semicircular or polygonal in plan, and having a roof forming externally a
semi-dome or semi-cone, or having ridges corresponding to the angles of the
polygon; especially such a semicircular or polygonal recess projecting from
the east end of the choir or chancel of a church, in which the altar is
placed. The apse was developed from the somewhat similar part of the Roman
basilicae, in which the magistrate (_praetor_) sat.
AP'SHERON, a peninsula on the western shore of the Caspian Sea formed by
the eastern extremity of the Caucasus Mountains. It extends for about 40
miles, and terminates in Cape Apsheron. It yields immense quantities of
petroleum. See _Baku_.
[Illustration: _aa_, Apsides]
APSIS, pl. AP'SIDES or APSI'DES, in astronomy, one of the two points of the
orbit of a heavenly body situated at the extremities of the major axis of
the ellipse formed by the orbit, one of the points being that at which the
body is at its greatest and the other that at which it is at its least
distance from its primary. In regard to the earth and the other planets,
these two points are called the aphelion and perihelion; and in regard to
the moon they are called the apogee and perigee. The line of the apsides
has a slow forward angular motion in the plane of the planet's orbit, being
retrograde only in the case of Venus. This in the earth's orbit produces
the anomalistic year. See _Anomaly_.
APT (aet; ancient APTA JULIA), a town of Southern France, department
Vaucluse, 32 miles east by south of Avignon, with an ancient Gothic
cathedral. Pop. 6336.
AP'TERA (Gr. _apteros_, wingless), wingless insects, such as lice and
certain others, popularly called _Spring-tails_, and composed of two
groups, Collembola and Thysanura.
[Illustration: Apteryx (_Apteryx Mantelli_)]
AP'TERYX, a nearly extinct genus of cursorial birds, distinguished from the
ostriches by having three toes with a rudimentary hallux, which forms a
spur. They are natives of the South Island of New Zealand; are totally
wingless and tailless, with feathers resembling hairs; about the size of a
small goose; with long curved beak something like that of a curlew. They
are entirely nocturnal, feeding on insects, worms, and seeds.--_A.
austr[=a]lis_, called _Kiwi-kiwi_ from its cry, is the best-known species.
APULEIUS, or APPULEIUS (ap-[=u]-l[=e]'us), author of the celebrated
satirical romance in Latin called the _Golden Ass_, born at Madaura, in
Numidia, about A.D. 125; the time of his death is unknown. He studied at
Carthage, then at Athens, where he became warmly attached to the Platonic
philosophy, and finally at Rome. Returning to Carthage he married a rich
widow, whose relatives accused him of gaining her consent by magic, and the
speech by which he successfully defended himself is still extant. Besides
his _Golden Ass_ (which is also known as the _Metamorphoses_, and which was
translated into English by W. Adlington in 1566), with its fine episode of
Cupid and Psyche, he was also the author of many works on philosophy and
rhetoric, some of which are still extant.
APU'LIA, a department or division in the south-east of Italy, on the
Adriatic, composed of the provinces of Foggia, Bari, and Lecce; area, 7376
sq. miles. Pop. 2,237,791.
APURE ([.a]-poe'r[=a]), a navigable river of Venezuela, formed by the
junction of several streams which rise in the Andes of Colombia; it falls
into the Orinoco.--_Apure_, one of the States of Venezuela, has a pop. of
30,008.
APURIMAC ([.a]-poe-r[=e]-m[.a]k'), a river of South America, which rises in
the Andes of Peru, and, being augmented by the Vilcamayu and other streams,
forms the Ucayale, one of the principal head-waters of the Amazon.--The
department of Apurimac in Peru has an area of 8187 sq. miles, and a pop. of
177,887.
AQ'UA (Lat. for water), a word much used in pharmacy and old
chemistry.--_Aqua fortis_ (= strong water), a weak and impure nitric acid.
It has the power of eating into steel and copper, and hence is used by
engravers, etchers, &c.--_Aqua marina_, a fine variety of beryl. See
_Aquamarine_.--_Aqua regia_, or _aqua regalis_ (= royal water), a mixture
of nitric and hydrochloric acids, with the power of dissolving gold and
other precious metals.--_Aqua Tofana_, a poisonous fluid made about the
middle of the seventeenth century by an Italian woman Tofana or Toffania,
who is said to have procured the death of no fewer than 600 individuals by
means of it. It consisted chiefly, it is supposed, of a solution of
crystallized arsenic.--_Aqua vitae_ (= water of life), or simply _aqua_, a
name familiarly applied to the _whisky_ of Scotland, corresponding in
meaning with the _usquebaugh_ of Ireland, the _eau de vie_ (brandy) of the
French.
