243 



AHEZZO AHGENTEUS CODEX. 



nation. lit- deserved this honour !, however, for 

 tl:e purity than for the boldness, skill, and originality 

 of his style. 



AKEZZO (anciently Aretium); a city in Tuscany, 

 seated on the declivity of n mountain, in the middle 

 of a fruitful plain, seventeen miles from Citta di Cas- 

 tcllo, and lying between it and Florence. It had 

 in me almost entirely to decay before Cosmo de' 

 Medici took it under his protection. A. is the birth- 

 pluce of Maecenas, Petrarch, and Pietro Arctino. It 

 contains now about 8000 inhabitants. 



ARGAL, or AKGOL, or TARTAR, a hard crust formed 

 on the sides of vessels in which wine lias been kept, 

 ret! or white, according to the colour of the wine. On 

 Ik-ing purified, it is termed cream, or crystals of tar- 

 tar. It consists of a peculiar acid, combined with 

 potash. White argal is preferable to red, as contain- 

 ing less drossy or earthy matter. The marks of good 

 nrgal of either kind are, its being thick, brittle, hard, 

 brilliant, and little earthy. That brought from Ger- 

 many is the best, on account of its being taken out 

 of those great tuns wherein the salt has time to crys- 

 tallize. Argal is of considerable use among dyers, as 

 serving to dispose the stufls to take their colours the 

 letter. When pure, or cream of tartar, it is exten- 

 sively used in medicine. 



ARGALI (wit ammon) ; mountain, or wild sheep. 

 This animal is regarded with propriety as the savage 

 slock whence the endless varieties of domestic sheep 

 are descended ; though it is difficult, from an inspec- 

 tion of the A., to conceive, how so wild and energetic 

 an animal could, by any management, be converted 

 into the imbecile and helpless creatures of which our 

 flocks are composed. In size, the A. equals the 

 common deer, and in port and bearing resembles the 

 wild goat, though his huge, laterally-twisted horns 

 give his head a very marked similarity to that of the 

 common ram. These horns are very large, arise 

 near the eyes, curve first backwards and then for- 

 wards, and have the points directed forwards and 

 outwards; from their base, they are transversely 

 waved or wrinkled for half their length, the remain- 

 der being nearly smooth. The horns of the female 

 are more like those of the common goat, rising 

 directly upwards, and curving gently backwards, 

 especially towards the extremity. In summer, the 

 A. is covered with harsh and rather short hair, gene- 

 rally of a greyish-yellow, having a blackish or red- 

 dish stripe along the back, and a large spot of the 

 same colour on the rump. The inferior parts of the 

 body, and inside of the thighs, are of a pale reddish- 

 white ; in winter, the colour is a deeper red, with a 

 greater whiteness about the muzzle, throat, and belly. 

 The mountain sheep is found in considerable num- 

 l>ers on the elevated ranges of northern Asia, in the 

 deserts or steppes of Siberia, the mountains of Cali- 

 fornia, and the Rocky mountain range of America. 

 They live in herds or families, consisting of a male 

 with the females and young, and seek their food on 

 the lofty elevations, covered only with lichens or 

 small shrubs. They are shy and fearful, and, when 

 disturbed, retreat with a swiftness and agility which 

 renders pursuit hopeless, as they bound from rock to 

 rock with security, and are soon lost to sight. It is 

 by stealing upon them against the wind, or lying in 

 ambush near where they must pass, that the hunter 

 is enabled to make them his prey. In the spring of 

 the year, when under the influence of sexual excite- 

 ment, the males acquire a warlike disposition, which 

 induces severe and obstinate combats for the posses- 

 sion of the females. The A. was first satisfactorily 

 made known as an inhabitant of America by the 

 expedition of Lewis and Clarke, who brought the 

 skins of a male and female from the Rocky moun- 

 tains, which are still preserved in the Philadelphia 



museum. The A. had l>een previously indicated as 

 an inhabitant of California by Veregas. The species 

 is called bighorn by the Indians and traders. The 

 Indians make Various domestic utensils of these large 

 horns, and apply their skins to the same purpose as 

 those of the deer. The domestication of the sheep is 

 coeval with the infancy of the human family ; and it 

 is not, therefore, surprising, that the domesticated 

 breeds should differ so materially from the parent 

 stock, when we know what can be accomplished by 

 cross-breeding, even during the life of a simile man. 

 When domesticated M>|'I ti< eo <l sheep arc taken to 

 warm climates, this fleece is speedily shed, as \v 

 have repeatedly witnessed, and a coarse, reddish hair 

 takes its place. In this condition, the resemblance 

 of the animal to the A. becomes very striking. 



ARGAND LAMP. See Lamp. 



ARC ENS (Jean Baptiste), marquis d'; born, 1701, 

 at Aix. He was designed for the law, but, following 

 his inclination, entered into the military sen-ice at the 

 age of fifteen. His passion for Sylvia, an actress 

 induced him to leave the sen-ice, and France also, to 

 be with her in Spain. But he was arrested, brought 

 back to Provence, and sent to Constantinople with 

 the French ambassador. Hjs residence in Turkey 

 was marked with adventures. After his return, he 

 entered the army again. In 1734, at the siege of 

 Kehl, he was wounded, and afterwards, .before Phi- 

 lipsburg, rendered incapable of further service by a 

 fall from his horse. Disinherited by his father, he 

 became an author, and went to Holland, that he 

 might write with more freedom. Here he published 

 his Lettres Juives, Lettres Chinoises, and Lettres Ca- 

 balistitfues. Frederic II., then crown-prince, wished 

 to become acquainted with the author, and receive a 

 visit from him. He replied, that he should be ii. 

 danger from Frederic William T., with his six feel 

 six (this king being in the habit of compelling tall 

 men to join his regiment of grenadiers.) After tin- 

 death of the king, Frederic again invited him. D'A. 

 appeared in Potsoam, received the place of chamber- 

 lain, and that of director of the fine arts, in the 

 academy, and became the king's daily companion, 

 who loved him for his frankness, but ridiculed his 

 melancholy humour. When almost sixty years old, 

 he fell in love with the actress Cochots, and married 

 her without the knowledge of Frederic, who never 

 wholly pardoned him for'this act of rashness. He 

 died in 1771. Frederic II. caused a monument to 

 be erected to him, in the church of the Minorites, in 

 Aix. His numerous writings, the fruits of an unre- 

 strained freedom of thought, once had some reputa- 

 tion, but now, though instructive, are no longer 

 esteemed, because they are deficient in purity, taste, 

 critical discernment, and sound views. 



ARGENT (French for silver, from the Latin argen- 

 tum) ; a word used in heraldry, and in several terms 

 of art employed by the goldsmiths. 



ARGEXTEUS CODEX; a MS. copy of the four Gos- 

 pels, so named from its silver letters. It is preserved 

 in the university of Upsal, and is a copy from tin- 

 Gothic version of bishop Ulphilus, who Jived in the 

 4th century. It is in quarto, written on vellum, 

 stained with a violet colour. On this ground the 

 letters, all uncial, or capitals, are painted in silver, 

 except the initial letters, which are in gold. This 

 MS. was discovered, in 1597, in the Benedictine 

 abbey of Werden, in Westphalia, and, after several 

 changes of owners, was sent, as a present, to Chris- 

 tina, queen of Sweden. Vossius, a Dutchman, either 

 received it from her, or stole it. Count Magnus 

 Gabriel de la Gardie bought it, at Vossius' death, for 

 250, and sent it to Upsal. Three editions of it 

 have been given to the public ; at Dort, 1655 ; 

 Stockholm, 1672 ; the Clarendon press, 1750. Some 



