See the bibliography appended toAmerican Civil War, and also General Palfrey’sAntietam and Fredericksburg.
See the bibliography appended toAmerican Civil War, and also General Palfrey’sAntietam and Fredericksburg.
ANTI-FEDERALISTS,the name given in the political history of the United States to those who, after the formation of the federal Constitution of 1787, opposed its ratification by the people of the several states. The “party” (though it was never regularly organized as such) was composed of states rights, particularistic, individualistic and radical democratic elements; that is, of those persons who thought that a stronger government threatened the sovereignty and prestige of the states, or the special interests, individual or commercial, of localities, or the liberties of individuals, or who fancied they saw in the government proposed a new centralized, disguised “monarchic” power that would only replace the cast-off despotism of Great Britain. In every state the opposition to the Constitution was strong, and in two—North Carolina and Rhode Island—it prevented ratification until the definite establishment of the new government practically forced their adhesion. The individualistic was the strongest element of opposition; the necessity, or at least the desirability, of a bill of rights was almost universally felt. Instead of accepting the Constitution upon the condition of amendments,—in which way they might very likely have secured large concessions,—the Anti-Federalists stood for unconditional rejection, and public opinion, which went against them, proved that for all its shortcomings the Constitution was regarded as preferable to the Articles of Confederation. After the inauguration of the new government, the composition of the Anti-Federalist party changed. The Federalist (q.v.) party gradually showed broad-construction, nationalistic tendencies; the Anti-Federalist party became a strict-construction party and advocated popular rights against the asserted aristocratic, centralizing tendencies of its opponent, and gradually was transformed into the Democratic-Republican party, mustered and led by Thomas Jefferson, who, however, had approved the ratification of the Constitution and was not, therefore, an Anti-Federalist in the original sense of that term.
See O.G. Libby,Geographical Distribution of the Vote... on the Federal Constitution, 1787-1788(University of Wisconsin, Bulletin, 1894); S.B. Harding,Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in ... Massachusetts(Harvard University Studies, New York, 1896); and authorities on political and constitutional history in the articleUnited States.
See O.G. Libby,Geographical Distribution of the Vote... on the Federal Constitution, 1787-1788(University of Wisconsin, Bulletin, 1894); S.B. Harding,Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in ... Massachusetts(Harvard University Studies, New York, 1896); and authorities on political and constitutional history in the articleUnited States.
ANTIGO,a city and the county-seat of Langlade county, Wisconsin, U.S.A., about 160 m. N.W. of Milwaukee. Pop. (1890) 4424; (1900) 5145, of whom 965 were foreign-born; (1905) 6663; (1910) 7196. It is served by the Chicago & North Western railway. Antigo is the centre of a good farming and lumbering district, and its manufactures consist principally oflumber, chairs, furniture, sashes, doors and blinds, hubs and spokes, and other wood products. The city has a Carnegie library. Antigo was first settled in 1880, and was chartered as a city in 1885. Its name is said to be part of an Indian word,neequee-antigo-sebi, meaning “evergreen.”
ANTIGONE,(1) in Greek legend, daughter of Oedipus and Iocaste (Jocasta), or, according to the older story, of Euryganeia. When her father, on discovering that Iocaste, the mother of his children, was also his own mother, put his eyes out and resigned the throne of Thebes, she accompanied him into exile at Colonus. After his death she returned to Thebes, where Haemon, the son of Creon, king of Thebes, became enamoured of her. When her brothers Eteocles and Polyneices had slain each other in single combat, she buried Polyneices, although Creon had forbidden it. As a punishment she was sentenced to be buried alive in a vault, where she hanged herself, and Haemon killed himself in despair. Her character and these incidents of her life presented an attractive subject to the Greek tragic poets, especially Sophocles in theAntigoneandOedipus at Colonus, and Euripides, whoseAntigone, though now lost, is partly known from extracts incidentally preserved in later writers, and from passages in hisPhoenissae. In the order of the events, at least, Sophocles departed from the original legend, according to which the burial of Polyneices took place while Oedipus was yet in Thebes, not after he had died at Colonus. Again, in regard to Antigone’s tragic end Sophocles differs from Euripides, according to whom the calamity was averted by the intercession of Dionysus and was followed by the marriage of Antigone and Haemon. In Hyginus’s version of the legend, founded apparently on a tragedy by some follower of Euripides, Antigone, on being handed over by Creon to her lover Haemon to be slain, was secretly carried off by him, and concealed in a shepherd’s hut, where she bore him a son Maeon. When the boy grew up, he went to some funeral games at Thebes, and was recognized by the mark of a dragon on his body. This led to the discovery that Antigone was still alive. Heracles pleaded in vain with Creon for Haemon, who slew both Antigone and himself, to escape his father’s vengeance. On a painted vase the scene of the intercession of Heracles is represented (Heydermann,Über eine nacheuripideische Antigone, 1868). Antigone placing the body of Polyneices on the funeral pile occurs on a sarcophagus in the villa Pamfili in Rome, and is mentioned in the description of an ancient painting by Philostratus (Imag.ii. 29), who states that the flames consuming the two brothers burnt apart, indicating their unalterable hatred, even in death.
(2) A second Antigone was the daughter of Eurytion, king of Phthia, and wife of Peleus. Her husband, having accidentally killed Eurytion in the Calydonian boar hunt, fled and obtained expiation from Acastus, whose wife made advances to Peleus. Finding that her affection was not returned, she falsely accused Peleus of infidelity to his wife, who thereupon hanged herself (Apollodorus, iii. 13).