AQ'UAMARINE, a name given to some of the finest varieties of beryl of a
sea-green or blue colour. Varieties of topaz are also so called.
AQUA'RIUM, a vessel or series of vessels constructed wholly or partly of
glass and containing salt or fresh water in which are kept living specimens
of marine or fresh-water animals along with aquatic plants. In principle
the aquarium is based on the interdependence of animal and vegetable life;
animals consuming oxygen and exhaling carbonic acid, plants reversing the
process by absorbing carbonic acid and giving out oxygen. The aquarium must
consequently be stocked both with plants and animals, and for the welfare
of both something like a proper proportion should exist between them. The
simplest form of aquarium is that of a glass vase; but aquaria on a larger
scale consist of a tank or a number of tanks with plate-glass sides and
stone floors, and contain sand and gravel, rocks, sea-weeds, &c. By
improved arrangements light is admitted from above, passing through the
water in the tanks and illuminating their contents, while the spectator is
in comparative darkness. The most important aquarium is at the zoological
station at Naples. There is also one, on a smaller scale, at Plymouth,
maintained by the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.
Aquaria on a large scale have been constructed in connection with public
parks or gardens, and the name is also given to places of public
entertainment in which large aquaria are exhibited.--Cf. G. C. Bateman,
_Fresh-water Aquaria_; M. J. Newbigin, _The Aquarium_.
AQUARIUS (Lat., the Water-bearer), a sign of the zodiac which the sun
enters about the 21st of Jan.: it now enters the formerly coincident
constellation Aquarius about a month later.
AQUATINT, a method of etching on copper by which a beautiful effect is
produced, resembling a fine drawing in sepia or Indian ink. The special
character of the effect is the result of sprinkling finely-powdered resin
or mastic over the plate, and causing this to adhere by heat, the design
being previously etched, or being now traced out. The nitric acid (aqua
fortis) acts only in the interstices between the particles of resin or
mastic, thus giving a slightly granular appearance.
AQUA TOFA'NA. See _Aqua_.
AQUA VITAE. See _Aqua_.
AQ'UEDUCT (Lat. _aqua_, water, _duco_, to lead), an artificial channel or
conduit for the conveyance of water from one place to another: more
particularly applied to structures for conveying water from distant sources
for the supply of large cities. Aqueducts were extensively used by the
Romans, and many of them still remain in different places on the Continent
of Europe, some being still in use. The Pont du Gard in the south of
France, 14 miles from Nimes, is still nearly perfect, and is a grand
monument of the Roman occupation of this country. The ancient aqueducts
were constructed of stone or brick, sometimes tunnelled through hills, and
carried over valleys and rivers on arches. The Pont du Gard spans the River
Gard, and was built to convey to Nimes the water of springs rising in the
neighbourhood of the modern Uzes. It is built of great blocks of stone; its
height is 160 feet; length of the highest arcade, 882 feet. The aqueduct at
Segovia, originally built by the Romans, has in some parts two tiers of
arcades 100 feet high, is 2921 feet in length, and is one of the most
admired works of antiquity. One of the most remarkable aqueducts of modern
times is that constructed by Louis XIV for conveying the waters of the Eure
to Versailles. The extensive application of metal pipes has rendered the
construction of aqueducts of the old type less necessary; but what may be
called aqueduct bridges are still frequently constructed in connection with
canals and also with water-works for the supply of towns. Where canals
exist canal aqueducts are common, since the water in any section of a canal
must be kept on a perfect level.
[Illustration: Aqueduct at Segovia]
Many large towns now derive a supply of water from sources at a great
distance, and in bringing the water to the place where it is required much
tunnelling is often necessary as well as digging and excavating in the
open. A tunnel furnishing a water channel may be driven through miles of
rock strata of various kinds, and in many places it may have to be lined
with concrete or cement wholly or partially, brick-work also being much
employed. Instead of tunnelling, the channel may be formed on the plan of
'cut and cover', being first cut in the ground and then covered over,
leaving the surface much in the same state as before. And, of course, iron
piping is often used in connection with such tunnels, the water being
conveyed so far in an aqueduct of one kind, and so far in one of another
kind, according as is deemed most suitable. In the Thirlmere aqueduct,
which brings water to Manchester, there are 45 miles of cast-iron pipes, 37
miles of cut-and-cover work, and 14 miles of tunnels proper. Pipes are
naturally laid where valleys occur, and the water simply enters the pipes
at one end and flows out at the other by the influence of gravity, there
being a suitable chamber constructed at either end of the pipe line where
there is a junction with a section of tunnel. Aqueduct bridges were first
introduced into England in the eighteenth century, the first being the
aqueduct at Barton Bridge conveying the Bridgewater Canal across the
Irwell. In such bridges the water-channel may be made of cast iron. There
are great aqueduct bridges on some of the Indian canals, such as the Nadrai
bridge on the Lower Ganges Canal. In America water is often carried long
distances in _flumes_ or open wooden channels, supported, where necessary,
on trestles. Great wooden pipes are also common there, built of large
staves and hooped round with iron or steel. These often rest on the surface
of the ground without any covering.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. Herschel,
_Frontinus_; Wegmann, _Water-supply of City of New York_; J. F. Bateman,
_The Manchester Waterworks_; J. M. Gale, _The Glasgow Waterworks_; A.
