Part 14

AGNOSTICS (ag-nos'tiks; Gr. _a_, not, _gign[=o]skein_, to know), a modern term invented by Huxley in 1869 and applied to those who disclaim any knowledge of God, the origin of the universe, immortality, &c. The agnostics, or adherents of this doctrine, hold that the mind of man is limited to a knowledge of phenomena and of what is relative, and that, therefore, the infinite, the absolute, and the unconditioned, being beyond all experience, are consequently beyond its range. Agnosticism is therefore the attitude of 'solemnly suspended judgment', and cannot be identified with atheism. The agnostics do not deny the existence of a Divine Being, but merely maintain that we have no scientific ground for either belief or denial.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir Leslie Stephen, _An Agnostic's Apology_; R. Flint, _Agnosticism_; J. Ward, _Naturalism and Agnosticism_.

AGNUS CASTUS, a shrub, _Vitex Agnuscastus_, nat. ord. Verbenaceae, a native of the Mediterranean countries, with white flowers and acrid, aromatic fruits. It had anciently the imagined virtue of preserving chastity--hence the term _castus_ (Lat., chaste).

AGNUS DEI (d[=e]'[=i]; Lat., 'the Lamb of God'), a term applied to Christ in _John_, i, 29, and in the Roman Catholic liturgy a prayer beginning with the words 'Agnus Dei', generally sung before the communion. The term is also commonly given to a medal, or more frequently a disk of wax, round, oblong, or oval, consecrated by the pope, stamped with the figure of a lamb supporting the banner of the cross; supposed to possess great virtues, such as preserving those who carry it in faith from accidents, &c. Jean Chatel, the assassin of Henri IV, was found covered with such medals.

AGON'IC LINE (Gr. _a_, not, and _g[=o]nia_, an angle), in terrestrial magnetism a name applied to the line which joins all the places on the earth's surface at which the needle of the compass points due north and south, without any declination. See _Magnetism_.

AG'ONY COLUMN, a column in the advertising sheet of some of the daily journals, in which disappearances, losses, mysterious appeals and correspondence, and generally any advertising eccentricity appear.

AG'ORA, the market-place of a Greek town, corresponding to the Roman _forum_. The Agora of Athens is situated in a valley partially enclosed by the Acropolis, Areopagus, Pnyx, and Museum.

AGOS'TA. See _Augusta_.

AGOUARA ([.a]-g[u:]-[:a]'r[.a]), a name given to the crab-eating racoon (_Proc[)y]on cancriv[)o]rus_) of S. America.

AGOULT ([.a]-g[:o]), Marie de Flavigny, Comtesse d', a French writer of fiction, history, politics, philosophy, and art; daughter of Vicomte de Flavigny; born at Frankfort in 1805, died at Paris 1876. She contributed many articles to the _Revue des Deux-Mondes_, &c., under the pseudonym of _Daniel Stern_, and wrote _Lettres Republicaines_ (1848); _Histoire de la Revolution de 1848_; _Esquisses Morales et Politiques_; _Trois Journees de la Vie de Marie Stuart_; _Florence et Turin_ (a series of artistic and political studies); _Dante et Goethe_; dialogues, and numerous romances, &c.

AGOUTA (a-g[:o]'ta), _Solen[)o]don paradoxus_, an insectivorous mammal peculiar to Hayti, of the tanrec family, somewhat larger than a rat. It has its tail devoid of hair and covered with scales, its eyes small, and an elongated nose like the shrews. Another species (_S. cub[=a]nus_) belongs to Cuba.

AGOUTI (a-g[:o]'ti), the name of several rodent mammals, forming a family by themselves, genus Dasyprocta. There are eight or nine species, all belonging to S. America and the W. Indies. The common agouti, or yellow-rumped cavy (_D. agouti_), is of the size of a rabbit. It burrows in the ground or in hollow trees, lives on vegetables, doing much injury to the sugar-cane, is as voracious as a pig, and makes a similar grunting noise. Its flesh is white and good to eat.

