ARCTURUS, the brightest star in the northern hemisphere, situated in the constellation Boötes (q.v.) in an almost direct line with the tail (ζ and η) of the constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear); hence its derivation from the Gr. ἄρκτος, bear, and οὖρος, guard. Arcturus has been supposed to be referred to in various passages of the Hebrew Bible; the Vulgate reads Arcturus for stars mentioned in Job ix. 9, xxxvii. 9, xxxviii. 31, as well as Amos v. 8. Other versions, as also modern authorities, have preferred, e.g., Orion, the Pleiades, the Scorpion, the Great Bear (of. Amos in the “International Critical Comment” series, and G. Schiaparelli, Astronomy in the O.T., Eng. trans., Oxford, 1905, ch. iv.). According to one of the Greek legends about Arcas, son of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, he was killed by his father and his flesh was served up in a banquet to Zeus, who was indignant at the crime and restored him to life. Subsequently Arcas, when hunting, chanced to pursue his mother Callisto, who had been transformed into a bear, as far as the temple of Lycaean Zeus; to prevent the crime of matricide Zeus transported them both to the heavens (Ovid, Metam. ii. 410), where Callisto became the constellation Ursa Major, and Areas the star Arcturus (see [Lycaon] and [Callisto]).
ARCUEIL, a town of northern France, in the department of Seine, on the Bièvre, 2½ m. N.E. of Sceaux on the railway from Paris to Limours. Pop. (1906) 8660. The town has an interesting church dating from the 13th to the 15th century. It takes its name from a Roman aqueduct, the Arcus Juliani (Arculi), some traces of which still remain. In 1613-1624 a bridge-aqueduct over 1300 ft. long was constructed to convey water from the spring of Rungis some 4 m. south of Arcueil, across the Bièvre to the Luxembourg palace in Paris. In 1868-1872 another aqueduct, still longer, was superimposed above that of the 17th century, forming part of the system conveying water from the river Vanne to Paris. The two together reach a height of about 135 ft. Bleaching, and the manufacture of bottle capsules, patent leather and other articles are carried on at Arcueil; and there are important stone quarries.