainage is +carried to the North Sea by the Rhine, to the Mediterranean by the Rhone, +to the Adriatic by the Po, to the Black Sea by the Danube. + +In the lower valleys of the Alps the mean temperature ranges from 50deg to +60deg. Half-way up the Alps it averages about 32deg--a height which in the +snowy regions it never reaches. But even where the temperature is lowest +the solar radiation produced by the rocks and snow is often so great as to +raise the photometer to 120deg and even higher. The exhilarating and +invigorating nature of the climate in the upper regions during summer has +been acknowledged by all. + +In respect to vegetation the Alps have been divided into six zones, +depending on height modified by exposure and local circumstances. The first +is the olive region. This tree flourishes better on sheltered slopes of the +mountains than on the plains of Northern Italy. The vine, which bears +greater winter cold, distinguishes the second zone. On slopes exposed to +the sun it flourishes to a considerable extent. The third is called the +mountainous region. Cereals and deciduous trees form the distinguishing +features of its vegetation. The mean temperature about equals that of Great +Britain, but the extremes are greater. The fourth region is the sub-Alpine +or coniferous. Here are vast forests of pines of various species. Most of +the Alpine villages are in the two last regions. On the northern slopes +pines grow to 6000, and on the southern slopes to 7000 feet above the level +of the sea. This is also the region of the lower or permanent pastures +where the flocks are fed in winter. The fifth is the pasture region, the +term _alp_ being used in the local sense of high pasture grounds. It +extends from the uppermost limit of trees to the region of perpetual snow. +Here there are shrubs, rhododendrons, junipers, bilberries, and dwarf +willows, &c. The sixth zone is the region of perpetual snow. The line of +snow varies, according to seasons and localities, from 8000 to 9500 feet, +but the line is not continuous, being often broken in upon. Few flowering +plants extend above 10,000 feet, but they have been found as high as 12,000 +feet. + +At this great elevation are found the wild goat and the chamois. In summer +the high mountain pastures are covered with large flocks of cattle, sheep, +and goats, which are in winter removed to a lower and warmer level. The +marmot, and white or Alpine hare, inhabit both the snowy and the woody +regions. Lower down are found the wild-cat, fox, lynx, bear, and wolf; the +last two are now extremely rare. The vulture, eagle, and other birds of +prey frequent the highest elevations, the ptarmigan seeks its food and +shelter among the diminutive plants that border upon the snow-line. +Excellent trout and other fish are found; but the most elevated lakes are, +from their low temperature, entirely destitute of fish. + +The geological structure of the Alps is highly involved, and is far, as +yet, from being thoroughly investigated or understood. In general three +zones can be distinguished, a central, in which crystalline rocks prevail, +and two exterior zones, in which sedimentary rocks predominate. The rocks +of the central zone consist of granite, gneiss, hornblende, mica slate, and +other slates and schists. In the western Alps there are also considerable +elevations in the central zone that belong to the Jurassic (Oolite) and +Cretaceous formations. From the disposition of the beds, which are broken, +tilted, and distorted on a gigantic scale, the Alps appear to have been +formed by a succession of disruptions and elevations extending over a very +protracted period. Among the minerals that are obtained are iron and lead, +gold, silver, copper, zinc, alum, and coal. + +Extensive views of alpine scenery are now commanded by means of special +railways climbing to the summit of Mont Blanc, the Jungfrau, and other +mountains. The Rigi railway was one of the earliest constructed of these. +Here there are hotels at the top, 5905 feet above the level of the sea, and +4468 above the Lake of Lucerne. A favourite view from hence is to watch the +sun rise over the Bernese Alps. The Becca di Nona (8415 feet), south of +Aosta, gives, according to some authorities, the finest panoramic view to +be obtained from any summit of the Alps. The most accessible glaciers are +those of Aletsch, Chamonix, and Zermatt. + +ALPUJARRAS ([.a]l-p[:o]-_h_[.a]r'r[.a]s), a district of Spain, in +Andalusia, between the Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean, mountainous, +but with rich and well-cultivated valleys, yielding grain, vines, olives, +and other fruits. The inhabitants are Christianized descendants of the +Moors. + +ALQUIFOU (al'ki-f[:o]), a sort of lead ore used by potters as a green +varnish or glaze. + +ALSACE ([.a]l-s[.a]s; Ger. _Elsass_), before the French revolution a +province of France, on the Rhine, afterwards constituting the French +departments of Haut- and Bas-Rhin, and subsequently to the Franco-Prussian +war of 1870-1 annexed by Germany, and incorporated in the province of +Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine). Alsace is generally a level country, +though there are several ranges of low hills richly wooded. The principal +river is the Ill. Corn, flax, tobacco, grapes, and other fruits are grown. +Area, 3202 sq. miles. Pop. 1,218,803. Alsace was originally a part of +ancient Gaul. It afterwards became a dukedom of the German Empire. In 1268, +the line of its dukes becoming extinct, it was parcelled out to several +members of the empire. By the peace of Westphalia, in 1648, a great part of +it was ceded to France, which afterwards seized the rest of it, this +seizure being recognized by the peace of Ryswick, in 1697. + +ALSACE-LORRAINE, the imperial territory, or Reichsland of +Elsass-Lothringen, taken by Germany from France in 1871, and restored to +France in 1919. The province is partly bounded by the Rhine; area, 5605 sq. +miles. Pop. 1,874,014. Under the German system the province was divided +into three districts, namely, Lorraine, Upper Alsace, and Lower Alsace, and +governed by a Statthalter, having his seat at Strassburg. By the law of +31st May, 1911, a constitution was granted to Alsace-Lorraine, by which it +received three votes in the Federal Council. After the signing of the +armistice, French troops occupied Alsace-Lorraine, and the French +Government, by a decree of 26th Nov., 1918, took over the administration of +the restored territories, and French officials were installed. The three +chief towns are Strassburg, Mulhausen, and Metz. About 76 per cent of the +inhabitants are Roman Catholics, 22 per cent Evangelical, and between 1 and +2 per cent Jews. The chief crops are wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes, +and hay; the potash deposits of Alsace are superior to and more extensive +than those of Strassfurt, Germany. _See France; Moselle._--BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. +Harrison, _The Stolen Lands: a Study on Alsace-Lorraine_; G. W. Edwards, +_Alsace-Lorraine_. + +ALSA'TIA, formerly a cant name for Whitefriars, a district in London +between the Thames and Fleet Street, and adjoining the Temple, which, +possessing certain privileges of sanctuary, became for that reason a nest +of mischievous characters who were liable to be arrested. These privileges +were abolished in 1697. The name Alsatia is a Latinized form of Alsace, +which, being on the frontiers of France and Germany, was a harbour for +necessitous or troublesome characters from both countries. + +AL'SEN, an island on the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein; length, 20 +miles, breadth, from 5 to 7 miles, diversified with forests, lakes, +well-cultivated fields, orchards, and towns. Pop. 25,000. + +AL SIRAT (s[=e]'rat), in Mahommedan belief the bridge extending over the +abyss of hell, which must be crossed by everyone on his journey to heaven. +It is finer than a hair, as sharp as the edge of a sword, and beset with +thorns on either side. The righteous will pass over with ease and +swiftness, but the wicked will fall into hell below. + +ALSTROEME'RIA, a genus of South American plants, ord. Amaryllidaceae, some +of them cultivated in European greenhouses and gardens. _A. Salsilla_ and +_A. ov[=a]ta_ are cultivated for their edible tubers. + +ALTAIC LANGUAGES (also called URAL-ALTAIC and TURANIAN), a family of +languages occupying a portion of Northern and Eastern Europe, and nearly +the whole of Northern and Central Asia, together with some other regions, +and divided into five branches, the Ugrian or Finno-Hungarian, Samoyedic, +Mongolic, Turkic, and Tungusic. + +ALTAI MOUNTAINS ([.a]l't[=i]), an important Asiatic system on the borders +of Siberia and Mongolia, partly in Russian and partly in Chinese territory, +between lat. 46deg and 53deg N., long. 83deg and 91deg E., but having great +eastern extensions. The Russian portion is comprised in the governments of +Tomsk and Semipalatinsk, the Chinese in Dsungaria. The rivers of this +region, which are large and numerous, are mostly headwaters of the Obi and +Irtish. The mountain scenery is generally grand and interesting. The +highest summit is Byeluka ('white mountain', from its snowy top), height +11,000 feet. The area covered by perpetual snow is very considerable, and +glaciers occupy a large area. In the high lands the winter is very severe, +but on the whole the climate is comparatively mild and is also healthy. The +flora of the Altai Mountains greatly resembles that of the Alps, about +five-sixths of the latter being found here. The mountain forests are +composed of birch, alder, aspen, fir, larch, stone-pine, &c. The wild sheep +has here its native home, and several kinds of deer are found. The Altai is +exceedingly rich in minerals, including gold, silver, copper, and iron. The +name Altai means 'gold mountain'. The inhabitants are chiefly Russians and +Kalmuks. The chief town is Barnaul. + +ALTAMU'RA, a town of South Italy, province of Bari, at the foot of the +Apennines, walled, well built, and containing a magnificent cathedral. Pop. +25,616. + +ALTAR ([a:]l'tar), any pile or structure raised above the ground for +receiving sacrifices to some divinity. Amongst the Semites the altar was +primarily the place where the victim was slaughtered, and amongst the +Indo-Germanic peoples the place where it was burnt. The Greek and Roman +altars were various in form, and often highly ornamental; in temples they +were usually placed before