THE NEW
STUDENT'S REFERENCE WORK
A
A—ABBOTT
A, the first letter in the English alphabet and in many others. In English the letter has several different sounds, as in ah, at, all, ask, ale, fan, private, penal. In the French and other languages of Continental Europe it has but one sound; the broad a as in ah. This is the simplest vowel sound, given with the open mouth and throat.
Aachen (ä′ċhen). See Aix-la-Chapelle.
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| AARDVARK |
Aardvark (ärd′värk: earth pig), an animal of South Africa, called also ant-bear. It is a strongly built animal, about five feet long to tip of tail; has a long snout and strong claws with which it roots and tears apart the ant hills, and with its tongue licks up the ants and other insects which are its chief food. It lives in a shallow burrow and is nocturnal in its habits.
Aaron, the first high priest of the Israelites. He was the elder brother of Moses, his spokesman at the court of Pharaoh and his assistant in leading the Jewish nation out from Egypt. During the absence of Moses on Mount Sinai he yielded to the cry of the people and made a golden calf for them to worship. Mount Hor, whereon he died, at the age of 123 years, is still called the "Mount of Aaron."
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| ABACUS |
Abacus (ăb′ă-cŭs), is the classic name for what is now often called in schools the bead frame, a device for counting by means of beads or discs which have been strung upon parallel wires. Such a machine was in use among the Greeks and Romans. The Chinese and the Persians employ it to this day. In architecture, an abacus is the flat tablet above the capital of a column.
Abalone (ăb′a-lō′nē), a shelled sea fish of the Haliotidae species, popularly known as ear-shells or sea-ears, found on the rocks of the California coast feeding on seaweed. The shell is a flattened spiral, with a lining of bright mother-of-pearl, used considerably in the arts; while the animal itself is used as food by Orientals on the coast, and, gathered and dried, is exported in quantities both to Japan and to China.
Abbey, Edwin Austin, an American artist, was born April 3, 1852, at Philadelphia. In 1883 he removed to England. He was an illustrator of a high order and a painter of watercolors that reveal ability as a colorist. His chief characteristic was love for English country life and scenery and for old poets and dramatists. His most famous painting is The Quest for the Holy Grail, in the Boston Library, and his illustrations of Shakspere and Goldsmith are notable. King Edward VII commissioned him to paint the coronation at Westminster. Died Aug. 1, 1911.
Ab′bott, Hon. John J. J. C., born in 1821 at St. Andrews (Quebec), educated at McGill University. Called to the Bar in 1847. For ten years Dean of the Faculty of Law at McGill. At one time a Director of the Bank of Montreal. Counsel for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Elected to the House of Commons 1867. Selected by the Government in 1888 for a mission to Australia to further trade relations and cable communication. Called to the Senate in 1887. Leader for the Government in the Senate from 1887 to 1891. Became Premier of Canada in 1891. Author of the Insolvency Act which he carried through Parliament. Was Mayor of Montreal in 1887 and again in 1888. An authority in Parliament on matters of banking and commerce. He died in 1893.
Ab′bott, Lyman, American preacher, editor and author, was born in 1835, the son
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