is flat and unsegineiiteJ, and lias neither circula- tory nor excretory system. The second class is (jcphyiea, containing marine Annulata '"devoid of any trace of segmentation in the adult con- dition, without parapodia, and either without seta", or with only a limited number." It in- cludes Sipuncuhis, Echiurus, and a few closely related forms. The third class is Archi-nnncUda, minute marine worms, faintly segmouti'd, and represented by only two families — the Ilistrio- drilidse, parasitic ou lobsters, and the Polygor- diida"; the larvie of both are troehospheres. The fourth class is Hirtidinca, the leeches, which have the blood system communicating with the body cavity, and the external rings are four or five times as numerous as the inner segments. They Iiave no seta; and are provided with suckers. Consult Parker and Haswell, Zoiilogy (Xew York, 1897). See Eautiiwoum; Leecu; Xehei.s; Serpula; Worms; Fossil.
AN'NULET (Lat. annnlus. dimin. of annus,
a ring). ( 1 I A term in aroliitecture for a small
fillet or band in relief. The annulet is several
times repeated in the molding at the base of
the capital of a Doric column under the ovolo.
(For illustration, see Doric Order.) (2) .l«-
nulet, a ring, a charge in heraldry of frequent
occurrence.
ANNUNCIADE, an-nun'shi-ad, or ANUNCIADA, a-noon'the-ii'D.i (Sp. .hnniciadd, annunciation). The name of several religious orders. ( 1 ) The religious Order of the Heavenly Annunciation, or of the Nuns of the Annunciation of Mary, was instituted by ilaria Victoria
.Fornari at Genoa in 1002, after a very strict
rule. The convents of the order at one time num-
bered fifty in France, Germany, and the Nether-
lands, but they have disai)])earod since the
French Revolution, except the one in Genoa. (2)
Another Order of the Annunciation, or of nuns of
Mary's Announcement, or the Ten Virtues, was
organized by Joanna, the daughter of Louis XI.,
in 1501, after her separation from Louis XIL
It extended to fifty convents for the reception of
poor gentlewomen, but was broken up at the
Revolution. (3) The order of Knights of the An-
nunciation in Savoy, Ordine Suiircmo dcIl' An-
nun^iata, now the first Italian Order, known orig-
inally as the Order of the Neck Chain or Collar,
was instituted in 1360 by Amadeus VI., Duke
of Savoy. It received statutes from Amadeus
VIIL. as .Anti-Pope Felix V., in 140!1, was re-
newed in lots under the name of the Holy An-
nunciation, and in 1720 was raised by Victor
Amadeus to be the first order of the kingdom of
Savov. The Ki-!:; is always grand master. The
knights, who since 1720 are not limited in num-
ber, must be of high rank, and already admitted
to the Orders of St. Mauritius and St. Lazarus.
They compose only one class. TIic decoration is
a gold medal, on which is represented the An-
nunciation, surrounded by love-knots. It is
usually worn suspended by a simple gold chain,
but the proper collar or cliain of the order is com-
posed alternately of love-knots and roses. On the
roses are engraved the letters F. E. R. T., which
some interpret Fortitiido ejus llhoduni tcnuit, in
allusion to the defense of Rhodes by Amadeus
v.. and which others hold to signify Fnipjirs, en-
trrx, rompes tout. Since 1080 the kniglits wear
on the left breast a star embroidered in gold.
Tlie four officers of the order — the chancellor
(always a bishop or archbishop), the secretary
(usually the minister of foreign affairs), the almoner (usually the King's first almoner), and the treasurer — wear the decoration round the neck, suspended by a sky-blue ribbon, accompanied by a star on the left breast. For details of costumes, etc., see Burke's Boole of Orders of Knighthood, p. 250, et seq. (4) A brotherhood
of the Annunciation was established in Rome by Cardinal Turrecreinata in 14(10. Its prinmry object was to provide dowries for twelve poor girls, but it now supports four hundred girls, to whom it gives twenty- live scudi apiece if they marry, or fifty scudi apiece if they enter a con-
vent. Pope Urban Vlll. (died 1044) left his entire private fortune (30,000 scudi) to the brotherhood.
ANNUN'CIA'TION, The (Lat. ad. to +
ji»H/i».s', messenger, newsbearer). The announce-
ment by the angel to the Virgin Mary of the in-
carnation of Christ ( Luke i: 20-38 ) . The fes-
tival of the Annunciation is kept on March 25,
hich was for a long period the beginning of
the legal year in England, The earliest evidence
of the celebration of this feast is in a canon of
the Council of Toledo, held in 65G. With a
view to natural fitness, the framers of the Church
calendar placed the festival of Christ's nativity
nine montlis after the Annunciation.
ANNUNCIATION, The. A subject frequently treated hj religious painters. The Virgin is commonly represented with needlework, or with a book, according to the legends, while the archangel appears bearing a sceptre or, more commonly, a lily or an olive branch. Among well-
known pictures with this title are paintings by Andrea del Sarto, in the Pitti Gallery, Florence; Fra Angelico, a fresco, in the cloisters attached to the church of San Marco, at Florence, a particularly delicate and characteristic treatment of the theme; also by the same, a work now in the museum at Madrid, painted for the San Domenico at Fiesole; Luca Signorelli, at Volterra, Italy, in a chapel of the Duomo; Titian, in the Scuola di San Rocco, at Venice; D. G. Rossetti, in the National Gallery, London, a noteworthy example of the pre-Raphaelite school, in which the Virgin is a portrait of Christina Rossetti.
ANNUNZIO, an-noon'tse-6, Gauriele d' (1804 — ). An Italian novelist and poet, more widely discussed, both at home and abroad, than any other writer of his country. He was born at Francavilla al Mare, near Pescara. In his fifteenth year, while a stud<'nt at Prato, he published his first Collection of verse, Prima Vere, followed at intervals by In Memoriam (1880), Canto novo (1882), Intermezzo di rime (1883), Isaotta Guttadauro (1886), and h'Isotteo e la Chimera (1890). From the appearance of his first volume he was hailed as a jjoet of exceptional promise, although the frankly licentious tone of many of his earlier poems provoked much censure. His first novel. // I'iaeere (translated under the title The Child of I'lcuxiirc) . appeared in 1889, and Avas evidently written under the dominating influence of ilaupassant and Bourget. In the main, it is a psychological study of a thorough-going egotist wlujse alfcctions are divided between two women, and who in the end ruins the life of one of them as well as his own. His next volumes, L'Innoeente (The Intruder, 1801). and Gioranni Episeopo (1892), are both powerful but gruesome stories, showing strongly the influence of the Russian school, and especi-