ANTIGONUS CYCLOPS(orMonopthalmos; so called from his having lost an eye) (382-301B.C.), Macedonian king, son of Philip, was one of the generals of Alexander the Great. He was made governor of Greater Phrygia in 333, and in the division of the provinces after Alexander’s death (323) Pamphylia and Lycia were added to his command. He incurred the enmity of Perdiccas, the regent, by refusing to assist Eumenes (q.v.) to obtain possession of the provinces allotted to him. In danger of his life he escaped with his son Demetrius into Greece, where he obtained the favour of Antipater, regent of Macedonia (321); and when, soon after, on the death of Perdiccas, a new division took place, he was entrusted with the command of the war against Eumenes, who had joined Perdiccas against the coalition of Antipater, Antigonus, and the other generals. Eumenes was completely defeated, and obliged to retire to Nora in Cappadocia, and a new army that was marching to his relief was routed by Antigonus. Polyperchon succeeding Antipater (d. 319) in the regency, to the exclusion of Cassander, his son, Antigonus resolved to set himself up as lord of all Asia, and in conjunction with Cassander and Ptolemy of Egypt, refused to recognize Polyperchon. He entered into negotiations with Eumenes; but Eumenes remained faithful to the royal house. Effecting his escape from Nora, he raised an army, and formed a coalition with the satraps of the eastern provinces. He was at last delivered up to Antigonus through treachery in Persia and put to death (316). Antigonus again claimed authority over the whole of Asia, seized the treasures at Susa, and entered Babylonia, of which Seleucus was governor. Seleucus fled to Ptolemy, and entered into a league with him (315), together with Lysimachus and Cassander. After the war had been carried on with varying success from 315 to 311, peace was concluded, by which the government of Asia Minor and Syria was provisionally secured to Antigonus. This agreement was soon violated on the pretext that garrisons had been placed in some of the free Greek cities by Antigonus, and Ptolemy and Cassander renewed hostilities against him. Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, wrested part of Greece from Cassander. At first Ptolemy had made a successful descent upon Asia Minor and on several of the islands of the Archipelago; but he was at length totally defeated by Demetrius in a naval engagement off Salamis, in Cyprus (306). On this victory Antigonus assumed the title of king, and bestowed the same upon his son, a declaration that he claimed to be the heir of Alexander. Antigonus now prepared a large army, and a formidable fleet, the command of which he gave to Demetrius, and hastened to attack Ptolemy in his own dominions. His invasion of Egypt, however, proved a failure; he was unable to penetrate the defences of Ptolemy, and was obliged to retire. Demetrius now attempted the reduction of Rhodes, which had refused to assist Antigonus against Egypt; but, meeting with obstinate resistance, he was obliged to make a treaty upon the best terms that he could (304). In 302, although Demetrius was again winning success after success in Greece, Antigonus was obliged to recall him to meet the confederacy that had been formed between Cassander, Seleucus and Lysimachus. A decisive battle was fought at Ipsus, in which Antigonus fell, in the eighty-first year of his age.
Diodorus Siculus xviii., xx. 46-86; Plutarch,Demetrius, Eumenes; Nepos,Eumenes; Justin xv. 1-4. SeeMacedonian Empire; and Köhler, “Das Reich des Antigonos,” in theSitzungsberichte d. Berl. Akad., 1898, p. 835 f.
Diodorus Siculus xviii., xx. 46-86; Plutarch,Demetrius, Eumenes; Nepos,Eumenes; Justin xv. 1-4. SeeMacedonian Empire; and Köhler, “Das Reich des Antigonos,” in theSitzungsberichte d. Berl. Akad., 1898, p. 835 f.
ANTIGONUS GONATAS(c.319-239B.C.), Macedonian king, was the son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and grandson of Antigonus Cyclops. On the death of his father (283), he assumed the title of king of Macedonia, but did not obtain possession of the throne till 276, after it had been successively in the hands of Pyrrhus, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy Ceraunus. Antigonus repelled the invasion of the Gauls, and continued in undisputed possession of Macedonia till 274, when Pyrrhus returned from Italy, and (in 273) made himself master of nearly all the country. On the advance of Pyrrhus into Peloponnesus, he recovered his dominions. He was again (between 263 and 255) driven out of his kingdom by Alexander, the son of Pyrrhus, and again recovered it. The latter part of his reign was comparatively peaceful, and he gained the affection of his subjects by his honesty and his cultivation of the arts. He gathered round him distinguished literary men—philosophers, poets, and historians. He died in the eightieth year of his age, and the forty-fourth of his reign. His surname was usually derived by later Greek writers from the name of his supposed birthplace, Gonni (Gonnus) in Thessaly; some take it to be a Macedonian word signifying an iron plate for protecting the knee; neither conjecture is a happy one, and in our ignorance of the Macedonian language it must remain unexplained.
Plutarch,Demetrius, Pyrrhus, Aratus; Justin xxiv. 1; xxv. 1-3; Polybius ii. 43-45, ix. 29, 34. See Thirlwall,History of Greece, vol viii. (1847); Holm,Griech. Gesch.vol. iv. (1894); Niese,Gesch. d. griech. u. maked. Staaten, vols. i. and ii. (1893, 1899); Beloch,Griech. Gesch.vol. iii. (1904); also Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,Antigonos von Karystos(1881).
Plutarch,Demetrius, Pyrrhus, Aratus; Justin xxiv. 1; xxv. 1-3; Polybius ii. 43-45, ix. 29, 34. See Thirlwall,History of Greece, vol viii. (1847); Holm,Griech. Gesch.vol. iv. (1894); Niese,Gesch. d. griech. u. maked. Staaten, vols. i. and ii. (1893, 1899); Beloch,Griech. Gesch.vol. iii. (1904); also Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,Antigonos von Karystos(1881).
ANTIGONUS OF CARYSTUS(in Euboea), Greek writer on various subjects, flourished in the 3rd centuryB.C.After some time spent at Athens and in travelling, he was summoned to the court of Attalus I. (241-197) of Pergamum. His chief work was theLives of Philosophersdrawn from personal knowledge, of which considerable fragments are preserved in Athenaeusand Diogenes Laertius. We still possess hisCollection of Wonderful Tales, chiefly extracted from theθαυμάσια Άκούσματαattributed to Aristotle and theθαυμάσιαof Callimachus. It is doubtful whether he is identical with the sculptor who, according to Pliny (Nat. Hist.xxxiv. 19), wrote books on his art.
Text in Keller,Rerum Naturalium Scriptores Graeci Minores, i. (1877); see Kopke,De Antigono Carystio(1862); Wilamowitz-Möllendorff, “A. von Karystos,” inPhilologische Untersuchungen, iv. (.1881).
Text in Keller,Rerum Naturalium Scriptores Graeci Minores, i. (1877); see Kopke,De Antigono Carystio(1862); Wilamowitz-Möllendorff, “A. von Karystos,” inPhilologische Untersuchungen, iv. (.1881).
ANTIGUA,an island in the British West Indies, forming, with Barbuda and Redonda, one of the five presidencies in the colony of the Leeward Islands. It lies 50 m. E. of St Kitts, in 17° 6′ N. and 61° 45′ W., and is 54 m. in circumference, with an area of 108 sq. m. The surface is comparatively flat, and there is no central range of mountains as in most other West Indian islands, but among the hills in the south-west an elevation of 1328 ft. is attained. Owing to the absence of rivers, the paucity of springs, and the almost complete deforestation, Antigua is subject to frequent droughts, and although the average rainfall is 45.6 in., the variations from year to year are great. The dryness of the air proves very beneficial to persons suffering from pulmonary complaints. The high rocky coast is much indented by bays and arms of the sea, several of which form excellent harbours, that of St John being safe and commodious, but inferior to English Harbour, which, although little frequented, is capable of receiving vessels of the largest size. The soil, especially in the interior, is very fertile. Sugar and pineapples are the chief products for export, but sweet potatoes, yams, maize and guinea corn are grown for local consumption. Antigua is the residence of the governor of the Leeward Islands, and the meeting place of the general legislative council, but there is also a local legislative council of 16 members, half official and half unofficial. Until 1898, when the Crown Colony system was adopted, the legislative council was partly elected, partly nominated. Elementary education is compulsory. Agricultural training is given under government control, and the Cambridge local examinations and those of the University of London are held annually. Antigua is the see of a bishop of the Church of England, the members of which predominate here, but Moravians and Wesleyans are numerous. There is a small volunteer defence force. The island has direct steam communication with Great Britain, the United States and Canada, and is also served by the submarine cable. The three chief towns are St John, Falmouth and Parham. St John (pop. about 10,000), the capital, situated on the north-west, is an exceedingly picturesque town, built on an eminence overlooking one of the most beautiful harbours in the West Indies. Although both Falmouth and Parham have good harbours, most of the produce of the island finds its way to St John for shipment. The trade is chiefly with the United States, and the main exports are sugar, molasses, logwood, tamarinds, turtles, and pineapples. The cultivation of cotton has been introduced with success, and this also is exported. The dependent islands of Barbuda and Redonda have an area of 62 sq. m. Pop. of Antigua (1901), 34,178; of the presidency, 35,073.
