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Accumulators

should be wiped clean periodically.

Method of Charging.-It is usual to charge the cells with a definite current depending on the size of the cells; and if this current is exceeded at the end of the charge, the rapid evolution of gas tends to dislodge portions of the active material, especially on the positive plate, and these portions are lost. But rapid charging at the commencement produces no ill effects, and is often adopted to save time; while a reduction of current towards the end favors the complete conversion of the interior parts without great evolution of gas. Too rapid charging and discharging are apt to produce buckling of the plates, since the processes cause a change of bulk of the material, and more separators are required to prevent this.

The efficiency of the cell, or the relation between energy taken out and energy put in, depends on the care bestowed on the cells. In central stations, with frequent small discharges and charges, it may reach 80 per cent., but 70 per cent. is more usual; while in motor cars 55 or 60 per cent. is not uncommon, a high current and overcharging being the cause of the low efficiency.

Care of Cells.-Batteries deteriorate but little if they are not discharged to the full extent, and are charged immediately after discharge. But if allowed to stand for some time after a discharge, the plates are rapidly attacked by the acid, with the formation of white sulphate of lead. This is difficult to convert, and the material thus 'sulphated' is apt to split off and be lost. The life may be anything from six months to ten years, according to treatment. Frequent exhaustion, heavy currents, and leaving uncharged shorten the life. When worn out, new plates can be inserted at about half the cost of the original battery.

The water slowly evaporates, and distilled or rain water is added as soon as the tops of the plates emerge. Hard water produces a skin on the plates. Fresh acid is rarely needed. If a cell shows a loss of E.M.F., it is probably due to a piece of active material bridging across between the piates and allowing a leakage of current. A slip of wood passed between the plates is the remedy, and a long charge. It will be found that when gas is evolved from the cells a fine mist of acid rises, and the room must be well ventilated. Also all metal and woodwork should be kept well painted, to prevent corrosion.

Sets of Cells.-Batteries are usually required for a system of constant E.M.F., and the number

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Aceldama

and the efficiency is about 60 per cent., but the durability appears to be superior to that of the lead cell. See Wade's Secondary Batteries, Niblett's Storage Batteries, Treadwell's Storage Batteries, and Slingo and Brooker's Electrical Engineering, and the current electrical journals and Proceedings of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

Aceldama (Aram. 'the field of blood'), so named either because it was bought with the money with which Judas had been bribed (Matt. 27: 7, 8), or because it was the scene of the traitor's tragic death (Acts 1: 18, 19). It is traditionally identified with Hakked-Dumm, near the Pool of Siloam, to the s. of Jerusalem. For description see Schick, Pal. Ex. Fund Quarterly Reports, 1892, Pp. 283 #.

Acer, ACERACEAE. See MAPLE. Acernus, SEBASTIAN FABIAN (1551-1608), the Latinized name of a Polish poet (Klonowicz), surnamed the Sarmatian Ovid. He wrote Victoria Deorum, a satire on the Polish nobility; the epic poem Flis; a Latin eulogium of Red Russia in Roxolania; etc.

Acerra (anc. Acerra), tn., Italy, and episc. see, prov. Caserta, 9 m. N.E. of Naples; has sulphur springs, and a cathedral rebuilt in 1788 after an earthquake. Pop. (1901) 16,397.

Acetabulum (Lat. acetum, 'vinegar'), an ancient Roman sauce-vessel; thence an ancient liquid measure, about half a gill. The word is applied in anatomy to the cup-shaped articular surface of the innominate bone which receives the head of the femur, also to other cuplike structures in animals and fungi.

Acetamide (CH3CO.NH2) is a white crystalline solid prepared by the action of ethyl acetate on ammonia. It melts at 83° c., bcils at 222° C., is easily soluble in water, and when heated with acids or alkalis is converted into ammonia and acetic acid, or their salts.

