investigations of scientific men, the general diffusion of knowledge among
all classes, and the necessity of competing with producers in foreign
countries, agriculture made vast strides in Britain during the nineteenth
century and the beginning of the twentieth. Among the chief improvements we
may mention deep ploughing and thorough draining. By the introduction of
new or improved implements the labour necessary to the carrying out of
agricultural operations has been greatly diminished, and advancement in
this direction has been promoted by the necessities of the Great War.
Labour-saving machinery is likely to be used in future on an increasingly
large scale. Science, too, has been called in to act as the handmaid of
art, and in its application we owe very much to the researches conducted at
the Rothamsted Experimental Station, founded in 1834 by Lawes, who endowed
the Lawes Trust in 1889. Gilbert and he worked together from 1843 to the
end of last century. It is primarily by the investigations of the chemist
and physicist that agriculture has been put on a really scientific basis.
The physiology of plants and animals, and the complex properties of soils,
have all been investigated, and most important results obtained. Artificial
manures, in great variety to supply the elements wanted for plant growth,
have come into common use, and the free nitrogen of the air is now worked
up into various substances by which the nitrate of soda imported from South
America can be replaced. An improvement in all kinds of stock is becoming
more and more general, feeding is conducted on more scientific principles,
and improved varieties of crop-plants are created by applying the
principles of Mendel and other scientists. Much attention is also devoted
to seed-testing, and the applications of electricity to agriculture are
being developed.
As a result of the new conditions, to be a thoroughly-trained and competent
agriculturist requires a special education, partly theoretical, partly
practical. In many countries there are now agricultural schools or colleges
supported by the State, and many such institutions exist in Britain. In
Scotland, the Edinburgh chair of Rural Economy was founded in 1790; in
Ireland, the Glasnevin Institution was inaugurated in 1838; and the
establishment of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, dates from
1845. In the United States nearly all the States have now colleges, or
departments of colleges, devoted to the teaching of agriculture, and large
allotments of public land have been made for their support. There are also
numerous experimental stations. In Britain there has been a Board of
Agriculture since 1889, under a cabinet minister, which was constituted a
ministry in 1919; previously there was only a department under a committee
of the Privy Council.
It is probable that on the whole the agriculture of Britain is farther
advanced than that of any other region of similar size. Wheat, barley, and
oats are the chief cereals in Britain; the chief roots are turnips and
potatoes; other crops (besides grass and clover) are beans, peas, mangold,
hops, and flax. In Europe at large the principal cereals are wheat, oats,
barley, and rye, wheat being mostly grown in the middle and southern
regions, such as France, Spain, part of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy,
and southern Russia, the others in the more northern portion, while maize
is grown in the warmest parts. Turnips are comparatively little grown out
of Britain, beet-root in some sense taking their place; potatoes, however,
are largely cultivated, except in the south. In the United States maize is
the chief corn crop, next to which comes wheat, then oats; potatoes are an
important crop, but turnips are only grown to a very small extent. In
Canada large quantities of wheat are grown (more especially in Manitoba and
the North-West), much is also now produced in the Australian colonies, in
India, Argentina, &c.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Fream, _Elements of Agriculture_;
C. W. Burkett, _Agriculture for Beginners_; _Encyclopaedia of Agriculture_
(Gresham Publishing Company).
AGRIGENTUM (-jen'tum) (modern GIRGENTI), an ancient Greek city of Sicily,
founded about 580 B.C., and long one of the most important places on the
island. The town is also famous as the birthplace of the philosopher
Empedocles. Extensive ruins of splendid temples and public buildings yet
attest its ancient magnificence. See _Girgenti_.
AG'RIMONY (Agrimonia), a genus of plants, nat. ord. Rosaceae, consisting of
slender perennial herbs found in temperate regions. _A. Eupatoria_, or
common agrimony, was formerly of much repute as a medicine in England. Its
leaves and rootstock are astringent, and the latter yields a yellow dye.
The plant is a common weed on the borders of cornfields and on roadsides.
