ABYDOS-ABYSSINIA. abutments are the walls adjoining the land, which the Abai; a large-bodied race, round-faced, shortsupport the ends of the roadway, or the extremities of the arch or arches. Here the remains of the Memnonium and of a nosed, with a depression between the nose and brow, deep-set lively eyes, and thickish lips. The colour of these races is brown of various shades. The only negroes in A. are slaves from the country of the Shangallas, to the west. The oldest accounts of the Abyssinians are full of fables, but seem sufficient to prove that they attained Christianity was introduced about the middle of some degree of civilisation even in remote antiquity. the 4th c., and soon prevailed extensively. Axum Two centuries was at that time the capital. later, the Abyssinians were powerful enough to the subsequent struggles against the invading invade Arabia, and conquer a part of Yemen. In Moslem, the coast-land Samhara and the country of Adal were lost. In the 10th c., a Jewish princess overthrew the reigning dynasty, the surviving representative of which fled to Shoa. After three centuries of confusion, the empire was restored under Icon Amlac, and some progress was made in improvement. Early in the 15th c., the Abyssinians entered into close relations with the Portuguese, by whose assistance the empire was saved, in 1540, from falling into the hands of the invader Granie, sultan of Adal. The southern provinces, however, were lost, and the seat of empire was removed from Shoa to Gondar. Under the ABY'DOS, a town in Asia Minor, situated at the narrowest part of the Hellespont, opposite Sestos. It is celebrated as the place whence Xerxes and his vast army passed into Europe in 480 B. C.; also as the scene of the story of Hero (q. v.) and Leander. In the later times of antiquity, the people of A. were reproached for their effeminate and dissolute manners.-There was another ABYDOS, in Upper Egypt (Thebais), on the left bank of the Nile, and on the main route of commerce with Libya. Even in the time of Strabo, this town was in ruins. temple of Osiris are still remarkable. In the former, W. J. Bankes, in 1818, discovered the celebrated Tablet of A., bearing, in hieroglyphics, a genealogy of the eighteenth dynasty of the Pharaohs. It is now in Paris, and copies have been published. ABYSSI'NIA, called Habesh by the Arabs, is the large tract of highlands in the east of Africa. From the Red Sea on the N.E., it rises in terraces towards the S.W. Between the highlands and the Red Sea lies a flat tract called Adal, narrow at the north (in lat. 15° 30′), and widening to the south. The plains of Nubia and Kordofan form the boundaries on the N. and W., while the southern limits are not well influence of the Portuguese missionaries, the royal known. The total area is about 200,000 sq. m., and the population 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. The country consists of high table-lands, intersected by deep ravines formed by the rivers, and steep sandstone terraces. Numerous mountain-chains, mostly of volcanic origin, rise above the table-lands: the highest are the mountains of Samen or Samien, rising to about 15,000 feet above the sea-level. Some of the plains have an elevation of from 7 to 10,000 feet. A. gives birth to numerous rivers, the largest of which are the Abai or Nile (Bahr-el-Azrek or Blue River), and the Takkazie, an affluent of the Nile. In the south is the Hawash-from which the country takes its name-which flows eastward into the salt-lake of Assal in Adal. The largest lake is that of Tzana or Dembea, through which the Abai or Blue Nile flows. The climate in the elevated tracts of Abyssinia is temperate and salubrious; in the low tracts along the coast, and in the north and north-west, the heat is excessive, and the climate noxious. On the whole, A. is a country of great fertility; but, like the climate, the productions of the soil vary greatly with the different degrees of elevation. Wheat and barley are cultivated, also maize, the grains called Teff (Poa Abyssinica) and Tocusso (Eleusine Tocusso), various leguminous plants, cotton, coffee, sugar-cane, tobacco, &c. The coffeeplant grows wild. Among wild animals, the lion, leopard, hyena, wolf, jackal, elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, and zebra are found. The people of A. belong mostly to the Shemitic race, and resemble the Arabs both in physical characteristics and structure of language. See