Antigua (an-tē´gwa), one of the British West Indies, the most important of the Leeward group; 28 miles long, 20 broad; area, 108 sq. miles. Its shores are high and rocky, and much indented by creeks and inlets furnishing several good harbours. The surface is diversified by hill and dale, but nowhere rises to a greater height than 1500 feet. A considerable portion of it is fertile, and the climate is healthy, but there is a scarcity of water, there being no streams and few springs, droughts are not infrequent, and hurricanes are apt to cause serious loss and damage. Chief products are sugar, cotton, and pineapples. The island has fairly good shipping connections with the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Antigua is governed as a crown colony, the Islands of Barbuda and Redonda being attached to it. The capital, St. John, the residence of the governor of the Leeward Islands, stands on the shore of a well-sheltered harbour in the north-west part of the island. Falmouth (English Harbour) in the south has also an excellent harbour with a dockyard. The island was discovered by Columbus in 1493; the first settlement was made by the English in 1632. Since then, except for a short period of occupation by the French, it has been a British possession. Pop. 32,269 (1911).
Anti-Jac´obin, a famous magazine (1797-1818), the original object of which was to satirize the Jacobin principles of the Fox section of Whigs; principal contributors: Gifford, Canning, Frere, and Ellis.
Anti-Lebanon, the eastern of the two parallel ranges known as the Mountains of Lebanon in Palestine. See Lebanon.
Antilegom´ena (things spoken against or objected to), a term applied by early Christian writers to the Epistle to the Hebrews, 2 Peter, James, Jude, 2 and 3 John, and the Apocalypse, which, though read in the churches, were not for some time received into the canon of Scripture.
Antilles (an-til´ēz), another name for the West Indian Islands (excluding Bahamas). See West Indies.
Antilochus (an-til´o-kus), in Greek legend, a son of Nestor, distinguished among the younger heroes who took part in the Trojan War by beauty, bravery, and swiftness of foot. He was slain by Memnon, but Achilles avenged his death.
Antimacass´ar, a covering for chairs, sofas, couches, &c., made of open cotton or worsted work, to preserve them from being soiled, as by the oil applied to the hair.
Antimachus (an-tim´a-kus), a Greek poet who lived about 400 B.C., and wrote an epic called the Thebais on the mythical history of Thebes, and a long elegy called Lydē, inspired by a mistress or wife of that name. Both works were full of mythological details. Only fragments of his writings remain, and from these it can be gathered that his style was rather laboured and artificial. Yet the Alexandrian grammarians ranked him next to Homer.
An´timony (chemical symbol, Sb, from Lat. stibium; sp. gr. 6.7, atomic wt. 120.2), a brittle metal of a bluish-white or silver-white colour and a crystalline or laminated structure. It melts at 630.6° C., and burns with a bluish-white flame. The mineral called stibnite or antimony-glance, is a tri-sulphide (Sb2S3), and is the chief ore from which the metal is obtained. It is found in many places, including France, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Canada, Australia, and Borneo. The metal, or, as it was formerly called, the regulus of antimony, does not rust or tarnish when exposed to the air. When alloyed with other metals it hardens them, and is therefore used in the manufacture of alloys, such as Britannia-metal, type-metal, and pewter. In bells it renders the sound more clear; it renders tin more white and sonorous as well as harder, and gives to printing types more firmness and smoothness. The salts of antimony are very poisonous. The protoxide is the active base of tartar emetic and James's powder, and is justly regarded as a most valuable remedy in many diseases.—Yellow antimony is a preparation of antimony of a deep yellow colour, used in enamel and porcelain painting. It is of various tints, and the brilliancy of the brighter hues is not affected by foul air.
Antino´mianism ('opposition to the law'), the name given by Luther to the inference drawn by John Agricola (1492-1566), from the doctrine of justification by faith, that the moral law is not binding on Christians as a rule of life. The term antinomian has since been applied to all doctrines and practices which seem to contemn or discountenance strict moral obligations. The Lutherans and Calvinists have both been charged with antinomianism, the former on account of their doctrine of justification by faith, the latter both on this ground and that of the doctrine of predestination. The charge is, of course, vigorously repelled by both.