Artesian WellArtesian Well.A. A.Outcrops of pervious stratum (C) acting as collecting areas.BandD. Impervious stratum.
Arte´sian Wells, so called from the French province of Artois, where they appear to have been first used on an extensive scale, are perpendicular borings into the ground through which water rises to the surface of the soil, producing a constant flow or stream, the ultimate sources of supply being higher than the mouth of the boring, and the water thus rising by the well-known law. They are generally sunk in valley plains and districts where the lower pervious strata are bent into basin-shaped curves. The rain falling on the outcrops of these saturates the whole porous bed, so that when the bore reaches it the water by hydraulic pressure rushes up towards the level of the highest portion of the strata. The supply is sometimes so abundant as to be used extensively as a moving power, and in arid regions for fertilizing the ground, to which purpose artesian springs have been applied from a very remote period. Thus many artesian wells have been sunk in the Algerian Sahara, which have proved an immense boon to the district. The water of most of these is potable, but a few are a little saline, though not to such an extent as to influence vegetation. The hollows in which London and Paris lie are both perforated in many places by borings of this nature. At London they were first sunk only to the sand, but afterwards into the chalk. One of the most celebrated artesian wells is that of Grenelle, near Paris, 1798 feet deep, completed in 1841, after eight years' work. Artesian wells are now common in many countries, and have been sunk to the depth of a mile or more. As the temperature of water from great depths is invariably higher than that at the surface, artesian wells have been made to supply warm water for heating manufactories, greenhouses, hospitals, fish-ponds, &c. They have also been made in the United States and Australia for the purpose of irrigation. Petroleum wells are generally of the same technical description. Artesian wells are now made with larger diameters than formerly, and altogether their construction has been rendered much more easy in modern times. SeeBoring.
Arteveld, orArtevelde(a˙r´te-velt, a˙r´te-vel-de), the name of two men distinguished in the history of the Low Countries.—1. Jacob van, a brewer of Ghent, born about 1300, was selected by his fellow-townsmen to lead them in their struggles against Count Louis of Flanders. In 1338 he was appointed captain of the forces of Ghent, and for several years exercised a sort of sovereign power. A proposal to make the Black Prince, son of Edward III of England, Governor of Flanders led to an insurrection in which Arteveld lost his life (1345).—2. Philip, son of the former, at the head of the forces of Ghent gained a great victory over the Count of Flanders, Louis II, and for a time assumed the state of a sovereign prince. His reign proved short-lived. The Countof Flanders returned with a large French force, fully disciplined and skilfully commanded. Arteveld was rash enough to meet them in the open field at Roosebeke, between Courtrai and Ghent, in 1382, and fell with 25,000 Flemings.
Arthri´tis(Gr.arthron, a joint), any inflammatory distemper that affects the joints, particularly chronic rheumatism or gout.
Arthro´dia, a species of articulation, in which the head of one bone is received into a shallow socket in another; a ball-and-socket joint.
Arthrop´oda, one of the two primary divisions (Anarthropoda being the other) into which modern naturalists have divided the sub-kingdom Annulosa, having the body composed of a series of segments, some always being provided with articulated appendages. The division comprises Crustaceans, Spiders, Scorpions, Centipedes, and Insects.
Arthrozo´a, a name sometimes given to all articulated animals, including the arthropoda and worms.
Arthur, Chester Alan, twenty-first President of the United States, born 1830, died 1886, was the son of Scottish parents, his father being pastor of Baptist churches in Vermont and New York. He chose law as a profession, and practised in New York. As a politician he became a leader in the Republican party. During the civil war he was energetic as quarter-master-general of New York in getting troops raised and equipped. He was afterwards collector of customs for the port of New York. In 1880 he was elected Vice-President, succeeding as President on the death of Garfield in 1881.
Ar´thur, King, an ancient British hero of the sixth century, son of Uther Pendragon and the Princess Igerna, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. He married Guinevere, or Ginevra; established the famous order of the Round Table; and reigned, surrounded by a splendid Court, twelve years in peace. After this, as the poets relate, he conquered Denmark, Norway, and France, slew the giants of Spain, and went to Rome. From thence he is said to have hastened home on account of the faithlessness of his wife, and Modred, his nephew, who had stirred up his subjects to rebellion. He subdued the rebels, but died in consequence of his wounds, on the Island of Avalon. The story of Arthur is supposed to have some foundation in fact, and has ever been a favourite subject with our romanticists and our poets. It is generally believed that Arthur was one of the last great Celtic chiefs who led his countrymen from the west of England to resist the settlement of the Saxons in the country. But many authorities regard him as a leader of the Cymry of Cumbria and Strath-Clyde against the Saxon invaders of the east coast and the Picts and Scots north of the Forth and the Clyde. SeeGrail,Merlin,Round Table.—Bibliography: J. Rhys,Studies in the Arthurian Legend; W. Lewis Jones,King Arthur in History and Legend.
Arthur's Seat, a picturesque hill within the King's Park in the immediate vicinity of Edinburgh; has an altitude of 822 feet; descends rollingly to theN.andE.over a base each way of about five furlongs; presents an abrupt shoulder to theS., and breaks down precipitously to theW.It is composed of a diversity of eruptive rocks, with some interposed and up-tilted sedimentary ones; and derives its name somehow from the legendary King Arthur.
Ar´tiad(Gr.artios, even-numbered), in chemistry, a name given to an element of even equivalency, as a dyad, tetrad, &c.: opposed to a perissad, an element of uneven equivalency, such as a monad, triad, &c.
