dependencies of Harrar, Kaffa, and Enarea. Its area is estimated at 150,000 square miles, and its population at 3,500,000.

The surface of Abyssinia is a plateau, with an average altitude of about 8000 feet, and a general depression toward Lake Tzana (q.v.) on the west. Of the numerous mountain chains in this region only a few can be clearly traced. The Samen group, situated at the northern end of the country, and inclosed by the bend of the Takazze, has an average altitude of about 10,000 feet and rises in Ras Dashan, over 15,000 feet above the sea. South of the Samen group is another chain, the Talba Wakha, surrounded by the upper course of the Atbara (q.v.) on its emerging from Lake Tzana. This chain is inferior in height to the Samen, its greatest elevation being only about 9000 feet above the sea. The southern part of Abyssinia is less mountainous, but abounds in so-called "ambas," isolated rocky hillocks, most of them very precip itous and difficult of ascent. Although at present it includes no active volcanoes, the country in its entire aspect bears evidence of violent volcanic eruptions in some remote age. Even to-day numerous extinct volcanoes are to be found, with their craters half obliterated, and there are several hot springs in the vicinity of Mount Entoto, some of them with a temperature of 170 degrees.

Among the rivers the most important are the Abai, or Blue Nile (q.v.), the Atbara, or Black Nile, the Takazze, the main head-stream of the latter, and the Hawash. With the exception of the Abai, none of these rivers is navigable, and all are liable to sudden rises, often accompanied by great disasters. The largest lake is Tzana, called also Dembea.

In regard to climate and flora, the country may be divided into three zones. The first, embracing all the districts lying below the altitude of 4800 feet above the sea, and called Kollas, has an annual temperature ranging from 70° to 100 F., and an exceedingly luxuriant vegetation, including cotton, indigo, bananas, sugar cane, coffee, date palms, and ebony. The second zone, Woina Dega, includes all the country between 4800 and 9000 feet above the sea. It is characterized by a moderate temperature, rang ing from 60 to 80° F., and its vegetation includes many of the grasses and cereals which flourish in Europe, besides oranges, lemons, olives, tobacco, potatoes, onions, the bamboo, the turpentine tree, etc. The third zone, Dega. which comprises all of the country situated above 9000 feet, has a temperature of 45 to 50 degrees. It affords excellent grazing grounds, and its soil is well adapted for the cultivation of the hardier cereals.

The rainy season on the coast lands lasts from December to May. In the interior of the country there are generally two rainy seasons, one from April to June, and the other from July to October. The climate is generally healthful.

The fauna is not inferior in variety to the flora. It includes, among other animals, the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the giraffe, a species of wolf (the kaberu), the hyena, hippopotamus, zebra, and several forms of antelopes. Consult: Blanford, Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia (London, 1870). Among the domestic animals may be mentioned the horse, mule, donkey, camel, ox, sheep, and goat.

Geologically the surface of Abyssinia is com

posed mainly of sandstone, together with granite, basalt, trachyte, and other varieties of igneous rocks. The minerals include gold, which is found mostly in the streams, and also iron, coal, silver, and rock salt. For further information about the geology of Abyssinia, see AFRICA and GREAT RIFT VALLEY.

INDUSTRIES. Abyssinia is preeminently an agricultural country, and its soil is especially well adapted for the cultivation of cereals. The land is divided not among individuals but among families, and the only title to land is its occupation. The agricultural methods employed are of the most primitive kind, a fact which, together with the extortionate practices of the civil and military officials, is not very conducive to the agricultural development of the country. Wheat and barley are the chief grains raised. Different kinds of fruit, such as oranges, lemons, bananas, etc., are found in abundance, but very little attention is paid to their cultivation. Cattle raising is a very important industry in Abyssinia, and wool is one of the chief articles of export. Of manufacturing industries Abyssinia has practically none. Ancient remains found in several parts of the country bear traces of skill which is hardly to be met with among the modern Abyssinians.