AGRIPPA, Herod. See _Herod Agrippa_.
AGRIPPA, Marcus Vipsanius, a Roman statesman and general, the son-in-law of
Augustus; born 63 B.C., died 12 B.C. He was praetor in 41 B.C.; consul in
37, 28, and 27; aedile in 33; and tribune from 18 till his death. He
commanded the fleet of Augustus in the battle of Actium. To him Rome is
indebted for three of her principal aqueducts, the Pantheon, and several
other works of public use and ornament.
AGRIP'PA, von Nettesheim, Cornelius Henry, born in 1486 at Cologne,
soldier, doctor, and, by common reputation, a magician. In his youth he was
secretary to the Emperor Maximilian I; he subsequently served seven years
in Italy, and was knighted. On quitting the army he devoted himself to
science, became famous as a magician and alchemist, and was involved in
disputes with the churchmen. After an active, varied, and eventful life he
died at Grenoble in 1534 or 1535. His works were published at Lyons in
1550.
AGRIPPI'NA, the name of several Roman women, among whom we may mention: 1.
The youngest daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and wife of C.
Germanicus; a heroic woman, adorned with great virtues. Tiberius, who hated
her for her virtues and popularity, banished her to the Island of
Pandataria, where she starved herself to death in A.D. 33. 2. A daughter of
the last mentioned, and the mother of Nero, by Domitius Ahenobarbus. Her
third husband was her uncle, the Emperor Claudius, whom she subsequently
poisoned to secure the government of the Empire through her son Nero. After
ruling a few years in her son's name he became tired of her ascendency, and
caused her to be assassinated (A.D. 60).
AGROPYRON, a genus of grasses most of which are perennials. The root-stalks
of _Agropyron repens_ (_Radix Graminis_) have aperient and diuretic
properties.
AGROSTEM'MA. See _Corncockle_.
AGROS'TIS, a genus of grasses, consisting of many species, and valuable as
pasture-grasses. The bent-grasses belong to the genus.
AG'TELEK, a village in Hungary, near the road from Pesth to Kassa, with
about 600 inhabitants, celebrated for one of the largest and most
remarkable stalactitic caverns in Europe.
AGUA ([.a]g'w[.a]), an active volcano of Central America, in Guatemala,
rising to the height of 15,000 feet. It has twice destroyed the old city of
Guatemala, in its immediate vicinity.
AGUARA ([.a]-gw[:a]'r[.a]). See _Agouara_.
AGUARDIENTE ([.a]-gw[:a]r-d[=e]-en'te), a popular spirituous beverage of
Spain and Portugal, a kind of coarse brandy, made from red wine, from the
refuse of the grapes left in the wine-press, &c., generally flavoured with
anise; also a Mexican alcoholic drink distilled from the fermented juice of
the agave.
AGUAS CALIENTES ([.a]g'w[.a]s k[.a]-l[=e]-en't[=a]s; lit. 'warm waters'), a
town 270 miles N.W. of Mexico, capital of the State of its own name, named
from the thermal springs near it; has manufactures of cottons and a
considerable trade. Pop. 45,198.--Aguas Calientes State has an area of
2,968 sq. miles, and a pop. of 124,500.
AGUE ([=a]'g[=u]), a kind of fever, which may be followed by serious
consequences, but generally is more troublesome than dangerous. According
to the length of the interval between one febrile paroxysm and another,
agues are denominated _quotidian_ when they occur once in twenty-four
hours, _tertian_ when they come on every forty-eight hours, _quartan_ when
they visit the patient once in seventy-two hours. Ague arises from marsh
miasmata, a temperature above 60deg being, however, apparently required to
produce it. To cure the disease and prevent the recurrence, quinine and
various other bitter and astringent drugs are given with complete success
in the majority of cases.
AGUE-CAKE, a tumour caused by enlargement and hardening of the spleen,
often the consequence of ague or intermittent fever.
