Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Keith Edkins and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they
are listed at the end of the text.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note: In the pronunciation guides [=e] signifies "e macron";
[)e] "e breve"; [a:] "a with diaeresis below"; [.a] "a with dot above";
[n.] "n with dot below"; [:a] "a with diaeresis"; and so forth.
THE
NEW . GRESHAM
ENCYCLOPEDIA
VOLUME . I . PART . 3
[Illustration]
_The_ GRESHAM . PUBLISHING
COMPANY . _Limited_
66 CHANDOS STREET . STRAND
LONDON W.C.2.
1922
* * * * *
LIST OF PLATES AND MAPS
* * * * *
VOLUME I PART 3
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PLATES
Page
BACTERIA 348
MAPS IN COLOUR
AUSTRALIA 316
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KEY TO PRONUNCIATION
* * * * *
The method of marking pronunciations here employed is either (1) by marking
the syllable on which the accent falls, or (2) by a simple system of
transliteration, to which the following is the Key:--
VOWELS
[=a], as in f_a_te, or in b_a_re.
[:a], as in _a_lms, Fr. _a_me, Ger. B_a_hn = a of Indian names.
[.a], the same sound short or medium, as in Fr. b_a_l, Ger. M_a_nn.
a, as in f_a_t.
[a:], as in f_a_ll.
_a_, obscure, as in rur_a_l, similar to _u_ in b_u_t, [.e] in h_e_r: common
in Indian names.
[=e], as in m_e_ = _i_ in mach_i_ne.
e, as in m_e_t.
[.e], as in h_e_r.
[=i], as in p_i_ne, or as _ei_ in Ger. m_ei_n.
i, as in p_i_n, also used for the short sound corresponding to [=e], as in
French and Italian words.
_eu_, a long sound as in Fr. j_eu_ne = Ger. long _oe_, as in S_oe_hne,
G_oe_the (Goethe).
eu, corresponding sound short or medium, as in Fr. p_eu_ = Ger. _oe_ short.
[=o], as in n_o_te, m_oa_n.
o, as in n_o_t, s_o_ft--that is, short or medium.
[:o], as in m_o_ve, tw_o_.
[=u] as in t_u_be.
u, as in t_u_b: similar to [.e] and also to a.
[u:], as in b_u_ll.
[:u], as in Sc. ab_u_ne = Fr. _u_ as in d_u_, Ger. _[:u]_ long as in
gr_ue_n, B_ue_hne.
[.u], the corresponding short or medium sound, as in Fr. b_u_t, Ger.
M_ue_ller.
oi, as in _oi_l.
ou, as in p_ou_nd; or as _au_ in Ger. H_au_s.
CONSONANTS
Of the _consonants_, B, D, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, NG, P, SH, T, V, Z, always
have their common English sounds, when used to transliterate foreign words.
The letter C is not used by itself in re-writing for pronunciation, S or K
being used instead. The only consonantal symbols, therefore, that require
explanation are the following:--
ch is always as in ri_ch_.
_d_, nearly as _th_ in _th_is = Sp. _d_ in Ma_d_ri_d_, &c.
g is always hard, as in _g_o.
_h_ represents the guttural in Scotch lo_ch_, Ger. na_ch_, also other
similar gutturals.
[n.], Fr. nasal _n_ as in bo_n_.
r represents both English _r_, and _r_ in foreign words, which is generally
much more strongly trilled.
s, always as in _s_o.
th, as _th_ in _th_in.
_th_, as _th_ in _th_is.
w always consonantal, as in _w_e.
x = ks, which are used instead.
y always consonantal, as in _y_ea (Fr. _ligne_ would be re-written
l[=e]ny).
zh, as _s_ in plea_s_ure = Fr. _j_.
* * * * *
ATREB'ATES, ancient inhabitants of that part of Gallia Belgica, afterwards
called _Artois_. A colony of them settled in Britain, in a part of
Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
AT'REK, a river of Asia, forming the boundary between Persia and the
Russian Transcaspian territory, and flowing into the Caspian; length 250
miles.
ATREUS (at'r[=u]s), in Greek mythology, a son of Pelops and Hippodam[=i]a,
and grandson of Tant[)a]lus. Atreus was the father of Agamemnon, according
to Homer; other writers call him Agamemnon's grandfather. He succeeded
Eurystheus, his father-in-law, as King of Myc[=e]nae, and in revenge for
the seduction of his wife by his brother Thyestes gave a banquet at which
the latter partook of the flesh of his own sons. Atreus was killed by
Aegisthus, a son of Thyestes. The tragic events connected with this family
furnished materials to some of the great Greek dramatists.
ATRI (ancient, HADRIA), an episcopal city in the province of Teramo, Italy,
8 miles from the Adriatic. It has an old (thirteenth century) Gothic
cathedral, ruins of ancient Roman walls and buildings, and a palace of the
Agraviva family, who were Dukes of Atri from 1398 to 1775. Pop. 14,043.
AT'RIPLEX. See _Orache_.
A'TRIUM, the entrance-hall and most important apartment of a Roman house,
generally ornamented with statues, pictures, and _imagines_ or ancestral
likenesses, which were portrait masks in wax kept in cases. The _atrium_
formed the reception-room for visitors and clients. It was lighted by the
_compluvium_, an opening in the roof, towards which the roof sloped so as
to throw the rainwater into a cistern in the floor called the _impluvium_.
In zoology the term is applied to the large chamber or 'cloaca' into which
the intestine opens in the Tunicata.
AT'ROPA, the nightshade genus of plants. See _Belladonna_.