TRADE. Abyssinians do not, as a rule, engage in foreign trade, which is entirely in the hands of foreign merchants. The trade is not considerable, as, until recently, the buying was done almost exclusively by the King and his court. The increased security of life and property, however, which the Abyssinians have been enjoying under King Menelek has prompted an increasing number of them to part with their buried treasures of gold and silver in exchange for all kinds of goods. The total imports in 1899-1900 into the two chief trading centres of the country, Addis Abeba and Harrar, were estimated at about $3,500,000, Great Britain and the United States being the two leading sources, and France and Germany coming next. The leading articles of import are cotton, silk, and arms, the American cotton being preferred to all others. The chief articles of export are coffee, gold, ivory, and skins. Coffee is exported chiefly to Arabia, gold to India. The chief obstacles to trade are the primitive means of communication, resulting in slow and expensive transportation. The distance from Addis Abeba to Harrar, for example, about 250 miles, is traversed in from four to six weeks; the goods are carried on mules' and camels' backs. The railway line between Jibutil, in French Somaliland, and Harrar, which is to be eventually extended to Addis Abeba, will have a total length of about 500 miles, of which about 60 miles were completed and opened for traffic in 1900. This line is constructed entirely by French capital, with a political rather than a commercial aim, although it will certainly attract the trade between Abyssinia and the coast, which at present passes through Zeila, in British Somaliland.

The chief mediums of exchange are the Maria Theresa dollar and a dollar issued by King Menelek. Salt bars of uniform size, and cartridges also circulate to some extent in certain parts of the country.

In its form of government Abyssinia may be considered a sort of feudal monarchy. The present King, or Negus, is undoubtedly the real ruler of Abyssinia; but this position he owes more to

his personal qualities than to any traditional rights. Certain parts of the country are ruled by petty kings or ras, some of them appointed by the Negus, while others are sufficiently strong to defy his authority, and may throw the country into a state of disorder at his death. The petty chiefs have retinues of followers ready to support them in any undertaking so long as there is any prospect of plunder. This class of professional warriors, whose usefulness lasts as long as there are any insubordinate tribes to pacify, is a great hindrance to the development of the country. The revenue is derived from tithes paid in kind, and taxes on commodities, especially gold and ivory sold in the market. The collection of taxes is intrusted to the governors of the villages or shums, who are practically unrestricted as to the methods used or amounts collected. The laws of the country are supposed to be copied from the old Roman code, but they are almost disregarded by the native judges, who are guided in their decisions, as a rule, by their personal preferences or the social position of the defendant. The Abyssinian army, numbering about 150,000, is almost entirely composed of cavalry and is very well adapted for swift movements, as it is not encumbered by any commissariat, its maintenance being obtained from inhabitants of regions through which it passes. This kind of commissariat naturally leaves ample room for abuse and falls most heavily on the agricultural population. The regular army may be supplemented by irregular and provincial troops in case of need.

The political divisions of the country are subject to continual alteration; but the following are the most important: (1) The kingdom of Tigré, extending between the River Takazze or Bahr-el-Aswad (Black River), and the mountains of Samen on one side, and the district of Samhara on the other. Its chief towns are Antalo and Adowa. (2) The kingdom of Amhara, extending on the west of the Takazze and the Samen Mountain, and including Gojam. The capital, Gondar, is situated in the northeast of the plain of Dembea or Gondar, at an elevation of about 7500 feet. (3) The kingdom of Shoa (including Efat), lying southeast of Amhara and separated from the Galla tribes by the Hawash. This is, by all accounts, the best organized and most powerful state now existing in Abyssinia. The capital, Ankobar, at an elevation of about 8000 feet, contains 7000 inhabitants, and enjoys a delightful climate.

The capital of Abyssinia, formerly at Adowa, was transferred after the Italian war to Addis Abeba, which has grown from a village to a city of about 80,000 inhabitants within two to three years.

POPULATION. The location of the people between the Nile and the Red Sea permitted the commingling of Hamites from the north, Himvaritic Semites from Asia, and negroes from the south. The Abyssinians are of medium stature; in color they vary from brunette to translucent black. The principal language of the upper classes is the Amharic, closely allied to the ancient Geez (still used in ritual), and is written in a syllabary resembling that of the old inscriptions in Yemen, Arabia. The Amharic is the language of the court. (See AMHARIC LANGUAGE.) Of the same stock are the Tigré and Tigriña tongues. The language of the common people throughout a great part of the country is the