Antigua was discovered in 1493 by Columbus, who is said to have named it after a church in Seville, called Santa Maria la Antigua. It remained, however, uninhabited until 1632, when a body of English settlers took possession of it, and in 1663 another settlement of the same nation was effected under the direction of Lord Willoughby, to whom the entire island was granted by Charles II. It was ravaged by the French in 1666, but was soon after reconquered by the British and formally restored to them by the treaty of Breda. Since then it has been a British possession.
ANTILEGOMENA(ἀντιλεγόμενα, contradicted or disputed), an epithet used by the early Christian writers to denote those books of the New Testament which, although sometimes publicly read in the churches, were not for a considerable time admitted to be genuine, or received into the canon of Scripture. They were thus contrasted with theHomologoumena, or universally acknowledged writings. Eusebius (Hist. Eccl.iii. 25) applies the termAntilegomenato the Epistle of James, the Epistle of Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, the Acts of Paul, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Teaching of the Apostles, the Apocalypse of John, and the Gospel according to the Hebrews. In later usage it describes those of the New Testament books which have obtained a doubtful place in the Canon. These are the Epistles of James and Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, the Apocalypse of John, and the Epistle to the Hebrews.
ANTILIAorAntillia, sometimes called the Island of the Seven Cities (PortugueseIsla das Sete Cidades), a legendary island in the Atlantic ocean. The origin of the name is quite uncertain. The oldest suggested etymology (1455) fancifully connects it with the name of the Platonic Atlantis, while later writers have endeavoured to derive it from the Latinanterior(i.e.the island that is reached “before” Cipango), or from theJezirat al Tennyn, “Dragon’s Isle,” of the Arabian geographers. Antilia is marked in an anonymous map which is dated 1424 and preserved in the grand-ducal library at Weimar. It reappears in the maps of the Genoese B. Beccario or Beccaria (1435), and of the Venetian Andrea Bianco (1436), and again in 1455 and 1476. In most of these it is accompanied by the smaller and equally legendary islands of Royllo, St Atanagio, and Tanmar, the whole group being classified asinsulae de novo repertae, “newly discovered islands.” The Florentine Paul Toscanelli, in his letters to Columbus and the Portuguese court (1474), takes Antilia as the principal landmark for measuring the distance between Lisbon and the island of Cipango or Zipangu (Japan). One of the chief early descriptions of Antilia is that inscribed on the globe which the geographer Martin Behaim made at Nuremberg in 1492 (seeMap:History). Behaim relates that in 734—a date which is probably a misprint for 714—and after the Moors had conquered Spain and Portugal, the island of Antilia or “Septe Cidade” was colonized by Christian refugees under the archbishop of Oporto and six bishops. The inscription adds that a Spanish vessel sighted the island in 1414. According to an old Portuguese tradition each of the seven leaders founded and ruled a city, and the whole island became a Utopian commonwealth, free from the disorders of less favoured states. Later Portuguese tradition localized Antilia in the island of St Michael’s, the largest of the Azores. It is impossible to estimate how far this legend commemorates some actual but imperfectly recorded discovery, and how far it is a reminiscence of the ancient idea of an elysium in the western seas which is embodied in the legends of the Isles of the Blest or Fortunate Islands.
ANTILLES,a term of somewhat doubtful origin, now generally used, especially by foreign writers, as synonymous with the expression “West India Islands.” Like “Brazil,” it dates from a period anterior to the discovery of the New World, “Antilia,” as stated above, being one of those mysterious lands, which figured on the medieval charts sometimes as an archipelago, sometimes as continuous land of greater or lesser extent, constantly fluctuating in mid-ocean between the Canaries and East India. But it came at last to be identified with the land discovered by Columbus. Later, when this was found to consist of a vast archipelago enclosing the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico,Antiliaassumed its present plural form,Antilles, which was collectively applied to the whole of this archipelago.
A distinction is made between the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and Porto Riro; and the Lesser Antilles, covering the remainder of the islands.
ANTILOCHUS,in Greek legend, son of Nestor, king of Pylos. One of the suitors of Helen, he accompanied his father to the Trojan War. He was distinguished for his beauty, swiftness of foot, and skill as a charioteer; though the youngest among the Greek princes, he commanded the Pylians in the war, and performed many deeds of valour. He was a favourite of the gods, and an intimate friend of Achilles, to whom he was commissioned to announce the death of Patroclus. When his father was attacked by Memnon, he saved his life at the sacrifice of his own (Pindar,Pyth.vi. 28), thus fulfilling an oracle which had bidden him “beware of an Ethiopian.” His death was avenged by Achilles. According to other accounts, he was slain byHector (Hyginus,Fab.113), or by Paris in the temple of the Thymbraean Apollo together with Achilles (Dares Phrygius 34). His ashes, with those of Achilles and Patroclus, were deposited in a mound on the promontory of Sigeum, where the inhabitants of Ilium offered sacrifice to the dead heroes (Odyssey, xxiv. 72; Strabo xiii. p. 596). In theOdyssey(xi. 468) the three friends are represented as united in the underworld and walking together in the fields of asphodel; according to Pausanias (iii. 19) they dwell together in the island of Leuke.
ANTIMACASSAR,a separate covering for the back of a chair, or the head or cushions of a sofa, to prevent soiling of the permanent fabric. The name is attributable to the unguent for the hair commonly used in the early 19th century,—Byron calls it “thine incomparable oil, Macassar.” The original antimacassar was almost invariably made of white crochet-work, very stiff, hard, and uncomfortable, but in the third quarter of the 19th century it became simpler and less inartistic, and was made of soft coloured stuffs, usually worked with a simple pattern in tinted wools or silk.
ANTIMACHUS,of Colophon or Claros, Greek poet and grammarian, flourished about 400B.C.Scarcely anything is known of his life. His poetical efforts were not generally appreciated, although he received encouragement from his younger contemporary Plato (Plutarch,Lysander, 18). His chief works were: a long-winded epicThebais, an account of the expedition of the Seven against Thebes and the war of the Epigoni; and an elegiac poemLyde, so called from the poet’s mistress, for whose death he endeavoured to find consolation by ransacking mythology for stories of unhappy love affairs (Plutarch,Consol. ad Apoll.9; Athenaeus xiii. 597). Antimachus was the founder of “learned” epic poetry, and the forerunner of the Alexandrian school, whose critics allotted him the next place to Homer. He also prepared a critical recension of the Homeric poems.
