Chapter XVIII: Part 18

Few things are more hopeless than the attempt to realize the style of a painter whose works have vanished. But a great wealth of stories, true or invented, clung to Apelles in antiquity; and modern archaeologists have naturally tried to discover what they indicate. We are told, for example, that he attached great value to the drawing of outlines, practising every day. The tale is well known of his visit to Protogenes, and the rivalry of the two masters as to which could draw the finest and steadiest line. The power of drawing such lines is conspicuous in the decoration of red-figured vases of Athens. Apelles is said to have treated his rival with generosity, for he increased the value of his pictures by spreading a report that he meant to buy them and sell them as his own. Apelles allowed the superiority of some of his contemporaries in particular matters: according to Pliny he admired the _dispositio_ of Melanthius, i.e. the way in which he spaced his figures, and the _mensurae_ of Asclepiodorus, who must have been a great master of symmetry and proportion. It was especially in that undefinable quality "grace" that Apelles excelled. He probably used but a small variety of colours, and avoided elaborate perspective: simplicity of design, beauty of line and charm of expression were his chief merits. When the naturalism of some of his works is praised--for example, the hand of his Alexander is said to have stood out from the picture--we must remember that this is the merit always ascribed by ignorant critics to works which they admire. In fact the age of Alexander was one of notable idealism, and probably Apelles succeeded in a marked degree in imparting to his figures a beauty beyond nature.

Apelles was also noted for improvements which he introduced in technique. He had a dark glaze, called by Pliny _atramentum_, which served both to preserve his paintings and to soften their colour. There can be little doubt that he was one of the most bold and progressive, of artists. (P. G.)

APELLICON, a wealthy native of Teos, afterwards an Athenian citizen, a famous book collector. He not only spent large sums in the acquisition of his library, but stole original documents from the archives of Athens and other cities of Greece. Being detected, he fled in order to escape punishment, but returned when Athenion (or Aristion), a bitter opponent of the Romans, had made himself tyrant of the city with the aid of Mithradates. Athenion sent him with some troops to Delos, to plunder the treasures of the temple, but he showed little military capacity. He was surprised by the Romans under the command of Orobius (or Orbius), and only saved his life by flight. He died a little later, probably in 84 B.C.

Apellicon's chief pursuit was the collection of rare and important books. He purchased from the family of Neleus of Skepsis in the Troad manuscripts of the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus (including their libraries), which had been given to Neleus by Theophrastus himself, whose pupil Neleus had been. They had been concealed in a cellar to prevent their falling into the hands of the book-collecting princes of Pergamum, and were in a very dilapidated condition. Apellicon filled in the lacunae, and brought out a new, but faulty, edition. In 84 Sulla removed Apellicon's library to Rome (Strabo xiii. p. 609; Plutarch, _Sulla_, 26). Here the MSS. were handed over to the grammarian Tyrannion, who took copies of them, on the basis of which the peripatetic philosopher Andronicus of Rhodes prepared an edition of Aristotle's works. Apellicon's library contained a remarkable old copy of the _Iliad_. He is said to have published a biography of Aristotle, in which the calumnies of other biographers were refuted.

APENNINES (Gr. [Greek: Apenninos], Lat. _Appenninus_--in both cases used in the singular), a range of mountains traversing the entire peninsula of Italy, and forming, as it were, the backbone of the country. The name is probably derived from the Celtic _pen_, a mountain top: it originally belonged to the northern portion of the chain, from the Maritime Alps to Ancona; and Polybius is probably the first writer who applied it to the whole chain, making, indeed, no distinction between the Apennines and the Maritime Alps, and extending the former name as far as Marseilles. Classical authors do not differentiate the various parts of the chain, but use the name as a general name for the whole. The total length is some 800 m. and the maximum width 70 to 80 m.

_Divisions._--Modern geographers divide the range into three parts, northern, central and southern.

1. The northern Apennines are generally distinguished (though there is no real solution of continuity) from the Maritime Alps at the Bocchetta dell' Altare, some 5 m. W. of Savona on the high road to Turin.[1] They again are divided into three parts--the Ligurian, Tuscan and Umbrian Apennines. The Ligurian Apennines extend as far as the pass of La Cisa in the upper valley of the Magra (anc. _Macra_) above Spezia; at first they follow the curve of the Gulf of Genoa, and then run east-south-east parallel to the coast. On the north and north-east lie the broad plains of Piedmont and Lombardy, traversed by the Po, the chief tributaries of which from the Ligurian Apennines are the Scrivia (_Olumbria_), Trebbia (_Trebia_) and Taro (_Tarus_). The Tanaro (_Tanarus_), though largely fed by tributaries from the Ligurian Apennines, itself rises in the Maritime Alps, while the rivers on the south and south-west of the range are short and unimportant. The south side of the range rises steeply from the sea, leaving practically no coast strip: its slopes are sheltered and therefore fertile and highly cultivated, and the coast towns are favourite winter resorts (see RIVIERA). The highest point (the Monte Bue) reaches 5915 ft. The range is crossed by several railways--the line from Savona to Turin (with a branch at Ceva for Acqui), that from Genoa to Ovada and Acqui, the main lines from Genoa to Novi, the junction for Turin and Milan (both of which[2] pass under the Monte dei Giovi, the ancient Mons loventius, by which the ancient Via Postumia ran from Genua to Dertona), and that from Spezia to Parma under the pass of La Cisa.[3] All these traverse the ridge by long tunnels--that on the new line from Genoa to Honco is upwards of 5 m. in length.