Agua (Agow), a Hamitic tongue. The Gallas, who form an important element in the population, likewise speak a Hamitic language. The Abyssinians are in the hand epoch of the iron age, and are herdsmen. Polygamy prevails extensively. They have little that deserves the name of literature. Education is in the hands of the clergy. The national religion is a perverted Christianity, introduced into the country in the fourth century. The tribe of the Falashas profess Judaism. The Gallas are Mohammedans. HISTORY. Abyssinia is a part of the ancient and vaguely defined Ethiopia. (For its ancient history, see the article on ETHIOPIA.) The people still call themselves Ethiopians, the name Abyssinians, by which they are generally known outside their own borders, being a Portuguese form of the Arabic Habsh or Habesh, signifying "mixture," and referring to the diverse tribes which compose the population. The traditions, customs, and language point to an early and intimate intercourse with the Jews; and the Book of Kings professes to record the rulers down from the Queen of Sheba and her son Menelek by Solomon, King of Israel; but this book is not to be depended upon unless corroborated by independent evidence. Greek influence was introduced through an invasion by Ptolemy Euergetes (247-221 B.C.). In the fourth century Christianity was introduced, and Frumentius, who had been instrumental in its introduction, was in 326 consecrated as a bishop by Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, and became, as Abuna Salamah ("our father of peace"), the head of the Abyssinian Church, with his seat at Axum, then the capital. The Coptic ri'e, older than that of Rome or Moscow, has prevailed in Abyssinia to the present day, in spite of efforts to introduce other forms of Christianity made by the Jesuits in the sixteenth century and by representatives of Protestant churches in later years. The head of the Church is still the Abuna, who is sent from Alexandria; but he shares his ecclesiastical authority with the native Echegheh, or head of the monastic bodies. Monasticism of the Oriental type was introduced about the year 470, and became a permanent feature of the life of the country. The monks number about 12,000. In the sixth century the King of the Homerites, an Arab convert to Judaism, began a persecution of the Christians, and King Elesbaas, or Caleb of Axum, invaded Arabia, and conquered Yemen, which was ruled as a province of Abyssinia for sixty-seven years.

This was the most flourishing period of Abyssinia; its influence then reached farthest and it was most in touch with the outside world. In 590, the overthrow of Abrahah, the last Abyssinian ruler of Yemen, left Arabia open for the spread of Mohammedanism, which soon rose like a flood and rolled around Abyssinia, cutting it off from the outside world and from the influences that had been urging it forward. It thus became a primitive, half-barbarous civilization in a state of arrested development. A line of usurpers took the place of the ancient sovereigns in the tenth century and reigned until about 1300. In the reign of Naakweto Laab, the last of this line, Tekla Haimanot, an ardent patriot, who possessed great influence because of the dignity of his character and the unselfishness of his life, succeeded in negotiating a treaty between the King and the representative

of the old line, which still held the government of Shoa, by which Naakweto Laab agreed to abdicate, receiving in return a certain mountainous province as a hereditary possession and the right of sitting on the same kind of chair as that used by the sovereign. By the same treaty onethird of the kingdom was granted to the clergy, and it was provided that no native should ever be Abuna, but that the office should be filled by appointees of the patriarch of Alexandria. This was an attempt to renew some connection with the outer world, and shows that the more intelligent Abyssinians keenly felt their isolation. The rise of the Mohammedan power cut Abyssinia off from the coast; the invasion of the rude Gallas from the south in the sixteenth century introduced an alien race into the country, which has always been a harmful and disturbing element. The true Abyssinian type was produced probably by a mingling of the African Hamitic and the Asiatic Semitic stocks, which here came into contact.

Portuguese Jesuit missionaries came into the country in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and Portugal took much interest in Abyssinian affairs, assisting the Negus against his enemies, the Turks. The attempts of the Jesuits to supplant the old faith with that of Rome was intensely displeasing to the Abyssinians, who have always clung loyally to their national church. The Jesuits were expelled in 1633, and Abyssinia relapsed again into prac tical isolation until the nineteenth century. Occasional African explorers entered Abyssinia from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century (see BRUCE, JAMES), and some remained, voluntarily or constrained by the laws of the country, which at times were hospitable to the admission of travelers, but did not allow their departure. In the middle of the nineteenth century the power was in the hands of Ali, a ras or prince of the barbarous Gallas, when it was seized by Lij Kasa, an adventurer who was crowned as Negus with the name of Theodore, in 1854.

He was

at first very friendly to the English, and acted to a great extent under the advice of the English consul, Mr. Plowden; but meeting difficulties in his task of imposing unity upon the disorganized country, he became morose, and taking offense at the neglect by the English Government of a letter sent by him to Queen Victoria, he imprisoned Mr. Cameron, then British consul, and his suite, and followed this by seizing and holding the members of the mission sent by the British Government under Mr. Rassam to negotiate for freeing the consul. After prolonged and useless attempts at negotiation, an army of English and Indian troops, under Sir Robert Napier, invaded the country, and in a vigorous campaign captured Magdala, Theodore's chief stronghold, and released the prisoners (April 13, 1868). Theodore at once committed suicide. He was succeeded by John, ras of Tigré, who proved unequal to the task of quelling rebellion. He fell in 1889 in battle with the dervishes of the Sudan, and Menelek II., ras of Shoa, who claims to represent the old line of kings, obtained the

crown.