AGRA ([:a]'gra), a city of India, in the United Provinces, on the right bank of the Jumna, 841 miles by rail from Calcutta. It is a well-built and handsome town and has various interesting structures, among which are the imperial palace, a mass of buildings erected by several emperors; the Moti Masjid or Pearl Mosque (both within the old and extensive fort); the mosque called the Jama Masjid (a cenotaph of white marble); and, above all, the Taj Mahal, 'a dream in marble', a mausoleum of the seventeenth century, built by the Emperor Shah Jehan (1628-58) for his favourite queen, Mumtaz Mahal. It is made of white marble, and is adorned throughout with exquisite mosaics. Its cost is estimated at L800,000, and 20,000 workmen, under the direction of Austin of Bordeaux, were engaged on it for twenty-two years. There are several Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, a government college, and three other colleges or high schools, besides a medical college. Agra has a trade in grain, sugar, &c., and some manufactures, including beautiful inlaid mosaics. It was founded in 1566 by the Emperor Akbar, and was a residence of the emperors for over a century. Pop. 185,449. The Agra division has an area of 10,078 sq. miles, and a pop. of 5,007,900.

AGRAFFE', a sort of ornamental buckle, clasp, or similar fastening for holding together articles of dress, &c., often adorned with precious stones.

AGRAM, or ZAGREB, a city in Yugo-Slavia, capital of the former Hungarian province of Croatia and Slavonia, near the River Save; contains the residence of the ban or governor of Croatia and Slavonia, Government buildings, cathedral (being the see of a Roman Catholic archbishop), university, theatre, &c.; carries on an active trade, and manufactures tobacco, leather, and linens. Pop. 79,038.

AGRA'PHIA. See _Aphasia_.

AGRARIAN LAWS, laws enacted in ancient Rome for the division of the public lands, that is, the lands belonging to the State (_ager publicus_). As the territory of Rome increased, the public land increased, the land of conquered peoples being always regarded as the property of the conqueror. The right to the use of this public land belonged originally only to the patricians or ruling class, but afterwards the claims of the plebeians on it were also admitted, though they were often unfairly treated in the sharing of it. Hence arose much discontent among the plebeians, and various remedial laws were passed with more or less success. Indeed an equitable adjustment of the land question between the aristocracy and the common people was never attained.

AGRAVAINE, Sir, one of the knights of the Round Table.

AGREEMENT OF THE PEOPLE. See _Levellers_.

AGRIC'OLA, Gnaeus Julius, lived from A.D. 37 to 93, a Roman consul under the Emperor Vespasian, and governor in Britain, the greater part of which he reduced to the dominion of Rome; distinguished as a statesman and general. His life, written by his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, gives the best extant account of Britain in the early part of the period of the Roman rule. He was the twelfth Roman general who had been in Britain, but was the only one who effectually subdued the southern portion of it and reconciled the Britons to the Roman yoke. This he did by teaching them the arts of civilization and to settle in towns. He constructed the chain of forts between the Forth and the Clyde, defeated Galgacus at the battle of Mons Graupius, and sailed round the island, discovering the Orkneys.

AGRIC'OLA, Georg (originally Bauer, that is, peasant = Lat. _agricola_), born in Saxony 1490, died at Chemnitz 1555, German physician and mineralogist. Though tinged with the superstitions of his age, he made the first successful attempt to reduce mineralogy to a science, and introduced many improvements in the art of mining. A complete edition of his works was published at Basel in 1550 and 1558.

AGRICOLA, Johann, the son of a tailor at Eisleben, was born in 1492, and called, from his native city, _master of Eisleben_ (_magister Islebius_); one of the most active among the theologians who propagated the doctrines of Luther. In 1537, when professor in Wittenberg, he stirred up the Antinomian controversy with Luther and Melanchthon. He afterwards lived at Berlin, where he died in 1566, after a life of controversy. Besides his theological works he composed a work explaining the common German proverbs.

AGRICOLA, Johann Friedrich, German musician and composer, born near Altenburg 1720, died at Berlin 1774; pupil of Sebastian Bach; wrote several operas, including _Iphigenia in Tauris_. He wrote under the pseudonym of 'Olibrio'.

