ARGOT AREA. 



245 



eastern promontory of the island Rugen, in the parish 

 Altenkirchen, upon the peninsula Wittow, consisting 

 of chalk, flint, and petrifactions. Here was formerly 

 situated the old Vandal castle, with the chief temple 

 of the god Swantewit, who was highly venerated by 

 all the Sclavonians in North Germany, and whose 

 worship king Woldemar I. of Denmark put an end to, 

 by capturing the castle, in 1168. The country is 

 delightful and fertile. The shores are precipitous and 

 abrupt, and very picturesque. In the vicinity of the 

 old Herthasburg, in the holy grove of Hertha, may 

 yet be seen the deep lake which served for ablutions 

 and secret sacrifices. Travellers frequently visit the 

 island, which, on account of its seclusion, abounds 

 with old and marvellous tales. (See Rugen.) Lately, 

 a light house has been erected on the promontory of 

 A. by the Prussian government 



ARCOT ; a large district of Hindostan. It was for- 

 merly independent, but since 1802, it has been under 

 the British dominion. The exports consist chiefly of 

 arrack, pepper, palmirahs, received from Ceylon, 

 Truvancore, and Prince of Wales's island. 



ARCOT (anciently Arcati, Regiae Sorce, and Soroman- 

 dala) ; a city of Hindostan, formerly capital of the 

 Carnatic, on the Peliar, or Palar, 57 miles W. S. W. 

 of Madras ; Ion. 79" 29' E. ; lat. 12 52' N. The fort 

 is a mile in circumference. The city is extensive, and 

 manufactures coarse cotton cloth. Hyder Ali gained 

 possession of it Sept. 30, 1780, after having defeated 

 the English, who had possessed it since 1760. 



ARCTIC ; an epithet given to the north pole, or the 

 pole raised above our horizon. It is called the arctic 

 pole, on account of the constellation of the Little Bear, 

 in Greek called a^xros, the last star in the tail whereof 

 points out the north pole. Arctic circle is a lesser 

 circle of the sphere, parallel to the equator, and 23 

 28' distant from the north pole, from whence its name. 

 This and its opposite, the antarctic (q. v.). are called 

 {he two polar circles, and may be conceived to be de- 

 scribed oy the motion of the poles of the ecliptic round 

 the poles of the equator, or of the world. 



ARCTURUS ; a fixed star of the first magnitude, in 

 the constellation of Arctophylax or Bootes. 



ARCTCS (Greek K^XTOS) ; a name given by the Greeks 

 to two constellations, called, by the Latins, Ursa (ma- 

 jor and minor), and by us, the Bear (great and little). 



ARCTATION ; the method of raising, by layers, such 

 trees as cannot be raised from seed. The process con- 

 sists in bending to the ground the branches which 

 spring from the offsets or stools, after they are planted. 

 Arcuation is based on this principle in vegetable life, 

 tliat the plant depends chiefly upon external influen- 

 ces, and that a part, which now has become a branch 

 by the influence of air, may be easily turned into a 

 root by the influence of the earth. In fact, alleys of 

 trees liave been made, which, after growing to a con- 

 siderable size, have had the branches turned into the 

 ground, and the roots towards the sky. The former, 

 Hfter a while, became roots, and the latter put forth 

 foliage. In the animal kingdom, such great changes 

 do not appear to take place ; yet some parts may be 

 turned into others. 



ARDKCHE, department de 1' ; a department in the 

 south of France, on the right bank of the Rhone. It 

 contains 1836 square miles, and had, in 1828, a popu- 

 lation of 328,419. 



ARDENNES ; a chain of mountains covered with 

 woods, between the Meuse and the Moselle, in the 

 grand-duchy of Luxemburg. In the time of the Ro- 

 mans, the wood .of A. comprehended a large part of 

 Gallia Belgica, and, according to Cresar, extended 

 from the Rhine, through the country of Treves, to the 

 territory of the Remii. More than twenty rivers and 

 brooks take their rise in it. The mines are no longer 

 worked for iron, copper, and the precious incuils. 



Sheep are raised here in considerable numbers, and 

 the country affords much game. The name A. is de- 

 rived from the Celtic ar, in, and duanna, well of God. 

 In a wider sense, the mountains extending from the 

 former French Hainault to the Moselle are called A.; 

 whence, also, a department in the north-eastern part 

 of France, containing about 2100 square miles and 

 281,624 inhabitants, the chief city of which is 

 Mezieres, has the same name. 



ARDEY ; the chain of mountains extending along 

 the Ruhr, in the county of Mark, from Frodenberg to 

 Volmarstein. It consists of rough sandstone, abovB 

 which are masses of coal. This mineral is very im- 

 portant in this populous manufacturing region. The 

 ruins of a castle, where the counts of Ardey dwelt in 

 the 7th century, are still to be seen in this mountain. 



ARDROSSAN, a parish and village in Ayrshire, Scot- 

 land, situated on the firth of Clyde. Ardrossan is 

 chiefly remarkable for the extensive harbour erected 

 there under the auspices of the earl of Eglinton. The 

 object of this harbour was to open a direct communi- 

 cation between Paisley, Glasgow, and the west coast, 

 instead of the present circuitous passage by the firth 

 of Clyde. A canal was therefore to be cut from Glas- 

 gow to Ardrossan, a distance of fully thirty-one miles, 

 at the estimated expense of 125,000. Of tins, a 

 third has been executed, viz. from Glasgow to John- 

 stone, and this part, it is said, cost nearly the whole 

 of the above sum. No further extension of the canal 

 has been made for many years, but in 1830 a railway 

 was opened between Johnstone and Ardrossan, 

 chiefly for the conveyance of coal for shipment. The 

 harbour of Ardrossan is one of the safest, most ca- 

 pacious, and most accessible on the west coast of 

 Britain. It consists of a pier of 900 feet in length, 

 constructed at an enormous expense. The village 

 attached to it is of modern erection, and has become 

 a favourite resort hi the sea-bathing season. Popu- 

 lation of the parish, 3494. 



ARE ; a superficial square measure in France, sub- 

 stituted for the former square rod. It consists of 

 1076-44 English square feet. The 10th part of an 

 are is called a deciare, and the 100th a centiare, 

 Decare is u surface of ten ares. 



AREA (from the Latin, in which it signified, first, a 

 threshing-floor ; later, a vacant place bounded on all 

 sides, or oefore a public building) ; in geometry, the 

 superficial contents of any figure ; in geography, the 

 contents of any surface. Balbi estimates the surface 

 of the earth at 198,020,000 British miles, of which 

 almost three -fourths, or 147, 7 90,000 miles, are cover- 

 ed by the ocean, and its branches which form the in- 

 land seas ; the remaining 50,230,000 miles form the 

 five parts of the world, with the numerous islands re- 

 garded as their geographical dependencies. The 

 same excellent authority estimates Europe to contain 

 an area of 3,724,000 square miles; Asia 16,156,000 

 square miles; Africa 11,354,000 square miles; 

 America 14,860,000 square miles; and the Maritime 

 World or Oceana, 4,130,000 square miles. There 

 are, of course, considerable differences in the esti- 

 mates of different geographers. The following tables 

 of the areas of the zones, seas, and countries are taken 

 from Mr Darby's View of the United States (Phila- 

 delphia, 1828), and will be found to differ materially 

 from Balbi. According to Mr Darby 



The torrid zone contains land in 



q miles. 



Asia, 3,060,000 



Australasia, 1,000,000 



Polynesia, or Oceanica, 100,000 



Africa, 5,000,000 



South and North America, 4,500,000 



Total 13,600,000 