the statue of the god. In the Jewish ceremonial +the altar held an important place, and was associated with many of the most +significant rites of religion. Two altars were erected in the tabernacle in +the wilderness, and the same number in the temple. In most sections of the +Christian Church the communion-table, or table on which the eucharist is +placed, is called an altar. In the primitive Church it was a table of wood, +but subsequently stone and metal were introduced with rich ornaments, +sculpture, and painting. After the introduction of Gothic art the altar +frequently became a lofty and most elaborate structure. Originally there +was but one altar in a church, but later on there might be several in a +large church, the chief or _high altar_ standing at the east end. Over an +altar there is often a painting (an _altar-piece_), and behind it there may +be an ornamental _altar-screen_ separating the choir from the east end of +the church. + +ALTAZ'IMUTH (also called UNIVERSAL INSTRUMENT), an astronomical instrument +similar to a theodolite, having a telescope so mounted that it can be +turned round in a plane perpendicular to the horizon, while it and the +graduated vertical circle connected can also be turned horizontally to any +point of the compass above a graduated horizontal circle. The altazimuth +can thus determine the altitude and azimuth of objects, hence the name. + +ALTDORF. See _Altorf_. + +AL'TENA, a town of Prussia, Westphalia, 40 miles N.N.E. of Cologne; it has +wire-works, rolling-mills, chain-works, manufactories of needles, pins, +thimbles, &c. Pop. 14,579. + +AL'TENBURG, a town of Germany, capital of Saxe-Altenburg, 23 miles south of +Leipzig. It has some fine streets and many handsome buildings, including a +splendid palace; it manufactures cigars, woollen yarn, gloves, hats, +musical instruments, glass, brushes, &c. Pop. 39,976. + +ALTERATIVES ([a:]l'-), medicines, as mercury, iodine, &c., which, +administered in small doses, gradually induce a change in the habit or +constitution, and imperceptibly alter disordered secretions and actions, +and restore healthy functions without producing any sensible evacuation by +perspiration, purging, or vomiting. + +ALTER EGO (Lat., 'another I'), a second self, one who represents another in +every respect. This term was formerly given, in the official style of the +Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to a substitute appointed by the king to +manage the affairs of the kingdom, with full royal power. + +[Illustration: Alternate leaves] + +ALTER'NATE, in botany, placed on opposite sides of an axis at a different +level, as leaves.--_Alternate generation_, the reproduction of young not +resembling their parents, but their grandparents, continuously, as in the +jelly-fishes, &c. See _Generations, Alternation of_. + +ALTERNATOR. See _Electricity_. + +ALTHAE'A, a genus of plants. See _Hollyhock_ and _Marsh-mallow_. + +ALTHORN, one of the instruments of the sax-horn family, the tenor sax-horn. +See _Sax-horn_. + +AL'TISCOPE, an instrument consisting of an arrangement of mirrors in a +vertical framework, by means of which a person is enabled to overlook an +object (a parapet, for instance) intervening between himself and any view +that he desires to see, the picture of the latter being reflected from a +higher to a lower mirror, where it is seen by the observer. + +AL'TITUDE, in mathematics, the perpendicular height of the vertex or apex +of a plane figure or solid above the base. In astronomy it is the vertical +height of any point or body above the horizon. It is measured or estimated +by the angle subtended between the object and the plane of the horizon, and +may be either _true_ or _apparent_. The _apparent_ altitude is that which +is obtained immediately from observation; the _true_ altitude, that which +results from correcting the apparent altitude, by making allowance for +parallax, refraction, &c. Altitude is one of the main determining +influences of local climate. Its increase has the same effect on +temperature as an increase of distance north or south of the equator. + +ALTITUDE-AND-AZIMUTH INSTRUMENT. See _Altazimuth_. + +ALTO, in music, the highest singing voice of a male adult, the lowest of a +boy or a woman, being in the latter the same as _contralto_. The alto, or +_counter-tenor_, is not a natural voice, but a development of the +_falsetto_. It is almost entirely confined to English singers, and the only +music written for it is by English composers. It is especially used in +cathedral compositions and glees. + +ALTOFTS, a town of England, West Riding of Yorkshire, on the south of the +Calder, 3 miles north-east of Wakefield, with a fourteenth-century Gothic +church, and extensive collieries adjoining. Pop. (1921), 5050 (urban +district). + +AL'TON, a town of England, in Hampshire, 16 miles north-east of Winchester, +famous for its ale. Pop. (1921), 5580. + +AL'TON, a town of the United States, in Illinois, on the Mississippi near +the mouth of the Missouri, with a state penitentiary, several mills and +manufactories, and in the neighbourhood limestone and coal. Pop. 23,783. + +AL'TONA, an important commercial city of Schleswig-Holstein, on the right +bank of the Elbe, adjoining Hamburg, with which it virtually forms one +city. It is a free port, and its commerce, both inland and foreign, is +large, being quite identified with that of Hamburg. Pop. (1919), 168,729. + +ALTOO'NA, a town of the United States, in Pennsylvania, at the eastern base +of the Alleghanies, 244 miles west of Philadelphia, with large +machine-shops and locomotive factories. Pop. (1920), 60,331. + +AL'TORF, a small town of Switzerland, capital of the canton of Uri +beautifully situated, near the Lake of Lucerne, amid gardens and orchards, +and memorable as the place where, according to legend, Tell shot the apple +from his son's head. A colossal statue of Tell now stands here. The town +possesses a beautiful church containing a remarkable organ and a picture by +Van Dyck. Pop. 3837. + +[Illustration: Alto-rilievo.--Soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, the +personal body-guard of the Emperor Augustus (in the Louvre, Paris).] + +ALTO-RILIEVO ([.a]l't[=o]-r[=e]-l[=e]-[=a]"vo), high relief, a term applied +in regard to sculptured figures to express that they stand out boldly from +the background, projecting more than half their thickness, without being +entirely detached. In mezzo-rilievo, or middle relief, the projection is +one-half, and in basso-rilievo, or bas-relief, less than one-half. +Alto-rilievo is further distinguished from mezzo-rilievo by some portion of +the figures standing usually quite free from the surface on which they are +carved, while in the latter the figures, though rounded, are not detached +in any part. + +ALTOETTING ([.a]lt-eut'ing), a famous place of pilgrimage, in Bavaria, 52 +miles E.N.E. of Munich, near the Inn, with an ancient image of the Madonna +(the Black Virgin) in a chapel dating from 696, and containing a rich +treasure in gold and precious stones; and another chapel in which Tilly was +buried. Pop. 5408. + +ALTRANST[:A]DT ([.a]lt'-r[.a]n-stet), a village of Saxony, where a treaty +was concluded between Charles XII, King of Sweden, and Augustus, Elector of +Saxony and King of Poland, 24th Sept., 1706, by which the latter resigned +the crown of Poland. + +ALT'RINGHAM, or ALTRINCHAM, a town of England, in Cheshire, 8 miles +south-west of Manchester, resorted to by invalids; large quantities of +fruit and vegetables are raised; and there are several industrial works. +Pop. 20,461. Also a parliamentary division of the county. + +AL'TRUISM, a term first employed by the French philosopher Comte, to +signify devotion to others or to humanity: the opposite of _selfishness_ or +_egoism_. It was adopted by the English positivists and applied to +sociological problems of the physical theory of organic evolution. Herbert +Spencer gives considerable space to the discussion of altruism and egoism +in his _Data of Ethics_. + +ALTST[:A]TTEN ([.a]lt'stet-n), a town of Switzerland, canton St. Gall, in +the valley of the Rhine, 10 miles south of the Lake of Constance, with +manufactures of cotton and woollen goods. Pop. 8743. + +ALTWASSER ([.a]lt'v[.a]s-[.e]r), a town of Prussia, in Silesia, 35 miles +south-west of Breslau; here are made porcelain, machinery, iron, yarn, +mirrors, &c. Pop. 17,321. + +AL'UM, a well-known crystalline, astringent substance with a sweetish +taste, a double sulphate of potassium and aluminium with water of +crystallization; formula, K_2SO_4.Al_2(SO_4)_3.24 H_2O. It crystallizes in +colourless regular octahedra. Its solution reddens vegetable blues. When +heated, its water of crystallization is driven off, and it becomes light +and spongy with slightly corrosive properties, and is used as a caustic +under the name of _burnt alum_. Alum is prepared in Great Britain at Whitby +from alum-slate--where it forms the cliffs for miles--and was once +manufactured near Glasgow from bituminous alum-shale and slate-clay, +obtained from old coal-pits. It is also prepared near Rome from alum-stone. +Common alum is strictly _potash_ alum; other two varieties are _soda_ alum +and _ammonia_ alum, both similar in properties. _Iron alum_ (pale mauve) +and _chrome alum_ (deep purple) are compounds containing iron and chromium +in place of aluminium. Alum is employed to harden tallow, to remove grease +from printers' cushions and blocks in calico manufactories, and in dyeing +as a mordant. It is also largely used in the composition of crayons, in +tannery, and in medicine (as an astringent and styptic). Wood and paper are +dipped in a solution of alum to render them less combustible. + +ALUMBAGH (_a_-l_a_m-b[:a]g'), a palace and connected buildings in +Hindustan, about 4 miles south of Lucknow. On the outbreak of the Indian +Mutiny it was occupied by the revolted sepoys, and converted into a fort. +On the 23rd Sept., 1857, it was captured by the British, and during the +following winter a British garrison, under Sir James Outram, held out +there, though repeatedly attacked by overwhelming numbers of the rebels, +till in March, 1858, it was finally relieved. Sir Henry Havelock was buried +within the grounds. + +ALU'MINA (Al_2O_3), the single oxide of the metal aluminium. As found +native it is called corundum, when crystallized ruby or sapphire, when +amorphous emery. It is next to the diamond in hardness. In combination with +silica it is one of the most widely distributed of substances, as