dye-woods and for similar purposes. A liquid intended to carry with it the
extract is brought into contact with the substance containing it, and a
vacuum being made by an air-pump suitably applied, the pressure of the
atmosphere forces the liquid through the intervening mass, carrying the
colour or other soluble matter with it.
AEROSTAT'ICS, that branch of physics which treats of the weight, pressure,
and equilibrium of air and gases. See _Air_; _Air-pump_; _Barometer_;
_Gases, Properties of_; _Hydrostatics_; _Meteorology_; &c.
AEROTHERAPEUTICS is the treatment of disease by atmospheres artificially
prepared and differing from the normal in compression or pressure or
temperature. It is divided into:
1. _Medical atmospheres_ artificially produced by changing the proportions
of the normal gases of the atmosphere, or by adding gases to the
atmosphere. These are applied by inhalation in various ways:
(a) By the inhalation of gases--_ether_; _chloroform_; _nitrous oxide_ (see
_Anaesthetics_). _Oxygen_ under pressure in a cylinder, with outlet applied
close to the patient's mouth and nose, is used in severe cases of
pneumonia, cardiac disease, or wherever breathing is difficult. _Amyl
nitrate_ is inhaled on the breaking of the glass capsules in which it is
contained close to the patient's mouth; this treatment is used in cardiac
disease and other conditions to recover blood pressure. _Chlorine_ and
_iodine_ are used in cases of throat and bronchial affections by inhaling
the vapour itself for a short time, or by inhaling air strongly impregnated
with the substance.
(b) By inhalation of substances requiring heat for volatilization, e.g.
_mercury_ and _sulphur_. The patient, enveloped in a sheet, sits on a
chair, while the substance, placed in a vessel on the floor inside the
enveloping sheet near the patient, is heated by a spirit lamp or similar
method. _Mercury_ is used for chronic and syphilitic laryngitis and
pharyngitis; _sulphur_ for scabies and other skin diseases.
(c) By inhalation of steam or warm-water vapour with a drug added.
Apparatus of various kinds is used, the simplest of which is a wide-mouthed
jug filled with boiling water to which the drug has been added. The patient
takes a deep breath, drawing the vapour into his mouth up a napkin arranged
in the form of a tube. More complicated forms of apparatus are steam-sprays
and nebulizers for laryngeal and bronchial troubles.
(d) Cold medicated sprays and inhalations. Throat- and nose-sprays are much
used, also sprays for the administration of local anaesthetics (ethyl
chloride). Respirators are made of wire gauze with cotton wool or a sponge;
the substance is poured on and inhaled by the patient.
For (c) and (d) the following drugs are used: carbolic acid, creosote,
terebine, thymol, eucalyptol, zinc sulphate, in phthisis and bronchial
affections; and eusol, izal, lysol, &c., for disinfection and fumigation.
2. _Changes produced by variation in barometric pressure considered in
treatment of disease_:
Normal barometric pressure at sea-level, 29-30 inches; at Davos (5200
feet), 25 inches; at summit of Pike's Peak, Colorado (14,000 feet), 17 1/2
inches; in balloon ascent (Glaisher and Coxwell) of 29,000 feet, 9 3/4
inches.
The effects of high pressure are seen in divers, caisson workers, miners.
The effects of low pressure are seen in balloonists, airmen. The effect of
sudden return to normal from high pressure is seen in cases of caisson
disease (q.v.). The effects of low pressure were first applied to the human
body in 1835 by V.T. Junot. He contrived a hollow copper ball, 4 yards in
diameter, capable of containing a man, and by pumping out air gradually,
produced the effects of low pressure. This principle was then applied by
him locally by cupping-glasses similar in shape to the upper part of a
wineglass. There are two types of cupping:
(a) In _wet cupping_ an incision is made in the skin of the part to be
treated. The air inside the glass is exhausted by introducing a lighted
match, then the open end of the glass is immediately applied to the surface
of the skin.
(b) In _dry cupping_ the treatment is similarly carried out, but no
incision is made.
The low pressure (partial vacuum) draws blood to the part. Cupping is used
in congestion of internal organs, e.g. lungs, kidneys.
