Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/82

72 through moist saud and gravel. Others penetrate muddy clay and the debris in fissures of rocks. The labours of j the earthworm in passing through the soil only require indication; and the Gephyrea and some leeches show the same habits in clay and mud. Certain Polychaeta and Gephyrea have also the power, in common with cirripedes, molluscs, Bryozoa, and sponges, of perforating rocks, stones, shells, and other solid media. The most conspicuous forms are Polydora (fig. 21), Dodecaceria, Scibella saxicava, and Phascolosoma Johnstoni Though such annelids are very abundant in corals, limestone, chalk, and shells, yet their occurrence-in large numbers in aluminous shale and sandstone shows that their perforations are not necessarily due to an acid. The influence of the boring annelids ia disintegrating the foregoing substances is considerable. (W. C. M.) 

ANNESLEY,. See.

ANNI, or, the ancient Abnicum, a ruined city of Turkey in Asia, in Armenia, situated about 25 miles E.S.E. of Kars, in a rocky ravine, past which the Arpa - Chai, a tributary of the Aras or Araxes, flows. The private houses of Anni are now little more than heaps of loose stones, but in the ruins of the public buildings there is still ample evidence of the former size and greatness of the city. Several churches, mosques, and a building which was probably the palace, as well as the massive walls of the city, are the most perfect and conspicuous remains at Anni, and exhibit many points of great architectural beauty. Anni was the capital of the Pakradian or Bagratian dynasty of Armenian kings, and under their rule reached the height of its greatness. Alp Arslan captured it in 1064, and handed it over to a tribe of Kurds, from whom it was taken by the Georgians. In 1319 an earthquake completed the misfortunes of the city, reducing it to the state in which it now exists.

ANNO BOM, or, a small island off the west coast of Africa, situated in lat. 1 24 S. and long. 5 35 E., 190 miles west of Cape Lopez. Its length is about four miles, its breadth two; and, rising in some parts to a. height of nearly 3000 feet above the sea, it presents a succession of beautiful valleys and steep mountains, that are covered with rich woods and luxuriant vegetation. The inhabitants, who probably amount to about 3000, are negroes, very ignorant, but professing a belief in the Roman Catholic faith. Their chief town, a village on the north east of the island, is merely a collection of rude huts, with an equally barbarous chapel. The roadstead is tolerably safe, and passing vessels frequently take advantage of it in order to obtain water and fresh provisions, of which Anno Bom contains an abundant supply. The island was dis covered by the Portuguese on the 1st of January 1473, from which circumstance it received its name, " Dia do Anno Bom," being the Portuguese term for New- Year s day. It is claimed both by Spain and Portugal, but neither of these nations exercises any authority in the island, which is governed by a native, or rather it is said by a body of five natives, each of whom holds the office of governor in turn, during the period that elapses till ten ships touch at the island.

ANNONAY, a town of France, in the department of Ardeche, irregularly but picturesquely built on several small hills at the confluence of the rivers Canse and Deome, 37 miles south of Lyons. It contains few buildings that are worthy of notice, although an obelisk in honour of the celebrated brothers Montgolfier, inventors of the balloon, who were natives of the place, and the Gothic church oi Trachi, built in the 1 4th century, deserve to be mentioned. The manufactures of Annonay are among the most im portant in the department, the chief being those of paper, long considered to be the best in France, and glove leather, while cotton, woollen, arid silk goods are also produced. Population, 18,445. 



Y an annuity is meant a periodical payment, made annually, or at more frequent intervals, either for a fixed term of years, or during the continuance of a given life, or a combination of lives, as will be more fully explained further on. In technical language an annuity is said to be payable for an assigned status, this being a general word chosen in preference to such words as " time," " term," or " period," because it may include more readily either a term of years certain, or a life or combination of lives. The magnitude of the annuity is the sum to be paid (and received) in the course of each year. Thus, if 100 is to be received each year by a person, he is said to have "an annuity of 100." If the payments are made half-yearly, it is sometimes said that he has " a half-yearly annuity of 100;" but to avoid ambiguity, it is more commonly said he has an annuity of 100, payable by half-yearly instalments. The former expression, if clearly understood, is preferable on account of its brevity. So we may have quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily annuities, when the annuity is payable by quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily instalments. An annuity is considered as accruing during each instant of the status for which it is enjoyed, although it is only payable at fixed intervals. If the enjoyment of an annuity is postponed until after the lapse of a certain number of years, the annuity is said to be deferred. When an annuity is deferred for any number i f years, say n, it is said, indifferently, to commence, or to be entered upon, after n years, or to run from the end of n years; and if it is payable yearly, the first payment will bo made at the end of (n+l) years; if half-yearly, the first half-yearly payment will be made at the end of ( + ) years; if quarterly, the first quarterly payment will be made at the end of (n+¼) years; and so on. If an annuity, instead of being payable at the end of each year, half-year, &amp;, is payable in advance, it is called an annuity-due.

If an annuity is payable for a term of years independent of any contingency, it is called an annuity certain; if it is to continue for ever, it is called a perpetuity; and if in the latter case it is not to commence until after a term of years, it is called a deferred perpetuity. An annuity de.- pending on the continuance of an assigned life or lives, is sometimes called a life annuity; but more commonly the simple term "annuity" is understood to mean a life annuity, unless the contrary is stated. A life annuity, to cease in any event after a certain term of years, is called a temporary annuity. The holder of an annuity is called an annuitant, and the person on whose life the annuity depends is called the nominee.

If not otherwise stated, it is always understood that an annuity is payable yearly, and that the annual payment (or rent, as it is sometimes called) is £1. Of late years, however, it has become customary to consider the annual payment to be, not £1, but simply 1, the reader supplying