APOGEE 



292 



APOSTLES 



book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the 

 Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Ecclesi- 

 asticus, Baruch the Prophet, the Song of the 

 Three Children, Susanna and the Elders, Bel 

 and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses and 

 the first and second books of Maccabees. See 

 BIBLE. 



APOGEE, ap' ojee. See APSIDES. 



APOLLO, apol'o, among the Greeks, the 

 radiant god of light, driver of the chariot of 

 the sun. He was the son of Jupiter and Leto, 

 and the twin brother of Diana, the moon- 

 goddess, and at first was the god of light and 



purity merely in 

 a physical sense. 

 From this he 

 came to be re- 

 garded as god of 

 spiritual light, 

 and so of politi- 



APOLLO BELVEDERE cal progress. He 

 From statue in the Vati- also presided over 

 song and proph- 

 ecy, inspiring whom he would with musical 

 ability or with the true prophetic fervor. 



In general, he was a kindly deity, smiling 

 upon all, but stories are told of him which 

 show that he had a sterner side. Thus when 

 he was but five days old he killed the dreadful 

 serpent Python (which see), and afterward, 

 with Diana, put to death the children of the 

 boasting Niobe (see NIOBE). The Cyclops, also, 

 felt his vengeful spirit because they had forged 

 the thunderbolts with which Jupiter killed 

 Aesculapius, Apollo's son. Among the ancient 

 statues of Apollo, the most remarkable one 

 is the Apollo Belvedere, in the Belvedere Gal- 

 lery in the Vatican. 



In modern times the name Apollo is used as 

 the symbol of manly strength and good looks, 

 and the phrase "handsome as an Apollo" is a 

 very common figure of speech. 



APOPLEXY, ap' oplcxi, the name rather 

 loosely applied to various brain diseases which 

 have symptoms much alike but are due to 

 different causes. The word means literally a 

 stroke, and it is under this name that apoplexy 

 is frequently spoken of. In complete apoplexy 

 the person falls suddenly, is unable to move 

 his limbs or to speak, and gives no evidence 

 of seeing, hearing or feeling. His breathing 

 is noisy, much like that of a person in deep 

 sleep, and his face is congested and purple. 

 Apoplexy is most frequent between the ages 

 of fifty and seventy, and stout people with 

 short necks and full chests are generally con- 

 sidered to be more liable to it than thinner 

 persons. The immediate cause is either the 

 bursting of a blood-vessel in the brain, or the 

 presence in such a vessel of some small foreign 

 substance, which brings on congestion. 



Disease of the blood-vessel wall, such as 

 causes rupture and, secondarily, apoplexy, is 

 caused by syphilis, tobacco, alcohol, indulgence 

 in too much meat or too much salt, heavy 

 eating, lack of exercise, etc. The immediate 

 causes of the rupture are high blood pressure, 

 over-exertion, straining, outbursts of passion, 

 vomiting and the like. Attacks of apoplexy 

 are often followed by complete or partial 

 paralysis of one side of the body. The para- 

 lyzed limbs of a victim of apoplexy should be 

 exercised and massaged every day, and if there 

 is any tendency to contracture the drawing 

 limb must be pulled straight and be put in 

 splints. Exercise and massage of splinted limbs 

 must be persisted in. A third attack of apo- 

 plexy is usually fatal. W.A.E. 



APOSTLES, apos'els, the twelve disciples 

 cKosen by Christ to preach His doctrine to 

 the world. The story of their selection is 

 given in the Gospels, the best account being 

 found in Matthew. They were Simon Peter, 

 and Andrew, his brother; James, and John, his 

 brother, sons of Zebedee; Philip; Bartholo- 

 mew; Thomas; Matthew; James, the son of 

 Alpheus, and Lebeus, his brother, called Judas; 

 Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot. Ex- 

 cepting Matthew, wl)o was a publican tax 

 collector, all were laboring men of the most 

 humble class. After the betrayal, Matthias 

 was chosen by lot in place of Judas Iscariot. 

 The Bible also gives the name of apostle to 

 Paul and to Barnabas. 



