guilty of embezzlement and extortion, but es- caped oerious punishment and lost nothing in reputation. In 1722 he accompanied Peter in his Persian war, and was present at the siege of Derbend. His last naval expedition was in 1726, when he repaired with the Russian fleet to Reval, to defend that place against an ex- pected attack by the English. He died at Moscow.
APRAXIN, Stepan rEDOROviTcii, Count (1702-00). A Russian general. In 1737 he served against the Turks, gaining rapid promotion, being appointed ambassador to Persia in 1742, general-in-cbief in 1746, and field-marshal in 1756. In Elizabeth's court he was a strong opponent of Prussian influence, and in the Seven Years' War, as field-marshal, led an army of invasion into Prussia, defeating the Prussian field-marshal Lewald at Grossjagerndorf, 1757. In the midst of success, he retreated, on call of Bestuzhefi', who wanted to raise Paul to the Russian tlirone over his father (Peter III.), who was the legitimate heir, as the Empress Elizabeth fell dangerously ill. On recovering, the lat- ter removed Bestuzhefi", and put Apraxin into prison. The court-martial reported to the Empress that the prisoner denied any guilt, whereupon she recommended it to apply the last remedy — to set him free. At the next session, when Apraxin persisted in claiming innocence, the president of the court-martial urged his col- leagues to apply "the last remedy." At these words, Apraxin fell in a fit of apoplexy, think- ing they referred to torture.
A'PRICOT (Fr. abricot, Sp. olbaricoque, Portuf;. iilhricocjue, from Ar. al-birquq, al-bur- qiiq) . A fruit ( Lat. Primus Armeniaca, i.e., Ar- menian plum) resembling in several respects both the peach and plum, and really inter- mediate between them. It is supposed to be a native of China, and was brought into Eu- rope at the time of Alexander the (Jreat. The flesh of the apricot is firm, sweet, and aromatic; the stone is smooth and slightly furrowed, like that of some plums. The skin is downy, like that of the peach. The tree resembles the plum more than the peach, in that it has ovate, acu- minate, and cordate, smooth, double-toothed leaves, on long stalks, and solitary, sessile, white flowers which appear before the leaves. The danger of loss from frost, owing to its early blooming liabit, as well as from Plum Curculio, has discouraged the cultivation of the apricot in the eastern United States. In California and Oregon it is extensively raised. In England it is a favorite with gardeners, and is grovu both in the open and as espalier or cordon on protected walls. In the eastern United States, when trained in similar manner to a northern or northeastern wall, it does well, as in such a situation the buds are sufficiently retarded to escape frost. The tree is as hardy as the peach, but it has the bad habit of early blooming, char- acteristic of all Oriental fruits, particularly the Japanese plums.
In the eastern United States, the apricot is usually budded or grafted upon the plum. This fits it for heavy soils; on light soils, it does well when worked upon the peach, and in Cali- fornia, where apricot stocks can be obtained, it is worked upon the apricot itself. In New York State there are eonmiercial orchards of apricots, top-worked on the plum. The Rus- sian apricot is a hardy form of Prunus Arme- niaca, and although not in itself of merit for its fruit, may j)rove to be a valuable stock for the more desirable forms. Orchard culture of, the apricot is, in general, the same as for the peach. (See Peach.) Like all fruits which have been long in cultivation, the ajiricot has numer- ous varieties; some vahuable varieties are Hol- land (Breda), Moorpark, Early Golden, and Peach. The fresh fruit of the apricot is now commonly found in the markets. Large quan- tities of the fruit are also dried in California and Oregon in fruit evaporators. The product is extensively shipped to different parts of the United States and abroad, for cooking purposes. For composition and food value of the fruit, see general article on Fruit. For illustration see Plate of Abutilon and Deupe.s. Diseases. — The apricot is subject to the same diseases as are the peach and plum. The most common disease is the leaf rust. It may be prevented by the thorough use of the standard fungicides (q.v. ).
APRIES, a'prl-ez (Gk. ' kTpl-qs, Aprils; Uaphres, Eg^-ptian, Uah-eb-re') . An Egyptian king of the twenty-sixth dynasty. In the Old Testament he is called Pharaoh-hophra. He reigned from B.C. 589 to 570, at the time when the Babylonians subjected Palestine and threat- ened Egypt. He aided the Jews in their re- sistance against Nebuchadnezzar, but was unable to prevent the fall of Jerusalem. Apries seems, however, to have warded off the Babylonian attack upon Egypt. The revolt of his native troops sent against the Cyrenieans in aid of the Libyan king Adikran led to the usurpation of Amasis ( q.v. ) . Herodotus, who in general gives a strangely distorted account of Apries, relates that the usurper kept him alive for some tipie. until at last he was forced to yield up the dethroned king to an infuriated mob. This story is, however, not confirmed by the Eg^'ptian inscriptions.
A'PRIL. See iloNTH.
APRIL POOL. The first of April, known as "All Fools' Day," has long been in America, and for a still longer period in many European countries, a day for mocking unxxary persons by sending them on bootless errands or making them the victims of some other practical joke. The custom seems to have lieen unknown to Ger- man antiquity. Grimm regards it as having been introduced into Germany from France, in com- paratively modern times. Various theories have been held as to the origin of the custom. One traces the custom to the miracle-play formerly represented at Easter, which sometimes showed the sending of Christ from Annas to Caiaphas, and from Pilate to Herod; another finds the origin in some ancient pagan festival where similar tricks were played, such as the Huli fcstial held by the Hindus on March .31, or the Feast of Fools, celebrated by the Romans on February 17. In France, the victim is called un poisson'd'Avril, an April fish (possibly from the reopening of the fisheries at that season) : in Scotland, a gowk or a cuckoo.
A PRIO'RI (Lat., from something prior, forej;uing. (/. fniiu, and prior, prior). In Aristotelian terminology, a designation applied to arguments from cause to effect, as opposed to a po'sleriori (Lat., from something posterior, fol-
