the name Hakenbühse spread till it became the generic name for small arms, and that the original form of the weapon then took the name of arquebus à croc. The French form arquebuse and Italian arcobugio, archibugio, often and wrongly supposed to indicate the hackbut’s affinity with the crossbow (“hollow bow” or “mouthed bow”), are popular corruptions, the Italian being apparently the earlier of the two and supplanting the first and purest French form haquebut. Previous to the French wars in Italy, hand-gun men and even arbalisters seem to have been called arquebusiers, but in the course of these wars the arquebus or hackbut came into prominence as a distinct type of weapon. The Spanish arquebusiers, who used it with the greatest effect in the Italian wars, notably at Bicocca (1522) and Pavia (1525), are the originators of modern infantry fire action. Filippo Strozzi made many improvements in the arquebus about 1530, and his weapons were effective up to four and five hundred paces. He also standardized the calibres of the arquebuses of the French army, and from this characteristic feature of the improved weapon arose the English term “caliver.” In the latter part of the 16th century (c. 1570) the arquebus began to be displaced by the musket.
ARQUES-LA-BATAILLE, a village of France, in the department of Seine-Inférieure, 4 m. S.E. of Dieppe by the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 1250. Arques is situated near the confluence of the rivers Varenne and Bethune; the forest of Arques stretches to the north-east. The interest of the place centres in the castle dominating the town, which was built in the 11th century by William of Arques; his nephew, William the Conqueror, regarding it as a menace to his own power, besieged and occupied it. After frequently changing hands, it came into the possession of the English, who were expelled in 1449 after an occupation of thirty years. In 1589 its cannon decided the battle of Arques in favour of Henry IV. Since 1869 the castle has been state property. The first line of fortification was the work of Francis I.; the second line and the donjon date back to the 11th century. The church of Arques, a building of the 16th century, preserves a fine stone rood screen, statuary, stained glass and other relics of the Renaissance period.
ARRACK, Rack or Rak, a generic name applied to a variety of spirituous liquors distilled in the Far East. According to some authorities the word is derived from the Arabic arak (perspiration), but according to others (see Morewood’s History of Inebriating Liquors, 1834, p. 140) it is derived from the areca-nut, a material from which a variety of arrack was long manufactured, and is of Indian origin. The liquor to which this or a similar name is applied is (or was, since the introduction of European spirits and methods of manufacture is gradually causing the native spirit industries on the old lines to decay) manufactured in India, Ceylon, Siam, Java, Batavia, China, Corea, &c., and its manufacture still constitutes a considerable industry. The term arrack as designating a distilled liquor does not, however, appear to have been confined to the Far East, as, in Timkowski’s Travels, it is stated that a spirit distilled from koumiss (q.v.) by the Tatars, Mongols and presumably the Caucasian races generally, is called arrack, araka or ariki. In Ceylon arrack is distilled chiefly from palm toddy, which is the fermented juice drawn from the unexpanded flower-spathes of various palms, such as the Palmyra palm (Borassus flabelliformis) and the cocoa palm (Cocos nucifera). At the beginning of the 19th century the arrack industry of Ceylon was of considerable dimensions, whole woods being set apart for no other purpose than that of procuring toddy, and the distillation of the spirit took place at every village round the coast. The land rents in 1831 included a sum of £35,573 on the cocoa-nut trees, and the duties on the manufacture and retail of the spirit amounted to over £30,000. On the Indian continent arrack is made from palm toddy, rice and the refuse of the sugar refineries, but mainly from the flowers of the muohwa or mahua tree (Bassia latifolia). The mahua flowers are very rich in sugar, and may, according to H. H. Mann, contain as much as 58% of fermentable sugar, calculated on the total solids. Even at the present day the process of manufacture is very primitive, the fermentation as a rule being carried on in so concentrated a liquid that complete fermentation rarely takes place. According to Mann, the total sugar in the liquor ready for fermentation may reach 20%. The ferment employed (it is so impure that it can scarcely be called yeast) is obtained from a previous fermentation, and, as the latter is never vigorous, it is not surprising that the resulting spirit contains, compared with the more scientifically prepared European spirits, a very high proportion of by-products (acid, fusel oil, &c.). The injurious nature of these native spirits has long been known and has been frequently set down to the admixture of drugs, such as hemp (ganga), but a recent investigation of this question appears to show that this is not generally the case. The chemical constitution of these liquors alone affords sufficient proof of their inferior and probably injurious character.
See H. H. Mann, The Analyst (1904).
ARRAH, a town of British India, headquarters of Shahabad district, in the Patna division of Bengal, situated on a navigable canal connecting the river Sone with the Ganges. It is a station on the East Indian railway, 368 m. from Calcutta. In 1901 the population was 40,170. Arrah is famous for an incident in the Mutiny, when a dozen Englishmen, with 50 Sikhs, defended an ordinary house against 2000 Sepoys and a multitude of armed insurgents, perhaps four times that number. A British regiment, despatched to their assistance from Dinapur, was disastrously repulsed; but they were ultimately relieved, after eight days’ continuous fighting, by a small force under Major (afterwards Sir Vincent) Eyre.
ARRAIGNMENT (from Lat. ad, to, and rationare, to reason, call to account), a law term, properly denoting the calling of a person to answer in form of law upon an indictment. After a true bill has been found against a prisoner by the grand jury, he is called by name to the bar, the indictment is read over to him, and he is asked whether he be guilty or not of the offence charged. This is the arraignment. Formerly, it was usual to require the prisoner to hold up his hand, in order to identify him the more completely, but this practice is now obsolete, as well as that of asking him how he will be tried. His plea in answer to the charge is then entered, or a plea of not guilty is entered for him if he stands mute of malice and refuses to plead. If a person is mute by the visitation of God (i.e. deaf and dumb), it will be no bar to an arraignment if intelligence can be conveyed to him by signs or symbols. If he pleads guilty, sentence may be passed forthwith; if he pleads not guilty, he is then given in charge to a jury of twelve men to inquire into the truth of the indictment. He may also plead in abatement, or to the jurisdiction, or demur on a point of law. Several defendants, except those entitled to the privilege of peerage, charged on the same indictment, are arraigned together.
In Scots law the term for arraignment is calling the diet.
The Clerk of Arraigns is a subordinate officer attached to assize courts and to the Old Bailey. He is appointed by the clerk of assize (see Assize) and acts as his deputy. He assists at the arraignment of prisoners, and puts the formal questions to the jury when delivering their verdict.
ARRAN, EARLS OF. The extinct Scottish title of the earls of Arran (not to be confused with the modern Irish earls of Arran—from the Arran or Aran Islands, Galway—a title created in 1762) was borne by some famous characters in Scottish history. Except the first earl, Thomas Boyd (see Arran), and James Stewart, all the holders of this title were members of the Hamilton family.
James Hamilton, 1st earl of Arran of the new creation (c. 1475–1529), son of James, 1st Lord Hamilton, and of Mary Stewart, daughter of James II. of Scotland, was born about 1475, and succeeded in 1479 to his father’s titles and estates. In 1489 he was made sheriff of Lanark, was appointed a privy councillor to James IV., and in 1503 negotiated in England the marriage between the king and Margaret Tudor. Hamilton excelled in the knightly exercises of the day, and the same year on the 11th of August, after distinguishing himself in a famous tournament, he was created earl and justiciary of Arran. In