Acetanilide. See ANTIFEBRIN. Acetic Acid (CH3CO.OH) is formed by the oxidation of alcohol, and is thus present in vinegar. It is chiefly prepared by the destructive distillation of wood (hence called 'pyroligneous acid'), and is purified from the cther obtained products by neutralization with lime and subsequent distillation of resulting calcium acetate with sulphuric acid. Acetic acid is a colorless liquid which boils at 118° C., and solidifies, when pure, at about 15° c. into a crystalline solid known as 'glacial acetic acid.' It is of sp. gr. 1.056 at 15° c. It is very stable, and acts as a monobasic acid, forming a series of salts called acetates, among which are those of calcium, sodium, lead, iron, and

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aluminium. These are obtained by dissolving the metallic oxide, hydroxide, or carbonate in the acid. They are soluble in water, and decomposed by heat, giving, as a rule, acetone and a carbonate. From this property calcium acetate is largely used as a source of acetone; and from the ease with which the acetates of aluminium, iron, etc., are decomposed by water-vapor into insoluble hydroxides and acetic acid, these bodies are extensively employed as mordants in dyeing. Basic acetate of copper, or verdigris, and aceto-arsenite of copper, or Schweinfurther or Paris green, are used as pigments, lead acetate for the preparation of chrome yellow, and the alkali acetates to a small extent in medicine. Acetic acid itself is used as a solvent for gelatin, albumin, resins, oils, etc., for the preparation of the acetates, and in medicine both externally and internally. The strong acid is used externally as a caustic, the 6 and 36 per cent. acids are used in medicine; the very dilute acid is sponged over the body as a refrigerant in fevers. Internally it has the common action of acids, acting as an escharotic, irritant, or stimulant in the mouth or stomach.

Acetic Ether (ethyl acetate, CH,CO.O.C2Hs, prepared by the action of sodium acetate and sulphuric acid on alcohol) is a colorless liquid with a refreshing, penetrating smell. It is used in medicine as a stimulant, also as a solvent and flavoring agent.

Acetone (dimethyl ketone, CH,CO.CH3) is the simplest of the class of substances called ketones. It is present in the products of the destructive distillation of wood, but is mainly prepared by heating calcium acetate. Acetone is a colorless, volatile liquid of boiling point 56.5° c. and sp. gr. .79 at 20° C., with a peculiar empyreumatic odor. It mixes with water and alcohol, and acts as a useful solvent. It is also employed in the preparation of chloroform, iodoform, and sulphonal, as well as for denaturing or rendering unpalatable ethyl alcohol.

Acetophenone, Hypnone (phenyl-methyl-ketone, C.H,CO.CH,), a yellowish, oily fluid which boils at 198-200° c., of sp. gr. 1.0285 (15° c.). Crystalline at low tempera

ture.

Used as hypnotic in doses of 5 grains. When taken in large doses it causes coma and death.

Acetyl (CH,CO) is a univalent radical of which acetic acid, acetyl chloride, etc., are derivatives, the former being the hydroxide, and the latter the chloride.

Acetylene (C,H,) is a colorless, brilliant gas, having a faint odor of garlic. Discovered by

Acetylene

Berthelot (1862), it was first brought into commercial use by Willson's discovery (1888) of the modern method of preparing calcium carbide, and is now widely used as an illuminant. It occurs in small quantities in coal gas, and to a greater extent in oil gas. Acetylene can be obtained by forming an arc between carbon poles in an atmosphere of hydrogen, or by the imperfect combustion of coal gas, but is usually prepared by bringing water into contact with calcium carbide, which is a crystalline substance obtained by strongly heating a mixture of lime and powdered coke in the electric furnace. Carbide is now manufactured on a large scale in America and Europe, chiefly by means of waterpower-e.g. Niagara Falls, Sault Rapids, Falls of Foyers, Sarpsborg -and is supplied to consumers in air-tight drums. It must be kept hermetically sealed from the atmosphere, because it rapidly takes up moisture, thus deteriorating in quality and liberating the gas. Theoretically, 1 lb. of carbide yields 5.8 cub. ft. of gas, but the commercial substance rarely yields more than 4.5 cub. ft. The specific gravity of acetylene is about twice that of coal gas. The presence of impurities, especially compounds of phosphorus and sulphur, often gives it a very powerful and unpleasant odor, which is erroneously ascribed to the gas itself. It is liable to spontaneous explosion when compressed into the liquid state, and it is now illegal to manufacture or keep it in this form. At a pressure of 100 inches of water, or less, it is officially regarded as safe. In contact with copper, acetylene forms a dangerous detonating compound; its action on wet bleachingpowder, sometimes used as a purifying medium, has led to explosions; and its general chemical reactions have not been fully investigated. The gas is prepared in generators, in which water and carbide are brought together in various ways. The best form is

that in which the carbide is thrown into an excess of water, for when water is dropped upon carbide intense heat is generated, and the gas is partly transformed into oily compounds, which condense in the pipes. From the generator the gas should be led into a separate gas-holder, large enough to contain a supply for twenty-four hours, and weighted to give a pressure of 3 inches of water; thence through a purifier, in which the gas is exposed to a large surface of dry bleaching-powder, or is passed through sulphuric acid to the main pipes. Taps must be well ground in and lubricated with vaseline, as the gas corrodes brass work. Special burners, by which

