AGNOLO. a'ny6-lo, Uaccio d'. See Baglioni.
AGNO'MEN ( Lat. ad, to. in addition, + nomeii, nanio). A term used by the anoicnt Bonian gnimniaiians to denote an additional personal name derived from some aet, quality, or event; as Cunctator, given to Q. Fabius ^lax- inius, the Dvlayir; I'liny Ihv Yaitiiqir: Seipio Africanus. But the Romans themselves regarded sueli a term merely as an additional cognomen. See Cognomen.
AGNONE, A-nyr.'n'i. A city of soutliern Italy. -- miles nortlnvest of C;uni>()l>assi) (Map: Italy. ti). It stands on a hill said to be the site of the Samnite Aquilunia. It has elolh, steel, and copper works. Pop., 1901, i)"!):!.
AGNOS'TICISM (Ok. ajTuurof, aynostos, unknown. unkno«al)le, ignorant). A word coined by Professor Hu.vley to express the doctrine that man from his very nature is incapable of forming trustworthy conclusions concerning ultimate reality. The doctrine is by no means new. It is essentially one with the view of Protagoras
(q.v.). that the individual man is the measure
of the universe, and with tlie view of the Cireek
skeptics from Pyrrho onward. (See .-l-^NE-
SIDEMUS.) Among English-speaking philoso-
phers H. Speneer (q.v. ) is the best known agnos-
tic. The tenability of the agnostic position de-
pends on the justifiability of the dualistic
assumption that reality is independent of mind.
It argues that knowledge is the result of a men-
tal process which claims to represent an external
reality; that to know this claim to be valid is
possible only after a comparison of the repre-
sentation with the original ; but that the original
is, ex hyp., not an object of knowledge; hence,
that no comparison is possible for the knower.
Knowledge of re.ality is thus a huge undemon-
strable assumption. For a criticism of agnos-
ticism see Knowj.f.dge. Tiieouy of; Absolute;
Dlali.sm, and .Vppearance.
AGNOS'TUS ((4k. uyvuamr, n.f/»if;s(o.s, un-
known I. A characteristic Cambrian genus of
blind trilobilcs distinguished by their small size,
the elliptical form of the dorsal shield or cara-
pace, the close resemblance of the head-shield
(cephalon) and tail-shield (pygidium), and the
presence of only two segments in the thorax.
This genus, com|)rising over 1.50 species, is abun-
dantly rcpre>enlid in the Cambrian formations
of Scandinavia, Bohemia. Creat Britain. Spain,
and North America: indeed, certain kinds of
Cambrian shales arc filled with the detached frag-
ments of tile discarded moults of these crusta-
ceans. A few species are, in northern Europe,
known from the lowermost Ordoician beds.
allied genus, also characteristic of the C:unbrian
formations, is Microdiseus, with four thoracic
segments, which seems to be a somewhat earlier
form than Agnostus. and may perhaps bi> in a
certain sense the ancestral form from which
Agnostus was evolved. For illustration, see Tril-
ouiTA. See also articles on TitiLoiiiTA ; Cam-
IIKIAN SYSTESf.
AG'NTIS, Felix (1830—). An American
soldier and editor. He was born in Lyons, France, and fought in the war waged by Napoleon III. against Austria, and after the battle of Montebello was detailed to the celebrated flying corps under Garibaldi. He came to America in 1860, and enlisted in the Duryea Zouaves (New York Volunteers) , upon the outbreak of the Civil War, and at the battle of Big Bethel saved the life of (Jeneral Kilpatriek. He served as lieutenanl-eolonid under Sheridan in the latter's famous cami)aign in the Shenandoah Valley (18t)4), and toward the close of the war. as inspector-general in the Southern Department, he
was commissioned to dismantle the Confederate forts in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. At the close of the war be was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers (March l;!, 18().0), and soon afterward was retired from the service. He then became business manager of the Baltimore .t/lKlicUH.
AG'NUS DEI (Lat.. Lamb of God). One of
the titles of Christ (John i. 2!t) ; also the name
given to a certain prayer used in the Roman
Catholic service of mass. The litanies generally
conclude with the same prayer: "O Lamb
of God. that takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us." The figure of a lamb
bearing a cross, stamped U]>on an oval of wax,
silver, or gold, is also styled an .gnus Dei. Such
medals have been consecrated by the popes
since the fourteenth century, and are generally
<listributed among the faithful on the first Sun-
day after Easter. In the ancient Church candi-
dates for baptism received similar medals of
wax and wore them as objects of devotion.
In the Greek Church the cloth which covers the
cup in the communion service bears the image of
a lamb, and is styled the Agnus Dei.
AGONIC LINES ("lines without angles," from (ik. It, </, priv. + yuviu, gijnia, angle). Imaginary lines on the surface of the earth such that at each point through which one passes the magnetic declination is zero; that is, at such a point a magnetic compass needle lies in the geographical meridian, and hence points in a "true"
north and south direction. There are two agonic
lines at the present time ( 1IK)2 ) . One is a closed
curve passing across Hudson's Bay, into the
Atlantic Ocean east of Florida, across Brazil,
through the Antarctic Ocean, near the south pole
of the earth, northward through Australia,
the Indian Ocean. Russia, near the north pole
of the earth, and back again. The other is a
nmeh smaller closed curve, called the "Siberian
Oval." because it is contained in Eastern Siberia
and China. See ilAciNETiSM. Teiusestkhl.
AG'ONY COL'UMN. In England, a term applied to that but of a newspaper, generally the second column of the advertisement sheet, headed by notices of losses and disappearances, mysterious communications and correspondence, corresponding to the American personal column.
AGOO, a-go'i'i. A town of Luzon, Philippines, in the province of La Union. It is situated on the western coast, about 10 miles south of San Fernando, and has a population of 10.000.
AG'ORAC'RITUS (Gk. 'AynpuKpivnc, Agorakritn.i). . Gr<<k scul])tor of the fifth century B.C. He was born on the island of Paros. and was the favorite pupil of Phidias. His works are said to have been so perfect that the ancients were frequently uncertain lo which of the two sculptors they should be ascribed. His chief
creation was the colossal figure of Nemesis at lihamnus, which he is supposed to have developed from his unsuccessful Aphrodite, prepared for the contest with Alcanienes. Fragments of the work were recently dis'ri-eiecl at Rhamnus.
AGOSTA, a-gO'sta, or AUGUS'TA. A walled
