ARACHNE AUAM) A. 



ARAI-IINE, in mythology, daughter of lilnion, a dyer 

 of purple, ut Colophon, in Ionia, hail learned t'roiu 

 Palms the art of wea\ ing, and vcnturfd to challenge 

 her teacher toa trial of skill. In vain did the goddess, 

 in tin- form of an old woman, forewarn her of the con- 

 M'[uriires of her folly. The contest began, and A. 

 prepared, witli much skill, a web which represented 

 the amours of Jupiter, This irritated Pallas, who 

 tore the web in pieces, and struck A. on the head 

 with the shuttle. A. lumped herself in despair. The 

 goddess restored her to life, but changed her into a 

 spider. 



AKACHNOLOGY, or ARAXEOLOGY ; the art of deciding 

 on the changes of the weather from the motions and 

 and works of spiders. Intimations of it appear even 

 in Pliny (II. N., book xi., sect. 28). It is also treati il of 

 in the Eicigica/trenden Practica (Things of everlast- 

 ing Value), which appeared at Gorlitz in 1588. In 

 h.'ter times, Quatremere Disjonval, once member of 

 the academy of sciences at Paris, during an eight 

 months' imprisonment, in which some spiders were 

 his only companions, made various observations on 

 the subject, and, in 1797, at Paris, made known hisdis- 

 covery of the close connexion existing between the 

 appearance or disappearance, the labour or rest, the 

 greater or less circumference of the webs and fibres, 

 of spiders of different sorts, and the atmospherical 

 changes from fair weather to rain, from dry to wet, 

 and particularly from hot to cold, and from frost to a 

 milder temperature. 



ARACK, or RACK ; a strong spirituous liquor, dis- 

 tilled from rice, sugar-cane, or the juice of the cocoa- 

 nut. The last, which is the best, comes from Batavia ; 

 the others from Goa. At Goa, there are three kinds 

 single, double, and treble distilled. The double 

 is most sought, although weaker than the Batavian. 



AKAFAT, or GIBEL EL ORPHAT (the mountain of 

 knowledge or of gratitude), in Arabia, near Mecca. 

 The Mohammedans say that it was the place where 

 Adam first received his wife, Eve, after they had been 

 expelled from Paradise, and separated from each 

 other 120 years. On the summit is a chapel ascribed 

 to Adam, rifled, in 1007, by the W'ahabees. The 

 mountain not being large enough to contain all the 

 devotees that come annually on pilgrimage to Mecca, 

 stones are set up round it, to show Low far the sacred 

 limits extend. The latest description of a celebration 

 is by the indefatigable travellerBurckhardt(q.v.),who 

 visited the place in July, 1814. He estimates the 

 number present at 70,000. The camp covered a 

 space of between three and four miles long, and from 

 . one to two broad, containing 300 tents and 25,000 

 camels. In this Babel, he reckoned about forty lan- 

 guages, and had no doubt there were many more. 

 The sermon delivered on the mount constitutes the 

 main ceremony of the Hadj, and entitles the hearer 

 to the name and privileges of a Hadjy. The hill is 

 about 200 feet high, with stone steps reaching to the 

 summit. After concluding the ceremonies at A., the 

 pilgrims set out for Mecca, passing through the valley 

 of Mima, on their return, in which they spend some 

 time in stoning the devil. This ceremony consists in 

 throwing stones against small pillars set up at each 

 end of the valley. Each completes 63 jaculations. 

 6 or 8000 sheep and goats are then sacrificed. The 

 third day brings them back to Mecca, where some 

 further ceremonies finish the festival. 



ARAGON, Tullia d', a poetess of the 16th century, 

 descended from an illegitimate branch of the royal 

 family of Spain. Her father, Pietro Tagliava, car- 

 dinal d'Aragon, whose natural daughter she was, 

 placed her first at Ferrara, and afterwards at Rome, 

 where her fine talents received the highest degree of 

 cultivation. Her works which remain are, " Rime," 

 in one 8vo vol. printed in 1547 ; Diatogo del? infinito 



d'dmore, which appeii nil in the same year; and Jl 

 Mrtt.-liino o il liiu-rinn, -Ho, in 15o'0. Her beauty and 

 accomplishments were the theme of several poets. She 

 died, near Florence, at the end of the 16th century. 



