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ADMIRALTY INLET court of admirality is that court which has jurisdiction over maritime causes. Its judge was originally the lord high admiral, or his deputy, but is now appointed by commission from the crown. The term is applied to the building where the lords of the admiralty transact their business. In the United States all admiralty and maritime jurisdiction is assigned by the Constitution to the Federal courts.

ADMIRALTY INLET, a narrow body of water connecting Puget Sound with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Seattle, Tacoma, and Port Townsend are the chief cities on the Inlet.

ADMIRALTY ISLAND, a mountainous island, 90 miles long, off the W. coast of Alaska, to the N. E. of Sitka; belongs to the United States.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS, a group of 40 islands, to the N. E. of New Guinea; Baseo, the largest of them, being 60 miles in length, and is mountainous, but fruitful. The total area of the islands is 600 square miles. They were discovered by Schouten, in 1616. Some are volcanic, others are coral islands. They abound in cocoa-nut trees, and are inhabited by a race of tawny, frizzle-headed savages of the Papuan stock, about 4,000 in number. Together with New Britain and some adjoining groups, they were annexed by Germany, in 1885, and became part of the Bismarck Archipelago. During the World War they were occupied by Australian forces. The Paris Peace Conference, on May 7, 1919, decided that the mandate over them should be held by Australia.

ADOLESCENCE. A well-defined period of life extending from puberty to 21 in females and 25 in males. It is marked by an unusual rapid physical growth, and the mental development during this time is also rapid. In recent years educators have come to lay special stress on the importance of developing the individual during this period.

ADONAI (a-dō´nī), a Hebrew name for the Supreme Being; a plural form of Adon, "lord," combined with the pronoun of the first person. In reading the Scriptures aloud, the Jews pronounce "Adonai" wherever the old name "Jhvh" is found in the text; and the name "Jehovah" has arisen out of the consonants of "Jhvh" with the vowel points of Adonai.

ADONIS (a-dō´nis), son of Myrrha, daughter of Cinyras, King of Cyprus, was born in Arabia. Before the birth of her son she was transformed into the tree which produces the fragrant gum, called by her name; this, however, did not hinder his being brought into the world in due season; he grew up a model of manly beauty, and was passionately beloved by Aphrodite (Venus), who quitted Olympus to dwell with him. Hunting was his favorite pursuit, until, having gone to the chase against the entreaties of his mistress, he was mortally wounded in the thigh by a wild boar. Venus, coming too late to his rescue, changed his blood into flowers. After death, he was said to stand as high in the favor of Persephone (Proserpine) as before in that of Aphrodite; but, the latter being inconsolable, her rival generously consented that Adonis should spend half the year with his celestial, half with his infernal, mistress.

ADOPTION, the act of taking a stranger into one's family, as a son or daughter; or the taking of a person, a society, etc., into more intimate relations than formerly existed with another person or society; or the taking as one's own, with or without acknowledgment, an opinion, plan, etc., originating with another; also the selecting one from several courses open to a person's choice.

In law, both ancient and modern, the act of taking a stranger into one's family constituted the person so adopted one's heir to all intents and purposes.

ADORATION OF THE MAGI, a subject treated by great artists, from Lorenzo Monaco, representative of the Florentine school, early in the 15th century, to Rubens, in the 17th century, who painted it 15 times. Florentine art, on this subject, reached its best expression through Botticelli. A celebrated picture, by him, is in the Ufflzi, Florence. In this picture, the three kings are portraits of Gosino, Giuliano, and Giovanni de Medici, while the Virgin occupies a hut among ruins and rocks. Botticelli's pupil, Filippino Lippi, has also some contemporary portraits in his painting in the Uffizi. The entire scene of Tintoretto's, in the Scuola di San Rocco, at Venice, is lighted by radiance coming from the body of the Child. He represents the Venetian school, and his fresco was made famous by Ruskin in his "Stones of Venice." In Rembrandt's painting, in Buckingham Palace, the Virgin and the Child are seated at the right, while before them kneel the Magi; in the background are the kings and old men; in the distance are camels. The picture by Albert Dürer is in the Uffizi, Florence. In the Musée de Peinture, at Brussels, Belgium, is the painting by Rubens. Another of Rubens', in the Museum of Antwerp, Belgium, has