38

minating gas. Its combustion is complete and the carbonic acid resulting, which escapes into the room, is one sixth that of ordinary gas. The calcium carbide is not affected by heat, and only appreciably by the humidity of the atmosphere.

An invention so revolutionary encounters the resistance of companies engaged in the production of other lights, as of ordinary gas and electric lights. It would do away with street-mains, enormous delivery-tanks, gas-meters, wires and other expensive appliances. But great obstacles to its practical development are to be found in the cost of producing the calcium carbide on a commercial scale, the purchase of manufacturing rights by great companies opposed to the development, and the speculative valuation of territorial rights and of royalties. ACHEANS AND ACHEAN LEAGUE. See ACHAIA, Vol. I, p. 93, and GREECE, Vol. XI, p. 107. | ACHÆMENIANS. See PERSIA, Vol. XVIII,

p. 565 sqq.

ACHALGANJ, a minor town of British India, in the southern part of the province of Oude, and near the Ganges. Population, 5,000.

ACHENBACH, ANDREAS, a German landscape and marine painter; born in Cassel, Germany, in 1815. He studied art at Düsseldorf and in the principal schools of the Continent. His works have obtained favorable recognition, and many examples are to be found in the private galleries of America. Achenbach obtained a gold medal at the Paris exhibition of 1855, and was in 1864 presented with the cordon of the Legion of Honor.

ACHENBACH, HEINRICH, a German statesman and jurist; born Nov. 23, 1829. In 1858 he became privat-docent, and two years later was appointed professor of German law at the University of Bonn; this position he held for six years, during which time he founded a periodical treating only of mining laws, and published several valuable works on the ancient land relations of the Germans and on German and French mining laws. In 1866 he became connected with the Prussian Diet, and was in the same year made chief councilor in the Prussian ministry of commerce. He spent another six years in this service, after which he was transferred to the ministry of public worship. In 1873 he became minister of commerce, agriculture and public works.

ACHENBACH, OSWALD, a German landscape painter. He was a brother and pupil of Andreas, and was born in Düsseldorf, Feb. 2, 1827. At 36 years of age he accepted the position of professor of painting in the academy of his native place. He has painted much of the Alpine scenery, and his works are favorites and frequent in American galleries.

ACHENE, a dry and hard, one-celled and oneseeded indehiscent fruit, resembling and popularly spoken of as a seed. Examples are found in the head of fruits of the buttercup, the "pits" of strawberries,, the plumy fruit of dandelion and thistle-down. Called also Achenium, Akenium or Akene.

ACHERONTIA OR DEATH'S HEAD MOTH. See BUTTERFLIES, Vol. IV, p. 596.

ACHERUSIA, the name of several lakes and swamps in ancient times which were fabled to be connected with the lower or infernal regions. The

most noted of these was a lake in Epirus or Thesprotia, through which the river Acheron flowed. Other similarly named lakes were near Hermione in Argolis, in Campania near Cape Misenum, and in Egypt near Memphis. Near Heraclea in Bithynia was a peninsula of this name. Here a deep chasm was said to have been the place where Hercules descended into the infernal regions to bring up Cerberus.

ACHILLEA, a genus of plants of the family of Composite, having small heads of flowers disposed in corymbs, the receptacle covered with chaffy scales and no pappus. The flowers of the ray are pistillate, and have a short, roundish tongue or lip; the flowers of the disk are perfect, the tube of the corolla flatly compressed and two-winged; the involucre is imbricated. The common yarrow, or milfoil (A. millefolium), abounds in some parts of North America and in all parts of Europe. It is a foot or more in height, its leaves bipinnated into very slender and crowded divisions, segments narrow and crowded, and the ray-flowers white or rose-colored.

ACHILLES' TENDON (tendo Achillis), the term used by anatomists to denote the tendon attaching the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles of the calf of the leg to the heel-bone. It is capable of resisting a force equal to 1,000 pounds' weight, and yet it is often ruptured by the contraction of these muscles in sudden extension of the foot. Serious wounds and bruises of the tendo Achillis were formerly considered fatal. The origin of the term is the myth of Achilles, whose mother, the Nereid Thetis, dipped him in the Styx to insure his invulnerability. All but the heel, whereby she held him, became impervious to the darts of his enemies, and in the heel was he wounded by the treacherous Paris. His death is fabled to have taken place before the Scæan gate at the siege of Troy.

