A T H 



of his behaviour conciliated tlie afftiStions both of the cler'Tv 

 and of the p'jople. The Alexandrians were impatient to 

 rife in arms for the defence of an eloquent and liberal paflor. 

 In his dillrefs he always derived fupport, or at leaft "confo- 

 latlon, from the faithful attachment of his parochial cler<'v ; 

 and the hundred bilhops of Egypt adhered with unfliak'en 

 zeal to the caafe of x'^thanalius. In the modeft tquipa;re 

 which pride and policy would affeft, he frequently per- 

 formed the epifcopal vifitation of his provinces, from the 

 mouth of the Nile to the confines of Ethiopia ; familiarly 

 converfmg with the meanc-ft of the populace, and humbly, 

 faluting the faints and henr.its of the defert. Nor was it 

 only ill ecclefiallical affembhes among men wliofe education 

 and manners were fimilar to his own, that Athanalius dif- 

 played the afcendancy of his genius ; he appeared with 

 tafy and refpeftful firmnefs in the courts of princes ; and 

 on the various turns of his profpcrous and adverfe fortune, 

 he never loll tlie confidence of liis friends, or the elleem 

 of his enemies." 



The works of Athanafius were numerous, and confiRed 

 chiefly of apologies for himfclf, or invectives againll his 

 enemies, or controverfial treatil'es againll Arianii'm. His llyle 

 iS clear, ealy, and not dellitute of dignity and ornament. 

 In his reafonings he is fufTiciently copious ; and in his at- 

 tacks upon the Arians more than fufTiciently acrimonious. 

 The more valuable of his genuine writings are his firil hook 

 "Againil the (Iciililes ;" "Apologies;" " Letter to thofc 

 that lead a Monadic Life ;" " Lettcis to Serapion;" "Two 

 books on the Incarnation;"' " Conference with the Arians ;" 

 •' The life of St. Antony ;" and " The abridgment of the 

 Holy Scriptures." The latter of thefe pieces contains an 

 ei;uineiation of all the canonical books of the Old and New 

 Tellament, with a fummary of their contents, and an ac- 

 count of their refpeftive autliors ; and it treats particularly 

 of the four gofpels. This " Abridgment or Synopfis of the 

 Holy Scriptures" has been reckoned genuine by fome ; 

 lint it is fuppofed by others to have been falfely afcribed to 

 iilni, and in the Benedittine edition of his works, it is rejec- 

 ted. His " Fellal or Pafchal Epilllc," which is generally 

 ;'llowed to be genuine, contains fcveral valuable tellimonies 

 in favour of the facred books now received as canonical. 

 Dupin, and alfo Cave, have dlllinftly enumerated both the 

 genuine and fpurious works of Athanalius. For an account 

 of the creed that has been called Athnnalius's, fee Creed. 

 The works of Athanalius were firll printed only iii a Latin 

 tranilation, and in an imperfect Hate by Calfanus, at Vicenza, 

 HI 1482 ; and enlarged editions appeared at Paris, in 1520 ; 

 at I<.ome, in 1523 ; at Cologne, in 1532 ; at Baiil, in 1558 ; 

 and at Paris, in 1608. The Greek text was firft publiflitd in 

 2 vols. fol. by Commelinus, at Heidelberg, in 1601 ; and 

 :it Paris, in 1627. The beft edition was printed in 3 vols. 

 tol. by a learned BenediftirK, Bernard de Montfaucon, at 

 Paris, in 1698. This was reprinted with improvements, and 

 an additional volume, at Padua, in 1774, 4 vols. fol. Socra- 

 U'S, E. H. Sozomen, E. H. Cave Hilt.t.i. p. 138. &c. 

 Dupin. Fabr. Bib. Grsc. 1. v. c. 2. Gibbon's Hitt. vol. iii. 

 p. 322 — 356. vol. iv. p. 131 — 228 — 267. Lardner's Works, 

 vol. iv. p. 2S0, &c. 



ATHANATl, an order of foldiers among the ancient 

 Perfians. 



The word is Greek, and fignifies immortal ; being com- 

 pounded of the privative a, and Sa-a-o,-, death. 



