book of the New Testament, in the English version called _The Revelation of
St. John the Divine_. Although a Christian work, the _Apocalypse_ belongs
to a class of literature dealing with eschatological subjects and much in
vogue among the Jews of the first century B.C. It is generally believed
that the _Apocalypse_ was written by the apostle John in his old age (A.D.
95-97) in the Isle of Patmos, whither he had been banished by the Roman
Emperor Domitian. Anciently its genuineness was maintained by Justin
Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and many others; while
it was doubted by Dionysius of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom,
and, nearer our own times, by Luther. The _Apocalypse_ has been explained
differently by almost every writer who has ventured to interpret it, and
has furnished all sorts of sects and fanatics with quotations to support
their creeds or pretensions. The modern interpreters may be divided into
three schools--namely, the _historical school_, who hold that the prophecy
embraces the whole history of the Church and its foes from the time of its
writing to the end of the world; the _Praeterists_, who hold that the whole
or nearly the whole of the prophecy has been already fulfilled, and that it
refers chiefly to the triumph of Christianity over Paganism and Judaism;
and the _Futurists_, who throw the whole prophecy, except the first three
chapters, forward upon a time not yet reached by the Church--a period of no
very long duration, which is immediately to precede Christ's second coming.
See _Bible_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. H. Charles, _Studies in the Apocalypse_;
F. C. Burkitt, _Jewish and Christian Apocalypses_.
APOCALYPTIC NUMBER, the mystic number 666 found in _Rev._ xiii, 18. As
early as the second century ecclesiastical writers found that the name
Antichrist was indicated by the Greek characters expressive of this number.
By Irenaeus the word _Lateinos_ was found in the letters of the number, and
the Roman Empire was therefore considered to be Antichrist. Protestants
generally believe it has reference to the Papacy, and, on the other hand,
Catholics connect it with Protestantism. It is, however, almost certain
that the number refers to Nero, for by transliterating the Greek _Kaisar
Neron_ into Hebrew, and adding together the sums denoted by the Hebrew
letters, we obtain the number 666.
APOCAR'POUS, in botany, a term applied to such fruits as are the produce of
a single flower, and are formed of one carpel, or a number of carpels free
and separate from each other.
APOC'RYPHA (Gr., 'things concealed or spurious'), a term applied in the
earliest churches to various sacred or professedly inspired writings,
sometimes given to those whose authors were unknown, sometimes to those
with a hidden meaning, and sometimes to those considered objectionable. The
term is specially applied to the fourteen undermentioned books, which were
written during the two centuries preceding the birth of Christ. They were
written, not in Hebrew, but in Greek, and the Jews never allowed them a
place in their sacred canon. They were incorporated into the Septuagint,
and thence passed to the Vulgate. The Greek Church excluded them from the
canon in 360 at the Council of Laodicea. The Latin Church treated them with
more favour, but it was not until 1546 that they were formally admitted
into the canon of the Church of Rome by a decree of the Council of Trent.
The Anglican Church says they may be read for example of life and
instruction of manners, but that the Church does not apply them to
establish any doctrine. All other Protestant churches in Britain and
America ignore them. The following fourteen books form the Apocrypha of the
English Bible: The first and second _Books of Esdras_, _Tobit_, _Judith_,
the rest of the _Book of Esther_, the _Wisdom of Solomon_, the _Wisdom of
Jesus the son of Sirach_, or _Ecclesiasticus_, _Baruch the Prophet_, the
_Song of the Three Children_, _Susanna and the Elders_, _Bel and the
Dragon_, the _Prayer of Manasses_, and the first and second _Books of
Maccabees_. Besides the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament there are
many spurious books composed in the earlier ages of Christianity, and
published under the names of Christ and his apostles, or of such immediate
followers as from their character or means of intimate knowledge might give
an apparent plausibility to such forgeries. These writings comprise: 1st,
the _Apocryphal Gospels_, which treat of the history of Joseph and the
Virgin before the birth of Christ, of the infancy of Jesus, and of the acts
of Pilate; 2nd, the _Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles_; and 3rd, the
_Apocryphal Apocalypses_, none of which have obtained canonical recognition
by any of the churches.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Wace, _The Apocrypha_; Porter, in
Hastings' _Bible Dict._, i, pp. 111-23; W. D. F. Oesterley, _Book of the
Apocrypha_; R. H. Charles, _Religious Development between the Old and the
New Testaments_.
