Animal Worship, a practice found to prevail, or to have prevailed, in the most widely-distant parts of the world, both the Old and the New, but nowhere to such an amazing extent as in ancient Egypt, notwithstanding its high civilization. Nearly all the more important animals found in the country were regarded as sacred in some part of Egypt, and the degree of reverence paid to them was such that throughout Egypt the killing of a hawk or an ibis, whether voluntary or not, was punished with death. The worship, however, was not, except in a few instances, paid to them as actual deities. The animals were merely regarded as sacred to the deities, and the worship paid to them was symbolical.
An´ima Mun´di. See Pantheism.
Animé (an´i-me), a resin obtained from the trunk of an American tree (Hymenæa Courbaril). It is of a transparent amber colour, has a light, agreeable smell, and is soluble in alcohol. It strongly resembles copal, and, like it, is used in making varnishes. See Copal.
An´imism, the system of medicine propounded by Stahl, and based on the idea that the soul (anima) is the seat of life. In modern usage the term is applied to express the general doctrine of souls and other spiritual beings, and especially to the tendency, common among savage races, to attribute souls or spirits to inanimate things, and to explain phenomena not due to obvious natural causes by attributing them to spiritual agency. Amongst the beliefs of animism is that of a human apparitional soul, bearing the form and appearance of the body, and living after death a sort of semi-human life.—Bibliography: Sir J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough; Andrew Lang, Myth, Ritual, and Religion.
Anio (now Aniēne or Teverōne), a river in Italy, a tributary of the Tiber, which it enters from the east a short distance above Rome, renowned for the natural beauties of the valley through which it flows, and for the remains of ancient buildings there situated, as the villas of Mæcenas and the Emperor Hadrian.
Anise (an´is; Pimpinella Anīsum), an annual plant of the nat. ord. Umbelliferæ, a native of Eastern Asia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean coasts, and cultivated in Spain, France, Italy, Malta, &c., whence the fruit, popularly called aniseed, is imported. This fruit is ovate, with ten narrow ribs, between which are oil-vessels. It has an aromatic smell, and is largely employed to flavour liqueurs (aniseed or anisette), sweetmeats, &c. Star-anise is the fruit of an evergreen Asiatic tree (Illicium anisātum), nat. ord. Magnoliaceæ, and is brought chiefly from China. Its flavour is similar to that of anise, and it is used for the same purposes. An essential oil is obtained from both kinds of anise, and is used for scenting soaps and in the preparation of cordials.
Anjou (a˙n˙-zhö), an ancient province of France, now forming the department of Maine-et-Loire, and parts of the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Mayenne, and Sarthe; area, about 3000 sq. miles. In 1060 the province passed into the hands of the House of Gatinais, of which sprang Count Godfrey V, who, in 1127, married Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, and so became the ancestor of the Plantagenet kings. Anjou remained in the possession of the English kings up to 1204, when John lost it to the French king Philip Augustus. In 1226 Louis VIII bestowed this province on his brother Charles; but in 1328 it was reunited to the French Crown. John I raised it to the rank of a duchy, and gave it to his son Louis. Henceforth it remained separate from the French Crown till 1480, when it fell to Louis XI.
Ankarström (a˙n´ka˙r-streum), Jan Jakob, the murderer of Gustavus III of Sweden, was born about 1762, and was at first a page in the Swedish Court, afterwards an officer in the royal bodyguard. He was a strenuous opponent of the sovereign's measures to restrict the privileges of the nobility, and joined Counts Horn and Ribbing in a plot to assassinate Gustavus. The assassination took place on 15th March, 1792. Ankarström was tried, tortured, and executed in April, dying boasting of his deed.
Anker, an obsolete measure used in Britain for spirits, beer, &c., containing 8½ imperial gallons. A measure of similar capacity was used in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.