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THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



however, the laws do not prove the theory of : 

 the existence of ultimate particles of matter of 

 a certain relative weight; and, although many 

 chemists, even without expressly adopting the 

 atomic theory itself, have followed Dalton in 

 the use of the terms atom and atomic weight, in 

 preference to proportion, combining proportion, 

 equivalent, and the like, yet in using the word 

 atom it should be held in mind that it merely 

 denotes the proportions in which elements unite. 

 These will remain the same whether the atomic | 

 hypothesis which suggested the employment of 

 the term be true or false. Dalton supposed that 

 the atoms of bodies are spherical, and invented 

 certain symbols to represent the mode in which i 

 he conceived they might combine together. 



Augsburg* Confession of. Name j 

 given to the celebrated declaration of faith, com- 

 piled by Melanchthon, revised by Luther and 

 other reformers, and read before the Diet of 

 Augsburg, June 25, 1530. It consisted of 

 twenty-eight articles, seven of which refuted 

 Roman Catholic errors, and the remaining 

 twenty-one set forth the Lutheran creed. Soon 

 after its promulgation, the last hope of reform- 

 ing the Roman Catholic Church was abandoned j 

 and complete severance followed. An answer 

 by the Roman Catholics was read August 3, j 

 1530; when the Diet declared that it had been 

 refuted. Melanchthon then drew up another 

 confession. The first is called the unaltered, 

 and the second, the altered form. 



Aurora Borealis, called variously North- 

 ern Lights, Polar Lights, or Streamers, a phe- 

 nomenon which generally appears in the north- 

 ern parts of the sky, and presents an appearance 

 somewhat resembling the dawn or break of day. 

 It is a luminous meteor, and appears to proceed 

 from a sort of haze or cloud in the northern part 

 of the heavens. The upper edge of the cloud is 

 whitish, the lower often dark or thick, and from 

 the upper part streams of light shoot up in the 

 form of a column, with, in general, a tremulous 

 motion. This phenomenon generally commences 

 two or three hours after sunset, and continues 

 for a few hours, sometimes the whole night ; it 

 most frequently occurs in autumn and the early 

 part of winter. Auroras are visible in most 

 countries in high latitudes of the northern hemi- 

 sphere, and it is asserted that similar appear- 

 ances have been witnessed in high southern lati- 

 tudes, but they are not known in tropical regions. 

 No satisfactory answer has yet been furnished 

 as to the cause of these polar lights; there is no 

 doubt, however, that they are the result of elec- 

 tricity in the upper regions of the atmosphere, 

 but how produced we are at present unable to 

 say. 



Bap'tists. A denomination of evangelical 

 Christians, who differ from others in respect to 

 baptism. They baptize all who repent and be- 

 lieve the gospel, at whatever age, and reject the 

 substitution of sprinkling for immersion, which 

 they maintain was originally practiced in the 

 administration of baptism, ana (except in the 

 case of the sick) universally observed through- 

 out Christendom for 1,300 years. Open com- 

 munion the Baptists of the United States gen- 

 erally regard as an anomaly. They believe in 

 the spiritual unity of the whole believing Church 



under Christ. Their government is cpngrc. 

 tional, each church being complete in itself for 

 the management of its internal affairs. They 

 associate, invite councils for advice, and coop- 

 erate in benevolent, educational, and missionary 

 enterprises; but all such associations disclaim 

 the slightest jurisdiction over the churches. 

 Baptists make no distinction but that of ottice 

 between clergymen and laymen. Elders, as 

 evangelists and missionaries, are ordained and 

 sent out to preach the gospel. In the United 

 States the Baptist, with one exception, is now 

 the largest denomination of evangelical Chris- 

 tians. In 1845, the southern Baptists, by mutual 

 consent, formed separate organizations for their 

 benevolent enterprises. As early as 1764, the 

 Baptists founded their first college in Rhode 

 Island. They have publication societies 

 Philadelphia, Charleston, and Nashville, and 

 maintain about fifty periodical organs, including 

 a quarterly review. The Baptists of the United 

 States also support the American and foreign 

 Bible society, tne American Baptist missionary 

 union, the southern Baptist board of foreign 

 and domestic missions, the Baptist home mis- 

 sion society, and in part the "American Bible 

 Union." Their missions are planted in Canada, 

 Oregon, California, New Mexico, Hayti; in 

 France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, 

 Norway; in western and central Africa; in 

 southern India, Assam, Burmah, Siam, and 

 China. In doctrine the Baptists of this country 

 are Calvinistic, but with much freedom and 

 moderation. Besides the general body of Bap- 

 tists, there are in the United States nine smaller- 

 bodies agreeing with them in regard to baptism, 

 but differing more or less on other points, viz : 

 I the Seventh-day, Free-will, Anti-mission, and 

 ! General or Six-principle Baptists, Tunkers. 

 | Mennonites, Christians, Campbellites, and \Vine- 

 ! brennarians. Some Baptists trace their history 

 I in a succession of pure churches from the Third 

 Century to the Reformation. Cyril of Alexan- 

 dria and Innocent I. of Rome began the perse- 

 cution which they suffered for centuries. In 

 England, from the time of Henry VIII. to Wil- 

 liam III., the Baptists struggled to gain tluir 

 | footing, and to secure liberty of conscience for 

 all. In the time of Cromwell they first gained 

 a fair hearing. Introduced into Rhode Island 

 with R,oger Williams and John Clark in 1638, 

 their history for more than a century, in most 

 of the colonies, is that of proscribed and banished 

 men. Their prosperity dates from the Revolu- 

 tionary War. 



Blood. The nutritive fluid of the tissues, 

 consists of a transparent colorless fluid, the 

 liquor sanguinis, and minute solid bodies, the 

 "corpuscles," which float in it. The liquor san- 

 guinis consists of water, in which are dissolved 

 ! fibrine, albumen, chlorides of sodium and potas- 

 sium, phosphates of soda, lime, and magnesia, 

 | together with fatty and extractive matters, 

 ] the latter the product of the metamorphosis of 

 the tissues. Tne corpuscles are of two kinds - 

 white and red; the white are larger and less 

 numerous than the red, being in healthy blood 

 in the proportion of two or three to 1,000. In 

 certain forms of disease the number of these 

 white blood-corpuscles is increased. They pre- 



