Greek and assigned to the author of the gospel of St. Luke. Its date is
probably A.D. 63 or 64. It embraces a period of about thirty years,
beginning immediately after the resurrection, and extending to the second
year of the imprisonment of St. Paul in Rome. Very little information is
given regarding any of the apostles, excepting St. Peter and St. Paul, and
the accounts of them are far from being complete. It describes the
gathering of the infant Church; the fulfilment of the promise of Christ to
his apostles in the descent of the Holy Ghost; the choice of Matthias in
the place of Judas, the betrayer; the testimony of the apostles to the
resurrection of Jesus in their discourses; their preaching in Jerusalem and
in Judea, and afterwards to the Gentiles; the conversion of Paul, his
preaching in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, his miracles and
labours.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. T. Knowling, _The Expositor's Greek Testament_;
J. Moffatt, _The Historical New Testament_; J. M. Wilson, _Origin and Aim
of the Acts of the Apostles_.
AC'TUARY, an accountant whose business is to make the necessary
computations in regard to a basis for life assurance, annuities,
reversions, &c.
ACU'LEUS, in botany, a prickle, or sharp-pointed process of the epidermis,
as distinguished from a thorn or spine, which is of a woody nature.
ACUPRESS'URE, a means of arresting bleeding from a cut artery introduced by
Sir James Simpson in 1859, and consisting in compressing the artery above
the orifice, that is, on the side nearest the heart, with the middle of a
needle (Lat. _acus_, a needle) introduced through the tissues.
ACUPUNC'TURE, a surgical operation, consisting in the insertion of needles
into certain parts of the body for alleviating pain, or for the cure of
different species of rheumatism, neuralgia, eye diseases, &c. It is easily
performed, gives little pain, causes neither bleeding nor inflammation, and
seems at times of surprising efficacy.
ADAGIO (It. [.a]-d[:a]'j[=o]), a musical term, expressing a slow time,
slower than _andante_ and less so than _largo_, _lento_, and _grave_.
ADAL', a country in Africa, east of Abyssinia and north-westward of
Tajurrah Bay, inhabited by a dark-brown race of the same name, a tribe of
the Danakils, Mahommedans in religion; towns Aussa and Tajurrah. Part of
the coast here is held by the French.
AD'ALBERT OF PRAGUE, called the apostle of the Prussians, son of a Bohemian
nobleman named Slavnik, born about 939. His real name was Voitech, but he
assumed the name of the Archbishop Adalbert, under whom he studied at
Magdeburg. He was appointed Bishop of Prague in 983, laboured in vain among
the heathenish Bohemians, resolved to convert the pagans of Prussia, but
was murdered in the attempt (997). _Boga-Rodzica_, a Polish war-song, is
said to have been composed by him.
ADA'LIA, a seaport on the south coast of Asia Minor. Pop. 28,000. The
district of Adalia has a population of over 200,000.
ADAM ([.a]-d[.a][n.]), Adolphe Charles, a French composer, more especially
of comic operas; born 1803, died 1856. Wrote _Le postillon de Longjumeau_,
_Le Brasseur de Preston_ (Brewer of Preston), _La Rose de Peronne_, _Le roi
d'Yvetot_, &c.
ADAM, Albrecht, a German painter of battles and animals, born 1786, died
1862. Three sons of his have also distinguished themselves as painters,
especially Franz, born 1815, died 1886, among whose best pictures are
several representing scenes of the Franco-Prussian war.
ADAM, Alexander, a Scottish classical scholar, born in 1741; became in 1768
rector of the High School of Edinburgh, and died there in 1809. Wrote
_Principles of Latin and English Grammar_; _Roman Antiquities_, a useful
school-book; _Summary of Geography and History_; _Classical Biography_, &c.
ADAM, Robert, an eminent Scottish architect, born in 1728, a son of William
Adam, architect. He resided several years in Italy, visited Spalatro, in
Dalmatia, and published a work on the ruined palace of Diocletian there. In
conjunction with his brother James he was much employed by the English
nobility and gentry in constructing modern and embellishing ancient
mansions. Among their works are the Register House and the University
Buildings, Edinburgh, and the Adelphi Buildings, London. Robert Adam died
in 1792, and was buried in Westminster Abbey; his brother James died in
1794.
ADAM AND EVE, the names given in Scripture to our first parents, an account
of whom and their immediate descendants is given in the early chapters of
_Genesis_. Cain, Abel, and Seth are all their sons that are mentioned by
name; but we are told that they had other sons as well as daughters. There
are numerous Rabbinical additions to the Scripture narrative of an
extravagant character, such as the myth of Adam having a wife before Eve,
named _Lilith_, who became the mother of giants and evil spirits. Other
legends or inventions are contained in the Koran.
