ANT 



[29] 



ANT 



accompanied left no doubt of the 

 existence of a new and distinct 

 genus. 



Baron Cuvier considered this genus 

 to have held an intermediate place 

 between the palceotheria, anoplo- 

 theria, and swine. 



The anthracotherium has hitherto 

 been found fossil only, and in strata 

 more recent than the chalk forma- 

 tion. 



ANTHRO'POLITE. (from avOpwrros, a 

 man, and \ldos, a stone, Gr.) A 

 petrifaction of the human body ; a 

 fossil human skeleton. Several 

 skeletons of men, more or less 

 mutilated, have been found in the 

 "West Indies ; these still retain some 

 of their animal matter, and all their 

 phosphate of lime. One of them 

 may be seen in the British Museum, 

 and another in the Boyal Cabinet 

 at Paris. 



from avdpwTTos, a man, and fiop<firj, 

 form, Gr.) Having a form resem- 

 bling the human : man-like. 



A'STICHRONISM. (from avrl, against, 

 and x/aoi/o?, time.) Deviation from 

 the right order, or account, of time. 



ANTICLI'NAL. If a range of hills, or 

 a valley, be composed of strata, 

 which on the two sides dip in 

 opposite directions, the imaginary 

 line that lies between them, towards 

 which the strata on each side rise, 

 is called the anticlinal axis. In a 

 row of houses, with steep roofs 

 facing the south, the slates repre- 

 sent inclined strata dipping north 

 and south, and the ridge is an east 

 and west anticlinal axis. Lyell. 



In most cases an anticlinal axis 

 forms a ridge, and a synclinal axis 

 a valley. 



ANTIMO'JSTIAL. Made of antimony ; 

 having the properties of antimony. 



ANTINO'NIATE. i A salt formed by the 



ANTI'MONITE. j combination of an ti- 

 monic acid with a salifiable base. 



A'NTIMONY. fantimoine, Fr. antimonio, 

 It. ) The derivation of this word is 



not agreed on, some lexicographers 

 stating it to be from av-rl and ^ovo?, 

 two Greek words, signifying that 

 it is never found alone : Dr. John- 

 son, however, on the authority of 

 Furetiere, refers it to a ludicrous 

 story related by Basil Yalentine, a 

 German, who appears to have been 

 the discoverer of the metal in 1620. 

 It is stated that he was a monk, 

 and practised as a physician, and 

 having thrown some of it to the 

 hogs, he observed that after it had 

 purged them, they immediately 

 ^ fattened ; imagining that the effect 

 on bipeds would be similar, he 

 administered a like dose to his 

 fellow monks. The experiment, 

 however, proved rather an unfortu- 

 nate one ; for, in consequence of the 

 dose being too large, they all died 

 of it, and the substance thenceforth 

 obtained the name of Antimoine, 

 i. e. Antimonk. A metallic ore, 

 consisting of sulphur combined 

 with the metal which is properly 

 called antimony. This metal is of 

 a blueish-white colour, and con- 

 siderable brilliancy, with a specific 

 gravity of 6*712. It fuses at a 

 temperature of 900, but requires a 

 greatly increased heat to volatilize 

 it. It is not malleable, being so 

 brittle as to be easily reduced to 

 powder by trituration, and its 

 ductility is inconsiderable. The 

 most abundant ore of antimony is 

 that in which it is found combined 

 with sulphur, and called sulphuret 

 of antimony. Antimony combines 

 with chlorine so rapidly as to 

 produce a shower of fire, if it be 

 poured, finely powdered, into a 

 glass jar filled with that gas. It 

 unites with many metals, some of 

 the alloys being useful. That with 

 lead is used for the plates on which 

 music is engraved. With tin it 

 forms a kind of pewter, and with 

 lead and copper it forms printer's 

 type metal. Native, or rhombo- 

 hedral, antimony occurs in metal- 



