Part 12 (1/2)

AINSWORTH, R., an English Latin lexicographer (1660-1743).

AINSWORTH, W. H., a popular English novelist, the author of ”Rookwood” and ”Jack Sheppard,” as well as novels of an antiquarian and historical character (1805-1882).

AIN-TAB (20), a Syrian garrison town 60 m. NE. of Aleppo; trade in hides, leather, and cotton.

AIRD, THOMAS, a Scottish poet, author of the ”Devil's Dream,” the ”Old Bachelor,” and the ”Old Scotch Village”; for nearly 30 years editor of the _Dumfries Herald_ (1802-1876).

AIRDRIE (19), a town in Lanarks.h.i.+re, 11 m. E. of Glasgow, in a district rich in iron and coal; is of rapid growth; has cotton-mills, foundries, etc.

AIRDS MOSS, a moor in Ayrs.h.i.+re, between the rivers Ayr and Lugar.

AIRE, a Yorks.h.i.+re river which flows into the Ouse; also a French river, affluent of the Aisne.

AIRY, SIR G. B., an eminent English astronomer, mathematician, and man of science, astronomer-royal from 1836 to 1881, retired on a pension; was the first to enunciate the complete theory of the rainbow.

AISNE, a French river which, after a course of 150 m., falls into the Oise near Compiegne; also a department in the N. of France.

a.s.sE, MLLE., a Circa.s.sienne brought to France about 1700; left letters on French society in the eighteenth century, sparkling with wit and full of interest.

AITON, WM., a botanist, born in Lanarks.h.i.+re, the first director of the Royal Gardens at Kew (1731-1793).

AITZEMA, LEO, historian of Friesland (1600-1669).

AIX (22), a town, the ancient capital of Provence, 20 m. N. of Ma.r.s.eilles, the seat of an archbishop and a university; founded by the Romans 123 B.C.; near it Marius defeated the Teutons.

AIX, ISLE OF, island in the Atlantic, at the mouth of the Charente.

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE' (103), in Rhenish Prussia, one of the oldest cities in Germany, made capital of the German empire by Charlemagne; derives its name from its mineral springs; is a centre of manufacturing industries and an important trade; is celebrated for its octagonal cathedral (in the middle of which is a stone marking the burial-place of Charlemagne), for treaties of peace in 1668 and 1748, and for a European congress in 1818.

AIX-LES-BAINS', a small town near Chambery, in the dep. of Savoy, and much frequented by invalids for its waters and baths.

AJAC'CIO (18), the capital of Corsica, the birthplace of the Bonaparte family, of Cardinal Fesch, and Bacciochi.

AJALON, VALLEY OF, in Palestine, scene of a battle between Joshua and five Canaanitish kings, during which the sun and moon stood still at the prayer of Joshua, to enable him to finish his victory.