Prescott Folwell, _Water Supply Engineering_.
AQ'UEOUS HUMOUR, the limpid watery fluid which fills the space between the
cornea and the crystalline lens in the eye.
AQUEOUS ROCKS, composed of matter deposited by water from suspension or
solution. Called also _sedimentary rocks_. See _Geology_.
AQUIFOLIA'CEAE, a nat. ord. of plants; the holly tribe. The species consist
of trees and shrubs, and the order includes the common holly (_Ilex
Aquifolium_) and the _I. paraguayensis_, or Paraguayan tea tree.
AQUILA ([.a]k'w[=e]-l[.a]), a town in Italy, capital of the province of
Aquila, 55 miles north-east of Rome, the seat of a bishop, an attractive
and interesting town with spacious streets and handsome palaces. In 1703
and 1706 it suffered severely from earthquakes. Pop. 22,050.--The province
has an area of 2493 sq. miles. Pop. 422,634.
AQ'UILA, a companion of St. Paul (_Acts_, xviii, 2, 3). Expelled from Rome,
he and his wife, Priscilla, settled in Corinth, where Paul stayed with
them. They were converted to Christianity by the Apostle.
AQ'UILA, a native of Pontus, flourished about A.D. 130. He became a Jewish
proselyte, and made a close and accurate translation of the Hebrew
Scriptures into Greek, extant only in fragments.
AQ'UILA, name of a constellation in the northern hemisphere. See
_Constellations_.
AQUILA'RIA. See _Aloes-wood_.
AQUILE'GIA. See _Columbine_.
AQUILEIA (ak-wi-l[=e]'ya), an ancient city near the head of the Adriatic
Sea, in Upper Italy, built by the Romans in 182 or 181 B.C. Commanding the
N.E. entrance into Italy, it became important as a commercial centre and a
military post, and was frequently the base of imperial campaigns. In 425 it
was destroyed by Attila. The modern Aquileia or Aglar is a small place of
some 1700 inhabitants, consisting chiefly of fishermen.
AQUINAS (a-kw[=i]'nas; i.e. of Aquino), St. Thomas, a celebrated scholastic
divine, born in 1225 or 1227, most probably at the castle of Rocco Secca,
near Aquino. His father was Count of Aquino, in the kingdom of Naples. He
was educated at the Benedictine monastery of Monte Casino, and at the
University of Naples, where he studied for six years. About the age of
seventeen he entered a convent of Dominicans, much against the wishes of
his family. He attended the lectures of Albertus Magnus at Cologne, in
whose company he visited Paris in 1245 or 1246. Here he became involved in
the dispute between the university and the Begging Friars as to the liberty
of teaching, advocating the rights claimed by the latter with great energy.
In 1257 he received the degree of doctor from the Sorbonne, and began to
lecture on theology, rapidly acquiring the highest reputation. In 1263 he
is found at the Chapter of the Dominicans in London. In 1268 he was in
Italy, lecturing in Rome, Bologna, and elsewhere. In 1271 he was again in
Paris lecturing to the students; in 1272 he was professor at Naples. In
1263 he had been offered the archbishopric of Naples by Clement IV, but
refused the offer. He died, in 1274, on his way to Lyons to attend a
general council for the purpose of uniting the Greek and Latin Churches. He
was called, after the fashion of the times, the _angelic doctor_, and was
canonized by John XXII. The most important of his numerous works, which are
all written in Latin, are the _Summa Theologica_, which, although only
professing to treat of theology, is in reality a complete and systematic
summary of the knowledge of the time, and the _Summa Philosophica_. The
work of St. Thomas consisted in an effort to harmonize the new scientific
teachings of the age--derived from Arabian and Byzantine sources--with the
doctrine of the Church, and to refute heresy. His disciples were known as
_Thomists_. See _Thomism_.--Cf. P. Conway, _St. Thomas Aquinas_; and
article in _Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics_.