AT'ROPHY, a wasting of the flesh due to some interference with the
nutritive processes. It may arise from a variety of causes, such as
permanent, oppressive, and exhausting passions, organic disease, a want of
proper food or of pure air, suppurations in important organs, copious
evacuations of blood, saliva, semen, &c., and it is also sometimes produced
by poisons, for example arsenic, mercury, lead, in miners, painters,
gilders, &c. In old age the whole frame except the heart undergoes atrophic
change, and it is of frequent occurrence in infancy as a consequence of
improper, unwholesome food, exposure to cold, damp, or impure air, &c.
Single organs or parts of the body may be affected irrespective of the
general state of nutrition; thus local atrophy may be superinduced by
palsies, the pressure of tumours upon the nerves of the limbs, or by
artificial pressure, as in the feet of Chinese ladies.
AT'ROPIN, or AT'ROPINE, a crystalline alkaloid obtained from the deadly
nightshade (_Atr[)o]pa Belladonna_). It is very poisonous, and produces
persistent dilation of the pupil.
AT'ROPOS, the eldest of the three Fates (the others being Clotho and
Lach[)e]sis), who cuts the thread of life with her shears.
ATTACHE (at'a-sh[=a]), a junior member of the diplomatic services attached
to an embassy or legation.
ATTACH'MENT, in English law, a taking of the person, goods, or estate by
virtue of a writ or precept. It is distinguished from an _arrest_ by
proceeding out of a higher court by precept or writ, whereas the latter
proceeds out of an inferior court by precept only. An arrest lies only
against the body of a man, whereas an attachment lies often against the
goods only, and sometimes against the body and goods. It differs from a
_distress_ in that an attachment does not extend to lands, while a distress
cannot touch the body.--_Foreign attachment_ answers to what in Scotland is
termed arrestment, by means of which a creditor may obtain the security of
the goods or other personal property of his debtor in the hands of a third
person for the purpose of enforcing the appearance of the debtor to answer
to an action, and afterwards, upon his continued default, of obtaining the
property absolutely in satisfaction of the demand.
ATTACK', the opening act of hostility by a force seeking to dislodge an
enemy from its position. It is considered more advantageous to offer than
to await attack, even in a defensive war. The historic forms of attack are:
(1) the parallel; (2) the form in which both wings attack and the centre is
kept back; (3) the form in which the centre is pushed forward and the wings
kept back; (4) the famous oblique mode, dating at least from Epaminondas,
and employed by Frederick the Great, where one wing advances to engage,
whilst the other is kept back, and occupies the attention of the enemy by
pretending an attack. Napoleon preferred to mass heavy columns against an
enemy's centre. The forms of attack have changed with the weapons used. In
the days of the pike heavy masses were the rule, but the use of the musket
led to an extended battle-front to give effect to the fire. The advance in
long and slender lines which grew out of this has been not less famous in
the annals of British attack than the square formation in those of defence.
In the European War (1914-18) the Germans often attacked in mass-formation;
but British attacks were usually carried out by successive _waves_; one
wave secured its objective and consolidated it while another wave passed
through to attack a more advanced objective. Artillery preparation became
of increasingly great importance; it broke down the enemy's wire,
counteracted his artillery-fire, and made his infantry keep under cover. In
trench-to-trench attacks machine-guns and trench-mortars were of great
value, and many casualties were avoided by the skilful use of tanks in the
attack. But it is still a fundamental principle of tactics that the
infantry is the chief factor in the attack, and that no attack can be
considered overwhelmingly successful without the use of the bayonet.
ATTAIN'DER, the legal consequences of a sentence of death or outlawry
pronounced against a person for treason or felony, the person being said to
be _attainted_. It resulted in forfeiture of estate and 'corruption of
blood', rendering the party incapable of inheriting property or
transmitting it to heirs; but these results now no longer follow. Formerly
persons were often subjected to attainder by a special Bill or Act passed
in Parliament called _Bills of Attainder_, the last being passed in 1798,
in the case of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, one of the Irish rebel leaders.
ATTAINT', a writ at common law against a jury for a false verdict, finally
abolished in England in 1825.
ATTALE'A, a genus of American palms, comprising the piassava palm, which
produces coquilla-nuts.
ATT'ALUS, the names of three kings of ancient Pergamus (241-133 B.C.), the
last of whom bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans. They were all patrons of
art and literature.
AT'TAR, in the East Indies, a general term for a perfume from flowers; in
Europe generally used only of the _attar_ or _otto of roses_, an essential
oil made from _Rosa centifolia_, the hundred-leaved or cabbage-rose, _R.
damasc[=e]na_, or damask-rose, _R. mosch[=a]ta_, or musk-rose, &c., 100,000
roses yielding only 180 grains of attar. Cashmere, Shiraz, and Damascus are
celebrated for its manufacture, and there are extensive rose farms in the
valley of Kezanlik in Roumelia and at Ghazipur in Benares. The oil is at
first greenish, but afterwards it presents various tints of green, yellow,
and red. It is concrete at all ordinary temperatures, but becomes liquid
about 84deg F. It consists of two substances, a hydrocarbon and an
oxygenated oil, and is frequently adulterated with the oils of rhodium,
sandal-wood, and geranium, with the addition of camphor or spermaceti.
