Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/499

ANCHORET ANCHYLOSIS 467 metal plate -with central shank is only used where permanent anchorage is desired, as for light-ships, buoys, &c. The latest novelty is an FIG. 4. Grapnel and Mushroom Anchors. anchor with an elastic shank. The principle of having a spring between the soil and the vessel is evidently excellent, as it is certain that without the natural spring formed by the curve in the chain it could never withstand the sudden jerks from a mass of several hun- dred tons, though the better place for the spring seems to be on board rather than in im- mediate contact with the rough sea bottom. ANCHORET, Anchorite, or more properly Ana- choret (Gr. ava^wpvrfo), a person retired from society, especially one who has withdrawn himself with the specific purpose of attaining a higher degree of spirituality. The term is par- ticularly applied to the hermits who began to appear in the Christian church about the 3d century, living in solitude generally in desert places, and not, like the later cenobites or monks, in communities. They often subjected themselves to extreme penances and mortifica- tions. St. Paul the Hermit, St. Simeon Stylites, and St. Anthony of the Desert were among the most celebrated of them, Paul being reckoned the earliest of the solitaries. After the in- stitution of monasticism they gradually dis- appeared in the West. A synod in 692 ordained that no person should be admitted an anchoret until he had resided three years in a monas- tery. Hermits are still to be found in the East, unconnected with any convent. Some writers consider Enoch, Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus to have been anchorets. The Thera- peutffi of Egypt, who were probably derived from the Jewish Essenes, were anchorets, or at least ascetics. The same is true to a degree of the Nazarites of the Old Testament. .But so far as Christian anchorets are concerned, they must be referred to the time of the Decian persecution, as the era when they first attained to any historic consideration. ANCHOVY, a small fish of the genus engraulis of Cuvier, the peculiar features of which are the opening of the mouth extending behind the Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus). eyes, and the long sharp liead and projecting upper jaw. It is distinguished from the sprat and other similar fishes by its very short anal fin, and the dorsal fin being immediately above the ventral. Anchovies enter the Mediterra- nean from the sea in enormous shoals in the spring, and deposit their ova along the shores in May, June, and July. They are caught like the herring with nets at night, with the use of lights. Gorgoria, a small island west of Leg- horn, is a famous place for the fisheries, and it gives its name to the best qualities of the com- mercial article. Other important fisheries are along the coasts of Provence and Catalonia. As the fish are taken, the bodies, separated from the heads and entrails, are salted and packed in small barrels, and in this state are ready for exportation. Sent to other countries, they are there repacked in bottles. The brine in which they are kept is reddened with ochre and Venetian red, which is supposed to be done for the purpose of concealing the other dirt. Notwithstanding their impurities and the substitution of many inferior fish, anchovies are a favorite relish at the breakfast table with many, being taken out of the bottles and eaten raw. Anchovy sauce has been a favorite con- diment from the time of the Romans. They called it garum, and prepared it as it is now made, which is by bruising and boiling the fish over a slow fire with melted butter. ANCHYLOSIS (Gr. ay/cWwcnf, a bending), that condition of a joint in which its natural mobil- ity is greatly impaired or entirely lost. The de- rivation of the word would imply that the joint is bent, but it is used to designate the abnormal condition in any position. Anchylosis may be true or false. In the former the material which has been produced by the diseased process, and which prevents the proper degree of mo- tion, is bone ; in the latter it is fibrous tissue, or the muscles which surround the joint are shortened to such an extent as to curtail move- ment. In either case the material may be between those surfaces of the bones which help to form the joint (intra-articular), or may lie chiefly or entirely outside (extra-articular). Anchylosis is usually the result of an inflamma- tion in or near the joints affected, though it may occur in cases where the joint has been retained in a fixed position for a considerable length of time, the disease or injury being in a distant part. If a bone be broken, it must be kept fixed in order that it may unite ; and to effect this it is usually necessary to render the joint above and that below the fractured part immovable until union has taken place. During this period, if proper precaution be not exer- cised, the joint may become stiffened, and in this case it is almost always by false anchylo- sis. This result is more apt to occur if the fracture be very near to, or especially if it im- plicate, the articulation. When a joint is in- flamed, the immobility necessary to cure this condition, and still more the not infrequent partial or complete destruction of those struc-