French orientalist, born 1731, died 1805. He studied theology for some
time, but soon devoted himself to the study of Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian.
His zeal for the Oriental languages induced him to set out for India, where
he prevailed on some of the Parsee priests to instruct him in the Zend and
Pehlevi and to give him some of the Zoroastrian books. In 1762 he returned
to France with a valuable collection of MSS. In 1771 he published his
_Zend-Avesta_, a translation of the _Vendidad_, and other sacred books,
which aroused much interest. Among his other works are _L'Inde en rapport
avec l'Europe_ (1790), and a selection from the _Vedas_. His knowledge of
the Oriental languages was by no means exact.
ANSBACH. See _Anspach_.
AN'SELM, St., a celebrated Christian philosopher and theologian, born at
Aosta, in Piedmont, in 1033, died at Canterbury 1109. At the age of
twenty-seven (1060) he became a monk at Bec, in Normandy, whither he had
been attracted by the celebrity of Lanfranc. Three years later he was
elected prior, and in 1078 he was chosen abbot, which he remained for
fifteen years. During this period of his life he wrote his first
philosophical and religious works: the dialogues on _Truth_ and
_Free-will_, and the treatises _Monologion_ and _Proslogion_; and at the
same time his influence made itself so felt among the monks under his
charge that Bec became the chief seat of learning in Europe. In 1093 Anselm
was offered by William Rufus the archbishopric of Canterbury, and accepted
it, though with great reluctance, and with the condition that all the lands
belonging to the see should be restored. William II soon quarrelled with
the archbishop, who would show no subservience to him, and would persist in
acknowledging Pope Urban II in opposition to the antipope Clement. William
ultimately had to give way. He acknowledged Urban as Pope, and conferred
the pallium upon Anselm. The king became his bitter enemy, however, and so
great were Anselm's difficulties that in 1097 he set out for Rome to
consult with the Pope. Urban received him with great distinction, but did
not venture really to take the side of the prelate against the king, though
William had refused to receive Anselm again as archbishop, and had seized
on the revenues of the see of Canterbury, which he retained till his death
in 1100. Anselm accordingly remained abroad, where he wrote most of his
celebrated treatise on the atonement, entitled _Cur Deus Homo_ (_Why God
was made Man_). When William was succeeded by Henry I Anselm was recalled;
but Henry insisted that he should submit to be reinvested in his see by
himself, although the Popes claimed the right of investing for themselves
alone. Much negotiation followed, and Henry did not surrender his claims
till 1107, when Anselm's long struggle on behalf of the rights of the
Church came to an end. Anselm was a great scholar, a deep and original
thinker, and a man of the utmost saintliness and piety. Anselm's great
achievement in philosophy was his ontological argument for the existence of
God; and his importance in the ecclesiastical history of England cannot be
exaggerated. The chief of his writings are the _Monologion_, the
_Proslogion_, and the _Cur Deus Homo_. The first is an attempt to prove
inductively the existence of God by pure reason without the aid of
Scripture or authority; the second is an attempt to prove the same by the
deductive method; the _Cur Deus Homo_ is intended to prove the necessity of
the incarnation. Among his numerous other writings are more than 400
letters. His life was written by his domestic chaplain and companion,
Eadmer, a monk of Canterbury, and is edited by M. Rule for the 'Rolls
Series'. See _Scholasticism_. Cf. Pere Ragey, _Histoire de Saint Anselme_;
J. M. Rigg, _Anselm of Canterbury_.
ANS'GAR, or ANSHAR, called the _Apostle of the North_, born in 801 in
Picardy, died in 864 or 865. He took the monastic vows while still in his
boyhood, and in the midst of many difficulties laboured as a missionary in
Denmark and Sweden. He died with the reputation of having made, if not the
first, the most successful attempts to propagate Christianity in the North.
AN'SON, George, Lord, celebrated English navigator, born 1697, died 1762.
