reached the upper course of the Niger (1795-1805). Dr. Lacerda, a
Portuguese, about the same time reached the capital of the Cazembe, in the
centre of South Africa, where he died. During 1802-6 two Portuguese traders
crossed the continent from Angola, through the Cazembe's dominions, to the
Portuguese possessions on the Zambezi. During 1822-4 extensive explorations
were made in Northern and Western Africa by Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney,
who proceeded from Tripoli by Murzuq to Lake Tchad, and explored the
adjacent regions; Laing, in 1826, crossed the desert from Tripoli to
Timbuktu; Caillie, leaving Senegal, made in 1827-8 a journey to Timbuktu,
and thence through the desert to Morocco. In 1830 Lander traced a large
part of the course of the Niger downward to its mouth, discovering its
tributary the Benue. In the south Livingstone, who was stationed as a
missionary at Kolobeng, setting out from that place in 1849 discovered Lake
Ngami. In 1851 he went north again, and came upon numerous rivers flowing
north, affluents of the Zambezi. In 1848 and 1849 Krapf and Rebmann,
missionaries in East Africa, discovered the mountains Kilimanjaro and
Kenya. An expedition sent out by the British Government started from
Tripoli in 1850 to visit the Sahara and the regions around Lake Tchad, the
chiefs being Richardson, Overweg, and Barth. The last alone returned in
1855, having carried his explorations over 2,000,000 sq. miles of this part
of Africa, hitherto almost unknown. During 1853-6 Livingstone made an
important series of explorations. He first went north-westwards, tracing
part of the Upper Zambezi, and reached St. Paul de Loanda on the west coast
in 1854. On his return journey he followed pretty nearly the same route
till he reached the Zambezi, and proceeding down the river, and visiting
its falls, called by him the Victoria Falls, he arrived at Quelimane at its
mouth on 20th May, 1856, thus crossing the continent from sea to sea. In
1858 he resumed his exploration of the Zambezi regions, and in various
journeys visited Lakes Shirwa and Nyasa, sailed up the Shire to the latter
lake, and established the general features of the geography of this part of
Africa, returning to England in 1864. By this time the great lakes of
equatorial Africa were becoming known, Tanganyika and Victoria having been
discovered by Burton and Speke in 1858, and the latter having been visited
by Speke and Grant in 1862 and found to give rise to the Nile, while the
Albert Nyanza was discovered by Baker in 1864. In 1866 Livingstone entered
on his last great series of explorations, the main object of which was to
settle the position of the watersheds in the interior of the continent, and
which he carried on till his death in 1873. His most important explorations
on this occasion were west and south-west of Tanganyika, including the
discovery of Lakes Bangweulu and Moero, and part of the upper course of the
River Congo (here called Lualaba). For over two years he was lost to the
knowledge of Europe till met with by H. M. Stanley at Tanganyika in 1871.
Gerhard Rohlfs, in a succession of journeys from 1861 to 1874, traversed
the Sahara in different directions, and also crossed the continent entirely
from Tripoli to Lagos by way of Murzuq, Bornu, &c. During 1873-5 Lieutenant
Cameron, who had been sent in search of Livingstone, surveyed Lake
Tanganyika, explored the country to the west of it, and then travelling to
the south-west, finally reached Benguella on the Atlantic coast. During
1874-7 Stanley surveyed Lakes Victoria Nyanza and Tanganyika and explored
the intervening country; then going westward to where Livingstone had
struck the Congo he followed the river down to its mouth, thus finally
settling its course and completing a remarkable and valuable series of
explorations. In 1879 Serpa Pinto completed a journey across the continent
from Benguella to Natal, and in 1881-2 Wissman and Pogge crossed it again
from St. Paul de Loanda to Zanzibar. In recent years our knowledge of all
parts of Africa has been greatly increased, thanks to the efforts of
travellers, missionaries, and commercial agents. Steamers now ply on the
Congo, and on Lakes Tanganyika, Nyasa, and Victoria, and numerous railways
('Cape to Cairo', &c.) extend far into the continent.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mungo
Park, _Travels_; D. Livingstone, _Missionary Travels_; Sir H. M. Stanley,
_In Darkest Africa_; Sir H. H. Johnston, _Africa_.