AGUESSEAU ([.a]-ges-[=o]), Henri Francois d', a distinguished French jurist
and statesman, born at Limoges in 1668; was in 1690 advocate-general at
Paris, and at the age of thirty-two procureur-general of the Parliament. He
risked disgrace with Louis XIV by successfully opposing the famous papal
bull _Unigenitus_. He was made chancellor in 1717, was deprived of his
office in 1718 on account of his opposition to Law's system of finance, but
had to be recalled in 1720. In 1722 he had to retire a second time; but was
recalled in 1727 by Cardinal Fleury, and in 1737 again got the
chancellorship, which he held till 1750. He died in 1751.
AGUILAR ([.a]-g[=e]-l[:a]r'), a town of Spain, province of Cordova, in
Andalusia, in a good wine-producing district, and with a trade in corn and
wine. Pop. 12,635.
AGUILAR (a-gi-l[:a]r'), Grace, an English writer, born at Hackney 1816,
died at Frankfort 1847. Of Jewish parentage, she at first devoted herself
to Jewish subjects, such as _The Women of Israel_, _The Jewish Faith_, &c.;
but her fame rests on her novels, _Home Influence_, _A Mother's
Recompense_, _Home Scenes and Heart Studies_, &c., most of which were
published posthumously by her mother.
AGUILAS ([.a]-g[=e]'l[.a]s), a flourishing seaport of Southern Spain,
province of Murcia, with copper and lead smelting works. Pop. 15,967.
AGULHAS ([.a]-g[u:]l'y[.a]s), Cape, a promontory, forming the most southern
extremity of Africa, about 90 miles south-east of the Cape of Good Hope,
rising to 455 feet above the sea, with a lighthouse.
AGU'TI. See _Agouti_.
A'HAB, the seventh King of Israel, succeeded his father Omri, 918-897 or
875-853 B.C. At the instigation of his wife Jezebel he erected a temple to
Baal, and became a cruel persecutor of the true prophets. He was killed by
an arrow at the siege of Ramoth-Gilead. He was succeeded by his son
Ahaziah.
AHAG'GAR, a mountainous region of the Sahara, south of Algeria, with some
fertile valleys, inhabited by the Tuaregs.
AHANTA. See _Gold Coast_, _West Africa_.
AHASUE'RUS, in Scripture history, a king of Persia, probably the same as
Xerxes, the husband of Esther, to whom the Scriptures ascribe a singular
deliverance of the Jews from extirpation.--_Ahasuerus_ is also a Scripture
name for Cambyses, the son of Cyrus (_Ezra_, iv, 6), and for Astyages, King
of the Medes (_Dan._ ix, 1). Ahasuerus is also the traditional name of the
wandering Jew.
A'HAZ, the twelfth King of Judah, succeeded his father Jotham, 742-727 or
734-715 B.C. Forsaking the true religion, he gave himself up completely to
idolatry, and plundered the temple to obtain presents for Tiglath-Pileser,
King of Assyria.
AHAZI'AH.--1. Son of Ahab and Jezebel, and eighth King of Israel, died from
a fall through a lattice in his palace at Samaria after reigning two years
(896, 895 B.C.).--2. Fifth or sixth King of Judah, and nephew of the above.
He reigned but one year, and was slain (884 B.C.) by Jehu.
AHITH'OPHEL, privy-councillor to David, and confederate and adviser of
Absalom in his rebellion against his father. When Hushai's advice
prevailed, Ahithophel, despairing of success, hanged himself.
AHMEDABAD, or AHMADABAD ([:a]-m_a_d-[:a]-b[:a]d), a town of India,
presidency of Bombay, in district of its own name, on the left bank of the
Sabarmati, 310 miles north of Bombay. It was founded in 1412 by Ahmed Shah,
and was converted by him into a great capital, adorned with splendid
edifices. It came finally into the hands of the British in 1818. It is
still a handsome and populous place, enclosed by a wall, with many
noteworthy buildings; manufactures of fine silk and cotton fabrics, cloths
of gold and silver, pottery, paper, enamel, mother-of-pearl, &c. There were
disturbances here in 1919. (See _Rowlatt Act_.) Pop. 216,777.--Area of
district, 3949 sq. miles; pop. 795,094.