AT'TERBURY, Francis, an English prelate, born in 1662, and educated at
Westminster and Oxford. In 1687 he took his degree of M.A., and appeared as
a controversialist in a defence of the character of Luther, entitled,
_Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther_, &c. He also assisted his
pupil, the Hon. Charles Boyle, in his famous controversy with Bentley on
the _Epistles of Phalaris_. Having taken orders in 1691 he settled in
London, became chaplain to William and Mary, preacher of Bridewell, and
lecturer of St. Bride's. Controversy was congenial to him, and in 1706 he
commenced one with Dr. Wake, which lasted four years, on the rights,
privileges, and powers of convocations. For this service he received the
thanks of the lower house of convocation and the degree of Doctor of
Divinity from Oxford. Soon after the accession of Queen Anne he was made
Dean of Carlisle, aided in the defence of the famous Sacheverell, and wrote
_A Representation of the Present State of Religion_. In 1712 he was made
Dean of Christ Church, and in 1713 Bishop of Rochester and Dean of
Westminster. After the death of the queen in 1714 he distinguished himself
by his opposition to George I; and, having entered into a correspondence
with the Pretender's party, was apprehended in Aug., 1722, and committed to
the Tower. Being banished the kingdom, he settled in Paris, where he
chiefly occupied himself in study and in correspondence with men of
letters. But even here, in 1725, he was actively engaged in fomenting
discontent in the Scottish Highlands. He died in 1731, and his body was
privately interred in Westminster Abbey. His sermons and letters are marked
by ease and grace; but as a critic and a controversialist he is rather
dexterous and popular than accurate and profound.
ATTERCLIFFE, a parliamentary division of the borough of Sheffield.
ATTIC, an architectural term variously used. An _Attic base_ is a peculiar
kind of base, used by the ancient architects in the Ionic order and by
Palladio and some others in the Doric. An _Attic story_ is a low story in
the upper part of a house rising above the main portion of the building. In
ordinary language an attic is an apartment lighted by a window in the roof.
AT'TICA, a State of ancient Greece, the capital of which is Athens. The
territory was triangular in shape, with Cape Sunium (Colonna) as its apex
and the ranges of Mounts Cithaeron and Parnes as its base. On the north
these ranges separated it from Boeotia; on the west it was bounded by
Megaris and the Saronic Gulf; on the east by the Aegean. Its most marked
physical divisions consisted of the highlands, midland district, and coast
district, with the two famous plains of Eleusis and of Athens. The
Cephissus and Ilissus, though small, were its chief streams; its principal
hills, Cithaeron, Parnes, Hymettus, Pentelicus, and Laurium. Its soil has
probably undergone considerable deterioration, but produced good fruit,
especially olives and figs. These are still cultivated, as well as the vine
and cereals, but Attica is better suited for pasture than tillage.
According to tradition the earliest inhabitants of Attica lived in a savage
manner until the time of Cecrops, who came, 1550 B.C., with a colony from
Egypt, taught them all the essentials of civilization, and founded Athens.
One of Cecrops' descendants founded eleven other cities in the regions
round, and there followed a period of mutual hostility. To Theseus is
assigned the honour of uniting these cities in a confederacy, with Athens
as the capital, thus forming the Attic State. After the death of Codrus,
1068 B.C., the monarchy was abolished, and the government vested in archons
elected by the nobility, at first for life, in 752 B.C. for ten years, and
in 683 B.C. for one year only. The severe constitution of Draco was
succeeded in 594 by the milder code of Solon, the democratic elements of
which, after the brief tyranny of the Pisistratids, were emphasized and
developed by Clisthenes. He divided the people into ten classes, and made
the Senate consist of 500 persons, establishing as the Government an
oligarchy modified by popular control. Then came the splendid era of the
Persian War, which elevated Athens to the summit of fame. Miltiades at
Marathon, and Themistocles at Salamis, conquered the Persians by land and
by sea. The chief external danger being removed, the rights of the people
were enlarged; the archons and other magistrates were chosen from all
classes without distinction. The period from the Persian War to the time of
Alexander (500 to 336 B.C.) was most remarkable for the development of the
Athenian constitution. Attica appears to have contained a territory of
nearly 850 sq. miles, with some 500,000 inhabitants, 360,000 of whom were
slaves, while the inhabitants of the city numbered 180,000. Cimon and
Pericles (444 B.C.) raised Athens to its point of greatest splendour,
though under the latter began the Peloponnesian War, which ended with the
conquest of Athens by the Lacedaemonians. The succeeding tyranny of the
Thirty, under the protection of a Spartan garrison, was overthrown by
Thrasybulus, with a temporary partial restoration of the power of Athens;
but the battle of Cheronaea (338 B.C.) made Attica, in common with the rest
of Greece, a dependency of Macedon. The attempts at revolt after the death
of Alexander were crushed, and in 260 B.C. Attica was still under the sway
of Antigonus Gonatas, the Macedonian king. A period of freedom under the
shelter of the Achaean League then ensued, but their support of Mithridates
led, in 146 B.C., to the subjugation of the Grecian States by Rome. After
the division of the Roman Empire, Attica belonged to the Empire of the East
until, in A.D. 396, it was conquered by Alaric the Goth and the country
devastated. Attica and Boeotia now form a nome or province of the kingdom
of Greece, with a population of 407,063.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir J. G. Frazer,
_Pausanias's Description of Greece_, vols. ii and v; C. Wordsworth, _Athens
and Attica_.
AT'TICUS, Titus Pomponius, a Roman of great wealth and culture, born 109
B.C., and died 32 B.C. On the death of his father he removed to Athens to
avoid participation in the civil war, to which his brother Sulpicius had
fallen a victim. There he so identified himself with Greek life and
literature as to receive the surname Atticus. It was his principle never to
mix in politics, and he lived undisturbed amid the strife of factions.
Sulla and the Marian party, Caesar and Pompey, Brutus and Antony, were
alike friendly to him, and he was in favour with Augustus. Of his close
friendship with Cicero proof is given in the series of letters addressed to
him by Cicero. He married at the age of fifty-three, and had one daughter,
Pomponia, named by Cicero Atticula and Attica. He reached the age of
seventy-seven years without sickness, but, being then attacked by an
incurable disease, ended his life by voluntary starvation. He was a type of
the refined Epicurean, and an author of some contemporary repute, though
none of his works have reached us.--The name Atticus was given to Addison
by Pope, in a well-known passage (Prologue to the _Satires_, addressed to
Dr. Arbuthnot).