The artificial application of air to lungs at varying pressure is carried
out by inspiring rarefied air or compressed air and expiring into rarefied
air or into compressed air. Only inspiring compressed air, or expiring into
rarefied air, can be practically applied. There are many kinds of apparatus
for this. The best is the compressed-air bath (seen at Brompton Hospital,
London), consisting of three parts--the engine, receiver, and air-chamber.
The patient is placed in this air-chamber, where he remains for two hours,
during which time the pressure is usually raised from half again to double
normal. For the first half-hour the pressure is gradually raised, and is
maintained at the same abnormal height for one hour; for the last half-hour
it is reduced again gradually to normal. The patient first experiences an
unpleasant sensation in the throat. This is relieved by swallowing or by
drinking water; then pain in the ear-drums; the voice becomes shriller.
These are early signs of the effects of high pressure, and are seen to a
more marked degree in cases where a man has descended suddenly into a mine,
caisson, &c. Compressed air-baths are used in cases of asthma, bronchitis,
emphysema, anaemia.
Respiratory gymnastics are of value for defective breathing due to badly
formed chests or injury and disease of the lungs. There are various forms
of artificial breathing exercises and many ways of using artificial aids,
e.g. breathing into bottles connected together by tubes and partly filled
with water. The water is forced from one bottle to another by the
respiratory effort of the patient.
AERSCHOT, town in Belgium, province of Brabant, on the Demer, a tributary
of the Dyle. It was occupied by the Germans in Aug., 1914. Pop. 7800.
AESCHINES (es'ki-n[=e]z), a celebrated Athenian orator, the rival and
opponent of Demosthenes, was born in 389 B.C. and died in 314. He headed
the Macedonian party in Greece, or those in favour of an alliance with
Philip, while Demosthenes took the opposite side. Having failed in 330 B.C.
in a prosecution against Ctesiphon for proposing to bestow a crown of gold
upon Demosthenes for his services to the State (whence the oration of
Demosthenes 'On the Crown') he left Athens, and subsequently established a
school of eloquence at Rhodes. Three of his orations are extant. Aeschines
should not be confounded with his namesake, the Athenian philosopher and
intimate friend of Socrates.
AESCHYLUS (es'ki-lus), the first in time of the three great tragic poets of
Greece, born at Eleusis, in Attica, 525 B.C., died in Sicily 456. Before he
gained distinction as a dramatist he had fought at the battle of Marathon
(490), as he afterwards did at Artemisium, Salamis, and Plataea. He first
gained the prize for tragedy in 484 B.C. _The Persians_, the earliest of
his extant pieces, formed part of a trilogy which gained the prize in 472
B.C. In 468 B.C. he was defeated by Sophocles, and then is said to have
gone to the Court of Hiero, King of Syracuse. Altogether he is reputed to
have composed ninety plays and gained thirteen triumphs. Only seven of his
tragedies are extant: _The Persians_, _Seven against Thebes_, _Suppliants_,
_Prometheus_, _Agamemnon_, _Choephori_, and _Eumenides_, the last three
forming a trilogy on the story of Orestes, represented in 458 B.C.
Aeschylus may be called the creator of Greek tragedy, both from the
splendour of his dramatic writings and from the scenic improvements and
accessories he introduced. Till his time only one actor had appeared on the
stage at a time, and by bringing on a second he was really the founder of
dramatic dialogue. His style was grand, daring, and full of energy, and his
choruses, though difficult, are among the noblest pieces of poetry in the
world. His plays have little or no plot, and his characters are drawn by a
few powerful strokes. There are English poetical translations of his plays
by Blackie, Plumptre, Swanwick, Campbell, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth
Barrett Browning.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bishop Copleston, _Aeschylus_, in English
Classics for Modern Readers Series (Blackwood & Son); Miss J. Case,
Translation of _Prometheus Vinctus_ (Dent).
AESCULA'PIUS (Gr. _Askl[=e]pios_), the god of medicine among the Greeks and
afterwards adopted by the Romans, usually said to have been a son of Apollo
and the nymph Coronis. He was worshipped in particular at Epidaurus, in the
Peloponnesus, where a temple with a grove was dedicated to him. The sick
who visited his temple had to spend one or more nights in the sanctuary,
after which the remedies to be used were revealed in a dream. Those who
were cured offered a sacrifice to Aesculapius, commonly a cock. He is often
represented with a large beard, holding a knotty staff, round which is
entwined a serpent, the serpent being specially his symbol. The staff and
serpent have been adopted as a badge by the Royal Army Medical Corps.