AHMED MIRZA, Shah of Persia, born in 1898. He succeeded his father,
Mohammed Ali, when the latter was deposed on 16th July, 1909.
AHMEDNAG'AR, a town of India, presidency of Bombay, in district of its own
name, surrounded by an earthen wall; with manufactures of cotton and silk
cloths. Near the city is the fort, built of stone and 1-1/2 miles round.
Pop. (including military) 42,032.--Area of district, 6645 sq. miles; pop.
945,305.
AHMED SHAH, born 1724, died 1773, founder of the Durani dynasty in
Afghanistan. On the assassination of Nadir he proclaimed himself shah, and
set about subduing the provinces surrounding his realm. Among his first
acts was the securing of the famed Koh-i-noor diamond, which had fallen
into the hands of his predecessor. He crossed the Indus in 1748, and his
conquests in Northern India culminated in the defeat of the Mahrattas at
Panipat (6th Jan., 1761). Affairs in his own country necessitated his
withdrawal from India, but he extended his empire vastly in other
directions far beyond the limits of modern Afghanistan. He was succeeded by
his son Timur.
AHRIMAN ([:a]'ri-man; in the Zend _Angromainyus_, 'spirit of evil or
annihilation'), according to the dualistic doctrine of Zoroaster, the
origin or the personification of evil, sovereign of the Devas or evil
spirits, lord of darkness and of death, being thus opposed to Ormuzd
(_Ahuramazda_), the spirit of good and of light.
AH'WAZ, a small Persian town on the River Karun, province of Khuzistan, at
the head of river navigation, a place of some commercial note. In the
neighbourhood are the vast ruins of a city supposed to date from the time
of the Parthian Empire.
AI ([:a]'[=e]). See _Sloth_.
AID, a subsidy paid in ancient feudal times by vassals to their lords on
certain occasions, the chief of which were: when their lord was taken
prisoner and required to be ransomed, when his eldest son was to be made a
knight, and when his eldest daughter was to be married and required a
dowry. From the Norman Conquest to the fourteenth century the collecting of
aids by the Crown was one of the forms of taxation, being afterwards
regulated by Parliament.
AI'DAN, Saint, Bishop of Lindisfarne, was originally a monk of Iona, in
which monastery Oswald I, who became king of Northumberland in 635, had
been educated. At the request of Oswald, Aidan was sent to preach
Christianity to his subjects, and established himself in Lindisfarne as the
first Bishop of Durham. He died in 651.
AIDE-DE-CAMP ([=a]d-d[.e]-k[.a][n.]), a military officer who conveys the
orders of a general to the various divisions of the army on the field of
battle, and at other times acts as his secretary and general confidential
agent.
AIDIN ([.a]-i-d[=e]n'), or GUZEL HISSAR, a town in Asia Minor, about 60
miles south-east of Smyrna, with which it is connected by rail; has fine
mosques and bazaars, is the residence of a pasha, and has an extensive
trade in cotton, leather, figs, grapes, &c. Pop. 35,000.
AIGRETTE' (French), a term used to denote the feathery crown attached to
the seeds of various plants, such as the thistle, dandelion, &c. (called in
botany _pappus_).--It is also applied to any head-dress in the form of a
plume, whether composed of feathers, flowers, or precious stones.
AIGUES MORTES ([=a]g mort; Lat. _Aquae Mortuae_, 'dead waters'), a small
town of Southern France, near the mouths of the Rhone, department of Gard;
with ancient walls and castle; near it are lagoons, from which great
quantities of salt are extracted. Pop. 4000.
AIGUILLE ([=a]'gwil; Fr., lit. a needle), a name given in the Alps to the
needle-like points or tops of granite, gneiss, quartz, and other
crystalline rocks and mountain masses; also applied to sharp-pointed masses
of ice on glaciers and elsewhere.--It is also the name given to a
peculiarly-shaped French mountain in Isere, 6500 feet high.
