AGRIGENTUM—AGRIPPA. It was formed in 1844, and has greatly assisted smell, and is bitter and styptic. A decoction of it in advancing the agriculture of the country, especi- is used as a gargle; the dried leaves form a kind ally by introducing improved breeds of cattle.- of herb tea; and the root has some celebrity as a Most of the countries of continental Europe have followed the example of Great Britain in the formation of A. Associations of various kinds. In the free states of America, where the land is mostly owned by those who farm it, A. S. have sprung up in great numbers. Every state has its central Society, which in its turn fosters a number of local associations. Indeed, in all the chief grain-producing districts, each county boasts of its own society. These being all partly supported by state money, useful information is collected, published, and sold at a cheap rate in Reports. Canada follows in the wake of her enterprising neighbours, and supports by grants of money a provincial show in each province, while the county societies are numerous, and supply materials for the Reports of the Boards of Agriculture at Toronto and Montreal. In Canada and the United States, the A. S. are of a highly popular character. Prizes are given, not only for animals, implements, and dairy produce, but also for fruits. Being more of a general nature, combining agriculture, horticulture, and domestic economy, such exhibitions are frequented by all classes. They are usually denominated fairs,' though partaking little of the character and appearance of what is understood by a 'fair' in Britain. The diffusion of education among the farmers of the free states has made them eager readers of A. writings, and the numerous societies soon diffuse a knowledge of improved stock, implements, and seeds, over their wide territories. AGRIGENTUM (Gr. Akragas), the modern Girgenti, a town on the south coast of Sicily, in lat. 37° 17′ N., and long. 13° 28′ E., founded by a colony from Gela (582 B. C.), and, in the earlier ages, one of the most important places in the island. In its palmy days, it is said to have contained 200,000 inhabitants. After being at first free, and then subject to tyrants, it was demolished by the Carthaginians (405 B. C.); but very soon rose again. In the course of the Punic wars, it was compelled to submit to the Romans. From 825 to 1086 A.D., it was in the possession of the Saracens, from whom it was conquered by Count Roger Guiscard. The modern city contains about 15,000 inhabitants, and exhibits numerous and splendid ruins, which, glittering in the brilliant light of a southern sky, afford inexhaustible materials for pictorial representation. Among the best preserved of these remains of antiquity is the Temple of Concord, of which only the roof and part of the front are wanting. The most extensive of the temples was that of Jupiter, 340 feet long, 120 feet high, and 160 feet wide, which, at the time of its destruction, appears not to have been finished. Only the base. ment and some fragments remain. Considerable ruins of the temples of Juno Lucina, of Hercules, and Esculapius, are still found. The trade of the modern city is inconsiderable. Some corn, fruit, oil, &c., is exported, but the harbour is little frequented. A'GRIMONY (Agrimonia), a genus of plants of the natural order Rosacea (q. v.), sub-order Potentilleæ. The calyx is five-cleft, without bracts; the hardened tube at length invests two carpels, and is covered with hooked bristles.-The COMMON AGRIMONY (A. Eupatoria) is a native of Britain and other parts of Europe, growing in borders of fields, on waysides, &c. It has an upright habit, attains a height of two feet or more, and has interruptedly pinnate leaves, with the leaflets serrate and downy beneath. The flowers are small and yellow, in close racemes. The whole plant has a pleasant, slightly aromatic 88 Common Agrimony. vermifuge.