XIMENES DE CISNEBOS 465 X. Y. Z. CORRESPONDENCE He took part in the war of the Nether- lands; wrote a poem, "The Invincible Knight, the Cid Ruy Diaz of Bivar" (1579) ; and left a collection of sonnets. XIMENES DE CISNEBOS, FRAN- CISCO, a Spanish cardinal and states- man; born of a noble though poor fam- ily, in Tordelaguna, Castile, in 1430. He studied at the University of Salamanca, where he took the degree of bachelor both of civil and canon law. In 1455 he went to Rome where he pleaded the cause of his countrymen in the consistorial courts with such success that he attracted the attention of the then pontiff. He re- turned in 1461 with an expective, which gave him a right to the first ecclesi- astical preferment in a certain see that should fall vacant. A suitable office did fall vacant in 1473, but Carillo, Arch- bishop of Toledo, wished to fill it with a creature of his own. Ximenes refused to surrender his rights, whereupon the enraged prelate shut him up in prison for six years. Ximenes refused to yield, and at last attained his right. Prefer- ments of one kind and another followed; but he finally determined to leave the ranks of the secular for those of the regular clergy. He became a Franciscan, one of the straightest of sects. But in vain he attempted to escape from the world. He was appointed guardian of the convent of Salzeda, in 1492 chaplain to Queen Isabella, and in 1495 chaplain of Toledo. He was now an old man of 60, but more than a life- time's work lay before him. He engaged in important civil and clerical reforms, and these his determined energy enabled him to carry through in the face of much opposition. He founded the Uni- versity of Alcala (1500), endowed it magnificently, and made provisions therein for the encouragement of every liberal art. He collected a body of learned men and a vast number of im- portant manuscripts, and with such aid he compiled the famous polyglot Bible known as the "Complutensian Polyglot," a work which took 15 years, and cost a vast sura of money. He projected also an edition of Aristotle, but this his manifold labors did not allow him to complete. He violently converted a large number of the "infidels" of Granada to the "true faith," and he carried on a victorious campaign against the Moors of northern Africa. On May 17, 1507, he was appointed cardinal, and when Ferdinand died in 1516 he ruled as regent for the young Carlos (afterward known as Karl V.) the whole of Spain. Here his prudent care disarmed the hostility of Ferdinand, the younger brother of Carlos (a youth whose pretensions to the crown were favored by many of the people), recon- ciled a discontented nobility, filled the royal treasury, and maintained the army and navy in a high state of efficiency. His regency lasted about two years. Then Carlos left the Netherlands for Spain. Almost his first act of sovereignty was the dismissal of the faithful regent. Ximenes was already on his deathbed, and it is doubtful if he ever knew of the act of the king. He died in Toledo, Nov. 8, 1517. XINGU (shen-go') a river of Brazil; one of the chief tributaries of the Amazon; it rises near lat. 15" S., Ion. 59° W., and after flowing N. for 1,300 miles joins the Amazon 240 mDes W. of Para. Steamers can ascend it for 100 miles. XIPHIAS, in ichthyology, a genus of Xiphiidx, distinguished by the absence of ventral fins. The best knov/n species is X. gladius, the conunon or Mediter- ranean swordfish. Giinther says that the distinction of species is beset with great difficulties because the form of the dorsal, the length of the ventrals, and the shape and length of the sword change according to the age. X-BAY. See Roentgen Rays. XYLENE, or XYLOL (CsHio), one of the aromatic hydrocarbons, being a hom- ologue of benzene (CoHe), and sometimes known as dimethyl-benzene from the supposition that it is formed from ben- zene by the substitution of two molecules of methyl (CH,) for two hydrogen atoms. It is a colorless liquid, boiling at 140° C. When passed through a red-hot tube xylene is resolved into a mixture of several homologous hydrocarbons. XYLOPHONE (zy'lo-fon), a musical instrument consisting of bars of wood or glass graduated in length and resting on belts. The notes are produced by strik- ing on the bars with small hammers. X. Y. Z. CORRESPONDENCE, in United States history, the name given to the dispatches of the three commission- ers to France, Marshall, Pinckney, and Gerry, containing the insulting demands made by Talleyrand and the other French Directors as the price of respect and courtesy to the American republic. In the otherwise complete copies pub- lished by Congress President Adams sub- stituted X. Y. and Z. for the names of Talleyrand's emissaries. To the de- mands the United States representatives returned a decided refusal. It is said that Pinckney, in response, made use of the phrase, "Millions for defense, but not once cent for tribute."