AQUITA'NIA, later AQUITAINE, a Roman province in Gaul, which comprehended
the countries on the coast from the Garonne to the Pyrenees, and from the
sea to Toulouse. It was brought into connection with England by the
marriage of Henry II with Eleanor, daughter of the last Duke of Aquitaine.
The title to the province was for long disputed by England and France, but
it was finally secured by the latter (1453).
ARABAH', a deep rocky valley or depression in north-western Arabia, between
the Dead Sea and Gulf of Akabah, a sort of continuation of the Jordan
valley.
ARABESQUE (ar'a-besk), a species of ornamentation for enriching flat
surfaces, often consisting of fanciful figures, human or animal, combined
with floral forms. There may be said to be three periods and distinctive
varieties of arabesque--(_a_) the Roman or Graeco-Roman, introduced into
Rome from the East when pure art was declining; (_b_) the Arabesque of the
Moors as seen in the Alhambra, introduced by them into Europe in the Middle
Ages; (_c_) Modern Arabesque, which took its rise in Italy in the
Renaissance period of art. The arabesques of the Moors, who are prohibited
by their religion from representing animal forms, consist essentially of
complicated ornamental designs based on the suggestion of plant-growth,
combined with extremely complex geometrical forms.
ARABGIR ([.a]-r[.a]b-g[=e]r'), or ARABKIR', a town in Asia, 147 miles
W.S.W. of Erzerum, noted for its manufacture of silk and cotton goods. Pop.
between 20,000 and 30,000.
ARA'BIA, a vast peninsula in the S.W. of Asia, bounded on the N. by the
great Syro-Babylonian plain, N.E. by the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,
S. or S.E. by the Indian Ocean, and S.W. by the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez.
Its length from N.W. to S.E. is about 1800 miles, its mean breadth about
600 miles, its area approximately 1,200,000 sq. miles, its population
probably less than 5,000,000. Roughly described, it exhibits a central
table-land surrounded by a series of deserts, with numerous scattered
oases, while around this is a line of mountains parallel to and approaching
the coasts, and with a narrow rim of low grounds (_teh[=a]ma_) between them
and the sea. In its general features Arabia resembles the Sahara, of which
it may be considered a continuation. Like the Sahara, it has its wastes of
loose sand, its stretches of bare rocks and stones, its mountains devoid of
vegetation, its oases with their wells and streams, their palm-groves and
cultivated fields--islands of green amidst the surrounding desolation.
Rivers proper there are none. By the ancients the whole peninsula was
broadly divided into three great sections--Arabia Petraea (containing the
city Petra), Deserta (desert), and Felix (happy). The first and last of
these answer roughly to the modern divisions of the region of Sinai in the
N.W. and Yemen in the S.W., while the name _Deserta_ was vaguely given to
the rest of the country. (See _Explorations, Modern_.) The principal
divisions at the present are Madian in the north-west; south of this,
Hejaz, Assir, and Yemen, all on the Red Sea, the last named occupying the
south-western part of the peninsula, and comprising a _teh[=a]ma_ or
maritime lowland on the shores of the Red Sea, with an elevated inland
district of considerable breadth; Hadramaut on the south coast; Oman
occupying the south-east angle; El-Hasa and Koveit on the Persian Gulf;
El-Hamad (Desert of Syria), Nefud, and Jebel Shammar in the north; Nejd,
the Central Highlands, which occupies a great part of the interior of the
country, while south of it is the great unexplored Dahkna or sandy desert.
Between 1902-5 a joint commission of British and Turkish officers laid down
a boundary line defining the limits between Turkish territory and that of
the independent Arab tribes in political relations with Great Britain.
