drained eastward by the I,urna affluent of the Tapti and its
tributaries. None of the rivers is navigable. The climate
resembles that of Berar generally, but the beat during April
to mid-June, when the rains begin, is very great, the average
temperature at the town of Akola in May for the twenty-five
years ending 1901 being 94.4 deg. F. But even during the hot
season the nights are cool. The annual rainfall averages 34
in. In the Purna valley the soil is everywhere a rich lilack
loam, and nearly the whole of the land is cultivated. Very
little.land is under irrigation. The principal crop is
cotton, and the staple grain millet. Wheat and pulses are also
grown. The history of Akola is not distinguished from that
of the other portions of Berar. In 1317--1318 it was added
to the Delhi empire, became independent under the Bahmani
dynasty in 1348, and in 1596 again fell under the sv'ay of the
Moguls. In 1724 it came, with the rest of Berar, under the
dominion of the nizam, being assigned to the British in 1853.
AKRON, a city and the county-seat of Summit county, Ohio,
U.S.A., on the Little Cuyaboga river, about 35 m. S. by E. of
Cleveland. Pop. (1890) 27,601; (1900) 42,728, of whom 7127
were foreign-born (3227 being German, 1104 English, and
641 Irish); (1910) 69,067. It is served by the Baltimore &
Ohio, the Erie, the Northern fj!:io, and the Cleveland, Akron
& Columbus railways, by inter-urban electric lines and by
the Ohio Canal. The city is situated in a region abounding
in lakes, springs and hills; it is about 1000 ft. above
sea-level, whence its name (from Oir. akron, height);
and attracts many summer visitors. It is the seat of
Buchtel College (co-educational; non-sectarian), which was
founded by the Ohio Universalist Convention in 1870, was
opened in 1872, and was named in honour of its most liberal
benefactor, John R. Buchtel (18221802), a successful business
man who did much to promote the industrial development of
Akron. Buchtel College provides three courses leading to
the degrees of A.B., Ph.B. and S.B.; it has a school of
music, a school of art and an academy; in 1908 there were 267
students. Coal is mined in the neighbourhood. The river
furnishes considerable water-power; and among the city's most
important manufactures are rubber and elastic goods (value,
1905, $13,396,974; 83.9% of the total of this industry in
the state and 21.3% of the total for the United States,
Akron ranking first among the cities of the country in this
industry), printing and publishing product (value, 1905,
$2,834,639), foundry and machine-shop product (value, 1905,
$2,367,764), and pottery, terra-cotta and fire-clay (value,
1905, $1,718,033; nearly twice the value of the output in 1900,
Akron ranking fourth among the cities of the United States in
this industry in 1905). Other important manufactures are food
preparations (especially of oats) and flour and grist mill
products. The value of the total manufactured products
(under the ``factory'' system) in 1905 was $34,004,243, an
increase in five years of 54.5%. Akron was settled about
1825, was incorporated as a village in 1836, was made the
county-seat in 1842, and in 1865 was chartered as a city.
See S. N. Lane, Fifty Years and over of
Akron and Sumnnit County (Akron, 1892).
AK-SHEHR (anc. Philomelioii), a town in Asia Minor, in
the Ronia vilayet, situated at the edge of a fertile plain, on
the north side of the Sultan Dagh. Philomelion was probably a
Pergamenian foundation on the great Graeco-Roman highway from
Ephesus to the east, and to its townsmen the Smyrniotes wrote
the letter that describes the martyrdom of Polycarp.
Cicero, on his way to Cilicia, dated some of his extant
correspondence there; and the place played a considerable
part in the frontier wars between the Byzantine emperors
and the sultanate of Rum. It became an important Seljuk
town, and late in the 14th century passed into Ottoman
hands. There Bayezid Yilderim is said by Ali of Yezd to
have died after his defeat at Angora. The place still enjoys
much repute among Turks, as the burialplace of Nur-ed-din
Khoja. The town has a station on the Anatolian railway,
about 60 m. from Afium-Rara-Hissar and 100 m. from Konia.
AKSU (White Water), a town of the Chinese empire, Eastern
Turkestan, in 41 deg. 7' N. and 79 deg. 7' E. of Uch-Turfan and 270
m. N.E. of Yarkand, near the left bank of the Aksu river,
which takes its origin in the Tien-shan (Tian-shan) mountains
and joins the Tarim. It belongs to the series of oases
(Uch-Turfan, Bai, Koucha, &c.) situated at the southern foot of
the eastern Tien-shan mountains. The tov'n, which is supposed
to have about 6000 houses, is enclosed by a wall. It is an
important centre for caravan routes and has a considerable
trade. There are some cotton manufactures; and the place
is celebrated for its richly ornamented saddlery made from
deerskin. A Chinese garrison is stationed here, and copper and
iron are wrought in the neighbourhood by exiled Chinese criminals.
Extensive cattle-breeding is carried on by the inhabitants.
AKYAR, a city and distact in the Arakan division of
Burma. The city is situated at the confluence of the three
large rivers Myu, Koladaing and Lemyu, and is the most
flourishing city in the Arakan division. Originally it
was a mere fishing village, but when the British government
in 1826 removed the restrictions on trade imposed by the
Burmese, Akyab quickly grew into an important seat of maritime
commerce. After the cession of Arakan by the treaty of Yandaboo
in that year the old capital of Myohaung was abandoned as
the seat of government, and Akyab on the sea-coast selected
instead. During the first forty years of British rule it
increased from a village to a town of 15,536 inhabitants, and
now it is the third port of Burma, with a population in 1901 of
31,687. It contains the usual public buildings and several
large rice mills. The chief exports are rice and oil.