AT'TILA (in Ger. _Etzel_), the famous leader of the Huns, was the son of
Mundzuk, and the successor, in conjunction with his brother Bleda, of his
uncle Roua. The rule of the two leaders extended over a great part of
Northern Asia and Europe, and they threatened the Eastern Empire, and twice
compelled the weak Theodosius II to purchase an inglorious peace. Attila
caused his brother Bleda to be murdered (444), and in a short time extended
his dominion over all the peoples of Germany and exacted tribute from the
Eastern and Western emperors. The Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Gepidae, and
a part of the Franks united under his banners, and he speedily formed a
pretext for leading them against the Empire of the East. He laid waste all
the countries from the Black to the Adriatic Sea, and in three encounters
defeated the Emperor Theodosius, but could not take Constantinople. Thrace,
Macedonia, and Greece all submitted to the invader, who destroyed seventy
flourishing cities; and Theodosius was obliged to purchase a peace. Turning
to the west, the 'scourge of God', as his defeated enemies termed him,
crossed with an immense army the Rhine, the Moselle, and the Seine, came to
the Loire, and laid siege to Orleans. The inhabitants of this city repelled
the first attack, and the united forces of the Romans under Aetius, and of
the Visigoths under their king, Theodoric, compelled Attila to raise the
siege. He retreated to Champagne, and waited for the enemy in the plains of
Chalons. In apparent opposition to the prophecies of the soothsayers the
ranks of the Romans and Goths were broken; but when the victory of Attila
seemed assured, the Gothic prince Thorismond, the son of Theodoric, poured
down from the neighbouring height upon the Huns, who were defeated with
great slaughter. Rather irritated than discouraged, he sought in the
following year a new opportunity to seize upon Italy, and demanded Honoria,
the sister of Valentinian III, in marriage, with half the kingdom as a
dowry. When this demand was refused he conquered and destroyed Aquileia,
Padua, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, laid waste the plains of Lombardy, and
was marching on Rome when Pope Leo I went with the Roman ambassadors to his
camp and succeeded in obtaining a peace. Attila went back to Hungary, and
died on the night of his marriage with Hilda or Ildico (453), either from
the bursting of a blood-vessel or by her hand. The description that
Jordanes (or Jornandes) has left us of him is in keeping with his
Kalmuck-Tartar origin. He had a large head, a flat nose, broad shoulders,
and a short and ill-formed body; but his eyes were brilliant, his walk
stately, and his voice strong and well-toned.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Thierry,
_Koenig Attila und seine Zeit_; E. Hutton, _Attila and the Huns_.
ATTILLY, a village in France. See _Scarpe, Battle of the_.
ATTLEBOROUGH, a manufacturing town of the United States, in Massachusetts.
Pop. 19,731.
AT'TOCK, a town and fort in Rawal Pindi district, Punjab, overhanging the
Indus at the point where it is joined by the Kabul River. It is at the head
of the steam navigation of the Indus, and is connected with Lahore by
railway. It is an important post on the military road to the frontier. Pop.
2822.
ATTOR'NEY, a person appointed to do something for and in the stead and name
of another. An attorney may have _general_ powers to act for another; or
his power may be _special_, and limited to a particular act or acts. A
special attorney is appointed by a deed called a _power_ or _letter of
attorney_, specifying the acts which he is authorized to do. An _attorney
at law_ is a person qualified to appear for another before a court of law
to prosecute or defend any action on behalf of his client. The term in
England was formerly applied especially to those practising before the
supreme courts of common law at Westminster, and corresponded to the term
_solicitor_ used in courts of Chancery; but this distinction was abolished
in 1873, and _solicitor_ is now the regular term for all such legal agents.
In the United States the term is in common use, and is wide enough to
include what in England would be called barristers (or counsel), in
Scotland advocates, having indeed the general sense of lawyer. In America
women are admitted as attorneys.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in England and Ireland, the first law-officer and legal
adviser of the Crown, acting on its behalf in its revenue and criminal
proceedings, carrying on prosecutions in crimes that have a public
character, guarding the interests of charitable endowments, and granting
patents. He is _ex officio_ the leader of the bar, and, as a member of
Parliament, has charge of all Government measures on legal questions. The
Solicitor-General holds a similar position, and may act in his place. In
Scotland the Attorney-General is called Lord-Advocate. There are also
Attorneys-General in the colonies. In the United States he is head of the
Department of Justice. The individual States have also an Attorney-General.
ATTRAC'TION, the tendency of all material bodies, whether masses or
particles, to approach each other, to unite, and to remain united. Newton
was the first to adopt the theory of a universal attractive force, and to
determine its laws. When bodies tend to come together from sensible
distances the tendency is termed either the attraction of _gravitation_,
_magnetism_, or _electricity_, according to circumstances; when the
attraction operates at insensible distances it is known as _adhesion_ with
respect to surfaces, as _cohesion_ with respect to the particles of a body,
and as _affinity_ when the particles of different bodies tend together. It
is by the attraction of gravitation that all bodies fall to the earth when
unsupported.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Newton, _Principia_; Thomson and Tait, _Natural
Philosophy_; Laplace, _Mecanique Celeste_; Poynting, _The Mean Density of
the Earth_.
ATTREK. See _Atrek_.
AT'TRIBUTE, in philosophy, a quality or property of a substance, as
whiteness or hardness. A substance is known to us only as a congeries of
attributes.
In the fine arts an attribute is a symbol regularly accompanying and
marking out some personage. Thus the caduceus, purse, winged hat, and
sandals are attributes of Mercury, the trampled dragon that of St. George.
