Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/467

Rh A I S A I X 431 many such on the Continent, the most celebrated of which are at Milan and Amiens. Others have three aisles on each side, or seven aisles in all, as the cathedrals at Antwerp and Paris. The most extraordinary, however, is that at Cordova, originally erected for a mosque. It was first built with a nave and five aisles on each side, and eight others afterwards were added, making nineteen aisles in all Old English writers frequently call the transepts &quot; the cross isle, or yle,&quot; and the nave the &quot; middle ile.&quot; AISNE, a frontier department in the north-east of France, bounded on the N. by the department of Nord and the kingdom of Belgium, on the E. by the department of Ardennes, on the S.E. by that of Marne, on the S. by that of Seine-et-Marne, and on the W. by those of Oise and Somrne; extending at the widest points 75 miles from N. to S., and 53 from E. to W., with an area of 2838 square miles. The surface of the department con sists of fine undulating plains, diversified in the north by hilly ground which forms a part of the mountain system of the Ardennes. The chief rivers are the Somme, the Escaut, and the Sambre in the north ; the Oise, traversing the north-west, with its tributaries the Serre and the Aisne, the latter of which joins it beyond the limits of the depart ment ; and the Marne and the Ourcq in the south. The soil of Aisne is, as a whole, fertile, and in some parts very rich, yielding wheat, barley, rye, oats, hops, flax, fruit, beetroot, and potatoes ; there is good pasturage, and much attention is paid to the rearing of cattle, sheep, and horses. Wine is produced, but, except in the valley of the Marne, its quality is inferior. Large tracts of the department are under wood, the chief forests being those of Nouvion and St Michel in the north, Coucy and St Gobain in the centre, and Villers-Cotterets in the south. There are no minerals of importance in the department, but good building-stone and slates of a fair quality are found. Aisne is an im portant manufacturing department ; its chief industrial pro ducts being shawls and muslin as well as other cotton, linen, and woollen goods glass, including the famous mirrors of St Gobain, iron wares, beetroot sugar, leather, and pottery. It has a good trade, which is much facilitated by railroads (the most important being those between Paris and Strasbourg, and Paris and Mons), canals, and the navigable portions of the rivers. Aisne, which is com posed of parts of the ancient provinces of Picardy and the Isle of France, is divided into five arrondissements St Quentin and Vervins in the north, Laon in the centre, and Soissons and Chateau Thierry in the south. It contains in all 37 cantons and 837 communes. Laon is the capital, and Soissons the seat of the bishop. The other towns of importance are Chauny, St Quentin, Vervins, Hirson, Suise, Villers-Cotterets, and Chateau Thierry. Population in 1872, 552,439, of whom 183,104 could neither read nor write, and 28,651 could read, but could not write. AITON, AVILLIAM (1731-1793), an eminent botanist and gardener, was born near Hamilton in Scotland. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to England in the year 1754, where he became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the physic garden at Chelsea. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly-established botanical garden at Kew, in which office he continued till his death. The garden at Kew, under the auspices of King George III., was destined to be the grand repository of all the vegetable riches which could be accumulated by regal munificence, from researches through every quarter of the globe. Aiton s care and skill in cultivation, and intelligence in arrangement, gained for him high reputation among the lovers of the science, and the particular esteem of his royal patrons. Under his superintendence many improvements took place in the plan and edifices of Kew gardens, which rendered them the principal scene of be tanical culture in the kingdom. In 1783 his merit was rewarded with the lucrative office of manager of the pleasure and kitchen gardens of Kew, which he was allowed to hold along with the botanical direction. In 1789 he published his Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew, in 3 vols. 8vo, with 1 3 plates a work which had been the labour of many years. The Hortus, in which the Linnasan system of arrangement, with some modification, was adopted, was very favourably re ceived by students of science, and a second edition was issued (1810-3) byW. T. Aiton, his eldest son and suc cessor. He was for many years honoured with the friend ship of Sir Joseph Banks, the president of the Royal Society, and was aided by the Swedish naturalists, Solander and Dryander, in the preparation of his Hortus Kewensis. AITZEMA, LEON VAN, Dutch historian and statesman, was born at Doccum, in Friesland, on the 19th November 1600, and died at the Hague on the 23d February 1669. In his youth he published a volume of Latin poems under the title of Poemata Juvenilia. He subsequently devoted himself almost entirely to political life, and held for a lengthened period the position of resident at the Hague for the towns of the Hanseatic League. His most im portant work was the Ilistorie oft Verhaal van SadJcen van Staet in Oorlogh (14 vols 4to, 1657-71), embracing the period from 1621 to 1668. It contains a large number of state documents, and is an invaluable authority on one of the most eventful periods of Dutch history. AIX, an ancient city of France, the chief town of the arrondissement of the same name, in the department of the Bouches-du-Rhone. It was the Aquce Sextiai of the Romans, and between this and Arelate (Aries) is the field on which Marius gained his great victory over the Teutons. Under the counts of Provence, Aix became celebrated as a seat of learning ; and it still retains many relics of its former splendour, and is distinguished by the number and excellence of its literary institutions. It has a library of 100,000 volumes, an academy of law, science, and theo logy, a museum, and a chamber of commerce. The cathedral the baptistry of which is said to have been constructed from the remains of a Roman temple the &quot;Palais,&quot; the town-hall, and the clock-tower, are fine speci mens of ancient architecture. There are numerous public fountains, on one of which is sculptured a figure of King Ren4 by David. The hot springs, from which the city derives its name, are not now in much repute. Aix is the seat of a court of justice and an archbishopric. The chief manufactures are cotton, silk, thread, and hardware ; and olives and almonds are cultivated on the surrounding hills. There is considerable commerce in corn, wine, and oil. The naturalists Adanson and Tournefort, and the painter Vanloo, were born at Aix. Population (1872), 29,020. AIX, or Aix-LES-T&amp;gt;AiNS,atown of France, in the depart ment of Savoie, near Lake Bourget, 8 miles north of Chambery. It was a celebrated bathing-place in the time of the Romans, and possesses numerous ancient remains. The hot springs, which are of sulphureous quality, and have a temperature of from 109 to 113 Fahr., are still much frequented, attracting annually above 2000 visitors. They are used for drinking as well as for bathing purposes. Population, 4430. AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, the German AACHEN, the capital of a district of the same name in Rhenish Prussia, situated near the &quot;Warm, a tributary of the Meuse, in a pleasant and fertile valley about 40 miles west of Cologne, with which it is connected by railway. It is well built, and is enclosed by ramparts that have been converted into pro menades, and its appearance is rather that of a prosperous modern town than of an ancient city full of historical