Artichoke(Cynăra Scolўmus), sometimes called 'the Globe Artichoke', a well-known plant of the nat. ord. Compositæ, somewhat resembling a thistle, with large divided prickly leaves. The erect flower-stem terminates in a large round head of numerous imbricated oval spiny scales which surround the flowers. The fleshy bases of the scales with the large receptacle are the parts that are eaten. Artichokes were introduced into England early in the sixteenth century. The Jerusalem artichoke (a corruption of the It.girasole, a sunflower), orHelianthus tuberōsus, is a species of sunflower, whose roots are used like potatoes; it was introduced into England in the early part of the seventeenth century.
Article, in grammar, a part of speech used before nouns to limit or define their application. In Englishaoranis usually called the indefinite article (the latter form being used before a vowel sound), andthe, the definite article, but they are also described as adjectives.Anwas originally the same asone, andtheasthat. In Latin there were no articles, and Greek has only the definite article.
Articles, Lords of the, in Scottish history, a committee chosen equally from each estate or division of Parliament to prepare the various measures, which, when completed, were laid before the Parliament for adoption or rejection. They were first appointed in 1369, and gradually became a recognized part of the Scottish legislative machinery. Abolished 1690.
Articles, The Six, in English ecclesiastical history, articles imposed by a statute (often called the Bloody Statute) passed in 1541, the thirty-third year of the reign of Henry VIII. They decreed the acknowledgment of transubstantiation, the sufficiency of communion in one kind, the obligation of vows of chastity, the propriety of private masses, celibacy of the clergy,and auricular confession. Acceptance of these doctrines was made obligatory on all persons under the severest penalties; the Act, however, was relaxed in 1544, and repealed in 1549.
Articles, The Thirty-nine, of the Church of England, a statement of the particular points of doctrine, thirty-nine in number, maintained by the English Church; first promulgated by a convocation held in London in 1562-3, and confirmed by royal authority; founded on and superseding an older code issued in the reign of Edward VI. The first five articles contain a profession of faith in the Trinity; the incarnation of Jesus Christ, His descent to hell, and His resurrection; the divinity of the Holy Ghost. The three following relate to the canon of the Scripture. The eighth article declares a belief in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds. The ninth and following articles contain the doctrine of original sin, of justification by faith alone, of predestination, &c. The nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first declare the Church to be the assembly of the faithful; that it can decide nothing except by the Scriptures. The twenty-second rejects the doctrine of purgatory, indulgences, the adoration of images, and the invocation of saints. The twenty-third decides that only those lawfully called shall preach or administer the sacraments. The twenty-fourth requires the liturgy to be in English. The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth declare the sacraments effectual signs of grace (though administered by evil men), by which God excites and confirms our faith. They are two: baptism and the Lord's supper. Baptism, according to the twenty-seventh article, is a sign of regeneration, the seal of our adoption, by which faith is confirmed and grace increased. In the Lord's supper, according to article twenty-eight, the bread is the communion of the body of Christ, the wine the communion of his blood, but only through faith (article twenty-ninth); and the communion must be administered in both kinds (article thirty). The twenty-eighth article condemns the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the elevation and adoration of the host; the thirty-first rejects the sacrifice of the mass as blasphemous; the thirty-second permits the marriage of the clergy; the thirty-third maintains the efficacy of excommunication. The remaining articles relate to the supremacy of the king, the condemnation of Anabaptists, &c. They were ratified anew in 1604 and 1628. All candidates for ordination must subscribe these articles, but they are not binding upon laymen, except judges and certain university officials. This formulary is now accepted by the Episcopalian Churches of Scotland, Ireland, and America.
Articles of Associationare the rules framed by a company for the administration of its affairs. Public companies usually have separate articles of their own, but this is not essential. When a registered company has no articles, its business procedure is regulated by the statutory form, found in Schedule 1 of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, and known as Table A. When separate articles are used they must be printed, signed, stamped, and filed along with the memorandum of association. Unlike the memorandum, the articles may be altered at any time, by special resolution, provided the alteration is within the powers given by the memorandum. Thus, where preferred shares are created by the memorandum, their privileges are more secure than if merely issued under the articles. The articles are intended merely for internal administration, and, while binding in questions between the company and its members as such, they do not affect third parties, unless the company has actedultra viresand this was discoverable from the articles, which the public can inspect at a nominal fee.—Bibliography: Sir F. B. Palmer,Company Law; A. Coles,Guide for the Company Secretary; A. F. Topham,Principles of Company Law.
Articles of War.SeeMilitary Law.
Articula´ta, the third great section of the animal kingdom according to the arrangement of Cuvier, applied to invertebrates such as insects and worms, in which the body displays a jointed structure. The name is now obsolete. SeeArthropoda.
Articula´tion, in anatomy a joint; the joining or juncture of the bones. This is of three kinds: (1)Diarthrōsis, or a movable connection, such as the ball-and-socket joint; (2)Synarthrōsis, immovable connection, as by suture, or junction by serrated margins; (3)Symphysis, or union by means of another substance, by a cartilage, tendon, or ligament.
Artificial Limbs.Artificial limbs of a primitive kind have been in use from very early times; but, as the material of which they were made was perishable, few specimens have been preserved. In the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London there is a good specimen of a Roman artificial leg which is believed to date back to the third centuryB.C.This leg is made of wood, covered with thin bronze; it has an iron sole-plate, and was fastened on by means of a waist-belt.
In Irish legend we are told of Nuada, who led the tribe of the Dananns back to Ireland, having an artificial hand made of silver; from this he received the name of Argetlam or Silver-handed. In mediæval times Goetz von Berlichingen, who lost his right hand at the siege of Landshut (1505), had a hand made of iron to supply its place.
Great improvements have been made in the manufacture of artificial limbs during the lastfifty years. After the Franco-Prussian war the French Government adopted an artificial arm and hand known as the 'Beaufort' and issued it to the soldiers who required it. This hand had a movable thumb controlled by a cord passing up the arm and fastened to a loop band over the opposite shoulder. An Englishman named Heather Bigg invented a hand with a movable thumb which was worked by a piston and controlled by a rubber ball fastened under the arm-pit. These designs have been improved upon from time to time, and an artificial hand can now be made which is capable of opening and closing at will, and of lifting and holding light articles.