Fragments, ed. Stoll (1845); Bergk,Poetae Lyrici Graeci(1882); Kinkel,Fragmenta epicorum Graecorum(1877).
Fragments, ed. Stoll (1845); Bergk,Poetae Lyrici Graeci(1882); Kinkel,Fragmenta epicorum Graecorum(1877).
ANTI-MASONIC PARTY,an American political organization which had its rise after the mysterious disappearance, in 1826, of William Morgan (c.1776-c.1826), a Freemason of Batavia, New York, who had become dissatisfied with his Order and had planned to publish its secrets. When his purpose became known to the Masons, Morgan was subjected to frequent annoyances, and finally in September 1826 he was seized and surreptitiously conveyed to Fort Niagara, whence he disappeared. Though his ultimate fate was never known, it was generally believed at the time that he had been foully dealt with. The event created great excitement, and led many to believe that Masonry and good citizenship were incompatible. Opposition to Masonry was taken up by the churches as a sort of religious crusade, and it also became a local political issue in western New York, where early in 1827 the citizens in many mass meetings resolved to support no Mason for public office. In New York at this time the National Republicans, or “Adams men,” were a very feeble organization, and shrewd political leaders at once determined to utilize the strong anti-Masonic feeling in creating a new and vigorous party to oppose the rising Jacksonian Democracy. In this effort they were aided by the fact that Jackson was a high Mason and frequently spoke in praise of the Order. In the elections of 1828 the new party proved unexpectedly strong, and after this year it practically superseded the National Republican party in New York. In 1829 the hand of its leaders was shown, when, in addition to its antagonism to the Masons, it became a champion of internal improvements and of the protective tariff. From New York the movement spread into other middle states and into New England, and became especially strong in Pennsylvania and Vermont. A national organization was planned as early as 1827, when the New York leaders attempted, unsuccessfully, to persuade Henry Clay, though a Mason, to renounce the Order and head the movement. In September 1831 the party at a national convention in Baltimore nominated as its candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Ellmaker (1787-1851) of Pennsylvania; and in the election of the following year it secured the seven electoral votes of the state of Vermont. This was the high tide of its prosperity; in New York in 1833 the organization was moribund, and its members gradually united with other opponents of Jacksonian Democracy in forming the Whig party. In other states, however, the party survived somewhat longer, but by 1836 most of its members had united with the Whigs. Its last act in national politics was to nominate William Henry Harrison for president and John Tyler for vice-president at a convention in Philadelphia in November 1838.
The growth of the anti-Masonic movement was due to the political and social conditions of the time rather than to the Morgan episode, which was merely the torch that ignited the train. Under the name of “Anti-Masons” able leaders united those who were discontented with existing political conditions, and the fact that William Wirt, their choice for the presidency in 1832, was not only a Mason but even defended the Order in a speech before the convention that nominated him, indicates that simple opposition to Masonry soon became a minor factor in holding together the various elements of which the party was composed.
See Charles McCarthy,The Antimasonic Party: A Study of Political Anti-Masonry in the United States, 1827-1840, in the Report of the American Historical Association for 1902 (Washington, 1903); theAutobiography of Thurlow Weed(2 vols., Boston, 1884); A.G. Mackey and W.R. Singleton,The History of Freemasonry, vol. vi. (New York, 1898); and J.D. Hammond,History of Political Parties in the State of New York(2 vols., Albany, 1842).
See Charles McCarthy,The Antimasonic Party: A Study of Political Anti-Masonry in the United States, 1827-1840, in the Report of the American Historical Association for 1902 (Washington, 1903); theAutobiography of Thurlow Weed(2 vols., Boston, 1884); A.G. Mackey and W.R. Singleton,The History of Freemasonry, vol. vi. (New York, 1898); and J.D. Hammond,History of Political Parties in the State of New York(2 vols., Albany, 1842).
ANTIMONY(symbol Sb, atomic weight 120.2), one of the metallic chemical elements, included in the same natural family of the elements as nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, and bismuth. Antimony, in the form of its sulphide, has been known from very early times, more especially in Eastern countries, reference to it being made in the Old Testament. The Arabic name for the naturally occurring stibnite is “kohl”; Dioscorides mentions it under the termστίμμι, Pliny asstibium; and Geber asantimonium. By the German writers it is calledSpeissglanz. Basil Valentine alludes to it in hisTriumphal Car of Antimony(circa 1600), and at a later date describes the preparation of the metal.
Native mineral antimony is occasionally found, and as such was first recognized in 1748. It usually occurs as lamellar or glanular masses, with a tin-white colour and metallic lustre, in limestone or in mineral veins often in association with ores of silver. Distinct crystals are rarely met with; these are rhombohedral and isomorphous with arsenic and bismuth; they have a perfect cleavage parallel to the basal plane,c(111), and are sometimes twinned on a rhombohedral plane,e(110). Hardness 3-3½ specific gravity 6.63-6.72. Sala in Sweden, Allemont in Dauphine, and Sarawak in Borneo may be mentioned as some of the localities for this mineral.
Antimony, however, occurs chiefly as the sulphide, stibnite; to a much smaller extent it occurs in combination with other metallic sulphides in the minerals wolfsbergite, boulangerite, bournonite, pyrargyrite, &c. For the preparation of metallic antimony the crude stibnite is first liquated, to free it from earthy and siliceous matter, and is then roasted in order to convert it into oxide. After oxidation, the product is reduced by heating with carbon, care being taken to prevent any loss through volatilization, by covering the mass with a layer of some protective substance such as potash, soda or glauber salt, which also aids the refining. For rich ores the method of roasting the sulphide with metallic iron is sometimes employed; carbon and salt or sodium sulphate being used to slag the iron. Electrolytic methods, in which a solution of antimony sulphide in sodium sulphide is used as the electrolyte, have been proposed (see German Patent 67973, and also Borcher’sElectro-Metallurgie), but do not yet appear to have been used on the large scale.
Antimony combines readily with many other metals to form alloys, some of which find extensive application in the arts. Type-metal is an alloy of lead with antimony and tin, to which occasionally a small quantity of copper or zinc is added. The presence of the antimony in this alloy gives to it hardness, and the property of expanding on solidification, thus allowing a sharp cast of the letter to be taken. An alloy of tin and antimony formsthe basis of Britannia-metal, small quantities of copper, lead, zinc or bismuth being added. It is a white metal of bluish tint and is malleable and ductile. For the linings of brasses, various white metals are used, these being alloys of copper, antimony and tin, and occasionally lead.