-Very similar to this is A. suaveolens, a It has a very native of Virginia, Carolina, &c. agreeable fragrance. AGRIPPA, CORNELIUS HENRY, a remarkable character of the 16th c., distinguished as writer, philosopher, and physician, who united great ability and extensive acquirements with quackery, was born of a noble family at Cologne, 1486. He led an adventurous and unsettled life, quite in the spirit of his times. As early as 1509, he was appointed teacher of theology at Dôle, in Franche Comté, and attracted great attention by his lectures; but having by his bitter satires on the monks drawn upon himself the hatred of that body, he was accused taught theology for some time in Cologne, occupying of heresy, and obliged to leave Dôle. He next himself at the same time with alchemy, and then went to Italy, where he took military service under Maximilian I., and was knighted. He was afterwards made Doctor of Laws and of Medicine, and he fled to Casale. After a time, he was appointed lectures at Pavia, until, burdened with debt, gave Syndic of Metz; but in 1520, he was again in Cologne, having excited the hostility of the inquisition and of the monks by his defence of a witch. His old enemies, the monks, persecuted him still in Cologne, so that he went to Freiburg in Switzerland, where he began to practise as a physician. In 1524, he went again to Metz, and there he gained such a reputation that the mother of Francis I. chose him issue of the campaign that Francis I. undertook in as her physician. As he declined to prophesy the 1525 in Italy, he lost his post, and went to Holland. Here he wrote his celebrated book, De Incertitudine et Vanitate Scientiarum (Colog. 1527), a biting satire on the sciences as they then existed. An accusation against him having been brought before Charles V., and repaired to Lyon. He there found the hatred on account of this book, he again became a fugitive, he had early excited in France not yet extinguished, and was imprisoned; but being liberated, through the exertions of his friends, he retired to Grenoble, where he died (1535). A. was a clear-headed man, and had the merit of successfully combating many of the prejudices of his age. His book, De Occulta Philosophia, which contains the most systematic account of the Cabbala (q. v.), stands in direct contradiction with the work above mentioned. The most complete collection of his writings appeared at Lyon, in two vols. without date (about 1550). AGRIPPA, HEROD, I., son of Aristobulus and AGRIPPA-AGUADO. Berenice, and grandson of Herod the Great, was educated at Rome. He lived there in a very extravagant style, giving splendid entertainments, especially to the princes of the imperial family, and scattering his money lavishly in gifts to the freedmen of the emperor, until his debts rendered it unsafe for him to remain longer in the city. He then took refuge in Idumea. From this period almost to the death of Tiberius, he suffered a variety of misfortunes, but having formed a friendship with Caligula, the latter, on his accession to the throne, gave him the tetrarchies of Abilene, Batanæa, Trachonitis, and Auranitis. After the banishment of Herod Antipas, he received his tetrarchy also -namely, Galilee and Perea. Claudius, whom A. helped to secure the possession of the empire, added to his dominions Judæa and Samaria, and he was thus the ruler of a more extensive territory than even Herod the Great had been. His government was mild towards the Jews, with whom he was remarkably popular; but he severely persecuted the Christians. He caused James, the brother of John, and the head of the Church at Jerusalem, to be beheaded, and Peter to be thrown into prison. He died of a peculiarly loathsome disease at Cæsarea, in Palestine, while celebrating games in honour of the emperor, in the 55th year of his age, and the 44th of the Christian era. The account given of this in the Acts of the Apostles, substantially agrees with that of Josephus. AGRIPPA, HEROD, II., son of Agrippa I., was at Rome when his father died, and only 17-years of age. Claudius, therefore, resolved to detain him for some time, and in the meanwhile re-transformed the kingdom into a Roman province, but presented him with the little territory of Chalcis when his uncle Herod, who was its ruler, died. In 53 A. D., he left Rome, and received from the emperor nearly the whole of his paternal possessions, which were subsequently enlarged by Nero. Like his father, A. was fond of fine buildings, a taste which he probably acquired by his long sojourn at Rome. He spent great sums in adorning Jerusalem, Berytus, and other cities; but he was not prudent in the distribution of his favours, or just in his treatment of the high-priests, so that he failed to secure the good-will of the Jews. He did all in his power, however, to dissuade them from rebelling against the Romans; but when he found his advices and warnings neglected, he abandoned his country. men, and joined the imperial troops. When Jerusalem