it enters +in large quantity into the composition of granite, traps, slates, schists, +clays, loams, and other rocks. The porcelain clays and kaolins contain +about half their weight of this earth, to which they owe their most +valuable properties. It forms compounds with certain colouring matters, +which causes it to be employed in the preparation of the colours called +_lakes_ in dyeing and calico-printing. It combines with the acids and forms +numerous salts, the most important of which are the sulphate (see _Alum_) +and acetate, the latter of extensive use as a mordant. + +ALUMIN'IUM (symbol Al, atomic weight 27.1), a metal discovered in 1827, but +nowhere found native, although its oxide, alumina (which see), is +abundantly distributed. The minerals _bauxite_ and _cryolite_ are sources +of aluminium, but the chief source is the pure oxide, from which the metal +is obtained by means of a strong electric current. It is a shining white +metal, of a colour between that of silver and platinum, very light +(specific gravity, 2.56 cast, 2.67 hammered), not liable to tarnish nor +undergo oxidation in the air, very ductile and malleable, and remarkably +sonorous. It forms several useful alloys with iron and copper; one of the +latter (_aluminium gold_) much resembles gold, and is made into cheap +trinkets. Another, known as _aluminium bronze_, possesses great hardness +and tenacity. Spoons, tea and coffee pots, dish-covers, musical and +mathematical instruments, trinkets, &c., are made of aluminium. + +ALUM-ROOT, the name given in America to two plants from the remarkable +astringency of their roots, which are used for medical purposes: +_Ger[=a]nium macul[=a]tum_ and _Heuch[)e]ra americ[=a]na_ (nat. ord. +Saxifragaceae). + +ALUM-SLATE, or ALUM-SCHIST, a slaty rock from which much alum is prepared; +colour greyish, bluish, or iron-black; often possessed of a glossy or +shining lustre; chiefly composed of clay (silicate of alumina), with +variable proportions of sulphide of iron (iron-pyrites), lime, bitumen, and +magnesia. + +ALUM-STONE. See _Alunite_. + +ALUNITE, a mineral sulphate of aluminium and potassium, greyish or +yellowish white, from which alum is prepared in Sicily by roasting and +lixiviation. It is regarded as a possible source of potassium for +agriculture and also of aluminium. A considerable vein occurs in Utah. + +ALUN'NO, Niccolo (real name NICCOLO DE LIBERATORE), an Italian painter of +the fifteenth century, the founder of the Umbrian School, born in Foligno +about 1430, died 1502. Vasari, interpreting wrongly the passage "Nicholaus +alumnus Fulginiae", gave him the name of Alunno. + +AL'VA, a town of Scotland, in Clackmannanshire, 2-1/2 miles north of Alloa, +near the River Devon, at the foot of the Ochils. It manufactures woollen +shawls, tweeds, yarn, &c. Pop. (1921), 4107. + +AL'VA, or AL'BA, Ferdinand Alvarez, Duke of, Spanish statesman and general +under Charles V and Philip II, was born in 1508; early embraced a military +career, and fought in the wars of Charles V in France, Italy, Africa, +Hungary, and Germany. He is more especially remembered for his bloody and +tyrannical government of the Netherlands (1567-73), which had revolted, and +which he was commissioned by Philip II to reduce to entire subjection to +Spain. Among his first proceedings was to establish the 'Council of Blood', +a tribunal which condemned, without discrimination, all whose opinions were +suspected, and whose riches were coveted. The present and absent, the +living and the dead, were subjected to trial and their property +confiscated. Many merchants and mechanics emigrated to England; people by +hundreds of thousands abandoned their country. The Counts of Egmont and +Horn, and other men of rank, were executed, and William and Louis of Orange +had to save themselves in Germany. The most oppressive taxes were imposed, +and trade was brought completely to a standstill. As a reward for his +services to the faith the Pope presented him with a consecrated hat and +sword, a distinction previously conferred only on princes. Resistance was +only quelled for a time, and soon the provinces of Holland and Zealand +revolted against his tyranny. A fleet which was fitted out at his command +was annihilated, and he was everywhere met with insuperable courage. +Hopeless of finally subduing the country he asked to be recalled, and +accordingly, in Dec., 1573, Alva left the country, in which, as he himself +boasted, he had executed 18,000 men. He was received with distinction in +Madrid, but did not long enjoy his former credit. He had the honour, +however, before his death (which took place in 1582) of reducing all +Portugal to subjection to his sovereign. It is said of him that during +sixty years of warfare he never lost a battle and was never taken by +surprise. + +ALVARADO ([.a]l-v[.a]-r[:a]'d[=o]), Pedro de, one of the Spanish +'conquistadores', was born towards the end of the fifteenth century, and +died in 1541. Having crossed the Atlantic, he was associated (1519) with +Cortez in his expedition to conquer Mexico; and was entrusted with +important operations. In July, 1520, during the disastrous retreat from the +capital after the death of Montezuma, the perilous command of the +rear-guard was assigned to Alvarado. On his return to Spain he was received +with honour by Charles V, who made him governor of Guatemala, which he had +himself conquered. To this was subsequently added Honduras. He continued to +add to the Spanish dominions in America till his death. + +ALVAREZ ([.a]l-v[.a]-reth'), Don Jose, a Spanish sculptor, born 1768, died +1827. His works are characterized by truth to nature, dignity, and feeling, +one of the chief representing a scene in the defence of Saragossa. The +Museo del Prado, in Madrid, contains some of his finest work. + +ALVE'OLUS, one of the sockets in which the teeth of mammals are fixed. +Hence _alveolar arches_, the parts of the jaws containing these sockets. + +ALVERSTOKE. See _Gosport_. + +ALVERSTONE, Richard Everard Webster, first Viscount, eminent English +lawyer, born in 1842, died in 1915. Educated at King's College School, the +Charterhouse, and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was called to the bar in +1868, and made Q.C. in 1878. He was Member of Parliament for Launceston for +a short time in 1885, and from that year to 1900 represented the Isle of +Wight. He was Attorney-General from 1885-6, 1886-92, and 1895-1900, being +then made Lord Chief Justice and elevated to the peerage: he had been +created a baronet in 1899. He represented Britain in the arbitration with +the United States regarding the Behring Sea (1893), in the affair of the +Venezuelan and Guiana boundary (1898-9), and was one of three British +commissioners who, with three from the United States, settled the Canada +and Alaska boundary in 1903. Upon retiring in 1913 he was created viscount. +His book _Recollections of Bar and Bench_ was published in 1914. + +ALWAR (_a_l-w_a_r'), a State of north-western Hindustan, in Rajputana; +area, 3141 sq. miles; surface generally elevated and rugged, and much of it +of an arid description, though water is generally found on the plains by +digging a little beneath the surface, and the means of irrigation being +thus provided, the soil, though sandy, is highly productive. This +semi-independent State has as its ruler a rajah with a revenue of L232,000; +military force, about 5000 infantry and 2000 cavalry. Pop. +791,688.--_Alwar_, the capital, is situated at the base of a rocky hill +crowned by a fort, 80 miles S.S.W. of Delhi. It is surrounded by a moat and +rampart, and is poorly built, but has fine surroundings; it contains the +rajah's palace and a few other good buildings. Pop. 41,305. + +ALYS'SUM (_A. saxatile_, L.), a native of Crete, a genus of cruciferous +plants, several species of which are cultivated on account of their white +or yellow coloured flowers; madwort. + +ALYTH ([=a]'lith), a town of Scotland, Perthshire, near the eastern +boundary, with linen and jute manufactures. Pop. (1921), 1710. + +AMAD'AVAT (_Estrilda amand[=a]va_), a small Indian singing bird allied to +the finches and buntings; the female is olive-brown, and the male, in +summer, largely crimson. + +AMADE'US, the name of several counts of Savoy. The first was the son of +Humbert I, and succeeded him in 1048, dying about 1078; others who have +occupied an important place in history are the following:--AMADEUS V, 'the +Great', succeeded in 1285; gained great honour in defending Rhodes against +the Turks; increased his possessions by marriage and war; was made a prince +of the empire; died in 1323.--AMADEUS VIII succeeded his father, Amadeus +VII, in 1391, and had his title raised to that of duke by the Emperor +Sigismund. He was chosen regent of Piedmont; but after this elevation +retired from his throne and family into a religious house. He now aspired +to the papacy, and was chosen by the Council of Basel (1439), becoming +Pope, or rather anti-Pope, under the name of Felix V, though he had never +taken holy orders. He was recognized as Pope by only a few princes, and +resigned in 1449, being the last of the anti-Popes. He died in 1451. + +AMADE'US, Duke of Aosta, for a short time King of Spain, second son of +Victor Emanuel of Italy, and brother of Humbert I, King of Italy. He was +born in 1845, and, thanks to the influence of Marshals Prim and Serrano, +was chosen by the Cortes King of Spain in 1870, Queen Isabella having had +to leave the country in 1868. He made his entrance into Madrid as king on +2nd Jan., 1871, and took the oath to the constitution. His position was far +from comfortable, however, and, having little hope of becoming acceptable +to all parties, he abdicated in 1873 (11th Feb.). He died in 1890. + +AMADE'US, Lake, a large salt lake or salt swamp in South Australia, and +nearly in the centre of Australia. It was discovered by Giles in 1872, and +is seldom visited, being in a dreary, arid region. + +AM'ADIS, a name belonging to a number of heroes in the romances of +chivalry, Amadis de Gaul being the greatest among them, and represented as +the progenitor of the whole. The Spanish series of Amadis romances is the +oldest. It is comprised in fourteen books, of which the first four narrate +the adventures of Amadis de Gaul, this portion of the series having +originated about the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth +century, and the subsequent books being added by various hands. An abridged +English translation of _Amadis of Gaul_ was