ACHILLI, GIOVANNI GIACINTO, an Italian Protestant translator of the New Testament. Born in Viterbo in 1803, he was educated for the ministry and entered the order of Dominicans. In 1839 he became a convert to Protestantism and issued the version of the New Testament with which his name is generally associated. This has been regarded as the best version in the Italian language. Visiting England on a lecturing tour in 1852, he became involved in a lawsuit with Cardinal Newman, whom he sued for slander. In his later years he was appointed Italian professor in the English college at Malta.

ACHIMENES, a plant of the natural order Gesneracea. See HORTICULTURE, Vol. XII, p. 265.

ACHOR. One of the forms of pustules occurring on the faces of children suffering from impetigo contagiosa. The pustules are very small, but have extensive and severely inflamed bases. They become covered with crusts of a yellow color, resembling dried honey in appearance. This species of skin disease is most frequently met with in childhood, resulting from improper food and want of cleanliness and attention. Poulticing and the application of white precipitate ointment will remove the external symptoms, if used in conjunction with aperient medicines to regulate the health.

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ACHROMATISM. See LIGHT, Vol. XIV, p. 601. ACHTKARSPELEN, meaning the "eight parishes," is a commune in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. It contained in 1891 a population of 9,250 inhabitants.

ACHTYSKA, same as AKHTYRKA, Vol. I, p. 436. Population 1883, 23,892.

ACIDIMETER OR ACIDOMETER, an instrument for determining the real strength of hydrated acids. The most usual form of this instrument is a glass tube graduated into a hundred equal parts, into which an alkaline liquor, the strength of which has been determined, is placed. The acid to be tested is of known quantity, and its strength is ascertained by the proportion of liquor necessary for its satura

tion.

ACKERMANN, RUDOLPH, the father of English lithography, was born at Schneeburg, in Saxony, April 20, 1764. He removed to London in 1795, and opened a repository of fine arts in the Strand, which was very successful. He introduced the art of lithography into England, and was the originator of the "Annuals," which he commenced by his Forget-me-not, published in 1823 and after. He did much to promote wood-engraving, the art of waterproofing and the introduction of gaslight into shops. He died March 30, 1834.

ACKLEY, a town and railroad junction in the extreme N.E. portion of Hardin County, Iowa, near Beaver Creek, about 132 miles W. of Dubuque. The Illinois Central and the Iowa Central railroads cross each other here. There is a convent of the Sisters of Mercy in Ackley, and a foundry, machineshop and flour-mill. Population 1895, 1,458.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT is the act of one who has executed a deed or other instrument in going before a proper officer and declaring that the instrument so executed is his own act and deed. The term is also applied to the certificate of the officer before whom such declaration was made. If the acknowledgment is regular on its face, the instrument is admissible as evidence without further proof, and is in condition to be recorded. The usual officers before whom acknowledgments are taken are judges of courts of record, justices of the peace or notaries public. In soine states a deed is void without acknowledgment, except between the parties thereto, and subsequent purchasers without actual notice.

ACLAND, ARTHUR HERBERT DYKE, an English member of Parliament. Born in 1847, he was educated for the church, was ordained, and for some time was a prominent figure in Oxford University life. Leaving the church, he was for a time the principal of the Oxford Military School. In 1885 he entered Parliament for the Rotherham division of Yorkshire, which constituency he has continued to represent as a Gladstonian Liberal. He has been very active in promoting the cause of technical education, and in 1892 served as president of the council of education. He has published a Handbook Political History of England, and Workingmen | Co-operators.

ACLAND, CHRISTINA HENRIETTA CAROLINE

Jan. 3, 1750. She married, 1770, Major John Dyke Acland, accompanied him to America, and shared in all the vicissitudes of Burgoyne's campaign. When her husband was wounded and taken prisoner in the second battle of Saratoga, she followed him, and was received with the utmost cordiality by General Gates. For some time before her death at Tetton, Somersetshire, England, July 21, 1815, her adventures furnished a favorite subject for pen and pencil.