ADAM DE LA HALE, an early French writer and musician, born 1235, died 1287.
His _Jeu de Robin et de Marion_ (first produced at Naples), may be regarded
as the first comic opera ever written. Cf. H. Guy, _Bibliographie Critique
du Trouvere_, Paris, 1900.
AD'AMANT, an old name for the diamond; also used in a vague way to imply a
substance of impenetrable hardness.
ADAMAN'TINE SPAR, a name of the mineral corundum or of a brownish variety
of it.
ADAMA'WA (also called FUMBINA), a region of West Africa, between lat. 6deg
and 10deg N., and lon. 11deg and 17deg E. Much of the surface is hilly or
mountainous, Mount Atlantika being 9000 or 10,000 feet. The principal river
is the Benue. A great part of the country is covered with thick forests.
The oil palm and bananas are staple products. Chief town Yola (Nigeria).
ADAMELLO. See _European War_.
AD'AMITES, a religious sect dating from the second century, probably of
Gnostic origin. It was so called because both men and women were said to
appear naked in their assemblies, either to imitate Adam in the state of
innocence or to prove the control which they possessed over their passions.
Practices similar to those of the Adamites arose several times in later
ages. See _Beghards_.
ADAM'NAN, St., born in Ireland about 624, was elected abbot of Iona in 679,
and died there about 703 or 704. He is best known from his _Life of St.
Columba_, valuable as throwing light on the early ecclesiastical history of
Scotland. (There are editions by Reeves, 1857; reissued with English
translation 1874; and by Fowler, 1895.) His feast is celebrated on 23rd
Sept.
ADAMS, Charles Francis, American litterateur and statesman, was a son of
John Quincy Adams, and was born in 1807. His boyhood was spent in Europe,
partly in England; but he finished his education at Harvard, and afterwards
studied law. After serving some years in the Massachusetts legislature he
was sent to Congress in 1859. In 1861 Lincoln sent him to England as
American minister, and here he remained for seven years, performing the
arduous duties of his office with the utmost tact and ability. Between 1874
and 1877 he edited a complete edition of his grandfather's works in 12
vols. He was one of the arbitrators on the _Alabama_ claims. Died in 1886.
ADAMS, John, second president of the United States, was born at Braintree
(now Quincy), Massachusetts, 19th Oct., 1735. He was educated at Harvard
University, and adopted the law as a profession. His attention was directed
to politics by the question as to the right of the English Parliament to
tax the colonies, and in 1765 he published some essays strongly opposed to
the claims of the mother country. As a member of the new American congress
in 1774, 1775, and 1776 he was strenuous in his opposition to the home
Government, and in organizing the various departments of the colonial
Government. On 13th May, 1776, he seconded the motion for a declaration of
independence proposed by Lee of Virginia, and was appointed a member of
committee to draw it up. The declaration was actually drawn up by
Jefferson, but it was Adams who fought it through Congress. In 1778 he went
to France on a special mission, but soon came back and again returned, and
for nine years resided abroad as representative of his country in France,
Holland, and England. After taking part in the peace negotiations he was
appointed, in 1785, the first ambassador of the United States to the Court
of St. James. He was recalled in 1788, and the following year elected
vice-president of the republic under Washington. In 1792 he was re-elected
vice-president, and at the following election in 1797 he became president
in succession to Washington. The commonwealth was then divided into two
parties, the Federalists, who favoured aristocratic and were suspected of
monarchic views, and the Republicans. Adams adhered to the former party,
with which his views of government had always been in accordance, but the
real leader of the party was Hamilton, with whom Adams did not agree, and
who tried to prevent his election. His term of office proved a stormy one,
which broke up and dissolved the Federalist party. His re-election in 1801
was again opposed by the efforts of Hamilton, which ended in effecting the
return of the Republican candidate Jefferson. Thus it happened that when
Adams retired from office his influence and popularity with both parties
were at an end, and he sunk at once into the obscurity of private life. He
had the consolation, however, of living to see his son president. He died
4th July, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of
independence, and on the same day as Jefferson. His works have been ably
edited by his grandson Charles Francis Adams.