The alhanati were a body of cavalry, confiflnig of ter» 

 tlioufand men, always complete, becaufe when any one of 

 them died another was immediately put into his place. — 

 It was for this reafon that they were called " athanati" by 

 the Greeks, by the Latins " immortales." 



A T H 



ATII ANOR, fomctlmes corruptly written Ac anor, is a 

 term derived from the Greek AGk^kIo;, undying, and was ap- 

 plied by the ancient cliemidsto a fpecirsof furnace provided 

 with a magazine of fuel, by whitli a long-continued heat 

 might be kept up without the iicccflity of conllant attend- 

 ance. Some fay that the word atlianor a borrowed from 

 the Arabs, who call an oven taiimron, from the Hebrew 

 *11.3ri' lannoiir, an tjvcn or furnace : whence with the addi- 

 tional particle al, "niri'7w\*' I'llanour, &c. This appaiatu* 

 was particularly ufed in thofe tedii/us alchemical procifTcs 

 \yhich were deemed neceffary, in order to convert the infe- 

 rior metals into gold : hence it is not unfrcquently defcri- 

 bed by the name^/§-;r hcnricus. The patience of modcni 

 chemills being inferior to that of their predeccfTors, or rather 

 being no longer upheld by the hope of riches, the molt 

 powerful, and at tlK; fame time, the bafell of all m.otives, 

 revolts from the idea of commencing experiments that de- 

 mand weeks, and even whole months for their completion. 

 Hence it is, that pcrpctuul lamps and furnaces arc now be- 

 come obfolete. 



The body of the athanor may be varied at pleafure, ac- 

 cording to the particular puipofe which it is intended to 

 ferve, but it is connedled by the top, or one of the fides, with 

 a hollow perpendicular tower communicating freely by one 

 or more openings at its bafe, with the fire place. This 

 tower is furniihcd with a moveable cover, jvhich fits accu- 

 rately, fo as to be nearly air tight, into tiie top. 



When the athai.or is to be ufed, the tire place mufl be 

 filled with the proper quantity of lighted charcoal, and then 

 as much unlightcd charcoal, in moderate fixed pieces, as the 

 tower will hold, is to be poured in by the top, which is af- 

 terwards to be carefully clofed by its cover. In proportion 

 as the fuel in the grate is confumed, the deficiency is fup- 

 plied by that of the tower, which falls through the holes at 

 the bale, which while in the tower, having no communica- 

 tion with the external air, can only burn when it arrives at 

 the grate below. The conibulUon is thus kept up till all 

 the charcoal in the tower or. magazine is confumed. 



Although this furnace might Itill be advantageoufly ap- 

 plied in certain cafes which require a long and n-.oder,itc, 

 rather than a fliort and violent heat, yet it is not without 

 fome inconveniences : the charcoal often flicks fait in the 

 tower, and the tire goes out for want of a regular iupply, 

 or it falls irregularly, and by large quantities at a time, and 

 beats the lighted charcoal through the grate, into tlie a!h- 

 pit. 



ATHAPUSCOW, in Gtogm/./.y, a large lake in ths 

 north-weft parl-s of North America. Mr. Pltarne, who tia- 

 verfed thefe p-arts in 1 770, defcribes it as full of iflands co- 

 vered with tall trees, which appeared like malls. Accord- 

 ing to the report of the natives, it was 120 leagues long 

 from eall to well, and twenty wide. It is ftorcd with a 

 great number of fi(h, as pike, trout, perch, barbel, and two 

 forts called by the natives tillaineg aiid methy. The nor- 

 thern fhore confills of conluled locks and hills, but the 

 fouthern is level and beautiful : and there are many wild 

 cattle and moofe deer; the foniier, particularly the bulls, 

 being larger than the Englilli black cattle. The ceiilre of 

 this lake is placed by Mr. Hcarne in N. lat. 62" and W. 

 long. 125°. It is probably the fame with the Slave Lake of 

 Mackenzie, in the fame latitude, but in longitude 115°. 

 The Athapufcow River, wliich Mr. Hcarne found about two 

 miles in breadth, is the Slave River of Mackenzie. Sec 

 Slave Laie and River. 



ATHAR, in Scripture Geography, a city of PalcHine, in 

 the tribe of Simeon. Jofh. xix. 7. 



ATHAROTH, a town of Judsta, in the tribe of Gad, 



givea. 