The district lies along the north-eastern shores of the Bay
of . Bengal, with an area of 5136 sq. m. and a population
in 1901 of q81,666. It forms the northernmost district of
Lower Burma, and consists of the level tract lying between
the sea and the Arakan Yoma mountains, and of the broken
country formed by a portion of their western spurs and
valleys. The forests form a most important feature of Akyab
district and contain a valuable supply of timber of many
kinds. The central part of the district consists of three
fertile valleys, watered by the Myu, Koladaing and Lemyu.
These rivers approach each other at their mouths, and form
a vast network of tidal channels, creeks and islands. Their
alluvial valleys yield inexhaustible supplies of rice, which
the abundant water carriage brings down to the port of Akyab
at a very cheap rate. The four chief towns are Khumgchu
in the extreme north-east of the district; Koladaing in the
centre; Arakan, farther down the rivers; and Akyab on the
coast, where their mouths converge. This district passed into
the hands of the British, together with the rest of Arakan
division, at the close of the first Burmese war of 1825--1826.
Akyab was the metropolitan province of the native kingdom of
Arakan, and the history of that country centres in it. In
1871 the frontier or hill tracts of the district were placed
under a special administration, with a view to the better
government of the wild tribes which inhabit them. (J. G. SC.)
ALA (from Lat. ala, a wing), a word used technically
by analogy with its meaning of ``wing.'' In physiology,
it means any wing-like process, such as one of the lateral
cartilages of the nose. In botany, one of the side petals
of a papilionaceous corolla, &c. In architecture, a side
apartment or recess of a Romanhouse (the origin of ``aisle'').
ALABAMA, a southern state of the American Union, situated
between 84 deg. 51' and 88 deg. 31' W. long. and about 30 deg. 13' and
35 deg. N. lat., bounded N. by Tennessee, E. by Georgia, S. by
Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and W. by Mississippi. Its
total area is 51,998 sq. m., of which 719 are water surface.
Physical Features.--The surface of Alabama in the N. and
N.E., embracing about two-fifths of its area, is diversified
and picturesque; the remaining portion is occupied by a gently
undulating plain having a general incline south-westward
toward the Mississippi and the Gulf. Extending entirely
across the state of Alabama for about 20 m. S. of its N.
boundary, and in the middle stretching 60 m. farther S., is
the Cumberland Plateau, or Tennessee Valley region, broken
into broad table-lands by the dissection of rivers. In the
N. part of this plateau, W. of Jackson county, there are about
1000 sq. m. of level highlands from 700 to 800 ft. above the
sea. South of these highlands, occupying a narrow strip on
each side of the Tennessee river, is a delightful country of
gentle rolling lowlands varying in elevation from 500 to 800
ft. To the N.E. of these highlands and lowlands is a rugged
section with steep mountain-sides, deep narrow coves and
valleys, and flat mountain-tops. Its elevations range from
400 to 1800 ft. In the remainder of this region, the S.
portion, the most prominent feature is Little Mountain,
extending about 80 m. from E. to W. between two valleys,
and Asing precipitouslyon the N. side 500 ft. above them
or 1000ft. above the sea. Adjoining the Cumberland Plateau
region on the S.E. is the Appalachian Valley (locally known as
Coosa Valley) region, which is the S. extremity of the great
Appalachian Mountain system, and occupies an area within the
state of about 8000 sq. m. This is a limestone belt with
parallel hard rock ridges left standing by erosion to form
mountains. Although the general direction of the mountains,
ridges and valleys is N.E. and S.W., irregularity is one of
the most prominent characteristics. In the N.E. are several
flat-topped mountains, of which Raccoon and Lookout are the
most prominent, having a maximum elevation near the Georgia
line of little more than 1800 ft. and gradually decreasing in
height toward the S.W., where Sand Mountain is a continuation of
Raccoon. South of these the mountains are marked by steep
N.W. sides, sharp crests and gently sloping S.E. sides.
South-east of the Appalachian Valley region, the Piedmont
Plateau also crosses the Alabama border from the N.E. and
occupies a small triangular-shaped section of which Randolph
and Clay counties, together with the N. part of Tallapoosa and
Chambers, form the principal portion. Its surface is gently
undulating and has an elevation of about 1000 ft. above the
sea. The Piedmont Plateau is a lowland worn down by erosion on
hard crystalline rocks, then uplifted to form a plateau. The
remainder of the state is occupied by the coastal plain. This
is crossed by foot-hills and rolling prairies in the central
part of the state, where it has a mean elevation of about 600
ft., becomes lower and more level toward the S.W., and in
the extreme S. is flat and but slightly elevated above the
sea. The Cumberland Plateau region is drained to the W.N.W.
by the Tennessee river and its tributaries; all other parts
of the state are drained to the S.W. In the Appalachian Valley
region the Coosa is the principal river; and in the Piedmont
Plateau, the Tallapoosa. In the Coastal Plain are the Tombigbee
in the W., the Alabama (formed by the Coosa and Tallapoosa)
in the W. central, and in the E. the Chattahoochee, which
forms almost half of the Georgia boundary. The Tombigbee
and Alabama unite near the S.W. corner of the state, their