The Tuscan Apennines extend from the pass of La Cisa to the sources of the Tiber. The main chain continues to run in an east-south-east direction, but traverses the peninsula, the west coast meanwhile turning almost due south. From the northern slopes many rivers and streams run north and north-north-east into the Po, the Secchia (_Secia_) and Panaro (_Scultenna_) being among the most important, while farther east most of the rivers are tributaries of the Reno (anc. _Rhenus_). Other small streams, e.g. the Ronco (_Bedesis_) and Montone (_Utis_), which flow into the sea together east of Ravenna, were also tributaries of the Po; and the Savio (_Sapis_) and the Rubicon seem to be the only streams from this side of the Tuscan Apennines that ran directly into the sea in Roman days. From the south-west side of the main range the Arno (q.v.) and Serchio run into the Mediterranean. This section of the Apennines is crossed by two railways, from Pistoia to Bologna and from Florence to Faenza, and by several good high roads, of which the direct road from Florence to Bologna over the Futa pass is of Roman origin; and certain places in it are favourite summer resorts. The highest point of the chain is Monte Cimone (7103 ft.). The so-called Alpi Apuane (the _Apuani_ were an ancient people of Liguria), a detached chain south-west of the valley of the Serchio, rise to a maximum height of 6100 ft. They contain the famous marble quarries of Carrara. The greater part of Tuscany, however, is taken up by lower hills, which form no part of the Apennines, being divided from the main chain by the valleys of the Arno, Chiana (_Clanis_) and Paglia (_Pallia_), Towards the west they are rich in minerals and chemicals, which the Apennines proper do not produce.

The Umbrian Apennines extend from the sources of the Tiber to (or perhaps rather beyond) the pass of Scheggia near Cagli, where the ancient Via Flaminia crosses the range. The highest point is the Monte Nerone (5010 ft.). The chief river is the Tiber itself: the others, among which the Foglia (_Pisaurus_), Metauro (_Metaurus_) and Esino[4] may be mentioned, run north-east into the Adriatic, which is some 30 m. from the highest points of the chain. This portion of the range is crossed near its southern termination by a railway from Foligno to Ancona (which at Fabriano has a branch to Macerata and Porto Civitanova, on the Adriatic coast railway), which may perhaps be conveniently regarded as its boundary.[5] By some geographers, indeed, it is treated as a part of the central Apennines.

2. The central Apennines are the most extensive portion of the chain, and stretch as far as the valley of the Sangro (_Sangrus_). To the north are the Monti Sibillini, the highest point of which is the Monte Vettore (8128 ft.). Farther south three parallel chains may be traced, the westernmost of which (the Monti Sabini) culminates to the south in the Monte Viglio (7075 ft.), the central chain in the Monte Terminillo (7260 ft.), and farther south in the Monte Velino (8160 ft.), and the eastern in the Gran Sasso d'Italia (9560 ft.), the highest summit of the Apennines, and the Maiella group (Monte Amaro, 9170 ft.). Between the western and central ranges are the plain of Rieti, the valley of the Salto (_Himella_), and the Lago Fucino; while between the central and eastern ranges are the valleys of Aquila and Sulmona. The chief rivers on the west are the Nera (_Nar_), with its tributaries the Velino (_Velinus_) and Salto, and the Anio, both of which fall into the Tiber. On the east there is at first a succession of small rivers which flow into the Adriatic, from which the highest points of the chain are some 25 m. distant, such as the Potenza (_Flosis_), Chienti (_Cluentus_), Tenna (_Tinna_), Tronto (_Truentus_), Tordino (_Helvinus_), Vomano (_Vomanus_), &c. The Pescara (_Aternus_), which receives the Aterno from the north-west and the Gizio from the south-east, is more important; and so is the Sangro.

The central Apennines are crossed by the railway from Rome to Castelammare Adriatico via Avezzano and Sulmona: the railway from Orte to Terni (and thence to Foligno) follows the Nera valley; while from Terni a line ascends to the plain of Rieti, and thence crosses the central chain to Aquila, whence it follows the valley of the Aterno to Sulmona. In ancient times the Via Salaria, Via Caecilia and Via Valeria-Claudia all ran from Rome to the Adriatic coast. The volcanic mountains of the province of Rome are separated from the Apennines by the Tiber valley, and the Monti Lepini, or Volscian mountains, by the valleys of the Sacco and Liri.

3. In the southern Apennines, to the south of the Sangro valley, the three parallel chains are broken up into smaller groups; among them may be named the Matese, the highest point of which is the Monte Miletto (6725 ft.). The chief rivers on the south-west are the Liri or Garigliano (anc. _Liris_) with its tributary the Sacco (_Trerus_), the Volturno (_Volturnus_), Sebeto (_Sabatus_), Sarno (_Sarnus_), on the north the Trigno (_Trinius_), Biferno (_Tifernus_), and Fortore (_Frento_). The promontory of Monte Gargano, on the east, is completely isolated, and so are the volcanic groups near Naples. The district is traversed from north-west to south-east by the railway from Sulmona to Benevento and on to Avellino, and from south-west to north-east by the railways from Caianello via Isernia to Campobasso and Termoli, from Caserta to Benevento and Foggia, and from Nocera and Avellino to Rocchetta S. Antonio, the junction for Foggia, Spinazzola (for Barletta, Bari, and Taranto) and Potenza. Roman roads followed the same lines as the railways: the Via Appia ran from Capua to Benevento, whence the older road went to Venosa and Taranto and so to Brindisi, while the Via Traiana ran nearly to Foggia and thence to Bari.