AFRIDIS ([.a]-fr[=e]'diz), a tribe or clan on the north-west frontier of
India, about the Khyber Pass, who have at various times given trouble to
the British, and are included in a new (1922) scheme of Khassadars
(irregulars). In 1897-8 a campaign ('the Tirah campaign') had to be
undertaken against them, costly both in men and money, before British
authority was asserted. In 1905 the Afridis of the force called the Khyber
Rifles formed an escort for the Prince and Princess of Wales on their visit
to the famous pass, which was long in their charge.--Cf. Holdich, _The
Indian Borderland_.
AFRIKANDER BUND, an association dating from 1880 and founded for the
purpose of consolidating Afrikander influence in South Africa. For a time
it supported the policy of Cecil Rhodes, but after 1895 separated itself
from him. After the war in 1902 the Bund was reorganized, and identified
with the South African party whose policy is to further the federation of
the South African colonies under the British crown.
A'GA, formerly title of Turkish officers of a lower military rank, now of
men of great wealth and influence except learned men and ecclesiastics, to
whom the corresponding title of _effendi_, meaning 'elder brother' and
subsequently 'master', is given.
AG'ADES, a town of Africa, near the middle of the Sahara, capital of the
Saharan oasis of Air or Asben; at one time a seat of great traffic,
probably containing 60,000 inhabitants, now with a pop. of about 7000.
AGADIR, a little town on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, the Santa Cruz May
of the Spaniards. It was seized by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century,
and captured by Mulai Ahmed in 1536. It was once one of the most important
seaports of Morocco, but is now closed to commerce and only used as a
customs station, its place being taken by Mogador. In July, 1910, the
appearance of a French cruiser in the port of Agadir gave rise to a
Franco-German dispute, and in 1911 Germany sent the gunboat _Panther_, and
a few days later the _Berlin_, to Agadir for the protection of German
subjects. See _France_, _Germany_.
AGALLOCHUM (a-gal'o-kum), a fragrant wood obtained from _Aloex[)y]lon
Agall[)o]chum_, a leguminous tree of Cochin-China, and _Aquil[=a]ria
Agall[)o]cha_, a large tree found in north-east Bengal, abounding in resin
and an essential oil which yields a perfume used as incense.
AGAL'MATOLITE (Gr. _agalma_, image), a kind of stone, a clay-slate altered
by heat and by the addition of alkalies, which is carved into images, &c.,
by the Chinese.
AG'AMA, a name of several lizards allied to the iguana, natives of both
hemispheres.
AGAMEM'NON, in Greek mythology, son of Atreus, King of Mycenae and Argos,
brother of Menelaus, and commander of the allied Greeks at the siege of
Troy. Returning home after the fall of Troy, he was treacherously
assassinated by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her paramour, Aegisthus,
Agamemnon's cousin. He was the father of Orestes, Iphigen[=i]a, and
Electra.
AG'AMI. See _Trumpeter_.
AGAMOGENESIS (-jen'e-sis; Gr. _a_, priv., _gamos_, marriage, _genesis_,
reproduction), the production of young without the congress of the sexes,
one of the phenomena of alternate generation. See _Generation_ and
_Parthenogenesis_.
AGANIPPE (-nip'[=e]), daughter of the river-god Parmessos, or Termessos,
nymph of a fountain on Mount Helicon, in Greece, sacred to the Muses, which
had the property of inspiring with poetic fire whoever drank of it. The
name is often given to the wife of Acrisius and mother of Danae.
