Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/890

ARCHYTAS. distinguished philosopher, inathematician. gen- .eral, and statesman. He lived in the first half of the Fourth Century B.C., and was thus a con- temporary of Plato, whose life he is said to have saved by his influence with the tyrant Dionysius. He was seven times elected general of his city, though it was customary for the office to be held for one year only. His connection with Plato belongs to the time of the latter's visit to lower Italy. He was drowned on the Apulian coast, and is said to have been buried near Matinum, in Apulia. Archytas was a man marked for his morality, self-control, and gentleness. As a phi- losopher, he belonged to the Pythagorean School. His services to the science of mathematics were many and important, and he passed as the founder of scientific mechanics. He was the first to distinguish harmonical progression from arithmetical and geometrical progression ; he also solved the problem of doubling the cube. ( See Cube.) Among his mechanical contrivances was a flving pigeon made of wood. He is said to have invented the piilley. As an astrono- mer, he taught that the earth is a sphere rotat- ing on its axis once in twenty-four hours, and that the heavenly bodies move about it. He fur- ther made original contributions to the knowledge of musical tones. In a philosophical way he must have influenced Plato not a little, and per- haps Aristotle. The mathematical fragments of Archytas have been carefully collected by Blass in Melanges Graux (Paris, 1884). The other fragments which are attached to the name of Archytas, and which relate to ethics, logic, and physics, are probably for the most part not gen- uine. They are to be found in Mullach, Philo.io- phorum Grcecorum Fragmcnta, Vol. I. (Paris, 1800-81) ; also the two letters of Archytas, one to Dionysius and the other .to Plato, and the work Oil ihc Ten Categories, are spurious. ARCHYTAS of AiipnissA (c.300 B.C.). A Greek poet, to whom some hexameter lines are attributed by Plutarch, Athenfeus, and Stobjeus. He is spoken of by Diogenes Laertius as an epi- grammatist upon whom Bion wrote an epigram. Nothing is known of the details of his life and work beyond the scanty information given by the authors named. ARCIF'ERA (Lat. arciis, bow + ferre, to bear, carrj- ). A group of anurous amphibians, the toads, having a tongue, with the clavicle and coracoid of each side connected by a longitudinal arelied cartilage, allowing contraction and ex- pansion. See Toad. ARCIS-SUR-AUBE, ar'.ss'su'-r6b' (Fr., Ar- cis on the Aube). Capital of the arrondisse- ment of the same name in the French Depart- ment of the Aube, and remarkable on account of the battle fought here. March 20-21,1814, between Napoleon and the Allied forces under Prince Schwartzenherg (Map: France, L 3). The bat- tle, beginning with several skirmishes on the first, and ending in a general engagement on the second day, when the French retreated over the Aube, was not in itself very important. But Napoleon now formed the plan of operating in the rear of the Allies, and left the road to Paris open; assuming that thej' would not venture to proceed without attempting first to secure their rear. The Allies marched, nevertheless, on the capital, and thus decided the campaign. Arcis- sur-Aube is the birthplace of Danton. Its indus- tries are silk and cotton spinning, stocking weaving, and it has also an important trade in grain. Pop., 1001, 2774. AR'CITE. One of the two Theban knights who, in Chaucer's Knight's Tale, are at first close friends, but who, having seen the lovely sister-in-law of Theseus from their prison win- dow, both claim her as mistress, and later joust fiercely for her hand, in which tourney Arcite is slain. ARC LAMPS AND ARC LIGHT'ING. See Electric Lighti.xg, paragraph Arc Lamps. AR'CO, Carlo d' (1799-1872). An Italian art critic and historian. He was born at Man- tua, studied painting at Florence and Rome, and as a result of a study of the galleries of Mantua published, in 1827-37, a series of descriptions of paintings, with engravings from drawings by himself. His most important work was Delle arti e degli artifici di Mantova (2 vols., 1857- 59), a study of Mantuan art from the earliest times. His further publications include Htudj intorno al municipio di Mantova (1871-74) and a Chronicon Manlii/iniim, 1095-1299. ARCO DEI LEONI, dfi'e la-o'ne (It., Arch of the Lions). A gate in Verona, built suppos- edly in the third century x.d. Originally it had two arches; but at present only one remains. It is a dainty bit of architecture, with Corinthian columns, above which is a story pierced with three openings between pilasters. It is situated in the Via Leoni and is coeval with the Porta de' Borsari. ARCO DELLA PACE, del'la pii'cha (It., Arch of the Peace). A large arch of white mar- ble, with smaller ones on either side, surmounted by a bronze figure of Peace driving a six-horse chariot. It was erected in Milan, Italy, in 1807, in honor of Napoleon, but not completed until 1838, and was consecrated to Peace in 1815. ARCOLE, :ir'k6-la. A village of Venetia, situ- ated on the left bank of the Alpone, a tributary of the Adige, and famous for the victoi-y gained by Bonaparte over the Austrian* under the chief command of Alvinczy, November 17, 179G. From the 14th to the IGth the French vainly attempted to rush the bridge across the Alpone held by the Austrians under Mittrowsky; on the 17th they forded the stream l^elow the bridge and took the enemy in the rear. In the series of battles around Arcole the Austrians lost eighteen tliou- sand men, and, as a result of the battle, they were compelled to abandon the relief of Mantua, which was besieged bj- the French. ARÇON, ar'soN', (1733-1800). A distinguished French engineer. He was born at Pontarlier, and was educated as an engineer at the military school at Mczidres. During the Seven Years' War, he acquired considerable reputation, especially in the defense of Cassel, his work being distinguislied by a remarkable fertility of invention. His most famous scheme was a system of floating batteries designed to reduce Gibraltar (1780). then in the hands of the English, and defended by Governor Elliot. The attempt, however, was not successful, mainly liecause of the fact that his efforts were indifferently supported. When the French under Dumouriez overran Holland, Argon took several strongly fortified places, among others, Breda. After his retirement from the army, he was called to the Senate ( 1799). His important