The valley of the Ofanto (_Aufidus_), which runs into the Adriatic close to Barletta, marks the northern termination of the first range of the Lucanian Apennines (now Basilicata), which runs from east to west, while south of the valleys of the Sele (on the west) and Basiento (on the east)-which form the line followed by the railway from Battipaglia via Potenza to Metaponto--the second range begins to run due north and south as far as the plain of Sibari (_Sybaris_). The highest point is the Monte Pollino (7325 ft.). The chief rivers are the Sele (_Silarus_)--joined by the Negro (_Tanager_) and Calore (_Calor_)--on the west, and the Bradano (_Bradanus_), Basiento (_Casuentus_), Agri (_Aciris_), Sinni (_Siris_) on the east, which flow into the gulf of Taranto; to the south of the last-named river there are only unimportant streams flowing into the sea east and west, inasmuch as here the width of the peninsula diminishes to some 40 m. The railway running south from Sicignano to Lagonegro, ascending the valley of the Negro, is planned to extend to Cosenza, along the line followed by the ancient Via Popilia, which beyond Cosenza reached the west coast at Terina and thence followed it to Reggio. The Via Herculia, a branch of the Via Traiana, ran from Aequum Tuticum to the ancient Nerulum. At the narrowest point the plain of Sibari, through which the rivers Coscile (_Sybaris_) and Crati (_Crathis_) flow to the sea, occurs on the east coast, extending halfway across the peninsula. Here the limestone Apennines proper cease and the granite mountains of Calabria (anc. _Bruttii_) begin. The first group extends as far as the isthmus formed by the gulfs of S. Eufemia and Squillace; it is known as the Sila, and the highest point reached is 6330 ft. (the Botte Donato). The forests which covered it in ancient times supplied the Greeks and Sicilians with timber for shipbuilding. The railway from S. Eufemia to Catanzaro and Catanzaro Marina crosses the isthmus, and an ancient road may have run from Squillace to Monteleone. The second group extends to the south end of the Italian peninsula, culminating in the Aspromonte (6420 ft.) to the east of Reggio di Calabria. In both groups the rivers are quite unimportant.

_Character_.--The Apennines are to some extent clothed with forests, though these were probably more extensive in classical times (Pliny mentions especially pine, oak and beech woods, _Hist. Nat_. xvi. 177); they have indeed been greatly reduced in comparatively modern times by indiscriminate timber-felling, and though serious attempts at reafforestation have been made by the government, much remains to be done. They also furnish considerable summer pastures, especially in the Abruzzi: Pliny (_Hist. Nat_. xi. 240) praises the cheese of the Apennines. In the forests wolves were frequent, and still are found, the flocks being protected against them by large sheep-dogs; bears, however, which were known in Roman times, have almost entirely disappeared. Nor are the wild goats called _rotae_, spoken of by Varro (_R. R._ II. i. 5), which may have been either chamois or steinbock, to be found. Brigandage appears to have been prevalent in Roman times in the remoter parts of the Apennines, as it was until recently: an inscription found near the Furlo pass was set up in A.D. 246 by an _evocatus Augusti_ (a member of a picked corps) on special police duty with a detachment of twenty men from the Ravenna fleet (G. Henzen in _Romische Mitteilungen_, 1887, 14). Snow lies on the highest peaks of the Apennines for almost the whole year. The range produces no minerals, but there are a considerable number of good mineral springs, some of which are thermal (such as Bagni di Lucca, Monte Catini, Monsummano, Porretta, Telese, &c.), while others are cool (such as Nocera, Sangemini, Cinciano, &c.), the water of which is both drunk on the spot and sold as table water elsewhere. (T. As.)

_Geology_.--The Apennines are the continuation of the Alpine chain, but the individual zones of the Alps cannot be traced into the Apennines. The zone of the Brianconnais (see ALPS) may be followed as far as the Gulf of Genoa, but scarcely beyond, unless it is represented by the Trias and older beds of the Apuan Alps. The inner zone of crystalline and schistose rocks which forms the main chain of the Alps, is absent in the Apennines except towards the southern end. The Apennines, indeed, consist almost entirely of Mesozoic and Tertiary beds, like the outer zones of the Alps. Remnants of a former inner zone of more ancient rocks may be seen in the Apuan Alps, in the islands off the Tuscan coast; in the Catena Metallifera, Cape Circeo and the island of Zannone, as well as in the Calabrian peninsula. These remnants lie at a comparatively low level, and excepting the Apuan Alps and the Calabrian peninsula they do not now form any part of the Apennine chain. But that in Tertiary times there was a high interior zone of crystalline rocks is indicated by the character of the Eocene beds in the southern Apennines. These are formed to a large extent of thick conglomerates which are full of pebbles and boulders of granite and schist. Many of the boulders are of considerable size and they are often still angular. There is now no crystalline region from which they could reach their present position; and this and other considerations have led the followers of E. Suess to conclude that even in Tertiary times a large land mass consisting of ancient rocks occupied the space which is now covered by the southern portion of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This old land mass has been called Tyrrhenis, and probably extended from Sicily into Latium and as far west as Sardinia. On the Italian border of this land there was raised a mountain chain with an inner crystalline zone and an outer zone of Mesozoic and Tertiary beds. Subsequent faulting has caused the subsidence of the greater part of Tyrrhenis, including nearly the whole of the inner zone of the mountain chain, and has left only the outer zones standing as the present Apennines.

Be this as it may, the Apennines, excepting in Calabria, are formed chiefly of Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Eocene and Miocene beds. In the south the deposits, from the Trias to the middle Eocene, consist mainly of limestones, and were laid down, with a few slight interruptions, upon a quietly subsiding sea-floor. In the later part of the Eocene period began the folding which gave rise to the existing chain. The sea grew shallow, the deposits became conglomeratic and shaly, volcanic eruptions began, and the present folds of the Apennines were initiated. The folding and consequent elevation went on until the close of the Miocene period when a considerable subsidence took place and the Pliocene sea overspread the lower portions of the range. Subsequent elevation, without folding, has raised these Pliocene deposits to a considerable height--in some cases over 3000 ft. and they now lie almost undisturbed upon the older folded beds. This last elevation led to the formation of numerous lakes which are now filled up by Pleistocene deposits. Both volcanic eruptions and movements of elevation and depression continue to the present day on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea. In the northern Apennines the elevation of the sea floor appears to have begun at an earlier period, for the Upper Cretaceous of that part of the chain consists largely of sandstones and conglomerates. In Calabria the chain consists chiefly of crystalline and schistose rocks; it is the Mesozoic and Tertiary zone which has here been sunk beneath the sea. Similar rocks are found beneath the Trias farther north, in some of the valleys of Basilicata. Glaciers no longer exist in the Apennines, but Post-Pliocene moraines have been observed in Basilicata.

