A´pis, a bull to which divine honours were paid by the ancient Egyptians, who regarded him as a symbol of Osiris. At Memphis he had a splendid residence, containing extensive walks and courts for his entertainment, and he was waited upon by a large train of priests, who looked upon his every movement as oracular. He was not suffered to live beyond twenty-five years, being secretly killed by the priests and thrown into a sacred well. Another bull, characterized by certain marks, as a black colour, a triangle of white on the forehead, a white crescent-shaped spot on the right side, &c., was selected in his place. His birthday was annually celebrated, and his death was a season of public mourning. See Animal Worship.
A´pis, a genus of insects. See Bee.
A´pium, a genus of umbelliferous plants, including celery.
Aplacen´tal. See Placenta, Marsupialia, and Echidna.
Aplanat´ic. See Optics, Photography.
Aplysia. See Sea-hare.
Apoc´alypse (Gr. apokalypsis, a revelation), the name given to the last book of the New Testament, in the English version called The Revelation of St. John the Divine. Although a Christian work, the Apocalypse belongs to a class of literature dealing with eschatological subjects and much in vogue among the Jews of the first century B.C. It is generally believed that the Apocalypse was written by the apostle John in his old age (A.D. 95-97) in the Isle of Patmos, whither he had been banished by the Roman Emperor Domitian. Anciently its genuineness was maintained by Justin Martyr, Irenæus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and many others; while it was doubted by Dionysius of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom, and, nearer our own times, by Luther. The Apocalypse has been explained differently by almost every writer who has ventured to interpret it, and has furnished all sorts of sects and fanatics with quotations to support their creeds or pretensions. The modern interpreters may be divided into three schools—namely, the historical school, who hold that the prophecy embraces the whole history of the Church and its foes from the time of its writing to the end of the world; the Præterists, who hold that the whole or nearly the whole of the prophecy has been already fulfilled, and that it refers chiefly to the triumph of Christianity over Paganism and Judaism; and the Futurists, who throw the whole prophecy, except the first three chapters, forward upon a time not yet reached by the Church—a period of no very long duration, which is immediately to precede Christ's second coming. See Bible.—Bibliography: R. H. Charles, Studies in the Apocalypse; F. C. Burkitt, Jewish and Christian Apocalypses.
Apocalyptic Number, the mystic number 666 found in Rev. xiii, 18. As early as the second century ecclesiastical writers found that the name Antichrist was indicated by the Greek characters expressive of this number. By Irenæus the word Lateinos was found in the letters of the number, and the Roman Empire was therefore considered to be Antichrist. Protestants generally believe it has reference to the Papacy, and, on the other hand, Catholics connect it with Protestantism. It is, however, almost certain that the number
refers to Nero, for by transliterating the Greek Kaisar Neron into Hebrew, and adding together the sums denoted by the Hebrew letters, we obtain the number 666.