ARAGON, kingdom of. See Arragon. 



ARAL ; next to the Caspian sea, the largest inland 

 collection of water in Asia. It was unknown to the 

 ancients. It lies amid the plains of the Turcomans 

 and Kirghises. Its length is estimated at 250 mile.-, 

 and its greatest breadth at I'M. Its water is salt, like 

 all standing collections without an outlet. It reeei\ es 

 the Oxus and the Jaxartes, and contains a multitude 

 of sturgeons and seals. It is encircled by desert, sandy 

 heaths, and its sandy shores are without liarhours. 

 Evaporation, as there is no outlet, seems to draw off 

 its water. It lies very low, and is surrounded by 

 many small lakes and morasses, but no hills. It was 

 once, probably, united with the Caspian ea, il 

 tern coast of which is separated from the wcsuru 

 coast of the A. only by eighty miles of low, saiuly, 

 and marshy lands. Both ends of these seas, whin 

 they approach each other, are very shallow. The 

 A. is full of islands, which, like its banks, are with- 

 out inhabitants. 



ARAM, Eugene, a man of considerable learning, 

 and remarkable for his unhappy fate, was born in 

 Yorkshire, 1704. His education consisted in learn- 

 ing to read; but, being of a studious disposition, he 

 made great progress in mathematical studies anil 

 polite literature, uy his own unaided exertions. He 

 acquired the Latin and Greek languages, reading all 

 of the Roman and most of the Greek classics, and 

 also became acquainted with the oriental and Celtic 

 tongues. In 1734, he set up a school at Knares- 

 borough, where he married. About 1745, a shoe- 

 maker of that place, named Daniel Clarke, was sud- 

 denly missing under suspicious circumstances ; and no 

 light was thrown on the matter till full thirteen years 

 afterwards, when an expression dropped by one 

 Richard Houseman respecting a skeleton then dis- 

 covered in a cave, caused him to be taken into cus- 

 tody as one concerned in the murder of Clarke. From 

 his confession, an order was issued for the apprehen- 

 sion of Aram, who had long since quitted Yorkshire, 

 having been usher, first in a school in London, and 

 afterwards at another at Hayes, in Middlesex, and in 

 1757 at the grammar-school at Lynn, in all which 

 places he had acquitted himself with credit, and pro- 

 secuted his studies with great diligence. He was 

 arrested in the latter end of 1758, and brought to 

 trial on the 3d of August} 1759, at York, where, not- 

 withstanding an able and eloquent defence which he 

 read to the court, he was satisfactorily convicted of 

 the murder of Clarke, and sentenced to be executed. 

 After his conviction, he confessed the justice of his 

 sentence, and alleged his suspicion of an unlawful 

 intercourse between Clarke and his wife, as his motive 

 for the commission of the murder. He attempted to 

 end his life, while in prison, by bleeding, but was 

 revived and executed. His case produced at the 

 time a great sensation, and has of late been pressed 

 into the service of fiction. 



ARAXDA (don Pedro Pablo, Abarca de Bplea) count 

 of; born 1719, of a distinguished family in Arrag. n. 

 He devoted himself to military pursuits ; but, as he 

 discovered a remarkably penetrating spirit, Charles 

 III. appointed him his minister at the court of Au- 

 gustus III. king of Poland, an office which he held 

 seven years. After his return, he became governor- 

 general of Valencia. In 1765, the king recalled 

 him, in consequence of an insurrection tliat broke out 

 in Madrid, and appointed him president of the coun- 

 cil of Castile. A. not only restored order, but also 

 effected the expulsion of the Jesuits from the king- 

 dom. The influence of Rome and the priests, how- 