published by Southey in 1803. + +AMADOU (am'a-d[:o]), a name of several fungi, genus Polyp[)o]rus, of a +leathery appearance, growing on trees. See _German Tinder_. + +AMAGER ([.a]m'a-ger), a small Danish island in the Sound, opposite +Copenhagen, part of which is situated on it. Rural pop. 25,000. + +AMAKO'SA, one of the Kaffir tribes of S. Africa. + +AMALASUN'THA, daughter of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, and after his +death regent of Italy for her son Athalarich. Athalarich died in 534, after +which Amalasuntha married her cousin Theodahad, but retained the power in +her own hands. Mainly on this account she was imprisoned and strangled in +her bath by order of her second husband, A.D. 535. + +AMAL'EKITES, an ancient tribe occupying the peninsula between Egypt and +Palestine, named after a grandson of Esau. They were denounced by Moses for +their hostility to the Israelites during their journey through the +wilderness, and they seem to have been all but exterminated by Saul and +David. The Kenites seem to have been a branch of the Amalekites. + +AMAL'FI, a seaport in Southern Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, 23 miles from +Naples, the seat of an archbishop. In the early part of the Middle Ages it +was a place of great commercial importance, and it long enjoyed a +republican constitution of its own. Quarrels with its neighbours, +encroachments of the sea, and other causes led to its downfall, but it is +still much visited by tourists. The road from Salerno to Amalfi is a +magnificent carriage-way, partly hewn in the cliffs, and affords charming +views. Amalfi is surrounded by rocky heights, and its harbour was choked up +by a landslip in 1900. Here arose the _Amalfian Code_ of maritime law, +composed in 1010 and containing 66 articles, which once had great influence +in the maritime affairs of the Mediterranean trading peoples. The MS. was +discovered by the Prince of Andorra, in 1844, in the imperial library at +Vienna. Pop. 7472. + +AMAL'GAM, a name applied to the alloys of mercury with the other metals. +One of them is the amalgam of mercury with tin, which is used to silver +looking-glasses. Mercury unites very readily with gold and silver at +ordinary temperatures, and advantage is taken of this to separate them from +their ores, the process being called _amalgamation_. The mercury dissolves +and combines with the precious metal and separates it from the waste +matters, and is itself easily driven off by heat. An amalgam made of +cadmium and copper is frequently used in dentistry, and an amalgam of zinc +and tin is used for the rubbers of frictional electric machines. + +[Illustration: Amanita.--Two forms of fly-agaric] + +AMANI'TA, a genus of fungi, one species of which, _A. musc[=a]ria_, or +fly-agaric, is extremely poisonous. + +AMA'NUS, a branch of the Taurus Mountains in Asia Minor. + +AMAPALA ([.a]-m[.a]-p[:a]'l[.a]), a seaport of Central America, State of +Honduras, on a small island. + +AMARANTHA'CEAE, the amaranths, a nat. ord. of apetalous plants, chiefly +found in tropical countries, where they are often troublesome weeds. They +are remarkable for the white or sometimes reddish scales of which their +flowers are composed. Amaranthus, the typical genus, comprises _A. +caud[=a]tus_, or love-lies-bleeding, a common plant in gardens, with +pendulous racemes of crimson flowers; and _A. hypochondri[)a]cus_, or +prince's feather. The blossoms keep their bloom after being plucked and +dried (hence the name: Gr. _a_, not, and _marain[=o]_, to wither). + +AMARAPURA (_a_-m_a_-r_a_-p[:o]'r_a_), a deserted city, once the capital of +the Burmese Empire, on the left bank of the Irawadi, quite close to +Mandalay. In 1810, when the city had about 175,000 inhabitants, it was +completely destroyed by fire; in 1839 it was visited by a destructive +earthquake. In 1857 the seat of government was removed to Mandalay. Pop. +6500. + +AMARYLLIDA'CEAE, an order of monocotyledonous plants, generally bulbous, +occasionally with a tall, cylindrical, woody stem (as in Agave); with a +highly-coloured flower, six stamens, and an inferior three-celled ovary; +natives of Europe and most of the warmer parts of the world. The order +includes the snowdrop, the snow-flake, the daffodil, the belladonna-lily +(belonging to the typical genus Amaryllis), the so-called Guernsey-lily +(probably a native of Japan), the Brunsvigias, the blood-flowers +(Haemanthus) of the Cape of Good Hope, different species of Narcissus, +Agave (American aloe), &c. Many are highly prized in gardens and +hot-houses; the bulbs of some are extremely poisonous. + +AMASIA ([.a]-m[.a]-s[=e]'[.a]), a town in the north of Asia Minor, on the +Irmak, 60 miles from the Black Sea, surmounted by a rocky height in which +is a ruined fortress; has numerous mosques, richly-endowed Mahommedan +schools, and a trade in wine, silk, &c. Amasia was a residence of the +ancient kings of Pontus. A few miles from Amasia, on the road leading to +Zilleh, is the famous battle-field where Caesar defeated Pharnaces, King of +Pontus, and whence he sent his famous message to Rome: _Veni, vidi, vici_. +Pop. 30,000. + +AMA'SIS, King of Egypt from 569 to 526 B.C., obtained the throne by +rebelling against his predecessor and benefactor Apries, and is chiefly +known from his friendship for the Greeks, and his wise government of the +kingdom, which, under him, was in the most prosperous condition. He was +succeeded by his son Psammetik. + +AMATI ([.a]-m[:a]'t[=e]), a family, almost a dynasty, of Cremona who +manufactured violins in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Andrea +(about 1540-1600) was the founder of the business, which was carried on by +his sons Geronimo and Antonio, and by Niccolo the son of Geronimo. The +first instrument signed Amati bears the date 1546. Most of the violins made +by them are of comparatively small size and flat model, and the tone +produced by the fourth or G string is somewhat thin and sharp. Many of +Niccolo Amati's violins are, however, of a larger size and have all the +fulness and intensity of tone characteristic of those manufactured by +Stradivario and Guarnerio. + +AMATIT'LAN, a town in Central America, State of Guatemala, about 15 miles +south of the city of Guatemala, a busy modern town, the inhabitants of +which are actively engaged in the cochineal trade. There is a small lake of +the same name close to the town. Pop. 12,000. + +AMAURO'SIS (Gr. _amauros_, dark), a species of blindness, formerly called +_gutta serena_ (the 'drop serene', as Milton, whose blindness was of this +sort, called it), caused by disease of the nerves of vision. The most +frequent causes are a long-continued direction of the eye on minute +objects, long exposure to a bright light, to the fire of a forge, to snow, +or irritating gases, overfulness of blood, disease of the brain, &c. If +taken in time it may be cured or mitigated; but, unless caused by loss of +blood, by lead-poisoning, or debility, it is usually incurable. + +AMAXICHI ([.a]-m[.a]ks'[=e]-h[=e]), the chief town and seaport of Santa +Maura (Leukadia), one of the Ionian Isles, the seat of a Greek bishop; +manufactures cotton and leather. Pop. 5500. + +AM'AZON, or AM'AZONS, a river of South America, the largest in the world, +formed by a great number of sources which rise in the Andes, the two head +branches being the Tunguragua or Maranon and the Ucayali, both rising in +Peru, the former from Lake Lauricocha, in lat. 10deg 29' S., the latter +formed by the Apurimac and Urubamba, the headwaters of which are between +lat. 14deg and 16deg S.; general course north of east; length, including +windings, between 3000 and 4000 miles; area of drainage basin, 2,500,000 +sq. miles. It enters the Atlantic under the equator by a mouth 200 miles +wide, divided into two principal and several smaller arms by the large +island Marajo and a number of smaller islands. In its upper course +navigation is interrupted by rapids, but from its mouth upwards for a +distance of 3300 miles (mostly in Brazil) there is no obstruction. It +receives the waters of about 200 tributaries, 100 of which are navigable +and seventeen of these 1000 to 2300 miles in length; northern tributaries: +Santiago, Morona, Pastaca, Tigre, Napo, Putumayo, Japura, Rio Negro (the +Cassiquiare connects this stream with the Orinoco), &c.; southern: +Huallaga, Ucayali, Javari, Jutay, Jurua, Coary, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, +Xingu, &c. At Tabatinga, where it enters Brazilian territory, the breadth +is 1-1/2 miles; below the mouth of the Madeira it is 3 miles wide, and +where there are islands often as much as 7; from the sea to the Rio Negro, +750 miles in a straight line, the depth is nowhere less than 30 fathoms; up +to the junction of the Ucayale there is depth sufficient for the largest +vessels. The Amazonian water system affords some 50,000 miles of river +suitable for navigation. The rapidity of the river is considerable, +especially during the rainy season (Jan. to June), when it is subject to +floods; but there is no great fall in its course. The tides reach up as far +as 400 miles from its mouth. The singular phenomenon of the _bore_, or as +it is called on the Amazon the _pororoca_, occurs at the mouth of the river +at spring-tides on a grand scale. The river swarms with alligators, +turtles, and a great variety of fish. The country through which it flows is +extremely fertile, and is mostly covered with immense forests; it must at +some future time support a numerous population, and be the theatre of a +busy commerce. Steamers and other craft ply on the river, the chief centre +of trade being Para, at its mouth. The Amazon was discovered by Vicente +Yanez Pinzon in 1500, but the stream was not navigated by any European till +1541, when Francis Orellana descended it. Orellana stated that he found on +its banks a nation of armed women, and this circumstance gave the name to +the river. + +AMAZ'ONAS, the largest state of Brazil, traversed by the Amazon and its +tributaries; area, 731,000 sq. miles. Pop. 459,309. + +AM'AZONS, according to an ancient Greek tradition, the name of a community +of women, who permitted no men to reside among them, fought under the +conduct of a queen, and long constituted a formidable State. They were said +to burn off the right breast that it might not impede them in the use of +the bow--a legend that arose from the Greeks supposing the name was from +_a_, not, _mazos_, breast. It is probably from _a_, together, and _mazos_, +breast, the