Artificial legs vary in design, from the simple pin leg to ingenious contrivances such as the 'Anglesey' leg, which is made of seasoned willow wood with steel ankles and knee-joints. This 'Anglesey' leg is the standard best-quality limb in Great Britain. The German artificial-limb makers use leather instead of wood. These leather legs fit comfortably, but are too heavy, as they have to be supported by steel bands.
Artillery, all ordnance such as guns and howitzers as opposed to small arms and machine-guns. The term is also used for the troops who serve these arms.
Generally speaking, artillery is divided into field, heavy, and siege artillery. For details of organization seeArmy. The earliest form of artillery was a metal tube which was placed in a convenient position on the ground. The charge of gunpowder was ignited by placing a match to a hole bored at the closed end, and the resulting explosion forced the projectile—a stone—more or less in the required direction. Later on this primitive weapon was provided with wheels. In another form one man fired it while a second man supported it on his shoulder. In the later Middle Ages guns of various calibres were known by the names of birds of prey or reptiles; among such were falcons and falconets, culverins and demi-culverins. The fourteenth century saw the development of artillery for siege purposes—chiefly by the Germans—and in the next century it began to be employed in open warfare; while in 1537 the present Honourable Artillery Company was formed in London to encourage the use of all 'weapons of volley'. These weapons of volley were not even confined to fire-arms, but included bows and cross-bows. The earliest English troops raised as artillery personel were called the Regiment of Firelocks. Of late years artillery science has made almost inconceivable progress, thanks to which,inter alia, it is no longer necessary for the target to be visible from the gun-position. This fact, combined with the use of smokeless powder, makes the locating of hostile batteries exceedingly difficult. All field artillery, by which is meant guns and howitzers, which accompany mobile troops are designed on the quick-firing principle, by which the inevitable recoil at the moment of firing is absorbed by an arrangement known as the recoil-carriage, thus preventing any movement of the gun-carriage proper, and avoiding unnecessary labour for the gun-detachments, while at the same time allowing the men composing it to remain under cover of the shield with which the guns are provided. With the quick-firing gun, propellent and projectile are combined in one cartridge similar to that in use with small arms; with the howitzer they are separated. This difference is due to the fact that whereas guns are designed for a flat trajectory with a deep zone of fire-effect, howitzers are intended for high-angle fire with an almost vertical fall of shrapnel-bullets. This effect is produced by varying the charge for different ranges. A field battery consists of 6 guns or howitzers and 12 ammunition-wagons. Both guns and wagons are of the limbered type, i.e. in two detachable parts, and the weight behind the team of an English gun is approximately 2 tons.
As to tactical principles, it is recognized that the function of artillery is to assist the other arms, that it cannot by itself win a battle, and that its truemétieris to prepare the way for and assist the infantry. During 1914-18 some 700,000 officers and men served with the Royal Regiment.
Artillery Company, The Honourable, the oldest existing body of volunteers in Great Britain, instituted in 1537, revived in 1610. It comprises six companies of infantry, besides artillery, and furnishes a guard of honour to the sovereign when visiting the city of London. Previous to 1842 the Company elected their own officers, but since that date they have been appointed by the Crown.
Artillery Schools, institutions established for the purpose of giving a special training to the officers, and in some cases the men, belonging to the artillery service. In Great Britain the artillery schools are at Woolwich and Shoeburyness. The Department of Artillery studies at Woolwich give artillery officers the means of continuing their studies after they have completed the usual course at the Royal Military College, and of qualifying for appointments requiring exceptional scientific attainments. The School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness gives instruction in gunnery to officers and men, and conducts all experiments connected with artillery and stores. The sands at the mouth of the Thames afford ample opportunity for artillery practice and firing at long ranges. The Royal Artillery Institution at Woolwich contains a museum, lecture-room, and printing-press, from which professional and scientific papers are periodically issued.
Artiodac´tyla(Gr.artios, even numbered,daktўlos, a finger or toe), a section of the Ungulata or hoofed mammals, comprising all those in which the number of the toes is even (two or four), including the ruminants, such as the ox, sheep, deer, &c., and also a number of non-ruminating animals, as the hippopotamus and the pig.
Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Act, an English Act of Parliament passed in 1868 to empower town councils and other local authorities to demolish or improve dwellings unfit for human habitation, and to build and maintain better dwellings in lieu thereof. Other Acts for the same object were passed in 1875, 1879, and 1882. SeeHousing.
Artocarpa´ceæ, a nat. ord. of plants, the bread-fruit order, by some botanists ranked as a sub-order of the Urticaceæ or nettles. They are trees or shrubs, with a milky juice, which in some species hardens into caoutchouc, and in the cow-tree (Brosĭmum Galactodendron) is a milk as good as that obtained from the cow. Many of the plants produce an edible fruit, of which the best known is the bread-fruit (Artocarpus).
Artois(a˙r-twä), a former province of France, anciently one of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands, now almost completely included in the department of Pas-de-Calais.
Artois, The Battle of.SeeEuropean War.
Arts, the name given to certain branches of study in the Middle Ages, originally called the 'liberal arts' to distinguish them from the 'servile arts' or mechanical occupations. These arts were usually given as grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. Hence originated the terms 'art classes', 'degrees in arts', 'Master of Arts', &c., still in common use in universities, the faculty of arts being distinguished from those of divinity, law, medicine, or science. SeeUniversity.
Artsybashev, Mikhail, Russian author, born in 1878. After a number of short stories he wrote, at the age of twenty-five, a novel entitledSanin, published in 1907, which placed him at once among the most famous contemporary Russian authors. Whatever opinion literary critics may hold of this novel, his wonderful realism, simplicity of style, and psychological analysis cannot be disputed.