ACLAND, SIR HENRY WENTWOrth, Bart., was born in 1815, and educated at the University at Oxford, where, after making a study of medicine for some years, he took the degree of M.D. in 1848. In 1858 he became a regius professor there. The university museum was founded partly through his efforts. Sir Henry Acland accompanied the Prince of Wales on his tour through America in 1860. He published The Plains of Troy, while still a student at college, and 15 years later he gave to the public work entitled Memoir on the Visitation of Cholera in Oxford, 1854. He was also the author of a number of scientific and medical papers.

ACLAND, SIR THOMAS DYKE, an English statesman, father of Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland; born at Killerton, Devonshire, May 25, 1809. He was a companion of W. E. Gladstone at the University of Oxford, proceeding to Parliament as member for West Somersetshire in the Conservative interest. He sat for this same constituency for 10 years, supporting the repeal of the Corn Laws, and evincing deep interest in agricultural questions. He was largely instrumental in organizing the volunteer force of his native county. He changed his polities in 1865, and entered the House of Commons as a follower of Mr. Gladstone. He was defeated at the election in 1886 and retired to private life.

ACLIDE was a weapon in use among the early Romans. Called also aclis. It could be used as a missile or as a club.

ACLINIC LINE is the name for the magnetic equator, which cuts the terrestrial equator, inasmuch as on the former line the magnetic needle has no dip, but lies horizontal. The aclinic line is irregular and also variable.

ACNE. See SKIN DISEASES, Vol. XXII, p. 121. ACOMA, a pueblo or Indian village situated on a high plateau or mesa in Valencia County, New Mexico, about 14 miles S. of Cubero station on the Atlantic and Pacific railroad, and 55 miles S.W. of Albuquerque. A winding pathway cut in the side of the sandstone rock of the plateau is the only method of access to the summit of the mesa. The Spanish explorer Coronado visited Acoma as early as September, 1540.

ACONCAGUA, the loftiest peak of the Andes. It is an extinct volcano, and reaches an altitude of 23,900 feet, being situated about 100 miles E.N.E. of Valparaiso. The mountain gives its name to a Chilian province. See ACONCAGUA, Vol. I, p. 98.

ACONITIA, organs of anemones. See CORALS, Vol. VI, p. 371.

ACONITIN (C27H4NO10), the active principle or base of the Aconitum Napellus, or monk's-hood,

40

also called aconitia. See Vol. I, p. 98. It occurs as a white powder, or as tabular and colorless crystals. It is slightly soluble in water, but dissolves freely in alcohol. Aconitin is one of the most fatal poisons, its detection, on account of the infinitesimal dose necessary to cause death, being extremely diffi

cult. Its taste is bitter and acrid.

ACORN SHELLS OR BARNACLES. Names applied to the Balanida, the most numerous cirripeds both in species and in individuals. Balanus, the best-known genus of the northern seas, is found incrusting rocks and piles between tide-marks. species in South America reaches a height of nine inches, and is considered by the natives a delicious article of food. See CRUSTACEA, Vol. VI, p. 665.

ACOUSTIC TELEPHONE. See MECHANICAL TELEPHONE, Vol. XXIII, p. 127.

ACQUAVIVA DELLE FONTI is a southern Italian town, situated at the base of the Apennines, in the province of Bari, 16 miles S. of the town of Bari. It has a station on the Bari and Taranto railroad, and contains several buildings of note, a parish church, two hospitals and several convents, and is surrounded by walls and ditches originally built as a defense to the city. The climate is agreeable. Population, 7,986.

ACQUIESCENCE, in law, is such consent to any matter as may be reasonably inferred from neglect to take legal proceedings in opposition thereto.

ACQUITTAL is a discharge or release from an obligation. In criminal law it means a judicial discharge from an accusation or charge made against one by indictment or otherwise. Acquittal in fact is such as takes place when a jury, after hearing the evidence in a criminal proceeding, finds a verdict of not guilty. Acquittal in law means such acquittal as results from the operation of law without a trial, as where one is charged as accessary, and the principal is found not guilty, thus discharging the indictment. An acquittal is a bar to any further prosecution for the same offense, or any part thereof which was involved in the former trial.