was taken, he went with his sister to live at Rome, where he was made prætor, and where he died in the 70th year of his age-the last of the Herods. It was before him Paul made his memorable defence. AGRIPPA, MARCUS VIPSANIUS (63-12 B. C.), a Roman, who, though not of high birth, rose to an exalted position through his own talents. He first espoused Marcella, the niece, and then Julia, the daughter of Octavius. He was eminent both in war and in peace; and as a general, counsellor, and friend of the emperor, did good service to him and to the Roman state. As a general, he laid the foundation for the sole dominion of Octavius, and commanded his fleet in the battle of Actium (31 B. C.). He was generous, upright, and a friend to the arts; Rome owed to him the restoration and construction of several aqueducts, and of the Pantheon, besides other public works of ornament and utility. AGRIPPI'NA.-I. The daughter of M. Vipsanius Agrippa, by his wife Julia, was one of the most heroic and virtuous women of antiquity. She was married to Cæsar Germanicus (see GERMANICUS), whom she accompanied in all his campaigns. She openly accused Tiberius before the senate of having hired the murderers of her husband; and the tyrant, who hated her for her virtues, and the esteem in which she was held by the people, banished her to the island of Pandataria, near Naples, where she voluntarily died of hunger (33 A.D.). The antiquarian museum at Dresden possesses four excellent busts of her.-II. A very different character was AGRIPPINA, the daughter of the last mentioned, one of the most detestable women that have lived. In her second widowhood, she induced the Emperor Claudius, her own uncle, to marry her, and espoused his daughter, though already betrothed to another, to her son Nero. In order to bring the latter to the throne, she ruined many rich and noble Romans, excluded Britannicus, the son of Claudius by Messalina, and finally poisoned the emperor, her husband. She then endeavoured to govern the empire through her son Nero, who was chosen emperor; but her ascendency proving intolerable, Nero caused her to be put to death (60 A.D.). She enlarged and adorned her native city, Cologne, which received from her the name of Colonia Agrippina. i. e., a suffocating place), one of the largest and most AGTELEK, Cavern of (in Hungarian, Baradlo, remarkable stalactitic caverns of Europe, is situated near the village of Agtelek, in the county of Gomor, not far from the road from Pesth to Kaschau. It opens at the foot of a mountain with an entrance scarcely 3 feet high by 5 feet wide. It consists of a labyrinth of caverns communicating with one another, many of which it is difficult, and even dangerous, to explore, when the streams that flow through them are high. Numerous stalactitic structures occur in all the caverns, which, from their singular shapes, have given rise to the various names ofthe Great Church,' 'the Mosaic Altar,' 'the Image of the Virgin,' &c. The largest and most imposing of those caverns, situated about 200 paces from the entrance, is called the Flower-Garden. It is 96 feet high, 90 feet wide, and runs nearly 900 feet in a straight line. AGUADO, ALEXANDER MARIA, Marquis de Las Marismas del Guadalquiver, one of the wealthiest bankers of modern times, was born at Seville, 1784, and died 14th April 1842. He was descended from a Jewish family, and in his youth bore arms as a soldier. During the Spanish war of independence, he fought with distinction on the side of Joseph, rose in the French army to the rank of colonel, and acted as aide-de-camp to Marshal Soult, but retired in 1815, and began a commission business at Paris. In this he soon realised such wealth as enabled him to found a bank. Good-fortune, energy, and boldadvanced him in a short time to be one of the first ness, with a singular talent for concerting schemes, bankers in Paris. He also obtained a political reputation by negotiating the Spanish loans of 1823, 1828, 1830, and 1831. In these operations, the Spanish government frequently invested him with unlimited Powers, which he dexterously employed to save his conferred on him the title of Marquis de Las country from national bankruptcy. Ferdinand VII. Marismas del Guadalquiver. His services were also recompensed by privileges in mining and in executissuing from his house received the name of Aguados. ing public undertakings. All the Spanish bonds It was through A. that the Greek loan of 