Art Unions, associations for encouraging art, an object which they mainly pursue by disposing of pictures, sculptures, &c., by lottery among subscribers. They seem to have originated in France during the time of Napoleon I. They soon afterwards took root in Germany, where they have been very successful. The first art union established in Britain was that at Edinburgh in 1834. Art unions were legalized by the Art Unions Act, 1846 SeeLottery.
Artvin, a town in the Republic of Georgia, in the Caucasus, about 35 miles inland from Batum. Pop. 6720.
Aruba(a˙-rö´ba˙), an island off the north coast of Venezuela, belonging to Holland (a dependency of Curaçoa), about 30 miles long and 7 broad; surface generally rock, quartz being abundant, and containing considerable quantities of gold; a phosphate which is exported for manure is also abundant. The climate is healthy. Pop. 9481 (1916).
Aru Islands.SeeArru Islands.
ArumCuckoo Pint or Wake Robin (Arum maculātum). 1, Spadix. 2, Stamen. 3, Female flower. 4, Fruit.
A´rum, a genus of plants, nat. ord. Araceæ.A. maculātum(the common wake-robin, lords-and-ladies, or cuckoo pint) is abundant in woods and hedges in England and Ireland, but is rare in Scotland. It has acrid properties, but its corm yields a starch which is known by the name of Portland sago or arrowroot. At one time this was prepared to a considerable extent in Portland Island. All the species of this genus develop much heat during flowering.
Ar´undel, a town in Sussex, England, on the River Arun, 4 miles from its mouth, the river being navigable to the town for vessels of 250 tons. The castle of Arundel, the chief residence of the dukes of Norfolk, stands on a knoll on the north-east side of the town. Pop. (1921), 2741.
Ar´undel, Thomas, third son of RichardFitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, born 1352, died 1413. He was Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury. He concerted with Bolingbroke to deliver the nation from the oppression of Richard II, and was a bitter persecutor of the Lollards and followers of Wycliffe.
Arundelian Marbles, a series of ancient sculptured marbles discovered by William Petty, who explored the ruins of Greece at the expense of and for Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, who lived in the time of James I and Charles I, and was a liberal patron of scholarship and art. After the Restoration they were presented by the grandson of the collector to the University of Oxford. Among them is theParian Chronicle, a chronological account of the principal events in Grecian, and particularly in Athenian, history, during a period of 1186 years, from the reign of Cecrops (1450B.C.) to the archonship of Diognetus (264B.C.).
Arun´do.SeePhragmites.
Aruspices(a-rus´pi-sēz), orHaruspices, a class of priests in ancient Rome, of Etrurian origin, whose business was to inspect the entrails of victims killed in sacrifice, and by them to foretell future events.
Aruwimi, a large river of equatorial Africa, a tributary of the Congo, on the north bank.
Arval Brothers(Fratres Arvāles), a college or company of twelve members elected for life from the highest ranks in ancient Rome, so called from offering annually public sacrifices for the fertility of the fields (Lat.arvum, a field).
Arve(a˙rv), a river rising in the Savoyan Alps, passes through the valley of Chamonix, and falls into the Rhone near Geneva, after a course of about 50 miles.
Arvic´ola, a genus of rodent animals, sub-ord. Muridæ or Mice. There are three British species.A. amphibiais the water-vole (or water-rat), andA. agrestisis the field-vole or short-tailed field-mouse. They are prolific animals, having three or four litters in the year, each consisting of from four to ten young.
A´ryan, orIndo-European Family of Languages. SeeIndo-European Family.
As, a Roman weight of 12 ounces, answering to the libra or pound, and equal to 237.5 grains avoirdupois, or 327.1873 grammes French measure. In the most ancient times of Rome the copper or bronze coin which was calledasactually weighed anas, or a pound, but in 264B.C.it was reduced to 2 ounces, in 217 to 1 ounce, and in 191 to ½ ounce.
AsAs (half real size)—Specimen in British Museum
A´sa, great grandson of Solomon and third King of Judah; he ascended the throne at an early age, and distinguished himself by his zeal in rooting out idolatry with its attendant immoralities. He died after a prosperous reign of forty-one years.
Asafe´tida, orAsafœtida, a fetid inspissated sap from Central Asia, the solidified juice of theNarthex Asafetida, a large umbelliferous plant. It is used in medicine as an anti-spasmodic, and in cases of flatulency, in hysteric paroxysms, and other nervous affections. Notwithstanding its very disagreeable odour it is used as a seasoning in the East, and sometimes in Europe. An inferior sort is the product of certain species of Ferula.
Asagræ´a.SeeSabadilla.
Asa´ma, an active volcano of Japan, about 50 miles north-west of Tokio, 8260 feet high.
A´saph, a Levite and psalmist appointed by David as leading chorister in the divine services. His office became hereditary in his family, or he founded a school of poets and musicians, which were called, after him, "the sons of Asaph". SeePsalms.
Asaph, St., a small cathedral city and bishop's see in Wales, 15 miles north-west of Flint; founded about 550 by St. Kentigern or St. Mungo, bishop of Glasgow, and named after his disciple St. Asaph, from whom both the diocese and town took their name. The cathedral was built about the close of the fifteenth century; it consists of a choir, a nave, two aisles, and a transept. Pop. 1833.
Asarabac´ca, a small hardy European plant, nat. ord. Aristolochiaceæ (Asărum europœum). Its leaves are acrid, bitter, and nauseous, and its root is extremely acrid. Both the leaves and root were formerly used as an emetic. It entered into the composition of medicated snuffs recommended in cases of headache.
As´arum.SeeAsarabacca.