APOCYNA'CEAE, a nat. ord. of dicotyledonous plants, having for its type the
genus Apoc[)y]num or dog-bane. The species have opposite or sometimes
whorled leaves without stipules; the corolla monopetalous, hypogynous, and
with the stamens inserted upon it; fruit two-celled. The plants yield a
milky juice, which is generally poisonous; several yield caoutchouc, and a
few edible fruits. The bark of several species is a powerful febrifuge. To
the order belongs the periwinkle (Vinca). See _Cow-tree_, _Periwinkle_,
_Oleander_, _Tanghin_.
AP'ODA. See _Proteolepadidae_.
AP'ODAL FISHES, the name applied to such malacopterous fishes as want
ventral fins. They constitute a small natural family, of which the common
eel is an example.
APO'DOESIS, in grammar, the latter member of a conditional sentence (or one
beginning with _if_, _though_, &c.) dependent on the condition or
_prot[)a]sis_; as, if it rain (_protasis_) I shall not go (_apodosis_).
AP'OGEE (-j[=e]; Gr. _apo_, from, and _g[=e]_, the earth), that point in
the orbit of the moon or a planet where it is at its greatest distance from
the earth; also the greatest distance of the sun from the earth when the
latter is in _aphelion_.
APOL'DA, a town of Germany, in Saxe-Weimar, at which woollen goods are
extensively manufactured. Pop. 22,610.
APOLLINA'RIANS, a sect of Christians who maintained the doctrine that
Christ had a human body and a human sensitive soul, but no human rational
mind, the Divine Logos (the Word) taking the place of the mind, and that
God was consequently united in him with the human body and the sensitive
soul. Apollinaris, the author of this opinion, was, from A.D. 362 till at
least A.D. 382, Bishop of Laodicea, in Syria, and a zealous opposer of the
Arians. As a man and a scholar he was highly esteemed, and was among the
most popular authors of his time. He formed a congregation of his adherents
at Antioch, and made Vitalis their bishop. The _Apollinarians_, or
_Vitalians_, as their followers were called, soon spread their settlements
in Syria and the neighbouring countries, established several societies,
with their own bishops, and one even in Constantinople; but many adherents
drifted away to Monophysitism, and the sect soon became extinct.
APOLLINA'RIS WATER, a natural aerated water, belonging to the class of
acidulated soda waters, and derived from the Apollinarisbrunnen, a spring
in the valley of the Ahr, near the Rhine, in Rhenish Prussia, forming a
highly-esteemed beverage.
[Illustration: Apollo Belvedere (Vatican, Rome)]
APOL'LO, son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Leto (Latona), who, being persecuted by
the jealousy of Hera (Juno), after tedious wanderings and nine days'
labour, was delivered of him and his twin sister, Art[)e]mis (Diana), on
the Island of Delos. Skilled in the use of the bow, he slew the serpent
Python on the fifth day after his birth; afterwards, with his sister
Art[)e]mis, he killed the children of Niob[=e]. He aided Zeus in the war
with the Titans and the giants. He destroyed the Cyclopes, because they
forged the thunderbolts with which Zeus killed his son and favourite
Asklepios (Aesculapius). According to some traditions he invented the lyre,
though this is generally ascribed to Hermes (Mercury). The brightest
creation of polytheism, Apollo is also the most complex, and many aspects
of the people's life were reflected in his cult. He was originally the
sun-god; and though in Homer he appears distinct from Helios (the sun), yet
his real nature is hinted at even here by the epithet Phoebus, that is, the
radiant or beaming. In later times the view was almost universal that
Apollo and Helios were identical. From being the god of light and purity in
a physical sense, he gradually became the god of moral and spiritual light
and purity, the source of all intellectual, social, and political progress.
He thus came to be regarded as the god of song and prophecy, the god that
wards off and heals bodily suffering and disease, the institutor and
guardian of civil and political order, and the founder of cities. His
worship was introduced at Rome at an early period, probably in the time of
the Tarquins. Among the ancient statues of Apollo that have come down to
us, the most remarkable is the one called _Apollo Belvedere_, from the
Belvedere Gallery in the Vatican at Rome. This statue was discovered at
Frascati in 1455, and purchased by Pope Julian II, the founder of the
Vatican museum. It is a copy of a Greek statue of the third century B.C.,
and dates probably from the reign of Nero.
APOLLODO'RUS, a Greek writer who flourished 140 B.C. Among the numerous
works he wrote on various subjects, the only one extant is his
_Bibliothec[=e]_, which contains a concise account of the mythology of
Greece down to the heroic age.
