Adriano′ple (Turk. Edreneh), an important city in the Balkans, about 135 miles W.N.W. from Constantinople, on the Maritza (ancient Hebrus), at its junction with the Tundja and the Arda. It has a great mosque, among the most magnificent in the world; a palace, now in a state of decay; a grand aqueduct, and a splendid bazaar; manufactures of silk, woollen, and cotton stuffs, otto of roses, leather, &c., and an important
trade. Adrianople received its present name from the Roman emperor Adrian (Hadrian). In 1361 it was taken by Amurath I, and was the residence of the Turkish sovereigns till the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. In 1829 it was taken by the Russians, and here was then concluded the peace of Adrianople, by which Russia received important accessions of territory in the Caucasus and on the coast of the Black Sea. The Russians occupied it also in 1878. Adrianople was bombarded by the Balkan allied forces in Feb., 1913, and fell 28th March; it was recaptured by the Turks, under Enver Bey, 20th July. Pop. 83,000.
Adrian's (or Hadrian's) Wall. See Roman Walls.
Adriat′ic Sea, or Gulf of Venice, an arm of the Mediterranean, stretching in a north-westerly direction from the Straits of Otranto, between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula (Yugo-Slavia). Length, about 480 miles; average breadth, about 100; area, about 60,000 sq. miles. The rivers which it receives, particularly the Po, its principal feeder, have produced, and are still producing, great geological changes in its basin by their alluvial deposits. Hence Adria, between the Po and the Adige, which gives the sea its name, though once a flourishing seaport, is now 17 miles inland. An oceanographic investigation of the Adriatic Sea took place in Feb. and March, 1911. The principal trading ports on the Italian side are Brindisi, Bari, Ancona, Sinigaglia, and Venice; on the east side Ragusa, Fiume, Pirano, Pola, and Trieste (Italian).
Adscripti Glebæ (Lat., persons attached to the soil), a term applied to a class of Roman slaves attached in perpetuity to and transferred with the land they cultivated. Colliers and salt workers in Scotland were in a similar position till 1775.
Adula′ria, a very pure, limpid, translucent variety of the common felspar, called by lapidaries moonstone, on account of the play of light exhibited by the arrangement of its crystalline structure. It is found on the Alps, but the best specimens are brought from Ceylon. It is so called from Adula, one of the peaks of St. Gothard, where fine specimens are got.
Adul′lam, Cave of, a cave to which David fled when persecuted by Saul, and whither he was followed by "every one who was in distress, in debt, or discontented" (1 Sam. xxii, 1, 2).—The name Adullamites was given to an English political party, consisting of R. Lowe, Lord Elcho, and other Liberals, who opposed the majority of their party on the Franchise Bill of 1866. The term originated from a speech of John Bright on 13th March, 1866.
Adultera′tion, a term applied to the fraudulent mixture of articles of commerce, foods, drugs, beverages, seeds, &c., with inferior ingredients, and also to any accidental impurity found in a substance. The chief objects of adulteration are to render a substance more pleasing in appearance, to increase the weight, to make an inferior article appear as good as the article of superior quality. Any substance added to an article to increase its bulk, weight, colour, &c., is spoken of as an adulterant. Milk is often adulterated with water and with colouring-matter. Butter may be adulterated by mixing with it other fats or by the addition of colouring-matter. Nearly every article of food can be adulterated in some way to make it appear of finer quality. Preservatives added to foods and drugs generally may be classed as adulterants. Thus cream is preserved by adding small quantities of boric acid. Beer sometimes contains salicylic acid added as a preservative. Chloroform contains a small quantity of alcohol to prevent decomposition. Methylated spirits is alcohol adulterated in several ways to render it unfit for human consumption. Tobacco contains benzoic acid as preservative, and sometimes saltpetre to aid burning. Many of these adulterants are harmful, so that such added to foods and beverages must be present only in very small quantities. Food and Drug Acts lay down the limits of the quantities of foreign matter permitted either as preservative or impurity. Practically every article of commerce is adulterated in some way, and pure substances are seldom used. Cf. Walker, The Food Inspector's Encyclopædia.
Adul′tery, the voluntary sexual intercourse of a married person with any other than the offender's husband or wife; when committed between two married persons, the offence is called double, and when between a married and single person, single adultery. The Mosaic, Greek, and early Roman law only recognized the offence when a married woman was the offender. By the Jewish law it was punished with death. In Greece the laws against it were severe. By the laws of Draco and Solon adulterers, when caught in the act, were at the mercy of the injured party. In early Rome the punishment was left to the discretion of the husband and parents of the adulteress. The punishment assigned by the Lex Julia, under Augustus, was banishment or a heavy fine. Under Constantius and Constans, adulterers were burned or sewed in sacks and thrown into the sea; under Justinian the wife was to be scourged, lose her dower, and be shut up in a monastery; at the expiration of two years the husband might take her again; if he refused she was shaven and made a nun for life. By the ancient laws of France this crime was punishable with death. In Spain personal mutilation was frequently the punishment adopted. In several European countries adultery is regarded as a
criminal offence, but in none does the punishment exceed imprisonment for a short period, accompanied by a fine. In England formerly it was punishable with fine and imprisonment, and in Scotland it was frequently made a capital offence. In Great Britain at the present day, however, it is punishable only by ecclesiastical censure. The aggrieved husband, however, can obtain damages against his wife's seducer. In England a man can obtain a dissolution of his marriage on the ground of his wife's adultery, and a wife can obtain a judicial separation on the ground of her husband's adultery, or a dissolution of the marriage if the offence is coupled with cruelty, desertion, or bigamy. In Scotland it is not necessary to prove cruelty. In the United States the punishment of adultery has varied materially at different times. It is, however, very seldom punished criminally in the States. A person divorced for adultery is by the laws of France and Scotland prohibited from intermarrying with the co-respondent.