Nearly the whole of Southern Arabia came within the sphere of British
influence. Madian belongs to Egypt; the Hejaz, Yemen, Bahr-el-Hasa, Koveit,
&c., were more or less under the suzerainty of Turkey until 1914. The rest
of the country is ruled by independent chiefs--sheikhs, emirs, and
imams--while the title of sultan has been assumed by the chief of the
Wahabis in Nejd, the sovereign of Oman (who has a subsidy from the Indian
Government), and some petty princes in the south of the peninsula. On 9th
June, 1916, the Grand Shereef of Mecca declared himself independent of the
Turkish Government, and an Arab revolt spread rapidly. The Grand Shereef
Hussein then announced to the Moslem world that the Shereefate of Mecca was
henceforth independent, and on 4th Nov., 1916, he had himself formally
proclaimed King, or Sultan, of Arabia. The status of the whole of Arabia
was determined by the Peace Conference. (See _Hejaz_, _Mesopotamia_,
_Syria_, _Sykes-Picot Treaty_.) The chief towns are Mecca, the birthplace
of Mahomet; Medina, the place to which he fled from Mecca (A.D. 622), and
where he is buried; Hodeida, a seaport exporting Mocha coffee; Aden, on the
S.W. coast, belonging to Britain; Sana, the capital of Yemen; and Muscat,
the capital of Oman. The chief towns of the interior are Hail, the
residence of the Emir of Jebel Shammar; Oneizah, under the same ruler; and
Rijadh, capital of Nejd and Hasa. The most flourishing portions of Arabia
are in Oman, Hadramaut, and Nejd. In the two former are localities with
numerous towns and villages and settled industrious populations like that
of India or Europe.
The climate of Arabia in general is marked by extreme heat and dryness.
Aridity and barrenness characterize both high and low grounds, and the
date-palm is often the only representative of vegetable existence. There
are districts which in the course of the year are hardly refreshed by a
single shower of rain. Forests there are few or none. Grassy pastures have
their place supplied by steppe-like tracts, which are covered for a short
season with aromatic herbs, serving as food for cattle. The date-palm
furnishes the staple article of food; the cereals are wheat, barley, maize,
and millet; various sorts of fruit flourish; coffee and many aromatic
plants and substances, such as gum-arabic, benzoin, mastic, balsam, aloes,
myrrh, frankincense, &c., are produced. There are also cultivated in
different parts of the peninsula, according to the soil and climate, beans,
rice, lentils, tobacco, melons, saffron, colocynth, poppies, olives, &c.
Sheep, goats, oxen, the horse, the camel, ass, and mule supply man's
domestic and personal wants. Among wild animals are gazelles, ostriches,
the lion, panther, hyena, jackal, &c. Among mineral products are saltpetre,
mineral pitch, petroleum, salt, sulphur, and several precious stones, as
the carnelian, agate, and onyx. The people of Arabia, according to their
own traditions, are derived from two stocks, the pure Arabs and the
naturalized Arabs or Mustarab. They are leading either a settled
agricultural life or a nomadic existence. In Southern Arabia the Jews form
a large element in the towns' population. Commerce is largely in the hands
of foreigners, among whom the Jews and Banians (Indian merchants) are the
most numerous.
The history of Arabia previous to Mahomet is obscure. The earliest
inhabitants are believed to have been of the Semitic race. Jews in great
numbers migrated into Arabia after the destruction of Jerusalem, and,
making numerous proselytes, indirectly favoured the introduction of the
doctrines of Mahomet. With his advent the Arabians revolted and united for
the purpose of extending the new creed; and under the caliphs--the
successors of Mahomet--they attained great power, and founded large and
powerful kingdoms in three continents. (See _Caliphs_.) On the fall of the
caliphate of Bagdad in 1258 the decline set in, and on the expulsion of the
Moors from Spain the foreign rule of the Arabs came to an end. In the
sixteenth century Turkey subdued Hejaz and Yemen, and received the nominal
submission of the tribes inhabiting the rest of Arabia. The allegiance of
Hejaz was renounced early in the European War; but Yemen achieved its
independence in the seventeenth century, and maintained it till 1871, when
the territory again fell into the hands of the Turks. In 1839 Aden was
occupied by the British. Oman early became virtually independent of the
caliphs, and grew into a well-organized kingdom. In 1507 its capital,
Maskat or Muscat, was occupied by the Portuguese, who were not driven out
till 1659. The Wahabis appeared towards the end of the eighteenth century,
and took an important part in the political affairs of Arabia, but their
progress was interrupted by Mohammed Ali, pasha of Egypt, and they suffered
a complete defeat by Ibrahim Pasha. He extended his power over most of the
country, but the events of 1840 in Syria compelled him to renounce all
claims to Arabia. The Hejaz thus again became subject to Turkish sway, and
until 1914 Turkey continually extended its rule not only over Yemen, but
also over the district of El-Hasa on the Persian Gulf.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir
R. F. Burton, _Pilgrimage to Medina and Mecca_; E. Reclus, _Les Arabes_;
C. M. Doughty, _Arabia Deserta_, and _Wanderings in Arabia_; G. W. Bury,
_Arabia Infelix_; S. M. Zwemer, _Arabia, the Cradle of Islam._