Achæi

Its

two jets of flame are thrown against each other, are used. The flame is intensely white. When examined by the spectroscope it is found to resemble sunlight more nearly than any other artificial illuminant. By the use of suitably tinted globes it is possible to produce a light which gives the true colors of objects; but the naked acetylene flame, though better in this respect than lamp, coal gas, or electric light, still confuses some blues and greens. extreme whiteness makes the light somewhat trying to the eyes. Acetylene has been used successfully for bicycle lamps, dock lights, and launch searchlights, and for church and domestic illumination in country places. The burners ordinarily used in house-lighting, consuming .7 cub. ft. per hour, give from 16 to 20 candles. The cost of lighting by acetylene is about the same as lighting by coal gas at 75 cts. per 1,000 ft. The gas is sometimes added to coal gas and oil gas to increase their luminosity; and it is an expensive but powerful heating agent for gas motors and bunsen burners. See Gibb's Acetylene (1900).

of

Achæi, ACHEAEANS, a name applied by Homer to the whole of the Greek nation, and so used also by later poets. It probably represents the population Greece before the admixture of races caused by the Dorian invasion. In historical times the name is restricted to the inhabitants of the north coast of the Peloponnesus (Achaia), who were united in a league of twelve towns, which after 251 B.C. became the chief power of Greece. Its constitution was to some extent based on representation. Finally the league declared war against the Romans, and was crushed by them in 146

B.C.

Achæmenians, a dynasty of ancient Persia; it occupied the throne from about 730 B.C. to 333 B.C., and counted among its kings Cyrus the Great, Cambyses, and Darius the Great. In old Persian inscriptions Darius proudly traces his lineage back to Achæmenes, the founder of the line.

Achaia. (1.) With Elis, prov. (nomarchy) of Greece, extending from E. to w. along s. side of G. of Corinth; mountainous; coast low; chief currant-producing region of mainland. Area, 2,028 sq. m. Pop. (1896) 236,251. Chief tn. and port, Patras. (2.) In New Testament times the s. prov. of Greece, the N. being Macedonia. Gallio was Roman 'deputy' or proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12).

Achamoth, or ACAMOTH, the (Valentinian) Gnostic name for a lower or imperfect manifestation of Wisdom, mother of the Demiurge; the form in which spirit becomes subservient to matter,

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FIGS. 1 and 2, Generator.-A, hopper with carbide of calcium; B, valve; c, rod, allowing valve to open when gas is reduced in collector D; E, grid beneath water; G, lever to adjust point of opening and closing of valve; F, pipe for gas; H, pipe for adding water; J, cock to drain generator; K, water-seal; L, cock.

FIG. 3, Lighting Plant.-, generator; N, washer: P, gas holder; Q. purifier, with layers of bleaching-powder, or earth treated with chromic acid; R, dryer, with layers of chloride of calcium; s, pressure governor; T, main.

FIG. 4, Motor Lamp, 'Ducellier' Pattern (French).-Water in tank (a) drips in carbide of calcium (c): gas passes through horse-hair filters (d and h) by burner pipe (e) to burner (o). Extra pressure of gas acts through pipes e, f, andh on the water surface in trap g, forcing it below pipe h, and stopping supply.

FIG. 5, Motor Lamp. Salisbury' Pattern (English).-Prepared carbide of calcium in cage or diving-bell (k), with neck filled with gas filter of small pieces be This is now placed in water tank (D), and rubber tube tween layers of cotton wool. (m) coupled to cock (1), As the water rises in (k), gas passes through on) to rubber gas bag (p), which steadies supply to burner (r). Excess of gas forces the water below the level of the unused carbide.

the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela, So. America. Felipe Perez, Geografia del Estado de Cundinamarca.

Achard, FRANZ KARL (17531821), German chemist, was born in Berlin. He was the first to manufacture sugar from beetroot

lying N. of Athens), a comedy of Aristophanes, produced, B.C. 426, to support the aristocratic peace party against the democratic or war party in Athens.

or

Achates, or in full fidus Achates, the faithful friend of Æneas in Virgil's epic.