1834 was effected. He was naturalised in France in 1828, and at his death left a fortune of above 60 million francs, of which he had invested part in landed property; the castle of Château-Margaux, celebrated for its wine, belonged to him. His distinguished collection of pictures gave occasion to Gavard for the publication of the Galerie A. (Paris, 1837-1842). AGUAS CALIENTES-A-HULL. A'GUAS CALIENTES, a well-built town in Mexico, in the province of Zacatecas. It is situated in N. lat. 21° 53', and W. long. 101° 45', in a plain 6000 feet above the sea-level, and on a stream of the same name, which is tributary to the Rio Grande de Santiago. It contains a population of 20,000; and besides the cultivation of fields and gardens, the manufacture of woollen cloth is very considerable, and is carried on on the factory system. The town is favourably situated for trade, as the great road from Mexico to Sonora and Durango is here crossed by that from San Louis Potosi to Guadalaxara. The environs abound in hot springs, from which the town takes its name. from his father; and afterwards devoted himself to the study of law, became avocat-général at Paris in 1690, and at the age of thirty-two, procureur-général of the parliament. In this office, he effected many improvements in the laws and in the administration of justice. He displayed great benevolence during a famine which occurred in the winter of 1709, apply. ing all the means in his power for the alleviation of the calamity. As a steady defender of the rights of the people, and of the Gallican Church, he successfully opposed the decrees of Louis XIV. and the Chancellor Voisin in favour of the papal bull_Unigenitus (q. v.). During the government of the Duke of Orleans, he became chancellor; but in the followA'GUE (Febris intermittens) is the common name of finance, and retired to his country-seat at Fresnes. ing year fell into disgrace by opposing Law's system for an intermitting fever, accompanied by paroxysms When, however, the ruin induced by Law's system or fits. Each fit is composed of three stages; the produced a general outcry of dissatisfaction, A. was cold, the hot, and the sweating stage. Before a fit, the patient has a sensation of debility and dis- reinstated, in order to appease the people. But his tress about the epigastrium; feels weak and disin-well-meant efforts could not retrieve the desperate clined for exertion; the surface of his body becomes state of affairs. A. was afterwards exiled a second cold, and the bloodless skin shrivels up into the con- Dubois; and though he (in 1727) obtained from time, in consequence of his opposing Cardinal dition termed goose-skin (cutis anserina). A cold Cardinal Fleury permission to return, yet he did not sensation creeps up the back, and spreads over the body; the patient shivers, his teeth chatter, his knees again resume the office of chancellor till 1737. He knock together; his face, lips, ears, and nails turn resigned in 1750, and died, Feb. 9, 1751. His works, blue; he has pains in his head, back, and loins. consisting of pleadings and speeches at the openings This condition is succeeded by flushes of heat, the of the parliament, occupy thirteen volumes (Paris, 1759-1789; Paris, 1819). coldness gives place to warmth, and the surface regains its natural appearance. The warmth continues to increase, the face becomes red and turgid, the head aches, the breathing is deep and oppressed, the pulse full and strong. The third stage now comes on; the skin becomes soft and moist, the pulse resumes its natural force and frequency, and a copious sweat breaks from the whole body. These paroxysms recur at regular intervals. The interval between them is called 'an intermission.' When they occur every day, the patient has quotidian A.; every second day, tertian; and when they are absent for two days, quartan. All ages are liable to this disease; and a case is on record of a pregnant woman having a tertian A. which attacked her of course every other day; but on the alternate days, when she was well, she felt that the child also had A., although the paroxysms did not coincide with her own. AGULHAS, CAPE, (meaning Needles), the most of the Cape of Good Hope, in lat. 34° 51′ S., long. southern point of Africa, lies about 100 miles E.S.E. 19° 55′ E. In 1849, a light-house was erected on it, at an elevation of 52 feet above high-water. The A. Bank extends along the whole southern coast of Africa. It is 