AGRICOLA, Rodolphus, German scholar, born at Groningen 1443, died at Heidelberg 1485. After travelling in France and Italy he was appointed professor of philosophy at Heidelberg, and did good service in transplanting the revived classical learning into Germany.

AG'RICULTURE is the art of cultivating the ground, more especially with the plough and in large areas or fields, in order to raise grain and other crops for man and beast; including the art of preparing the soil, sowing and planting seeds, removing the crops, and also the raising and feeding of cattle or other live stock. This art is the basis of all other arts, and in all countries coeval with the first dawn of civilization. At how remote a period it must have been successfully practised in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China we have no means of knowing, but there is sufficient evidence of agriculture having attained considerable development many centuries before the Christian era. Egypt was renowned as a corn country in the time of the Jewish patriarchs, and had probably been so for centuries before. The hieroglyphics on ancient monuments furnish records of the early development of agriculture in Egypt and of the use of the plough and other agricultural implements. The advanced methods of the Egyptians and Syrians were introduced into Europe by the Saracens. Land culture also attained a more or less considerable development in ancient China and Hindustan. Among the ancient Greeks the implements of agriculture were very few and simple. Hesiod, who wrote a poem on agriculture as early as the eighth century B.C., mentions a plough consisting of three parts, the share-beam, the draught-pole, and the plough-tail, but antiquarians are not agreed as to its exact form. The ground received three ploughings, one in autumn, another in spring, and a third immediately before sowing the seed. Manures were applied, and the advantage of mixing soils, as sand with clay or clay with sand, was understood. Seed was sown by hand, and covered with a rake. Grain was reaped with a sickle, bound in sheaves, thrashed, then winnowed by wind, laid in chests, bins, or granaries, and taken out as wanted by the family, to be ground. Agriculture was highly esteemed among the ancient Romans, and very full accounts are contained in the works of Pliny, Virgil, Cato, Varro, and Palladius. The Romans used a great many different implements of agriculture. The plough is represented by Cato as of two kinds, one for strong, the other for light soils. Varro mentions one with two mould-boards, with which, he says, "when they plough, after sowing the seed, they are said to ridge". Pliny mentions a plough with one mould-board, and others with a coulter, of which he says there were many kinds. Fallowing was a practice rarely deviated from by the Romans. In most cases a fallow and a year's crop succeeded each other. Manure was collected from various sources, and irrigation was practised on a large scale.

The Romans introduced their agricultural knowledge among the Britons, and during the most flourishing period of the Roman occupation large quantities of corn were exported from Britain to the Continent. During the time that the Angles and Saxons were extending their conquests over the country agriculture must have been greatly neglected; but afterwards it was practised with some success among the Anglo-Saxon population, especially, as was generally the case during the Middle Ages, on lands belonging to the Church. Swine formed at this time a most important portion of the live stock, finding plenty of oak and beech mast to eat. The feudal system introduced by the Normans, though beneficial in some respects as tending to ensure the personal security of individuals, operated powerfully against progress in agricultural improvements. War and the chase, the two ancient and deadliest foes of husbandry, formed the most prominent occupations of the Norman princes and nobles. Thriving villages and smiling fields were converted into deer forests, vexatious imposts were laid on the farmers, and the serfs had no interest in the cultivation of the soil. But the monks of every monastery retained such of their lands as they could most conveniently take charge of, and these they cultivated with great care, under their own inspection, and frequently with their own hands. The various operations of husbandry, such as manuring, ploughing, sowing, harrowing;, reaping, thrashing, winnowing, &c., are incidentally mentioned by the writers of those days; but it is impossible to collect from them a definite account of the manner in which those operations were performed.