Aché

Aché. (1.) COUNT D' (c. 170075), a French vice-admiral who lost to the British the French_possessions on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India (1757). (2.) ROBERT FRANÇOIS, VICOMTE D'ÁCHÉ (1757-1809), son of the above, during the French revolution was a leader of the royalist Chouans of Brittany. He escaped to England, returned to France in 1809, and fell in the Chouan insurrection of that year. Achelous (modern name, AsPROPOTAMO), largest river of Greece, rises in Mt. Pindus, flows S., and, dividing Ætolia and Acarnania, falls into the Ionian Sea opposite the Echinades Is., after a course of about 130 m.

Achenbach, ANDREAS (1815), German painter of the Düsseldorf school, was born at Cassel. He was a leader of the realistic

movement in German landscape painting especially sea pieces. Typical works: Foundering of the S.S. President' (1842); Hardanger Fjord (1843); Pontine Marshes (1846); Fish Market in Ostend (1866); Flooding of Lower Rhine (1876). Several of his canvases

VON

are in the U. S. Achenbach, HEINRICH (1829-99), German statesman; professor of law in Bonn University. As under-secretary of state to the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, he defended Bismarck's May Laws in the Reichstag (1872); from 1873 to 1878 Minister for Commerce, Industry, and Public Works; and after his retirement president of W. Prussia, and afterwards of Brandenburg.

Achenbach, OSWALD (18271905), a German landscape painter, chiefly of Italian scenes; was born in Düsseldorf; brother of Andreas. From 1866 to 1872 he taught landscape painting at the Düsseldorf Academy. Several of his paintings are in this country.

Achene. A one-celled, oneseeded fruit, dry, indehiscent, and with a closely fitting pericarp about the seed. The name is usually applied to the fruits of Composite and allied families.

Achensee, or L. ACHEN, 20 m. N.E. of Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria. Alt. 3,050 ft., measures 5 m. by m., and is surrounded by mountains 5,000 to 6,000 ft. high.

Achenwall, GOTTFRIED (1719– 72), most important statistician of the 18th century; born at Elbing; lecturer in Marburg (1746); professor of philosophy at Göttingen (1748), and professor of law there later; first formulated the treatment of statistics as a distinct science in Abriss der neuesten Staatswissenschaft der vornehmsten europäischen Reiche und Republiken (1749).

Achernara Eridani, a white star of 0.5 photometric magnitude, showing a spectrum intermedi

44

ate between the Sirian and solar types. Its large southern declination of nearly 58° renders it permanently invisible in Europe. The small parallax of 0.043", determined for Achernar by Sir David Gill of the Cape of Good Hope Observatory, corresponds to a light-journey of seventy-six years, and implies that the star exceeds three hundred times the lustre of our sun.

Acheron, riv., Epirus, and another in Bruttium, S. Italy. The name is more famous as applied to one of the five rivers of the lower world.

Acherusia, name given to several lakes, swamps, and caverns which were supposed by the Greeks to communicate with the lower world-e.g. one near Cumæ, in Italy, now the Lake of Fusaro.

Acheval Position, a position taken up by an army on both banks of a river.

Achievement, or HATCHMENT, in heraldry the shield and accessories fully represented; in a restricted sense, a representation of those of a deceased person, exhibited at his obsequies, and framed in black.

Achillas, Greek general and minister of Ptolemy Dionysius, king of Egypt. With L. Septimius he murdered Pompey (48 B.C.), and was assassinated by Ganymede, instigated by Arsinoë, sister of Ptolemy (47 B.C.).

Achillea, MILFOIL or YARROW, hardy plants, two to four feet high, with yellow, white, or pink flowers, widely naturalized in Europe and Asia. There are many species, all easily cultivated, and spreading very freely-some, of alpine habit (A. tomentosa, rupestris, aizoon), suitable for rock gardens; others (A. ptarmica, eupatorium) for borders. It is highly astringent. A. ptarmica, has become naturalized in the United States. A. millefolium is a native species of the West, and has also been introduced from Europe in the Eastern States.

He

Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, the great hero of the Trojan war on the Greek side. His fate, as foretold by his mother, was either a short and glorious or a long and uneventful life. chose the former lot, and led his followers, the Myrmidons, to Troy. There he was the special terror of the Trojans, until Agamemnon, the chief leader of the Greeks, wronged him by seizing Briseis, a beautiful maiden, who was his prize. He refused to fight until the death of Patroclus, his bosom friend, at the hands of Hector, aroused him. Thetis brought him special armor from Hephæstus, the god of craftsmanship. He slew Hector and other Trojan champions, but fell himself before Troy was taken, wounded in his

Acid

heel-his only vulnerable point, so legend says-by Paris. The story of his quarrel with Agamemnon is the main subject of Homer's Iliad. Achilles is there depicted as the type of Greek early manhood. In the Odyssey he is one of the heroes of the under world visited by Odysseus, and is also one of the characters in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.