APOLLO'NIUS OF PERGA, Greek mathematician, called the 'great geometer',
flourished about 240 B.C., and was the author of many works, only one of
which, a treatise on _Conic Sections_, partly in Greek and partly in an
Arabic translation, is now extant.
APOLLO'NIUS OF RHODES, a Greek rhetorician and poet, flourished about 230
B.C. Of his various works we have only the _Argonautica_, an epic poem of
considerable merit, though perhaps written with too much care and labour.
It deals with the story of the Argonautic expedition.
APOLLO'NIUS OF TY'ANA, in Cappadocia, a Pythagorean philosopher who was
born in the beginning of the Christian era, early adopted the Pythagorean
doctrines, abstaining from animal food and maintaining a rigid silence for
five years. He travelled extensively in Asia, professed to be endowed with
miraculous powers, such as prophecy and the raising of the dead, and was on
this account set up by some as a rival to Christ. His ascetic life, wise
discourses, and wonderful deeds obtained for him almost universal
reverence, and temples, altars, and statues were erected to him. He died at
Ephesus about the end of the first century. A narrative of his strange
career, containing many fables, with, perhaps, a kernel of truth, was
written by Philostratus about a century later.
APOLLO'NIUS OF TYRE, the hero of a tale which had an immense popularity in
the Middle Ages and which indirectly furnished the plot of Shakespeare's
_Pericles, Prince of Tyre_. The story, originally in Greek, first appeared
in the third century after Christ.
APOLL'OS, a Jew of Alexandria, who learned the doctrines of Christianity at
Ephesus from Aquila and Priscilla, became a preacher of the gospel in
Achaia and Corinth, and an assistant of Paul in his missionary work. Some
have regarded him as the author of the _Epistle to the Hebrews_.
APOLL'YON ('the Destroyer'), a name used in _Rev._ ix, 11 for the angel of
the bottomless pit.
APOLOGETICS (-jet'iks), this term, as used in Christian theology, does not
carry with it the idea of excuse or regretful acknowledgment, but signifies
a defensive or vindicatory statement, which accords with its meaning in the
original Greek. In the conventional division of systematic theology
apologetics comes first in order, and is followed by the disciplines of
dogmatics and ethics, which expound Christian belief and Christian duty
respectively. There is a tendency, however, in the more recent treatment of
systematic theology, to include the defence or vindication of the various
Christian doctrines within the dogmatic scheme, leaving to apologetics--in
so far as it may be regarded as a separate discipline from dogmatics--the
discussion of such general themes as religion and revelation, authority and
inspiration, and the essence and truth of Christianity. Such discussions
belong essentially to what is now often called philosophy of religion. The
preference of the term philosophy of religion to that of apologetics is
indicative at once of the wider theological outlook of our time and of the
conciliatory, adaptable, and more sympathetic spirit in which the Christian
apologist approaches the new thought and culture.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. B.
Bruce, _Apologetics_; R. Mackintosh, _First Primer of Apologetics_; J. R.
Illingworth, _Reason and Revelation_; A. E. Garvie, _A Handbook of
Christian Apologetics_.
APOLOGUE (ap'o-log), a story or relation of fictitious events intended to
convey some useful truths. It differs from a parable in that the latter is
drawn from events that take place among mankind, whereas the apologue may
be founded on supposed actions of brutes or inanimate things. Aesop's
fables are good examples of apologues.
APOL'OGY, a term at one time applied to a defence of one who is accused, or
of certain doctrines called in question. Of this nature is the _Apology of
Socrates_ written by Plato; also a work with the same title sometimes
attributed to Xenophon. The name passed over to Christian authors, who gave
the name of apologies to the writings which were designed to defend
Christianity against the attacks and accusations of its enemies,
particularly the pagan philosophers, and to justify its professors before
the emperors. Of this sort were those by Justin Martyr, Athenagoras,
Tertullian, Tatian, and others.
APONEURO'SIS, in anatomy, a name of certain greyish-white shining
membranes, composed of interlacing fibres, sometimes continuous with the
muscular fibre, and differing from tendons merely in having a flat form.
They serve several purposes, sometimes attaching the muscles to the bones,
sometimes surrounding the muscle and preventing its displacement, &c. See
_Anatomy_.
APOPHTHEGM (ap'o-them), a short pithy sentence or maxim. Julius Caesar
wrote a collection of them, and we have a collection by Francis Bacon.
APOPH'YLLITE, a species of mineral of a foliated structure and pearly
lustre, called also fish-eye stone. It belongs to the Zeolite family, and
is a hydrated silicate of lime and potash, containing also fluorine.
