Archer Fish
the toxotes aculator, which shoots water at its prey. It is found in the East Indian and Polynesian Seas.
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Single-source entries: A (68)
Each of these 14 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.
Archias
A. Licinius Archias, a Greek poet, born at Antioch in Syria, about B. C. 120, came to Rome in 102, and was received in the most friendly way by the Luculli, from whom he obtained the gentile name of Licinius. He was enrolled as a citizen at Heraclea in Lucania ; and as this town was united with Rome by a foedus, he subsequently obtained the Roman franchise in accordance with the lex Plautia Papiria passed in B. C. 89. In 6I he was accused of assuming the citizenship illegally. He was defended by his friend M. Cicero in the extant speech Pro Archia, in which the orator, after briefly discussing the legal points of the case, rests the defense of his client upon his merits as a poet, which entitled him to the Roman citizenship.
Only in 1000 Classical Characters
Archill
ARGOL, ORCHILL, or ORCHAL, two species of lichen, the rocella tinctoria and R. fusiformis, which grow in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands. They are found on rocks near the sea. They produce a fine but fugitive purple dye, and are largely employed for that purpose. Other lichens, such as the variolaria arcina, the lecanora tartarea, etc., are sometimes used in place of the rocella.
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Archimedian Screw
or SPI- RAL PUMP, a machine invented by Archimedes, the celebrated Syracusan philosopher, while studying in Egypt. Observing the difficulty of raising water from the Nile to places above the reach of the flood tides, he is said to have designed this screw as a means of overcoming the obstacle. It consists of a pipe twisted in a spiral form around a cylinder, which, when at work, is supported in an inclined position. The lower end of the pipe is immersed in water, and when the cylinder is made to revolve on its own axis, the water is raised from bend to bend in the spiral pipe until it flows out at the top. The Archimedian screw is still used in Holland for raising water, and draining low grounds; there it is mostly of large size and moved by the wind.
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Archipelago
a term applied to such tracts of sea as are interspersed with many islands. It is more especially applied to the numerous islands of the Ægean Sea, or that part of the Mediterranean lying between Asia Minor and Greece. These islands are principally divided into two groups called the Cyclades and Sporades. The former contains the islands of Kythnos, Lyra, Seriphos, Keos, Anoros, Tenos, Naxos, Thera, Ios, Melos, Kimolos, etc., all belonging to Greece, and forming the province of the Cyclades. The Sporades group consists of Scio, Cos, Rhodes, Samos, Mitylene, Lemnos, etc.
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Architrave
in architecture, the part of the entablature which rests immediately on the heads of the columns, being the lowest of its three principal divisions, the others being the frieze and the cornice.
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Archives
the place in which records are kept; also the records and papers which are preserved, as evidence of facts.
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Archivolt
in architecture, the ornamental band of moldings on the face of an arch and following its contour.
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Archons
the chief magistrates of ancient A Athens, chosen to superintend civil and religious concerns. They were nine in number; the first was properly the archon, or archon eponymos, by whose name the year was distinguished in the public records; the second was called archon basileus, or king archon, who exercised the functions of highpriest; the third, polemarchos, or general of the forces. The other six were called thesmothetai, or legislators.
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Arcograph
An instrument sometimes used by watchmakers for drawing a circular arc without the use of a central point. ARNOLD, JOHN. Born in Cornwall, England, in 1744, and died at Eltham, England, in 1799. He was the inventor of the helical form of balance spring and a chronometer escapement. The English Government awarded him pound1,320 for the superiority of his chronometers in 1799, and his son, who followed up the successes of his father, was awarded pound1,680 in 1805.
Only in American Watchmaker and Jeweler
Arcot
a city of British India, in the presidency of Madras, the capital of the district of North Arcot. It is situated on the right bank of the Palar, 65 miles W. S. W. of Madras. Arcot contains some mosques in a tolerable state of repair, and the ruins of the Nawab's palace. In 1751 Clive, with 300 Sepoys and 200 Europeans, marched against Arcot, and after having taken it, had in his turn to withstand a siege of 50 days. Arcot was afterward captured by the French, but retaken by Colonel Coote in 1760. It was taken and held for a time by Hyder Ali, but passed into the hands of the British tricts of North and South Arcot form a portion of the presidency of Madras. ARCTIC. (1) An adjective bright, and (2) a substantive a bear, so called either from his bright eyes or from his brilliant tawny fur. Before the Aryans had finally separated, riksha bright, applied to the plow-like constellation, had become obsolete, and the substantive bear remained, whence the constellation came to be called arktos among the Greeks, Ursa among the Latins, ns, and Bear among ourselves. 1. Properlv, pertaining to the constellation called by the Greeks arktos-bear, by the Romans, Ursa, and by ourselves Ursa Major, the Great Bear, the Plow, Charles' Wain, etc. 2. Pertaining to the North generally, or more especially to the region within the Arctic Circle.
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Ardahan
a village of about 300 houses, in the portion of Turkish Armenia, ceded in 1878 to Russia, 35 miles N. W. of Kars. Its position gives it strategic importance. Its fortress was dismantled by the Russians in the war of 1854-1856; in 1878 the Berlin Congress sanctioned the cession to Russia of Ardahan, which had been captured early in the war.
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Ardat-Lile
(Semitic Spirit). She is a female spirit or demon who weds human beings and works great harm in the dwellings of men.
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Ardebil
a town of Persia, in the province of Azerbijan, 110 miles E. of Tabriz, and some 5,000 feet above the sea. Pop. about 10,000. ARDÈCHE (ar-dāsh'), a department in the south of France, takes its name from a tributary of the Rhone, and includes part of ancient Languedoc. It is par almost wholly mountainous. In the N. W. of the department, the Cevennes culminate in the volcanic Mont-Mezène, 5,752 feet in height. Numerous extinct volcanic peaks, deep craters, grottos, rock labyrinths, and basaltic columns give an extraordinarily picturesque appearance to the scenery. The upland, where winter reigns for six or eight months, is devoted to pasturage; but the valley of the Rhone produces wine, olives, chestnuts, figs, and almonds. Only a fourth of the area is cultivated. Iron, coal, antimony, lead, marble, and gypsum are wrought. There are manufactures of silk, paper, leather, cloth, and straw. Area, 2,136 square miles; pop. about 350,000. The capital is Privas.
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