560 miles in length, and, opposite the Cape of Good Hope, as many as 200 in breadth. A'HAB, the son and successor of Omri, was king of Israel from 918 to 897 B. C. He married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon; through whose injurious influence the Phoenician worship of Baal was introduced, the king himself seduced to idolatry, and the priests and prophets of Jehovah cruelly persecuted. Yet the prophets retained their influence over the people; and Elijah dared openly to attack the priests of Baal, and reprove the wickedness of the king with the most severe threatenings of punishment. A. prosecuted three wars, with various success, against Benhadad, king of Syria; but in the last campaign he was killed by an arrow. His whole family was afterwards extirpated under King Jehu. AHASUE'RUS is the name, or rather, perhaps, the title, by which several kings of Media and Persia are mentioned in Scripture. The best known of these is Esther's husband (see ESTHER), who is probably the same as the Persian king Xerxes; the Hebrew form of his name (Achaschverosch) pointing to the old Persian form of the name Xerxes (Khschyârschan). The exciting causes of this disease are invisible effluvia from the surface of the earth (marsh miasmata). A certain degree of temperature seems necessary-higher than 60° Fahrenheit for the production of the poison. It does not exist within the Arctic Circle, nor does it appear in the cold seasons of temperate climates, and seldom beyond the 56° of N. lat. (Watson). It also requires moisture. In England, A. is almost exclusively confined to the eastern coast; and the extension of drainage has rendered agues far more rare than before. James I. and Oliver Cromwell died of A. contracted in London. The Pontine Marshes to the S. of Rome have long been notorious as a source of aguish fevers. A-HULL, a maritime term, used to denote the Peat bog, or moss, is not productive of malaria, as is seen in parts of Ireland and Scotland. Neither is position of a ship when all her sails are furled, and her helm lashed on the lee-side; in such a position, A. ever seen among the inhabitants of the Dismal she lies nearly with her side to the wind, but with the Swamp-a moist tract of 150,000 acres on the fron-head turned a little towards the direction of the wind. tiers of Virginia and North Carolina in North America. The treatment of aguish fever consists generally in calomel given in purgative doses, followed by preparations of cinchona-bark, and in applying, during the paroxysm, external warmth to the body. AGUE'SSEAU, HENRI FRANÇOIS D', a distinguished lawyer and chancellor of France, and pronounced by Voltaire to have been the most learned magistrate that France ever possessed, was born at Limoge, 1668 A. D. He received his earliest education It may be convenient to mention in this place that the phraseology adopted by British naval officers and seamen, whether belonging to the royal navy or to the mercantile marine, comprises a large number of words formed on a principle similar to that of ahead, with the vowel a (a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon preposition on, meaning on, in, at) prefixed to a noun. Such are the following: Aback, abaft, aboard, abreast, a-cockbill, adrift, afloat, afore, aground, ahead, a-hull, a-lee, aloft, aloof, amain, AHMEDABAD-AIDE-TOI ET LE CIEL T'AIDERA. amidships, an-end, apeak, ashore, astern, atrip, avast, a-weather, a-weigh. Such of these terms as seem to require it, will be found briefly explained under their proper headings. AHMEDABAD, or more properly AHMADA. BAD, the chief town in the district of the same name, in the Presidency of Bombay, is situated on the left bank of the Sabermutty, which flows nearly due south into the Gulf of Cambay. It was built in the year 1412, by Ahmed or Ahmad Shah, and underwent all the vicissitudes of government incident to the cities of Hindustan, till the year 1818, when it finally came under the power of the British. It was formerly one of the largest and most magnificent capitals in the East in the opinion of a native writer, the handsomest city in Hindustan; perhaps in the world.' Its architectural relics are gorgeous, even in the midst of decay. The Jumna or Juma'ah Masjid, or Great Mosque, rises from the centre of the city, and is adorned by two superbly decorated minarets, each of which contains a circular flight of steps, leading to a gallery near the summit. Its domes