Sometimes Aesculapius is represented under the image of a serpent
only.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. Dyer, _The Gods of Greece_; W. H. D. Rouse, _Greek
Votive Offerings_.
AES'CULUS, the genus of plants to which belongs the horse-chestnut.
AESIR, in Scandinavian mythology, the eleven chief gods, besides Odin. They
are: Thor, Balder, Ty or Tyr, Bragi, Heimdal, Hod, Vidar, Vali, Ull,
Forseti, and Loki or Lopt. See _Scandinavian Mythology_.
AE'SOP, the Greek fabulist, is said to have been a contemporary of Croesus
and Solon, and thus probably lived about the middle of the sixth century
(620-550) B.C. But so little is known of his life that his existence has
been called in question. He is said to have been originally a slave, and to
have received his freedom from a Samian master, Iadmon. He then visited the
court of Croesus, and is also said to have visited Pisistratus at Athens.
Finally he was sent by Croesus to Delphi to distribute a sum of money to
each of the citizens. For some reason he refused to distribute the money,
whereupon the Delphians, enraged, threw him from a precipice and killed
him. No works of Aesop are extant, and it is doubtful whether he wrote any.
Bentley inclined to the supposition that his fables were delivered orally
and perpetuated by repetition. Such fables are spoken of both by
Aristophanes and Plato. Phaedrus turned into Latin verse the Aesopian
fables current in his day, with additions of his own. In modern times
several collections claiming to be Aesop's fables have been published. Cf.
J. Jacobs, _The Fables of Aesop_.
AESTHET'ICS (Gr. _aisth[=e]tikos_, pertaining to perception), the
philosophy of the beautiful; the name given to the branch of philosophy or
of science which is concerned with that class of emotions, or with those
attributes, real or apparent, of objects generally comprehended under the
term _beauty_, and other related expressions. The term aesthetics first
received this application from Baumgarten (1714-62), a German philosopher,
who was the first modern writer to deal systematically with the subject,
though the beautiful had received attention at the hands of philosophers
from early times. Socrates, according to Xenophon, regarded the beautiful
as coincident with the good, and both as resolvable into the useful. Plato,
in accordance with his idealistic theory, held the existence of an absolute
beauty, which is the ground of beauty in all things. He also asserted the
intimate union of the good, the beautiful, and the true. Aristotle treated
of the subject in much more detail than Plato, but chiefly from the
scientific or critical point of view. In his treatises on _Poetics_ and
_Rhetoric_ he lays down a theory of art, and establishes principles of
beauty. His philosophical views were in many respects opposed to those of
Plato. He does not admit an absolute conception of the beautiful; but he
distinguishes beauty from the good, the useful, the fit, and the necessary.
He resolves beauty into certain elements, as order, symmetry, definiteness.
A distinction of beauty, according to him, is the absence of lust or desire
in the pleasure it excites. Beauty has no utilitarian or ethical object;
the aim of art is merely to give immediate pleasure; its essence is
imitation. Plotinus agrees with Plato, and disagrees with Aristotle, in
holding that beauty may subsist in single and simple objects, and
consequently in restoring the absolute conception of beauty. He differs
from Plato and Aristotle in raising art above nature. Baumgarten's
treatment of aesthetics is essentially Platonic. He made the division of
philosophy into logic, ethics, and aesthetics; the first dealing with
knowledge, the second with action (will and desire), the third with beauty.
He limits aesthetics to the conceptions derived from the senses, and makes
them consist in confused or obscured conceptions, in contradistinction to
logical knowledge, which consists in clear conceptions. Kant, in his
_Critique of the Power of Judgment_, defines beauty in reference to his
four categories, quantity, quality, relation, and modality. In accordance
with the subjective character of his system he denies an absolute
conception of beauty, but his detailed treatment of the subject is
inconsistent with the denial. Thus he attributes a beauty to single colours
and tones, not on any plea of complexity, but on the ground of purity. He
holds also that the highest meaning of beauty is to symbolize moral good,
and arbitrarily attaches moral characters to the seven primary colours. The
value of art is mediate, and the beauty of art is inferior to that of
nature. The treatment of beauty in the systems of Schelling and Hegel could
with difficulty be made comprehensible without a detailed reference to the
principles of these remarkable speculations. English writers on beauty are
numerous, but they rarely ascend to the heights of German speculation.