AGAPE (ag'a-p[=e]; Gr. _agap[=e]_, love), in ecclesiastical history, the
love-feast or feast of charity, in use among the primitive Christians, when
a liberal contribution was made by the rich to feed the poor. For a time
the agape coincided with the _eucharist_, which, at its origin, was clearly
funerary in its intention. "For as often as ye eat this bread and drink
this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." During the first three
centuries love-feasts were held in the churches without scandal, but in
after-times they acquired a bad reputation, not undeservedly, and they were
condemned at the Council of Carthage in 397. Some modern sects, as the
Wesleyans, Sandemanians, Moravians, &c., have attempted to revive this
feast.
AGAPEMONE (ag-a-pem'o-n[=e]; lit. 'the abode of love'), the name of a
singular conventual establishment which has existed at Spaxton, near
Bridgewater, Somersetshire, since 1859, the originator of it being a
certain Henry James Prince, at one time a clergyman of the Church of
England, who called himself the Witness of the First Resurrection. The life
spent by the inmates appears to be a sort of religious epicureanism. Some
of the proceedings of the inmates of the 'Abode of Love' have resulted in
applications to the courts of law, where parties formerly members of the
society have returned to the world and sought to regain their rights from
Prince and his followers, and such cases have caused some scandal. In 1902
Prince was succeeded by T. H. Smyth-Pigott.
A'GAR-A'GAR, a dried seaweed of the Asiatic Archipelago, the _Gracilaria
lichenoides_, much used in the East for soups and jellies, and also by
paper and silk manufacturers.
[Illustration: _Agaricus campestris_, the Common Mushroom]
AGAR'IC (_Agar[)i]cus_), a large and important genus of fungi,
characterized by having a fleshy cap or pileus, and a number of radiating
plates or gills on which are produced the naked spores. The majority of the
species are furnished with stems, but some are attached to the objects on
which they grow by their pileus. Over a thousand species are known, and are
arranged in five sections according to whether the colour of their spores
is white, pink, brown, purple, or black. The chief British representatives
are the common wild mushroom (_A. campestris_, L.), the Horse mushroom (_A.
arvensis_, Schaeff.), _A. elvensis_, B. and Br., _A. silvaticus_, Schaeff.,
&c. Many of the species are edible, like the common mushroom, and supply a
delicious article of food, while others are deleterious and even poisonous.
AGARIC MINERAL, or MOUNTAIN-MEAL, one of the purest of the native
carbonates of lime, found chiefly in the clefts of rocks and at the bottom
of some lakes in a loose or semi-indurated form resembling a fungus. The
name is also applied to a stone of loose consistence found in Tuscany, of
which bricks may be made so light as to float in water, and of which the
ancients are supposed to have made their floating bricks. It is a hydrated
silicate of magnesium, mixed with lime, alumina, and a small quantity of
iron.
AGA'SIAS, a Greek sculptor of Ephesus, about 400 B.C., whose celebrated
statue, known as the Borghese Gladiator, representing a soldier contending
with a horseman, is now in the Louvre, Paris.
AGASSIZ (ag'as-[=e]), Louis John Rudolph, an eminent naturalist, born 1807,
died 1873, son of a Swiss Protestant clergyman at Motiers, near the eastern
extremity of the Lake of Neufchatel. He completed his education at
Lausanne, and early developed a love of the natural sciences. He studied
medicine at Zuerich, Heidelberg, and Munich. His attention was first
specially directed to ichthyology by being called on to describe the
Brazilian fishes brought to Europe from Brazil by Martius and Spix. This
work was published in 1829, and was followed in 1830 by _Histoire Naturelle
des Poissons d'eaux douces de l'Europe Centrale_ (Fresh-water Fishes of
Central Europe). Directing his attention to fossil ichthyology, five
volumes of his _Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles_ appeared between 1834
and 1844. His researches led him to propose a new classification of fishes,
which he divided into four classes, distinguished by the characters of the
skin, as ganoids, placoids, cycloids, and ctenoids. His system has not been
generally adopted, but the names of his classes have been taken as useful
terms. In 1836 he began the study of glaciers, and in 1840 he published his
_Etudes sur les Glaciers_, in 1847 his _Systeme Glaciaire_. From 1838 he
had been professor of natural history at Neufchatel, when in 1846 pressing
solicitations and attractive offers induced him to settle in America, where
he was connected as a teacher first with Harvard University, Cambridge, and
afterwards with Cornell University as well as Harvard. After his arrival in
America he engaged in various investigations and explorations, and
published numerous works, including: _Principles of Zoology_, in connection
with Dr. A. Gould (1848); _Contributions to the Natural History of the
United States_ (4 vols., 1857-62); _Zoologie Generale_ (1854); _Methods of
Study in Natural History_ (1863). In 1865-6 he made zoological excursions
and investigations in Brazil, which were productive of most valuable
results. Agassiz held views on many important points in science different
from those which prevailed among the scientific men of the day, and in
particular he strongly opposed the evolution theory. Cf. _Letters and
Recollections_, edited by G. R. Agassiz.