are supported by lofty columns, regularly disposed; the concave of these cupolas is richly ornamented with mosaic and fret-work. The pavement is of the finest marble.' The mosque of Sujaat Khan is extremely elegant. There is likewise an ivory mosque, which has obtained that name from the circumstance, that although built of white marble, it is curiously lined with ivory, and inlaid with a profusion of gems, to imitate natural flowers, bordered by a silver foliage on mother-of-pearl.' There are also the Fire Temple and the Tower of Silence of the Parsis. A. once abounded in gardens, aqueducts, reservoirs, &c.; but these, especially the gardens, are now sadly defaced and injured. Its prosperity has been almost wholly destroyed by the rapacity of the Mahrattas, although at one time it was famous for its manufacture of rich fabrics of silk and cotton, articles of gold, silver, steel, and enamel. It employed many artists in portrait-painting and miniatures,' and had extensive trade in indigo, cotton, and opium. The old city-walls, built in 1485, which had in the course of ages, and through the assaults of enemies, become very dilapidated, were repaired in 1834 at an expense of 250,000 rupees, and water conveyed from the river through the city by means of pipes. It is distant from Bombay 290 miles north; in lat. 23° N., long. 72° 36'. Pop. (1872) 116,873. A'HRIMAN (in the Zend, añhro mainyus, i. e., the malignant, destroying spirit) is, according to the dualistic doctrine of Zoroaster, the personification of malignity, the original source of all moral and physical evil, the chief of the devils and malignant spirits, the king of darkness and of death, and consequently the eternal enemy and opponent_of See Ormuzd and of his kingdom of light. ZOROASTER. AI'DE-DE-CAMP, an officer who may be regarded as a kind of superior confidential attendant upon a general in active service. The A. is the organ of the general. He carries all orders on the field of battle: these he is to deliver in the plainest terms, so as to be distinctly understood; and when so understood, the orders are to be as implicitly obeyed as if the general himself were present and speaking. As an example of the importance of this matter, may be adduced the brilliant but disastrous light-cavalry charge at Balaklava in the autumn of 1854. Lord Raglan sent a message, partly verbal and partly written, to the Earl of Lucan, concerning a particular piece of strategy at a certain time and place; the message was misconceived, and the Earl of Cardigan was directed to make a military movement, perfectly hopeless in its character, resulting in a very serious cavalry loss; although the incident presented a fine display of heroism united with discipline. An A. also acts as secretary to the general, and assists him in his correspondence, when he has not specifically a military secretary. He aids likewise in dispensing the courtesies of the general's house or tent. Generals are much accustomed to appoint their sons or other relations to this confidential post. The Aides-de-camp vary from one to four in number, according as the commander is a brigadier-general, major-general, lieutenantgeneral, general, or field-marshal: each receives 98. 6d. a day besides regimental pay. Before an officer can be appointed as A., he must have been two years with his regiment, and must pass an examination. Aides-de-camp are not removed from the list of their regiments; and, most commonly, are captains. Besides these Aides-de-camp to generals, the Queen has the power to appoint any number of Aides-decamp to herself, in her capacity of nominal head of the army. There are no particular duties attached to the office; but it is much sought after, both as an honour, and as conferring on the holder the rank of colonel in the army. There are 6 who receive daily AHMEDNU'GGUR, or AHMADNUGGUR, an pay as Aides-de-camp, and who take it in turn to important town in the Presidency of Bombay. It attend the Queen on state occasions. In the year was founded in 1494 by Ahmad Nizam Shah. 1873, there were no fewer than thirty-three military During the reign of his son, Boorhan Nizam Shah, Aides-de-camp to the Queen, of whom seven were it reached a high degree of prosperity; but after peers of the realm; but of the thirty-three, only his death, it witnessed an incessant series of wars, nineteen belonged to the army, the rest, except two confusions, and murders. In 1797, it fell into