Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/239

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
AIMÉ-MARTIN AINOS 215

in Arkansas, Mexico, and other parts of this continent. He next figured as a traveller and soldier of fortune in Spain, Turkey, and the Caucasus, served in the mobile guard in Paris in 1848, and eventually gave the story of his experiences and adventures in a series of novels, among which are Les trappeurs de l' Arkansas (1858), Les nuits Mexicaines (1863), and L' Araucan (1864). Several of his tales have been translated into English.

AIMÉ-MARTIN, Louis, a French author, born in Lyons in 1781, died in Paris, June 22, 1847. In 1815 he was appointed editing secretary of the chamber of deputies, and soon afterward professor of belles-lettres, moral philosophy, and history in the polytechnic school, of which office he was deprived in 1831. He then became keeper of the library of Ste. Geneviève. His first successful production was a semi-scientific book, called Lettres à Sophie sur la physique, la chimie et l'histoire naturelle (2 vols. 8vo, 1810), an agreeable mixture of prose and verse, suggested by the extraordinary success of the Lettres à Émilie sur la mythologie by Demoustier. He wrote a little later La vie de Bernardin de St. Pierre, in which the biographer happily imitated the style of his subject. His commentaries on Racine and Molière are especially interesting and tasteful. His most important work is a treatise entitled Éducation des mères de famille, in which he asserts that the best, or rather the only means of improving mankind, and reforming our present social organization, is to educate women in such a manner that they may be enabled to form men of character and virtue. The first part of the book is interesting, containing many practical suggestions, but the second part is much less valuable. A good translation of it has been published in the United States.—His wife, born about 1782, died in November, 1847, was a daughter of the marquis de Belleport. At the age of 18 she had married Bernardin de St. Pierre, then a widower in his 63d year. She was a favorite with many of her celebrated contemporaries, especially Lamartine, to whom she bequeathed her fortune.

AIMON, or Aymon, the four sons of, Alard, Richard, Guiscard, and Renaud, are among the most illustrious of the warriors and heroes celebrated in the mediæval romances of chivalry. Aimon is variously reported to have been duke of Dordogna, prince of Ardennes, and provincial governor under Charlemagne. Froissart seriously relates their eventful career, but by the moderns their existence has been transferred from the realm of history to that of poetry. The eldest, Renaud or Roland, is the hero of the "Orlando Furioso" of Ariosto. Their adventures with those of their single horse, famed under the name of Bayard, were probably at first oral traditions in Provence, but have been repeated in various forms in the literature of every European nation.

AIN, a department of France in Burgundy, bounded by Saône-et-Loire, Jura, Switzerland, Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Isre, and Rhône; area, 2,239 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 336,290. The Rhône flows on its eastern and southern borders, and the Saône on the western. The eastern section of the department is traversed by mountain ranges and deep valleys. The western division is low, level, and swampy, and dotted with numerous ponds. The river Ain, an affluent of the Rhône, flows through the centre, and has many saw and grist mills on its banks. Immense rafts of timber are floated down its rapid current to Lyons. The products of the department are chiefly agricultural. Sheep are reared in great numbers in the eastern part. It is divided into the arrondissements of Bpurg, Belley, Nantua, Trévoux, and Gex. Capital, Bourg-en-Bresse.

AIN-MADHI, a walled town and oasis of the Algerian desert, about 200 m. S. S. W. of Algiers; pop. about 2,000. The town is built on a rocky eminence amid gardens, surrounded by an arid plain. It is a station for caravans, and possesses a considerable trade. It was the seat of an independent Arab chief till 1852.

AINMÜLLER, Maximilian Emanuel, a German artist, founder of the modern school of glass painting, born in Munich, Feb. 14, 1807, died there, Dec. 8, 1870. His talent as a decorative and monumental architect aided him essentially in the glass paintings which, under the patronage of King Louis I. of Bavaria, he executed or restored for many of the religious buildings of Europe. He was also employed at Westminster abbey, St. George's chapel, Windsor, and St. Peter's college, Cambridge; and at the instance of Mr. Beresford Hope he executed 14 paintings for a cathedral in Ireland. Among his master works are the painted windows in the cathedral of Cologne, and those in the Vatican representing St. Peter and St. Paul. The most remarkable of his works, by their stupendous size, are in the cathedral of Glasgow. With the assistance of his surviving son and pupil, Heinrich (born 1836), he had completed up to 1864 40 windows with upward of 100 biblical and historical paintings. He was royal inspector of the academy of glass painting at Munich. He also excelled as an architectural painter in oil, and there are many of his works in the art galleries of St. Petersburg, Munich, Vienna, and other parts of Europe.

AINOS, or Ainns (i. e., men), tribes inhabiting Saghalien, Yesso, and the Kurile islands, and various adjacent regions, partly under Japanese and partly under Russian jurisdiction, the latter being generally called Kuriles. Tradition says that the Japanese were originally Ainos, and only became a distinct race by intermarrying with Chinese. The Ainos are different from other Mongolian tribes, and in their more vigorous physical formation assimilate to some extent to the Caucasian type. Though armed and painted like savages, they are inoffensive and hospitable, but shy of Japanese and Russians, especially on the coasts of the Saghalien islands, which they formerly occupied exclusive-