AGASSIZ (ag'a-s[=e]), Mount, an extinct volcano in Arizona, United States,
10,000 feet in height; a place of summer resort, near the Great Canon of
the Colorado.
AG'ATE, a semi-translucent compound mineral mass formed in the cavities of
rocks by the successive deposition of various types of silica, or by the
staining of a siliceous mass thus deposited along concentric zones. Bands
or layers of various colours blended together, the base generally being
chalcedony, and this mixed with variable proportions of jasper, amethyst,
quartz, opal, heliotrope, and carnelian. The varying manner in which these
materials are arranged causes the agate when polished to assume some
characteristic appearances, and thus certain varieties are distinguished,
as the ribbon agate, the fortification agate, the zone agate, the star
agate, the moss agate, the clouded agate, &c. In Scotland they are cut and
polished under the name of Scottish pebbles.
AGATHAR'CHUS, a Greek painter, native of Samos, the first to paint a scene
for the acting of tragedies. The view, however, that he applied the rules
of perspective to theatrical scene-painting is doubtful. He flourished
about 480 B.C.
AGATH'IAS, a Greek poet and historian, born at Myrina, Asia Minor, about
A.D. 530; author of an anthology, a collection of love poems, and a history
of his own times, which is our chief authority for the period 552-8, during
which time the Byzantine army was struggling against the Goths, Vandals,
and Franks.
AGATHOCLES (a-gath'o-kl[=e]z), a Sicilian Greek, one of the boldest
adventurers of antiquity, born 361 B.C. By his ability and energy, and
being entirely unscrupulous, he raised himself from being a potter to being
tyrant of Syracuse and master of Sicily. Wars with the Carthaginians were
the chief events of his life. He died at the age of seventy-two.
AG'ATHON, a Greek tragic poet, a friend of Euripides, and contemporary with
Socrates and Alcibiades, born about 445 B.C., died about 402 B.C. The
banquet which he gave to celebrate his first dramatic victory was made the
groundwork of Plato's _Symposium_.
[Illustration: Agave (_Agave americana_)]
AGAVE (a-g[=a]'v[=e]), a genus of plants, nat. ord. Amaryllidaceae (which
includes the daffodil and narcissus), popularly known as American aloes.
They are generally large, and have a massive tuft of fleshy leaves with a
spiny apex. They live for many years--ten to seventy according to
treatment--before flowering. When this takes place, the tall flowering stem
springs from the centre of the tuft of leaves, and grows very rapidly until
it reaches a height of 15, 20, or even 40 feet, bearing towards the end a
large number of flowers. The best-known species is _A. americ[=a]na_, known
as the Maguey or 'tree of wonders', introduced into Spain in 1561, and now
extensively grown in the warmer parts of this continent as well as in Asia
(India in particular). This and other species yield various important
products, the chief being the fibre obtained by maceration from the leaves
and roots, and known commercially as American aloe, pita flax, or vegetable
silk. The sap when fermented yields a beverage resembling cider, the
_pulque_ beer of the Spaniards, or is distilled into an intoxicating spirit
(Mezcal or Aguardiente). The leaves are used for feeding cattle; the fibres
of the leaves are formed into thread, cord, and ropes, and are also good
material for paper-making; an extract from the leaves is used as a
substitute for soap; slices of the withered flower-stem are used as
razor-strops.