name meaning therefore sisters. Several nations of Amazons are +mentioned, the most famous being those who dwelt in Pontus, who built +Ephesus and other cities. Their queen, Hippolyta, was vanquished by +Hercules, who took from her the girdle of Mars. They attacked Attica in the +time of Theseus. They came to the assistance of Troy under their queen, +Penthesil[=e]a, who was slain by Achilles. + +AMAZU'LU, a branch of the Zulu Kaffir race. See _Zulus_. + +AMBA'LA, or UMBALL'A, a town of India, in the Punjab, in an open plain 3 +miles from the Ghaggar, consisting of an old and a new portion, with a +flourishing trade in grain and other commodities. The military cantonment +is several miles distant. Total pop. 80,131. + +AMBALE'MA, a town of S. America, Colombia, on the Magdalena; the centre of +an important tobacco district. Pop. 6285. + +AM'BAREE, a fibre similar to jute largely used in India, obtained from +_Hibiscus cannab[=i]nus_. + +AMBARVALIA, an ancient Roman festival held annually in May, and celebrated +by the Arval Brothers (Fratres Arvales). Its object was to preserve the +growing crops from harm of any kind. + +AMBAS'SADOR, a minister of the highest rank, employed by one prince or +State at the Court of another to manage the public concerns, or support the +interests of his own prince or State, and representing the power and +dignity of his sovereign or State. Ambassadors are _ordinary_ when they +reside permanently at a foreign Court, or _extraordinary_ when they are +sent on a special occasion. When _ambassadors extraordinary_ have full +powers, as of concluding peace, making treaties, and the like, they are +called _plenipotentiaries_. Ambassadors are often called simply +_ministers_. _Envoys_ are ministers employed on special occasions, and are +of less dignity than ambassadors. The term _ambassador_, however, is also +used in a more general sense for any diplomatic agent or minister. An +ambassador and his suite are not amenable to the laws of the country in +which they are residing. See _Diplomacy_. + +AM'BATCH (_Hermini[=e]ra elaphrox[)y]lon_), a thorny leguminous shrub with +yellow flowers growing in the shallows of the Upper Nile and other rivers +of tropical Africa, 15 to 20 feet high. Its wood is extremely light and +spongy, and hence is made into floats or rafts. A raft capable of bearing +eight persons can easily be carried by one. + +AMBA'TO, a town of Ecuador, on the side of Chimborazo, 70 miles south of +Quito. Pop. 12,000. + +AM'BER, a semi-mineral substance of resinous composition, a sort of fossil +resin, the produce of extinct Coniferae, used for the manufacture of +ornamental objects. It is usually of yellow or reddish-brown colour; +brittle; yields easily to the knife; is translucent, and possessed of a +resinous lustre. Specific gravity, 1.065. It burns with a yellow flame, +emitting a pungent aromatic smoke, and leaving a light carbonaceous +residue, which is employed as the basis of the finest black varnishes. By +friction it becomes strongly electric. It is found in masses from the size +of coarse sand to that of a man's head, and occurs in beds of bituminous +wood situated upon the shores of the Baltic and Adriatic Seas; also in +Poland, France, Italy, and Denmark. It is often washed up on the Prussian +shores of the Baltic, and is also obtained by fishing for it with nets. +Sometimes it is found on the east coast of Britain, in gravel pits round +London, also in the United States. + +AM'BERG, a town of South Germany, in Bavaria, on the Vils, well built, with +a Gothic church of the fifteenth century, royal palace, town house, &c.; it +manufactures iron-wares, stone-ware, tobacco, beer, vinegar, and arms. Pop. +25,242. + +AM'BERGRIS, a substance derived from the intestines of the sperm-whale, and +found floating or on the shore; yellowish or blackish white; very light; +melts at 140deg, and is entirely dissipated on red-hot coals; is soluble in +ether, volatile oils, and partially in alcohol, and is chiefly composed of +a peculiar fatty, substance. Its odour is very agreeable, and hence it is +used as a perfume. + +AMBLE, a town (urban district) of England, Northumberland, near the mouth +of the River Coquet, with a harbour at which coal is exported, fishing also +being carried on. Pop. 4851. + +AMBLESIDE, an old market-town of England, Westmorland, near the head of +Windermere, a great tourist centre. Pop. (1921), 2878. + +AMBLETEUSE ([.a][n.]-bl-t_eu_z), a small seaport of France, 6 miles from +Boulogne. After the capture of Boulogne in 1544 the English began to +construct a military harbour here under the name of New Haven, but had to +abandon the enterprise in 1554. Here James II landed on Christmas Day, +1688, after his flight from England; and from its harbour Napoleon I +prepared to dispatch a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats for the invasion of +Britain. + +AMBLYOP'SIS, a genus of blind fishes, containing only one species, _A. +spelaeus_, found in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. + +AM'BLYOPY, dullness or obscurity of eyesight without any apparent defect in +the organs; the first stage of amaurosis. + +AM'BO, or AM'BON, in early Christian churches a kind of raised desk or +pulpit, sometimes richly ornamented, from which certain parts of the +service were read, or discourses delivered, there being sometimes two in +one church. Some of the most ancient of these pulpits (fourth century) are +at Salonica and at Ravenna (fifth and sixth centuries). The ambo +constructed by Justinian in the Church of St. Sophia was destroyed by an +earthquake. + +AMBOINA. See _Amboyna_. + +AMBOISE ([.a][n.]-bw[:a]z), a town of France, department Indre-et-Loire, 12 +miles east of Tours, on the Loire, with an antique castle, the residence of +several French kings, and manufactures of files and rasps. Near the Chateau +d'Amboise is that of Cloux, which was given by Francis I to Leonardo da +Vinci, and where the artist died in 1519. Pop. 4660. + +AMBOY'NA, AMBOINA, or APON, one of the Molucca Islands in the Indian +Archipelago, close to the large island of Ceram; area, about 360 sq. miles. +Here is the seat of government of the Dutch residency or province of +Amboyna, which includes also Ceram, Buru, &c. Its surface is generally +hilly or mountainous, its general aspect beautiful, and its climate on the +whole salubrious, but frequently visited by earthquakes. It affords a +variety of useful trees, including the coco-nut and sago palms. Cloves and +nutmegs are the staple productions. The soil in the valleys and along the +shores is very fertile, but a large portion remains uncultivated. The +natives are mostly of Malayan race. The capital, also called _Amboyna_, is +situated on the Bay of Amboyna, and is well built and defended by a +citadel. The streets are planted on each side with rows of fruit-trees. It +is a free port. Pop. 10,000. In 1607 Amboyna and the other Moluccas were +taken by the Dutch from the Portuguese, and it was for some years the seat +of government of the Dutch East Indies. Trade with the Moluccas was secured +to the British by treaty in 1619, but the British establishment was +destroyed and several persons massacred in 1623, an outrage for which no +satisfaction was obtained till Cromwell obtained it in 1654. Amboyna was +taken by the British in 1796 and 1810, but each time restored to the Dutch. +Pop. about 40,000. The Dutch residency of Amboyna, including the Banda +group, Ceram, Buru, and other islands, has an area of 19,870 sq. miles and +a population of about 300,000. + +AMBOYNA WOOD, a beautiful curled orange or brownish coloured wood brought +from the Moluccas, yielded by _Pterospermum indicum_. + +AMBRA'CIA. See _Arta_. + +AMBRINE, a preparation of paraffin, resin, and wax, used as a remedy in the +treatment of burns and scalds and in rheumatic disorders. It was discovered +by Barthe de Sandford, a French doctor, in 1904. + +AM'BROSE, Saint, a celebrated father of the Church; born in A.D. 333 or +334, probably at Treves, where his father was prefect; died in 397. He was +educated at Rome, studied law, practised as a pleader at Milan, and in 369 +was appointed governor of Liguria and Aemilia (North Italy). His kindness +and wisdom gained him the esteem and love of the people, and in 374 he was +unanimously called to the bishopric of Milan, though not yet baptized. For +a time he refused to accept this dignity, but he had to give way, and at +once ranged himself against the Arians. In his struggles against the Arian +heresy he was opposed by Justina, mother of Valentinian II, and for a time +by the young emperor himself, together with the courtiers and the Gothic +troops. Backed by the people of Milan, however, he felt strong enough to +deny the Arians the use of a single church in the city, although Justina, +in her son's name, demanded that two should be given up. He had also to +carry on a war with paganism, Symmachus, the prefect of the city, an +eloquent orator, having endeavoured to restore the worship of heathen +deities. In 390, on account of the ruthless massacres at Thessalonica +ordered by the emperor Theodosius, he refused him entrance into the church +of Milan for eight months. The later years of his life were devoted to the +more immediate care of his see. His writings, which are numerous, show that +his theological knowledge extended little beyond an acquaintance with the +works of the Greek fathers. He wrote Latin hymns, but the _Te Deum +Laudamus_, which has been ascribed to him, was written a century later. He +introduced the _Ambrosian Chant_, a mode of singing more monotonous than +the Gregorian, which superseded it. He also compiled a form of ritual known +by his name. The best edition of his works is that published in Paris, +1686-90, in 2 vols. fol., and reissued at Lyons in 1853. + +AMBRO'SIA, in Greek mythology the food of the gods, as nectar was their +drink. + +AMBROSIAN CHANT. See _Ambrose_. + +AMBROSIAN LIBRARY, a public library in Milan founded by the cardinal +archbishop Federigo Borromeo, a relation of St. Charles Borromeo, who sent +scholars, among them Antonio Olgiati, all over Europe to acquire books. The +library was opened in 1609, now containing 230,000 printed books and many +MSS., among the latter being the famous collection of Pinelli. It was named +in honour of St. Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan. + +AM'BRY, a niche or recess in the wall of ancient churches near the altar, +fitted with a door and used for keeping the sacred utensils, &c. + +AMBULA'CRAL SYSTEM, the locomotive apparatus of the Echinodermata +(sea-urchins, star-fishes, &c.), the most important feature of which is the +protrusible tube-feet that the animal can at will dilate with water and +thus move forward. + +AM'BULANCE (FIELD), a military medical unit attached to an army in the +field for the purpose of providing medical and surgical first-aid to sick +and wounded immediately behind the fighting-line. The term field-ambulance +was adopted in the British service in 1905-6. The chief and most important +duty of a field-ambulance is to relieve fighting troops of their sick and +wounded and transfer them to the rear to the collecting-hospitals, known as +Casualty Clearing Stations, situated at the head of the line of +communications to the army's base. Three field-ambulances are attached to +each division in the field, one to each brigade, and their officers and men +are divided into bearer and nursing sections and equipped with horse or +mule and motor transport for wounded and sick. In the East sick and wounded +are often carried in litters on camel-back, two of the cacolets being +balanced against each other. A medical ambulance is theoretically able to +undertake any hospital work, but in practice it confines itself when in +action with its division to clearing the front line, and when at rest to +treating the minor maladies such as lice, scabies, and slight illnesses +which do not require much time or equipment. The medical and surgical +outfit of an ambulance is carried in panniers and is usually in excess of +its requirements. The word ambulance is often used to designate the motors +or other vehicles employed by military or civil authorities in carrying the +sick and wounded.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. M. Bird, _The Errand of Mercy: a +History of Ambulance Work upon the Battle-field_; G. H. Painton, _The Field +Ambulance Guide_. + +AMELAN'CHIER (-k[=e]-[.e]r), a genus of small trees natives of Europe and +N. America, allied to the medlar. _A. vulg[=a]ris_, long cultivated in +English gardens, has showy white flowers; _A. Botry[=a]pium_ (grape-pear) +and _A. ov[=a]lis_, American species, yield pleasant fruits. + +AMELAND ([:a]'me-l[.a]nt), an island off the north coast of Holland, 13 +miles long and 3 broad; flat; inhabitants (about 2000 in number) chiefly +engaged in fishing and agriculture. + +AMELIE-LES-BAINS ([.a]-m[=a]-l[=e]-l[=a]-ba[n.]), a village of France, +department Pyrenees-Orientales, frequented as a winter residence for +invalids, and for its warm sulphureous springs. The place was known to the +Romans, as it has been proved by the discovery of Roman medals there. + +AMEN ([=a]-men'), a Hebrew word, signifying 'verily', 'truly', transferred +from the religious language of the Jews to that of the Christians, and used +at the end of prayers as equivalent to 'so be it', 'may this be granted'. + +AMEND'MENT, a proposal brought forward in a meeting of some public or other +body, either in order to get an alteration introduced into some proposal +already before the meeting, or entirely to overturn such proposal. In +Parliament an amendment denotes an alteration made in the original draft of +a Bill whilst it is passing through the houses. Amendments may be made so +as totally to alter the nature of the proposition; and this is a way of +getting rid of a proposition, by making it bear a sense different from what +was intended by the movers, who are thus compelled to abandon it. + +AMENO'PHIS (or AMENHOTEP) III, a king of ancient Egypt about 1500 B.C.; +warred successfully against Syrians and Ethiopians; built magnificent +temples and palaces at Thebes, where the so-called Memnon statue is a +statue of this king. He was the only Egyptian king deified during his +lifetime. + +AMENORRHOE'A, absence or suspension of menstruation. The former may arise +from general debility or from defective development, the latter from +exposure to cold, from attacks of fever or other ailment, violent +excitement, &c. + +AMENTA'CEAE, an order of plants having their flowers arranged in amenta or +catkins; now broken up into several orders, the chief of which are +Betulaceae (the birch), Salicaceae (the willow), Fagaceae (the beech), +Juglandaceae (the walnut), and Myricaceae (bog-myrtle). + +AMEN'TIA, imbecility from birth, especially when extreme; idiocy. + +[Illustration: Amentum +Hazel (_Corylus Avellana_) showing Catkins and Nuts.] + +AMEN'TUM, in botany, that kind of inflorescence which is commonly known as +a catkin (as in the birch or willow), consisting of unisexual apetalous +flowers in the axil of scales or bracts. + +AMER'ICA, or the NEW WORLD, the largest of the great divisions of the globe +except Asia, is washed on the west by the Pacific, on the east by the +Atlantic, on the north by the Arctic Ocean, while on the south it tapers to +a point. On the north-west it approaches within about 50 miles of Asia, +while on the north-east the island of Greenland approaches within 370 miles +of the European island Iceland; but in the south the distance between the +American mainland and Europe or Africa is very great. Extreme points of the +continent--north, Boothia Felix, at the Strait of Bellot, lat. 72deg N.; +south, Cape Horn, lat. 56deg S.; west, Cape Prince of Wales, long. 168deg +W.; east, Point de Guia, long. 35deg W. America as a whole forms the two +triangular continents of North and South America, united by the narrow +Isthmus of Panama, and having an entire length of about 10,000 miles; a +maximum breadth (in North America) of 3500 miles; a coast-line of 44,000 +miles; and a total area, including the islands, of over 16,000,000, of +which N. America contains about 8,300,000 sq. miles. South America is more +compact in form than N. America, in this respect resembling Africa, while +N. America more resembles Europe. Between the two on the east side is the +great basin which comprises the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the +West India Islands. Like Europe also N. America possesses numerous islands, +while those of S. America are less important and confined almost to the +southern extremity. + +Three-fourths of the area of America is comparatively flat, and this +portion of the surface is bounded on the west by lofty mountain systems +which stretch continuously from north to south between the extremities of +the continent, generally at no great distance from the west shore. In North +America the Rocky Mountains, a broad series of masses partly consisting of +plateaux, form the most important portion of the elevated surface, being +continued southward in the mountains and tableland of Mexico and the ranges +of Central America. Separated by depressions from the Rocky Mountains +proper, and running close to and parallel with the western coast, are +several lofty ranges (Sierra Nevada, Cascade Mountains, &c.). Near the +eastern coast, and forming an isolated mass, are the Appalachians, a system +of much inferior magnitude. The loftiest mountains in N. America are +McKinley (20,470 feet), in Alaska; Logan (19,514 feet), in N. W. Canada; +and Popocatepetl (18,000 feet). The depression of the Isthmus of Panama +(about 260 feet) forms a natural separation between the systems of the +north and the south. In S. America the Andes form a system of greater +elevation but less breadth than the Rocky Mountains, and consist of a +series of ranges (_cordilleras_) closely following the line of the west +coast from the Isthmus of Panama to Cape Horn. The highest summits are +Aconcagua (23,080 feet), Sorata or Illampu (21,484), and Sahama (21,054). +Volcanoes are numerous. Isolated mountain groups of minor importance are +the highlands of Venezuela and of Brazil, the latter near the eastern +coast, reaching a height of 10,000 feet. + +The fertile lowlands which lie to the east of the Rocky Mountains and the +Andes form a depression extending through both continents from the northern +to the southern oceans. They have somewhat different features and different +names in different portions; in N. America are _prairies_ and _savannahs_, +in S. America _llanos_, _selvas_, and _pampas_. + +Through these low grounds flow the numerous great rivers which form so +characteristic a feature of America. The principal are the Mackenzie, +Coppermine, and Great Fish Rivers, entering the Northern Ocean; the +Churchill, Nelson, Severn, and Albany, entering Hudson's Bay; the St. +Lawrence, entering the Atlantic; Mississippi and Rio del Norte, entering +the Gulf of Mexico (all these being in N. America); the Magdalena, Orinoco, +Amazon, Paranahiba, Rio de la Plata, Colorado, and Rio Negro, entering the +Atlantic (all in S. America); and the Yukon, Fraser, Colombia, San Joaquin, +Sacramento, and Colorado, entering the Pacific. The rivers which flow into +the Pacific, however, owing to the fact that the great backbone of the +continent, the Rocky Mountains and the Andes, lies so near the west coast, +are of comparatively little importance, in S. America being all quite +small. Sometimes rivers traversing the same plains, and nearly on the same +levels, open communications with each other, a remarkable instance being +the Cassiquiari in S. America, which, branching off from the Rio Negro and +joining the Orinoco, forms a kind of natural canal, uniting the basins of +the Orinoco and the Amazon. The Amazon or Maranon in S. America, the +largest river in the world, has a course of about 3500 miles, and a basin +of 2,300,000 sq. miles; the Mississippi-Missouri, the largest river of +North America, runs a longer course than the Amazon, but the area of its +basin is not nearly so great. North America has the most extensive group of +lakes in the world--Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, +which through the St. Lawrence send their drainage to the Atlantic. Thus by +means of lakes and rivers the interior of both N. and S. America is opened +up and made accessible. + +In regard to climate N. America naturally differs very much from S. +America, and has more resemblance to the continents of Europe and Asia +(regarded as a whole). In N. America, as in the older continent, the +eastern parts are colder than the western, and hence the towns on the +Atlantic coast have a winter temperature about 10deg lower than those in +corresponding latitudes of Europe. The winter temperature of the greater +part of N. America is indeed severe, though the intense cold is less felt +on account of the dryness of the air. There is no regular season of +rainfall unless