ETHIOPIA. The ethnology of the country is variously given by different authorities. According to Ruppell, there are three principal races. The aboriginal Abyssinians, inhabiting the greater part of Amhara, and numerous also in Tigré, are of middle size, with oval faces, lips not thicker than those of Europeans, pointed noses, and straight or slightly curled hair. In this race he includes the Falashas, or Jews, the Gamant, and the Agows. A second race, abounding most in the north of Tigré, have thick lips, noses blunt and somewhat curved, and thick hair, verging on woolliness. The third are the Gallas, inhabiting the south of Shoa and the regions west of Lake Dembea and family adopted the Roman Catholic faith; and the old Coptic Church was formally united to the see of Rome. The people and ecclesiastics obstinately resisted the innovation; the emperor gave way; and ultimately, in 1632, the Romish priests were expelled or put to death. In consequence of the commotions thus excited, the monarchical power declined, while that of the governors of provinces greatly increased, and, indeed, became almost absolute. The later history of A. is given under the article THEODORE in SUPP., Vol. X. The political divisions of the country are subject to continual alteration; but the following are the most important:-1. The kingdom of Tigré, extending between the river Takkazie or Bahr-el-Aswad (Black River), and the mountains of Samen on one side, and the district of Samhara on the other. Its chief towns are Antalo and Adowa. 2. The kingdom of Gondar or Amhara, extending on the west of the Takkazie and the Samen Mountains. The capital, Gondar, is situated in the north-east of the plain of Dembea or Gondar, at an elevation of 7420 feet. 3. The kingdom of Shoa (including Efat), lying south of Amhara, and separated from the Galla tribes by the Hawash. This is, by all accounts, the best organised and most powerful state now existing in A. The capital, Ankobar, at an elevation of 8198 feet, contains from 8000 to 10,000 inhabitants, and enjoys a delightful climate. The Gallas, a savage but enterprising race, effected a settlement in the south of A. in the 16th c. They inhabit the whole of the eastern part of tropical Africa. Several of their tribes have been modified in character and customs by conversion to Mohammedanism, and have founded kingdoms-such as Enarea, one of the highest mountain countries of Africa, and rich in produce; Kusha, on the river Goshob, where the slave-trade is actively carried on by the Portuguese; and several smaller independent states of which little is known. In consequence of invasions and civil warfare, the present social and political condition of A. is very unfavourable. The kingdom of Shoa is in better circumstances than the other states. Though Christianity is still the professed religion of the majority of Abyssinians, it exists among them only in its lowest form, and is little more than ceremonial. ACACIA-ACADEMY. Their church is national and independent, but the gum, babul. A gum similar to gum-arabic is provisible head, or Abuna (our father') is ordained by duced by A. decurrens, A. mollissima (the Silver the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria. The doctrines Wattle), and A. affinis (the Black Wattle), in New of the Abyssinian coincide with those of the Coptic Holland, and by A. karroo, at the Cape of Good Hope. Church, especially in the monophysite heresy; but Gum Senegal is the produce of A. Verek, and A. several peculiar rites are observed, including circum- Adansonii, natives of the western coast of Africa. cision of both sexes, and observance of the Mosaic Yet A. Verek is also said to yield true white gumlaws respecting food, &c.; love-feasts, and adult bap- arabic. Catechu (q. v.) is obtained from the wood tism. The oldest Abyssinian churches are hewn out of A. catechu. The astringent bark and pods of of rocks. The modern churches are mostly small, some species are used for tanning. The bark of A. round, or conical buildings, thatched with straw, Arabica is administered in India as a powerful tonic and surrounded by pillars of cedar. Statues and medicine. The pods of A. concinna form an article bas-reliefs are not tolerated in churches, but paint- of commerce in India, its seeds being saponaceous ings are numerous. The state of manners and and used in washing. A decoction of the pods of morals in A. is as low as might be looked for in A. Arabica