Menelek represents in the main the spirit of progress. As the only country in tropical Africa suitable for the residence of white men, with considerable latent resources, and its position in the upper basin of the Nile, Abyssinia, with its almost impregnable highlands, is an important

stronghold on the borders of savage Africa, and a commanding point with relation to surrounding territories under European flags. It has therefore become an object of interest to European powers since the opening of Africa to trade and colonization.

Italy, eager for lands, began to look in this direction as early as 1870, and having occupied several hundred miles of the Red Sea littoral about Massowah (1881-85), it commenced aggressions upon Abyssinian territory, which would have resulted in open war but for the intervention of England, through the friendly mission of Sir Gerald Portal. The Italians claimed a protectorate over Abyssinia by virtue of a clause in the treaty of Uchali (1889), which read differently in the Amharic and Italian versions. Menelek denounced this treaty in 1893, and when the Italians occupied Kassala in the following year, as an outcome of the AngloItalian agreement of 1891, defining the spheres of influence of the two nations, Abyssinia renewed hostilities (1895). After sustaining a terrible defeat at Adowa, March 1, 1896, Italy was compelled, in the treaty of Addis Abeba (October 26, 1896), to recognize fully the independence of Abyssinia. Great Britain, by treaty, in 1898 ceded to Abyssinia about 8000 square miles of British Somaliland, and established a political agency at the Abyssinian capital. The title of the Abyssinian sovereign is Negus Negusti, King of Kings, or more fully in English, "King of the Kings of Ethiopia and Conquering Lion of Judah."

See AFRICA, section History; ITALY. Consult : Wylde, Modern Abyssinia (London, 1891), a useful historical and descriptive book by an English consul-general to the Red Sea; Vivian, Abyssinia (New York, 1901), a recent work by an intelligent observer; Portal, My Mission to Abyssinia (London, 1892); Rassam, Narrative of the British Mission to Abyssinia (London, 1869); Markham, A History of the Abyssinian Expedition (London, 1869), containing an excellent summary of Abyssinian history; Vignéras, Une mission française en Abyssinie (Paris, 1897); Rohlfs, Meine Mission nach Abyssinien (Leipzig, 1883); Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel, Volume I. (London, 1899); J. T. Bent, The Sacred City of the Ethiopians (London, 1893); Welby, Twixt Sirdar and Menelek (London, 1901).

AB'YSSIN'IAN CHURCH, THE. The Church founded about the middle of the fourth century by Frumentius (q.v.), whose titles Abuna ("our father") and Abba Salamah ("father of peace") are still used by his successors. The abuna, the head of the Church, is never an Abyssinian, and is appointed by the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria. He is bishop of Axum. In Christology the Church is monophysite; the secular priests are allowed to marry once; circumcision, the Sabbath, and the Levirate law are adhered to. Baptism (of adults by trine immersion, infants by aspersion) and the Eucharist (in which grape juice is exclusively used) are accepted; but confirmation, transubstantiation, extreme unction, purgatory, crucifixes, and image worship are all forbidden. There are 180 festivals and 200 fast days. The Scriptures are read in Geez or Ethiopic, which is now a dead language. The attempts of Roman Catholics and Protestants to build up missions among these Christians have not been permanently successful.

ACA'CIA (literally, thorny, Gk. ȧkiç, akis, point, splinter, thorn). A genus of plants of the order Leguminosa, differing from Mimosa in the greater number of stamens (10 to 200) and the absence of transverse partitions in the pods. There are about 450 species of Acacia, 300 of which are indigenous to Australia and Polynesia. The others are found in all tropical and subtropical countries except Europe. The flowers are small and are arranged in globular or elongated clusters. The leaves are usually bipinnately compound; but in many of the Australian species the leaflets are greatly reduced and the leaf blades correspondingly enlarged and flattened into what are termed phyllodia. Most of the species having phyllodia inhabit hot, arid regions, and this modification prevents too rapid evaporation of moisture from the leaves. Many of the species are of great economic importance: some yield gums, others valuable timber, and still others food products. The African species, Acacia gummifera, Acacia seyal, Acacia ehrenbergiana, Acacia tortilis, and Acacia arabica, yield gum arabic, as do the Asiatic species, Acacia arabica and the related Albizzia lebbek. A somewhat similar gum is produced by Acacia decurrens and Acacia dealbata of Australia and Acacia horrida of South Africa. Gum senegal is the product of Acacia verek, sometimes called Acacia senegal. The drug "catechu" is prepared from Acacia catechu. The astringent bark of a number of species is extensively used in tanning, especially the bark of those known in Australia as Wattles. For this purpose Acacia decurrens, the Black Wattle, is one of the best, the air-dried