the of the marines, being militia officers, whose appointhands of the Mahrattas; and in 1803 was sur-ments are purely honorary. In addition to all the rendered, after a trivial resistance of two days, to above, there are naval Aides-de-camp to the Queen, General Wellesley. It was, however, shortly after of whom there were eleven in the year 1873. restored to the Peishwa; but in 1817, the fort was again occupied by the British. The town has increased rapidly since it came under British protection and rule. It possesses a most singular defence, in addition to its wall; this consists of an 'immense prickly-pear hedge about 20 feet high, which is so full of sap that no fire will kindle it, and 80 vigorous that it is almost impossible to force one's way through it.' A. contains an English church, a dhurmsalah (or place of entertainment for travellers) capable of holding 250 persons. It also possesses a good supply of water by means of aqueducts. It is distant from Bombay 122 miles east, in lat. 19° 6', long. 74° 46′. There are several places of the same name in Hindustan. Pop. (1872) 32,841. AIDE-TOI ET LE CIEL T'AIDERA (Help yourself, and Heaven will help you). This moral aphorism was the cry of certain French political writers to the middle classes, about the year 1824, and became the watch-word and title of a society, having for its object to agitate the electoral body in opposition to the government. This, however, was to be done by means strictly legitimate, and chiefly by correspondence and political publications. Most of its founders and active members belonged to the party of Doctrinaires (q. v.), as Guizot, who was president for some time, Duchatel, Duvergier de Hauranne, Dubois, Remusat, Thiers, Cavaignac, &c. Le Globe newspaper was the organ of the association, and afterwards Le National. It had 91 AIDIN-AINMULLER. a great share in bringing about the revolution of July 1830, and was at first countenanced by the new government; but after a short time it was dissolved (1832). AIDI'N, or GUZEL-HISSAR, a town of Asiatic Turkey, on the river Meander, in the pachalic of Anatolia, built out of the ruins of the ancient Tralles, which was situated on a plateau above the present town. It lies sixty miles south-east of Smyrna, contains 6000 houses, and a population estimated at from 35,000 to 60,000 inhabitants, is four miles in circuit, and carries on a trade next in importance to that of Smyrna. It is adorned, like all eastern cities, with numerous mosques and other religious edifices, and has a picturesque appearance. AIDS. These were originally mere benevolences granted by a tenant to his lord, in times of distress; but gradually they came to be regarded as matters of right, and not of discretion. There were three principal objects for which A. were demanded: 1st, To ransom the person of the lord when taken prisoner; 2d, To make his eldest son a knight; and 3d, To provide a suitable portion to his eldest daughter on her marriage. These A. were abolished by 12 Car. II. c. 24. AID OF THE KING is where the king's tenants pray A. of the K. on account of rent demanded of them by others. In such cases, the proceedings are stopped till the king's or queen's counsel are heard to say what they think fit for avoiding the king's prejudice. AIGRETTE, a French word, used to denote the down or plume (botanically, pappus) which is found attached to many vegetable seeds, as the thistle and dandelion. It is also used in reference to the feathery tuft on the heads of several birds, as the heron; and in English zoology the name aigret or egret (q. v.) is applied to the lesser white heron, an elegant bird, with a white body and a feathery crest. Hence the term A. came to be used to designate the long, delicate white feathers which, being stuck upright in a lady's head-dress, are calculated to give a majestic appearance to the person. More recently, the usage has been still further extended, and any head-dress bearing an analogy to a plume, even a bouquet of flowers, fastened with precious stones, is denominated an A. AIGUES MORTES (Aqua Mortua), a small town in France (pop. 3024), in the department of Gard, which claims to have been founded by the Roman Marius. It is situated in an extensive marsh, impregnated with sea-salt, and is about three miles from the Mediterranean, with which it is connected by a canal. It was from A. M. that St Louis sailed in 1248, and again in 1270, for the Crusades-a proof