Achilles Tatius. See TATIUS. Achilles Tendon. See TENDON OF ACHILLES.

Achillini. (1.) ALESSANDRO (14631512?), philosopher and physician; born at Bologna; taught. at Padua and Bologna; one of the first to dissect the human subject. Achillini was a staunch disciple of Aristotle. The best among his philosophical works (Opera Omnia, 1545 and 1568) is De Intelligentiis. (2.) GIOVANNI FILOTEO (14661538), poet; brother of the above; born at Bologna; wrote Il Viridario (1513), Il Fedele (1523), and Annotazioni della Lingua Volgare (1536).

Achill Island, co. Mayo, Ireland, separated from mainland by Achill Sound, crossed by a bridge. It is rocky, with precipitous coasts; has fisheries, cromlechs, etc., and the stone fort of Dun Engus. Area, 36,283 ac. Pop. 4,647.

Achin. See ATJEн.

Achish, the king of Gath who sheltered David when he fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10 ƒ.). A second Achish was contemporary with Solomon (1 Kings 2:39).

Achmet. See AHMED.

Achray, a loch, Scotland (14 m. by m.), Perthshire, 7 m. w. by s. of Callander. Its beauties have been described by Scott, Coleridge, and Dorothy Wordsworth.

Achroite, a colorless variety of the mineral tourmaline found in Elba.

Achromatic Lens, a compound lens made of glasses of different refractive indices, such that it refracts light without splitting it into its spectroscopic elements. It thus obviates chromatic aberration. Invented in 1773 by Hall. There is usually a convex lens of crown glass combined with a concave lens of flint glass. See ABERRATION; DISPERSION; LENS. Achromatopsia. See COLOR

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Acid

tion of salts. Some acids contain one atom of replaceable hydrogen in the molecule, others two, others three and more: these are called monobasic, dibasic, tribasic acids respectively, and so on. Salts are also formed from acids by neutralizing with basic oxides, hydroxides, or carbonates. Organic acids, except a few, such as hydrocyanic acid, the sulphonic acids, etc., contain the group CO.OH, which is called carboxyl; monobasic organic acids have one such group in the molecule, dibasic organic acids two such groups, etc. Acids when dissolved in water are more or less dissociated into ions-the hydrogen ion, to which the specific properties of acids are due, and an lon peculiar to each acid. Thus hydrochloric acid is dissociated in aqueous solution into hydrogen ions, each with its positive charge of electricity, and chlorine ions, each with its negative charge of electricity; similarly, sulphuric acid is dissociated into hydrogen ions and HSO, ions, and on further dilution the latter gives hydrogen ions and SO, ions. Neutralization is the union of the hydrogen ions of the acid and hydroxyl ions of the base to form water; the other ions of the acid and base remaining unchanged. An acid is strong in proportion as it becomes dissociated. The amount dissociated can be determined from the electrical conductivity of the solution. The relative 'strengths' of acids can be determined in other ways: thus, by observing the amount of heat evolved when an acid acted on the salt of another acid, Thomsen compared their strengths or 'avidities.' For example, hydrochloric acid has the avidity 100, nitric acid 100, sulphuric acid 49, oxalic acid 24, acetic acid 3. Ostwald compared the volume changes which take place on neutralization, and obtained similar results. Other methods such as the rate at which the acids invert sugar solutions, and the rate at which they effect the catalysis of methyl acetateare also employed. The simplest method of all-that of the replacement of an acid radical of a salt by another acid radical-leads to satisfactory results only when the conditions of such a reaction are attended to. Under one set of circumstances an acid radical can turn another out of its salts, to be itself turned out by the first under different circumstances -examples of 'reversible reactions.'

