Annunzio (a˙n-nu¨nt´syō), Gabriele d', Italian poet, novelist, and dramatist, born at Pescara in 1863, his patronymic being Rapagnetta. He was educated at Prato and in Rome, and early took to literature and journalism. In 1898 he was elected a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, in which he joined the Socialist party. He came before the public when a schoolboy with a volume of verse called Primo Vere, to which others—naturally much more mature—were subsequently added. Several of his novels have been published in English, as: The Child of Pleasure, The Victim, The Triumph of Death, The Virgin of the Rocks, The Fire of Life. Some of these have been very successful, though disfigured to some extent by coarse realism and voluptuousness. He began to write plays later in life. Among them Gioconda, The Dead City, and Francesca da Rimini may be read in English versions, and Gioconda and Francesca have been performed on the English stage. His more recent works include: Le Martyr de Saint Sebastien (1911), Le Chèvrefeuille (1914), La Beffa di Buccari (1918), Notturno (1918). D'Annunzio is the most prominent Italian writer of the present day, and in wealth of language and distinction of style stands far ahead of all others. He served in the European War from 1915-18, and was wounded. In Sept., 1919, he led a raid and occupied the port of Fiume. See European War and Fiume.
An´oa, an animal (Anoa depressicornis) closely allied to the buffalo, about the size of an average sheep, very wild and fierce, inhabiting the rocky and mountainous localities of the Island of Celebes. The horns are straight, thick at the root, and set nearly in a line with the forehead.
Ano´bium, a genus of coleopterous insects, the larvae of which often do much damage by their boring into old wood. By means of their heads they produce a loud, ticking sound in the wood, the so-called death-watch ticking. A. striātum, a common species, when frightened, is much given to feigning death.
An´ode, (Gr. ana, up, hodos, way), the positive pole of the voltaic current, being that part of the surface of a decomposing body which the electric current enters: opposed to cathode (Gr. kata, down, hodos, way), the way by which it departs.
An´odon, or Anodon´ta, a genus of
lamellibranchiate bivalves, including the fresh-water mussels, without or with very slight hinge-teeth. See Mussel.
An´odyne, a medicine, such as an opiate or narcotic, which allays pain.
Anointing, rubbing the body or some part of it with oil, often perfumed. From time immemorial the nations of the East have been in the habit of anointing themselves for the sake of health and beauty. The Greeks and Romans anointed themselves after the bath. Wrestlers anointed themselves in order to render it more difficult for their antagonists to get hold of them. In Egypt it was common to anoint the head of guests when they entered the house where they were to be entertained. In the Mosaic law a sacred character was attached to the anointing of the garments of the priests, and things belonging to the ceremonial of worship. The Jewish priests and kings were anointed when inducted into office, and were called the anointed of the Lord, to show that their persons were sacred and their office from God. In the Old Testament also the prophecies respecting the Redeemer style him Messias, that is, the Anointed, which is also the meaning of his Greek name Christ. The custom of anointing still exists in the Roman Catholic Church in the ordination of priests and the confirmation of believers and the sacrament of extreme unction. The ceremony is also frequently a part of the coronation of kings.
Anom´alure (Anomalūrus), a genus of rodent animals inhabiting the west coast of Africa, resembling the flying-squirrels, but having the under surface of the tail furnished for some distance from the root with a series of large horny scales, which, when pressed against the trunk of a tree, may subserve the same purpose as those instruments with which a man climbs up a telegraph pole to set the wires.