AGDE ([.a]gd), a seaport of southern France, department of Herault, with a
cathedral, an ancient and remarkable structure. The trade, chiefly
coasting, is extensive. Pop. 9265.
AGE, a period of time representing the whole or a part of the duration of
any individual thing or being, but used more specifically in a variety of
senses. In law _age_ is applied to the periods of life when men and women
are enabled to do that which before, for want of years and consequently of
judgment, they could not legally do. A male at twelve years old may take
the oath of allegiance; at fourteen is at years of discretion, and
therefore may choose his guardian or be an executor, although he cannot act
until of age; and at twenty-one is at his own disposal, and may alienate
and devise his lands, goods, and chattels. In English law a male at
fourteen and a female at twelve may consent or disagree to marriage, but it
cannot be celebrated without the consent of the parents or guardians until
the parties are of age. A female at fourteen is at years of legal
discretion, and may choose a guardian; at seventeen may be an executrix;
and at twenty-one may dispose of herself and her lands. So that full age in
male or female is twenty-one years, which age is completed on the day
preceding the anniversary of a person's birth, who till that time is an
infant, and so styled in law. In France majority is attained at twenty-one,
whilst the marriageable age is eighteen for males and fifteen for females,
subject to consent of parents or guardians. In England no one can take a
seat in Parliament under twenty-one, be ordained a priest under
twenty-four, nor made a bishop under thirty. In France a seat in the
Chamber of Deputies may be taken only at twenty-five and in the Senate at
forty. The law of Scotland divides life into three periods--pupilarity,
minority, and majority. The first extends up to the time of legal puberty,
that is, twelve years for a female and fourteen for a male, when they may
marry; the second extends from this point up to twenty-one years, which is
the time when majority is attained.
The term is also applied to designate the successive epochs or stages of
civilization in history or mythology. Hesiod speaks of five distinct
ages:--1. The _golden_ or _Saturnian age_, a patriarchal and peaceful age.
2. The _silver age_, licentious and wicked. 3. The _brazen age_, violent,
savage, and warlike. 4. The _heroic age_, which seemed an approximation to
a better state of things. 5. The _iron age_, when justice and honour had
left the earth. The term is also used in such expressions as the _dark
ages_, the _middle ages_, the _Elizabethan age_, &c.
The _Archaeological Ages_ or _Periods_ are three--the Stone Age, the Bronze
Age, and the Iron Age, these names being given in accordance with the
materials chiefly employed for weapons, implements, &c., during the
particular period. The Stone Age of Europe has been subdivided into
two--the Palaeolithic or earlier, and Neolithic or later. The word _age_ in
this sense has no reference to the lapse of time--or not necessarily
so--but simply refers to the stage at which a people has arrived in its
progress towards civilization; thus there are races still in their stone
age. The Palaeolithic or earlier stone age in Europe was doubtless
immensely earlier than the Neolithic, the latter being marked by implements
of much greater finish than the former. See _Stone Age_.
AGEN ([.a]-zha[n.]), one of the oldest towns in France, capital of
department Lot-et-Garonne on the Garonne, 74 miles south-east of Bordeaux;
see of a bishop; manufactures sailcloth and other articles, and has an
extensive trade. The river is here crossed by a stone bridge, a suspension
bridge, and a canal aqueduct. Pop. 23,294.
AGENOR (a-j[=e]'nor), a mythical Greek hero, King of Phoenicia, and father
of Europa and Cadmus. Also one of the bravest among the Trojans, slain by
Neoptolemus.
A'GENT, a person appointed by another to act for or perform any kind of
business for him, the latter being called in relation to the former the
_principal_. Ambassadors were originally styled diplomatic agents.--In
India, it is the name for an officer to whom political power is given to
deal with native states.--_Army Agent_ is a kind of military banker,
authorized by the Government to manage the monetary affairs of a regiment.