in the south. Although two-thirds of S. America lies within +the tropics the heat is not so great as might be expected, owing to the +prevailing winds, the influences of the Andes, and other causes. The +highest temperature experienced is probably not more than 100deg in the +shade; at Rio de Janeiro the mean is about 74deg, at Lima 72deg. Over a +great part of S. America there is a wet and a dry season, varying in +different regions; on the upper Amazon the rains last for ten months, being +caused by the prevailing easterly winds bringing moisture from the +Atlantic, which is condensed on the eastern slopes of the Andes. In each of +the Americas there is a region in which little or no rain falls; in N. +America it extends over a part of the United States and Northern Mexico, in +S. America over a part of the coast region of Peru and Chile. + +America is rich in valuable minerals. It has supplied the world with +immense quantities of gold and silver, which it still yields in no small +amount, especially in the United States. It possesses inexhaustible stores +of coal (United States), with iron, copper, lead, tin, mercury, &c. +Petroleum may be called one of its specialities, its petroleum wells having +caused whole towns to spring into existence. Diamonds and other precious +stones are found. + +As regards vegetation America may be called a region of forests and +verdure, vast tracts being covered by the grassy prairies, llanos, and +pampas where the forests fail. In N. America the forests have been largely +made use of by man; in S. America vast areas are covered with forests, +which as yet are traversed only by the uncivilized Indian. In the north is +the region of pines and firs; farther south come the deciduous trees, as +the oak, beech, maple, elm, chestnut, &c. Then follow the evergreen forests +of the tropical regions. The useful timber trees are very numerous; among +the most characteristic of America are mahogany and other ornamental woods, +and various dyewoods. In the tropical parts are numerous palms, cacti in +great variety, and various species of the agave or American aloe. In the +virgin forests of S. America the trees are often bound together into an +impenetrable mass of vegetation by various kinds of climbing and twining +plants. Among useful plants belonging to the American continent are maize, +the potato, cacao, tobacco, cinchona, vanilla, Paraguay tea, &c. The most +important plants introduced are wheat, rice, and other grains, sugar-cane, +coffee, and cotton, with various fruits and vegetables. The vine is native +to the continent, and both the American and introduced varieties are now +largely cultivated. + +The animals of America include, among carnivora, the jaguar or American +tiger, found only in S. America; the puma or American lion, found mostly in +S. America; the grizzly bear of N. America, fully as powerful an animal as +either; the black bear, the skunk, the racoon, the American or prairie +wolf, several species of foxes, &c. The rodents are represented by the +beaver, the porcupine, and squirrels of several species; the marsupials by +the opossum. Among ruminants are the bison, or, as it is commonly called, +the buffalo, the moose or elk, the Virginian stag, the musk-ox; and in S. +America the llama (which takes the place of the camel of the Old World), +the alpaca, and the vicuna. Other animals most distinctive of S. America +are sloths, fitted to live only in its dense and boundless forests; +ant-eaters and armadillos; monkeys with prehensile tails, in this and other +respects differing from those of the Old World; the condor among the +heights of the Andes, the nandu, rhea or three-toed ostrich, beautiful +parrots and humming-birds. Among American reptiles are the boa-constrictor, +the rattlesnake, the alligator or cayman, the iguana and other large +lizards, large frogs and toads. The domestic animals of America, horses, +cattle, and sheep, are of foreign origin. The electrical eel exists in the +tropical waters. + +The population of America consists partly of an aboriginal race or races, +partly of immigrants or their descendants. The aboriginal inhabitants are +the American Indians or red men, being generally of a brownish-red colour, +and now forming a very small portion of the total population, especially in +N. America, where the white population has almost exterminated them. These +people are divided into branches, some of which have displayed a +considerable aptitude for civilization. When the Europeans became +acquainted with the New World, Mexico, Central America, and part of S. +America were inhabited by populations which had made great advances in many +things that pertain to civilized life, dwelling in large and well-built +cities under a settled form of government, and practising agriculture and +the mechanical arts. Ever since the discovery of America at the close of +the fifteenth century Europeans of all nations have crowded into it; and +the comparatively feeble native races have rapidly diminished, or lost +their distinctive features by intermixtures with whites, and also with +negroes brought from Africa to work as slaves. These mixed races are +distinguished by a variety of names, as Mestizos, Mulattoes, Zambos, &c. In +North America the white population is mainly of British origin, though to a +considerable extent it also consists of Germans, Scandinavians, &c., and +the descendants of such. In Central and South America the prevailing white +nationality is the Spanish and Portuguese. In the extreme north are the +Eskimos--a scattered and stunted race closely allied to some of the peoples +of Northern Asia. That the aboriginal inhabitants of America passed over +from Asia is tolerably certain, but when and from what part we do not know. +The total population of the New World is estimated at 180,000,000, of which +perhaps 124,000,000 are whites, 28,000,000 mixed races, 15,000,000 negroes, +and 13,000,000 Indians. As regards religion, the bulk of the population of +N. America is Protestant; of Central and S. America the religion is almost +exclusively Roman Catholic. Several millions of the Indians are +heathens.--The independent States of America are all republican in form of +government, Brazil having become a republic in 1889. See _North America_, +_Central America_, _South America_, _West Indies_, &c. + +The merit of first opening up the American continent to modern Europe +belongs to the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus, who discovered, in +Oct., 1492, one of the Bahamas, and named it San Salvador. Europeans, +however, had on different former occasions discovered the American coasts, +and the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island were visited by Northmen +and named Vinland in the year 1000. Still these discoveries had no +influence on the enterprise of Columbus, and cannot detract in the least +from his merit; they were forgotten, and had never been made known to the +inhabitants of the rest of Europe. Though Columbus was the first of his +time who set foot in the New World, it has taken its name not from him, but +from Amerigo Vespucci. The mainland was first seen in 1497 by Sebastian +Cabot, who sailed under the patronage of Henry VII of England. For further +particulars of discovery see _North America_ and _South America_. + +The known history of America hardly goes beyond the period of its discovery +by Columbus; but it possesses many monuments of antiquity that might take +us many centuries backward, could we learn anything of their origin or of +those by whom they were produced. Among such antiquities are great +earthworks in the form of mounds, or of raised enclosures, crowning the +tops of hills, river peninsulas, &c., and no doubt serving for defence. +They enclose considerable areas, are surrounded by an exterior ditch, and +by ramparts which are composed of mingled earth and stones, and are often +of great extent in proportion to the area enclosed. They are always +supplied either naturally or artificially with water, and give other +indications of having been provided for a siege. Barrows and tumuli +containing human bones, and bearing indications of having been used both as +places of sepulture and as temples, are also numerous. They are in +geometrical forms--circles, squares, parallelograms, &c. A mound on the +plain of Cahokia in Illinois, opposite the city of St. Louis, is 700 feet +long, 500 feet broad, and 90 feet high. Earth mounds of another class +represent gigantic animal forms in bas-relief on the ground. One is a man +with two heads, the body 50 feet long and 25 feet broad across the breast; +another represents a serpent 1000 feet in length, with graceful curves. The +monuments of Mexico, Central America, and Peru are of a more advanced state +of civilization, approach nearer to the historical period, and make the +loss of authentic information more keenly felt. Here there are numerous +ruined towns with most elaborate sculptures, lofty pyramidal structures +serving as temples or forts, statues, picture writing, hieroglyphics, +roads, aqueducts, bridges, &c. Some remarkable prehistoric remains +discovered in recent years are what are known as the abodes of the +'cliff-dwellers'. These consist of habitations constructed on terraces and +in caves high up and steep sides of canons in Colorado and other parts of +the western states of N. America. Some of these buildings are several +stories high. See also _Mexico_, _Peru_, &c.