Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/534

LEFT X X, X, the 24th letter of the English alphabet. It is superfluous, as it repre- sents no sound which cannot be ex- pressed by other letters. Thus, when used at the beginning of a word it has precisely the sound of z ; when occurring in the middle of a word it usually has the sound of ks, as in axis, taxes, forces, etc.; it also has the same sound in some cases when terminating a word, as lax, wax, etc.; when it terminates a syllable, and more especially an initial syllable, if the syllable following it is open or ac- cented, it frequently has the sound of gz, as in luxury, exhaust, exalt, exotic, etc. As an initial it occurs only in words of Greek origin, or formed from Greek words, most of these formations being of a scientific or technical nature. X as a symbol is used in numeration: For 10, in this case being composed of two Vs (5) placed one above the other, the lower one being inverted. When placed horizontally it stands for 1,000 and with a dash over it, it represents 10,000. In ordinary writing X is frequently used as an abbreviation for Christ. In this case the symbol is not the same letter as the English X, but represents the Greek X (Ch), as in Xn=Christian, Xmas= Christmas. XANTIPPE, wife of Socrates, and the tjrpical female termagant or scold. Most of the stories about her are prob- ably false; for in ancient Athens gossip was cultivated to the perfection of a fine art, and the point and not the truth of the story was the chief consideration. Xantippe had probably some little acerb- ities of temper, and these must have been heightened by the peculiarities of her spouse, especially his indifference to the commonplace duty laid on the head of the house to make both ends meet. Socrates received her reproaches with such good-humored indifference that we cannot wonder she sometimes resorted to other weapons besides her tongue; as on the occasion when she is said to have finished up a tirade by sousing the phi- losopher, though his remark, as he moved dripping from the scene, that when Xan« tippe thundered she watered, must have convinced her that here, too, she was powerless. Some authors have given Socrates a second wife, named Myrto, but the story is undoubtedly false. XANTIPPUS, a Lacedaemonian gen- eral; went to the support of the Cartha- ginians in 255 B, c; and defeated the Romans under Regulus at Tunes (now Tunis). Notwithstanding his services, the Carthaginians ordered the captain in his ship to throw him into the sea. XAVIER, FRANCISCO, a Spanish missionary and saint of the Roman Catholic Church, usually styled the Apostle of the Indies; born of a noble family, whose family seat of Xavier lay to the N. W. of Pampeluna, April 7, 1506. At the College of Sainte Barbe, in Paris, he attained while still young some importance as a lecturer on philos- ophy; but a friendship which he formed with his fellow countryman Loyola, turned his attention in a new direction, and he 'became one of the first members of the Society of Jesus. In the early part of 1540, before the Society had received papal approbation, he was chosen for the mission to India, and received the title of apostolic nuncio from Paul III. The rest of his life was consecrated with high-souled devotion to the work of an evangelist. From Goa, his headquarters, where he arrived in May, 1542, he ex- tended his labors S. to Ceylon, Malacca, and Celebes. The last two years of his life were spent in Japan, where he met with remarkable success, and he was on his way to China when he fell ill with fever, and was abandoned to his fate on the island of Sancian by the shipmen with whom he sailed. He expired Dec. 2, 1552. His body was conveyed to Goa, where it remains in the Church of the Bom Jesus. Once in a century it is shown to the people on the saint's day. 462