A'PIA'NUS, Petrus (1501-52). A German astronomer and geographer, born at Leisnig, Saxony. His name was Peter Bennewitz, or Bienewitz {Biene is (German for liee, which in Latin is apis — whence his adopted name). He was, from 1527, professor of mathematics at Ingolgtadt, and was celebrated as a mathematician, astronomer, and general savant, and especially as a cosmographer. He was the inventor of a number of philosophical instruments, and some of the earliest maps of America were printed by him. The best-known among his writings is the Costnor/raphia (Landshut, 1524; Antwerp, 1529).
AP'ICES. See Numeral.
APICIUS, a-pish'i-us, Marcus Gabius. A Roman epicure, who lived in the time of Au- gustus and Tiberius, and was celebrated for his luxurious table and his acquirements in the art of cookery. When, by the gratification of his favorite indulgence, lie had consumed the greater part of his fortune, and had only some $400,000 ifeft, he poisoned himself, in order to avoid the misery of plain diet. Two other gourmands — one in the time of Pompey, the other in the reign of Trajan — are mentioned under the name Api- cius. The Roman cookery-book. Cwlii Apicii de Re Coquinaria, ascribed to Apicius, belongs to a much later time, inasmuch as it abounds in inac- curacies and solecisms. It is edited by Schueh (Heidelberg, 1867).
AP'ICUL'TURE. See Bee-Keeping.
APINUS, a-pe'ni.is, Franz Maria Ulrich Theodor (1724-1802). A German physicist, born at Rostock. He devoted himself to the study of medicine and the exact sciences, and in 1757 he was appointed professor of physics at Saint Petersburg. He is chiefly remembered for his extension of Franklin's electrical theory, but also published valuable works on various other branches of the physical sciences, including a work On the Distribution of Beat at the Hurface of the Earth (1762).
A'PION (Gk. 'ATriui/). An Alexandrian grammarian of the Fir.st Century a.d. He was born in the Oasis in the Libyan Desert, but came early to Alexandria, where Didymus received liim into his house. He became a pupil of ApoUonius and pjUphranor, and eventually succeeded Thcon as head of the Alexandrian School. He traveled much in the cities of Greece lecturing on Homer, whereby he gained great renown, but more from the brilliancy of his manner than from the value of the matter presented. His journeys extended to Rome, where his boastful nature won him from tlie Emperor Tiberius the nickname ci/m- ialnm muiicli ("the cymbal of the universe"). Later, as leader of the anti-Jewish partj', he was sent during the reign of Caligula at the head of an embassy to Rome to oppose the Jewish dele- gation led by the philosopher Philo. Jo.sepluis's tract. Against Apian, answering charges made on this occasion, is one of our chief sources of knowledge in regard to him. In the reign of Claudius, Apion lived and taught at Rome. His chief writings were a comprehensive work on the history and civilization of Egypt, which contained the famous story of Androclcs and the Lion, preserved by Aulus Gellius (v. 14) ; and an Homeric glossary, which may be identical with that in the appendix to the Etymologicum Chidianum, page 001, edition Sturz (Leipzig, 1818). The scanty fragments of his historical works are collected by K. and Th. iliiller, Frag- nienta. Hisforicoruni (Irwcorum, iii. 50IJ-516 (Paris, 1808-74).
A'PIOS TUBERO'SA. See Ground-nut.
A'PIS (Gk. 'Attis). A sacred bull worshiped at ilemphis by the ancient Egyptians. His Egyptian name. Hap, is of uncertain etymology. Originally he may have been an independent local divinity, but in historical times he appears as the sacred animal of the god Ptah of Mem- phis. Later he was considered as an incarnation of Osiris, of Sokaris, or even of the sun; but usually he was, through a false etymology, asso- ciated with the Nile (Ha'pi). According to Greek accounts, he was not allowed to live longer than twenty-live years, and if he survived his allotted time was secretly drowned in a well. The bodies of the Apis bulls were carefully em- balmed and were buried in subterranean rock- hewn tombs, in the Serapeum at Memphis (not to be confounded with the famous Serapeum of Alexandria), where A]iis, under the name Serapis (a combination of Osiris and Apis), was worshiped as the patron of the dead. Three tombs, with numerous Apis mummies, were dis- covered by Mariette in 1 85 1. After the death of an Apis bull, the country was searched, some- times for years, until another was found bearing the sacred marks. As to the precise nature of these marks, traditions vary widely. The ani- mal, however, must be black, with certain white spots, and a peculiar knot under the tongue. When found, he was solemnly conducted to Memphis and installed in the temple with great festivities. The day of his installation and that of his birth were celebrated annually, and oracles were derived from his movements and from the nature of his appetite. Even the cow which had become the mother of an Apis bull received divine honors. The sumptuous worship of this animal seems to have impressed the Greeks as more remarkable than that of any other sacred animal. For illustration, see Egypt.
AP'LACOPH'ORA. See Amphineura.
AP'LANAT'IC LENS (not wandering, from Gk. d, a, priv. -}- TrXaratrSai, planasthai, to wan- der). An achromatic lens corrected for spherical aberration (q.v.), so that all rays of light which emanate from one point and pass through the lens are focused at a point. The construction and correction of photographic lenses is fully descrilied, from the technical standpoint, in Otto Lummer's Photographic Optics, translated by Silvanus P. Thompson (New York, 1000). See Light and Lens.
APOCALYPSE. See Revelation.
APOC'ALYP'TIC LIT'ERATURE (Gk. dwoKavirTetf, apokalyj^ein, to uncover, reveal). The designation of certain alleged propliecies and revelations of Jewish and Christian authorship dating from about B.C. 200 to about a.d. 200. Their main theme is the problem of the final triumph of the Kingdom of God. The Jewish apocalypses profess to reveal the future of Israel with the coming of the Messiah as the savior and avenger of Cxod's elect. The Christian interpolations and additions, written from the point of view of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, unveil the future struggles and ultimate victory of the Church and the future state of the evil and the good. Within these limits large opportunity
