Apho´nia (Gr. a, not, and phōnē, voice), in pathology, the greater or less impairment, or the complete loss of the power of emitting vocal sound. The slighter and less permanent forms often arise from extreme nervousness, fright, and hysteria. Slight forms of structural aphonia are of a catarrhal nature, resulting from more or less congestion and tumefaction of the mucous and submucous tissues of the larynx and adjoining parts. Severer cases are frequently occasioned by serous infiltration into the submucous tissue, with or without inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx and of its vicinity. The voice may also be affected in different degrees by inflammatory affections of the fauces and tonsils; by tumours in these situations; by morbid growths pressing on or implicating the larynx or trachea; by aneurisms; and most frequently by chronic laryngitis and its consequences, especially thickening, ulceration, &c.
Aph´orism, a brief, sententious saying, in which a comprehensive meaning is involved, as 'Familiarity breeds contempt'; 'Necessity has no law'.
Aphrodite (af-ro-di´tē), the goddess of love among the Greeks; counterpart of the Roman Venus. A festival called Aphrodisia was celebrated in her honour in various parts of Greece, but especially in Cyprus. See Venus.
Aphthæ (af´thē), a disease occurring especially in infants, but occasionally seen in old persons, and consisting of small white ulcers upon the tongue, gums, inside of the lips, and palate, resembling particles of curdled milk: commonly called thrush or milk-thrush.
A´pia, the chief place and trading centre of the Samoa Islands, on the north side of the Island of Upolu. It has a wireless station.
A´piary (Lat. apis, a bee), a place for keeping bees. The apiary should be well sheltered from strong winds, moisture, and the extremes of heat and cold. The hives should face the south or south-east, and should be placed on shelves 2 feet above the ground, and about the same distance from each other. There is no place for handling bees like the open air in suitable weather, and for this reason bee-houses, or bee-sheds, formerly in use, are not much in vogue now. As to the form of the hives and the materials of which they should be constructed there are great differences of opinion. The old dome-shaped straw skep is still in general use among the cottagers of Great Britain. Its cheapness and simplicity of construction are in its favour, while it is excellent for warmth and ventilation; but it has the disadvantage that its interior is closed to inspection, and the honey can only be got out by stupefying the bees with the smoke of the common puff-ball or chloroform, or by fumigating with sulphur, which entails the destruction of the swarm. Wooden hives of square box-like form are now gaining general favour among bee-keepers. They usually consist of a large breeding chamber below and two sliding removable boxes called 'supers' above for the abstraction of honey without disturbing the contents of the main chamber. It is of great importance that the apiary should be situated in the neighbourhood of good feeding
grounds, such as gardens, clover-fields, or heath-covered hills. When their stores of honey are removed, the bees must be fed during the winter and part of spring with syrup or with a solution consisting of 2 lb. loaf-sugar to a pint of water. In the early spring slow and continuous feeding (a few ounces of syrup each day) will stimulate the queen to deposit her eggs, by which means the colony is rapidly strengthened and throws off early swarms. New swarms may make their appearance as early as May and as late as August, but swarming usually takes place in the intervening months. See Bee-keeping, Hives.
Apic´ius, Marcus Gabius, a Roman epicure in the time of Augustus and Tiberius, who, having exhausted his vast fortune on the gratification of his palate, and having only about £80,000 left, poisoned himself that he might escape the misery of plain diet. The book of cookery published under the title of Apicius was written by one Cælius, and belongs to a much later date.
A´pion, a Greek grammarian, born in Egypt, lived in the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, A.D. 15-54, and went to Rome to teach grammar and rhetoric. Among his works, one or two fragments only of which remain, was one directed against the Jews, which was replied to by Josephus.
A´pios, a genus of leguminous climbing plants, producing edible tubers on underground shoots. An American species (A. tuberōsa) has been used as a substitute for the potato, but its tubers, though numerous, are small.