He entered the navy at an early age and became a commander in 1722, and
captain in 1724. He was for a long time on the South Carolina station. In
1740 he was made commander of a fleet sent to the South Sea, directed
against the trade and colonies of Spain. The expedition consisted of five
men-of-war and three smaller vessels, which carried 1400 men. After much
suffering and many stirring adventures he reached the coast of Peru, made
several prizes, and captured and burned the city of Paita. His squadron was
now reduced to one ship, the _Centurion_, but with it he took the Spanish
treasure galleon from Acapulco, and arrived in England in 1744 with
treasure to the amount of L500,000, having circumnavigated the globe. His
adventures and discoveries are described in the well-known _Anson's
Voyage_, compiled from materials furnished by Anson. A few days after his
return he was made rear-admiral of the blue, and not long after
rear-admiral of the white. His victory over the French admiral Jonquiere,
near Cape Finisterre in 1747, raised him to the peerage, with the title of
Lord Anson, Baron of Soberton. Four years afterwards he was made First Lord
of the Admiralty. In 1758 he commanded the fleet before Brest, protected
the landing of the British at St. Malo, Cherbourg, &c., and received the
repulsed troops into his vessels. Finally, in 1761, he was appointed to
convey the queen of George III to England.
ANSO'NIA, a town of the United States, Conn., on the Nangatuck, with
manufactures of brass and copper, and especially clocks. Pop. 17,643.
ANSPACH ([.a]n'sp[.a]_h_), or ANSBACH, a town in Bavaria, at the junction
of the Holzbach with the Lower Rezat, 24 miles south-west of Nuernberg.
Anspach gave its name to an ancient principality or margravate, which had a
territory of about 1300 sq. miles, with 300,000 inhabitants. in the end of
the eighteenth century. The last margrave sold his possessions in 1791 to
Prussia. It was occupied by the French in 1806, and transferred by Napoleon
to Bavaria. The town has manufactures of trimmings, buttons, straw-wares,
&c. Pop. 19,995.
AN'STED, David Thomas, an English geologist, born 1814, died 1880. He was
professor of geology at King's College, London, and assistant-secretary to
the Geological Society, whose quarterly journal he edited for many years.
AN'STER, John, LL.D., professor of civil law in the University of Dublin,
born in County Cork, 1793, died 1867. He published a volume of poems, but
is chiefly known by his fine translation of Goethe's _Faust_, Part I, 1835;
Part II, 1864.
AN'STEY, Christopher, an English poet, born 1724, died 1805. He was author
of _The New Bath Guide_, a humorous and satirical production describing
fashionable life at Bath in the form of a series of letters in different
varieties of metre, which had a great reputation in its day, but is now
almost forgotten.
ANSTRUTHER (an'stru_th_-[.e]r; popularly an'st[.e]r), Easter and Wester,
two small royal and police burghs of Scotland, in Fifeshire, forming, with
the contiguous royal burgh of Cellardyke or Nether Kilrenny, one fishing
and seaport town. Total pop. (1921), 4641.
[Illustration: The Wood-ant (_Formica rufa_)
1. Egg. 2. Larva. 3. Cocoon of fine white silk. 4. Young ant, taken out of
cocoon. 5. Male ant. 6. Female ant. 7. Worker ant. (All magnified.)]
ANT, the common name of hymenopterous (or membranous-winged) insects of
various genera, of the family Formic[)i]dae, of which there are numerous
species, at least 2000 being known. They are found in most temperate and
tropical regions. They are small but powerful insects, and have long been
noted for their remarkable intelligence and interesting habits. They are
social insects, living in communities regulated by definite laws, each
member of the society bearing a well-defined and separate part in the work
of the colony. Each community consists of males; of females much larger
than the males; and of barren females, otherwise called neuters, workers,
or nurses. The neuters are wingless, and the males and females only acquire
wings for their 'nuptial flight', after which the males perish, and the few
females which escape the pursuit of their numerous enemies divest
themselves of their wings, and either return to established nests, or
become the foundresses of new colonies. The neuters perform all the labours
of the ant-hill or abode of the community; they excavate the galleries,
procure food, and feed the larvae or young ants, which have not got organs
of motion. In fine weather they carefully convey them to the surface for
the benefit of the sun's heat, and as attentively carry them to a place of
safety either when bad weather is threatened or the ant-hill is disturbed.
In like manner they watch over the safety of the nymphs or pupae about to
acquire their perfect growth. Some communities possess a special type of
neuters, known as 'soldiers', from the duties that specially fall upon
them, and from their powerful biting jaws. There is a very considerable
variety in the materials, size, and form of ant-hills, or nests, according
to the peculiar nature or instinct of the species. Most of the British ants
form nests in woods, fields, or gardens, their abodes being generally in
the form of small mounds rising above the surface of the ground and
containing numerous galleries and apartments. Some excavate nests in old
tree-trunks. One little yellow ant (_Myrm[=i]ca domestica_) is common in
houses in Britain in some localities. Some ants live on animal food, very
quickly picking quite clean the skeleton of any dead animal they may light
on. Others live on saccharine matter, being very fond of the sweet
substance, called honey-dew, which exudes from the bodies of aphides, or
plant-lice. These they sometimes keep in their nests, and sometimes tend on
the plants where they feed; sometimes they even superintend their breeding.