Shaftesbury adopted the notion that beauty is perceived by a special
internal sense; in which he was followed by Hutcheson, who held that beauty
existed only in the perceiving mind, and not in the object. Numerous
English writers, among whom the principal are Alison and Jeffrey, have
supported the theory that the source of beauty is to be found in
association--a theory analogous to that which places morality in sympathy.
The ability of its supporters gave this view a temporary popularity, but
its baselessness has been effectively exposed by successive critics. Dugald
Stewart attempted to show that there is no common quality in the beautiful
beyond that of producing a certain refined pleasure; and Bain agrees with
this criticism, but endeavours to restrict the beautiful within a group of
emotions chiefly excited by association or combination of simpler
elementary feelings. Herbert Spencer has a theory of beauty which is
subservient to the theory of evolution. He makes beauty consist in the play
of the higher powers of perception and emotion, defined as an activity not
directly subservient to any processes conducive to life, but being
gratifications sought for themselves alone. He classifies aesthetic
pleasures according to the complexity of the emotions excited, or the
number of powers duly exercised; and he attributes the depth and apparent
vagueness of musical emotions to associations with vocal tones built up
during vast ages. Among numerous writers who have made valuable
contributions to the scientific discussion of aesthetics may be mentioned
Winckelmann, Lessing, Richter, the Schlegels, Gervinus, Helmholtz, Ruskin,
Home, Hogarth, Burke, Taine, and others.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Herbert Spencer,
_Principles of Psychology_; Grant Allen, _Physiological Aesthetics_; A.
Bain, _Emotions and Will_; B. Bosanquet, _History of Aesthetics_; W.
Knight, _Philosophy of the Beautiful_.
AESTIVA'TION, a botanical term applied to the arrangement of the parts of a
flower in the flower-bud previous to the opening of the bud.--The term is
also applied to the summer sleep of animals. See _Dormant State_.
AETH'ELING. See _Atheling_.
AE'THER. See _Ether_.
AETHIO'PIA. See _Ethiopia_.
AE'THRIOSCOPE (Gr. _aithrios_, clear, cloudless), an instrument (devised by
Sir John Leslie) for measuring radiation towards a clear sky, consisting of
a metallic cup with a highly-polished interior of paraboloid shape, in the
focus of which is placed one bulb of a differential thermometer, the other
being outside. The inside bulb at once begins to radiate heat when exposed
to a clear sky, and the extent to which this takes place is shown by the
scale of the thermometer. The aethrioscope also indicates the presence of
invisible aqueous vapour in the atmosphere, radiation being less than when
the air is dry.
AETHU'SA, a genus of umbelliferous plants. See _Fool's Parsley_.
AETIOLOGY (Gr. _aitia_, cause, and _logos_, discourse), the theory of the
physical causes of any class of phenomena, or the science of causation. It
is, however, mainly used in medicine, and deals with the causes and origin
of disease.
AE'TIUS, a general of the western Roman Empire, born A.D. 396; murdered
454. As commander in the reign of Valentinian III he defended the empire
against the Huns, Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians, &c., completely defeating
the Huns under Attila in a great battle at Chalons in 451. For twenty years
he was at the head of public affairs, and in the end was murdered by
Valentinian, who was jealous of his power.
AET'NA. See _Etna_.
AETO'LIA, a western division of northern Greece, separated on the west by
the Achelous from Acarnania and washed by the Corinthian Gulf on the south.
The inhabitants are little heard of in Greek history till the Peloponnesian
war, at which time they were notorious among the Greeks for the rudeness of
their manners. Aetolia, in conjunction with Acarnania, now forms a nomarchy
of the kingdom of Greece.
AFANASIEV, Alexander Nicolaievitsh, Russian folklorist, born in 1826.
Besides numerous articles and essays he wrote several monumental works:
_The Ancient Slav's Poetic View of Nature_ (3 vols., 1866-9), _Russian
Tales and Fables for Children_ (3 vols., 1870), &c. He died in 1871.
AFFIDA'VIT, a written statement of facts upon oath or affirmation.