is sometimes used in the same way. A a country so long a prey to anarchy and violence. considerable number of species afford useful timber. Human life is lightly valued, the administration of The flowers of many species are fragrant. A number justice is barbarously negligent and corrupt, and the of species from New Holland and other countries marriage-bond is tied and loosed with extreme have been introduced into the south of Europe. facility. The land generally yields at least two Some are of frequent occurrence in green-houses in erops annually; but the agriculture is miserable, Britain; and a few of the Australian species succeed and the condition of the lower classes proportion- tolerably in the open air in the south of Engally wretched. Among fruits, the fig is the most land. The foliage of the acacias with bipinnate plentiful. Wine is used only for the Eucharist; the leaves shews a peculiar sensitiveness to changes of common drink is bouza, a kind of sour beer, made weather; when a thick cloud obscures the sun, the from the fermentation of bread. The manufac opposite leaflets close together, and so remain till tures of A. are rude, but sufficient, with a few the sun reappears. The Locust-tree of North exceptions, for the wants of the natives; cotton America (Robinia pseud-acacia) is often called stuffs and leather goods are the staple articles. The A. both in Britain and upon the continent of foreign trade is carried on principally through Massowah; the chief exports being slaves, gold, butter, musk-horns, wax, and ivory. A. has recently become better known to us through the visits of missionaries, scientific travellers, &c., and the British Expedition of 1867-1868. See the Travels and Journals of Bruce, Lord Valentia, Salt, Ritter, Gobat, Isenberg and Krapf, Ruppell, Parkyns, Plowden, Markham, and Blandford; the Report of the French Scientific Commission (1845); Contributions of MM. d'Abbadie to Journ. Asiat., and of Beke and Kirk in Journ. of Roy. Geogr. Soc.; Record of the Expedition to A., by Major Holland and Captain Hozier. See THEODORE in Supp., Vol. X. Europe. Other species of Robinia also receive the ACADEMY, a name originally applied to the philosophical school of Plato, and derived from the place in which that philosopher was accustomed to meet and converse with his pupils. This was a garden or grove in the suburbs of Athens, said to have once belonged to the hero Academus, and by him to have been presented to the citizens for a gymnasium. The spot is at this day known under the name of Akadimia. The variations of doctrine among the successors of Plato gave rise to the distinctive titles of Old, Middle, and New A. The first is applied to the philosophic teaching of Plato himself and his immediate followers; the second, to that modification of the Platonic philosophy taught by Arcesilaus (q.v.); and the third, to the half-sceptical school founded by Carneades (q.v.).. ACA'CIA, a genus of plants of the natural order Leguminosa, sub-order Mimosea. The genus A. differs from Mimosa in the greater number of its stamens (10-200), and in the want of transverse partitions in its bivalvular legumes. In its common English acceptation, the word The acacias are diffused academy is loosely applied to any species of school over all quarters of the which professes to communicate more than the mere globe except Europe. elements of instruction. This, however, though The greater number of perhaps more in affinity with the original application them have a singular of the term, must be regarded as an abuse of its appearance, because of more general and strict acceptation in modern usage, the leaf-stalks spread- as signifying a society of savans or artists, established ing out in a leaf- for the promotion of literature, science, or art. The like form (phyllodium); first institution in ancient times that seems to merit while the leaflets are the name, in this sense, of academy, was the celemore or less stunted brated Museum founded at Alexandria in the 3d in appearance, and fre- century B. C. by Ptolemy Soter, which concentrated Acacia Arabica (Gum-arabic quently are altogether in that intellectual capital all that was most eminent Tree). absent. Other species in science, philosophy, poetry, and criticism. After have bipinnate leaves, with a great number of this model, the Jews, and, at a later period, the leaflets, and are extremely beautiful. Many are Arabians, founded numerous institutions