AP'OPLEXY, sudden abolition of consciousness, followed after recovery of
consciousness by persistent disturbance of sensation or voluntary motion,
from suspension of the functions of the cerebrum, resulting from blocking
or rupture of the blood-vessels of the brain. In a complete apoplexy the
person falls suddenly, is unable to move his limbs or to speak, gives no
proof of seeing, hearing, or feeling, and the breathing is stertorous or
snoring, like that of a person in deep sleep. The premonitory symptoms of
this dangerous disease are drowsiness, giddiness, dulness of hearing,
frequent yawning, disordered vision, noise in the ears, vertigo, &c. It is
most frequent between the ages of fifty and seventy. A large head, short
neck, full chest, sanguine and plethoric constitution, and corpulency are
generally considered signs of predisposition to it; but the state of the
heart's action, with a plethoric condition of the vascular system, has a
more marked influence. Out of sixty-three cases carefully investigated only
ten were fat and plethoric, twenty-three being thin, and the rest of
ordinary habit. The common predisposing causes are disease or senile
changes in the blood-vessels and affections of the valves of the heart; but
other factors may possibly play some part either as exciting or
predisposing causes, such as long and intense thought, continued anxiety,
habitual indulgence of the temper and passions, sedentary and luxurious
living, sexual indulgence, intoxication, &c. More or less complete recovery
from a first and second attack is common, but a third is almost invariably
fatal.--Cf. Grasset, _Traite du systeme nerveux_.
APOSIOPE'SIS, in rhetoric, a sudden break or stop in speaking or writing,
usually for mere effect or a pretence of unwillingness to say anything on a
subject; as, 'his character is such--but it is better I should not speak of
_that_', or Virgil's "Quos ego--sed motos praestat componere fluctus"
(_Aen._ I, 135).
APOS'TASY (Gr. _apostasis_, a standing away from), a renunciation of
opinions or practices and the adoption of contrary ones, usually applied to
renunciation of religious opinions. It is always an expression of reproach.
What one party calls _apostasy_ is termed by the other _conversion_.
Catholics, also, call those persons _apostates_ who forsake a religious
order or renounce their religious vows without a lawful dispensation.
A POSTERIO'RI. See _A priori_.
APOS'TLES (literally, persons sent out, from the Gr. _apostellein_, to send
out), the twelve men whom Jesus selected to attend him during his ministry,
and to promulgate his religion. Their names were as follows: Simon Peter,
and Andrew his brother; James, and John his brother, sons of Zebedee;
Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew; James, the son of Alpheus; Lebbaeus
his brother, called _Judas_ or _Jude_; Simon, the Canaanite; and Judas
Iscariot. To these were subsequently added Matthias (chosen by lot in place
of Judas Iscariot) and Paul. The Bible gives the name of apostle to
Barnabas also, who accompanied Paul on his missions (_Acts_, xiv, 14). In a
wider sense those preachers who first taught Christianity in heathen
countries are sometimes termed apostles; for example, St. Denis, the
apostle of the Gauls; St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany; St. Augustine,
the apostle of England; Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies; Adalbert
of Prague, apostle of Prussia Proper. During the life of the Saviour the
apostles more than once showed a misunderstanding of the object of His
mission, and during His sufferings evinced little courage and firmness of
friendship for their great and benevolent Teacher. After His death they
received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, that they might be enabled
to fulfil the important duties for which they had been chosen. According to
one interpretation of _Matthew_, xvi, 18, Christ seems to appoint St. Peter
the first of the apostles; and the Pope claims supreme authority from the
power which Christ thus gave to St. Peter, of whom all the Popes, according
to the Catholic dogma, are successors in an uninterrupted line.
APOSTLES' CREED, a well-known formula or declaration of Christian belief,
formerly believed to be the work of the apostles themselves, but it can
only be traced to the fourth century. See _Creed_.