While there is much in the writings of the old English chroniclers concerning the tenure of land, upon which subject the _Domesday Book_ gives much enlightenment, there is a great lack of information as to the manner in which the land was cultivated. Information began to be recorded in the middle of the thirteenth century, but only one treatise is known to have been written, namely, _La Dite de Husbanderye_, an essay in Norman French by Walter de Henley. This work was superseded by another treatise, the best of the early works on the subject, and published in the reign of Henry VIII (in 1523) by Sir A. Fitzherbert, judge of the Common Pleas. It is entitled the _Book of Husbandry_, and contains directions for draining, clearing, and enclosing a farm, for enriching the soil, and rendering it fit for tillage. Lime, marl, and fallowing are strongly recommended. The subject of agriculture attained some prominence during the reign of Elizabeth. The principal writers of that period were Tusser, Googe, and Sir Hugh Platt. Tusser's _Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandry_ (first complete edition published in 1580) conveys much useful instruction in metre, but few works of this time contain much that is original or valuable. The first half of the seventeenth century produced no systematic work on agriculture, though several on different branches of the subject. About 1645 the field cultivation of red clover was introduced into England, the merit of this improvement being due to Sir Richard Weston, author of a _Discourse on the Husbandry of Brabant and Flanders_, to whom also belongs the credit of first growing turnips in England. The Dutch had devoted much attention to the improvement of winter roots, and also to the cultivation of clover and other artificial grasses, and the farmers and proprietors of England soon saw the advantages to be derived from their introduction. Potatoes had been introduced during the latter part of the sixteenth century, but were not for long in general cultivation. A number of writers on agriculture appeared in England during the Commonwealth, the most important works on the subject being Blythe's _Improver Improved_ and Hartlib's _Legacy_. The former writer speaks of a rotation, or rather alternation of crops, and well knew the use of lime, as also of other manures. In the eighteenth century the first name of importance in British agriculture is that of Jethro Tull, a gentleman of Berkshire, who began to drill wheat and other crops about the year 1701, and whose _Horse-hoeing Husbandry_ was published in 1731. Tull was a great advocate of the system of sowing crops in rows or drills with an interval between every two or three rows wide enough to allow of ploughing or hoeing to be carried on. This enabled the ground to be cleared with crops still growing, thus obviating the necessity for 'bare fallow' and leading to the _four-course_ or Norfolk Rotation of Charles, second Viscount Townshend, the first agriculturist to cultivate turnips on a large scale. After the time of Tull and Townshend no great alteration in British agriculture took place till Robert Bakewell and others effected some important improvements in the breeds of cattle, sheep, and swine in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The raising and maintenance of live stock, especially of sheep, was a characteristic of English farming from a very early time, and for several centuries the country had almost a monopoly in the supply of wool. To Bakewell we owe the well-known breed of Leicester sheep. By the end of the century it was a common practice to alternate green crops with grain crops, instead of exhausting the land with a number of successive crops of corn. A well-known writer on agriculture at this period, and one who did a great deal of good in diffusing a knowledge of the subject, was Arthur Young. Scotland was for a long time behind England in agricultural progress. Great progress was made during the eighteenth century, however, especially in the latter half of it, turnips being introduced as a field-crop, and new implements such as the swing-plough and the thrashing-machine coming into general use. The construction of good roads through the country also gave agriculture a great impulse. During the wars caused by the French revolution (1795-1815) the high price of agricultural produce led to an extraordinary improvement in agriculture all over Britain. The establishment of the institution called the National Board of Agriculture was also of very great service to British husbandry at this period. Though a private association, it was assisted by an annual parliamentary grant, and prizes were given by it for the encouragement of experiments and improvements in agriculture. It existed from 1793 to 1816.

Among other societies which have greatly furthered the progress of agriculture in Britain, the chief in existence at the present day are the Smithfield Club, inaugurated in 1798; the Royal Agricultural Society of England, established in 1838; the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, founded in 1783; and the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, instituted in 1841. The objects of these and similar societies are such as the following: To encourage the introduction of improvements in agriculture; to encourage the improvement of agricultural implements and farm buildings; the application of chemistry to agriculture; the destruction of insects injurious to vegetation; to promote the discovery and adoption of new varieties of grain, or other useful vegetables; to collect information regarding the management of woods, plantations, and fences; to improve the education of those supported by the cultivation of the soil; to improve the veterinary art; to improve the breeds of live stock, &c. Shows are held, at which prizes are distributed for live stock, implements, and farm produce.

