Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/768

APOPLEXY. The symptoms eome on acutely, may occur in the young or old, and may be slight, if a small vessel is blocked, or severe if the vessel is large. There may be sudden dizziness and weakness, going on to slight convulsive movements of one side of the body and loss of consciousness. This is accompanied by deep, noisy breathing, a slow- ing of the pulse, and perhaps a slight rise in temperature. The person may soon recover, usu- ally with some weakness in some part of the body, or with a slight paralysis of some of the muscles of the leg. arm. or face. At times the whole of one side of the body may remain paralyzed.

Cerebral throtnbosis is due to a disease of the blood vessels themselves, during which blood clots may form in them, and thus cut off a por- tion of the brain substance from its normal sup- ply of blood. Syphilis is the chief cause, espe- cially in most cases of apoplexy under forty years of age. The symptoms are apt to come on more gradually. Folloving a week of headache, dizzi- ness, and nausea, may occur peculiar sensations of prickling in the fingers; convulsive move- ments in some of the muscles, and twitchings or gradually increasing lameness, or loss of muscu- lar strength. At the time of attack the symp- toms resemble those of embolism.

Cerebral hemorrhage is the most important cause of apoplexy. It occurs from the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain substance, and the severity of the svmptoms depends partly on the amount of the hemorrhage, largely on the part of the brain involved. Hemorrhage is more apt to occur in the aged, and it is a frequent cause of death in those over sixty years of age. The symp- toms may he sudden and terminate in death, or there may be several attacks of giddiness or col- lapse, with tingling or twitchings of the extremi- ties, loss of speech, etc. Patients may have sev- eral attacks and yet recover, with some persist- ing paralysis of one side of the body or of one arm or one leg. Little can be done before a physician comes. Mustard baths to the feet and the application of heat to the extremities may help in some cases. Persons with the "apoplec- tic habit" should take special care not to become mentally disturbed. APOPLEXY, Pabttbiext. See Milk Fe-eb. APORT'. See Helm. APOS'PORY (Gk. air6. apo, away, from -r ffxApos, s/ioios, seed). A name which literally means "without spore reproduction," and which refers to the fact that in some cases the sexual plant develops directly from an asexual one without the intervention of a spore. This phenomenon, like its correlative, Apojami/ (q.v.), has been especially observed among ferns, and the list of knowTi forms which show it is increasing rapidly. Under certain conditions, which are not clear, a prothallium (the sexual plant i buds directly from various regions of the fern leaf, common among which are abortive sporangia and leaf teeth. Among mosses, cases of apospory have been obsen-ed, and have also been induced arti- ficially. In these cases a sexual plant is devel- oped directly from the spore-bearing structure. -Among seed-plants apospory has not been ob- served, and in the very nature of things is not likely to be found, one reason for this being that the -sexual plant is so very much reduced that it would hardly be observable, even if it were to appear vegetatively. APOS'TATE (Gk. diroo-TdTijt. apostates, de- serter, renegade, from dxA, apo, away + UrTdmu, histanai, to place, to stand). Literally, any one who changes his religion, whatever may be his motive : but, by custom, a word always used in an opprobrious sense, as equivalent to renegade, or one who, in changing his creed, is actuated bv unworthy motives. In early Christian times, the word was applied to those who abandoned their faith in order to escape from persecution (see Lapsed) : but it was also applied to such as rejected Christianity on speculative grounds, as, for instance (though in his case there had been no intelligent reception of Christianity), the Emperor Julian was supposed to have done. After the Fifth Century, when heathenism was declining, many who had no sincere belief in Christianity, yet made profession of it and were baptized: these also were styled apostates. The Roman Catholic Church at one period imposed severe penalties on apostasy. The apostate was, of course, excommunicated, but sometimes, also, his property was confiscated, and he himself banished, or even put to death. It has often been of great moment to the fortunes of a na- tion that a prince has changed his religion. The most renovned instance in modern history is that of Henry IV. of France. Those who embrace a religious faith are called "converts' by those they join and 'perverts' by those they leave. The term Apost.st is now employed commonly, and often abusively, as a reproach for great or sudden changes in political opinions. A POSTE RIO'RI See. APOS'TLE [Gk. ἀπόστολος, apostolos, one sent forth, a delegate, from ἀπό, apo, from + στέλλειν, stellein, to send). The name used in the New Testament to designate specifically that group of Christ's disciples who were called by Him to be His more intimate companions during His ministry, and to proclaim, as His representatives, the Gospel to men. They were twelve in number: Simon Peter (Hebrew name Cephas), Andrew, James (the son of Zebedee), John (brother of James), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew (Hebrew name Levi), Thomas (also called Didymus), James (the son of Alphæus), Jude (the son of James, doubtless to be identified with Thaddæus, named in his place in the lists of Matthew and Mark), Simon (the Canaanite, also called the Zealot), and Judas Iscariot.

Their qualifications, as understood by the early Church, were evidently that they should have been with Him during His ministry, and have seen Him after His resurrection (Acts i. 21, 22: &ldquo;Of these which companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us . . . must one be a witness with us of the resurrection&rdquo;). As a result, however, of exercising its rights in the election of a substitute for Judas Iscariot, in order to maintain the original number, and as a result, further, of admitting into this number an extra apostle in the person of the divinely appointed Paul, the Church evidently considered itself justified in modifying these qualifications, so as to adapt the office to the needs of its developing mission. As a result, others prominent in this work received the name of apostle besides the Twelve and Paul. So James, the Lord's brother, head of the Jerusalem Church, is referred to by Paul as an apostle (Galatians i. 19: &ldquo;But other of the apostles saw I none, save