APOSTOL'IC, or APOSTOL'ICAL, pertaining or relating to the
apostles.--_Apostolic Church_, the Church in the time of the apostles,
constituted according to their design. The name is also given to the four
churches of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, and is claimed by the
Roman Catholic Church, and occasionally by the Episcopalians.--_Apostolic
Constitutions_ and _Canons_, a collection of regulations attributed to the
apostles, but generally supposed to be spurious. They appeared in the
fourth century, are divided into eight books, and consist of rules and
precepts relating to the duty of Christians, and particularly to the
ceremonies and discipline of the Church.--_Apostolic fathers_, the
Christian writers who during any part of their lives were contemporary with
the apostles. There are five--Clement, Barnabas, Hermas, Ignatius,
Polycarp.--_Apostolic king_, a title granted by the Pope to the kings of
Hungary, first conferred on St. Stephen, the founder of the royal line of
Hungary, on account of what he accomplished in the spread of
Christianity.--_Apostolic see_, the see of the Popes or Bishops of Rome: so
called because the Popes profess themselves the successors of St. Peter,
its founder.--_Apostolic succession_, the uninterrupted succession of
bishops, and, through them, of priests and deacons (these three orders of
ministers being called the _apostolical orders_), in the Church by regular
ordination from the first apostles down to the present day. All Episcopal
churches hold theoretically, and the Roman Catholic Church and many members
of the English Church strictly, that such succession is essential to the
officiating priest, in order that grace may be communicated through his
administrations.
APOSTOL'ICS, APOSTOLICI, or APOSTOLIC BRETHREN, the name given to certain
sects who professed to imitate the manners and practice of the apostles.
The last and most important of these sects was founded about 1260 by
Gerhard Segarelli of Parma. They went barefooted, begging, preaching, and
singing throughout Italy, Switzerland, and France; announced the coming of
the kingdom of heaven and of purer times; denounced the papacy, and its
corrupt and worldly church; and inculcated the complete renunciation of all
worldly ties, of property, settled abode, marriage, &c. This society was
formally abolished, 1286, by Honorius IV. In 1300 Segarelli was burned as a
heretic, but another chief apostle appeared--Dolcino, a learned man of
Milan. In self-defence they stationed themselves in fortified places whence
they might resist attacks. After having devastated a large tract of country
belonging to Milan they were subdued, A.D. 1307, by the troops of Bishop
Raynerius, in their fortress Zebello, in Vercelli, and almost all
destroyed. Dolcino was burned. The survivors afterwards appeared in
Lombardy and in the south of France as late as 1368.
APO'STR[)O]PH[=E] (Gr., 'a turning away from'), a rhetorical figure by
which the orator changes the course of his speech, and makes a short
impassioned address to one absent as if he were present, or to things
without life and sense as if they had life and sense. The same term is also
applied to a comma when used to contract a word, or to mark the possessive
case, as in 'John's book'.
APOTHECARIES' WEIGHT, the weight used in dispensing drugs, in which the
pound (lb.) is divided into 12 ounces ([ounce]), the ounce into 8 drachms
([drachm]), the drachm into 3 scruples ([scruple]), and the scruple into 20
grains (grs.), the grain being equivalent to that in avoirdupois weight.
APOTH'ECARY, in a general sense, one who keeps a shop or laboratory for
preparing, compounding, and vending medicines, and for the making up of
medical prescriptions. In England the term was long applied (as to some
little extent still) to a regularly licensed class of medical
practitioners, being such persons as were members of, or licensed by, the
_Apothecaries' Company_ in London. The apothecaries of London were at one
time ranked with the grocers, with whom they were incorporated by James I
in 1606. In 1617, however, the apothecaries received a new charter as a
distinct company. They were not yet regarded as having the right to
prescribe, but only to dispense, medicines; but in 1703 the House of Lords
conferred that right on them, and they afterwards became a well-established
branch of the medical profession. In 1815 an Act was passed providing that
no person should practise as an apothecary in any part of England or Wales
unless after serving an apprenticeship of five years with a member of the
society, and receiving a certificate from the society's examiners. As in
country places every practitioner must be to some extent an apothecary,
this Act gave the society an undue influence over the medical profession.
Dissatisfaction therefore long prevailed, but nothing of importance was
done till the Medical Act of 1858, which brought the desired reform. The
Apothecaries' Society, governed by a master, two wardens, and twenty-two
assistants, has prescribed a course of medical instruction and practice
which candidates for the licence of the society must pass through. Since
1874 apprenticeship has not been necessary.
APOTHE'CIUM, in botany, the receptacle of lichens, consisting of the
spore-cases or asci, and of the paraphyses or barren threads.
APOTHEO'SIS (deification), a solemnity among the ancients by which a mortal
was raised to the rank of the gods. The custom of placing mortals, who had
rendered their countrymen important services, among the gods was very
ancient among the Greeks. The Romans, for several centuries, deified none
but Romulus, and first imitated the Greeks in the fashion of frequent
apotheosis after the time of Caesar. From this period apotheosis was
regulated by the decrees of the senate, and accompanied with great
solemnities. Almost all the Roman emperors were deified.