first hand. Its most interesting portion is the description
of the capture of Constantinople, which should be read
with Villehardouin's and Paolo Rannusio's works on the same
subject. The little treatise On the Statues destroyed by thc
Latins (perhaps, as we have it, altered by a later writer) is
of special interest to the archaeologist. His dogmatic work(
Thesauros 'Orthodoxias, Thesaurus Orthodoxae Fidei),
although it is extant in a complete form in MS., has only
been published in part. It is one of the chief authorities
for the heresies and heretical writers of the 12th century.
Editions: History, editio princeps, H. Wolf (1557); and in
the Bonn Corpus Scriptorum Hist. Byz., 1st ed.,Bekker (1835);
Rhetorical Pieces in C. Sathas, Mesaionike Bibliotheke, i.
(1872); Thesaurus in Migne, Patrologia Graeca, cxxxix., cxl.;
see also C. A. Sainte-Beuve, ``Geoffroy de Villehardouin'' in
Causeries du Lundi, ix.; S. Reinach, ``La fin de l'empire grec''
in Esquisses Archeologiques (1888); C. Neumann, Griechische
Geschichtsschreiber im 12. Jahrhundert (1888); Gibbon, Decline
and Fall, ch. lx.; and (for both Michael and Nicetas) C.
Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (1897).
ACONCAGUA, a small northern province of central Chile,
bounded N. by Coquimbo, E. by Argentina, S. by Santiago and
Valparaiso and W. by the Pacific. Its area is officially
computed at 5487 sq. m. Pop. (1895) 113,165; (1902, official
estimate based on civil registry returns) 131,255. The province
is very mountainous, and is traversed from east to west by
the broad valley of the Aconcagua river. The climate is hot
and dry, the rainfall being too small to influence climatic
conditions. The valleys are highly fertile, and where irrigation
is employed large crops are easily raised. Beyond the limits
of irrigation the country is semi-barren. Alfalfa and grapes
are the principal products, and considerable attention is given
to the cultivation of other fruits, such as figs, peaches and
melons. The ``Vale of Quillota,'' through which the railway
passes between Valparaiso and Santiago, is celebrated for its
gardens. The Aconcagua river rises on the southern slope of
the volcano Aconcagua, flows eastward through a broad valley,
or bay in the mountains, and enters the Pacific 12 m. north of
Valparaiso. The river has a course of about 200 m., and
its waters irrigate the best and most populous part of the
province. Two other rivers--the Ligua and Choapa--traverse
the province, the latter forming the northern boundary
line. The capital is San Felipe, on the Aconcagua river;
it had a population of 11,313 in 1895, and an estimated
population of 11,660 in 1902. The other chief town is
Santa Rosa de los Andes (est. pop. 6854), which is a
principal station on the Transandine branch of the state
railway. The only port in the province is Los Vilos, in
lat. 32 deg. S., from which a railway 40 m. long runs north-east
to the valley of the Choapa. Another short line connects
Cabildo, in the valley of the Ligua, with the state railway.
ACONCIO, GIACOMO (1492-1566?), pioneer of religious toleration,
was born at Trent, it is said, on the 7th of September 1492.
He was one of the Italians like Peter Martyr and Bernardino
Ochino who repudiated papal doctrine and ultimately found
refuge in England. Like them, his revolt against Romanism
took an extremer form than Lutheranism, and after a temporary
residence in Switzerland and at Strassburg, he arrived in
England soon after Elizabeth's accession. He had studied
law and theology, but his profession was that of an engineer,
and in this capacity he found employment with the English
government. He was granted an annuity of L. 60 on the 27th of
February 1560, and letters of naturalization on the 8th of October
1561 (Cal. State Papers, Dom. Ser., Addenda, 1547--1566, p.
495), and was for some time occupied with draining Plumstead
marshes, for which object various acts of parliament were
passed at this time (Lords' Journals, vol. i., and Commons'
Journals, vol. i., passim). In 1564 he was sent to report
on the fortifications of Berwick (Cal. St. Pap. For Ser.
1564-1565, passim; Acts P.C., 1558-1570, p. 146); his report
is now in thc Record Office (C.S.P. For., 1564-1565, No. 512).
But his real importance depends upon his contribution to the
history of religious toleration. Before reaching England he
had published a treatise on the methods of investigation, De
Methodo, hoc est, de recte investigandarum tradendarumque
Scientiarum ratione (Basel, 1558, 8vo); and his critical
spirit placed him outside all the recognized religious societies
of his time. On his arrival in London he had joined the Dutch
Reformed Church in Austin Friars, but he was ``infected with
Anabaptistical and Arian opinions'' and was excluded from the
sacrament by Grindal, bishop of London. The real nature of his
heterodoxy is revealed in his Stratagemata Satanae, published
in 1565 and translated into various languages. The ``stratagems
of Satan'' are the dogmatic creeds which rent the Christian
church. Aconcio sought to find the common denominator of
the various creeds; this was essential doctrine, the rest was
immaterial. To arrive at this common basis, he had to
reduce dogma to a low level, and his result was generally
repudiated. Even Selden applied to Aconcio the remark ubi bene,
nil melius; ubi male, nemo pejus. The dedication of such a
work to Queen Elizabeth illustrates the tolerance or religious
laxity during the early years of her reign. Aconcio found
another patron in the earl of Leicester, and died about 1566.
AUTHORITIES.--Gough's Index to Parker Soc. Publ.;
Strype's Grindal, pp. 62, 66; Bayle's Dictionnaire; G.