ATTWOOD, George, F.R.S., an English mathematician, born 1746, died 1807,
best known by his invention, called after him _Attwood's Machine_, for
verifying the laws of falling bodies. It consists essentially of a
freely-moving pulley over which runs a fine cord with two equal weights
suspended from the ends. A small additional weight is laid upon one of
them, causing it to descend with uniform acceleration. Means are provided
by which the added weight can be removed at any point of the descent, thus
allowing the motion to continue from this point onward with uniform
velocity. See _Gravitation_.
ATYS, or ATTIS (at'is), in classical mythology, the shepherd lover of
Cyb[)e]le, who, having broken the vow of chastity which he made her,
castrated himself. In Asia Minor Atys seems to have been a deity, with
somewhat of the same character as Adonis. Catullus has written a celebrated
poem (Carmen 63) on the subject of Attis.
AUBAGNE ([=o]-b[.a]n-y[.e]), a town in France, department of
Bouches-du-Rhone, with manufactures of cottons, pottery, cloth. Pop. 8800.
AUBAINE, DROIT D' (drwae d[=o]-b[=a]n). See _Droit d'Aubaine_.
AUBE ([=o]b), a north-eastern French department; area 2326 sq. miles; pop.
227,745. The surface is undulating, and watered by the Aube, &c. The N. and
N.W. districts are bleak and infertile, the southern districts remarkably
fertile. A large extent of ground is under forests and vineyards, and the
soil is admirable for grain, pulse, and hemp. The chief manufactures are
worsted and hosiery. Troyes is the capital.--The River Aube, which gives
name to the department, rises in Haute-Marne, flows N.W., and after a
course of 113 miles joins the Seine.
AUBENAS ([=o]b-nae), a town of France, department Ardeche, with a trade in
coal, silk, &c. Pop. 7206.
AUBER ([=o]-b[=a]r), Daniel Francois Esprit, a French operatic composer,
born 1782, at Caen, in Normandy, died at Paris 1871. He was originally
intended for a mercantile career, but devoted himself to music, studying
under Cherubini. His first great success was his opera _La Bergere
Chatelaine_, produced in 1820. In 1822 he had associated himself with
Scribe as librettist, and other operas now followed in quick succession.
Chief among them were _Masaniello_ or _La Muette de Portici_ (1828), _Fra
Diavolo_ (1830), _Lestocq_ (1834), _L'Ambassadrice_ (1836), _Le Domino
Noir_ (1837), _Les Diamants de la Couronne_ (1841), _Marco Spada_ (1853),
_La Fiancee du Roi de Garbe_ (1864). Despite his success in _Masaniello_,
his peculiar field was comic opera, in which his charming melodies, bearing
strongly the stamp of the French national character, his uniform grace and
piquancy, won him a high place.
AUBERGINE ([=o]'b[.e]r-zh[=e]n), the fruit of the eggplant (q.v.).
AUBERVILLIERS ([=o]-b[=a]r-v[=e]l-y[=a]), a suburban locality of Paris,
with a fort belonging to the defensive works of the city. Pop. 37,558.
AUBIGNE, Merle d'. See _Merle d'Aubigne_.
AUBIN ([=o]-ba[n.]), a town of Southern France, department of Aveyron, 20
miles N.E. of Villefranche; mining district: coal, sulphur, alum, and iron.
Pop. 9574.
AU'BREY, John, F.R.S., an English antiquary, born in Wiltshire in 1625 or
1626, died about 1700. He was educated at Oxford; collected materials for
the _Monasticon Anglicanum_, and afforded important assistance to Wood, the
antiquary. He left large collections of manuscripts, which have been used
by subsequent writers. His _Miscellanies_ (London, 1696) contain much
curious information, but display credulity and superstition. His _Survey of
Surrey_ was incorporated in Rawlinson's _Natural History and Antiquities of
the County of Surrey_, which was published in 1719.
AU'BURN, the name of many places in America, the chief being a handsome
city of New York State, at the north end of Owasco Lake. It is chiefly
famous for its State prison, large enough to receive 1000 prisoners. In the
town or vicinity various manufactures are carried on. Pop. 36,142.--Another
Auburn is in Maine, on the Androscoggin River, a manufacturing town. Pop.
(1920), 16,985.
AUBUSSON ([=o]-b[.u]-s[=o]n), a town of the interior of France, department
Creuse, celebrated for its carpets. Pop. 7211.
AUBUSSON ([=o]-b[.u]-s[=o]n), Pierre d', grand-master of the knights of St.
John of Jerusalem, born in 1423 of a noble French family, served in early
life against the Turks, then entered the order of St. John, obtained a
commandery, was made grand-prior, and in 1476 succeeded the Grand-master
Orsini. In 1480 the Island of Rhodes, the head-quarters of the order, was
invaded by a Turkish army of 100,000 men. The town was besieged for two
months and then assaulted, but the Turks were obliged to retire with great
loss. He died at Rhodes in 1503.
AUCH ([=o]sh), a town in S.W. France, capital of department Gers; the seat
of an archbishop, with one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in France;
manufactures linens, leather, &c. Pop. 13,638.
AUCHENIA ([a:]-k[=e]'ni-a). See _Llama_.
AUCHTERAR'DER, a town, Perthshire, Scotland, with manufactures of tweeds,
tartans, &c. The opposition to the presentee to the church of Auchterarder
(1839) originated the struggle which ended in the formation of the Free
Church of Scotland. Pop. (1921), 3151.
