Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/863

ARCHÆOPTERIS. ARCHÆOPTERIS, ar'k.'i-op'ten.s (Gk. dp- Xaws, archaios, ancifiit + irrepis, pteris. t>rn). A genus including scjine of llie oldest known fossil ferns, originally described by Dawson in 1863 to include species from the Chemung group of the Upper Devonian. The leaves are bipin- nate with obovate inequilateral pinnules; the fertile leaves having oval spore-cases instead of pinnules. Perhaps the largest species is An-hu-opterls Jaclsoni, fine examples of which, attaining a lengtli of five feet, are often found in the Uagstone quarries of the upper horizons of the Catskill group in the central portions of the Catskill Jlountains of New York. See Febn; L'AKIiOMKEROl'.S SySTKM ; DEVONIAN SYSTEM. ARCHÆOPTERYX, iir'ke-op'te-riks (Gk. ip- Xa'os, archaios, ancient, primitive + Trripv^, ptcryx, wing, bird). The oldest knowTi bird, found fossiPin the Jurassic lithographic stone of Solenhofen, Bavaria, where it was discovered in 1801. It was a creature about the size of a crow, bird-like in form, having a rather short, blunt beak, the upper jaw of which was furnished with thirteen teeth, and the lower with three teeth on each side, each planted in a separate socket. Its most extraordinar_y feature, however, is a lizard-like tail of twenty vertebr.TP, from each of which springs a pair of well-developed quill feathers. "The vertebr;^ of the neck and back were biconcave, the sternum seems to have been keeled, and the inanus had three free digits. The tibia and fibula do not coalesce, and the former was furnished with a series of feathers (wing-quills) very similar to ARCHANGEL.

ARCH.EOPTEHYX MACKUBA. (Specimen from Solenhofen, studied by Owen.)

those of the tail." These are divisible, as in modern birds, into primaries and secondaries. That it was able to 11}' is not to be doubted; the form of its feet, also, indicate arboreal habits, and that it scrambled about, as well as made short flights, is suggested by the fact that each finger of the hand, as well as the toes, was armed with a claw. The tail must have impeded rather than assisted Hight, and it is interesting to note that in later birds this cumbersome member soon became modified into substantially the present form before the Cretaceous era came to a close. ( See BiKDS. ) It was first thoroughl}' studied by Owen (Philosophical Transactions, London, 18G3) ; later information is summarized in New- ton, Diclioiuin/ of Birds, .Article "Fossil Birds" (New York, 1803-00). ARCHA'IC (Gk. - archaikos, old-fash- ioned, primitive, from apx'fi, archc, beginning, origin). A term applied to the primitive stage of the art of a good period, csi)ecially to Greek art before Pericles. Archaistic is applied to an imitation of this style; as, when Greek artists under Augustus reproduced (ireek sculpture of the Sixth and Fifth centuries. ARCHAN'GEL, or ARKHANGELSK, ar- Ktin'gelsk. A government of Russia, between 61° and 71° N. lat. and 28° to 00° E. long., extend-^ ing along the White Sea and Arctic Ocean from' Finland and Norway east to the Ural, and bounded on the south by the governments of Vologda and Olonetz. It occupies an area of 320,-500 square miles, including the islands of Nova Zembla and Vaigatch. It is the largest gov- ernment of the Empire, and occupies the entire north of European Russia. Its greatest length, from west to east, is 900 miles; its greatest. width, from north to south, is 132 miles. Four large navigable rivers flow through Archangel; the Petchora for .528 miles, the Onega 132 miles, the northern Dvina 205 miles, and the Mesen 265 miles, all emptying their waters into the White Sea. The northwestern and the north- eastern parts are nioinitainous, reaching a height of more than 4900 feet. The climate of Archangel is verv severe in the central part of the government. At its northwestern extremity the climate is perceptibly milder, and the open sea is never frozen. The great wealth of Arch- angel is in its forests, which cover more than half of its area. Lumbering is therefore the leading industry. The inhabitants are besides engaged in agriculture which, at its best, in the south is but poorly developed, in fishing and hunting along the shores of the Arctic and the White Sea, and in the rearing of deer, which constitutes the al- most exclusive occupation of the Samoyeds. The population of the government was 331,200 in 1890, and 347,000 in 1897. Ninety-eight per cent, of the people are Riissians. Of the difl'erent abo- riginal tribes, as the Lopars, Zyrans, Samoyeds, etc., there are not more tlian 0000 ])crsons. Arch- angel is the most sparsely populated government of Russia. Consult A. P. Englehardt, A Rus- sian Prorince of the North (Westminster, 1889). ARCHANGEL. The capital city of the Russian Government of Archangel, situated in lat. G4° 33' N., and long. 40° 33' E., on the right bank of the Dvina River, 20 miles above its entrance into the White Sea, and 740 miles north-east of Saint Petersburg (Map: Russia, F 2) . It is the largest and most important city in the world situated so near to the Arctic Circle. The city is of ancient origin, and among its most noteworthy buildings is the handsome cathedral finished in the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. It is said to be the handsomest and best-liglited cathedral in Russia. The other buildings of interest are the bazaar or mart, the marine ho.spital, and the wooden "little house" of Peter the Great. The importance of the city ia consideraiile, since it serves as an outlet for the jiroducts of the far northern and western part of Siberia. The chief articles of traffic are fish, skins, furs, timber, wax, iron, tallow, bristles, and caviar. At its annual fair, in September, about 14,000,000 rubles worth of goods change hands. The value of its ex])orts and imports amounts to about 8,000,000 rubles ($4,500,000) annually, and it is visited by some 800 vessels during the months of .July to September, the only period of the year when the harbor of Archangel is entirely free from ice. Of the foreign ves-