Asben,Air, orAhir, a kingdom of Africa, in the Sahara. It consists of a succession of mountain groups and valleys, with a generally western slope, and attains in its highest summits a height of over 5000 feet. The valleys are very fertile, and often of picturesque appearance. The inhabitants are Tuaregs or Berbers, with an admixture of negro blood. They live partly in villages, partly as nomads. The country is nominally ruled over by a sultan, who resides in the capital, Agades. Pop. about 60,000.
Asbes´tos, orAsbestus, a remarkable and highly-useful mineral, a fibrous variety of several members of the hornblende family, composed of separable filaments, with a silky lustre. The fibres are sometimes delicate, flexible, and elastic; at other times stiff and brittle. It is incombustible, and anciently was wrought into asoft, flexible cloth, which was used as a shroud for dead bodies. In modern times it has been manufactured into incombustible cloth, gloves, felt, paper, &c.; is employed in gas-stoves; is much used as a covering to steam boilers and pipes; is mixed with metallic pigments, and used as a paint on wooden structures, roofs, partitions, &c., to render them fire-proof, and is employed in various other ways, the manufacture having recently greatly developed. Some varieties are compact, and take a fine polish, others are loose, like flax or silky wool.Ligniform asbestos, ormountain-wood, is a variety presenting an irregular filamentous structure, like wood.Rock-cork,mountain-leather,fossil-paper, andfossil-flaxare varieties. Asbestos is found in many parts of the world, but is chiefly supplied by Italy, Canada, and Australia. Mineralogically it is distinct from chrysotile, which is used for similar purposes.
Asbjörnsen(a˙s´byeurn-sen), Peter Kristen, born 1812, died 1885, a distinguished Norwegian naturalist and collector of the popular tales and legends, fairy stories, &c., of his native country.
Asbury Park, a small town on the coast of New Jersey, United States, a great summer resort. Its population increases during the summer months from 10,000 to 100,000.
As´calon, orAsh´kelon, a ruined town of Palestine, on the sea-coast, 40 milesW.S.W.of Jerusalem. It was occupied by the Crusaders under Richard I after a great battle with Saladin (1192) and by General Allenby's troops in Nov., 1917.
Asca´nius, the son of Æneas and Creusa, and the companion of his father's wanderings from Troy to Italy.
As´caris.SeeNematoda.
Ascen´sion(discovered on Ascension Day), an island of volcanic origin belonging to Britain, near the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, about lat. 7° 55'S.; long. 14° 25'W.; 700 miles north-west of St. Helena; area, about 34 sq. miles. Pop. 196 (1914). It is retained by Britain as a naval sanatorium, coaling and victualling station, and store depot. It has a steam factory, naval and victualling yards, hospitals, and a coal depot. It is celebrated for its turtle, which are the finest in the world. Wild goats are plentiful, and oxen, sheep, pheasants, guinea-fowl, and rabbits have been introduced, and thrive well. The village of Georgetown, the seat of government, stands on the west side of the island, which is governed under the admiralty by a naval officer.
Ascension, Right, of a star or other heavenly body, in astronomy, the arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator which comes to the meridian at the same instant with the star.
Ascension Day, the day on which the ascension of the Saviour is commemorated, often calledHoly Thursday: a movable feast, always falling on the Thursday but one before Whitsuntide.
Ascet´icismandAscet´ics(from the Gr.askēsis, meaning practice, bodily exercise, or athletic training). The early Christians, who devoted themselves to severe exercises of piety and strove to distinguish themselves from the world by abstinence from sensual enjoyments and by voluntary penances, adopted the name to signify the practice of spiritual things. Ascetics and asceticism have played an important part in the Christian Church, but the principle of striving after a higher and more spiritual life by subduing the animal appetites and passions has no necessary connection with Christianity. Thus there were ascetics among the Jews previous to Christ, and asceticism was inculcated by the Stoics, while in its most extreme form it may still be seen among the Brahmans and Buddhists. Monasticism was but one phase of asceticism. It must also be borne in mind that in the history of asceticism, pagan, Christian, Jewish, and Mohammedan, we are often dealing not only with religious but distinctly abnormal temperaments. SeeMonasticism.
Asch(a˙sh), a town of Czecho-Slovakia, in the extreme north-western corner of former Bohemia, with manufactures of cotton, woollen, and silk goods, bleachfields, dyeworks, &c. Pop. 21,583.
Aschaffenburg(a˙-sha˙f´en-börh), a town of Bavaria, on the Main and Aschaff, 26 milesE.S.E.of Frankfort. The chief edifice is the castle of Johannisberg, built between 1605 and 1614, and for centuries the summer residence of the Elector. There are manufactures of coloured paper, tobacco, liqueurs, &c. Pop. 29,891.
Ascham(as´kam), Roger, a learned Englishman, born in 1515 of a respectable family in Yorkshire, died 1568. He was entered at St. John's College, Cambridge, 1530, and was elected fellow in 1534 and tutor in 1537. He was Latin secretary to Edward VI and also to Mary. He was tutor to Princess Elizabeth during her girlhood, and he became her secretary after she ascended the throne. In 1544 he wrote hisToxophilus, or Schole of Shooting, in praise of his favourite amusement and exercise—archery. Between 1563 and 1568 he wrote hisScholemaster, a treatise on the best method of teaching children Latin. Some of his writings, including many letters, were in Latin. He wrote the best English style of his time. His life was written by Dr. Johnson to accompany an edition of his works published in 1769.
Aschersleben(a˙sh´ėrz-lā-ben), a town of Prussian Saxony, in the district of Magdeburg,near the junction of the Eine with the Wipper. Industries: woollens, machinery and metal goods, sugar, paper, &c. Pop. 28,968.