AIGUN ([=i]-g[u:]n'), a town of China, in Manchuria, on the Amur, with a
good trade. Pop. 15,000.
AI'KIN, John, M.D., an English miscellaneous writer, born 1747, died 1822.
He practised as physician at Chester, Warrington (where he taught
physiology and chemistry at the Dissenters' Academy), and London; turned
his attention to literature and published various works of a miscellaneous
description, some in conjunction with his sister Mrs. Barbauld, including
the popular _Evenings at Home_ (1792-5), written with the view of
popularizing scientific subjects. His _General Biographical Dictionary_ (in
10 vols.) was begun in 1799 and finished in 1815. He was editor of the
_Monthly Magazine_ from 1796 till 1807.
AI'KIN, Lucy, daughter of the preceding, was born in 1781, and died 1864.
In 1810 she published _Poetical Epistles on Women_, which was followed by a
number of books for the young and a novel _Lorimer_ (1814). In 1818
appeared her _Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth_, a very popular
work. She afterwards produced similar works on the reigns of James I (1822)
and Charles I (1833), and a _Life of Addison_ (1843). In 1824 she had
published the literary remains and biography of her father. She carried on
an interesting correspondence with Dr. Channing from 1826-42, which was
published in 1874.
AIKMAN, William, an eminent Scottish portrait-painter, born in Forfarshire
in 1682, died in 1731. He studied at Edinburgh and in Italy, visited
Turkey, and spent the later portion of his life in London, where he enjoyed
the friendship of most of the distinguished men of Queen Anne's time. The
portrait of President Duncan Forbes (1685-1747) in the National Gallery is
attributed to him.
AILAN'TO, or AILANTHUS (meaning tree of the gods), a tree, genus Ailantus,
nat. ord. Simarubaceae. The _A. glandul[=o]sa_, a large and handsome tree,
with pinnate leaves 1 or 2 feet long, is a native of China, but has been
introduced into Europe and North America. A species of silk-worm, the
ailanthus silk-worm (_Saturnia cynthia_), feeds on its leaves, and the
material produced, though wanting the fineness and gloss of mulberry silk,
is produced at less cost, and is more durable. The wood is hard, heavy,
yellowish-white, and will take a fine polish. The tree has been in
cultivation in England since 1751.
AILERON. See _Aeronautics_, _Aeroplane_.
AIL'RED (contracted form of ETHELRED), a religious and historical writer,
supposed to have been born in 1097, but whether in Scotland or in England
is not known, died 1166; abbot of Rievaulx, in the North Riding of
Yorkshire. Wrote lives of Edward the Confessor and St. Margaret, Queen of
Scotland, _Genealogy of the Kings of England_, _The Battle of the
Standard_, &c.
AILSA CRAIG, a rocky islet in the Firth of Clyde, 10 miles from the coast
of Ayr, of a conical form, 1097 feet high, and about 2 miles in
circumference, precipitous on all sides except the north-east, where alone
it is accessible, frequented by innumerable sea-fowl, including
solan-geese, and covered with grass. On it is a lighthouse.
AILU'RUS. See _Panda_.
AIMARD ([=a]-m[:a]r), Gustave, French novelist, born 1818, died 1883. He
lived for ten years among the Indians of North America, and wrote a number
of stories dealing with Indian life, such as _Les Trappeurs de l'Arkansas_
(1858), _La Loi de Lynch_ (1859), _Les Nuits Mexicaines_ (1863), _Les
Bohemes de la Mer_ (1865), which have been popular in English translations.
His work is not unlike that of Fenimore Cooper.
AIN (a[n.]), a south-eastern frontier department of France, mountainous in
the east (ridges of the Jura), flat or undulating in the west, divided into
two nearly equal parts by the River Ain, a tributary of the Rhone; area,
2248 sq. miles; pop. (1921), 315,757. Capital, Bourg.
