Anguilla (ang-gil´a), or Snake Island, one of the British West India Islands, 60 miles N.E. of St. Kitts; about 20 miles long, with a breadth varying from 3 to 1¼ miles; area, 35 sq. miles. A little sugar, cotton, tobacco, and maize is grown. There is a saline lake in the centre, which yields salt. Pop. 4075, of whom 100 are white.
Anguis (ang´gwis). See Blind-worm.
Angus (ang´gus), a name of Forfarshire.
An´halt, formerly a duchy of North Germany, lying partly in the plains of the Middle Elbe, and partly in the valleys and uplands of the Lower Harz, and almost entirely surrounded by Prussia; area, 888 sq. miles. All sorts of grain, wheat especially, are grown in abundance; also flax, rape, potatoes, tobacco, hops, and fruit. Excellent cattle are bred. The inhabitants are principally occupied in agriculture, though there are some iron-works and manufactures of woollens, linens, beet-sugar, tobacco, &c. The dukes of Anhalt traced their origin to Bernard (1170-1212), son of Albert the Bear. In time the family split up into numerous branches, and the territory was afterwards held by three dukes (Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Bernburg, and Anhalt-Dessau). In 1863 the Duke of Anhalt-Dessau became sole heir to the three duchies. The united principality, incorporated in the German Empire, had one vote in the Bundesrath and two in the Reichstag. The executive power, previous to the changes resulting from the European War, was vested in the duke, and the legislative in a Diet of thirty-six members. The reigning duke in 1918 was Eduard, who succeeded his brother on 21st April, 1918. With the outbreak of the revolution in Germany in 1918 Anhalt became a republic, but its status in the German Republic still remains to be determined. Pop. (1919), 331,258, almost all Protestants. The chief towns are Dessau, Bernburg, Köthen, and Zerbst.
An´holt, an island belonging to Denmark, in the Cattegat, midway between Jutland and Sweden, 7 miles long, 4½ broad, largely covered with drift-sand, and surrounded by dangerous banks and reefs. Pop. 300.
Anhy´dride, a chemical term synonymous with acidic oxide (see Chemistry) and applied to those oxides which unite with water to form acids. They were formerly called anhydrous acids.
Anhy´drite, anhydrous sulphate of calcium, a mineral presenting several varieties of structure and colour. The vulpinite of Italy possesses a granular structure, resembling a coarse-grained marble, and is used in sculpture. Its colour is greyish-white, intermingled with blue.
Ani (ä´nē), a ruined city in Armenia, formerly the residence of the Armenian dynasty of the Bagratidæ, having in the eleventh century a population of 100,000 and 1000 churches. In the thirteenth century it was taken by the Tartars, and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1319.
Aniche (a˙-nēsh), a town or village in the French department Nord, arrondissement Douai, with coal-mines, glass-works, chemical-works, &c. Pop. 6927.
Aniene (a˙-nē-ā´nā). See Anio.