AGAPET^E tion lasts, and polygamy is forbidden. The life at the Agapemone soon became a matter of public notoriety in consequence of a law- suit for the custody of a child between a Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, two of Prince's converts. In 1859 Prince published his "Journal," in which he states that he considers himself per- fect and incapable of further improvement. AGAPETJ2 (Gr. d/a^ra/, beloved), in the early church, virgins and widows who, from pious motives, devoted their time to waiting upon ecclesiastics. Men holding the same re- lations to societies of women were called aga- peti. For some time the relation was main- tained pure and blameless; but it resulted in immorality, and was condemned and prohibit- ed by several councils. AGARD, Arthur, an English antiquary, born about 1540, died in London, Aug. 22, 1615. He held the office of deputy chamberlain 45 years. His name headed the list of mem- bers of the society of antiquaries formed by Archbishop Parker in 1572, and six impor- tant papers by him are included in Hearne's collection (Oxford, 1720). They treat largely of the early organization and manners of Eng- land. Agard bequeathed all his manuscripts to his friend Robert Cotton. AGARDH. I. Karl Adolf, a Swedish naturalist, born at Bastad, Jan. 22, 1785, died in Carlstad, Jan. 28, 1859. In 1807 he was appointed teacher of mathematics in the university of Lund, and in 1812 professor of botany and nat- ural sciences. He was admitted to holy orders in 1816, and was made bishop of Oarlstad in 1834. He devoted considerable attention to political economy, and also wrote on theologi- cal and other subjects, but his reputation chiefly rests on his botanical works, especially Systema, Species, and Icones Algarum (1824, 1820-'28, and 1828-'35). The greatest part of his "Man- ual of Botany " (2 vols., Malmoe, 1829-'32) has been translated into German. II. Jacob Georg, son of the preceding, born at Lund in 1813, has been since 1854 professor of botany there. His principal work, Species, Genera et Ordinett Algarum (4 vols., Lund, 1848-'63), is regarded as a standard authority. AGARIC, Mineral, a marly earth, akin in color and texture to the vegetable of that name. AGARICUS, the genus of fungi which com- prises the common mushroom, A. campestris (see MUSHKOOM), many of the toadstools, and a few poisonous species. The genus is dis- tinguished by the radiating gills bearing the spores on the under side of the pileus or cap. Several hundred species have been described, most of them edible, some easily cultivated. The name is often applied to the more solid portions of fungi of other families, as the birch agaric, polyporus betulinus, which is cut in strips and used to sharpen delicate instruments. From P. formentarius amadou is prepared by cutting the fungus into slices and steeping in a solution of saltpetre ; it then makes excellent tinder. In medicine several species of polypo- AGASSIZ 173 rus were formerly much used as cathartics un- der the name of agaric, but have given place to better remedies. The powdered pileus of P. igniarius is mixed with snuff by the Ostiaks of the river Obi to improve its narcotic proper- ties. Both in the pulverized form and when beaten into thin sheets it is used as lint. When old the polypori often attain a diameter of two or three feet, and become quite hard and woody. An approximate analysis shows much resinous matter and a peculiar substance called fungine (see FUNGI), but less nitrogenous mat- ter than is usual in this order of vegetables. As they grow on the stems of many trees valued for their timber, and as their presence indicates decay, which they hasten by penetrating the wood with their mycelium, the portion answer- ing to roots, it is desirable, in order to stop the progress of decay, to remove the external fun- gus and destroy the mycelium by a strong solu- tion of sulphate of copper. AGASIAS, a Greek sculptor of Ephesus, who is presumed to have lived at or before the time of Alexander the Great. The statue now at Rome, known as the "Borghese Gladiator," is his work. It represents a warrior on foot contend- ing with a mounted combatant. AGASSI/, Louis John Rudolph, an American naturalist, of French descent, born in Metiers, canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, on the lake of Morat, May 28, 1807. His family was among the Huguenots who were driven from France by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and took refuge in the Pays de Vaud. For six generations the lineal ancestors of Agassiz have been clergymen. His father was pastor of St. Imier, a Protestant parish in the ancient bish- opric of Basel, and removed to Metiers on ac- count of the severity of the climate at the former place ; his mother was Mile. Rose Mayor, the daughter of a physician in the can- ton of Vaud. She superintended the education of her son Louis until he reached the age of 11, when he was sent to the gymnasium of Bienne, a small town in the canton of Bern. In the mean time his father had removed from Motiera to the little town of Orbe, at the foot of the Jura. Here, during the vacations, the student's attention was drawn to the natural sciences, under the influence of a young clergyman named Fivaz. His studies were first directed to plants. Having studied four years at Bienne, Louis entered the college of Lausanne, where he passed two years, and then went to Zurich in 1824, where he remained two years in the medical school. He continued his medical studies at the university of Heidelberg, de- voting himself chiefly to anatomy and physi- ology under Tiedemann, zoology under Leuck- art, and botany under Bischoff. In the autumn of 1827 he entered the university of Munich, which had recently been reorganized. Among the eminent men assembled there Agassiz formed intimate friendships. He studied the organization of plants and their geographical distribution with Martins; he lived in tho
