The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1 A to Amide

Excerpt

A, the first letter in many alphabets. The sound most commonly belonging to it, as in French, Italian, German, &c., is that which is heard in father, pronounced short or long. In English the letter is made to represent at least seven sounds, as in father, mat, mate, mare, many, ball, what, besides being used in such digraphs as ea in heat, oa in boat.—A, in music, is the sixth note in the diatonic scale of C, and stands when in perfect tune to the latter note in the ratio of 3/5 to 1. The second string of the violin is tuned to this note.

A 1, a symbol attached to vessels of the highest class in Lloyd's register of shipping, A referring to the hull of the vessel, 1 to the rigging and whole equipment. When A 1 has a number prefixed, as 100 A 1, 90 A 1, the number denotes that the vessel is built according to certain specifications. See Shipbuilding.

Aa (ä) (Old Ger. aha, water; allied to Lat. aqua, water), the name of a great many streams of Central and Northern Europe.

Aachen (ä′hÄ—n). See Aix-la-Chapelle.

Aaland Islands. See Aland Islands.

Aalborg (ōl′borh: 'eel-town'), a seaport of Denmark, in Jutland, on the Liimfiord, see of a bishop, with iron-founding, distilling, fishing, &c. Pop. 33,449.

Aalen (ä′lÄ—n), a town of Germany in Württemberg, which manufactures woollen and linen goods. It has important iron-works and tanneries. Pop. 11,347.

Aalesund (ō′le-su¨nd), seaport and fishing centre on the west coast of Norway, on a small island. Pop. 13,858.

Aali Pasha. See Ali Pasha.

Aalst (älst). See Alost.

Aar, or Aare (är), the name of several European rivers, of which the chief (180 miles long) is a tributary of the Rhine, next to it and the Rhone the longest river in Switzerland. It has its origin from the Upper and Lower Glaciers of the Aar, in the Bernese Alps, traverses Lakes Brienz and Thun, and receives the Saane, Reuss, Limmat, &c. On it are Interlaken, Thun, Bern, Solothurn, and Aarau, to which, as to the canton of Aargau, it gives its name.

Aarau (ä′rou), a well-built and finely-situated town in Switzerland, capital of canton Aargau, on the River Aar. Pop. 9536.

Aard-vark (ärd′vaË™rk: earth-pig), Dutch name for a burrowing insect-eating animal of South Africa, Orycterŏpus capensis, order Edentata, resembling the ant-eater and armadillo. It is called also ground-hog and Cape pig.

Aardwolf (ärd′wu¨lf: earth-wolf) (ProtÄ•les cristātus), a burrowing carnivore of S. and E. Africa, allied to the hyenas and civets. It feeds on carrion, small mammals, insects, &c.

Aare. See Aar.

Aargau (är′gou), or Argovie (aË™r-go-vÄ“), a northern canton of Switzerland; area, 543 sq. miles; hilly, well wooded, abundantly watered by the Aar and its tributaries, and well cultivated. Pop. 236,860. German is almost universally spoken. Capital, Aarau.

Aarhuus (ōr′hös), a seaport and ancient town of Denmark, on the east coast of Jutland. It has a fine Gothic cathedral, a good harbour, and manufactures woollens, gloves, hats, tobacco, &c. Pop. 65,858.

Aaron (ā′ron), of the tribe of Levi, brother of Moses. At Sinai, when the people became impatient at the long-continued absence of Moses, he complied with their request by making a golden calf, and thus became involved with them in the guilt of gross idolatry. The office of high-priest, which he first filled, was made hereditary in his family. He died at Mount Hor at the age of 123, and was succeeded by his son Eleazer.

Aaron's Beard. See Saint John's Wort and Toad-flax.

Aaron's Rod....