Antimony is a silvery white, crystalline, brittle metal, and has a high lustre. Its specific gravity varies from 6.7 to 6.86; it melts at 432° C. (Dalton), and boils between 1090-1600° C. (T. Carnelley), or above 1300° (V. Meyer). Its specific heat is 0.0523 (H. Kopp). The vapour density of antimony at 1572° C. is 10.74, and at 1640° C. 9.78 (V. Meyer,Berichte, 1889, 22, p. 725), so that the antimony molecule is less complex than the molecules of the elements phosphorus and arsenic. An amorphous modification of antimony can be prepared by heating the metal in a stream of nitrogen, when it condenses in the cool part of the apparatus as a grey powder of specific gravity 6.22, melting at 614° C. and containing 98-99% of antimony (F. Herard,Comptes Rendus, 1888, cvii. 420).
Another form of the metal, known as explosive antimony, was discovered by G. Gore (Phil. Trans., 1858, p. 185; 1859, p. 797; 1862, p. 623), on electrolysing a solution of antimony trichloride in hydrochloric acid, using a positive pole of antimony and a negative pole of copper or platinum wire. It has a specific gravity of 5.78 and always contains some unaltered antimony trichloride (from 6 to 20%, G. Gore). It is very unstable, a scratch causing it instantaneously to pass into the stable form with explosive violence and the development of much heat. Similar phenomena are exhibited in the electrolysis of solutions of antimony tribromide and tri-iodide, the product obtained from the tribromide having a specific gravity of 5.4, and containing 18-20% of antimony tribromide, whilst that from the tri-iodide has a specific gravity of 5.2-5.8 and contains about 22% of hydriodic acid and antimony tri-iodide.
The atomic weight of antimony has been determined by the analysis of the chloride, bromide and iodide. J.P. Cooke (Proc. Amer. Acad., 1878, xiii. i) and J. Bongartz (Berichte, 1883, 16, p. 1942) obtained the value 120, whilst F. Pfeiffer (Ann. Chim. et Phys.ccix. 173) obtained the value 121 from the electrolysis of the chloride.
Pure antimony is quite permanent in air at ordinary temperatures, but when heated in air or oxygen it burns, forming the trioxide. It decomposes steam at a red heat, and burns (especially when finely powdered) in chlorine. Dilute hydrochloric acid is without action on it, but on warming with the concentrated acid, antimony trichloride is formed; it dissolves in warm concentrated sulphuric acid, the sulphate Sb2(SO4)3being formed. Nitric acid oxidizes antimony either to the trioxide Sb4O6or the pentoxide Sb2O5, the product obtained depending on the temperature and concentration of the acid. It combines directly with sulphur and phosphorus, and is readily oxidized when heated with metallic oxides (such as litharge, mercuric oxide, manganese dioxide, &c.). Antimony and its salts may be readily detected by the orange precipitate of antimony sulphide which is produced when sulphuretted hydrogen is passed through their acid solutions, and also by the Marsh test (seeArsenic); in this latter case the black stain produced is not soluble in bleaching powder solution. Antimony compounds when heated on charcoal with sodium carbonate in the reducing flame give brittle beads of metallic antimony, and a white incrustation of the oxide. The antimonious compounds are decomposed on addition of water, with formation of basic salts.
Antimony may be estimated quantitatively by conversion into the sulphide; the precipitate obtained is dried at 100° C. and heated in a current of carbon dioxide, or it may be converted into the tetroxide by nitric acid.
Antimony, like phosphorus and arsenic, combines directly with hydrogen. The compound formed, antimoniuretted hydrogen or stibine, SbH3, may also be prepared by the action of hydrochloric acid on an alloy of antimony and zinc, or by the action of nascent hydrogen on antimony compounds. As prepared by these methods it contains a relatively large amount of hydrogen, from which it can be freed by passing through a tube immersed in liquid air, when it condenses to a white solid. It is a poisonous colourless gas, with a characteristic offensive smell. In its general behaviour it resembles arsine, burning with a violet flame and being decomposed by heat into its constituent elements. When passed into silver nitrate solution it gives a black precipitate of silver antimonide, SbAg3. It is decomposed by the halogen elements and also by sulphuretted hydrogen. All three hydrogen atoms are replaceable by organic radicals and the resulting compounds combine with compounds of the type RCl, RBr and RI to form stibonium compounds.
There are three known oxides of antimony, the trioxide Sb4O6which is capable of combining with both acids and bases to form salts, the tetroxide Sb2O4and the pentoxide Sb2O5. Antimony trioxide occurs as the minerals valentinite and senarmontite, and can be artificially prepared by burning antimony in air; by heating the metal in steam to a bright red heat; by oxidizing melted antimony with litharge; by decomposing antimony trichloride with an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate, or by the action of dilute nitric acid on the metal. It is a white powder, almost insoluble in water, and when volatilized, condenses in two crystalline forms, either octahedral or prismatic. It is insoluble in sulphuric and nitric acids, but is readily soluble in hydrochloric and tartaric acids and in solutions of the caustic alkalies. On strongly heating in air it is converted into the tetroxide. The corresponding hydroxide, orthoantimonious acid, Sb(OH)3, can be obtained in a somewhat impure form by precipitating tartar emetic with dilute sulphuric acid; or better by decomposing antimonyl tartaric acid with sulphuric acid and drying the precipitated white powder at 100° C. Antimony tetroxide is formed by strongly heating either the trioxide or pentoxide. It is a nonvolatile white powder, and has a specific gravity of 6.6952; it is insoluble in water and almost so in acids—concentrated hydrochloric acid dissolving a small quantity. It is decomposed by a hot solution of potassium bitartrate. Antimony pentoxide is obtained by repeatedly evaporating antimony with nitric acid and heating the resulting antimonic acid to a temperature not above 275° C.; by heating antimony with red mercuric oxide until the mass becomes yellow (J. Berzelius); or by evaporating antimony trichloride to dryness with nitric acid. It is a pale yellow powder (of specific gravity 6.5), which on being heated strongly gives up oxygen and forms the tetroxide. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves slowly in hydrochloric acid. It possesses a feeble acid character, giving metantimoniates when heated with alkaline carbonates.Orthoantimonic acid, H3SbO4, is obtained by the decomposition of its potassium salt with nitric acid (A. Geuther); or by the addition of water to the pentachloride, the precipitate formed being dried over sulphuric acid (P. Conrad,Chem. News, 1879, xl. 198). It is a white powder almost insoluble in water and nitric acid, and when heated, is first converted into metantimonic acid, HSbO3, and then into the pentoxide Sb2O5. Pyroantimonic acid, H4Sb2O7(the metantimonic acid of E. Frémy), is obtained by decomposing antimony pentachloride with hot water, and drying the precipitate so obtained at 100° C. It is a white powder which is more soluble in water and acids than orthoantimonic acid. It forms two series of salts, of the types M2H2Sb2O7and M4Sb2O7. Metantimonic acid, HSbO3, can be obtained by heating orthoantimonic acid to 175° C., or by long fusion of antimony with antimony sulphide and nitre. The fused mass is extracted with water, nitric acid is added to the solution, and the precipitate obtained washed with water (J. Berzelius). It is a white powder almost insoluble in water. On standing with water for some time it is slowly converted into the ortho-acid.Compounds of antimony with all the halogen elements are known, one atom of the metal combining with three or five atoms of the halogen, except in the case of bromine, where only the tribromide is known. The majority of these halide compounds are decomposed by water, with the formation of basic salts. Antimony trichloride (“Butter of Antimony”), SbCl3, is obtained by burning the metal in chlorine; by distilling antimony with excess of mercuric chloride; and by fractional distillation of antimony tetroxide or trisulphide in hydrochloric acid solution. It is a colourless deliquescent solid of specific gravity 3.06; it melts at 73.2° C. (H. Kopp) to a colourless oil; and boils at 223° (H. Capitaine). It is soluble in alcohol and in carbon bisulphide, and also in a small quantity of water; but with an excess of water it gives a precipitate of various oxychlorides, known as powder of algaroth (q.v.). These precipitated oxychlorides on continued boiling with water lose all their chlorine and ultimately give a residue of antimony trioxide. It combines with chlorides of the alkali metals to form double salts, and also with barium, calcium, strontium, and magnesium chlorides. Antimony pentachloride, SbCl5is prepared by heating the trichloride in a current of chlorine. It is a nearly colourless fuming liquid of unpleasant smell, which can be solidified to a mass of crystals melting at -6°C. It dissociates into the trichloride and chlorine when heated. It combines with water, forming the hydrates SbCl5·H2O and SbCl5·4H2O; it also combines with phosphorus oxychloride, hydrocyanic acid, and cyanogen chloride. In chloroform solution it combines with anhydrous oxalicacid to form a compound, Sb2Cl8(C2O4), which is to be considered as tetra-chlorstibonium oxalate(R. Anschütz and Evans,Annalen, 1887, ccxxxix. 235). Antimonyl chloride, SbOCl, is produced by the decomposition of one part of the trichloride with four parts of water. Prepared in this way it contains a small quantity of the unaltered chloride, which can be removed by ether or carbon bisulphide. It is a white powder insoluble in water, alcohol and ether. On heating, it is converted into the oxychloride Sb4O5Cl2(Sb2O3·SbOCl). Antimony oxychloride, SbOCl3, is formed by addition of the calculated quantity of water to ice-cooled antimony pentachloride, SbCl5+ H2O = SbOCl3+ 2HCl. It forms a yellowish crystalline precipitate which in moist air goes to a thick liquid. Compounds of composition, SbOCl3·2SbCl5and SbO2Cl·2SbOCl3, have also been described (W.C. Williams,Chem. News. 1871, xxiv. 234).Antimony tribromide, SbBr3, and tri-iodide, SbI3, may be prepared by the action of antimony on solutions of bromine or iodine in carbon bisulphide. The tribromide is a colourless crystalline mass of specific gravity 4.148 (23°), melting at 90° to 94° C. and boiling at 275.4° C. (H. Kopp). The tri-iodide forms red-coloured crystals of specific gravity 4.848 (26°), melting at 165° to 167° C. and boiling at 401° C. By the action of water they give oxybromides and oxyiodides SbOBr, Sb4O5Br2, SbOI. Antimony penta-iodide, SbI5, is formed by heating antimony with excess of iodine, in a sealed tube, to a temperature not above 130°C. It forms a dark brown crystalline mass, melting at 78° to 79° C., and is easily dissociated on heating. Antimony trifluoride, SbF3, is obtained by dissolving the trioxide in aqueous hydrofluoric acid or by distilling antimony with mercuric fluoride. By rapid evaporation of its solution it may be obtained in small prisms. The pentafluoride SbF5results when metantimonic acid is dissolved in hydrofluoric acid, and the solution is evaporated. It forms an amorphous gummy mass, which is decomposed by heat. Oxyfluorides of composition SbOF and SbOF3are known.Two sulphides of antimony are definitely known, the trisulphide Sb2S3and the pentasulphide Sb2S5; a third, the tetrasulphide Sb2S4, has also been described, but its existence is doubtful. Antimony trisulphide, Sb2S3, occurs as the mineral antimonite or stibnite, from which the commercial product is obtained by a process of liquation. The amorphous variety may be obtained from the crystalline form by dissolving it in caustic potash or soda or in solutions of alkaline sulphides, and precipitating the hot solution by dilute sulphuric acid. The precipitate is then washed with water and dried at 100° C., by which treatment it is obtained in the anhydrous form. On precipitating antimony trichloride or tartar emetic in acid solution with sulphuretted hydrogen, an orange-red precipitate of the hydrated sulphide is obtained, which turns black on being heated to 200° C The trisulphide heated in a current of hydrogen is reduced to the metallic state; it burns in air forming the tetroxide, and is soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid, in solutions of the caustic alkalis, and in alkaline sulphides. By the union of antimony trisulphide with basic sulphides, livers of antimony are obtained. These substances are usually prepared by fusing their components together, and are dark powders which are less soluble in water the more antimony they contain. These thioantimonites are used in the vulcanizing of rubber and in the preparation of matches. Antimony pentasulphide, Sb2S5, is prepared by precipitating a solution of the pentachloride with sulphuretted hydrogen, by decomposing “Schlippe’s salt” (q.v.) with an acid, or by passing sulphuretted hydrogen into water containing antimonic acid. It forms a fine dark orange powder, insoluble in water, but readily soluble in aqueous solutions of the caustic alkalis and alkaline carbonates. On heating in absence of air, it decomposes into the trisulphide and sulphur.An antimony phosphide and arsenide are known, as is also a thiophosphate, SbPS4, which is prepared by heating together antimony trichloride and phosphorus pentasulphide.Many organic compounds containing antimony are known. By distilling an alloy of antimony and sodium with mythyl iodide, mixed with sand, trimethyl stibine, Sb(CH3)3, is obtained; this combines with excess of methyl iodide to form tetramethyl stibonium iodide, Sb(CH3)4I. From this iodide the trimethyl stibine may be obtained by distillation with an alloy of potassium and antimony in a current of carbon dioxide. It is a colourless liquid, slightly soluble in water, and is spontaneously inflammable. The stibonium iodide on treatment with moist silver oxide gives the corresponding tetramethyl stibonium hydroxide, Sb(CH3)4OH, which forms deliquescent crystals, of alkaline reaction, and absorbs carbon dioxide readily. On distilling trimethyl stibine with zinc methyl, antimony tetra-methyl and penta-methyl are formed. Corresponding antimony compounds containing the ethyl group are known, as is also a tri-phenyl stibine, Sb(C6H5)3, which is prepared from antimony trichloride, sodium and monochlorbenzene. See Chung Yu Wang,Antimony(1909).
