Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/114

ARTIFICIAL LIMBS. gravity passes through the tuberosity of the ischium, it is essential that the bucket should be so made as to have its sole point of bearing against this part of the pelvis. Artificial legs are so made in America, provided with rubber feet, that the wearer can dance, skate, ride a bicycle, ride a horse, walk in pedestrian con- tests, climb ladders, and live the usual life of an active laborer or mechanic. There are many scores of men in the service of railroads as conductors, brakemen. switchmen, etc., who wear an artificial leg, and are able completely to perform their duties. In eases of arrested development of the lower limbs, short-legged persons may be made of the ordinary height by the use of artificial feet placed below the true feet, and attached to the legs by means of metallic rods, jointed at the knee and ankle, or by long-topped shoes.

Other parts, not entitled to be called limbs, can also lie replaced by mechanical art — such as the nose, lips, ears, palate, cheek, and eye. In the present advanced state of plastic surgery, deficiencies of the nose, lips, and palate can usually be remedied by an operation ; cases, however, may occur where an artificial organ is required. Artificial cars are molded of silver or of wax, painted the natural color, and fixed in place by a spring over the vertex of the head. Loss of an e.ye causes sad disfigurement; but artificial eyes are made which are adapted to fit almost any socket left after enucleation, and which cannot be detected without the closest inspection.

The color of the iris of the remaining eye is perfectly copied, and blood-vessels traversing visible portions are imitated exactly.

ARTIFICIAL SILK. See Silk, Artificial.

ARTIFICIAL STONE. See Stone, Artificial.

ARTIGAS, ar-te'gas, Fernando Jost (175.5- 1S51). A Soutli American soldier and dictator, born at Montevideo. At an early age he became captain of a corps in the Spanish provincial service, in which he continued loyal for some time after the outbreak of the insurrection in Buenos Ayres. In 1811, however, as a result of ill-treatment by his superior officers, he joined the Revolutionary forces, and won a number of victories. He afterwards joined the Republican army besieging the Portuguese troops from Brazil, and then occupying Montevideo, but he acted so independently that the commander-in-chief, Sarratea, outlawed him. He then organized an independent force of c/aiiclios (cattle-drivers), defeated the troops sent against him. and forced the Junta at Buenos Ayres to give him the whole of Uruguay (1814), and recognize him as an independent chief. He drove the Portuguese out of Montevideo, became dictator, and in 1815 made an insueeessful effort to take Buenos Ayres. Repeated efforts to effect a reconciliation between the parties were rendered futile by personal animosities, and eventually General Artigas was defeated, and in 1820 fled to Paraguay; but the Dictator Francia sent him to Candclaria, where he passed the remainder of his life in peace as a political exile.

ARTIL'LERY ("from OF. artiUer, Sp. artil- lero. It. ariifllicro, OF. articulier, explained in a Latin-French glossary as = artifcx, a master in the liberal arts, an artist; as if from Lat. artlculariiis, apparently from articiihim, dimin. of ARTILLERY. <irf:, art.") For the development of the meaning, cf. Engl, engine, from Lat. ingenium, natural capacity, talent, genius.

. Before the invention of gunpowder, the word 'artillery' referred to machines for throwing heavy missiles, in which the projecting force was obtained by a spring or Aveight suddenly released. These included catapults, bows, crossbows, slings, ballista, the onager, the .springal, etc. The ballista and onager projected their missiles, usually stones, from a bag or bucket, vising the spring as a source of energy. The catapult and springal were large crossbows projecting their missiles from a trough or platform. It is reported in some ancient accounts that stones weighing several hundred pounds were thrown over half a mile. The projectiles used included Large beams or logs, heavy arrows and stones, and also inflammable material, which was projected over the walls of a town, castle, or other fortified place, to set fire to the interior. The machines above mentioned, having little mobility, were restricted almost entirely to use in the attack and defense of fortified places during the progress of a siege. In modern use the word 'artillery' is applied, first, to all projectile arms which are supported by carriages, in contradistinction to arms which are discharged from the hand or shoulder; second, to the troops serving such arms : third, to the science which treats of the service of the guns and the organization and administration of the personnel. In general the term 'artillery' is used to designate the guns and other materiel of projectile machines using gases as the projectile force, the personnel which serves the materiel, and the science or art dealing with the service of the former and with the organization of both to form a system for use in offensive and defensive warfare.

. The word 'cannon,' for- merly used by military men, and to-day some- times used by la>Tiien to designate the weajion of artillery, ^las been almost entirely superseded by the word 'gun.' For example, we speak of a 3.2-inch, 10-inch, or 12-inch gun, and not of a 3.2-incli, 10-ineh, or 12-inch cniiDon. The invention of cannon or guns immediately followed that of gunpowder, about which very little is accurately or definitely known. By some authorities it is believed that the Chinese and inhabitants of India had a knowledge of gunpowder and its use for artillery purposes long before the European nations. It has also been stated, that in the Thirteenth Centuiy, the Moors used gunpowder and cannon in Spain. This antedates the alleged discovery or invention of gunjiowder liy the German, Schwartz, or by the Enclishman, Roger Bacon, toward the end of the Thirteenth Century. Some authorities claim that tlie first use of cannon in battle was at Crecy (1.346), and that they were introduced and ])ractically used by the Emrlish about that time. There is, however, considerable doubt as to the authenticity of the above claim, and it is not until some time later that we liavp definite infnrmation as to the nature and effect of canmin in battle. All ordnance of this period consisted of huge, cumbersome weapons, with little or no mobility. They were moved either by draft animals hitched in file, or by human power, or by both, necessitating an extravagant expenditure of energy and time. Their construction was of the crudest na-