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Rh 420 A G R A H A his own son, and to adopt her son Domitius in his stead. She removed from her path all whom she feared or envied, and in 54 A.D. poisoned Claudius at Sinuessa that she might reign as regent for her son. Nero in a short time grew tired of her interference, and when she first intrigued against and then frowned upon him, he ordered her to be slain at her villa on the Lucrine lake. After having been slightly wounded by Anicetus, she perished by the sword of a centurion, 60 A.D. AGROTERAS THUSIA, an annual festival at Athens in honour of Artemis or Diana, in fulfilment of a vow made by the city before the battle of Marathon to offer in sacrifice a number of goats equal to that of the Persians slain in the conflict. The number was afterwards restricted to 500. AGTELEK, a village of Hungary, in the county of Gb mb r, near the road from Pesth to Kaschau. In the neighbourhood is the celebrated stalactite grotto of Baradla, one of the most remarkable in Europe. The entrance is extremely narrow, but the interior spreads out into a labyrinth of caverns, the largest of which, called the Flower Garden, is 96 feet high and 90 feet wide, and extends nearly 900 feet in a straight line. In these caverns there are numerous stalactite structures, which, from their curious and fantastic shapes, have received such names as the Image of the Virgin, the Mosaic Altar, &c. AGUA, VOLCANO DE, a Imge mountain in Central America, 25 miles S.W. of Guatemala. It is of a conical shape, and rises to a height of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. At the summit there is a crater, measuring about 140 yards by 120, from which stones and torrents of boiling water are occasionally discharged. In close proximity to Agua are the volcanoes of Pacaya, on the S.E., and Fuego on the W., and the three present together a scene of great magnificence. AGUADO, ALEXANDER MARIA, one of the most famous bankers of modern times, was born of Jewish parentage at Seville in 1784. He commenced life as a soldier, fight ing with distinction in the Spanish war of independence on the side of Joseph. After the battle of Baylen (1808) he entered the French army, in which he had risen to be colonel and aide-de-camp to Marshal Soult, when he took his discharge in 1815. He immediately commenced busi ness as a commission-agent in Paris, and chiefly through his connection with Spain and the Spanish colonies, acquired in a few years wealth enough to enable him to undertake banking. The Spanish government gave him full powers to negotiate the loans of 1823, 1828, 1830, and 1831 ; and Ferdinand VII. rewarded him with the title of Marquis de las Marismas del Guadalquiver, and the decorations of several orders. Aguado also negotiated the Greek loan of 1834. In 1828, having become possessed of large estates in France, including the Chateau Margaux, famous for its wine, he was naturalised as a French citizen. He died in 1842, leaving a fortune computed at 60,000,000 francs. The designs of the leading pictures in an exten sive and admirable art collection which he had formed were published by Gavard under the title Galerie Aguado (1837-42). AGUAS CALIENTES, a town in Mexico, capital of the state of the same name, situated 270 miles N.W. of the city of Mexico, in 22 N. lat., and 101 45 W. long. It takes its name from the hot springs in its vicinity. The climate is fine, and the extensive and beautiful gardens surrounding the town produce an abundance of olives, figs, grapes, and pears. It has a large manufactory of woollen cloth, and the general trade is considerable. Population, 22,534. AGUILAR, GRACE (1816-47), an admired English authoress, was the daughter of a Jewish merchant in London. She was educated wholly by her parents, and commenced her literary career at an early age. Her works, written in a pleasing, elegant, and impressive style, consist chiefly of religious fictions, such as The Martyr and Home Influence. She also wrote, in defence of her faith and its professors, The Spirit of Judaism, and other works. Her services in the latter direction were acknowledged grate fully by the &quot; women of Israel,&quot; in a testimonial which they presented shortly before her death. In 1835 she had a severe attack of measles, from the effects of which her constitution never wholly recovered. After a long struggle with increasing bodily infirmities, she died at Frankfort, on her way to Schwalbach, in the autumn of 1847. AGUILAR DE LA FRONTERA, a town of Spain, stands near the river Cabra, 22 miles S.S.E. of Cordova. The houses are well built, and distinguished by their cleanness and regularity. The town has three handsome public squares, and the principal buildings are the parish church, the chapter-house, a new town-hall, the prison, and the markets. Near the church are the ruins of a once magni ficent Moorish castle. The district produces excellent wines, which go by the name of Montilla, and there is also some trade in corn and oil. Population, 12,000. AGUILLON, FRANCOIS D, an eminent mathematician, born at Brussels in 1566. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1586, and was successively professor of philosophy at Douay and rector of the Jesuit College at Antwerp. Eminent for his skill in mathematics, he was the first to introduce the study of that science among the Jesuits in the Low Countries. He wrote a treatise on Optics in six books (Antwerp, 1613), and was employed in finishing another on Catoptrics and Dioptrics when he died, in 1617. AGUIRRA, JOSEF SAENZ D, a distinguished Spanish ecclesiastic and theological writer, was born at Logrogno on the 24th March 1630. He belonged to the Benedictine order, and was abbot of St Vincent, professor of theology at the university of Salamanca, and afterwards secretary to the Spanish Inquisition. For a work (Defensio Cathedrae S. Petri adversus Declarationes Cleri Gallici, 1682), which he wrote in support of the papal authority against the four propositions of the Gallican Church, he was promoted to the rank of cardinal by Pope Innocent XL in 1686. Of his other works the chief are a Collection of the Councils of Spain (1693-4), and a Treatise on the Theology of Anselm, only three volumes of which appeared, the fourth and last being still incomplete when the author died, August 19th, 1699. - To judge from a warm eulogium of Bossuet, his opponent in controversy, Aguirra had a very high reputation for piety. AGULHAS, CAPE, the most southern point of Africa, 100 miles E.S.E of the Cape of Good Hope, in 34 51 30&quot; S. lat., and 19 56 30&quot; E. long. At a distance of a mile from the sea it rises to a height of 455 feet. In 1849 a lighthouse was opened on it nearer the shore, the light in which stands 128 feet above high- water mark. An im mense bank, the Agulhas Bank, extends from the Cape of Good Hope along the coast to the great Fish River, a distance of 560 miles, with a breadth, opposite to the Cape, of 200 miles. The great oceanic current from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic sets along its outward edge, and has sharply defined it. This current has such velocity that ships are often carried far to the westward, and round the Cape of Good Hope, even against a smart breeze. The bank abounds with fish ; and the approach to it is denoted by the appearance of many whales, sharks, and seals, and innumerable sea-birds. AHAB, king of Israel, was the son and successor of Omri. He ascended the throne in the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah, i.e., 918 B.C., and reigned over Samaria 22 years. Having married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, he was brought into closer connec-