for the of great importance in an economical point of promotion of learning. During the middle ages, with view, because of the juice which flows from them, the exception of the Moorish institutions at Granada which, when inspissated, becomes an article of and Cordova, in which poetry and music formed commerce under the name of Gum (q. v.). The prominent subjects of study, we find nothing correspecies called A. gummifera, A. Seyal, A. Ehren-sponding to the modern idea of an academy, save bergii, A. tortilis, A. Nilotica, and A. vera, natives the learned society established in his own palace, at of Africa, produce gum-arabic, also A. speciosa, and A. Arabica, natives of the south of Asia. A. Arabica is called the Babul-tree in India, and its the suggestion of his teacher Alcuin, by Charlemagne. This association was dissolved by the monarch's death; and not till the middle of the ACADEMY. 15th C., when the conquest of Constantinople drove Latin; thenceforth in Latin or French. From 1783 to the present they are entitled Memoires.-The A. of Sciences at Stockholm, founded in 1739, consisted at first of six members, one of whom was the celebrated Linnæus. It received a royal charter in 1741, but no endowment. Its publications, since 1779, are distinguished as New Transactions. Papers on agriculture are separately published, under the title of Economica Acta. In 1799, it was divided into six classes: 1. Political and Rural Economy, 15 Academies may be divided into those established 3. Swedish Physics and Natural History, 15; for general ends, and such as contemplate specific 4. Foreign Physics and Natural History, 15; members; 2. Commerce and Mechanical Arts, 15; objects. The members are usually classified as 5. Mathematics, 18; 6. History, Philology, and Fine Ordinary, Honorary, and Corresponding. The re- Arts, 12. The resident members preside in rotation, sults of their labours in their various departments during a term of three months: the transactions are reported at the periodic meetings, and printed appear quarterly. in the records of the academy. Prizes are gene- April, prizes are distributed.-The Royal Ă. of rally established as the rewards of distinguished Sciences at Copenhagen owes its origin, like the At the annual meeting in merit in original discovery, or excellence in the last mentioned, to six learned men, employed by treatment of subjects proposed for competition. Christian VI. in 1742 to arrange his cabinet of Among general academies, deserving of mention medals. In 1743, the king, on the recommendation in the first place is the A. of Sciences, at of Count Holstein, their first president, took the Paris, established by Colbert in 1666, and now a academy under his protection, endowed it, and branch of the Institut de France (see INSTITUT). The ordered that natural history, physics, and mathefirst scientific academy founded in modern times matics should be embraced within the sphere of its was the Academia Secretorum Naturæ, established operations, at first limited to the national history at Naples in 1560, and afterwards put down by a and antiquities. The academy's transactions are in papal interdict. It was succeeded by the A. of the Danish; some of them are translated into Latin. Lincei, founded at Rome by Prince Ceci, which-The A. of Sciences of Mannheim was founded attained distinguished success. Galileo was one of its members. Subsequently arose the A. del Cimento, at Florence, and the A. degl' Inquieti, of Bologna, afterwards incorporated into the Accad. della Tracea, and finally, in 1711, merged in the Institute of Bologna, or Clementine A.—The Berlin A. of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1700 by Frederick I., was in 1710 divided into four sections: 1. Physics, Medicine, and Chemistry; 2. Mathematics, Astronomy, and Mechanics; 3. German Language and History; 4. Oriental Literature, in special connection with missions. The first president was Leibnitz, whose extraordinary versatility of genius qualified him for a leading place in all its departments. Under the Great Frederick, new life was infused into the academy by the encouragement offered to learned men of all countries to settle at Berlin. Maupertuis was now appointed president, and the academy was re-organised under the four classes of Physics, Mathematics, Philosophy, History and Philology. The public meetings are held twice a year. The transactions did not appear regularly till after 1811. They were formerly published in French, but now in German.