ADAMS, John Couch, English astronomer, born 1819, died 1892, studied at
Cambridge, and was senior wrangler in 1843. His investigations into the
irregularities in the motion of the planet Uranus led him to the conclusion
that they must be caused by another more distant planet, and the results of
his labours were communicated in September and October, 1845, to Professor
Challis and Airy the Astronomer Royal. The French astronomer Leverrier had
by this time been engaged in the same line of research, and had come to
substantially the same results, which, being published in 1846, led to the
actual discovery of the planet Neptune by Galle of Berlin. In 1858 Adams
was professor of mathematics at Aberdeen University, and in 1859 was
appointed Lowndean professor of astronomy and geometry at Cambridge.
ADAMS, John Quincy, sixth president of the United States, son of John
Adams, second president, was born 11th July, 1767. Accompanying his father
to Europe he received part of his education there, but graduated at Harvard
in 1788. Having adopted the legal profession, in 1791 he was admitted to
the bar. He now began to take an active interest in politics, and some
letters that he wrote having attracted general attention, in 1794
Washington appointed him minister to the Hague. He afterwards was sent to
Berlin, and also on a mission to Sweden. In 1798 he received a commission
to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Sweden. On the accession of
Jefferson to the presidency in 1801 he was recalled. The Federalist party
(that of his father), which was now declining, had sufficient influence in
Massachusetts to elect him to the senate in 1803. On an important question
of foreign policy, that of embargo, he abandoned his party, and having lost
his re-election on this account, he retired to the professorship of
rhetoric at Cambridge, which he held from 1806 to 1809. In 1809 he went as
ambassador to Russia. He assisted in negotiating the peace of 1814 with
England, and was afterwards appointed resident minister at London. Under
Monroe as president he was secretary of state, and at the expiration of
Monroe's double term of office he succeeded him in the presidency (1825).
He was not very successful as president, and at the end of his term (1829)
he was not re-elected. In 1831 he was returned to Congress by
Massachusetts, and continued to represent this State till his death, his
efforts being now chiefly on behalf of the Abolitionist party. He died 21st
Feb., 1848.
ADAMS, Samuel, an American statesman, second cousin of President John
Adams, was born in Boston, 27th Sept., 1722, and was educated at Harvard
College. He early devoted himself to politics, and in connection with the
dispute between America and the mother country he showed himself one of the
most unwearied, efficient, and disinterested assertors of American freedom
and independence. He was one of the signers of the declaration of 1776,
which he laboured most indefatigably to bring forward. He sat in congress
eight years; from 1789-94 was lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts; from
1794-7 governor, when he retired from public life. He died 2nd Oct., 1803.
ADAM'S APPLE, the popular name of the prominence seen in the front of the
throat in man, and which is formed by the portion of the larynx known as
the _thyroid cartilage_. It is much smaller and less visible in females
than in males, and is so named from the supposition that it was caused by a
piece of the forbidden fruit having stuck in Adam's throat. In botany it is
the name given to the plantain tree and the _Citrus pomum_. It is the Heb.
_Ethrog_, which, according to Hebrew legend, was the fruit Adam and Eve ate
in the garden of Eden.
ADAM'S BRIDGE, a chain of reefs, sandbanks, and islands stretching between
India and Ceylon; so called because the Mohammedans believe that when Adam
was driven from paradise he had to pass by this way to Ceylon (where is
also Adam's Peak). The Brahmans call it the bridge of Rama, the hero of the
Indian Epic, the _Ramayana_.
ADAM'S NEEDLE, a popular name of the Yucca plant.
ADAM'S PEAK, one of the highest mountains in Ceylon, 45 miles
east-south-east of Colombo, conical, isolated, and 7420 feet high. On the
top, a rocky area of 64 feet by 45, is a hollow in the rock 5 feet long
bearing a rude resemblance to a human foot, which the Brahmans believe to
be the footprint of Siva; the Buddhists, who call it Sri-pada (sacred
footmark), that of Buddha; the Mahommedans that of Adam. The last-named
believe that Adam stood here on one foot for a thousand years, lamenting
his exclusion from Eden. Devotees of all creeds meet here and present their
offerings (chiefly rhododendron flowers) to the sacred footprint. The
ascent is very steep, and towards the summit is assisted by steps cut and
iron chains riveted in the rock.
ADAMSON, Patrick, a Scottish divine and Latin poet, born 15th March, 1536,
died 19th Feb., 1592. He was educated at St. Andrews, lived some years in
France, was minister of Paisley, and afterwards Archbishop of St. Andrews,
in which position he made himself very obnoxious to the Presbyterian party.
Deprived of the revenues of the see, he died in indigence. He turned
portions of the Bible into Latin verse.