REFERENCES.--G. de Lorenzo, "Studi di geologia nell' Appennino
Meridionale," _Atti d. R. Accad. d. Sci, Fis. e Mat._, Napoli, ser. 2,
vol. viii., no. 7 (1896); F. Sacco, "L' Appennino settentrionale,"
_Boll. Soc. geol. Ital._ (1893-1899). (P. La.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The ancient Via Aemilia, built in 109 B.C., led over this pass,
but originally turned east to Dertona (mod. _Tortona_).

[2] There are two separate lines from Sampierdarena to Ronco.

[3] This pass was also traversed by a nameless Roman road.

[4] This river (anc. Aesis) was the boundary of Italy proper in the
3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.

[5] The Monte Conero, to the south of Ancona, was originally an
island of the Pliocene sea.

APENRADE, a town of Germany in the Prussian province of Schleswig, beautifully situated on the Apenrade Fjord, an arm of the Little Belt, 38 m. N. of the town of Schleswig. Pop. (1900) 5952. It is connected by a branch line with the main railway of Schleswig, and possesses a good harbour, which affords shelter for a large carrying trade. Fishing, shipbuilding and various small factories provide occupation for the population. The town is a bathing resort, as is Elisenlund close by.

APERTURE (from Lat. _aperire_, to open), an opening. In optics, it is that portion of the diameter of an object-glass or mirror through which light can pass free from obstruction. It is equal to the actual diameter of the cylinder of rays admitted by a telescope.

APEX, the Latin word (pl. _apices_) for the top, tip or peak of anything. A diminutive "apiculus" is used in botany.

APHANITE, a name given (from the Gr. [Greek: aphanes], invisible) to certain dark-coloured igneous rocks which are so fine-grained that their component minerals are not detected by the unaided eye. They consist essentially of plagioclase felspar, with hornblende or augite, and may contain also biotite, quartz and a limited amount of orthoclase. Although a few authorities still recognize the aphanites as a distinct class, most systematic petrologists, at the present time, have discarded it, and regard these rocks as merely structural facies of other species. Those which contain hornblende are uniform, fine-grained diorites, vogesites, &c., while when pyroxene predominates they are ascribed to the dolerites, quartz-dolerites, &c. Hence, any rock which is compact, crystalline and fine grained, is frequently said to be _aphanitic_, without implying exactly to which of the principal rock groups it really belongs.

APHASIA[1] (from Gr. [Greek: a], privative, and [Greek: phasis], speech), a term which means literally inability to speak, and is used to denote various defects in the comprehension and expression of both spoken and written language which result from lesions of the brain. Aphasic disorders may be classed in two groups:--first, receptive or sensory aphasia, which comprises (a) inability to understand spoken language (auditory aphasia), and (b) inability to read (visual aphasia, or _alexia_); second, emissive or motor aphasia, under which category are included (a) inability to speak (motor vocal aphasia, or _aphemia_), and (b) inability to write (motor graphic aphasia, or _agraphia_). It has been shown that each of these defects is produced by destruction of a special region of the cortex of the brain. These regions, which are termed the speech centres, are, in right-handed people, situated in the left cerebral hemisphere; this is the reason why aphasia is so commonly associated with paralysis of the right side of the body.

A study of the acquisition of the faculty of speech throws light upon the education of the speech centres, and helps to elucidate their physiological interaction and the phenomena of aphasia. The auditory speech centre is the first to show signs of functional activity, for within a few months of birth the child begins to _understand_ spoken language. Some months later the motor vocal speech centre begins to functionate. The memories of the auditory word images which are stored up in the auditory speech centre play a most important part in the process of learning to speak. The child born deaf grows up mute. The visual speech centre comes into activity when the child is taught to read. Again, when he learns to write and thus begins to educate his graphic centre, he is constantly calling upon his visual speech centre for the visual images of the words he wishes to produce. From these remarks it will be seen that there is a very intimate association between the auditory speech centre and the motor vocal speech centre, also between the visual speech centre and the graphic centre.

_Auditory Aphasia._--The auditory speech centre is situated in the posterior part of the first and second temporo-sphenoidal convolutions on the left side of the brain. Destruction of this centre causes "auditory aphasia." Hearing is unimpaired but spoken language is quite unintelligible. The subject of auditory aphasia may be compared to an individual who is listening to a foreign language of which he does not understand a word. Word deafness, a term often used as synonymous with auditory aphasia, is misleading and should be abandoned. Auditory aphasia commonly interferes with vocal expression, for the majority of people when they speak do so by recalling the auditory memories of words stored up in the auditory speech centre. _Amnesia verbalis_ is employed to designate failure to call up in the memory the images of words which are needed for purposes of vocal expression or silent thought.

_Visual Aphasia or Alexia._--The visual speech centre, which is located in the left angular gyrus, is connected with the two centres for vision which are situated one in either occipital lobe. Destruction of the visual speech centre produces visual aphasia or alexia. Word blindness, sometimes used as the equivalent of visual aphasia, is, like word deafness, a misleading term. The individual is not blind, he sees the words and letters perfectly, but they appear to him as unintelligible cyphers. When the visual speech centre is destroyed, the memories of the visual images of words are obliterated and interference with writing, a consequence of _amnesia verbalis_, results. On the other hand, when the lesion is situated deeply in the occipital lobe, and does not implicate the cortex, but merely cuts off the connexions of the angular gyrus with both visual centres, agraphia is not produced, for the visual word centre and its connexion with the graphic centre are still intact (pure, or sub-cortical word blindness).