AUCK'LAND, a town of New Zealand, in the North Island, founded in 1840, and
situated on Waitemata Harbour, one of the finest harbours of New Zealand,
where the island is only 6 miles across, there being another harbour
(Manukau) on the opposite side of the isthmus. At dead low water there is
sufficient depth in the harbour for the largest steamers. The working ship
channel has an average depth of 36 feet, and varies in width from 1 to 2
miles. The harbour has two good entrances, with a lighthouse; and is
defended by batteries. There are numerous wharves and jetties, and two
graving-docks, one of which--the Calliope Dock, opened in 1887--is one of
the largest in the whole of the Southern Seas. Its site is picturesque, the
streets are spacious, and the public buildings--churches, educational
establishments, including a university college--are numerous and handsome.
It has a large and increasing trade, there being connection with the chief
places on the island by rail, and regular communication with the other
ports of the colony, Australia, and Fiji by steam. It was formerly the
capital of the colony. Pop. (including suburbs) 157,750.--The provincial
district of Auckland forms the northern part of North Island, with an area
of 25,364 sq. miles. Pop. 308,766. The surface is very diversified;
volcanic phenomena are common, including geysers, hot lakes, &c.; rivers
are numerous; wool, timber, kauri-gum, &c., are exported. Much gold has
been obtained in the Thames Valley and elsewhere.
AUCKLAND, William Eden, Lord, an English statesman, born 1744; educated at
Eton and Oxford, called to the bar 1768, Under-Secretary of State 1772, and
in 1776 a lord of the Board of Trade. In 1778 he was nominated in
conjunction with Lord Howe and others to act as mediator between Britain
and the insurgent American colonies. He was afterwards Secretary of State
for Ireland, Ambassador Extraordinary to France, Ambassador Extraordinary
to the Netherlands, &c. He was raised to the peerage in 1788, and died in
1814.
AUCKLAND ISLANDS, a group of islands about 180 miles S. of New Zealand,
discovered in 1806, and belonging to Britain. They are of volcanic origin
and fertile; and the largest, which is 30 miles by 15, has two good
harbours. There are no settled inhabitants.
AUCTION is a public sale to the party offering the best price where the
buyers bid against each other, or to the bidder who first accepts the terms
offered by the vendor where he sells by reducing his terms until someone
accepts them. The latter form is known as a _Dutch Auction_. A sale by
auction must be conducted in the most open and public manner possible; and
there must be no collusion on the part of the buyers. Puffing, or mock
bidding, to raise the value by apparent competition, is illegal.
AUCTIONEER', a person who conducts sales by auction. It is his duty to
state the conditions of sale, to declare the respective biddings, and to
terminate the sale by _knocking down_ the thing sold to the highest bidder.
In Britain an auctioneer must have a licence (for which he pays L10),
renewable annually. Verbal declarations by an auctioneer are not suffered
to control the printed conditions of sale. The Auctioneers' Institute of
the United Kingdom was founded in 1886.
AU'CUBA, a genus of plants, ord. Cornaceae, one species of which, _A.
japonica_, a laurel-like shrub with spotted leaves, a native of Japan and
China, is now common in ornamental grounds in Europe. The flowers are
dioecious and inconspicuous. For a long time only the female plant,
introduced into Britain from Japan in 1783, was cultivated, but in 1850 the
male was introduced, and the fruit, which consists of beautiful coral-red
berries, is now frequently developed, and adds greatly to the
attractiveness of the plant. _A. himalaica_, also brought to Europe, is
less hardy.
AUDE ([=o]d), a maritime department in the S. of France; area 2448 sq.
miles, mainly covered by hills belonging to the Pyrenees or the Cevennes,
and traversed W. to E. by a valley drained by the Aude. The loftier
districts are bleak and unproductive; the others tolerably fertile,
yielding good crops of grain. The wines, especially the white wines, are
famous; olives and other fruits are also cultivated. The manufactures are
varied; the trade is facilitated by the Canal du Midi. Carcassonne is the
capital; other towns are Narbonne and Castelnaudary. Pop. 286,552. The
River Aude rises in the Eastern Pyrenees, and, flowing nearly parallel to
the Canal du Midi, falls into the Mediterranean after a course of 130
miles.
AUDEBERT ([=o]d-b[=a]r), Jean Baptiste, French engraver and naturalist,
born in 1759, died in 1800; published _Histoire Naturelle des Singes, des
Makis, et des Galeopitheques_; _Histoire des Colibris_, &c.; and began
_Histoire des Grimpereaux et des Oiseaux de Paradis_, finished by
Desray--all finely-illustrated works.
AU'DENSHAW, a town of England, in Lancashire, 4 miles E. of Manchester,
with cotton-mills, engineering-works, &c. Pop. (1921), 7878.
AUDIOMETER, an instrument for the measurement of hearing, invented by
Professor D. E. Hughes, of London, in 1879.
AU'DIPHONE, an acoustic instrument by means of which deaf persons are
enabled to hear. It consists essentially of a fan-shaped plate of hardened
caoutchouc, which is bent to a greater or less degree by strings, and is
very sensitive to sound-waves. When used, the up edge is pressed against
the upper front teeth, with the convexity outward, and the sounds being
collected are conveyed from the teeth to the auditory nerve without passing
through the external ear.
AU'DIT, an examination into accounts or dealings with money or property,
along with vouchers or other documents connected therewith, especially by
proper officers, or persons appointed for the purpose. Also the occasion of
receiving the rents from the tenants on an estate.
AU'DITOR, a person appointed to examine accounts, public or private, to see
whether they are correct and in accordance with vouchers. In Britain the
public accounts are audited by the Exchequer and Audit Department, Somerset
House, at the head of it being a comptroller and auditor-general, and an
assistant-comptroller and auditor, with a large staff of clerks. In
Scotland there is an auditor attached to the Court of Session appointed to
tax costs in litigation.
AUDITORY NERVES. See _Ear_.