ACRASPEDA, a group of jelly-fishes, or medusa, which develop directly from the egg, and are not budded from a hydroid stem, as in the Hydromedusa. No velum is present, and for this reason they were termed Acraspeda Some authors have used the equivalent term Discophora, but later zoölogists have applied the term Scyphomedusa to the class.

ACRELIUS, ISRAEL, a Swedish clergyman, the historian of his compatriots' settlements in America. He was born in Osteraker, Dec. 25, 1714; graduated at the University of Upsala. In 1749 he emigrated to America, and took pastoral charge of the Swedish settlements on the Delaware. His history of these plantations was published in Stockholm in 1759. He died at Fellingsbro, Sweden, April 25, 1800.

ACRI, a town in the province of Cosenza, compartimento of Calabria, in southern Italy. It is 13 miles N.E. of the town of Cosenza, on an affluent of the river Crati, and in a fertile and salubrious region. Population 1881, 3,944.

ACROBATES OR ACROBATA. GER, Vol. XVIII, p. 727.

See PHALAN

ACRO-CORINTHUS, a solitary and steep moun

tain, 1,900 feet high, rising from the plain on the Isthmus of Corinth, Greece. It served as the citadel of the city proper, which was on its northern slopes. It was the strongest natural citadel in Greece, and is to the present time the site of a fortification. Here, too, stood the far-famed temple of Venus. Of its pristine glories but seven Doric columns remain. Extensive archæological excavations have been made on its slopes under the auspices of various learned societies.

ACROLEIN OR ACRYLIC ALDEHYDE (CHO), a strongly refracting and liquid acid, colorless and limpid, of less specific gravity than water. It constitutes the acrid principle produced by the distillation of glycerin or its compounds and fatty bodies. It is a product of the dehydration of the glycerin. In the state of vapor, while in process of distillation, it is extremely irritating to the eyes and respiratory organs, to which property it owes its name. The pungency of the odor exhaled by a newly extinguished candle-wick is due to the presence of a minute quantity of this acid.

ACROMYODI, a sub-order of passerine birds, embracing the Oscines, or singing-birds. ACROTERIUM. See ARCHITECTURE, Vol. II,

P. 459.

ACS, a village of Hungary, in the district of Komorn, about six miles S.W. of the town of Komorn. Situated on the right bank of the Danube, it has a noted palace, and was the scene of several encounters between the Austrians and Hungarians in the war of 1849. Population, 3,963.

ACT. In a legal sense, this word is used to signify a law, judgment, decree, edict, or something done by an individual or by a body of men. Acts are spoken of as intentional or unintentional; as malicious, wanton and criminal; as reasonable; as of diligence, of negligence, fraud or trespass. When a bill is passed by a legislative body, it becomes an act of that body. Act of God, as a legal term, is an inevitable happening which results from natural causes, and which could not have been prevented by any artificial means or human care, such as lightning, tempests, floods or earthquakes. When a contract becomes impossible of performance by the act of God, the parties are excused thereby; and if the law casts a duty upon a man which the act of God prevents him from performing, he is excused. But the destruction of a building by fire is not by act of God, unless the fire is caused by lightning or some other superhuman agency. A loss caused by the great fire in Chicago was held not to be caused by the act of God. See ACT, Vol. I, p. 122.

ACTA ERUDITORUM, the first literary journal of Germany. See PERIODICALS, Vol. XVIII, p. 540. ACTA MARTYRUM ET SANCTORUM. See BOLLANDIST FATHERS, Vol. IV, p. 18.

ACTINIDE. See ACTINOZOA, Vol. I, p. 130. ACTINOMORPHOUS, a term usually applied to the regular flower of the older botanists; that is, a flower whose parts are equally repeated about the center, on the radial plan. As the flower may be divided into similar halves in several vertical plants, it is also spoken of as polysymmetrical.

ACTINOMYCOSIS. See PARASITISM, Vol.