APPROACHES APRON. 



{.oration.* belong to those ninny Institutions recorded 

 in history, which were once necessary, and had useful 

 -, hut wliich a change of circumstances, and re- 

 volution* in thr s<x:ial coiuliiion, as well as many 

 aou-es to which they became snliject, have rendered, 

 in most cases, inexpedient. They luive generally 

 IK-CII abolished. One of these abuses, in reliilion to 

 trades, was the long period of service required in the 

 apprenticeships, as it was evidently for the interest of 

 the masters, who were already admitted to the prac- 

 tice of a trade, or made free of a corporation, to make 

 ihe time of service as long, or the consideration for 

 admission into the company as high, as they could. 

 In some countries, another abuse crept in, viz., a very 

 great latitude of discretion and authority allowed to 

 masters in the treatment of their apprentices, many of 

 '.vlioui were accordingly treated with great harshness 

 and severity. The usual time of service was SIMP 

 years, and the custom of apprenticeships was extend- 

 ed to almost every trade and profession. The time 

 of technical apprenticeship, among barristers in Eng- 

 land, was 16 years, for which period the candidates 

 were apprcnticii ad Ifgem ; after which they might 

 take the degree of Serjeants, servientes ad legem. 

 Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, b. i, c. 10, 

 maintains that apprenticeships are entirely unneces- 

 sary. He says, " Arts which are much superior to 

 common trades, such as those of making clocks and 

 watches, contain no such mystery as to require a long 

 course of instruction. The first invention of those 

 beautiful and useful machines, indeed, must, no doubt, 

 have been the work of deep thought and long time ; 

 but, when both have been fairly invented, and are 

 well understood, to explain to any young man, in the 

 completest manner, how to construct the machines, 

 cannot well require more than the lessons of a few 

 weeks ; perliaps those of a few days might be suffi- 

 cient. In the common mechanical trades, those of a 

 few days might certainly be sufficient. Dexterity of 

 hand, indeed, even in common trades, cannot be ac- 

 quired without much practice, and experience." He 

 thinks, however, that it would be much better for the 

 learner to acquire this dexterity in the character of 

 a journeyman, than in that of an apprentice. But 

 this view of the subject does not seem to be very 

 practical. The change of the name of the novitiate, 

 from tliat of apprentice to that journeyman, would ef- 

 fect no material alteration in the relation between the 

 employer and the employed, except in respect to the 

 authority of the former over the latter. Adam Smith, 

 probably, would not recommend that a boy, going to 

 learn a trade, should, from that time, be free; and, 

 if not, it is much better that his master should stand 

 to him, in some respects, in the relation of a parent. 

 This is wliat is intended in the ordinary articles of ap- 

 prenticeship ; and the advantage to the parties, mu- 

 tually arising from this relation, is so great, and its 

 beneficial influence in the community is so apparent, 

 that there seems to be hardly any ground for question- 

 ing the expediency of continuing it. For information 

 respecting the correctional and disclipinary auihority 

 formerly exercised by these corporations, in relation 

 to apprentices, see Corporation. 



APPROACHES. See Trenches. 



APPROXIMATION ; a term used in mathematics to 

 signify a continual approach to a quantity required, 

 when no process is known for arriving at it exactly. 

 Although, by such an approximation, the exact value 

 of a quantity cannot be discovered, yet, in practice, 

 it may be found sufficiently correct ; thus thediagon- 

 nl of a square, whose sides are represented by unity, 

 is v% the exact value of which quantity aimot be 

 obtained ; but its approximate value may be substi- 

 tuted in the nicest calculations. This proces.- is the 

 basis of many calculations in pure and applied mathe- 



matics, and is of frequent use and great important ' 

 in all practical oper.it ion*. 



Ai'HUoT (pri/titis slrHir/iiacti) i*ii fruit of the plum 

 tribe, which grows wild in several parts of Armenia, 

 and wa* introduced into Kn^land alioiit the middle of 

 the 16th century. Some consider the apricot the 

 most delicate of all our hardy fruii*. For pastry, cer- 

 tainly none is more excellent. It i* used for tarts, 

 both green and ripe ; it is also preserved with sugar in 

 both these states, and is sometimes dried as a sweet- 

 meat. Care should be taken to gather it before it 

 becomes soft and mealy. The kernels of apricots 

 have a pleasantly bitter flavour, and answer much bet- 

 ter, for several purposes in confectionary, than hilti r 

 almonds, which are commonly used. They like\\ i-< 

 contain a sweet oil, which, like t hat. of almonds, wa.i 

 formerly used in emulsions. The gum that > 

 from the apricot-tree is similar to that of the cherry. 

 The wood is coarsely-grained and soft, and is conse- 

 quently seldom used in carpentry. Apricot-trees an' 

 chiefly raised against walls, and are propagated by 

 grafting upon plum-tree stocks. 



APRIL'; the name of a month ; either from aperire 

 to open, because, at this time, the earth seems to In 

 opening and preparing to enrich us with its gifts ; or 

 according to Varro, from Aphrodite, because April is 

 consecrated especially to this goddess. The first de- 

 rivation appears the best, for April is truly the spring 

 and opening of the year, in which the earth is nour- 

 ished by alternate rains and sunshine. Something 

 similar to April foolf day, about the origin of which 

 there are different opinions, is said, by Mr Hammer, 

 to exist in the East Indies, at the time of the Huli 

 feast. This strange custom of April fools' day pre- 

 vails throughout Europe. One of the explanations 

 of the custom is as follows : In the middle ages, 

 scenes from biblical history were often represented 

 by way of diversion, without any feeling of impropri- 

 ety. The scene in the life of Jesus, where he is sent 

 from Pilate to Herod, and back again from Herod to 

 Pilate, was represented in April, and may have given 

 occasion to the custom of sending on fruitless errands 

 and other tricks practised at this season. The phrase 

 of sending a man from Pilate to Herod' is common 

 in Germany, to signify sending about unnecessarily. 

 The reason of choosing the first of April for the ex- 

 hibition of this scene was, that the feast of Easter 

 frequently falls in this month, and the events con- 

 nected with this period of the life of Jesus would natu- 

 rally afford subjects for the spectacles of the season. 

 The tricks of the first of April may, however, be the 

 remains of some Roman custom, derived from the 

 East, and spread over Europe, like so many other 

 customs, by these conquerors. In France, the un- 

 lucky party who may be fooled is called un poisson 

 or poison (mischief) d'Avril. In Scotland, he is called 

 a gowk, which signifies, in the Scottish dialect, a cuc- 

 koo. One of the best tricks of this description is that 

 of Rabelais, who, being at Marseilles without money, 

 and desirous of going to Paris, filled some phials with 

 brick-dust or ashes labelled them as containing poi*on 

 for the royal family of France, and put them where 

 he knew they would be discovered. The bait took , 

 and he was conveyed as a traitor to the capital where 

 the discovery of the jest occasioned universal mirth. 



A PRIORI ; the opposite of a posteriori. To judge 

 or prove any thing a priori, means to do it on ground- 

 er reasons preceding actual knowledge, or indepen 

 dent of it. Mathematical proofs, e. g., are a priori. 

 On the contrary, judgments or proofs a posteriori un- 

 founded on knowledge before acquired, like the con- 

 clusions of natural history, and all experimental science. 



APRON, in ship-building ; a piece of curved timber 

 fixed behind the lower part of the stem, immediately 

 above the foremost end of Uie keel. 