As used in medicine, acids differ widely in their action. Externally applied, some of them, such as sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids, act as caustics, and are never given internally, except in a very diluted form. If swallowed pure-as they sometimes are in error-they act as corrosive

45

poisons. Internally, the above acids, much diluted, stimulate first the flow of saliva, and next that of the gastric juice, which itself contains hydrochloric acid. Nitric acid is also much used as a cholagogue. Insufficiently diluted, when not strong enough to act as corrosives, these acids are gastric irritants, and so interfere with digestion. When preparations containing vinegar are taken to reduce fat, as they often are, the effect is produced by the action of the acetic acid in dangerously affecting the stomach walls. Other acids, such as carbolic and sulphurous acids, are disinfectants. Carbonic and hydrocyanic acids are gastric sedatives, the latter being also the most rapid of poisons. Tannic acid is an astringent, coagulating albumin. Salicylic acid is a valuable antipyretic. See POISON.

Acidalius, VALENS (1567-95), philologist and Latin poet; native of Wittstock, Brandenburg; known for his commentaries on Quintus Curtius, Plautus, and other Latin authors, which gained him great reputation as a critic.

Acidaspis, a genus of trilobites of rather small size found in Silurian and Devonian strata. The genus is distinguished by an indistinctly lobated head-shield, a thorax of 9 or 10 segments and a small tail, each segment of the thorax terminating in long spines.

Acidimetry, the process of estimating the quantity of a free acid. Several methods of determination are in use. (1) When acids are mixed with water only, the strength may be determined by taking the specific gravity; (2) by measuring volumetrically the weight of alkali required to neutralize the acid; (3) by a gravimetric process adapted to the particular acid; (4) by loss of weight, after expelling the acidthis method is generally applied in the estimation of carbonic acid. Full details of these methods are given in Fresenius's Quantitative Analysis (transl. by Wells, 1897); Sutton's Volumetric Analysis (1896); Lunge and Hurter's Alkali Maker's Pocketbook (1902).

Acidity. The incomplete oxidation of organic substances in the body results in the production of various acids, such as lactic, oxalic, uric, and other acids. A healthy adult excretes by the lungs and skin about 28 oz. of carbonic acid daily, and the acids excreted by the kidneys are equivalent to about 30 grains of oxalic acid. The excess of acid in the body, or acidity, depends mainly on two causes excessive formation, the result of incomplete oxidation of the food and the tissues; and deficient elimination of the acid formed. These result from overfeeding, insufficient exercise, sed

Acknowledgment

The

entary habits, or disease. skin and mucous membranes are affected by acidity, which shows itself in the skin by attacks of eczema, urticaria, and erythema, and in the mucous membranes by catarrh. In acid dyspepsia there is a regurgitation from the stomach of acid liquid, consisting chiefly of lactic, butyric, and acetic acids. Abnormal acidity of the urine irritates the urinary passages, and causes a deposit of insoluble uric acid in them, leading to the formation of calculi. Similar deposits may occur in the middle coat of the blood-vessels and in the joints. The treatment of acidity includes active open-air exercise and careful regulation of the diet. Pastry and fermented liquors are particularly hurtful; starchy and saccharine foods should be used sparingly; meat, fish, and poultry may be eaten slowly and in moderation; and skim-milk and lime-water may be drunk. If any form of alcohol is taken, it should be remembered that pure spirits are more easily obtained than good wines, and, largely diluted with some mineral water, are probably among the least dangerous forms of alcohol. See DIGESTION and DYSPEPSIA.

Aci Reale, or ACIRFALE (Sicil. Jaci), tn. and episc. se Catania, Sicily, at the S.E. foot of vit. Etna, 9 m. N.E. of Catania; has warm sulphur baths, and is visited for sea-bathing. Linen, cotton, and filigree work are manufactured. Pop. (1901) 35.203.

Acis, a Sicilian youth, beloved by the nymph Galatea, was crushed under a huge rock by the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was his rival. His blood was changed by the nymph into the river Acis, at the foot of Mt. Etna. Handel composed an opera on the subject. Ackermann. (1.) KONRAD ERNST (1712-71), a German actor of the first rank, both in tragic and comic parts. He married Sophie Charlotte Schröder (1714-92), herself a very able actress. (2.) RuDOLPH (1764-1834), German printseller and lithographer in London; greatly developed artistic illustration; published Forget-me-not, an annual (1825 ff.), Microcosm of London (1808), Westminster Abbey (1812), World in Miniature, etc.

Acklin, or ACKLIN'S ISLAND (45 m. by 1 to 2 m.), one of the S. Bahamas (largest of Crooked I. group).

Acknowledgment. A formal admission of the execution of a deed or other instrument, made in the presence of an officer authorized to administer oaths, and noted by him on the instrument. The act is in the nature of an authentication of the instrument for purposes of evidence, though it is not in general necessary to its validity. The recording acts in

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