_Motor Vocal Aphasia or Aphemia._--The centre for motor vocal speech is situated in the posterior part of the third left frontal convolution and extends on to the foot of the left ascending frontal convolution (Broca's convolution). Complete destruction of this region produces loss of speech, although it often happens that a few words, such as "yes" and "no," and, it may be, emotional exclamations such as "Oh! dear!" and the like are retained. The utterance of unintelligible sounds is still possible, however, and there is neither defective voice production (_aphonia_) nor paralysis of the mechanism of articulation. The individual can recall the auditory and visual images of the words which he wishes to use, but his memory for the complicated, co-ordinated movements which he acquired in the process of learning to speak, and which are necessary for vocal expression, has been blotted out. In the great majority of cases of motor vocal aphasia there is associated agraphia, a circumstance which is perhaps to be accounted for by the proximity of the graphic centre. When the lesion is situated below the cortex of Broca's convolution but destroys the fibres which pass from it towards the internal capsule, agraphia is not produced (sub-cortical or pure motor vocal aphasia). Destruction of the auditory speech centre is, as we have seen, commonly accompanied by more or less interference with vocal speech, a consequence of _amnesia verbalis_.

_Agraphia._--Discussion still rages as to the presence of a special writing centre. Those who favour the separate existence of a graphic centre locate it in the second left frontal convolution. It may be that the want of unanimity as to the graphic centre is to be explained by an anatomical relationship so close between the graphic centre and that for the fine movement of the hand that a lesion in this situation which produces agraphia must at the same time cause a paralysis of the hand. Destruction of the visual speech centre by obliterating the visual memories of words (_amnesia verbalis_) produces agraphia. Further, several instances are on record in which agraphia has followed destruction of the commissure between the visual speech centre and the graphic centre. As already mentioned, agraphia is very often associated with motor vocal aphasia.

A number of aphasic defects are met with in addition to those already mentioned. Thus _paraphasia_ is a condition in which the patient makes use of words other than those he intends. He may mix up his words so that his conversation is quite unintelligible. In the most pronounced forms he gabbles away, employing unrecognizable sounds in place of words (_jargon and gibberish aphasia_). _Paragraphia_ is a similar defect which occurs in writing. Both paraphasia and paragraphia may be produced by partial lesions of the sensory speech centres or of the commissures which connect these with the motor centres. _Object blindness_ (syn. mind-blindness) refers to an inability to recognize an object or its uses by the aid of sight alone. The probable explanation would seem to be that the ordinary centre for vision has been isolated from the other sensory centres with which it is connected. Not uncommonly there is associated visual aphasia. _Optic aphasia_ was introduced to designate a somewhat similar state in which, although the uses of an object are recognized, the patient cannot name it at sight, yet, if it is of such a nature that it appeals directly to one of the other senses, he may at once be able to name it. _Tactile aphasia_, is a rare defect in which there exists an inability to recognize an object by touch alone although the qualities which, under normal circumstances, suffice for its detection can be accurately described. _Amusia_, or loss of the musical faculty, may occur in association with or independent of aphasia. There is reason for believing that special receptive and emissive centres exist for the musical sense exactly analogous to those for speech.

The speech centres are all supplied by the left middle cerebral artery. When this artery is blocked close to its origin by an _embolus_ or _thrombus_, total aphasia results. It may be, however, that only one of the smaller branches of the artery is obstructed, and, according to the region of the brain to which this branch is distributed, one or more of the speech centres may be destroyed. Occlusion of the left posterior cerebral artery causes extensive softening of the occipital lobe and produces pure word blindness. Further, a tumour, abscess, haemorrhage or meningitis may be so situated as to damage or destroy the individual speech centres or their connecting commissures. The amount of recovery to be expected in any given case depends upon the nature, situation and extent of the lesion, and upon the age of the patient. Even after complete destruction of the speech centres, perfect recovery may take place, for the centres in the right hemisphere of the brain are capable of education. This is only possible in young individuals. In the great majority of instances the nature of the lesion is such as to render futile all treatment directed towards its removal. In suitable cases, however, the education of the right side of the brain may be very greatly assisted by an intelligent application of scientific methods.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Broca, _Bulletin de la Societe anatomique_ (1861);
Wernicke, _Der Aphasische Symptomen-complex_ (Breslau, 1874);
Kussmaul, _Ziemssen's Cyclopaedia_, vol. xiv. p. 759; Wyllie, _The
Disorders of Speech_ (1895); Elder, _Aphasia and the Cerebral Speech
Mechanism_ (1897); Collins, _The Faculty of Speech_ (1897); Bastian,
_Aphasia and other Speech Defects_ (1898); Byrom Bramwell,
"Will-making and Aphasia," _British Medical Journal_ (1897); "The
Morison Lectures on Aphasia," _The Lancet_ (1906). See also the works
of Charcot, Hughlings Jackson, Dejerine, Lichtheim, Pitres, Grasset,
Ross, Broadbent, Mills, Bateman, Mirallie, Exner, Marie and others.
(J. B. T.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] In 1906 Pierre Marie of Paris expressed views (_La Semaine
medicale_, May 23 and October 17, and elsewhere) upon the question of
aphasia which have given rise to much animated controversy, since
they are in many respects at complete variance with the classical
conception which has been represented in the present article. Marie
holds that Broca's convolution plays no special role in the function
of speech. He admits that a lesion in the region of the lenticular
nucleus is followed by inability to speak, but this defect is, in his
opinion, to be regarded as an anarthria. He further admits the
production of sensory aphasia--the aphasia of Wernicke, as he prefers
to call it after its discoverer--by lesions which destroy the angular
and supramarginal gyri, and the upper two temporo-sphenoidal
convolutions, but he regards the essential foundation of sensory
aphasia as a diminution of intelligence. There are, in his opinion,
no sensory images of language. Motor aphasia is, he believes, nothing
more than a combination of sensory aphasia and anarthria. These
conclusions have been vigorously attacked, more especially by
Dejerine of Paris (_La Presse medicale_, July 1906 and elsewhere).