bark of this plant containing about four times as much tanning extract as good oak bark. The most valuable timber tree of the genus is probably the Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), of Australia. The tree attains a large size, and the wood is easily worked and takes a high polish. A number of the Acacias have been introduced into cultivation in Europe and America, where they thrive. The California experiment station recommends planting several species for tanning extract and for timber. A number of species are grown in mild climates and in greenhouses as ornamentals, partly because of the fragrance of their flowers. The foliage of some of the bipinnate species exhibits sleeping movements analogous to the movements of the sensitive plant. Some species show a remarkable sensitiveness to weather, the leaves remaining closed while the sky is cloudy. The common American Robinia or Locust (Robinia pseudacacia) and the Robinia hispida are known as Acacia and Rose Acacia in Europe and elsewhere. Fossil forms of Acacia are abundant in the Tertiary beds of Aix in France, and an allied genus, Acaciaæphyllum, has been described from the Cretaceous beds of North America. Consult: F. von Mueller, Iconography of Australian Acacias (Melbourne): L. H. Bailey, Cyclopædia of American Horticulture (New York, 1900-01); G. Nicholson, Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening (London, 1884-89).

ACACIANS, ȧ-ka'shi-anz. See ACACIUS.

ACACIUS, ȧ-ka'shi-us, Bishop of Cæsarea (340-365). He founded a sect, named after him, which maintained that the Son was like the Father; not of the same or of similar substance,

Thus he differed from the general Arian party. His doctrine was actually accepted by a synod at Constantinople, which he manipulated (359), which gave rise to Jerome's famous saying: "The whole world groaned and wondered to find itself Arian." Yet in the end, as formerly, it was condemned, and he was exiled.

A name applied

ACADEMIC LEʼGION. particularly to an armed body of students who participated in the uprising of 1848 in Vienna; also more generally to similar student companies elsewhere in the revolutionary disturbances of that year.

ACADÉMIE DES BEAUX-ARTS, å'kâ'dâ'me dá bô'zär'. See ECOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS.

AC'ADE'MUS (Gk. 'Akádnμoç, Akadēmos). A mythical hero of Attica. When the Tyndaridæ invaded the Attic land to rescue Helen from the hands of Theseus, Academus revealed to them the place where their sister was hidden, and in return for this act the Lacedæmonians then and thereafter showed the hero great honor. The Academia was thought to have received its name from Academus, though the earlier form, Hecademia, seems to point to an original Hecademus. The Academia was in early times a sacred precinct, six stades northwest of the Dipylon gate of Athens. Later a gymnasium was built in the precinct, and still later the spot was made a public park, being planted with many kinds of trees, adorned with statues, and lawns. Here, in the gymnasium and the watered by the Cephissus, and laid out in walks neighboring walks, Plato conversed with his pupils and held his first formal lectures in philosophy. Later, having purchased in the neighborhood a piece of land and built thereon a temple to the Muses and a lecture-hall, he transferred his school thither. This spot was also called Academia, and gave its name to the school.

ACADEMY (Gk. ἀκαδήμεια,

akadēmeia, or ȧkadnuía, akadēmia). Originally the name of a public garden outside of Athens, dedicated to Athene and other deities, and containing a grove and a gymnasium. It was popularly believed to have derived its name from its early owner, a certain Academus, an eponymous hero of the Trojan War. It was in these gardens that Plato met and taught his followers, and his school came to be known from their place of meeting as the Academy. The later schools of philosophy which developed from the teachings of Plato down to the time of Cicero were also known as academies. Cicero himself and many of the best authorities following him reckoned but two Academies, the Old, founded by Plato (428-348 R.C.), and including Speusippus, Xenocrates of Chalcedon, Polemo, Crates, and Cranto; and the New, founded by Arcesilaus (241 or 240 B.C.). Others have, however, reckoned the latter as the Middle Academy, and added a third, the New Academy, founded by Carneades (214-129? B.C). Others again have counted no fewer than five, adding to the three above a fourth, that of Philo, and a fifth, that of Antiochus. (See articles PLATO; ARCESILAUS; CARNEADES ; PHILOSOPHY; and references under the last.) From its use in the sense of a school the word academy has come to be applied to certain kinds of institutions of learning; from its use in the sense of a body of learned men it has come to