AUDLEY, a town (urban district) of England, in Staffordshire, to the
north-west of the district of The Potteries, with coal and iron mines. Pop.
(1921), 14,751.
AUDRAN ([=o]-draen), Gerard, a celebrated French engraver, born 1640;
studied at Rome; was appointed engraver to Louis XIV; died at Paris 1703.
He engraved Le Brun's _Battles of Alexander_, two of Raphael's cartoons,
Poussin's _Coriolanus_, &c., and takes a first place among historical
engravers. Other members of the family were successful in the same
profession: Benoit, 1661-1721; Claude _pere_, 1592-1677; Claude _fils_,
1640-84; Germain, 1631-1710; Jean, 1667-1756.
AU'DUBON, John James, an American naturalist of French extraction, born
near New Orleans in 1775, was educated in France, and studied painting
under David. In 1798 he settled in Pennsylvania, but having a great love
for ornithology he set out in 1810 with his wife and child, descended the
Ohio, and for many years roamed the forests in every direction, drawing the
birds which he shot. In 1826 he came to England, exhibited his drawings in
Liverpool, Manchester, and Edinburgh, and finally published them in an
unrivalled work of double-folio size, with 435 coloured plates of birds the
size of life (_The Birds of America_, 4 vols., 1827-39), with an
accompanying text (_Ornithological Biography_, 5 vols., 8vo, partly written
by Professor Macgillivray). On his final return to America he laboured with
Dr. Bachman on a finely-illustrated work entitled _The Quadrupeds of
America_ (1843-50, 3 vols.). He died at New York in 1851.
AUERBACH, a manufacturing town of Germany, in Saxony. Pop. 2200.
AUERBACH (ou'[.e]r-bae_h_), Berthold, a distinguished German author of
Jewish extraction, born 1812, died 1882. He abandoned the study of Jewish
theology in favour of philosophy, publishing in 1836 his _Judaism and
Modern Literature_, and a translation of the works of Spinoza with critical
biography (5 vols., 1841). His later works were tales or novels, and his
_Village Tales of the Black Forest_ (_Schwarzwaelder Dorfgeschichten_), as
well as others of his writings, have been translated into several
languages. Other works: _Barfuessele_, _Joseph im Schnee_, _Edelweiss_,
_Auf der Hoehe_, _Das Landhaus am Rhein_, _Waldfried_, _Brigitta_.
AUERSTAEDT (ou'[.e]r-stet), battle at, 14th Oct., 1806. See _Jena_.
AUGEAS ([a:]-j[=e]'as), a fabulous king of Elis, in Greece, whose stable
contained 3000 oxen, and had not been cleaned for thirty years. Hercules
undertook to clear away the filth in one day in return for a tenth part of
the cattle, and executed the task by turning the River Alph[=e]us through
it. Augeas, having broken the bargain, was deposed and slain by Hercules.
AUGER ([a:]'g[.e]r), an instrument for boring holes considerably larger
than those bored by a gimlet, used by carpenters and joiners, ship-wrights,
&c.
AUGEREAU ([=o]zh-r[=o]), Pierre Francois Charles, Duke of Castiglione,
Marshal of France, son of a mason, born at Paris 1757. He adopted the life
of a soldier, and by 1796 had reached the rank of general of division in
the army of Italy. At Casale, Lodi, Castiglione, and Arcole he highly
distinguished himself. In 1797 he was at Paris, and was the instrument of
the _coup d'etat_ of the 18th of Fructidor (4th Sept.). In 1799 he was
chosen a member of the Council of Five Hundred. He then obtained the
command of the army in Holland, and fought till the end of the campaign. In
1803 he was appointed to lead the army collected at Bayonne against
Portugal. In 1804 he was named marshal of the empire, and grand officer of
the Legion of Honour. He subsequently took part in the battles of Jena and
Eylau, held a command in Spain, and in July, 1813, led the army in Bavaria
against Saxony, taking part in the battle of Leipzig. On Napoleon's
abdication he submitted to Louis XVIII, who named him a peer. He died 1816.
AUGHRIM, a village in Co. Galway, Ireland, memorable for the decisive
victory gained in the neighbourhood, 12th July, 1691, by the forces of
William of Orange, under Ginkel, over the Irish and French troops, under
St. Ruth. The total English casualties were about 1700, while the Irish
lost at least 7000 men as well as all their war material. This battle
caused the complete submission of the country.
AUGIER ([=o]-zhi-[=a]), Emile, noted French dramatist, born 1820, came
young to Paris, entered a lawyer's office, but relinquished law for
literature; elected an academician in 1857, in 1868 a commander of the
Legion of Honour. His first and one of his best dramas was the comedy _La
Cigue_ (1844); among his other works are _L'Aventuriere_, _Gabrielle_,
_Paul Forestier_, _Le Mariage d'Olympe_, _Le Gendre de M. Poirier_, _Les
Effrontes_, _Le Fils de Giboyer_, _Les Lions et les Renards_, _Maitre
Guerin_, _Les Fourchambault_, &c. He died in 1889.
AUGITE ([a:]'j[=i]t) is the commonest member of the pyroxene group of
minerals; a constituent of many igneous rocks, such as basalt, gabbro, &c.
It crystallizes in short almost rectangular prisms of the monoclinic
system, modifying planes causing cross-sections to be eight-sided. Its
specific gravity is about 3.2; lustre vitreous; hardness sufficient to
scratch glass; colour usually dark. It is a silicate of calcium, magnesium,
iron, and aluminium, and alters in geological time by slow
recrystallization into hornblende, possibly with some loss of calcium. It
may be imitated by the artificial fusion of its constituents. A
transparent, green, non-aluminous variety found at Zillertal, in Tyrol, is
used in jewellery.