By stroking the aphides with their antennae they cause them to emit the
sweet fluid, which the ants then greedily sip up. Various other insects are
looked after by ants in a similar manner, or are found in their nests. It
has been observed that some species, like the European Red Ant (_Form[=i]ca
sanguin[)e]a_), resort to violence to obtain working ants of other species
for their own use, plundering the nests of suitable kinds of their larvae
and pupae, which they carry off to their own nests to be carefully reared
and kept as slaves. In temperate countries male and female ants survive, at
most, till autumn, or to the commencement of cool weather, though a very
large proportion of them cease to exist long previous to that time. The
neuters pass the winter in a state of torpor, and of course require no
food. The only time when they require food is during the season of
activity, when they have a vast number of young to feed. Some ants of
Southern Europe feed on grain, and store it up in their nests for use when
required. Some species have stings as weapons, others only their powerful
mandibles, or an acrid and pungent fluid (formic acid) which they can emit.
The name ant is also given to the neuropterous insects otherwise called
Termites (q.v.). BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lord Avebury (Sir John Lubbock), _Ants,
Bees, and Wasps_; H. W. Bates, _A Naturalist on the Amazons_; _Cambridge
Natural History_.
ANTAC'ID, an alkali, or any remedy for acidity in the stomach. Dyspepsia
and diarrhoea are the diseases in which antacids are chiefly employed. The
principal antacids in use are magnesia, lime, and their carbonates, and the
carbonates of potash and soda.
ANTAE'US, the giant son of Poseidon (Neptune) and G[=e] (the Earth), who
was invincible so long as he was in contact with the earth. Heracles
(Hercules) grasped him in his arms and stifled him suspended in the air,
thus preventing him from touching the earth.
ANTAKIEH, or ANTAKIA. See _Antioch_.
ANTAL'KALI, a substance which neutralizes an alkali, and is used
medicinally to counteract an alkaline tendency in the system. All true
acids have this power.
ANTANANARIVO (an-tan-an-a-r[=e]'v[=o]), the capital of Madagascar, situated
in the central province of Imerina, on rocky eminences rising from a plain.
Until 1869 all buildings within the city were of wood or rush, but since
the introduction of brick and stone, the whole city has been rebuilt. It
contains two former royal palaces, immense timber structures; a Protestant
and a Roman Catholic cathedral, mission churches, schools, &c. Antananarivo
is the residence of the French governor of Madagascar, and there is a
strong French garrison. It has manufactures of metal work, cutlery, silk,
&c. Pop. (exclusive of the troops) 63,115.
AN'TAR, an Arabian warrior and poet of the sixth century, author of one of
the seven Moallakas (poems) hung up in the Kaaba at Mecca; hero of a
romance analogous in Arabic literature to the Arthurian legend of the
English. The romance of _Antar_ is composed in rhythmic prose interspersed
with fragments of verse, many of which are attributed to Antar himself, and
has been generally ascribed to Asmai (born A.D. 740, died about A.D. 830),
preceptor to Harun-al-Rashid. It has been published in 32 vols. at Cairo
(1889).
ANTARCTIC (ant-aerk'tik), a term signifying the opposite of _Arctic_, and
therefore relating to the southern pole or to the regions near it. The
_Antarctic Circle_, which of course corresponds to the _Arctic Circle_, is
a circle parallel to the equator and distant from the south pole 23deg 28',
marking the area within which the sun does not set when on the tropic of
Capricorn. The Antarctic Circle has been arbitrarily fixed on as the limits
of the Antarctic Ocean, it being the average limit of the pack-ice; but the
name is often extended to embrace a much wider area. The lands within or
near the Antarctic Circle are but imperfectly known, and a very large area
around the south pole is altogether unknown. The work of exploration has
been hitherto baffled at various points by what seems an unsurmountable
ice-barrier, which in some places is connected with masses of land and may
as a whole belong to a great Antarctic continent. Among land-masses that
have long been known to exist in the Antarctic Ocean, though our knowledge
of them is very imperfect, are those to which have been attached the names
Graham Land, Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, Enderby Land, South Shetland
Islands, &c. The Antarctic regions are even colder and more inhospitable
than the Arctic, and partly on account of their remoteness from the
maritime nations there have been far fewer efforts at their exploration,
the south pole being far less a goal of discovery than the north. See
_South Polar Expeditions_.
