inscriptions in tliis diaraotcr vlii(.l liuve been preserved liave nut yet been (le<i]ihereil, it is not possible to say anytliin^' positive about it. It is even doubtful wbat languafje tliese inserip- tions represent, althousb it is perhaps nearer to the (negroid) Xuba than to the llaniitic Beja or Bishari. Tlie alphbet was evidently bor- rowed trom outside sources, though whether Krryptian or .South-Arabie elements underlie it, eaiinot at present be determined. LiBY.v.N' or NiMiDi.-N. The old Libyan or Nuniidian writing, a very imperfect system, goes buck to the ancient alphabet of south .rabia (as Kuting has clearly shown) . and not to Punic. ]t is represented by many inscriptions in Algeria and Tunis. The first decipherment, on the basis of the famous bilingual inscription of Tukka, is due to Blau (see also Halevy, Essai d'cpi- graphie Ijibi/riue, 1S75, a collection !)y Faidherbe, 1870, etc.). It is worthy of note that the ancient funeral inscriptions in this cluuacter read from below upward. This system is similar to the ti/iiiaghcn or alphabet of the modern Sahara tribes (or Tuaregs). Oudney is said to have been the first who observed and called attention to their peculiar system of writing (1822). The best description of the alphabet is to be found ill Hanoteau, Grammaire de la laitgue Tamachek (18U0). Negro. Only one Xegro language has devel- oped a writing of its own. the Vei. on the west coast near Cape Mount. Doalu Bukere, a native who knew something of the Roman character, invented it about the year 1834. The writing was afterward used for Mohammedan missionary work. It is a clumsy syllabary with compli- cated forms sometimes suggestive of hieroglyph- ics, and quite distinct from European or .-Vrabio writing. A number of books have been written in it, but the Christian missionaries have de- clined to use it, and it is dying out. It has received considerable attention from linguists, as the only case known in which the actual inven- tion of a system of writing, in popular use, can be clearly shown. The idea, however, was cer- tainly borrowed from the Europeans. Consult: Steinthal. Die Mandc-Xeger-Sprachen (Berlin, 18(i7).
BiBLiOGR.PHy. For the classification of lan- guages, consult: F. Miiller. Grundriss der Simichirissenschaft (Vienna, 187fi-88), also his F.thiiographie, second edition (Vienna, 1870) ; also Cust, A Hketch of the Modern Languages of Africa (London, 1883). which is based on these works. Lepsius, Nubische Grammatik (Berlin, 18S0), presents somewhat different views. Consult also: Lepsius. Standard Aljiha- bet (London. 18(13). As preparatory works may be mentioned: Koelle, Poh/glotta Africana (Lon- don, 18,)4) : Bleek. (■otnjxiratire (Ininimar of fidiith African Lanauarics (London. 18(i2-fin); The I.ihrarti of Sir II. (I'rci/ (London, 1S.-)H-(13).
AFRICAN METH'ODIST EPIS'COPAL CHURCH. See Metiiooi.sm.
AFRICAN METH'ODIST EPIS'COPAL ZI'ON CHURCH. See :Metiiouis.i.
AFRICAN MIL'LET. See Sougium, Non-SA('(11.!INK.
AFRICAN OAK. See Teak.
AFRICA'NUS, Sextus Julius. A Christian
writer. lie was born in Libya, and made his
home in Emmaiis, near Jerusalem, from 195 on
till after 240. l)it (raviled extensively through
Asia Minor. He is rememl)ered for his chromd-
ogy from the creation to 221, of which frag-
ments are preserved. These and portions of
other writings are printed in Migne. I'utrologia
Orwca, X. 51-108, XL 41-48; English transla-
tion, .4»i/e- .VifCHc Fathers (N. V. edition), VI.
123-140.
AF'RICAN WAR, TiiK. In Roman history,
the war lietwccn .Tulius Ca'sar and the members
of the Pomiici;in party who. after the battle of
Pharsalia. renewed tiu> conlliet in Africa and
were defeated at T'ha[isus. 4(1 li.c. The account
known as the liclluin Africanum attached to the
works of Ctesar is of uncertain authorship.
AFRIDIS, a-fre'dez. One of the .fghan or
Pathan peoples of the Indo- Afghan border who
have of recent years come into hostile contact
with the British authorities. In their somewhat
savage yet intelligent semi-independence they
represent, perhaps, ancient Aryan society of an
early type. A Ijrief account of them by Iloldich
appeared in the Journal of the Anthropological
Institute (London) for ISOO.
AF'RIKAN'DER. The Dutch form for '-Af-
rican." used of white persons born in South
Africa, opccially the Boers.
AFRIKANDER BUND, liunt, or BOND.
An association in Soutli Afric:i designed to con-
solidate the inlluence of the Afrikanders, and
looking to the final formation of an inde])endent
union of the South African States. With its
present name it dates from 1880, though it was
started the year before. As a political party in
Cape Colony it for a time supported the policy
of Cecil Rhodes (q.v.), but after the .Jaineson
raid (1895) it separated itself from him. In
1898 it secured a majority in the colonial legis-
lature. While it urged I'resident Kruger to a
more liberal policy, its sympathies on the out-
break of the war between the Transvaal and
Great Britain were with the Boers. On Decem-
ber, 6, 1900, an Afrikander congress was held
at Worcester, Cape Colony, which demanded the
recognition of the independence of the Boer re-
publics and condenmed the war and the policy
of the High Commissioner of the colony.
AFRITE, af'ret. A powerful spirit, or jinn
(Lat. genius), figuring in the stories of A Thou-
sand and IJne Sights.
AFT. See Bearing.
AF'TER-IMAGES. Retinal images which appear after the eye has been removed from some illuminated object. When we light our lamp in the evening we are distinctly conscious that the illumination has a reddish-yellow tinge. As time goes on, however, we lose the color; the paper on which we write seems to be as white as the same
paper seen in ditTusc daylight: our eyes have liccome adapted, or have grown used, to their surroundings (general adaptation) . The law of adaptation is that all brightiu'sses tend toward a uiiildle gray, and all colors toward neutrality.
Adaptation leaves an after-elTect, which is termed disposition. A yellow-adapted eye is disposed to the complementary c(dor. or liluc-sighted: all the yellows that it sees tend toward gray, and all other colors take on a tinge of the complementary blue. See CoxTBAST: Visial Sensation. .Vdaptation may be local, as well as general. .'suppose, e.g.. that 1 fixate steadily a green disk seen upon an e.xtendeil white background. The