AINGER ([=a]n'j[.e]r), Rev. Alfred, born in 1837, died in 1904, was
educated at King's College, London, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, took
orders after gaining his degree, and in 1866 was appointed reader of the
Temple Church, London. He was made Master of the Temple in 1893, while
holding also a canonry in Bristol Cathedral, to which he had been appointed
in 1887. He was highly successful as a preacher, but is chiefly known by
his literary labours, especially those connected with Lamb and Hood, whose
works he edited. The volumes on Lamb and on Crabbe in the 'English Men of
Letters' series are by him, and he wrote a memoir of Hood for his edition
of the works. A volume of his sermons under the title of _The Gospel of
Human Life_ was published after his death in 1904. Cf. Edith Sichel, _Life
and Letters of Canon Ainger_.
AINMILLER ([=i]n'mil-er), Max Emanuel, a German artist who may be regarded
as the restorer of the art of glass-painting, born 1807, died 1870. As
inspector of the State institute of glass-painting at Munich he raised this
art to a high degree of perfection by the new or improved processes
introduced by him. Under his supervision this establishment (which
afterwards became his own) produced a vast number of painted windows for
ecclesiastical and other buildings, among the principal being a series of
forty windows, containing a hundred historical and scriptural pictures, in
Glasgow Cathedral. Some of his work is in St. Paul's Cathedral, and his
finest productions are the windows in the Cathedrals of Cologne and
Regensburg.
AINOS ([=i]'n[=o]z; that is, men), the native name of an uncivilized race
of people inhabiting the Japanese island of Yesso, as also Sakhalien, and
the Kurile Islands, and believed to be the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan.
They do not average over 5 feet in height, but are strong and active. They
are very hairy, wear matted beards, and have black hair which they allow to
grow till it falls over their shoulders. Their complexion is dark brown,
approaching to black. They support themselves by hunting and fishing. There
are numerous legends relating to the Ainos. According to one of these, of
Japanese origin, they descended from the constellation of the Bear, whilst
another mentions as their ancestor a certain Okikurumi who came down from
heaven. The Ainos call themselves Ainu Utara, and the Chinese refer to them
as the Tungi (barbarians of the East). They are very superstitious, and
worship a number of gods, such as the universal god (Opitta-Kamui), the sun
(Tsup-Kamui), the bear (Isho-Kamui), &c. Cf. J. Batchelor, _The Ainu and
their Folklore_.
AINSWORTH, Henry, a Puritan divine and scholar, born 1571, died 1622. He
passed great part of his life in Amsterdam, being from 1610 pastor of a
'Brownist' church there (the Brownists being forerunners of the
Independents). He was a voluminous writer, a controversialist and
commentator, and a thorough Hebrew scholar.
AINSWORTH, Robert, born in Lancashire, 1660, earned his living by keeping a
private school in or near London, and died there in 1743. Among other
learned works he compiled the well-known _Latin and English Dictionary_,
first published in 1736, which passed through many editions, but is now
entirely superseded.
AINSWORTH, William Francis, an English physician, geologist, and traveller,
born 1807. He was surgeon and geologist to the Euphrates expedition under
Colonel Chesney, and published _Researches in Assyria, Babylonia, and
Chaldaea_ (1838); _Travels in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Armenia_ (1842);
_Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand Greeks_ (1844), &c. Died 1896.
AINSWORTH, William Harrison, an English novelist, born 1805, died 1882. He
was the son of a Manchester solicitor and intended for the profession of
law, but devoted himself to literature. He wrote _Rookwood_ (1834), _Jack
Sheppard_, illustrated by Cruickshank (1839), and about forty other novels,
including _Guy Fawkes_, _Tower of London_, _Windsor Castle_, _Lancashire
Witches_, _Flitch of Bacon_, &c. His literary models were at first Sir
Walter Scott and afterwards Victor Hugo's _Notre Dame de Paris_.
AIN-TAB ([.a]-in-t[:a]b'), a town of Northern Syria, 60 miles north of
Aleppo; with manufactures of cottons, woollens, leather, &c., and an
extensive trade. There is here an American Protestant mission. Pop. 45,000.
AINU. See _Ainos_.