[Illustration: Ant-eater (_Myrmecoph[)a]ga jub[=a]ta_)]
ANT-EATER, a name given to mammals of various genera that prey chiefly on
ants, but usually confined to the genus Myrmecoph[)a]ga, ord. Edentata. In
this genus the head is remarkably elongated, the jaws destitute of teeth,
and the mouth furnished with a long, extensile tongue covered with
glutinous saliva, by the aid of which the animals secure their insect prey.
The eyes are particularly small, the ears short and round, and the legs,
especially the fore-legs, very strong, and furnished with long, compressed,
acute nails, admirably adapted for breaking into the ant-hills. The most
remarkable species is the _Myrmecoph[)a]ga jub[=a]ta_, or ant-bear, a
native of the warmer parts of South America. It is from 4 to 5 feet in
length from the tip of the muzzle to the root of the black bushy tail,
which is about 2 feet long. The body is covered with long hair,
particularly along the neck and back. It is a harmless and solitary animal,
and spends most of its time in sleep. Some are adapted for climbing trees
in quest of the insects on which they feed, having prehensile tails. All
are natives of South America. The name ant-eater is also given to the
pangolins and to the aardvark. The echidna of Australia is sometimes called
_porcupine ant-eater_.
ANTECE'DENT, in grammar, the noun to which a relative or other pronoun
refers; as, Solomon was the _prince who_ built the temple, where the word
_prince_ is the antecedent of _who_.--In logic, that member of a
hypothetical or conditional proposition which contains the condition, and
which is introduced by _if_ or some equivalent word or words; as, if the
sun is fixed, the earth must move. Here the first and conditional
proposition is the _antecedent_, the second the _consequent_.
ANTEDILU'VIAN, before the flood or deluge of Noah's time; relating to what
happened before the deluge. In geology the term has been applied to
organisms, traces of which are found in a fossil state in formations
preceding the Diluvial (Glacial epoch), particularly to extinct animals
such as the palaeotherium, the mastodon, &c.
AN'TELOPE, the name given to the members of a large family of Ruminant
Ungulata or Hoofed Mammalia, closely resembling the Deer in general
appearance, but essentially different in nature from the latter animals.
They are included with the Sheep and Oxen in the family of the Cavicornia
or 'Hollow-horned' Ruminants. Their horns, unlike those of the Deer, are
not deciduous, but are permanent; are never branched, but are often twisted
spirally, and may be borne by both sexes. They are found in greatest number
and variety in Africa. Well-known species are the chamois (European), the
gazelle, the addax, the eland, the koodoo, the gnu, the springbok, the
sasin or Indian antelope, and the prongbuck of America.
[Illustration: Antennae
1,1. Filiform Antennae of Cucujo Firefly of Brazil (_Pyroph[)o]rus
lumin[=o]sus_). 2. Denticulate Antenna; 3. Bipinnate; 4. Lamellicorn; 5.
Clavate; 6. Geniculate; 7. Antenna and Antennule of Crustacean.]
ANTEN'NAE, the name given to the movable jointed organs of touch and
hearing attached to the heads of insects, myriapods, &c., and commonly
called horns or feelers. They present a very great variety of forms.
ANTEQUERA ([.a]n-te-k[=a]'r[.a]), a city of Andalusia, in Spain, in the
province of Malaga, a place of some importance under the Romans, with a
ruined Moorish castle. It manufactures woollens, leather, soap, &c. Pop.
32,360.
ANT'EROS, in Greek mythology, the god of mutual love. According to some,
however, Anteros is the enemy of love, or the god of antipathy; he was also
said to punish those who did not return the love of others.
ANTHE'LION, pl. ANTHELIA, a luminous ring, or rings, seen by an observer,
especially in alpine and polar regions, around the shadow of his head
projected on a cloud or fog-bank, or on grass covered with dew, 50 or 60
yards distant, and opposite the sun when rising or setting. It is due to
the diffraction of light.
ANTHELMIN'THICS, or ANTHELMIN'TICS, a class of remedies used to destroy
worms when lodged in the alimentary canal; classed as vermicides or
vermifuges, according as the object is to kill the worms, or to expel them
by purgation.
