Apt (ät; ancient Apta Julia), a town of Southern France, department Vaucluse, 32 miles east by south of Avignon, with an ancient Gothic cathedral. Pop. 6336.
Ap´tera (Gr. apteros, wingless), wingless insects, such as lice and certain others, popularly called Spring-tails, and composed of two groups, Collembola and Thysanura.
Ap´teryx, a nearly extinct genus of cursorial birds, distinguished from the ostriches by having three toes with a rudimentary hallux, which forms a spur. They are natives of the South Island of New Zealand; are totally wingless and tailless, with feathers resembling hairs; about the size of a small goose; with long curved beak something like that of a curlew. They are entirely nocturnal, feeding on insects, worms, and seeds.—A. austrālis, called Kiwi-kiwi from its cry, is the best-known species.
Apuleius, or Appuleius (ap-ū-lē´us), author of the celebrated satirical romance in Latin called the Golden Ass, born at Madaura, in Numidia, about A.D. 125; the time of his death is unknown. He studied at Carthage, then at Athens, where he became warmly attached to the Platonic philosophy, and finally at Rome. Returning to Carthage he married a rich widow, whose relatives accused him of gaining her consent by magic, and the speech by which he successfully defended himself is still extant. Besides his Golden Ass (which is also known as the Metamorphoses, and which was translated into English by W. Adlington in 1566), with its fine episode of Cupid and Psyche, he was also the author of many works on philosophy and rhetoric, some of which are still extant.
Apu´lia, a department or division in the south-east of Italy, on the Adriatic, composed of the provinces of Foggia, Bari, and Lecce; area, 7376 sq. miles. Pop. 2,237,791.
Apure (a˙-pö´rā), a navigable river of Venezuela, formed by the junction of several streams which rise in the Andes of Colombia; it falls into the Orinoco.—Apure, one of the States of Venezuela, has a pop. of 30,008.
Apurimac (a˙-pö-rē-ma˙k´), a river of South America, which rises in the Andes of Peru, and, being augmented by the Vilcamayu and other streams, forms the Ucayale, one of the principal head-waters of the Amazon.—The department of Apurimac in Peru has an area of 8187 sq. miles, and a pop. of 177,887.
Aq´ua (Lat. for water), a word much used in pharmacy and old chemistry.—Aqua fortis (= strong water), a weak and impure nitric acid. It has the power of eating into steel and copper, and hence is used by engravers, etchers, &c.—Aqua marina, a fine variety of beryl. See Aquamarine.—Aqua regia, or aqua regalis (= royal water), a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids, with the power of dissolving gold and other precious metals.—Aqua Tofana, a poisonous fluid made about the middle of the seventeenth century by an Italian woman Tofana or Toffania, who is said to have procured the death of no fewer than 600 individuals by means of it. It consisted chiefly, it is supposed, of a solution of crystallized arsenic.—Aqua vitæ (= water of life), or simply aqua, a name familiarly applied to the whisky of Scotland, corresponding in meaning with the usquebaugh of Ireland, the eau de vie (brandy) of the French.