Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/909

* ZEPHANIAH. 771 ZERUBBABEL. Turning again to Jerusalem he dwells upon the evils found therein, especially the corruption of her judges and great men. (c) The third part (iii. S-20) is of a conciliatory character. The purified 'remnant' will dwell in safety in their own land, and a l)lissfu! future is in store for both land and people after the reproach now resting upon them shall have been removed. The authenticity of (he book has been questioned, and it at least sliows traces of editing long svihsecjuent to the period with which it deals. The language is forcible and picturesque, and the contrast l)e- tween the sombre tone of the first two chapters and the buoyant one of the last is striking evi- dence of the writer's mastery of style. Consult, besides tlic works mentioned in the article Minor Propiiet.s: Strauss, Valicinia Zcphaniw (Berlin, 1S4;5) ; Schwally, in Zeitschrift fur altfesiamcnt- Uchfi Wisscnschaft (1890) ; Budde, "Die Biicher Ilabakkuk und Sephanja," in Htudicn und Kritiken (1893) ; Davidson, "Nahum, Ilabakkuk, and Zephaniah," in the Camhrulge Bible for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge, 1896). ZEPHANIAH, Apocalypse of. See Apoc- rypha, section Old Testament. ZEPHAROVICH, tsa'fa-rO'vich. Victor von (1830-90). An Austrian geologist and mineralo- gist, born in Vienna. He studied in Vienna and at the mining academy of Scheninitz, Hun- gary, was employed as section-geologist in the Imperial Geological Institution in Vienna in 1852-57, then was appointed professor of min- eralogy in the University of Cracow, in 1861 at Gratz, and in 1804 at Prague, where lie es- tablished a mineralogieal institute (1880). He made valuable contributions to mineralogy and crystallography. His works include: Hineral- O'/iaches Lexikon fiir das Kaisertum Oesterreieh (1859-72), and Krystallofiraphische Wandtafeln fiir Vortniirfe iiher Mineralogie (1877). ZERAFSHAN, zer'af-shiin', or Zarafsiian ('gold distributor'). A river of Russian Turke- stan. It rises at the foot of an enormous glacier in one of the Pamir (q.v.) vallej's on the western boundary of Ferghana, and flows westward through the Territory of Samarkand into Bo- khara. Here it is diverted into so many irrig.at- ing canals that it is completely used up and lost in the desert before reaching the Amu Darya, of which it woulil otherwise be a tributary. It is about -100 miles long, and the cities of Samar- kand and Bokhara lie on or near its banks. ZERAM', Fort. pron. za-raN'. An island of the Dutch East Indies. See Ceram. ZERBINETTE, zfir'be'net'. The daughter of Argante in Molifere's Fourberies de Scapiii. She is stolen by gypsies and is ransomed by Scapin, who adopts every questionable means to raise the necessary sum. ZERBST, tserpst. A town of the Duchy of Anhalt, Germany, 68 miles southwest of Berlin, on the river Nuthe. a tributary of the Elbe (Jlap: Germany, E 3). Close by is the beau- tiful ducal castle, built in the seventeenth cen- tury, containing the archives of Anhalt from 941 on. The Churcdi of Saint Nicholas, begun in the eleventh century, is a fine specimen of Gothic architecture. The chief manufactures are articles in gold and silver, and silk, wax. soap, machinery, chemicals, stoneware, and carriages. There are lireweries famous for their bitter beer. Popula- tion, in 1!)00, 17,094. Zcrbst is of Slavic origin. The town dates from 1007. From 1(3 to 1793 it was the capital of the Principality of Anhalt- Zcrlist. ZERDA. See Fen.nec. ZERMATT, tser-milt'. A celebrated mountain resort in the southern part of the Canton of Valais, Switzerland, situated on the left bank of the Visp at an altitude of over 5000 feet (,Mapt Switzerland, B 2). It is the starting jioiut for ascents of the RifTelberg and the (!(uiier (Jrat, which are connected by an electric moun- tain railway with Zermatt, as well as of the Matterhorn (q.v.) and the entire Monte Rosa group. Population, in 1900, 752. ZERO (Fr. stVo, from Jt., Sp. zero, from Ar. .fifr, safr, cipher, from .w/fra, to be empty). In mathematics, a symbol written 0, and signifying the absence of quantity or number. The term is also applied to the infinitesimal. (See Infinity AND THE Infinitesimal; Negative Quantity.) In thermometry the term is applied to certain fundamental points of temperature on the ther- mometer scale. In the earliest thermometers (q.v.) the zero point was fixed at the normal temperature of a healthy man, and any varia- tion from this point was indicated on an arbi- trary scale. The temperature of spring water was also selected as a fundamental point. A mixture of snow and salt furnished the zero point on Sagredo's thermometer, where the tempera- ture of the hottest summer day was denoted by 3G0. Fahrenheit also used the mixture of ice and salt to determine the zero in his thermom- eter, while Reaumur put his zero at the tem- perature of melting ice. About the same time De risle constructed thermometers in w-hich the zero was the temperature of freezing water, and also instruments where the zero was at the boil- ing point. The zero of the modern centigrade therniometer is fixed at the temperature of melt- ing ice and is marked by placing the thermom- eter in a vessel containing cracked ice. For absolute zero, see Therjiometer. ZER'RAHN, Carl (1820—). A German- American musician and conductor, born at Mal- ehow, Mecklenburg. He studied music in Han- over and Berlin, and came to America during the Revolution of 1848. Here he became first flute in the Germania Musical Society, which gave concerts in the principal cities of the United States. In 1854 he was made conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston. For many years he gave at his own financial risk the only orchestral classical concerts in Boston. In 1865 he was appointed conductor of the Harvard Sym- phony concerts, serving until discontinueii in 1882. He was elected conductor of the Oratorio Society of Salem. Mass. (1868), and as the con- ductor of many of the principal musical festivals held throughout New England exercised an im- portant influence on the musical life of America at large. In addition to his other positions he became a professor at the New England Con- servatory of Music. He was especially success- ful in the presentation of the great oratorios and the management of large choruses. ZERUB'BABEL, or ZERTJBABEL (Heb., from Babylonian Zeni Babel, seed or otTspring of Babylon ). The Governor of Jerusalem at the