Ascid´ia(Gr.askos, a wine-skin), the name given to the 'Sea-squirts' or main section of the Tunicata, a class of animals of low grade, resembling a double-necked bottle, of a leathery or gristly nature, found at low-water mark on the sea-beach, and dredged from deep water attached to stones, shells, and fixed objects. One of the prominent openings admits the food and the water required in respiration, the other is the excretory aperture. A singleganglionrepresents the nervous system, placed between the two apertures. Male and female reproductive organs exist in each ascidian. They pass through peculiar phases of development, the young ascidian appearing like a tadpole-body. They may besingleorsimple,socialorcompound. Insocial ascidiansthe peduncles of a number of individuals are united into a common tubular stem, with a partial common circulation of blood. In these animals evolutionists see a link between the Mollusca and the Vertebrata.
AscidiansAscidians1, Perophora:a, mouth;b, vent;c, intestinal canal;d, stomach;e, common tubular stem. 2, Ascidia echinata. 3, Ascidia virginea. 4, Cynthia quadrangularis. 5, Botryllus violaceus.
1, Perophora:a, mouth;b, vent;c, intestinal canal;d, stomach;e, common tubular stem. 2, Ascidia echinata. 3, Ascidia virginea. 4, Cynthia quadrangularis. 5, Botryllus violaceus.
Asclepliada´ceæ,an order of gamopetalous Dicotyledons, the distinguishing characteristic of which is that the anthers adhere to the five stigmatic processes, the whole sexual apparatus forming a single mass. The pollination arrangements are peculiar, recalling those of orchids. The members of this order are shrubs, or sometimes herbaceous plants, occasionally climbing, almost always with a milky juice. Many of them are employed as purgatives, diaphoretics, tonics, and febrifuges, and others as articles of food. Asclepias is the typical genus. SeeAsclepias,Calotropis,Stapelia,Stephanotis.
Ascle´piades(-dēz), the name of a number of ancient Greek writers—poets, grammarians, &c—of whom little is known, and also of several ancient physicians, the most celebrated of whom wasAsclepiades, of Bithynia, who acquired considerable repute at Rome about the beginning of the first centuryB.C.
Ascle´pias, orSwallow-wort, a genus of plants, the type and the largest genus of the nat. ord. Asclepiadaceæ. Most of the species are North American herbs, having opposite, alternate, or verticillate leaves. Many of them possess powerful medicinal qualities.A. decumbensis diaphoretic and sudorific, and has the singular property of exciting general perspiration without increasing in any sensible degree the heat of the body;A. curassavicais emetic, and its roots are frequently sent to England as ipecacuanha; the roots ofA. tuberōsaare famed for diaphoretic properties. Many other species are also used as medicines, and several are cultivated for the beauty of their flowers.
Asclepios.SeeÆsculapius.
As´coli, orAscoli Piceno(ancient,Ascŭlum), a province in Central Italy.—The capital of the province, also calledAscoli Piceno, episcopal see of the Marches (the ancient Ascŭlum), is situated 90 miles north-east of Rome and contains, among several handsome new buildings, the remains of temples, an ancient theatre, &c. It has also many fine pre-Renaissance buildings, such as the Gothic Church S. Francesco and the Palazzo del Commune. At Castel Trosino, near Ascoli, a necropolis of the seventh century was discovered in 1895. Population of the town, 28,882; of the province, 261,835 (1915).
As´coli Satriano(ancient,Ascŭlum Apŭlum), a town of S. Italy, province Foggia. Pop. 9700.
Ascomyce´tes(-tēz), one of the main subdivisions of the Eumycetes or Higher Fungi, distinguished by their principal spores being produced in organs calledasci. Typically, anascusis a cylindrical or club-shaped structure containing at maturity eightascospores, which are usually liberated explosively and thereafter dispersed by the wind. As a rule numerous asci are massed together in a layer orascus-hymenium, which is variously disposed on a more or less massive fruit-body, according to the form and structure of which the group is further subdivided into a number of sections and families, the chief being Erysiphales, Plectascineæ, Pyrenomycetes, Discomycetes (q.v.).
Asco´nius(Quintus A. Pedianus), a Roman writer of the first centuryA.D., who wrote a life of Sallust, a reply to the detractors of Virgil, and commentaries on Cicero's orations, some of which are extant.
As´cot,an English race-course adjacent to theS.W.extremity of the great park of Windsor. The races, which take place in the second week in June, constitute, for value of stakes and qualityof horses, the best meeting of the year, as it is the most fashionable.
As´gard(literally, gods' yard, or the abode of the gods), in Scandinavian mythology the home of the gods orÆsir, rising, like the Greek Olympus, frommidgard, or the middle world, that is, the earth. It was here that Odin and the rest of the gods, the twelve Æsir, dwelt—the gods in the mansion called Gladsheim, the goddesses dwelling in Vingulf. Walhalla, in which heroes slain in battle dwelt, was also here. Below the boughs of the ash tree Yggdrasill the gods assembled every day in council.
Asgill(as´gil), John, an eccentric English writer, a lawyer by profession, born 1659, died 1738. In 1699 he published a pamphlet to prove that Christians were not necessarily liable to death, death being the penalty imposed for Adam's sin and Christ having satisfied the law. Having crossed over to Ireland, he was beginning to get into a good practice, and was elected to the Irish House of Commons, when his pamphlet was ordered to be burned by the public hangman, and he himself was expelled the House. His whole subsequent life was passed in pecuniary and other troubles, mostly in the Fleet or within the rules of the King's Bench.