-The Imperial A. of Sciences of St Petersburg was planned in 1724 by Peter the Great, with the advice of Leibnitz and Wolf. It was established in the following year by Catherine I., and liberally supported by the empress: fifteen members received pensions as professors of various branches. Of these were Wolf, Bülfinger, Nicolas and Daniel Bernouilli, and the two De Lisles. After various fluctuations, the academy attained a position of high eminence and utility under the patronage of Catherine II. Among the most important results of her liberality are the travels and researches of such men as Pallas and Klaproth. The academy is still composed of fifteen salaried members, besides a president and director, and four pensioned supernumeraries, who attend the meetings and succeed to the vacant chairs. It possesses an extensive library and a very valuable museum. The first series of its transactions (172547) bears the name of Commentarii; the second (1748-77), of Novi Commentarii; the third (1777-82), of Acta. Up to this date, they were written in 22 in 1755 by the Elector-palatine Karl Theodor, and divided into the sections of history and physical science; the latter was subdivided in 1780 into physics proper and meteorology. The transactions under the two former heads are published under the title of Acta; the meteorological memoirs are entitled Ephemerides.-The A. of Sciences of Munich was founded in 1759. Soon after the erection of Bavaria into a kingdom, it was reorganised on a very extensive footing, under the presidency of Jacobi. Its memoirs are published under the title of Abhandlungen der Baierischen Akademie.—The A. of Lisbon, established by Queen Maria in 1779, numbers 60 members; viz., 24 ordinary, and 36 honorary and foreign; and is divided into three sections: 1. Natural Science; 2. Mathematics; 3. Portuguese Literature. by government, and has a library, museum, observatory, and printing-office. appeared since 1787.-The Royal Irish A. dates its It is liberally endowed origin from 1782, when a number of gentlemen, chiefly connected with the university of Dublin, Its Memorias have associated themselves for the pursuit of science, history, and literature. was afterwards extended. The first volume of its transactions appeared in 1788.-The American A. of Arts and Sciences was established at Boston in The plan of the society 1780: it had previously existed in another form, the original institution being due to Franklin. The first volume of its transactions was published in 1785.-The A. of Sciences at Vienna was founded in 1846. It is divided into the sections of History and Philology; Mathematics and Natural Science Philosophy, Political Economy, and Medicine. published Reports of its meetings since 1848, and since 1850, Memoirs. ; It tion of particular departments of knowledge, are the ACADIE-ACALEPHÆ the Royal Hibernian A. incorporated at Dublin in 1803. Numerous academies of the fine arts have been established in Italy-at Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence, Mantua, and Modena; as also at Madrid, Vienna, and Stockholm. Many learned Societies differ from Academies only in name; such are The Royal Society of London, The British Association, The Washington Smithsonian Institution, &c., &c. See SOCIETIES. ACADIE. See NOVA SCOTIA. ACALE PHE (Gr. 'nettles'), a term given by Aristotle to the Jelly-fishes or Medusida and their allies, in allusion to their stinging propensities. As in all other Cœlenterate animals, the urticating or stinging properties of such forms reside in the cnide or thread-cells,' with which the tissues of their bodies are provided. These cells consist each of a sac or vesicle, containing fluid and a threadlike filament; the cell rupturing on being pressed or otherwise irritated, and emitting the thread and fluid. The former must act mechanically as a kind of dart; whilst the fluid acts chemically in producing irritating effects by its injection into the wound made by the filament. Some of the forms allied to the Jelly-fishes, and included under the old term Acalepha-such as the Physalia or 'Portuguese men-of-war'-sting, by means of these cells, so severely that the effects on the human subject may persist for days or even weeks. of an excellent dictionary, and the publication of to that of the London A. Similar to these also is correct editions of the older Italian poets. A new edition of