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ABCH^AN BOCKS 229 ABCHANOEL The arch was brought into extensive use by the Romans, and everywhere pre- vailed till the 12th century A. D. when the arch pointed at the apex, and called in consequence the pointed arch — the one so frequently seen in Gothic architecture — appeared in Europe as its rival. The forms of both curved and pointed arches may be varied indefinitely. Of the former may be mentioned the horseshoe arch, and the foil arch, from Latin foliuw^=^3i leaf, of which there are the trefoil, the cinquefoil, and the multifoil varieties, so named from the plants after which they are modeled. Other arches are the pointed one; the equilateral one, the drop arch, lancet arch, etc. ABCHiEAN (ar-ke'an) BOCKS, the oldest rocks of the earth's crust, crys- talline in character, and embracing gran- ite, syenite, gneiss, mica-schist, etc., all devoid of fossil remains. These rocks underlie and are distinctly separate from the stratified and fossiliferous for- mations, which indeed have chiefly taken origin from them. ABCH^OLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMEBICA, a society founded in Boston in 1879 for archaeological research. It has about twenty affiliated societies with headquarters in different cities. It has founded several schools for classical studies, including those in Athens, Rome, Palestine, and the United States. The society has carried on many important researches in European countries and in various parts of the United States and Central America. It has about 2,000 members. ABCH.ffiOLOGY, the science which makes us acquainted with the antiquities of nations that have lived and died, and the remains of various kinds which throw a light upon the history of those now ex- isting. The archaeologist seeks to study and preserve any materials which tend to elucidate the objects already mentioned, and these materials naturally resolve themselves into three great divisions, each susceptible of further subdivision. The first class may be considered to con- sist of all records, written or printed, legal documents, old chronicles, diaries of a public or private nature, state papers, letters, etc. The second may be termed oral, or traditional, in contradis- tinction to the first, which may be broadly called written archaeology, and consists of the ballads, legends, and folk-lore of a people, their sports, superstitions, and the rise and origin of local customs, proverbs, and expressions. The third, termed monumental archaeology, consists of works of art, paintings, sculpture, coins, medals, pottery, glass, wooden and metal utensils, tools of all descriptions, armor, weapons, carriages, boats, roads, canals, walls, encampments, burial- grounds, earthen mounds for purposes of defense or sepulture, and even human and animal remains. ABCHANGEL, a government of Russia in Europe, occupying the entire country from the Ural Mountains on the E. to Finland on the W., and from the Vologda and Olonetz on the S. to the Arc- tic Ocean and White Sea on the N. Nova Zembla, and some large islands of the Arctic Sea are also included within it; area 331,640 square miles. The largest part of this great territory is bleak, sandy, and perpetually sterile. The principal source of wealth lies in the forests, which are almost inexhaustible. Hunting and fishing are the principal oc- cupations of the inhabitants. The rein- deer, among the Laps in the N. W., and the Samoyedes in the N. E., is domes- ticated. Chief productions are hay, hemp, cordage, mats, tallow, tar, turpen- tine, potash, etc. The natives, though of Finnish origin, have now become essen- tially Russian. The Samoyedes, who are in the lowest scale of civilization, and spread over a vast tract of country, do not exceed in number 7,000; the Laps, not more than 2,000. The chief towns are Archangel, the capital, Onega, and Dwina. Pop. about 510,000. ABCHANGEL, or ST. MICHAEL, capital of the province of the same name, and the principal city and seaport of northern Russia, lies on the Dwina, about 34 miles from its fall into the White Sea. During the European War (1914-1918) it became the chief port of Russia. There is a government dock- yard, and numerous private shipbuild- ing concerns. The entrance to the Dwina, on which Archangel was subse«  quently built, was discovered by Richard Chancellour, an Englishman, in 1554. Pop. about 36,000. An American force was landed in this city in the latter part of 1918, in con- junction with British, Japanese, and French forces. They were maintained there for many months for the ostensible purpose of guarding supplies which had been placed there for the former Rus- sian Government. Important military operations were carried on around Arch- angel in the early months of 1919. The Bolshevist forces attacked the city, and the Russian troops under Admiral Kol- chak were obliged to withdraw. Anien- can forces took no active part in these operations and they were withdrawn in