There are three known oxides of antimony, the trioxide Sb4O6which is capable of combining with both acids and bases to form salts, the tetroxide Sb2O4and the pentoxide Sb2O5. Antimony trioxide occurs as the minerals valentinite and senarmontite, and can be artificially prepared by burning antimony in air; by heating the metal in steam to a bright red heat; by oxidizing melted antimony with litharge; by decomposing antimony trichloride with an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate, or by the action of dilute nitric acid on the metal. It is a white powder, almost insoluble in water, and when volatilized, condenses in two crystalline forms, either octahedral or prismatic. It is insoluble in sulphuric and nitric acids, but is readily soluble in hydrochloric and tartaric acids and in solutions of the caustic alkalies. On strongly heating in air it is converted into the tetroxide. The corresponding hydroxide, orthoantimonious acid, Sb(OH)3, can be obtained in a somewhat impure form by precipitating tartar emetic with dilute sulphuric acid; or better by decomposing antimonyl tartaric acid with sulphuric acid and drying the precipitated white powder at 100° C. Antimony tetroxide is formed by strongly heating either the trioxide or pentoxide. It is a nonvolatile white powder, and has a specific gravity of 6.6952; it is insoluble in water and almost so in acids—concentrated hydrochloric acid dissolving a small quantity. It is decomposed by a hot solution of potassium bitartrate. Antimony pentoxide is obtained by repeatedly evaporating antimony with nitric acid and heating the resulting antimonic acid to a temperature not above 275° C.; by heating antimony with red mercuric oxide until the mass becomes yellow (J. Berzelius); or by evaporating antimony trichloride to dryness with nitric acid. It is a pale yellow powder (of specific gravity 6.5), which on being heated strongly gives up oxygen and forms the tetroxide. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves slowly in hydrochloric acid. It possesses a feeble acid character, giving metantimoniates when heated with alkaline carbonates.
Orthoantimonic acid, H3SbO4, is obtained by the decomposition of its potassium salt with nitric acid (A. Geuther); or by the addition of water to the pentachloride, the precipitate formed being dried over sulphuric acid (P. Conrad,Chem. News, 1879, xl. 198). It is a white powder almost insoluble in water and nitric acid, and when heated, is first converted into metantimonic acid, HSbO3, and then into the pentoxide Sb2O5. Pyroantimonic acid, H4Sb2O7(the metantimonic acid of E. Frémy), is obtained by decomposing antimony pentachloride with hot water, and drying the precipitate so obtained at 100° C. It is a white powder which is more soluble in water and acids than orthoantimonic acid. It forms two series of salts, of the types M2H2Sb2O7and M4Sb2O7. Metantimonic acid, HSbO3, can be obtained by heating orthoantimonic acid to 175° C., or by long fusion of antimony with antimony sulphide and nitre. The fused mass is extracted with water, nitric acid is added to the solution, and the precipitate obtained washed with water (J. Berzelius). It is a white powder almost insoluble in water. On standing with water for some time it is slowly converted into the ortho-acid.
Compounds of antimony with all the halogen elements are known, one atom of the metal combining with three or five atoms of the halogen, except in the case of bromine, where only the tribromide is known. The majority of these halide compounds are decomposed by water, with the formation of basic salts. Antimony trichloride (“Butter of Antimony”), SbCl3, is obtained by burning the metal in chlorine; by distilling antimony with excess of mercuric chloride; and by fractional distillation of antimony tetroxide or trisulphide in hydrochloric acid solution. It is a colourless deliquescent solid of specific gravity 3.06; it melts at 73.2° C. (H. Kopp) to a colourless oil; and boils at 223° (H. Capitaine). It is soluble in alcohol and in carbon bisulphide, and also in a small quantity of water; but with an excess of water it gives a precipitate of various oxychlorides, known as powder of algaroth (q.v.). These precipitated oxychlorides on continued boiling with water lose all their chlorine and ultimately give a residue of antimony trioxide. It combines with chlorides of the alkali metals to form double salts, and also with barium, calcium, strontium, and magnesium chlorides. Antimony pentachloride, SbCl5is prepared by heating the trichloride in a current of chlorine. It is a nearly colourless fuming liquid of unpleasant smell, which can be solidified to a mass of crystals melting at -6°C. It dissociates into the trichloride and chlorine when heated. It combines with water, forming the hydrates SbCl5·H2O and SbCl5·4H2O; it also combines with phosphorus oxychloride, hydrocyanic acid, and cyanogen chloride. In chloroform solution it combines with anhydrous oxalicacid to form a compound, Sb2Cl8(C2O4), which is to be considered as tetra-chlorstibonium oxalate(R. Anschütz and Evans,Annalen, 1887, ccxxxix. 235). Antimonyl chloride, SbOCl, is produced by the decomposition of one part of the trichloride with four parts of water. Prepared in this way it contains a small quantity of the unaltered chloride, which can be removed by ether or carbon bisulphide. It is a white powder insoluble in water, alcohol and ether. On heating, it is converted into the oxychloride Sb4O5Cl2(Sb2O3·SbOCl). Antimony oxychloride, SbOCl3, is formed by addition of the calculated quantity of water to ice-cooled antimony pentachloride, SbCl5+ H2O = SbOCl3+ 2HCl. It forms a yellowish crystalline precipitate which in moist air goes to a thick liquid. Compounds of composition, SbOCl3·2SbCl5and SbO2Cl·2SbOCl3, have also been described (W.C. Williams,Chem. News. 1871, xxiv. 234).
Antimony tribromide, SbBr3, and tri-iodide, SbI3, may be prepared by the action of antimony on solutions of bromine or iodine in carbon bisulphide. The tribromide is a colourless crystalline mass of specific gravity 4.148 (23°), melting at 90° to 94° C. and boiling at 275.4° C. (H. Kopp). The tri-iodide forms red-coloured crystals of specific gravity 4.848 (26°), melting at 165° to 167° C. and boiling at 401° C. By the action of water they give oxybromides and oxyiodides SbOBr, Sb4O5Br2, SbOI. Antimony penta-iodide, SbI5, is formed by heating antimony with excess of iodine, in a sealed tube, to a temperature not above 130°C. It forms a dark brown crystalline mass, melting at 78° to 79° C., and is easily dissociated on heating. Antimony trifluoride, SbF3, is obtained by dissolving the trioxide in aqueous hydrofluoric acid or by distilling antimony with mercuric fluoride. By rapid evaporation of its solution it may be obtained in small prisms. The pentafluoride SbF5results when metantimonic acid is dissolved in hydrofluoric acid, and the solution is evaporated. It forms an amorphous gummy mass, which is decomposed by heat. Oxyfluorides of composition SbOF and SbOF3are known.
