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LEFT AYRES 365 AZEGLIO The house in which Burns was born is within 1% miles of the town, and a monument to him stands on a height between the kirk and the bridge over the Doon. Pop. about 35,000. AYRES, BROWN, an American ed- ucator, born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1856. He was educated at private schools, studied engineering at the Washington and Lee University and at the Stevens Institute of Technology, and also took post-graduate courses at Johns Hopkins University. He was professor of physics at the College of Technology of Tulane University from 1880 to 1904, and was dean of the college from 1894 to 1900. From 1900 to 1904 he was vice-chairman of the faculty, and from 1901 to 1904 was dean of the academic college. He was acting president of Tulane University in 1904 and in the same year was made president of the University of Tennessee. He was a member of several engineering societies and in 1910 was president of the National Association of State Uni- versities. AYRSHIRE, a county of Scotland, in the southwestern division. It has an area of 1,132 square miles. The county for the most part is hilly. It^ has im- portant deposits of minerals, including coal, limestone, and freestone. Agri- culture is highly developed and cattle raising has reached an advanced state. The leading manufactures are iron, tex- tiles, and lace. There are also important fisheries and shipyards. The capital is Ayr. Other important towns are Kil- marnock, Ardrossan, and Dundonald. Fop. about 275,000. A Y T O U N, WILLIAM EDMOND- STOXJNE, poet and prose writer, born at Edinburgh in 1813; studied at the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, became a writer to the signet in 1835, and passed as ad- vocate in 1840. He issued a volume of poems in 1832, by 1836 was a contributor to "Blackwood's Magazine," and he published the "Life and Times of Richard I." in 1845. In 1848 he published a col- lection of ballads entitled "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers," which has proved the most popular of all his works. He also published the "Bon Gaultier Ballads" (parodies and other humorous pieces, in conjunction with Theodore Martin), 1855; in 1856 the poem "Bothwell," and in subsequent years by "Norman Sin- clair," "The Glenmutchkin Railway," and other stories. In 1858 he edited a critical and annotated collection of the "Ballads of Scotland." A translation of the poems and ballads of Goethe was executed by him in conjunction with Theodore Martin. In 1845 he became Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the University of Edinburgh, a place he held till his death. In 1852 he was appointed sheriff of Orkney and Shetland. He died at Blackhills, Elgin, 1865. AYUNTAMIENTO (a-on-tam-yen'to) , the name given in Spain to the councils or governing bodies of towns. Sprung from the institutions of the Romans, and firmly established during the long strug- gles with the Moors, the ayuntamientos acquired great influence and political power, the nobility being admitted t(? them without their class privileges. The aynntamiento, with the alcalde as presi- dent, was appointed by the free choice of the people. The government could pro- visionally annul its acts, but must after- ward procure the ratification of the Cortes. The ayuntamientos were em- powered to make up the lists of electors and jurors, to organize the national guards, to command the police within their own bounds, to direct the apportion- ment and raising of taxes, etc. The municipal law of 1870 deprived them of all political authority, and regulated them as administrative bodies, subject in certain respects to the authorities of the provinces, the law courts, and the Cortes. AZALEA, a genus of plants belonging to the order ericacese (heathworts). Sev- eral foreign azaleas are cultivated in gardens and greenhouses on account of the abundance of their fine flowers, and, in some cases, their fragrant smell. There are numerous varieties of the species, and hybrids may be formed between azalea and the nearly-allied genus rhodo- dendron. Azaleas are best cultivated in a peaty soil. The most delici.te species is azalea indica. AZEGLIO (a-zal'yo). MASSIMO TAPARELLI, MARQUIS D', an Italian author, artist, diplomatist, and states- man, born at Turin, in 1801, was the de- scendant of an ancient and noble Pied- montese family. At the age of 14 he was excommunicated for an assault upon his teacher, who was an ecclesiastic. In 1816 he accompanied his father to Rome, where he studied painting and music. In 1830 he married the daughter of Manzoni, the great novelist, and wrote several romances. The earliest of these, "Ettore Fieramosca," published in 1833, found great favor. His next romance, "Niccolo de' Lapi," published eight years afterward, became equally popular, and is esteemed by Italian critics the best historical novel in any language. In 1842 Azeglio abandoned his favorite pur-