Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/863

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ZOILUS in 1817 published at Gdttingen a number of posthumous treatises of Zoega, and in 1819 his life and letters. ZOILUS, an ancient critic, a native of Am- phipolis or Ephesus, who flourished about the middle of the 4th century B. 0. He assailed the poems of Homer on account of the intro- duction of fabulous and incredible stories, and from this fact received the name of Homero- mastix. Plato and Isocrates came also under his lash, and his writings were so marked by illiberality and asperity, that in ancient times his name had become proverbial for a cap- tious and malignant pretender to criticism. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, however, ranks him among the best critics. Nothing has been preserved of his works except eight titles. ZOLLVERELY (Ger. Zoll, duty, customs, and Verein, union), an association of German states for the purpose of levying uniform customs upon merchandise imported from abroad, and establishing internal free trade. It was con- templated in art. 19 of the compact of the Ger- manic confederation, and was actually com- menced by Prussia, which in May, 1818, pro- posed to suppress all interior custom houses, and to protect domestic industry and assure revenue to the treasury by levying duties equiv- alent to 10 per cent, ad valorem on all for- eign manufactures, of which nothing was to be prohibited, and on this basis to establish reciprocal free trade with other states. It was inaugurated in 1819, and was gradually joined by a majority of the states. In 1865 Austria, the two Mecklenburgs, and the Hanse towns were the only states that had not joined it. Separate treaties equalized the taxation of various members of the union. The maxi- mum of duties on imports, according to the Prussian tariff of 1818, remained at 10 per cent, ad valorem ; but the special imposts va- ried from time to time, and in 1851 the raw materials of manufactures were made free, or comparatively so. Each state guarded the frontiers which divided it from foreign coun- tries, and provided for the collection of duties within its borders. The receipts from this source were paid into a common treasury, out of which the expenses of guarding and collect- ing were defrayed. Export and transit duties were also levied. The net revenue was dis- tributed in proportion to population, for which purpose a general census was taken every three years. Each state received a greater revenue from customs than it did before joining the Zollverein. The plenipotentiaries of the re- spective states met in June every year to settle accounts and consider proposed changes in the tariff. The immense progress of trade and in- dustry under this union is described in the ar- ticle GERMANY, vol. vii., p. 748. The Zollve- rein treaty of May 16, 1865, was intended to last from Jan. 1, 1866, till 1877, but was abro- gated by the war with Austria. A new treaty with the North German confederation was concluded, July 8, 1867, by Bavaria, Wurtem- ZONAKAS 833 berg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt. It went into operation on Jan. 1, 1868, and included a total population of about 39,000,000. Im- port duties were reduced, most articles being admitted free. Foreign trade was promoted by treaties with the principal commercial na- tions, and a treaty with Austria was concluded early in 1868. The union was administered by a council and a parliament. The council consisted of delegates of its various members under the control of Prussia. In the parlia- ment Prussia had 17 votes, Bavaria 6, Saxony 4, Wiirtemberg 4, Baden 3, Hesse 3, Mecklen- burg-Schwerin 2, Brunswick 2, and the other states 1 each ; total, 58. The parliament was convened by Prussia at the demand of one third of the members of the council, and first met in Berlin in the spring of 1868. The Zoll- verein constituted a powerful bond between northern and southern Germany, paving the way for political consolidation, and was merged in the empire. The latter now forms one cus- toms and commercial union, excepting a few peculiarly situated localities, and the free ports of Hamburg and Bremen, but including, be- sides the states of the empire, the grand duchy of Luxemburg and the Austrian commune of Jungholtz on the S. frontier of Bavaria. See Der deutscJie Zollverein, by W. Ditmar (2 vols., Leipsic, 1867), and L^Allemagne economique, ou Histoire du Zollverein allemand, by Emile Worms (Paris, 1874). zfiLYOM (Ger. Sohl), a county of K W. Hun- gary, in the Cis-Danubian circle, bordering on Lipto, Gomor, Hont, Bars, and Tur6cz; area, about 1,100 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 101,958, chiefly Slovaks. It is traversed by branches of the Carpathian mountains, and by the river Gran, which receives the Szalatna and numer- ous small rivers. The climate is cold, yet grain and some wine, flax, and hemp are produced, and cattle and sheep abound. Silver, gold, cop- per, iron, sulphur, vitriol, and coal are found, and there are many mineral springs. Cloth, linen, leather, and brandy are made, and cheese is largely exported. The capital is Neusohl (Hun. Besztercze-Bdnyd). Z09IBOR, a city of Hungary, capital of the county of Bacs, on a wide plain near the Fran- cis canal, which connects the Danube with the Theiss, 120 m. S. of Pesth; pop. in 1870, 24,- 309, mostly Serbs. It has a United Greek bishop, several churches, a public library, an orthodox Greek normal school, fine county and town halls, and a large trade in grain and cattle. ZONARAS, Joannes, a Byzantine historian of the 12th century, born in Constantinople. Un- der Alexis Comnenus he was commander of the imperial body guard and first private sec- retary to the emperor. During the reign of John Comnenus he entered a monastery on Mount Athos, and there spent the remainder of his life in retirement and study. His prin- cipal works are his Chronicon or Annales from the creation of the world to A. D. 1118 (last ed. by Dindorf, Leipsic, 1868), and " An Exposition