this dictionary is at present in preparation, but from the slow rate of its progress, it is calculated that many centuries must elapse before its completion. For an account of the Académie Française, instituted in 1629, as a private society, see INSTITUT. The Royal Spanish A. was founded at Madrid in 1714, by the Duke of Escalona, for the cultivation and improvement of the national language, in which it has done good service particularly by the compilation of a Spanish dictionary. A similar institution was founded at St Petersburg in 1783, and afterwards united to the Imperial A. At Stockholm, a similar academy was established in 1786; and at Pesth (for the cultivation of the Magyar language) in 1830.-2. ARCHEOLOGY. At the head of antiquarian institutions stands the Académie des Inscriptions, founded at Paris in 1663, by Colbert. See INSTITUT. For the elucidation of northern languages and antiquities, an academy was founded in 1710 at Upsala, in Sweden; a similar institution was established at Cortona, in Italy, in 1727. Both have issued valuable works. The A. of Herculaneum was founded at Naples in 1755, by the Marquis of Tanucci, for the elucidation of Herculanean and Pompeian antiquities. Its publications, commencing in 1775, bear the title of Antichità di Ercolano. An academy for the investigation of Tuscan antiquities was established at Florence in 1807; and at Paris, in 1805, a Celtic A. for the elucidation of the language, history, and.antiquities of the Celts, especially in France. This society changed its name, in 1814, to Société des Antiquaires de France.-3. HISTORY. The Royal A. of Portuguese History was founded at Lisbon, in 1720, by John V. At Madrid, in 1730, a learned association was formed for the elucidation of Spanish history. It was constituted an academy in 1738, by Philip V. It has published editions of Mariana, Sepulveda, Solis, and the ancient Castilian chronicles, some of which had never before been printed. A historical academy has existed for some time at Tübingen.-4. MEDICINE. Academia Natura Curiosorum was established at Vienna, in 1652, by the physician Bauschius, for the investigation of remarkable phenomena in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. In honour of Leopold I., who patronised it liberally, it took the additional name of Cæsareo-Leopoldina; and, since 1808, has had its chief seat at Bonn. Its valuable memoirs have appeared at irregular intervals In modern zoology, it may be noted, the term under the title of Miscellanea, Ephemerides, and Acalephe is now generally abolished. Formerly, Acta. The Académie de Médecine of Paris was this name was given to a group of Colenterate or founded in 1820, for the prosecution of researches Radiate animals, represented by the true Medusida into all matters connected with the public health, or Jelly-fishes, and also by the Lucernarida; whilst such as epidemics, &c. The Surgical A. of Paris older systems still, included in the group Acalephæ (whose functions have partly descended to the other oceanic organisms (Calycophorida and Physopreceding) was founded in 1731. It was dissolved phoride), among which were the 'Portuguese manduring the troubles of the first revolution. The of-war,' &c., and also the order Ctenophora (Beroë, Vienna A. of Surgery, established in 1783, is, pro- Cestum Veneris, &c.), this latter order being now perly speaking, a college.-5. FINE ARTS The removed to a class superior to that of the JellyIn modern systems of academies of painting and sculpture of St Peters- fishes and their allies. burg (connected with the Imperial A.) and Paris, zoological classification, therefore, the old division are institutions for the education of pupils. The of the Acalephæ is represented by at least two French Académie des Beaux Arts is a branch distinct orders of Colenterate animals. Thus the of the Institut (q. v.). The Royal A. of Arts in true Jelly-fishes or Medusidæ constitute the subLondon was founded in 1768, for the promotion of class Discophora ('disc-bearers'), and are distinguished the arts of design, painting, sculpture, &c. The by being free-swimming forms; the body in each number of academicians is 40. Connected with consisting of a single organism, and being composed it is a school, with professors selected from among of a clear gelatinous swimming-bell or nectocalyx, the academicians. The annual exhibition of the from the roof of which the mouth is suspended; academy is open to