Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/129

ACROBAT. exponent of the original art was Blondin, who crossed Niagara Falls on a rope, carrying a man on his back. But this was no unherad-of feat, for when Isabel of Bavaria, Queen to Charles VI. of France, made her entry into Paris, says Frois- sart, who was an eye witness, a cord was stretched from the highest house on the bridge of St. Michel to the topmost gallery of the Church of Our Lady and an acrobat carried two boys holding lighted candles over it. From be- ing a rope-dancer, or rather balancer only, the acrobat gradually added to his exhibits other balancing and tumbling acts. Vaulting and jug- gling and contortions became part of the enter- tainments of the Middle ages. Edward III. paid jugglers handsomely for exhibiting their acro- batic skill and the flexibility of their bodies. The austere Queen Mary even relaxed at their pranks; and when Queen Elizabeth attended the revels at Kenilworth Castle, which Sir Walter Scott has immortalized, she was vastly enter- tained by acrobatic tumblers. Even the wonder- ful balancing feats of the Japanese with ladders at right angles, up and down which a second man climbs in apparent defiance of the laws of equilibrium, had their prototypes, if not equals, among the European acrobats of two hundred years ago, while modern somersault-throwing and leaping through hoops are illustrated in manuscripts as far back as the fourteenth cen- tury. The more liberal interpretation of the word now includes performances on the trapeze, the horizontal bar, and the other pieces of appa- ratus usually found in gymnasiums for the de- velopment of the suppleness of the body. Con- sult: Le Roux and Garnier, Acrobats and Mountebanks, translated by A. P. Morton, illus- trated (London, 1890).

AC'ROCERAU'NIA (literally, "Thunder-Heights," from (Gk. ἄκρος, akros, highest, + κεραυνός, keraunos, thunderbolt). The north- western promontory of Epirus, which forms the termination of the Ceraunian, or Aeroceraunian, Mountains. It was a dangerous point for sail- ors, and was named from the frequent thunder- storms that occurred there. It is the modern Cape Glossa.

AC'ROCORIN'THUS (Gk., Akrokorinthos). A steep hill 2000 feet in height which was the citadel of ancient Corinth, and is still crowned by ruined Byzantine fortifications. The hill commands a superb view.

ACROLEIN, a-kro'le-in (Lat. acer, sharp + olere, to smell), CjH.CHO. A colorless liquid hav- ing an extremely irritating odor. It is produced in the incomplete combustion of fats and when ordinary glycerin is distilled with sulphuric acid or other dehydrating agents. Some acrolein is produced when fats are overheated in cooking, and when the wick of a candle just blown out is left smoldering. Its reactions show that it contains the atomic group ClU); it is, there- fore, classed with the aldehydes. Bromine adds itself directly to acrolein, forming an "additive product" of the composition, C.H.BrX'IIO: which shows that acrolein must be classed with the unsaturated organic compounds.

AC'ROLITHS (Gk. ἄκρος, akros, highest, extreme + λῐ́θος, lithos, stone). In the early development of Greek art there came a period when the ideal of the Hellenes no longer permitted them to look upon a god as a mere idol, but as a being endowed with mind and consciousness. Therefore, instead of a tawdry representation, they conceived a worthier image carved in wood. The body was ornamented with a thin armor of gold; the head and lower extremities were formed of stone or marble. The figures so constructed were called acroliths.

AC'ROMEG'ALY (Gk. ἄκρος, akros, highest, extreme + μέγας, megas, great). A chronic nervous disease characterized by a gradual and permanent enlargement of the head, thorax, hands, and feet, and by a curvature backward of the spine. It was first described in 1886 by Marie. It occurs in both men and women, beginning apparently about the age of eighteen or twenty. Some pains and functional disturbances, as well as anæmia, accompany its onset. Both soft tissues and bones are enlarged, the lower jaw, tongue, lips, and nose being very greatly hypertrophied. The hand sometimes reaches 8 inches in length, the foot 12 inches, while the circumference of the head may reach 26 inches. The cause of this perversion of nutrition is unknown. Consult: Dana, Text-book of Nervous Diseases (New York, 1901).

A'CRON (Gk. Ἄκρων, Akron). A physician of the fifth century B.C., native of Agrigentum in Sicily. Tradition says that he successfully combated the great plague in Athens in 430 B.C. by building large fires to purify the air. The Empiricists claimed him as the father of their school. His medical works are wholly lost.

ACROP'OLIS (Gk. ἄκρος, akros, highest, + πόλις, polis, city). Originally the fortified refuge of a district, usually containing the palace of the chief. For this purpose a natural stronghold was selected and strengthened by artificial defenses. Around the acropolis a city frequently arose, and when this was defended by a wall the acropolis sometimes lost its military character and was given over to temples, as having been the centre of the oldest cults. The acropolis of Athens is the best example of this change, and is also the most celebrated. (See .) Other noteworthy acropolises are the Larissa at Argos, Acrocorinthus at Corinth, Mount Ithome at Messene, and the Cadmea at Thebes. The name is frequently applied to any fortified hill commanding an ancient site; so at Troy, Mycenæ, Tiryns, Pergamum, Priene, etc.

ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS. A — Parthenon. B — Foundation of Early Temple. C — Museum. D — Terrace. E — Erechtheum. F — Propylæa. G — Precinct of Artemis Brauronia. H — Temple of Victory. I — Agrippa Pedestal. J — Pinacotheca. K — Altar to Rome and Augustus Cæsar.

ACROS'TIC (Gk. ἄκρον, akron, extremity, end + στίχος, stichos, line, verse). A Greek term for a number of verses, the first letters of