Ash(Fraxĭnus), a genus of deciduous trees belonging to the nat. ord. Oleaceæ, having imperfect flowers and a seed-vessel prolonged into a thin wing at the apex (called asamara). There are a good many species, chiefly indigenous to North America. The common ash (F. excelsior), the only species indigenous to Central and Northern Europe, has a smooth bark, and grows tall and rather slender. The branches are flattened; the leaves have five pairs of pinnæ, terminated by an odd one, dark-green in colour; lanceolate, with serrated edges. The flowers are produced in loose spikes from the sides of the branches, and are succeeded by flat seeds which ripen in autumn. It is one of the most useful of British trees on account of the excellence of its hard tough wood and the rapidity of its growth, but often suffers greatly from a canker caused by the fungusNectria ditissima. There are many varieties of it, as the weeping-ash, the curled-leaved ash, the entire-leaved ash, &c. The flowering or manna ash (F. Ornus), by some placed in a distinct genus (Ornus), is a native of the south of Europe and Palestine. It yields the substance called manna, which is obtained by making incisions in the bark, when the juice exudes and hardens. Among American species are the white ash (F. americana), with lighter bark and leaves; the red or black ash (F. pubescens), with a brown bark; the black ash (F. sambucifolia), the blue ash, the green ash, &c. They are all valuable trees. The mountain-ash or rowan belongs to a different order.
AshCommon Ash (Fraxĭnus excelsior)1, Hermaphrodite flower. 2, Anthers of male flower.
1, Hermaphrodite flower. 2, Anthers of male flower.
Ash, orAshes, the incombustible residue of organic bodies (animal or vegetable) remaining after combustion; in common usage, any incombustible residue of bodies used as fuel; as a commercial term, the word generally means the ashes of vegetable substances, from which are extracted the alkaline matters called potash, pearl-ash, kelp, barilla, &c.
Ashan´go, a region in the interior of Southern Africa between lat. 1° and 2°S., and between the Ogowe and the Lower Congo, a mountainous country in the French territory. The inhabitants belong to the Bantu stock, and among them are a dwarfish people, the Obongo, said to be about 4½ feet high at most.
Ashanti´, a British territory in West Africa belonging to the Gold Coast Colony, of which it forms a large inland portion, under a chief commissioner; area about 20,000 sq. miles. It is in great part hilly, well-watered, and covered with dense tropical vegetation, and rich forests with excellent timber trees. The country round the towns, however, is carefully cultivated. The crops are chiefly rice, maize, millet, sugar-cane,cocoa, and yams, the last forming the staple vegetable food of the natives. Rubber is also a product. The domestic animals are cows, horses of small size, goats, and a species of hairy sheep. The wild animals include the elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion, hippopotamus, &c. Birds are numerous, and crocodiles and other reptiles abound. Gold is abundant, and mining concessions are now successfully worked. The Ashantis make excellent cotton and silk cloths, articles in gold and other metals, earthenware, leather, &c. Ashanti used to form a kingdom ruled despotically, human sacrifices being very common. It is now under British administration, and attention is given to education, sanitation, agriculture, means of communication, &c. There are Government schools at Coomassie and Sunyani and a number of missionary schools. The chief town is Coomassie (or Kumassi), now reached by a railway from the coast (length 168 miles); its population is 24,000. The British first came in contact with the Ashantis in 1807, and hostilities continued off and on till 1826, when they were driven from the sea-coast. Immediately after the transfer of the Dutch settlements on the Gold Coast to Britain in 1872—when the entire coast remained in British hands—the Ashantis reclaimed the sovereignty of the tribes round the settlement of Elmina. This brought on a war, leading to a British expedition in 1874, in which Coomassie was captured. In 1896 the country became a British protectorate. In 1901 a rebellion had to be put down, and next year Ashanti was fully annexed. Pop. 287,814 (1911).—Cf. R. A. Freeman,Travels and Life in Ashantee and Jaman.
Ash´bourne, a town of England, in Derbyshire, 12 milesN.W.of Derby, with manufactures of cottons and lace. Pop. 4039.
Ash´burton, a town in Devonshire, England, 16 milesS.W.of Exeter, a parliamentary borough till 1868, and till 1918 giving name to a parliamentary division. Pop. (1921), 2362.
Ash´burton, Alexander Baring, Lord, a British statesman and financier, born 1774, died 1848. A younger son of Sir Francis Baring, he was bred to commercial pursuits, which for some years kept him in the United States and Canada, and in 1810 he became head of the great firm of Baring Brothers & Co. He sat in Parliament from 1806 to 1835, when he was raised to the peerage, after being a member of Peel's Government (1834-5).
Ash´burton Treaty, a treaty concluded at Washington, 1842, by Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton, and the President of the United States; it defined the boundaries between the States and Canada, &c.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch(ash´bi-del-a-zöch´), a town in Leicestershire, England, on the borders of Derbyshire, with manufactures of hosiery, leather, &c. Pop. (1921), 4983.
Ash´dod, a place on the coast of Palestine, formerly one of the chief cities of the Philistines, now an insignificant village.
A´sher, one of Jacob's sons, and founder of the tribe called after him, who occupied a fertile territory in Palestine along the coast between Carmel and Lebanon.
Ashe´ra, an ancient Semitic goddess whose symbol was the phallus. In the Revised Version of the Old Testament this word is used to translate what in the Authorized Version is translated "grove", as connected with the idolatrous practices into which the Jews were prone to fall.
Ash´ford, a thriving town of England, in Kent, situated near the confluence of the upper branches of the River Stour, with large locomotive and railway-carriage works. It gives name to a parliamentary division of the county. Pop. (1921), 14,355.
Ashington, an urban district or town of England, Northumberland, north-east of Morpeth, and about 2 miles from the sea, in a district of collieries. Pop. (1921), 29,406.
Ashi´ra, a native race or people of Western Equatorial Africa, to the south of the Ogowe River, in the French Congo Territory.
Ash´land, a city of the United States, in Wisconsin. Pop. (1920), 11,334.—Also a city of Kentucky. Pop. (1920), 14,729.
Ash´lar, masonry consisting of stones squared and smoothed in front and built in regular courses.
Ashley, Lord.SeeShaftesbury, First Earl of.