Through the efforts of the above-mentioned and other societies, the investigations of scientific men, the general diffusion of knowledge among all classes, and the necessity of competing with producers in foreign countries, agriculture made vast strides in Britain during the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. Among the chief improvements we may mention deep ploughing and thorough draining. By the introduction of new or improved implements the labour necessary to the carrying out of agricultural operations has been greatly diminished, and advancement in this direction has been promoted by the necessities of the Great War. Labour-saving machinery is likely to be used in future on an increasingly large scale. Science, too, has been called in to act as the handmaid of art, and in its application we owe very much to the researches conducted at the Rothamsted Experimental Station, founded in 1834 by Lawes, who endowed the Lawes Trust in 1889. Gilbert and he worked together from 1843 to the end of last century. It is primarily by the investigations of the chemist and physicist that agriculture has been put on a really scientific basis. The physiology of plants and animals, and the complex properties of soils, have all been investigated, and most important results obtained. Artificial manures, in great variety to supply the elements wanted for plant growth, have come into common use, and the free nitrogen of the air is now worked up into various substances by which the nitrate of soda imported from South America can be replaced. An improvement in all kinds of stock is becoming more and more general, feeding is conducted on more scientific principles, and improved varieties of crop-plants are created by applying the principles of Mendel and other scientists. Much attention is also devoted to seed-testing, and the applications of electricity to agriculture are being developed.

As a result of the new conditions, to be a thoroughly-trained and competent agriculturist requires a special education, partly theoretical, partly practical. In many countries there are now agricultural schools or colleges supported by the State, and many such institutions exist in Britain. In Scotland, the Edinburgh chair of Rural Economy was founded in 1790; in Ireland, the Glasnevin Institution was inaugurated in 1838; and the establishment of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, dates from 1845. In the United States nearly all the States have now colleges, or departments of colleges, devoted to the teaching of agriculture, and large allotments of public land have been made for their support. There are also numerous experimental stations. In Britain there has been a Board of Agriculture since 1889, under a cabinet minister, which was constituted a ministry in 1919; previously there was only a department under a committee of the Privy Council.

It is probable that on the whole the agriculture of Britain is farther advanced than that of any other region of similar size. Wheat, barley, and oats are the chief cereals in Britain; the chief roots are turnips and potatoes; other crops (besides grass and clover) are beans, peas, mangold, hops, and flax. In Europe at large the principal cereals are wheat, oats, barley, and rye, wheat being mostly grown in the middle and southern regions, such as France, Spain, part of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and southern Russia, the others in the more northern portion, while maize is grown in the warmest parts. Turnips are comparatively little grown out of Britain, beet-root in some sense taking their place; potatoes, however, are largely cultivated, except in the south. In the United States maize is the chief corn crop, next to which comes wheat, then oats; potatoes are an important crop, but turnips are only grown to a very small extent. In Canada large quantities of wheat are grown (more especially in Manitoba and the North-West), much is also now produced in the Australian colonies, in India, Argentina, &c.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Fream, _Elements of Agriculture_; C. W. Burkett, _Agriculture for Beginners_; _Encyclopaedia of Agriculture_ (Gresham Publishing Company).

AGRIGENTUM (-jen'tum) (modern GIRGENTI), an ancient Greek city of Sicily, founded about 580 B.C., and long one of the most important places on the island. The town is also famous as the birthplace of the philosopher Empedocles. Extensive ruins of splendid temples and public buildings yet attest its ancient magnificence. See _Girgenti_.

AG'RIMONY (Agrimonia), a genus of plants, nat. ord. Rosaceae, consisting of slender perennial herbs found in temperate regions. _A. Eupatoria_, or common agrimony, was formerly of much repute as a medicine in England. Its leaves and rootstock are astringent, and the latter yields a yellow dye. The plant is a common weed on the borders of cornfields and on roadsides.

AGRIPPA, Herod. See _Herod Agrippa_.

AGRIPPA, Marcus Vipsanius, a Roman statesman and general, the son-in-law of Augustus; born 63 B.C., died 12 B.C. He was praetor in 41 B.C.; consul in 37, 28, and 27; aedile in 33; and tribune from 18 till his death. He commanded the fleet of Augustus in the battle of Actium. To him Rome is indebted for three of her principal aqueducts, the Pantheon, and several other works of public use and ornament.