APHELION (from Gr. [Greek: apo], from, and [Greek: helios], sun), in astronomy, that point of the orbit of a planet at which it is most distant from the sun. Apogee, Apocentre, Aposaturnium, &c. are terms applied to those points of the orbit of a body moving around a centre of force--as the Earth, Saturn, &c.--at which it is farthest from the central body.

APHEMIA (from Gr. [Greek: a], without, and [Greek: pheme], speech), in pathology, the loss of the power of speech (see APHASIA).

APHIDES (pl. of Aphis), minute insects, also known as "plant-lice," "blight," and "green-fly," belonging to the homopterous division of the order Hemiptera, with long antennae and legs, two-jointed, two-clawed tarsi, and usually a pair of abdominal tubes through which a waxy secretion is exuded. These tubes were formerly supposed to secrete the sweet substance known as "honey-dew" so much sought after by ants; but this is now known to come from the alimentary canal. Both winged and wingless forms of both sexes occur, and the wings when present are normal in number, that is to say two pairs. Apart from their importance from the economic standpoint, Aphides are chiefly remarkable for the phenomena connected with the propagation of the species. The following brief summary of what takes place in the plant-louse of the rose (_Aphis rosae_), may be regarded as typical of the family, though exceptions occur in other species: Eggs produced in the autumn by fertilized females remain on the plant through the winter and hatching in the spring give rise to female individuals which may be winged or wingless. From these females are born parthenogenetically, that is to say without the intervention of males, and by a process that has been compared to internal budding, large numbers of young resembling their parents in every particular except size, which themselves reproduce their kind in the same way. This process continues throughout the summer, generation after generation being produced until the number of descendants from a single individual of the spring-hatched brood may amount to very many thousands. In the autumn winged males appear, union between the sexes takes place and the females lay the fertilized eggs which are destined to carry the species through the cold months of winter. If, however, the food-plant is grown in a conservatory where protection against cold is afforded, the aphides may go on reproducing agamogenetically without cessation for many years together. Not the least interesting features connected with this strange life-history are the facts that the young may be born by the oviparous or viviparous methods and either gamogenetically or agamogenetically, and may develop into winged forms or remain wingless, and that the males only appear in any number at the close of the season. Although the factors which determine these phenomena are not clearly understood, it is believed that the appearance of the males is connected with the increasing cold of autumn and the growing scarcity of food, and that the birth of winged females is similarly associated with decrease in the quantity or vitiation of the quality of the nourishment imbibed. Sometimes the winged females migrate from the plant they were born on to start fresh colonies on others often of quite a different kind. Thus the apple blight (_Aphis mali_) after producing many generations of apterous females on its typical food-plant gives rise to winged forms which fly away and settle upon grass or corn-stalks.

Closely related to the typical aphides is _Phylloxera vastatrix_, the insect which causes enormous loss by attacking the leaves and roots of vines. Its life-history is somewhat similar to that of _Aphis rosae_ summarized above. In the autumn a single fertile egg is laid by apterous females in a crevice of the bark of the vine where it is protected during the winter. From this egg in the spring emerges an apterous female who makes a gall in the new leaf and lays therein a large number of eggs. Some of the apterous young that are hatched from these form fresh galls and continue to multiply in the leaves, others descend to the root of the plant, becoming what are known as root-forms. These, like the parent form of spring, reproduce parthenogenetically, giving rise to generation after generation of egg-laying individuals. In the course of the summer, from some of these eggs are hatched females which acquire wings and lay eggs from which wingless males and females are born. From the union of the sexes comes the fertile egg from which the parent form of spring is hatched.

See generally G.B. Buckton, _British Aphides_ (Ray Soc. 1876-1883);
also ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. (R. I. P.)

APHORISM (from the Gr. [Greek: aphorizein], to define), literally a distinction or a definition, a term used to describe a principle expressed tersely in a few telling words or any general truth conveyed in a short and pithy sentence, in such a way that when once heard it is unlikely to pass from the memory. The name was first used in the _Aphorisms_ of Hippocrates, a long series of propositions concerning the symptoms and diagnosis of disease and the art of healing and medicine. The term came to be applied later to other sententious statements of physical science, and later still to statements of all kinds of principles. Care must be taken not to confound _aphorisms_ with _axioms_. Aphorisms came into being as the result of experience, whereas axioms are self-evident truths, requiring no proof, and appertain to pure reason. Aphorisms have been especially used in dealing with subjects to which no methodical or scientific treatment was applied till late, such as art, agriculture, medicine, jurisprudence and politics. The _Aphorisms_ of Hippocrates form far the most celebrated as well as the earliest collection of the kind, and it may be interesting to quote a few examples. "Old men support abstinence well: people of a ripe age less well: young folk badly, and children less well than all the rest, particularly those of them who are very lively." "Those who are very fat by nature are more exposed to die suddenly than those who are thin." "Those who eject foaming blood, eject it from the lung." "When two illnesses arrive at the same time, the stronger silences the weaker." The first aphorism, perhaps the best known of all, which serves as a kind of introduction to the book, runs as follows:--"Life is short, art is long, opportunity fugitive, experimenting dangerous, reasoning difficult: it is necessary not only to do oneself what is right, but also to be seconded by the patient, by those who attend him, by external circumstances." Another famous collection of aphorisms is that of the school of Salerno in Latin verse, in which Joannes de Meditano, one of the most celebrated doctors of the school of medicine of Salerno, has summed up the precepts of this school. The book was dedicated to a king of England. It is a disputed point as to which king, some authorities dating the publication as at 1066, others assigning a later date. The dedication gives the following excellent advice:--

"Anglorum regi scribit schola tota Salernae.
Si vis incolumem, si vis te reddere sanum,
Curas tolle graves: irasci crede profanum:
Parce mero: coenato parum; non sit tibi vanum
Surgere post epulas: somnum fuge meridianum:
Ne mictum retine, nec comprime fortiter anum:
Haec bene si serves, tu longo tempore vives."