There are only a few of these agents, and consequently each has in charge
the affairs of a number of different regiments.--_Crown Agents_ are
officials appointed by the secretary of state for the colonies to act as
commercial and financial agents in this country for the different British
colonies that are not self-governing; those that are self-governing appoint
their own agents, who are designated _agents-general_.--_Agent_ in
mechanics is the general force producing a movement.
AGERATUM (a-jer'a-tum), a genus of composite plants of the warmer parts of
America, one species of which, _A. mexic[=a]num_, is a well-known
flower-border annual with dense lavender-blue heads. From it have been
derived several varieties with flowers of different colours used chiefly as
bedding plants.
AGER PUBLICUS. See _Agrarian Law_.
AGESILAUS (a-jes-i-l[=a]'us), a king of Sparta, born in 444 B.C., and
elevated to the throne after the death of his brother Agis II. He acquired
renown by his exploits against the Persians, Thebans, and Athenians. Though
a vigorous ruler, and almost adored by his soldiers, he was of small
stature and lame from his birth. He died in Egypt in the winter of 361-360
B.C. His life has been written by Xenophon, Plutarch, and Cornelius Nepos.
AGGLOM'ERATE, in geology, a collective name for masses consisting of
angular fragments ejected from volcanoes. When a rock mass consists largely
of fragments worn and rounded by water it is called a _conglomerate_, and
such masses were originally, no doubt, gravels and shingles on sea beaches
and river channels.
AGGLU'TINATE LANGUAGES, languages in which the modifying suffixes are, as
it were, glued on to the root, both it and the suffixes retaining a kind of
distinctive independence and individuality, as in the Japanese, Turkish,
and other Turanian languages, and the Basque language.
AGG'REGATE, a term applied in geology to rocks composed of several
different mineral constituents capable of being separated by mechanical
means, as granite, where the quartz, felspar, and mica can be separated
mechanically.--In botany it is applied to flowers composed of many small
florets having a common undivided receptacle, the anthers being distinct
and separate, the florets commonly standing on stalks, and each having a
partial calyx.
AGGRY BEADS, glass beads of various forms and colours, prized by the
natives of West Africa as ornaments, and as having magical and medicinal
virtues. Their origin and history are not well known. Such beads have been
found in various parts of the world, including North and South America, and
often in graves. Some authorities believe that the oldest of them are the
work of the ancient Egyptians, or the Phoenicians, while the later are
probably of Venetian origin.
AGHA, see _Aga_.
AGHRIM, see _Aughrim_.
AGINCOURT ([.a]-zha[n.]-k[:o]r), a village of Northern France, department
Pas de Calais, famous for the battle of 25th Oct., 1415, between the French
and English. Henry V, King of England, eager to conquer France, landed at
Harfleur, took the place by storm, and wished to march through Picardy to
Calais, but was met by a French army under the Constable d'Albret. The
English numbered about 15,000 men, while the French numbers are variously
given as from 50,000 to 150,000. The confined nature and softness of the
ground were to the disadvantage of the French, who were drawn up in three
columns unnecessarily deep. The English archers attacked the first division
in front and in flank, and soon threw them into disorder. The second
division fled on the fall of the Duc d'Alencon, who was struck down by
Henry himself; and the third division fled without striking a blow. Of the
French 10,000 were killed, including the Constable d'Albret, with six dukes
and princes. The English lost 1600 men killed, among them the Duke of York,
Henry's uncle. After the battle the English continued their march to
Calais.
AGIO ([=a]'ji-[=o]), the difference between the real and the nominal value
of money, as between paper money and actual coin. It is used to denote both
the difference between two currencies in the same country and the
variations in the currencies of different countries. The term is derived
from the It. _aggiungere_, to add, augment, hence _agiotage_. See _Disagio_
and _Balance of Trade_.
AGIRA ([.a]-j[=e]'r[.a]), (ancient AGYRIUM), a town of Sicily south-west of
Etna. Pop. 22,485.