all artists of merit. The Royal whilst throughout the substance of the bell-shaped Scottish A. of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, body a system of radial and circular canals is diswas founded at Edinburgh in 1826, and received a tributed. These organisms, familiar to every searoyal charter in 1838. The number of academicians side visitor, swim gracefully by contracting and the aperture is 30; the general plan of the institution is similar expanding their clear jelly-like bodies; The Medusa. B A, under surface, shewing the mouth in the centre, surrounded by the tentacula, and the ovarial chambers exterior to the origins of these; B, side-view, shewing the tentacula hanging down in their natural position. 23 ACANTHOPTERYGII-ACARNANIA. named Gymnophthalmata, or naked-eyed' forms, to distinguish them from the Lucernarida, in which the eyes are protected by a kind of 'hood.' The Lucernarida accordingly are named by some zoologists, Steganophthalmate ('covered-eyed') Medusa; whilst, more properly, the latter term is limited to Medusa-like forms included within that order. Amongst some of these 'hidden-eyed' Medusæ some very peculiar reproductive phases occur. Thus the egg of a Medusa may be seen to give rise to a little rooted organism, like a little Hydra (q. v.) in form, and which is named the Hydra-tuba. This latter organism then becomes divided transversely into a number of saucer-like segments, and is named the Strobila (Sars). Whilst, ultimately, the segments become detached; each swimming away as young Medusa, and being known as an Ephyra. These animals feed on minute crustacea, fishes, and the like; and very many exhibit a phosphorescent light, or animal luminosity. fin, or in the first dorsal, if there are two. The name is derived from the Greek akantha, a thorn, and pteryx, a wing. The A. are divided by Cuvier into fifteen families, amongst which are Percida (Perch, Bass, &c.), Triglide (Gurnard, Flying-fish, &c.), and Scomberida (Mackerel, Tunny, &c.). ACA'NTHUS, the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the plants sometimes called Brancursine, of which it is also the botanical generic name. A. The genus A. is the type of the natural order ACANTHACEAE, which contains nearly 1400 known species. They are herbaceous plants or shrubs, chiefly tropical; dicotyledonous. The greater part are mere weeds, but the genera Justicia, Aphelandra, and Ruellia contain some of our finest hot-house flowers. The leaves are opposite, rarely in fours, simple; two or three bracts, which are often large and leafy, accompany each flower. The calyx is persistent, usually 5-leaved, occasionally cut into many pieces, sometimes obsolete. The corolla is monopetalous, hypogynous, usually irregular, decidThe stamens are generally two; sometimes four, didynamous, the shorter ones sometimes sterile; the anthers 1-2-celled, opening lengthwise. The disk is glandular; the ovary free, 2-celled, with two or more ovules in each cell; placenta adhering in the axis; style one. The fruit is a capsule bursting elastically with two valves, the dissepiment also seeds are roundish, hanging by hard, usually hooked separating into two pieces through the axis. The processes of the placenta; testa loose; albumen wanting; embryo curved or straight; cotyledons large; radicle subcylindrical, next the hilum. Some of the Acanthaceae are used in their native countries as medicines. A valuable deep-blue dye, called Room, is obtained in Assam from a species of Ruellia. ACAPULCO, the best harbour belonging to Mexico in the Pacific, and a place of considerable commercial importance; situated in lat. 16° 50′ N.; long. 99° 48′ W. The harbour is so well sheltered that deeply laden vessels may lie safely at anchor close to the granite rocks. The town, defended by Fort Diego, on an eminence, has a very unhealthy site, and is one of the places most frequently visited by cholera, which proves especially fatal to new settlers. The population is composed of pearl-fishers, sailors, and husbandmen. The chief exports are cochineal, indigo, cocoa, wool, and skins; the imports are cottons, silks, spices, and hardware. Pop. about 5000. separated from Epirus on the north by the AmbraACARNA'NIA, a country of ancient Greece, cian Gulf, now the Gulf of Arta; from Etolia on the east by the river Achelóus; and washed south and west by the Ionian Sea. Along with Ætolia, it forms one of the nomes or departments of the modern |