Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/274

ARACACHA of Antoine Galland, a great French Orientalist, in 1704. The best English editions are by Payne and Burton.

AHACACHA. or ARUACACHA (ar-a-kä'cha), a genus of umbelliferous plants of South and Central America. The root of A. esculenta is divided into several lobes, each of which is about the size of a large carrot. These are boiled like potatoes and largely eaten in South America.

ARACAN (ar-a-kan'), or ABAKAN, the most northern division of lower Burma, on the Bay of Bengal; area, 18, 540 square miles; pop. about 800,000. It was ceded to the English in 1826, as a result of the first Burmese war.

AIlACE.a; (ar-as'e-i), an order of endogenous plants having for their inflorescence a spadix placed within a spathe. they have neither calyx nor corolla. The leaves are frequently cordate. The fruit is succulent, with many seeds. They are acrid in character, and often poisonous. The caladium sequinum, or dumb cane of the West Indies and South America, when chewed, causes the tongue so to swell as to cause temporary dumbness. There is one species known as the arum maculatum.

AHACHIDIC AOID {C20H40O3=C19H39:C00H), a monatomic fatty acid, obtained by the saponification of the oil of the earth nut (arachis hypogsea). It crystallizes in minute scales, which melt at 75°. It is soluble in boiling alcohol and in ether.

AEACHIS, a genus of leguminous plants belonging to the sub-order cæsal- piniaceæ. The A. hypogæa, the underground arachis (Greek hupogeios=subterranean), is thus called because the legumes are produced and matured beneath the soil. The plant is now cultivated in the warmer parts both of Asia and America. The legumes are eatable. The seeds have a sweet taste and furnish a valuable oil used for lamps and as a substitute for olive oil. In South Carolina they are employed for chocolate.

AHACHNIDA, the class of animals which contains spiders, scorpions, and mites. It is placed between the Crustacea on the one hand, and the insects on the other. The highest Crustacea have 10 feet, the arachnida 8, and the insects 6. The arachnida are wingless, have no antennæ, breathe by means of tracheal tubes or pulmonary sacs performing the function of lungs. As a rule, they have several simple eyes. They have no proper metamorphosis. They live in a predatory manner. Huxley separates the arachnida into six orders: (1) Arthrogastra, including scorpio., chelifer, phry- nus, phalangium, galeodes, etc.; (2) araneina, or spiders; (3) acarina, or mites and ticks; (4) fresh-water arctisca or tardigrada, called water-bears; (5) pycnogonida (marine animals) ; and (6) pentastomida (parasites).

ARAD, capital of a district in eastern Hungary; on the right bank of the Maros, an affluent of the Theiss; pop. about 65,000. It is an important railway center, and is 95 miles S. E. of Budapest. It carries on a large trade in corn, spirits, wine and tobacco, and is one of the greatest cattle markets of Hungary. During the 17th century it was often captured, and at last destroyed by the Turks. During the Revolutionary War of 1849 it was occupied for a time by the Austrians, who capitulated to the Hungarians in July. In August Arad was surrendered to the Russians by Gorgei. New Arad on the other side of the river, has about 7,500 inhabitants.

ARAFAT, or JEBEL ER RAHMEH, a hill in Arabia, about 200 feet high, with stone steps reaching to the summit, 15 miles S. E. of Mecca; one of the principal objects of pilgrimage among Mohammedans, who say that it was the place where Adam first received his wife, Eve, after they had been expelled from Paradise and separated from each other 120 years. A sermon delivered on the mount constitutes the main ceremony of the Hadj or pilgrimage to Mecca, and entitles the hearer to the name and privileges of a Hadji or pilgrim.

ARAGON, once a kingdom, now a captaincy-general of Spain, divided into the* three provinces of Saragossa, Huesca, and Teruel; greatest length from N. to S., 190 miles; breadth, 130; area, 18,294 square miles; pop. about 1,000,000. It is bounded on the N. by the Pyrenees, and borders on Navarre, the Castiles, Valencia, and Catalonia. The Ebro flows through Aragon in a S. E. direction, receiving numerous tributaries. Aragon is naturally divided into the level country along the Ebro, and the N. mountainous district of upper Aragon. The central plain is sterile, poorly supplied with water, and intersected by deep ravines. The valleys of upper Aragon are the most fertile of all the Pyrenean valleys. The slopes of the hills are clothed with forests of oak, beech, and pine. The minerals of the proince are copper, lead, iron, salt, alum, saltpeter, coal, and amber. The silkworm industry has been