AD'ANA, town and capital of Adana vilayet, Asia Minor, on the Seihun-Irmak;
served by the Bagdad Railway. The district is claimed by Armenia. Cotton,
rice, wine, and fruit are exported. Pop. (town), 70,000; (vilayet),
1,000,000.
ADANSON ([.a]-d[.a]n-s[=o][n.]), Michel, French naturalist and traveller
(of Scottish extraction), born 1727; died 1806. He lived five years in
Senegal, and wrote a natural history of this region as well as works on
botany. The baobab genus is named _Adansonia_ after him. Adanson's statue
was erected in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, in 1856.
ADANSO'NIA. See preceding article and _Baobab_.
ADAPTATION (from the Lat. _ad_, to, and _apt[=a]re_, to fit), the process
of modification or alteration of a thing so as to change its original
purpose and adapt it to other uses. Adaptation in biology is the power and
process by which an organism or species of animals or plants changes and
becomes modified, so as to suit the conditions of its life. In other words
it is the adjustment, or favourable reaction, of the living world to its
environment, the advantageous variation of animals and plants under changed
conditions. The term now includes both that which is hereditary and that
which is acquired. The powers of lower forms of life to adapt themselves to
changes of environment are limited, and frequently, when the conditions
vary suddenly, they are either arrested in their development or die
altogether.--In literature it is the process by which an author modifies
the work of another not in its essence but in its form and details, either
in the original or in a foreign language.
A'DAR, the twelfth month of the Hebrew sacred and sixth of the civil year,
answering to part of February and part of March.
ADDA (ancient ADDUA), a river of North Italy, which, descending from the
Rhaetian Alps, falls into Lake Como, and leaving this joins the Po, after a
course of about 170 miles. On the banks of the Adda Napoleon won the battle
of Lodi in 1796.
ADDA, a species of lizard, more commonly called Skink.
AD'DAX, a species of antelope (_Hippotr[)a]gus nasomacul[=a]tus_) of the
size of a large ass, with much of its make. The horns of the male are about
4 feet long, beautifully twisted into a wide-sweeping spiral of two turns
and a half, with the points directed outwards. It has tufts of hair on the
forehead and throat, and large broad hoofs. It inhabits the sandy regions
of Nubia and Kordofan, and is also found in Caffraria.
[Illustration: Adder (_Vipera communis_)]
ADDER, a name often applied to the common viper as well as to other kinds
of venomous serpents. See _Viper_.
ADDER-PIKE (_Trach[=i]nus vip[)e]ra_), a small species of the weever fish,
called also the Lesser Weever or Sting-fish. See _Weever_.
ADDER-STONE, the name given in different parts of Britain to certain
rounded perforated stones or glass beads found occasionally, and supposed
to have a kind of supernatural efficacy in curing the bites of adders. They
are believed to have been anciently used as spindle-whorls, that is, a kind
of small fly-wheels to keep up the rotatory motion of the spindle.
ADDER'S-TONGUE, a species of British fern (_Ophioglossum vulg[=a]tum_),
whose spores are produced on a spike, supposed to resemble a serpent's
tongue.
ADDER'S-WORT, a name of snakeweed or bistort (_Polyg[)o]num Bistorta_),
from its supposed virtue in curing the bite of serpents.
AD'DINGTON, Henry, Viscount Sidmouth, born 1757, died 1844. Entered
Parliament, 1783, as a warm supporter of Pitt. Was elected speaker of the
House of Commons, 1789, and in 1801 invited by the king to form an
administration, chiefly signalized by the conclusion of the Peace of
Amiens. Quarrelled with Pitt, whom he bitterly attacked. Was home secretary
from 1812 till 1822, his repressive policy making him remarkably unpopular
with the nation at large. Retired from official life in 1824.
ADDIS ABE'BA, or ADIS ABBA'BA, a town in the south of Abyssinia, in Shoa,
ranking as capital of the country, being chief residence of the negus or
sovereign. It stands among mountains, at the height of 10,000 feet, and is
a primitive place, but now has telegraphic connection with Jibouti and
Massawa, and since 1917 is the terminus of the railway running inland from
Jibouti by way of Harar. Pop. 50,000.
AD'DISON, Rt. Hon. Christopher, P.C., M.D., Cabinet Minister. Dr. Addison
was born 19th June, 1869, and educated at Trinity College, Harrogate, and
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he was a lecturer for a time. He
was elected Member of Parliament for the Hoxton Division, Shoreditch, in
1910, and was parliamentary secretary to the Board of Education from 1914
to 1915. From 1916 to 1917 he was Minister of Munitions; he was President
of the Local Government Board from January to June, 1919, when he became
Minister of Health. He has written and edited several works on medical
subjects.
