Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/642

 606 APEIES peach and plum, having the outside of the for- mer and the stone of the latter. The tree is a native of Armenia, and also of the Caucasus, Cabool, the Himalayas, China, and Japan, and by cultivation has been introduced throughout the temperate zone. The tree was cultivated by the Romans, and is mentioned by both Pliny and Dioscorides. The Roman generals intro- duced it into Gaul and Britain, although the first notice that has been found of its being in England is by Turner, whose " Herbal " was printed in 1562. There it seldom ripens its fruit unless trained against a wall. In Cali- fornia vast quantities are raised, of a large size and fair quality, ripening before the peach. In its wild state the fruit is small, of a waxen yellow color, rosy-cheeked, and of a pleasant, slightly acid flavor. It is dried in large quan- tities in the East under the name mishmiah, and the preserved apricots of Damascus are favorably known to all travellers, and some- times imported into the United States. The Apricot^Frnit, Flower, and Pit best varieties are the Moor Park and the Brus- sels and Breda, the last two being especially adapted to the confectioner's purposes. The Siberian apricot is cultivated for its foliage and flowers. The chief enemies of this fruit in the United States are a species of curculio, which causes the early dropping of the imma- ture fruit ; the black wart, which attacks the branches ; and another fungus which destroys the leaf. Apricots are seldom seen in the New England markets, and they are by no means common in New York. APRIES (Eg. Uahprahet, the sun enlarges his heart), a king of Egypt of the 26th dynasty, the Hophra of the Bible, and the Uaphris of Mane- tho, succeeded his father Psammis (Psamatik II.) about 688 B. C. He invaded Syria, be- sieged Sidon, and fought a naval battle with the king of Tyre, but failed in his attempt to save Zedekiah from Nebuchadnezzar, who sub- sequently invaded Egypt. Apries was still APTERYX more unfortunate in a war against Gyrene, and perished soon after, according to Herodotus, by a revolt of his subjects, who raised Amasis to the throne (about 569 B. C.). APRIL (Lat. Aprili*), the 4th month of the year, consisting of 30 days. With the Romans it was the 2d month of the year. Julius Caesar added the 30th day to it. In the time of Nero it was called Neroneus. The name is supposed to be derived from aperire, to open, because the buds open themselves at this period. In the Athenian calendar, the latter portion of Elaphebolion and the greater part of Muny- chion correspond to April. Charlemagne, in his new calendar, called it grass month, the name still given to it by the Dutch (grasmaand). The French revolutionary calendar merged it into the greater portion of Germinal and the commencement of Floreal. On antique monu- ments Aprilis is represented as a dancing youth with a rattle in his hand. The custom of send- ing people on empty errands on the 1st of April (hence called All Fools' Day) is common in every country of Europe. Oriental scholars say that it is derived from the huli feast among the Hindoos, where a similar custom prevails. Another opinion is that it comes from a cele- bration of Christ's being sent about to and fro between Herod, Pilate, and Caiaphas. In France the fooled man is called poisson d'avril, meaning a silly fish, easily caught. In Scotland , he is called gowk, which means a cuckoo. APTERAL (Gr. a privative and irrep6v, wing), an architectural term used particularly with reference to the temples of the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is applied to buildings which have no lateral columns, but may have porti- cos of columns projecting from their ends. APTERYX, a struthious bird of New Zealand, called by the natives kiwi-kiwi from its pecu- liar cry. It belongs to the family which con- tains the living cassowary, emu, mooruk, and ostrich, and the extinct sepyornis, dinornis, and dodo. The beak resembles that of a long- billed wader, being slender, with the base covered with a bony cere, the upper mandible the longer and containing the openings of the j nostrils near the tip ; the base of the bill is fur- nished with long, slender black bristles, inter- mixed with the feathers, and projecting in all directions ; the wings are 2 small crooked ap- pendages, extending about 1 inches from the sides of the chest, and terminated by a curved, obtuse, horny claw 3 lines long, having 9 quill plumes differing but little from .those of the body ; the tail is not apparent ; the tarsi are as long as the middle toe, covered with va- riously sized scales, and very robust as in galli- naceous birds; there are 3 anterior toes, free and covered with scales, and a very short hind toe, all armed with strong and rather sharp claws. The plumage is loose as in other ter- restrial birds which have no power of flight, re- sembling that of the emu in size, structure, and color, but wanting the accessory plumelet ; the skin is very tough, a line thick along the back,