Two sulphides of antimony are definitely known, the trisulphide Sb2S3and the pentasulphide Sb2S5; a third, the tetrasulphide Sb2S4, has also been described, but its existence is doubtful. Antimony trisulphide, Sb2S3, occurs as the mineral antimonite or stibnite, from which the commercial product is obtained by a process of liquation. The amorphous variety may be obtained from the crystalline form by dissolving it in caustic potash or soda or in solutions of alkaline sulphides, and precipitating the hot solution by dilute sulphuric acid. The precipitate is then washed with water and dried at 100° C., by which treatment it is obtained in the anhydrous form. On precipitating antimony trichloride or tartar emetic in acid solution with sulphuretted hydrogen, an orange-red precipitate of the hydrated sulphide is obtained, which turns black on being heated to 200° C The trisulphide heated in a current of hydrogen is reduced to the metallic state; it burns in air forming the tetroxide, and is soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid, in solutions of the caustic alkalis, and in alkaline sulphides. By the union of antimony trisulphide with basic sulphides, livers of antimony are obtained. These substances are usually prepared by fusing their components together, and are dark powders which are less soluble in water the more antimony they contain. These thioantimonites are used in the vulcanizing of rubber and in the preparation of matches. Antimony pentasulphide, Sb2S5, is prepared by precipitating a solution of the pentachloride with sulphuretted hydrogen, by decomposing “Schlippe’s salt” (q.v.) with an acid, or by passing sulphuretted hydrogen into water containing antimonic acid. It forms a fine dark orange powder, insoluble in water, but readily soluble in aqueous solutions of the caustic alkalis and alkaline carbonates. On heating in absence of air, it decomposes into the trisulphide and sulphur.
An antimony phosphide and arsenide are known, as is also a thiophosphate, SbPS4, which is prepared by heating together antimony trichloride and phosphorus pentasulphide.
Many organic compounds containing antimony are known. By distilling an alloy of antimony and sodium with mythyl iodide, mixed with sand, trimethyl stibine, Sb(CH3)3, is obtained; this combines with excess of methyl iodide to form tetramethyl stibonium iodide, Sb(CH3)4I. From this iodide the trimethyl stibine may be obtained by distillation with an alloy of potassium and antimony in a current of carbon dioxide. It is a colourless liquid, slightly soluble in water, and is spontaneously inflammable. The stibonium iodide on treatment with moist silver oxide gives the corresponding tetramethyl stibonium hydroxide, Sb(CH3)4OH, which forms deliquescent crystals, of alkaline reaction, and absorbs carbon dioxide readily. On distilling trimethyl stibine with zinc methyl, antimony tetra-methyl and penta-methyl are formed. Corresponding antimony compounds containing the ethyl group are known, as is also a tri-phenyl stibine, Sb(C6H5)3, which is prepared from antimony trichloride, sodium and monochlorbenzene. See Chung Yu Wang,Antimony(1909).
Antimony in Medicine.—So far back as Basil Valentine and Paracelsus, antimonial preparations were in great vogue as medicinal agents, and came to be so much abused that a prohibition was placed upon their employment by the Paris parlement in 1566. Metallic antimony was utilized to make goblets in which wine was allowed to stand so as to acquire emetic properties, and “everlasting” pills of the metal, supposed to act by contact merely, were administered and recovered for future use after they had fulfilled their purpose. Antimony compounds act as irritants both externally and internally. Tartar emetic (antimony tartrate) when swallowed, acts directly on the wall of the stomach, producing vomiting, and after absorption continues this effect by its action on the medulla. It is a powerful cardiac depressant, diminishing both the force and frequency of the heart’s beat. It depresses respiration, and in large doses lowers temperature. It depresses the nervous system, especially the spinal cord. It is excreted by all the secretions and excretions of the body. Thus as it passes out by the bronchial mucous membrane it increases the amount of secretion and so acts as an expectorant. On the skin its action is that of a diaphoretic, and being also excreted by the bile it acts slightly as a cholagogue. Summed up, its action is that of an irritant, and a cardiac and nervous depressant. But on account of this depressant action it is to be avoided for women and children and rarely used for men.
Toxicology.—Antimony is one of the “protoplasmic” poisons, directly lethal to all living matter. In acute poisoning by it the symptoms are almost identical with those of arsenical poisoning, which is much commoner (SeeArsenic). The post-mortem appearances are also very similar, but the gastro-intestinal irritation is much less marked and inflammation of the lungs is more commonly seen. If the patient is not already vomiting freely the treatment is to use the stomach-pump, or give sulphate of zinc (gr. 10-30) by the mouth or apomorphine (gr.1⁄20-1⁄10) subcutaneously. Frequent doses of a teaspoonful of tannin dissolved in water should be administered, together with strong tea and coffee and mucilaginous fluids. Stimulants may be given subcutaneously, and the patient should be placed in bed between warm blankets with hot-water bottles. Chronic poisoning by antimony is very rare, but resembles in essentials chronic poisoning by arsenic. In its medico-legal aspects antimonial poisoning is of little and lessening importance.
ANTINOMIANS(Gr.ἀντί, against,νόμος, law), a term apparently coined by Luther to stigmatize Johannes Agricola (q.v.) and his following, indicating an interpretation of the antithesis between law and gospel, recurrent from the earliest times. Christians being released, in important particulars, from conformity to the Old Testament polity as a whole, a real difficulty attended the settlement of the limits and the immediate authority of the remainder, known vaguely as the moral law. Indications are not wanting that St Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith was, in his own day, mistaken or perverted in the interests of immoral licence. Gnostic sects approached the question in two ways. Marcionites, named by Clement of AlexandriaAntitactae(revolters against the Demiurge) held the Old Testament economy to be throughout tainted by its source; but they are not accused of licentiousness. Manichaeans, again, holding their spiritual being to be unaffected by the action of matter, regarded carnal sins as being, at worst, forms of bodily disease. Kindred to this latter view was the position of sundry sects of English fanatics during the Commonwealth, who denied that an elect person sinned, even when committing acts in themselves gross and evil. Different from either of these was the Antinomianism charged by Luther against Agricola. Its starting-point was a dispute with Melanchthon in 1527 as to the relation between repentance and faith. Melanchthon urged that repentance must precede faith, and that knowledge of the moral law is needed to produce repentance. Agricola gave the initial place to faith, maintaining that repentance is the work, not of law, but of the gospel-given knowledge of the love of God. The resulting Antinomian controversy (the only one within the Lutheran body in Luther’s lifetime) is not remarkable for the precision or the moderation of the combatants on either side. Agricola was apparently satisfied in conference with Luther and Melanchthon at Torgau, December 1527. His eighteenPositionesof 1537 revived thecontroversy and made it acute. Random as are some of his statements, he was consistent in two objects: (1) in the interest of solifidian doctrine, to place the rejection of the Catholic doctrine of good works on a sure ground; (2) in the interest of the New Testament, to find all needful guidance for Christian duty in its principles, if not in its precepts. From the latter part of the 17th century charges of Antinomianism have frequently been directed against Calvinists, on the ground of their disparagement of “deadly doing” and of “legal preaching.” The virulent controversy between Arminian and Calvinistic Methodists produced as its ablest outcome Fletcher’sChecks to Antinomianism(1771-1775).