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 626 ARABIC LITERATURE The "Oriental Geography of Ibn Haukal,' by i Ouseley (London, 1800), is translated from a Persian version in which the works of Al- Istakhri and Ibn Haukal have been recast and combined in one. Especially important are the geography of Edrisi (about 1150), who lived at the court of Roger II. of Sicily, and who visited England (French by Jaubert, Paris, 1836-'40; and the portion relating to Africa and Spain, Arabic and French, by Dozy and Do Goeje, Leyden, 1866); the "Geographical Dic- tionary" of Yakut (died 1229), published by Wustenfeld (Leipsic, 1866 et seq.) ; geography of Abulfeda (Arabic by Reinaud and De Slane, Paris, 1840; French by Reinaud, Paris, 1848). Ibn Batuta (died about 1377) surpassed all in the extent of his travels, which reached from Spain to China and into central Africa (Arabic and French by Defr6mery and Sanguinetti, Paris, 1853-'9; English, abridged, by Lee, London, 1829). Abdallatif, a physician, wrote an ac- count of Egypt, founded on his own observa- tions, and of great value (De Sacy, Paris, 1810). He took advantage of a plague in Cairo in 1201-'2, of which he gives a graphic descrip- tion, to make anatomical investigations. The Arab geographers, instead of following in their descriptions political or physical divisions of the globe, generally adopted, after the example of the Greeks, the system of climates or zones, usually seven. In the determination of lati- tudes and longitudes, of the magnitude of the earth, and the shape of the continents, they made a somewhat nearer approach to the truth than the Greek geographers. Under the caliph Al-Mamoun (813-'33), a measurement was made of the length of a degree of latitude. Such is the extent of Arabic literature that, notwith- standing the labors of European scholars and the production of native presses, especially at Boulak, Cairo, and in India, and recently in England, where Rigk Allah Hassoun, an Arabic poet, has devoted himself to the production of standard works, the greater part even of what has been preserved is in manuscript, and still more has perished. In proof of the great num- ber of works lost, we need not appeal to the ex- aggerated accounts of the libraries of some of the Mohammedan princes (Hakem II. of Spain is said to have collected 600,000 volumes). Works in literary history, always a favorite department with the Arabs, furnish abundant evidence. The most important of these works are the Fihrist or " Catalogue of Sciences " of Ibn al-Nadim, of the 9th century (published by Flttgel, vol. i., Leipsic, 1871); the "Bio- graphical Dictionary " of Ibn Khallikan, of the 13th century (Arabic by Wustenfeld, Gottingen, 1835-'50; French by De Slane, Paris, 1842- -'71); and Hadji Khalfa's (died 1635) "Dic- tionary of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Litera- ture " (Arabic and Latin by Flugel, 7 vols. 4to, Leipsic, 1835-'58). Hammer-PurgstaH's " Lit- erary History of the Arabs (7 vols. 4to, Vienna, 1850-'56), which comes down only to the year 1258, contains notices of about 10,000 writers. ARACHNIDA Of the printed books a tolerably complete in- dex is contained in Zenker's Bibliotheca Orien- tals (Leipsic, 1846-'60). ARABIC!, or Arabians, a Christian sect of the 3d century, founded by Beryllus, bishop of Bostra in Arabia. They denied the divinity of Christ, and affirmed that the soul dies with the body, and is raised to life again with it in the resurrection. Origen contended with Beryllus, and a synod condemned the Arabic!. ARACAN, or Arracan. I. A division of British Burmah, including the districts of Akyab, San- doway, and Ramree, bounded W. by the bay of Bengal, S. by Pegu, and separated by the You- madoung mountains on the E. from Ava ; area, 23,529 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 447,957. It is a hilly region, with numerous fertile plains and val- leys, dense jungles, and pestiferous marsnes. The coast has very few harbors, and though the country is rich in timber, coal, petroleum, salt, tobacco, and rice, and has considerable trade, there are few important towns. The climate is very unhealthy to Europeans. The principal river is the Aracan or Kuladyne, which enters the bay of Bengal 15 m. N. of Akyab, after a S. course of about 200 m. The aboriginal inhabitants, called Mughs, consti- tute about half the population. Education is very general, few being unable to read and write. The province was conquered by the Burmese in 1783, and taken from them by the British in 1824. Capital, Akyab. II. A town, the former capital of the above province, on the river Aracan, about 50 m. from its mouth ; pop. about 10,000. It is a straggling, decaying place, which once had about 95,000 inhabitants. The climate is extremely unwholesome. ARACATI. I. A port of Brazil, in the province of Ceara, on the Rio Jaguaribe, about 10 m. from the sea, lat. 4 81' S., Ion. 37 48' W. ; pop. about 20,000. It has five churches, and a very fine town hall. Its exports are mainly cotton and hides. At the mouth of the river is a dangerous bar. Severe floods occur dur- ing the rainy seasons. II. A river in the same province, flows due N. about 120 m., and en- ters the Atlantic by two mouths, near Pernam- buquinho, 150 m. N. W. of the town of Aracati. ARACHNE, in Greek mythology, a Lydian maiden, famous for her skill in weaving. She challenged Minerva, and wove a piece of cloth on which the amours of the gods were repre- sented. This work was so faultless that Mi- nerva, despairing of being able to excel it, 'tore it to shreds, whereupon Arachne hung herself. The goddess loosened the rope and saved the life of Arachne ; but the rope was transformed into a cobweb, and the maiden into a spider (Gr. ap&xvii), that insect which Minerva most hated. AK.U'H.MDA, a class of invertebrate animals belonging to the articulata, and including spi- ders, mites, and scorpions. The arachnida differ from insects in having no antennae ; in the number of eyes being in most species 8, and, even when only 2, in never being placed later-