Ashmead-Bartlett, Sir Ellis, English politician, born in 1849. He entered Parliament in 1880, and was Civil Lord of the Admiralty from 1885 to 1892. He served in the Græco-Turkish and South African wars, and was knighted in 1892. He died in 1902.
Ash´mole, Elias, English antiquary, born 1617, died 1692. He became a chancery solicitor in London, but afterwards studied at Oxford, taking up mathematics, physics, chemistry, and particularly astrology. He publishedTheatrum Chymicumin 1652. On the Restoration he received the post of Windsor Herald, and other appointments both honourable and lucrative. In 1672 appeared hisHistory of the Order of the Garter. He presented to the University of Oxford his collection of rarities, to which he afterwards added his books and MSS., thereby commencing the Ashmolean Museum.
Ash´taroth.SeeAstarte.
Ashton-in-Makerfield, a town of Lancashire, England, 4 miles from Wigan, with collieries, cotton-mills, &c. Pop. (1921), 22,489.
Ashton-under-Lyne, a municipal and parliamentary borough of Lancashire, England, 6 mileseast of Manchester, on the north bank of the River Tame, a well-built place, with handsome streets and public buildings. The chief employment is the cotton manufacture, but there are also collieries and ironworks, which employ a great many persons. Pop. 51,080; (municipal borough) (1921), 43,333.
Ashton-upon-Mersey, a town or urban district of England, Cheshire, on the south side of the Mersey, several miles south-west of Manchester. Pop. (1921), 7780.
Ashura´da, a small island in theS.E.corner of the Caspian, formed by Russia into a trading station.
Ash-Wednesday, the first day of Lent, so called from a custom in the Western Church of sprinkling ashes that day on the heads of penitents, then admitted to penance. The period at which the fast of Ash-Wednesday was instituted is uncertain; but it probably dates from the eighth century at least. In the Roman Catholic Church the ashes are now strewn on the heads of all the clergy and people present. In the Anglican Church Ash-Wednesday is regarded as an important fast day.
Asia, the largest of the great divisions of the earth; length, from the extreme south-western point of Arabia, at the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, to the extreme north-eastern point of Siberia—East Cape, or Cape Vostochni, in Behring's Strait—6900 miles; breadth, from Cape Chelyuskin, in Northern Siberia, to Cape Romania, the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, 5300 miles; area estimated at 17,250,000 sq. miles, about a third of all the land of the earth's surface. On three sides,N.,E., andS., the ocean forms its natural boundary, while in theW.the frontier is marked mainly by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, and the Red Sea. There is no proper separation between Asia and Europe, the latter being really a great peninsula of the former. Asia, though not so irregular in shape as Europe, is broken in theS.by three great peninsulas, Arabia, Hindustan, and Farther India, while the east coast presents peninsular projections and islands, forming a series of sheltered seas and bays, the principal peninsulas being Kamtshatka and Corea. The principal islands are those forming the Malay or Asiatic Archipelago, which stretch round in a wide curve on theS.E.of the continent. Besides the larger islands—Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Mindanao, and Luzon (in the Philippine group)—there are countless smaller islands grouped round these. Other islands are Ceylon, in theS.of India; the Japanese Islands and Sakhalin on theE.of the continent; Formosa,S.E.of China; Cyprus,S.of Asia Minor; and New Siberia and Wrangell, in the Arctic Ocean.
The mountain systems of Asia are of great extent, and their culminating points are the highest in the world. The greatest of all is the Himálaya system, which lies mainly between long. 70° and 100°E.and lat. 28° and 37°N.It extends, roughly speaking, from north-west to south-east, its total length being about 1500 miles, forming the northern barrier of Hindustan. The loftiest summits are Mount Everest, 29,002 feet high, Godwin-Austen, 28,265, and Kanchinjinga, 28,156. The principal passes, which rise to the height of 18,000 to 20,000 feet, are the highest in the world. A second great mountain system of Central Asia, connected with the north-western extremity of the Himálaya system by the elevated region of Pamir (about long. 70°-75°E., lat. 37°-40°N.), is the Thian-Shan system, which runs north-eastward for a distance of 1200 miles. In this direction the Altai, Sayan, and other ranges continue the line of elevations to the north-eastern coast. A north-western continuation of the Himálaya is the Hindu Kush, and farther westward a connection may be traced between the Himálaya mass and the Elburz range (18,460) feet, south of the Caspian, and thence to the mountains of Kurdistan, Armenia, and Asia Minor.
There are vast plateaux and elevated valley regions connected with the great central mountain systems, but large portions of the continent are low and flat. Tibet forms the most elevated table-land in Asia, its mean height being estimated at 15,000 feet. On its south is the Himálayan range, while the Kuen-Lun range forms its northern barrier. Another great but much lower plateau is that which comprises Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Persia, and which to the north-west joins into the plateau of Asia Minor. The principal plain of Asia is that of Siberia, which extends along the north of the continent and forms an immense alluvial tract sloping to the Arctic Ocean. Vast swamps or peat-mosses calledtundrascover large portions of this region. South-west of Siberia, and stretching eastward from the Caspian, is a low-lying tract consisting to a great extent of steppes and deserts, and including in its area the Sea of Aral. In the east of China there is an alluvial plain of some 200,000 sq. miles in extent; in Hindustan are plains extending for 2000 miles along the south slope of the Himálaya; and between Arabia and Persia, watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, is the plain of Mesopotamia or Assyria, one of the richest in the world. Of the deserts of Asia the largest is that of Gobi (long. 90°-120°E., lat. 40°-48°N.), large portions of which are covered with nothing but sand or display a surface of bare rock. An almost continuous desert region may also be traced from the desert of North Africa through Arabia (which is largely occupied by baredeserts), Persia, and Baluchistan to the Indus.