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. Farrand, +_The American Nation_; Prescott, _The Conquest of Mexico_ and _The Conquest +of Peru_; Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History of America_; F. W. +Halsey, _Great Epochs in American History_ (11 vols.). + +AMERICAN INDIANS. See _Indians_. + +AMERICANISM, a term, phrase, or idiom peculiar to the English language as +spoken in America, and not forming part of the language as spoken in +England. The following is a list of a few of the more noteworthy +Americanisms, some of them being rather slangy or vulgar. + + _Approbate_, to approve. + + _Around_ or _round_, about or near. To _hang around_ is to loiter about + a place. + + _Backwoods_, the partially-cleared forest regions in the western + States. + + _Bee_, an assemblage of persons to unite their labours for the benefit + of an individual or family, or to carry out a joint scheme. + + _Boss_, an employer or superintendent of labourers, a leader. + + _Bug_, a coleopterous insect, or what in England is called a _beetle_. + + _Buggy_, a four-wheeled vehicle. + + _Bulldose_, to; to intimidate voters. + + _Bunkum_ or _buncombe_, a speech made solely to please a constituency; + talk for talking's sake, and in an inflated style. + + _Bureau_, a chest of drawers, a dressing-table surmounted by a mirror. + + _Calculate_, to suppose, to believe, to think. + + _Camp-meeting_, a meeting held in the fields or woods for religious + purposes, and where the assemblage encamps and remains several days. + + _Cane-brake_, a thicket of canes. + + _Car_, a carriage or wagon of a railway train. The Englishman 'travels + by rail' or 'takes the train'; the American takes or goes by the + _cars_. + + _Carpet-bagger_, a needy political adventurer who carries all his + worldly goods in a carpet-bag. + + _Caucus_, a private meeting of the leading politicians of a party to + agree upon the plans to be pursued in an approaching election. + + _Chalk_: a _long chalk_ means a great distance, a good deal. + + _Clever_, good-natured, obliging. + + _Cocktail_, a stimulating drink made of brandy or gin mixed with + bitters, sugar, and water. + + _Corn_, maize (in England it means wheat, or grain in general). + + _Corn-husking_, or _corn-shucking_, an occasion on which a farmer + invites his neighbours to assist him in stripping the husks from his + Indian corn. + + _Cow-hide_, a whip made of twisted strips of raw hide. + + _Creek_, a small river or brook; not, as in England, a small arm of the + sea. + + _Cunning_, small and pretty, nice, e.g. 'It was such a _cunning_ baby'. + + _Dander_; to get one's _dander raised_, to have one's _dander up_, is + to have been worked into a passion. + + _Dead-heads_, people who have free admission to entertainments, or who + have the use of public conveyances, or the like, free of charge. + + _Depot_, a railway station. + + _Down east_, in or into the New England States. A _down-easter_ is a + New Englander. + + _Drummer_, a bagman or commercial traveller. + + _Dry goods_, a general term for such articles as are sold by + linen-drapers, haberdashers, hosiers, &c. + + _Dutch_, the German language.--_Dutchman_, a German. + + _Fix_, to; to put in order, to prepare, to adjust. To fix the hair, the + table, the fire, is to dress the hair, lay the table, make up the fire. + + _Fixings_, arrangements, dress, embellishments, luggage, furniture, + garnishings of any kind. + + _Gerrymander_, to arrange political divisions so that in an election + one party may obtain an advantage over its opponent, even though the + latter may possess a majority of votes in the State; from the deviser + of such a scheme, named _Gerry_, governor of Massachusetts. + + _Given name_, a Christian name. + + _Guess_, to; to believe, to suppose, to think, to fancy; also used + emphatically, as 'Joe, will you liquor up?' 'I guess I will.' + + _Gulch_, a deep abrupt ravine, caused by the action of water. + + _Happen in_, to; to happen to come in or call. + + _Help_, a servant. + + _High-falutin_, inflated speech, bombast. + + _Hoe-cake_, a cake of Indian meal baked on a hoe or before the fire. + + _Indian summer_, the short season of pleasant weather usually occurring + about the middle of November. + + _Johnny Cake_, a cake made of Indian corn meal mixed with milk or water + and sometimes a little stewed pumpkin; the term is also applied to a + New Englander. + + _Julep_, a drink composed of brandy or whisky with sugar, pounded ice, + and some sprigs of mint. + + _Log-rolling_, the assembly of several parties of wood-cutters to help + one of them in rolling their logs to the river after they are felled + and trimmed; also employed in politics to signify a like system of + mutual co-operation. + + _Lot_, a piece or division of land, an allotment. + + _Lumber_, timber sawed and split for use; as beams, joists, planks, + staves, hoops, &c. + + _Lynch law_, an irregular species of justice executed by the populace + or a mob, without legal authority or trial. + + _Mail letters_, to; to post letters. + + _Make tracks_, to; to run away. + + _Mitten_; to _get the mitten_ is to meet with a refusal. + + _Mizzle_, to; to abscond, or run away. + + _Mush_, a kind of hasty-pudding. + + _Muss_, a state of confusion. + + _Notions_, a term applied to every variety of small-wares. + + _One-horse_: a one-horse thing is a thing of no value or importance, a + mean and trifling thing. + + _Picaninny_, a negro child. + + _Pile_, a quantity of money. + + _Planks_, in a political sense, are the several principles which + appertain to a party; _platform_ is the collection of such principles. + + _Reckon_, to; to suppose, to think. + + _Rock_, a stone of any size; a pebble; as to throw _rocks_ at a dog. + + _Scalawag_, a scamp, a scapegrace. + + _Shanty_, a mean structure such as squatters erect; a temporary hut. + + _Skedaddle_, to; to run away; a word introduced during the civil war. + + _Smart_, often used in the sense of considerable, a good deal, as a + _smart chance_. + + _Soft sawder_, flattering, coaxing talk. + + _Span_ of horses, two horses as nearly as possible alike, harnessed + side by side. + + _Spread-eagle style_, a compound of exaggeration, bombast, mixed + metaphor, &c. + + _Store_, a shop, as a book _store_, a grocery _store_. + + _Strike oil_, to; to come upon petroleum: hence to make a lucky hit, + especially financially. + + _Stump speech_, a bombastic speech calculated to please the popular + ear, such speeches in newly-settled districts being often delivered + from stumps of trees. + + _Sun-up_, sunrise. + + _Tall_, great, fine (used by Shakespeare much in the same sense); _tall + talk_ is extravagant talk. + + _Ticket_: to vote the _straight ticket_ is to vote for all the men or + measures your party wishes. + + _Truck_, the small produce of gardens; _truck patch_, a plot in which + the smaller fruits and vegetables are raised. + + _Ugly_, ill-tempered, vicious. + + _Vamose_, to; to run off (from the Sp. _vamos_, let us go). + +BIBLIOGRAPHY: T. Pickering, _Vocabulary of Words and Phrases Supposed to be +Peculiar to America_; J. R. Bartlett, _Dictionary of Americanisms_; Schele +de Vere, _Americanisms_. + +AMERICAN JUTE. See _Abutilon_. + +AMERICAN ORGAN. See _Organ_. + +AMER'ICUS, a town of the United States, Georgia, in a good cotton and corn +district. Pop. 11,000. + +AMERIGO VESPUCCI ([.a]-mer-[=e]'go vesp[u:]t'ch[=e]), a maritime +discoverer, after whom America has been named, born, 1451, at Florence; +died, 1512, at Seville. In 1499 he coasted along the continent of America +for several hundred leagues, and the publication of his narrative, while +the prior discovery of Columbus was yet comparatively a secret, led to the +giving of his name to the new continent. + +AMERONGEN, a village in Holland. Here, at the chateau belonging to Count +Goddard Bentinck, the ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II took up his residence after +signing his letters of abdication at Spa on 9th Nov., 1918. + +AMERSFOORT ([:a]'merz-f[=o]rt), a town in Holland, province of Utrecht, +communicating by the Eem with the Zuider-Zee; manufactures woollen goods, +tobacco, glass, and silk yarn. Pop. 28,777. + +AMES, Fisher, American statesman, born 1758, died 1808; studied law, and +became prominent in his profession--distinguished as a political orator and +essayist. + +AMES, Joseph, English antiquary, born at Yarmouth, 1689, died 1759. He +became a ship-chandler at Wapping, devoted himself to antiquarian pursuits, +and was for many years secretary to the Society of Antiquaries. His chief +publication is, _Typographical Antiquities: being an historical account of +Printing in England_ (1749). + +AMETAB'OLA (Gr. _ametabolos_, unchangeable), a division of insects, +including only the apterous or wingless insects, as lice, spring-tails, +&c., which do not undergo any metamorphosis, but which escape from the egg +nearly under the same form which they preserve through life. + +AM'ETHYST, a violet-blue or purple variety of quartz, generally occurring +crystallized in hexahedral prisms or pyramids, also in rolled fragments, +composed of imperfect prismatic crystals. It is wrought into various +articles of jewellery. The _oriental amethyst_ is a rare violet-coloured +gem, a variety of alumina or corundum, of much brilliance and beauty. The +name is generally said to be of Greek origin, and expresses some supposed +quality in the stone of preventing or curing intoxication. The gem was one +of the twelve stones in the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest. + +AMHARA ([.a]m-h[:a]'r[.a]), a district of Abyssinia, lying between the +Tacazze and the Blue Nile, but of which the limits are not well defined. +The Amharic language, developed from the ancient Gheez, and written since +the sixteenth century, has gradually gained ground in Southern and Central +Abyssinia, and has also become the Court language. + +AMHERST (am'[.e]rst), a seaport of Canada, in Nova Scotia, on an arm of +Chignecto Bay, with flourishing industries, and trade by railway and sea. +Pop. 10,320. Also a port of Burmah, 31 miles south of Moulmein, a health +resort of Europeans. Pop. 3750. + +AMHERST, Jeffrey, Lord, born 1717, died 1797; distinguished British +general, who fought at Dettingen and Fontenoy, and commanded in America, +where he took Louisburg, Ticonderoga, and Quebec, and restored the British +prestige in Canada. He was raised to the peerage, became +commander-in-chief, and ultimately field-marshal. + +AMHERST, William Pitt, first earl, nephew of the above; Governor-General of +India, 1823; prosecuted the first Burmese war, and suppressed the +Barrackpore mutiny. Born 1773, died 1857. + +AMIAN'THUS, a kind of flexible asbestos. See _Asbestos_. + +AMICE (am'is), an oblong piece of linen with an embroidered apparel sewed +upon it, worn under the alb by priests of the Roman Catholic Church when +engaged in the sacrifice of the mass. + +AMIDE, or AMINE (am'id, am'in), names used in chemistry. The amines are +compounds formed by the introduction of alcohol radicles into ammonia, e.g. +C_2H_5NH_2, which is known as ethylamine. They closely resemble ammonia in +properties. The amides are formed by replacing one of the hydrogen atoms of +ammonia by an acid radicle, e.g. C_2H_3ONH_2, which is called acetamide. +They are not strongly basic, and are usually crystalline, and have high +boiling-points. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 +Part 1, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW GRESHAM ENCYC. 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