AN'THEM, originally a hymn sung in alternate parts; in modern usage, a
sacred tune or piece of music set to words taken from the Psalms or other
parts of the Scriptures, first introduced into church service in
Elizabeth's reign; a developed motet. The anthem may be for one, two, or
any number of voices, but seldom exceeds five parts, and may or may not
have an organ accompaniment written for it.
[Illustration: Anthemion]
ANTHE'MION, an ornament or ornamental series used in Greek and Roman
decoration, which is derived from floral forms, more especially the
honeysuckle. It was much used for the ornamentation of friezes and
interiors, for the decoration of fictile vases, the borders of dresses, &c.
AN'THEMIS, a genus of composite plants, comprising the camomile or
chamomile.
ANTHE'MIUS, a Greek mathematician and architect of Lydia; designed the
church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, and is credited with the invention
of the dome; died A.D. 534.
[Illustration: The Reproductive Organs of the Lily]
AN'THER, the male organ of the flower; that part of the stamen which is
filled with pollen.
ANTHESTE'RIA, an annual Greek festival held in honour of all the gods, but
especially in honour of Dionysus. It celebrated the beginning of spring,
and the season when the wine of the previous vintage was considered fit for
use.
ANTHOCY'ANIN, the blue colour of flowers, a pigment obtained from those
petals of flowers which are blue, by digesting them in spirits of wine.
ANTHOL'OGY (Gr. _anthos_, a flower, and _legein_, to gather), the name
given to several collections of short poems which have come down from
antiquity. The first to compile a Greek anthology was Meleager, a Syrian,
about 60 B.C. He entitled his collection, which contained selections from
forty-six poets besides many pieces of his own, the _Garland_; a
continuation of this work by Philip of Thessalonica in the age of Tiberius
was the first entitled _Anthology_. Later collections are that of
Constantine Cephalas, in the tenth century, who made much use of the
earlier ones, and that of Maximus Planudes, in the fourteenth century, a
monk of Constantinople, whose anthology is a tasteless series of extracts
from the _Anthology_ of Cephalas, with some additions. The treasures
contained in both, increased with fragments of the older poets, idylls of
the bucolic poets, the hymns of Callimachus, epigrams from monuments and
other works, have been published in modern times as the _Greek Anthology_.
There is no ancient Latin anthology, the oldest being that of Scaliger
(1573).
AN'THON, Charles, LL.D., an American editor of classical school-books, and
of works intended to facilitate the study of Greek and Latin literature;
born 1797, died 1867. He was long a professor in Columbia College, New
York.
AN'THONY, St. the founder of monastic institutions, born near Heraclea, in
Upper Egypt, A.D. 251. Giving up all his property he retired to the desert,
where he was followed by a number of disciples, who thus formed the first
community of monks. He died at the age of 105.--_St. Anthony's Fire_, a
name given to erysipelas.
AN'THRACENE (C_{14}H_{10}) occurs in coal-tar in small quantity, about
0.25-0.45 per cent. During the distillation of tar a high-boiling fraction,
boiling above 270deg C., is obtained; this is crude anthracene oil, a
greenish oily substance which, on further distillation, yields a
crystalline mass, 50 per cent anthracene. This is carefully purified by
distillation and chemical treatment to separate the anthracene from the
other substances occurring with it, and the product obtained is finally
purified by crystallization. When pure it forms colourless crystalline
scales melting at 216deg C., and having a violet fluorescence. It forms a
series of derivatives, the most important being anthraquinone and alizarine
and the numerous derivatives of these. Anthracene was originally a useless
product in coal-tar distillation, but it became valuable as soon as it was
discovered that alizarine--from which many dyes are manufactured directly
or indirectly--could be prepared from it.
AN'THRACITE, glance or blind coal, a non-bituminous coal of a shining
lustre, approaching to metallic, and which burns without smoke, with a weak
or no flame, and with intense heat. It consists of, on an average, 90 per
cent carbon, 2 oxygen, 3 hydrogen, and 5 ashes. It has some of the
properties of coal or charcoal, and, like that substance, represents an
extreme alteration of vegetable substances by loss of gases, either during
conditions of decay or after entombment among stratified rocks. It is found
in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and in large quantities in the United
States (Pennsylvania), and near Swansea (South Wales). See _Coal_.