AUGSBURG (ougz'b[u:]r_h_; Lat. _Augusta Vindelicorum_), a city of Bavaria,
at the junction of the Wertach and Lech, antique in appearance, but with
some fine streets, squares, and handsome or interesting buildings,
including a splendid town hall, a lofty belfry (Perlach Tower), cathedral,
with paintings by Domenichino, Holbein, &c.; St. Ulrich's Church; the
bishop's palace, where the Augsburg Confession was presented to the Diet,
afterwards a royal residence; the Fugger Palace, or mansion of the
celebrated Fugger family; the public library; the theatre; the Academy of
Arts; and the Fuggerei, a separate quarter of the city, consisting of
fifty-three small houses, tenanted at a merely nominal rent by indigent
Roman Catholics. Augsburg was a renowned commercial centre in the Middle
Ages, and is still an important emporium of South German and Italian trade;
industries: cotton spinning and weaving, dyeing, woollen manufacture,
machinery and metal goods, books and printing, chemicals, &c. The Emperor
Augustus established a colony here about 12 B.C. In 1276 it became a free
city, and, besides being a great mart for the commerce between the north
and south of Europe, it was a great centre of German art in the Middle
Ages. It early took a conspicuous part in the Reformation. (See next
article.) In 1806 it was incorporated in Bavaria. Pop. (1919), 154,555.
AUGSBURG CONFESSION, a document which was presented by the Protestants at
the Diet of Augsburg, 1530, to the Emperor Charles V and the Diet, and
being signed by the Protestant States was adopted as their creed. Luther
made the original draft; but as its style appeared too violent it was given
to Melanchthon for amendment. The original is to be found in the imperial
Austrian archives. Afterwards Melanchthon arbitrarily altered some of the
articles, and there arose a division between those who held the original
and those who held the altered Augsburg Confession. The former is received
by the Lutherans, the latter by the German Reformed.
AU'GURS, a board or college of diviners who, amongst the Romans, predicted
future events and announced the will of the gods from the occurrence of
certain signs. These consisted of signs in the sky, especially thunder and
lightning; signs from the flight and cries of birds; from the feeding of
the sacred chickens; from the course taken or sounds uttered by various
quadrupeds or by serpents; from accidents or occurrences, such as spilling
the salt, sneezing, &c. The answers of the augurs as well as the signs by
which they were governed were called _auguries_, but bird-predictions were
properly termed _auspices_. Nothing of consequence could be undertaken
without consulting the augurs, and by the mere utterance of the words _alio
die_ ('meet on another day') they could dissolve the assembly of the people
and annul all decrees passed at the meeting.
AU'GUST, the eighth month from January. It was the sixth of the Roman year,
and hence was called _Sext[=i]lis_ till the Emperor Augustus affixed to it
his own name.
AUGUS'TA, the name of many ancient places, as Augusta Trevirorum, now
_Treves_; Augusta Taurinorum, now _Turin_; Augusta Vindelicorum, now
_Augsburg_; &c.
AUGUSTA (ou-g[u:]s't[.a]), or AGOS'TA, a seaport in the south-east of
Sicily, 12 miles north of Syracuse. It exports salt, oil, honey, &c. Pop.
17,250.
AUGUS'TA, capital of Maine, United States, on the River Kennebec, which is
crossed by a bridge and is navigable for small vessels 43 miles from its
mouth, while a dam enables steamboats to ply for 20 miles farther up and
furnishes immense water-power. Pop. (1920), 14,144.
AUGUSTA, the capital of Richmond county, Georgia, United States, on the
left bank of the Savannah River, 231 miles from its mouth; well built, and
connected with the river by high-level canals; an important manufacturing
centre, having cotton-mills, machine-shops, and railroad works, &c. Pop.
(1920), 52,548.
AU'GUSTINE (Aurelius Augustinus), ST., a renowned father of the Christian
Church, was born at Tagaste, in Africa, in 354, his mother Monica being a
Christian, his father Patricius a pagan. His parents sent him to Carthage
to complete his education, but he disappointed their expectations by his
neglect of serious study and his devotion to pleasure. A lost book of
Cicero's, called _Hortensius_, led him to the study of philosophy; but
dissatisfied with this he went over to the Manichaeans. He was one of their
disciples for nine years, but left them, went to Rome, and thence to Milan,
where he announced himself as a teacher of rhetoric. St. Ambrose, the
bishop of this city, converted him to the faith of his boyhood, and the
reading of Paul's _Epistles_ wrought an entire change in his life and
character. He retired into solitude, and prepared himself for baptism,
which he received in his thirty-third year from the hands of Ambrose.
Returning to Africa, he sold his estate and gave the proceeds to the poor,
retaining only enough to support him. At the desire of the people of Hippo,
Augustine became the assistant of the bishop of that town, preached with
extraordinary success, and in 395 succeeded to the see. He entered into a
warm controversy with Pelagius concerning the doctrines of free-will,
grace, and predestination, and wrote treatises concerning them, but of his
various works his _Confessions_ is most secure of immortality. He died 28th
Aug., 430, while Hippo was besieged by the Vandals. He was a man of great
enthusiasm, self-devotion, zeal for truth, and powerful intellect, and
though there have been fathers of the Church more learned, none have
wielded a more powerful influence. His doctrine of grace, which was an
important contribution to Christian thought, triumphed at last in the
Reformation and evangelical religion. His writings are partly
autobiographical, as the _Confessions_, partly polemical, homiletic, or
exegetical. The greatest is the _City of God_ (_De Civitate Dei_), a
vindication of Christianity.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Joseph McCabe, _St. Augustine
and his Age_; Nourrisson, _La Philosophie de St. Augustin_.