one-tenth or one-twentieth that of the larger. The wheel is supported on a suitable stand, and the plant to be studied is set beneath it. To the plant a silk thread is attached, carried around the small wheel, and weighted just enough to take up the slack by rotating the hub as the plant grows upward. Over the rim of the large wheel a similar thread is passed, carrying on one end a marker, and on the other a counterpoise. The recording apparatus consists of a cylinder driven by clockwork, and carrying smoked paper, the marker bearing against the smoked surface. The cylinder may be rotated continuously by clockwork. In that case, once in 12 hours the marker describes a spiral line of steep or of low pitch, according to the rate of growth. The best forms, however, release the cylinder by means of an electro-magnet, the circuit being closed by a clock, at intervals, when the cylinder is allowed to rotate a short distance (2 to 4 millimeters). This gives a broken line, whose vertical parts represent the growth during the intervals of rotation, and the horizontal parts the distance through which the cylinder turned. A great variety of forms embodying the foregoing principles have been devised and described.
AUX CAYES, 6' ka'. A seaport town of
Haiti, situated on the southern coast of the
island. Its liarbor is good and its export trade
considerable (Map: West Indies, L 5). It has
also several domestic industries. Population,
about 25,000. It is the seat of a United States
consular agent.
AUXERRE, o'siir' (anciently, Autissiodo-
rum). The capital of the Department of Yonne,
France, on the Yonne, 90 miles southeast of
Paris (Map: France, K 4). It was originally
the see-town of a bishop, but its bishopric was
abolished by the Napoleonic Concordat, and its
fine episcopal palace is used for the prefecture.
It is situated on the slope of a hill, in a rich
and beautiful district abounding in vineyards.
The city is mostly ill-built; the streets are nar-
row, crooked, and dirty; but its aspect from a
distance is very imposing, the most prominent
feature being the cathedral Church of Saint
Etienne, a remarkably beautiful and imposing
structure — one of the most important Gothic
buildings in France, which dates from the Thir-
teenth Century. The Chapter of Auxerre was
once one of the richest in France. The churches
of Saint Germain and of Saint Pierre (Sixteenth
Century) are interesting buildings. There is a
curious old clock-tower over a gate-house, "with
an ugly skeleton spire of iron bars." The an-
cient walls of the city have been converted into
boulevards. It has a communal college, a mu-
seum of antiquities, and a botanic garden. The
principal products are wine, calico, serge, woolen
cloths, hosiery, earthenware, and leather. The
Yonne becomes navigable here, and large quan-
tities of Burgundy wines are sent down it to
Paris: there is also a considerable export trade
in timber and charcoal. Auxerre was a flour-
ishing town before the Roman invasion of
Gaul. It successfully resisted the Huns under
Attila, who only ravaged its suburbs. Clovis
took it from the Romans. After his death, it
became part of the kingdom of Burgundy. The
English took it in 1359, but it was retaken by
Du Guesclin. Charles VII. gave it up to the
Duke of Burgundy. It was finally united to the
Kingdom of France by Louis XI. It is the birthplace of the famous Jacques Amyot, once bishop of the see, whose transhition of Plutarch is a French classic. Population, in 1896, 15,082. Consult Freeman, "Sens and Auxerre," in Vol. XXXIX., Archæological Journal (London, 1882).
AUXIL'IARY. See Screw Propeller.
AUXILIARY VERBS. See Verbs; Conjugation.
AUXONNE, 6'.stin' (for Fr. Au Saône, on the
Saône; ML. Aussonia). French fortress
of the second class, in the Department of Côte-
d'Or, on the Saône, 17 miles southwest of Dijon
(Map: France, L 4). The town has a Sixteenth-
Century castle, now used as barracks; an arsenal,
a school of artillery, a large powder magazine,
and a cathedral dating from the Fourteenth Cen-
tury. Manufactures of cloth, plaster of Paris,
bricks, leather, etc., are carried on, and there
is a lively trade in these articles as well as in
grain, vegetables, lumber, and brandy. Popula-
tion, in 1896, 6700. The fortress was built by
Vauban in 1673.
AUZOUX, o'zoo',
Théodore Louis (1797-1880). A French anatomist and physician. He is known as the inventor of the method of making permanent models of anatomical preparations, which are exceedingly important in teaching medicine, and are used at present all over the world. He published Leçons élémentaires d'anatomie et de physiologie (1839).
AVA, il'va
(for derivation see below). A ruined city of Burma, and repeatedly its capital; the honor having fluctuated at various times between it and Monchobo, Sagaing (on the opposite bank of the river), Amarapura, and Mandalay, the present capital (Map: Burma, B 2). It stands in latitude 21° 51' N., on the left bank of the Irrawaddy, here about 4000 feet broad, 10 miles southwest of Mandalay. The river at this point receives two affluents, and these being joined by a canal, the city is rendered circumnavigable. The name is a Hindu and Malay corruption of Ængva or Aæn-ua, meaning fish-pond, as it was built where there were formerly fish-ponds, of which some still remain; in official documents it is designated as Ratnapura, i.e., 'City of Pearls.' The city, which was eight or ten miles in circumference, is surrounded by walls and ditches. Ava is almost a desert, having been reduced to ruins by an earthquake in 1839. The population, at one time estimated at 50,000, in 1891 was 39,477, mostly inhabiting thatched huts. Several Buddhist temples, with gilded domes, give the city a deceitful appearance of grandeur. Consult Trant, Two Years in Ava (London, 1827).
AVA, ii'va,
Arva, Yava, or Kava (Piper methysticum). A plant of the natural order Piperaceæ, possessing narcotic properties. The ava is a shrubby plant, with heartshaped, acuminate leaves, and very short, solitary, axillary spikes of flowers. It is a native of many of the South Sea islands, where the inhabitants intoxicate themselves with a fermented liquor prepared from its root, or (more accurately) rhizome. The rhizome is thick, woody, rugged, and aromatic. The intoxicating liquor is prepared by macerating it in water. It is often prepared much as the Indians of the Andes prepared chica or maize beer — chewing the root, depositing it in a bowl, strain-