Tiraboschi, Storia della lett. italiana (Florence,
1805--1813); Osterreichisches Biogr. Lexikon;
Nouvelle biogr. generale; Dict. Nat. Biogr. (A. F. P.)
ACONITE (Aconitum), a genus of plants belonging to the
natural order Ranunculaceae, the buttercup family, commonly
known as aconite, monkshood or wolfsbane, and embracing
about 60 species, chiefly natives of the mountainous parts
of the northern hemisphere. They are distinguished by
having one of the five blue or yellow coloured sepals (the
posterior one) in the form of a helmet; hence the English name
monkshood. Two of the petals placed under the hood of
the calyx are supported on long stalks, and have a hollow
spur at their apex, containing honey. They are handsome
plants, the tall stem being crowned by racemes of showy
flowers. Aconitum Napellus, common monkshood, is a doubtful
native of Britain, and is of therapeutic and toxicological
importance. Its roots have occasionally been mistaken for
horse-radish. The aconite has a short underground stem, from
which dark-coloured tapering roots descend. The crown or upper
portion of the root gives rise to new plants. When put to
the lip, the juice of the aconite root produces a feeling of
numbness and tingling. The horse-radish root, which belongs
to the natural order Cruciferae, is much longer than that of
the aconite, and it is not tapering; its colour is yellowish,
and the top of the root has the remains of the leaves on it.
Many species of aconite are cultivated in gardens, some
having blue and others yellow flowers. Aconitum lycoctonum,
wolfsbane, is a yellow-flowered species common on the Alps of
Switzerland. The roots of Aconitum ferox supply the famous
Indian (Nepal) poison called bikh, bish or nabee. It contains
considerable quantities of the alkaloid pseudaconitine, which
is the most deadly poison known. Aconitum palmatum yields
another of the celebrated bikh poisons. The root of Aconitum
luridum, of the Himalayas, is said to be as virulent as that
of A. ferox or A. Napellus. As garden plants the aconites
are very ornamental, hardy perennials. They thrive well in
any ordinary garden soil, and will grow beneath the shade of
trees. They are easily propagated by divisions of the root
or by seeds; great care should be taken not to leave pieces
of the root about owing to its very poisonous character.
Chemistry.---The active principle of Aconitum Napellus
is the alkaloid aconitine, first examined by P. L. Geiger and
Hesse (Ann., 1834, 7, p. 267), Alder Wright and A. B, Luff
obtained apoaconitine, aconine and benzoic acid by hydrolysis;
while, in 1802, C. Ehrenberg and A. Purfurst (Journ.
Prat. Chem., 1892, 45, p. 604) observed acetic acid as a
hydrolytic product. This, and allied alkaloids, have formed
the subject of many investigations by Wyndham Dunstan and
his pupils in England, and by Martin Freund and Paul Beck in
Berlin. But their constitution is not yet solved, there
even being some divergence of opinion as to their empirical
formulae, Aconitine (C33H45NO13, according to Dunstan;
C34H47NO11, according to Freund) is a crystalline base,
soluble in alcohol, but very sparingly in water; its alcoholic
solution is dextrorotatory, but its salts are laevorotatory.
When heated it loses water and forms pyraconitine. Hydrolysis
gives acetic acid and benzaconine, the chief constituent of the
alkaloids picraconitine and napelline; further hydrolysis gives
aconine. Pseudaconitine, obtained from Aconitum ferox,
gives on hydrolysis acetic acid and veratrylpseudaconine, the
latter of which suffers further hydrolysis to veratric acid and
pseudaconine. Japaconitine, obtained from the Japanese
aconites, known locally as ``kuza-uzu,'' hydrolyses to
japbenzaconine, which further breaks down to benzoic acid and
japaconine. Other related alkaloids are lycaconitine and
myoctonine which occur in wolfsbane, Aconitum lycoctonum.
The usual test for solutions of aconitine consists in slight
acidulation with acetic acid and addition of potassium
permanganate, which causes the formation of a red crystalline
precipitate. In 1905, Dunstan and his collaborators discovered
two new aconite alkaloids, indaconitine in ``mohri'' (Aconitum
chasmanthum, Stapf), and bikhaconitine in ``bikh'' (Aconitum
spicatum); he also proposes to classify these alkaloids
according to whether they yield benzoic or veratric acid on
hydrolysis (Jour. Chem. Soc., 1905, 87, pp. 1620, 1650).
From the root of Aconitum Napellus are prepared a liniment
and a tincture. The dose of the latter (Brit. Pharmacop.)
is of importance as being exceptionally small, for it is
not advisable to give more than at most five drops at a
time. The official preparation is an ointment which contains
one part of the alkaloid in fifty. It must be used with
extreme care, and in small quantities, and it must not be
used at all where cuts or cracks are present in the skin.
Pharmacology of Aconite and Aconitine.---Aconite first
stimulates and later paralyses the nerves of pain, touch and
temperature, if applied to the skin, broken or unbroken, or
to a mucous membrane; the initial tingling therefore gives
place to a long-continued anaesthetic action. Taken internally
aconite acts very notably on the circulation, the respiration
and the nervous system. The pulse is slowed, the number of
beats per minute being actually reduced, under considerable
doses, to forty, or even thirty, per minute. The blood-pressure
synchronously falls, and the heart is arrested in diastole.
Immediately before arrest the heart may beat much faster than
normally, though with extreme irregularity, and in the lower
animals the auricles may be observed occasionally to miss
a beat, as in poisoning by veratrine and colchicum. The
action of aconitine on the circulation is due to an initial
stimulation of the cardio-inhibitory centre in the medulla