Another collection of aphorisms, also medical and also in Latin, is that of the Dutchman Hermann Boerhaave, published at Leiden in the year 1709; it gives a terse summary of the medical knowledge prevailing at the time, and is of great interest to the student of the history of medicine.

APHRAATES (a Greek form of the Persian name Aphrahat or Pharhadh), a Syriac writer belonging to the middle of the 4th century A.D., who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice. The first ten were written in 337, the following twelve in 344, and the last in 345.[1] The author was early known as _hakkima pharsaya_ ("the Persian sage"), was a subject of Sapor II., and was probably of heathen parentage and himself a convert from heathenism. He seems at some time in his life to have assumed the name of Jacob, and is so entitled in the colophon to a MS. of A.D. 512 which contains twelve of his homilies. Hence he was already by Gennadius of Marseilles (before 496) confused with Jacob, bishop of Nisibis; and the ancient Armenian version of nineteen of the homilies has been published under this latter name. But (1) Jacob of Nisibis, who attended the council of Nicaea, died in 338; and (2) our author, being a Persian subject, cannot have lived at Nisibis, which became Persian only by Jovian's treaty of 363. That his name was Aphrahat or Pharhadh we learn from comparatively late writers--Bar Bahlul (10th century), Elias of Nisibis (11th), Bar-Hebraeus, and 'Abhd-isho'. George, bishop of the Arabs, writing in A.D. 714 to a friend who had sent him a series of questions about the "Persian sage," confesses ignorance of his name, home and rank, but infers from his homilies that he was a monk, and of high esteem among the clergy. The fact that in 344 he was selected to draw up a circular letter from a council of bishops and other clergy to the churches of Seleucia and Ctesiphon and elsewhere--included in our collection as homily 14--is held by Dr W. Wright and others to prove that he was a bishop. According to a marginal note in a 14th-century MS. (B.M. Orient. 1017), he was "bishop of Mar Mattai," a famous monastery near Mosul, but it is unlikely that this institution existed so early. The homilies of Aphraates are intended to form, as Professor Burkitt has shown, "a full and ordered exposition of the Christian faith." The standpoint is that of the Syriac-speaking church, before it was touched by the Arian controversy. Beginning with faith as the foundation, the writer proceeds to build up the Structure of doctrine and duty. The first ten homilies, which form one division completed in 337, are without polemical reference; their subjects are faith, love, fasting, prayer, wars (a somewhat mysterious setting forth of the conflict between Rome and Persia under the imagery of Daniel), the sons of the covenant (monks or ascetics), penitents, the resurrection, humility, pastors. Those numbered 11-22, written in 344, are almost all directed against the Jews; the subjects are circumcision, passover, the sabbath, persuasion (the encyclical letter referred to above), distinction of meats, the substitution of the Gentiles for the Jews, that Christ is the Son of God, virginity and holiness, whether the Jews have been finally rejected or are yet to be restored, provision for the poor, persecution, death and the last times. The 23rd homily, on the "grape kernel" (Is. lxv. 8), written in 344, forms an appendix on the Messianic fulfilment of prophecy, together with a treatment of the chronology from Adam to Christ. Aphraates impresses a reader favourably by his moral earnestness, his guilelessness, his moderation in controversy, the simplicity of his style and language, his saturation with the ideas and words of Scripture. On the other hand, he is full of cumbrous repetition, he lacks precision in argument and is prone to digression, his quotations from Scripture are often inappropriate, and he is greatly influenced by Jewish exegesis. He is particularly fond of arguments about numbers. How wholly he and his surroundings were untouched by the Arian conflict may be judged from the 17th homily--"that Christ is the Son of God." He argues that, as the name "God" or "Son of God" was given in the O.T. to men who were worthy, and as God does not withhold from men a share in His attributes--such as sovereignty and fatherhood--it was fitting that Christ who has wrought salvation for mankind should obtain this highest name. From the frequency of his quotations, Aphraates is a specially important witness to the form in which the Gospels were read in the Syriac church in his day; Zahn and others have shown that he--mainly at least--used the _Diatessaron_. Finally, he bears important contemporary witness to the sufferings of the Christian church in Persia under Sapor (Shapur) II. as well as the moral evils which had infected the church, to the sympathy of Persian Christians with the cause of the Roman empire, to the condition of early monastic institutions, to the practice of the Syriac church in regard to Easter, &c.

Editions by W. Wright (London, 1869), and J. Parisot (with Latin
translation, Paris, 1894); the ancient Armenian version of 19 homilies
edited, translated into Latin, and annotated by Antonelli (Rome,
1756). Besides translations of particular homilies by G. Bickell and
E.W. Budge, the whole have been translated by G. Bert (Leipzig, 1888).
Cf. also C.J.F. Sasse, _Proleg, in Aphr. Sapientis Persae sermones
homileticos_ (Leipzig, 1879); J. Forget, _De Vita et Scriptis
Aphraatis_ (Louvain, 1882); F.C. Burkitt, _Early Eastern Christianity_
(London, 1904); J. Labourt, _Le Christianisme dans l'empire perse_
(Paris, 1904); J. Zahn, _Forschungen_ I.; "Aphraates and the
Diatessaron," vol. ii. pp. 180-186 of Burkitt's _Evangelion
Da-Mepharreshe_ (Cambridge, 1904); articles on "Aphraates and
Monasticism," by R.H. Connolly and Burkitt in _Journal of Theological
Studies_ (1905) pp. 522-539; (1906) pp. 10-15. (N. M.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Hom. 1-22 begin with the letters of the Syriac alphabet in
succession. Their present order in the Syriac MSS. is therefore
right. The ancient Armenian version, published by Antonelli in 1756,
has only 19 of the homilies, and those in a somewhat different order.