AD'DISON, Joseph, an eminent English essayist, son of the Rev. Lancelot
Addison, afterwards Dean of Lichfield, born at Milston, Wiltshire, 1st May,
1672, died 17th June, 1719. He was educated at the Charterhouse, where he
became acquainted with Steele, and afterwards at Oxford. He held a
fellowship from 1697 till 1711, and gained much praise for his Latin verse.
He secured as his earliest patron the poet Dryden, who inserted some of his
verses in his _Miscellanies_ in 1693. A translation of the fourth
_Georgic_, with the exception of the story of _Aristaeus_, by Addison,
appeared in the same collection in 1694, and he subsequently translated for
it two and a half books of Ovid. Dryden also prefixed his prose essay on
Virgil's _Georgics_ to his own translation of that poem, which appeared in
1697. An early patron of his was Charles Montague, afterwards Earl of
Halifax; another was Lord Somers, who procured him a pension of L300 a year
to enable him to qualify for diplomatic employments by foreign travels. He
spent from the autumn of 1699 to that of 1703 on the Continent, where he
became acquainted with Malebranche, Boileau, &c. During his residence
abroad his tragedy of _Cato_ is supposed to have been written. During his
journey across Mont Cenis he wrote his _Letter from Italy_, esteemed the
best of his poems, and in Germany his _Dialogues on Medals_, which was not
published till after his death. His _Remarks on Several Parts of Italy in
the Years 1701-3_ was published in 1705. His political friends lost power
on the death of William III, but _The Campaign_, a poem on the battle of
Blenheim, procured him an appointment as a commissioner of appeal on
excise. In 1706 he received an under-secretaryship, in 1707 accompanied
Halifax on a mission to Hanover, in 1709 became secretary to the Viceroy of
Ireland, and keeper of the records. In 1708 he was elected Member of
Parliament for Lostwithiel, a seat he exchanged in 1710 for Malmesbury,
which place he continued to represent till his death. From Oct., 1709, to
Jan., 1711, he contributed 75 papers to the _Tatler_, either wholly by
himself or in conjunction with Steele, thus founding the new literary
school of the Essayists. For the _Spectator_ (2nd Jan., 1711, to 6th Dec.,
1712) he wrote 274 papers, all signed by one of the four letters C., L.,
I., O. His tragedy of _Cato_, produced April, 1713, ran for twenty nights,
and was translated into French, Italian, German, and Latin. His other
contributions to periodicals included 51 papers to the _Guardian_ (May to
Sept., 1713), 24 papers to a revived _Spectator_ conducted by Budgell, and
2 papers to Steele's _Lover_. On the death of Queen Anne he successively
became secretary to the lords justices, secretary to the Irish viceroy, and
one of the lords commissioners of trade. He published the _Freeholder_
(23rd Dec., 1715, to 9th June, 1716), a political _Spectator_. In August,
1716, he married the Countess of Warwick, a marriage which did not increase
his happiness. He retired from public life, March, 1718, with a pension of
L1500 a year. He formed a close friendship with Swift, and was chief of a
distinguished literary circle. He had literary quarrels with Pope and Gay,
the former of whom in revenge wrote the satire contained in his lines on
Atticus in the _Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot_. He also had a paltry quarrel
over politics with his old friend Steele. His death took place at Holland
House, its cause being dropsy and asthma. He was buried in Westminster
Abbey. Of his style as a writer so much has been said that nothing remains
to say but to quote the dictum of Johnson: "Whoever wishes to attain an
English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious,
must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison". He had great
conversational powers, and his intimates speak in the strongest terms of
the enjoyment derived from his society, but he was extremely reserved
before strangers. His _Dialogues on Medals_ and _Evidences of the Christian
Religion_ were published posthumously in Tickell's collected edition of his
works.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. J. Courthope, _Addison_ (English Men of Letters
Series); _Essays from the Spectator_, edited by Henry Morley.
ADDISON'S DISEASE (from Dr. Addison, Guy's Hospital, London, who traced the
disease to its source), a fatal disease, the seat of which is the two
glandular bodies placed one at the front of the upper part of each kidney,
and called _suprarenal capsules_. It is characterized by anaemia or
bloodlessness, extreme prostration, and the brownish or olive-green colour
of the skin. Death usually results from weakness, and commonly takes place
within a year.
ADDLED PARLIAMENT, a Parliament called 5th April, 1614, in order to
legalize the customs duties imposed by James I, but which, proceeding to
the redress of grievances instead of granting supply, was dissolved, 7th
June, without passing a single Bill.