Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/757

 AEMAGEDDON AEMAGNAC 721 from 22 to 24 small teeth, throughout, on each side of both jaws. Of the cachicames, or first division, there are three species, of which the commonest is the dasypus peba, or black tatu of Paraguay. It is about 16 inches long, and was originally known under the appellations of the 7, 8, and 9-banded armadillo, three species being made out of one. The other species of this group are the mule tatu, so called from the length of its ears, and the tatu verda- duro, hardly distinguishable from the last, ex- cept by the breadth of the movable bands and the size of the croup buckler. Of the aparas/ there is but one species, the mataco, which has in general but 3 bands and a short, blunt tail, covered by a single horny crust. The en- couberts have three species : the poyou, or yellow-footed armadillo, which has usually but 7 or 8 movable bands, and is easily known by its triangular snout, flat body, and short legs ; the hairy armadillo, remarkable for its more copious growth of bristles from between the movable bands, and for its practice of burrow- ing into the bodies of dead horses, and remain- ing within them until all the flesh is consumed, and nothing left but the skeleton and hide ; and lastly the pichiy, which is the smallest of all the armadillos. The kabassous have but one species, the tatouay, or wounded arma- dillo, so called by the Indians from an idea that the scaly covering of its tail, which is naked and looks raw, has been torn off by violence. The last subdivision of armadillos, the prio- dontes, has likewise but one species, the dasy- pus gigas, or great armadillo of Cuvier. It is remarkable for its size, being 3 feet 3 inches long; for its movable bands, 12 or 13 in num- ber, composed of rectangular plates ; for the thickness of its tail at the base ; and for the spiral lines of the scales by which it is defend- ed. All the armadillos are inhabitants of Cen- tral and South America, being found dispersed from Mexico, over the pampas of Buenos Ayres, and south as far as Paraguay. The armadillo runs with remarkable speed, easily outstrip- ping a man. Although the females in no spe- cies have more than 4 mammae, and in some but 2, they invariably produce 6, 8, or 10 young at a birth, bearing but once in a season. ARMAGEDDON (Heb. har, hill, and Megiddo), the name probably given to the whole table land of Esdraelon in Galilee and Samaria, from the town of Megiddo, which stood near the centre of it, upon the site, according to Dr. Eobinson, of the modern Lejjun (the Eoman Legio). Armageddon was the great battle- field of Palestine. On this elevated plain were fought the battles of the Kishon, Jezreel, Gilboa, and Megiddo. The fame of this field of many battles explains the passage (Eev. xvi. 14-16) in which the seer of the Apocalyptic vision de- scribes God as summoning his foes to " a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon," to the battle of the " great day of God Almighty." ARMAGH. It A county of northern Ireland, in the province of Ulster, between Longh Neagh 47 VOL. i. 47 on the north and the county of Louth on the south ; area, 512 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 171,355. In the S. W. part are several groups of incon- siderable mountains ; the rest of the surface is level or undulating, and the soil is generally fertile. The principal rivers are the Black- water and the Bann. The northern and central portions of the county are divided into small farms; grain, vegetables, and flax are their products. Linen weaving is the chief manu- facturing industry. The principal towns are Armagh and Newry ; part of the latter lies also in the* county of Down. Portadown and Lurgan are noted for their linen manufactures. II. A city, capital of the preceding county, situ- ated on the Callam, an affluent of the Black- water, 36 m. by railway W. S. W. of Belfast; pop. in 1871, 8,952. It is well built round a hill, from the centre of which rises the famous old cathedral, recently repaired and occupying the site of the original building erected by St. Patrick. The town is supplied with water from an adjoining reservoir and is lighted with gas. The Anglican and Eoman Catholic arch- bishops of Armagh both bear the title of pri- mate of all Ireland. The trade chiefly consists in grain, flax yarn, and linen. It has several branch banks, and lively weekly corn and general markets, and the prosperity of the town is rapidly increasing. Between the 5th and 9th centuries Armagh was a renowned ecclesiastical and intellectual centre, and sub- sequently it was often devastated by the Danes. After the English invasion it was al- most uninterruptedly under Irish rulers up to the reformation, after which period it became the scene of many conflicts between the English and Irish forces till the beginning of the 17th century. The military headquarters, formerly in Armagh, have been removed to Belfast. ARMAGNAC, an ancient territory of France, in the province of Gascony, now forming the department of Gers, and a part of Lot-et-Ga- ronne, Tarn-et-Garonne, and Haute-Garonne. It was successively included in Aquitaine, in the duchy of Gascony, and in the county of Fsenzac, and was erected into a separate county in 960. Its rulers during the 14th and 15th centuries became very powerful. Louis XI. united it to the crown in 1481, but it was restored by Charles VIII., reunited to the crown on the death of the last count in 1497, and, after new changes, descended to Henry of Navarre, who incorporated it with the kingdom of France on his accession in 1589. Louis XIV. gave the title to Henry of Lor- raine in 1645, and it was borne by his descen- dants until the revolution. Of the ancient counts of Armagnac, the most distinguished were the following: I. Bernard VII., killed June 12, 1418. He distinguished himself in the war with the English in Guienne. When the murder of Louis, duke of Orleans, broth- er of Charles VI., by the emissaries of John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, left the Or- leanists without a chief (1407), he married