Affidavits are generally made use of when evidence is to be laid before a
judge or a court, while evidence brought before a jury is delivered orally.
The person making the affidavit signs his name at the bottom of it, and
swears that the statements contained in it are true. The affidavit may be
sworn to in open court, or before a magistrate or other duly qualified
person; it may be made abroad before a qualified British state official.
AFFIN'ITY, in chemistry, the force by which unlike kinds of matter combine
so intimately that the properties of the constituents are lost, and a
compound with new properties is produced. Of the force itself we know
little or nothing. It is not the same under all conditions, being very much
modified by circumstances, especially temperature. The usual effect of
increase of temperature is to diminish affinity and ultimately to cause the
separation of a compound into its constituents; and there is probably for
every compound a temperature above which it could not exist, but would be
broken up. Where two elements combine to form a compound, heat is almost
always evolved, and the amount evolved serves as a measure of the affinity.
In order that chemical affinity may come into play it is necessary that the
substances should be in contact, and usually one of them at least is a
fluid or a gas. The results produced by chemical combination are endlessly
varied. Colour, taste, and smell are changed, destroyed, or created;
harmless constituents produce strong poisons, strong poisons produce
harmless compounds.
AFFINITY, in law, is that degree of connection which subsists between one
of two married persons and the blood relations of the other. It is no real
kindred (consanguinity). A person cannot, by legal succession, receive an
inheritance from a relation by affinity; neither does it extend to the
nearest relations of husband and wife so as to create a mutual relation
between them. The degrees of affinity are computed in the same way as those
of consanguinity or blood. All legal impediments arising from affinity
cease upon the death of the husband or wife, excepting those which relate
to the marriage of the survivor.
AFFIRMA'TION, a solemn declaration by Quakers, Moravians, Dunkers, and
others, who object to taking an oath, in confirmation of their testimony in
courts of law, or of their statements on other occasions on which the
sanction of an oath is required of other persons. In England the form for
Quakers is, 'I do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm'.
Affirmation is generally allowed to be substituted for an oath in all cases
where a person refuses to take an oath from conscientious motives, if the
judge is satisfied that the motives are conscientious. False affirmation is
subjected to the same penalties as perjury.
AFFREIGHTMENT means the contract of carriage of goods by sea, by which the
shipowner undertakes to carry goods in his ship for hire or _freight_.
Unless otherwise stipulated, the merchant or freighter is only bound to pay
the freight upon delivery of the goods at the agreed destination. If the
voyage is abandoned, the merchant may claim his goods without any payment.
The merchant must load and discharge his cargo within the _lay-days_ or
stipulated time, if any; otherwise within a reasonable time. Failure
entails liability in damages--known as _demurrage_--for undue detention of
the ship. The merchant will also be liable in damages--known as
_dead-freight_--if he fails to furnish the full cargo promised. The
shipowner has a lien on the goods for their own freight and charges, but
not for a general balance. Nor has he any lien for dead-freight or
demurrage. All such liens may be validly stipulated for in the contract.
They are purely possessory as contrasted with the so-called maritime liens
for seamen's and shipmasters' wages, which are valid without possession.
There is no lien for _advance freight_, which in Scotland is repayable if
the cargo is lost at sea or delivery otherwise prevented, but not so in
England. In Scotland, accordingly, the burden of insuring advance freight
falls upon the shipowner, in England upon the merchant.
The main obligations upon the shipowner are to provide a seaworthy vessel,
carry without undue delay, and deliver the goods in the same condition as
they were shipped. Unless otherwise agreed, he is liable for damage or loss
through negligence, and if he be a common carrier, as he frequently is,
even the absence of negligence may not save him. There is nothing in
British law, however, to prevent him from contracting out of all
responsibility for the safety of goods committed to his care, and he
generally does so, either by inserting what is known as an 'exception
clause' in the document evidencing the contract, viz. the Bill of Lading,
or by giving public notice that he only accepts goods upon that footing. In
this respect the position of shipowners is more favourable than that of
railway companies and other land carriers, whose freedom of contract is
curtailed by statute.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: T. G. Carver, _Carriage by Sea_; Sir
T. E. Scrutton, _Contract of Affreightment_.
AFFRIQUE ([.a]f-r[=e]k), St., a town of southern France, department of
Aveyron.