APHRODITE,[1] the Greek goddess of love and beauty, counterpart of the Roman Venus. Although her myth and cult were essentially Semitic, she soon became Hellenized and was admitted to a place among the deities of Olympus. Some mythologists hold that there already existed in the Greek system an earlier goddess of love, of similar attributes, who was absorbed by the Asiatic importation; and one writer (A. Enmann) goes so far as to deny the oriental origin of Aphrodite altogether. It is therefore necessary first to examine the nature and characteristics of her Eastern prototype, and then to see how far they reappear in the Greek Aphrodite.

Among the Semitic peoples (with the notable exception of the Hebrews) a supreme female deity was worshipped under different names--the Assyrian Ishtar, the Phoenician Ashtoreth (Astarte), the Syrian Atargatis (Derketo), the Babylonian Belit (Mylitta), the Arabian Ilat (Al-ilat). The article "Aphrodite" in Roscher's _Lexikon der Mythologie_ is based upon the theory that all these were originally moon-goddesses, on which assumption all their functions are explained. This view, however, has not met with general acceptance, on the ground that, in Semitic mythology, the moon is always a male divinity; and that the full moon and crescent, found as attributes of Astarte, are due to a misinterpretation of the sun's disk and cow's horns of Isis, the result of the dependence of Syrian religious art upon Egypt. On the other hand, there is some evidence in ancient authorities (Herodian v. 6, 10; Lucian, _De Dea Syria_, 4) that Astarte and the moon were considered identical.

This oriental Aphrodite was worshipped as the bestower of all animal and vegetable fruitfulness, and under this aspect especially as a goddess of women. This worship was degraded by repulsive practices (e.g. religious prostitution, self-mutilation), which subsequently made their way to centres of Phoenician influence, such as Corinth and Mount Eryx in Sicily. In this connexion may be mentioned the idea of a divinity, half male, half female, uniting in itself the active and passive functions of creation, a symbol of luxuriant growth and productivity. Such was the bearded Aphrodite of Cyprus, called Aphrodites by Aristophanes according to Macrobius, who mentions a statue of the androgynous divinity in his _Saturnalia_ (iii. 8. 2; see also HERMAPHRODITUS). The moon, by its connexion with menstruation, and as the cause of the fertilizing dew, was regarded as exercising an influence over the entire animal and vegetable creation.

The Eastern Aphrodite was closely related to the sea and the element of moisture; in fact, some consider that she made her first appearance on Greek soil rather as a marine divinity than as a nature goddess. According to Syrian ideas, as a fish goddess, she represented the fructifying power of water. At Ascalon there was a lake full of fish near the temple of Atargatis-Derketo, into which she was said to have been thrown together with her son Ichthys (fish) as a punishment for her arrogance, and to have been devoured by fishes; according to another version, ashamed of her amour with a beautiful youth, which resulted in the birth of Semiramis, she attempted to drown herself, but was changed into a fish with human face (see ATARGATIS). At Hierapolis (Bambyce) there was a pool with an altar in the middle, sacred to the goddess, where a festival was held, at which her images were carried into the water. Her connexion with the sea is explained by the influence of the moon on the tides, and the idea that the moon, like the sun and the stars, came up from the ocean.

The oriental Aphrodite is connected with the lower world, and came to be looked upon as one of its divinities. Thus, Ishtar descends to the kingdom of Ilat the queen of the dead, to find the means of restoring her favourite Tammuz (Adon, Adonis) to life. During her stay all animal and vegetable productivity ceases, to begin again with her return to earth--a clear indication of the conception of her as a goddess of fertility. This legend, which strikingly resembles that of Persephone, probably refers to the decay of vegetation in winter, and the reawakening of nature in spring (cf. HYACINTHUS). The lunar theory connects it with the disappearance of the moon at the time of change or during an eclipse.

Another aspect of her character is that of a warlike goddess, armed with spear or bow, sometimes wearing a mural crown, as sovereign lady and protectress of the locality where she was worshipped. The spear and arrows are identified with the beams of the sun and moon.

The attributes of the goddess were the ram, the he-goat, the dove, certain fish, the cypress, myrtle and pomegranate, the animals being symbolical of fertility, the plants remedies against sterility.

The worship of Aphrodite at an early date was introduced into Cyprus, Cythera and Crete by Phoenician colonists, whence it spread over the whole of Greece, and as far west as Italy and Sicily. In Crete she has been identified with Ariadne, who, according to one version of her story, was put ashore in Cyprus, where she died and was buried in a grove called after the name of Ariadne-Aphrodite (L.R. Farnell, _Cults of the Greek States_, ii. p. 663). Cyprus was regarded as her true home by the Greeks, and Cythera was one of the oldest seats of her worship (cf. her titles Cytherea, Cypris, Paphia, Amathusia, Idalia--the last three from places in Cyprus). In both these islands there lingered a definite tradition of a connexion with the cult of the oriental Aphrodite Urania, an epithet which will be referred to later. The oriental features of her worship as practised at Corinth are due to its early commercial relations with Asia Minor; the fame of her temple worship on Mount Eryx spread to Carthage, Rome and Latium.

In the _Iliad_, Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, a name by which she herself is sometimes called. This has been supposed to point to a confusion between Aphrodite and Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera, Dione being an Epirot name for the last-named goddess. In the _Odyssey_, she is the wife of Hephaestus, her place being taken in the _Iliad_ by Charis, the personification of grace and divine skill, possibly supplanted by Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Her amour with Ares, by whom she became the mother of Harmonia, the wife of Cadmus, is famous (_Od._ viii. 266). From her relations with these acknowledged Hellenic divinites it is argued that there once existed a primitive Greek goddess of love. This view is examined in detail and rejected by Farnell (_Cults_, ii. pp. 619-626).