that the sea then reached this spot. In 1538, Francis I. had an interview at A. M. with Charles V. AIGUILLE (Fr. a needle), an instrument often used by military engineers, to pierce a rock for the reception of gunpowder, when any blasting or blowing-up is to be effected. AIGUILLETTE, a part of the decorations of military dress. It was formerly worn on the right shoulder by general officers of various grades; but is now chiefly confined to officers of the Life-Guards and Horse-Guards. It is merely an ornament, composed of gold or silver cords and loops. AI'GULET, a rope called a lashing-rope, employed in ships-of-war for securing the breeching of a gun. frequently planted to shade public walks in the south of Europe, and not uncommon in England. The styles are combined at the base, the fruit consists of 3-5 samara (or winged achenia, q. v.). The leaves are large and pinnate, with an odd leaflet, resembling those of the ash. The tree grows better than almost any other on chalky soils, and is hardy enough to endure the climate even of the north of Scotland. It is easily propagated by suckers and cuttings of the roots. The wood is fine grained, satiny, and suited for cabinet-making. AILETTES (Fr. little wings) were appendages to the armour worn by knights in the 13th c. They were sometimes made of leather, covered with a kind of cloth called carda, and fastened with silk laces. The form was sometimes circular, sometimes pentagonal, cruciform, or lozenge shaped, but more usually square. Sometimes they were not larger than the palm of the hand; in other instances, as large as a shield. In most instances, the A. were worn behind or at the side of the shoulders. Whether the purpose of these appendages was as a defence to the shoulders in war; as an ensign or mark, to indicate to the followers of the knight his place in the field; or as armorial bearings, is not now clearly known; but the first supposition is the most probable. A. are figured on many effigies, monumental brasses, and stained windows, in our cathedrals and old churches. AI'LSA CRAIG, a remarkable islet about 10 miles from the southern coast of Ayrshire, opposite Girvan, lat. 55° 15′ 12" N.; long. 5° 7′ W. Rising abruptly out of the sea to a height of 1114 feet, it forms a most striking object, even at a considerable distance. It is about two miles in circumference, and is accessible only at one point, where the accumulation of débris has formed a rough beach. The rock may be described generally as a mass of trap, assuming in some places a distinct columnar form, with dimensions far exceeding those of the basaltic pillars of Staffa. On the north-west, perpendicular cliffs rise to a height of from 200 to 300 feet; on the other sides, the Craig descends to the sea with a steep slope, covered with grass and wildflowers, with scattered fragments of rock. The only inhabitants are goats, rabbits, and wild-fowl. Solan geese, in particular, breed About 200 in the cliffs in countless numbers. feet from the summit are some springs, and on the ledge of a crag on the eastern front, are the remains of an ancient stronghold. In 1831, the late Earl of Cassillis, the proprietor of A. C., was raised to the dignity of Marquis of Ailsa. numerous AIN, a river in France, rises in the mountains of the Jura, flows through the departments of Jura and Ain, and after a course of about 100 miles, falls into the Rhone, 18 miles above Lyon. AIN, a frontier department of France, is bounded on the N. by the departments of Jura and Saône-etLoire, on the E. it is separated from Switzerland and Savoy by the Rhone, which also divides it from Isère on the S., while on the W. the Saône separates it from the departments of the Rhone and Saône-etsouthern portion of that part which lies to the west Loire. The eastern part is mountainous; but the of the Ain, forms an argillaceous plateau, abounding with marshes, which occasion epidemic fevers. This dep. contains five arrondissements-Bourg, Belley, Gex, Nantua, Trévoux-or 35 cantons. Area, 2258 sq. m. Pop. (1872) 363,290. Chief town, Bourg. AINMÜLLER, MAX. EMAN., to whom we owe the restoration of the art of painting on glass, was AILANTO (Ailanthus glandulosa), a lofty and born at Munich, 1807. He began the study of beautiful tree, of the natural order Xanthoxylaceæ architecture, but afterwards entered the royal por(see XANTHOXYLON), a native of China, but now | celain manufactory as decorator; and it was here 3 |