Among starlings, the Indian mynah (generally the house mynah,
Acridotheros tristis, but some other species seem to have been
confused with this) has been naturalized in the Andamans, Seychelles,
Reunion, Australia, Hawaii and parts of New Zealand. Its alleged
destructiveness to the Hawaiian avifauna seems open to doubt.
The European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is naturalized in New
Zealand, Australia and to some extent in the United States.
Thrushes have not been widely introduced, but the song-thrush
and blackbird (Turdus musicus and Merula merula) are
common in New Zealand; attempts were made, but unsuccessfully,
to establish the latter in the United States. The so-called
hedge-sparrow (Accentor modularis), really a member of
this group, is one of the successful introductions into New
Zealand. The robin (Erithacus rubecula) failed there.
Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) and the Australian ``magpie''
or piping crow (Gymnorhina) are to be found in New
Zealand, but only locally, especially the former.
Reptiles and Amphibians.---Very little naturalization
has been effected, or indeed apparently attempted, in
regard to these groups, but the occurrence of the edible
frog of the continent of Europe (Rana esculenta) as an
introduced animal in certain British localities is well
known. An Australian tree-frog (Hyla peronii) is
naturalized in many parts of the north island of New Zealand.
Fish.--The instances of naturalization in this class are
few, but important. The common carp (Cyprinus carpio),
originally a Chinese fish, has for centuries been acclimatized
in Europe, where indeed it is in places a true domestic
creature, with definite variations. It is, however, quite
feral also, and has been introduced into North America.
The Prussian carp (Carassius vulgaris) is established in
New Zealand, and the nearly-allied goldfish, a domestic
form (C. auratus) of Chinese origin, has been widely
distributed as a pet, and is feral in some places.
The gourami (Osphromenus olfax) of the East Indies has been
established in Mauritius and Cayenne, being a valuable foodfish.
The most important case of naturalization of fish is, however,
the establishment of some Salmonidae in Tasmania and New
Zealand. These are the common trout and sea-trout (Salmo
fario and S. trutta); they attain a great size. So far,
attempts to establish the true salmon in alien localities
have been unsuccessful, but the American rainbow trout (S.
irideus) has thriven in New Zealand, and the brook char
of the same continent (S. fontinalis) inhabits at least
one stream there to the exclusion of the common trout.
Invertebrates.---Many insects and other invertebrates, mostly
noxious, have been accidentally naturalized, and some have
been deliberately introduced, like the honey-bee, now feral in
Australasia and North America, and the humble-bee, imported
into New Zealand to effect the fertilization of red clover.
The spread of the European house-fly has been deliberately
encouraged in New Zealand, as wherever it penetrates the
native flesh-fly, a more objectionable pest, disappears.
The wide distribution of three common cockroaches (Feriplaneta
americana, Blatta orientalis and Ectobia germanica)
is well known, but these are chiefly house-insects.
The common small white butterfly of Europe (Pontia or Pieris
rapae) is now established in North America; and the march of the
jigger, or foot-infesting flea (Sarcopsylla penetrans) of tropical
America, across Africa, has taken place in quite recent years.
The Romans are credited with having purposely introduced the
edible snail (Helix pomatia) into England, and the common
garden snail and slugs (Helix aspersa, Limax agrestis and
Arion hortensis) have been unwittingly established in New
Zealand. In that country, also, the earthworms of Europe
are noticed to replace native forms as the ground is broken.
General Remarks.--A great deal has been said about the
upsetting of the balance of nature by naturalization,
and as to the ill-doing of exotic forms. But certain
considerations should be borne in mind in this connexion.
In the first place, naturalization experiments fail at least
as often as they succeed, and often quite inexplicably.
Thus, the linnet and partridge have failed to establish
themselves in New Zealand. This may ultimately throw
some light on the disappearance of native forms; for
these have at times declined without any assignable cause.
Secondly, native forms often disappear with the clearing
off of the original forest or other vegetation, in which
case their recession is to a certain extent unavoidable,
and the fauna which has established itself in the
presence of cultivation is needed to replace them.
Thirdly, the ill effect of introduced forms on existing
ones may often be due rather to the spread of disease and
parasites than to actual attack; thus, in Hawaii the native
birds have been found suffering from a disease which attacks
poultry. And the recession of the New Zealand earthworms
and flies before exotic forms probably falls under this
category. As man cannot easily avoid introducing parasites,
and must keep domestic animals and till the land, a certain
disturbance in aboriginal faunas is absolutely unavoidable.
Under certain circumstances, however, the native animals may
recover, for in some cases they even profit by man's advent,
and at times themselves become pests, like the Kea parrot
(Nestor notabilis), which attacks sheep in New Zealand, and
the bobolink or rice-bird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) in North
America. Finally, it should never be forgotten that the worst
enemies of declining forms have been collectors who have not
given these species the chance of recovering themselves. (F. FN.)
ACCOLADE (from Ital. accolata, derived from Lat. collum,
the neck), a ceremony anciently used in conferring knighthood;
but whether it was an actual embrace (according to the use
of the modern French word accolade), or a slight blow on
the neck or cheek, is not agreed. Both these customs appear
to be of great antiquity. Gregory of Tours writes that the
early kings of France, in conferring the gilt shoulder-belt,
kissed the knights on the left cheek; and William the
Conqueror is said to have made use of the blow in conferring
the honour of knighthood on his son Henry. At first it was
given with the naked fist, a veritable box on the ear, but
for this was substituted a gentle stroke with the flat of
the sword on the side of the neck, or on either shoulder as
well. In Great Britain the sovereign, in conferring
knighthood, still employs this latter form of accolade.
``Accolade'' is also a technical term in music-printing for
a sort of brace joining separate staves; and in architecture
it denotes a form of decoration on doors and windows.
ACCOLTI, BENEDETTO (1415-1466), Italian jurist and
historian, was born at Arezzo, in Tuscany, of a noble family,
several members of which were distinguished like himself for
their attainments in law. He was for some time professor of
jurisprudence in the university of Florence, and on the death
of the celebrated Poggio, in 1459, became chancellor of the
Florentine republic. He died at Florence. In conjunction with
his brother Leonardo, he wrote in Latin a history of the first
crusade, entitled De Fello a Christianis contra Barbaros
gesto pro Ghristi Sepulehro et Iudaea recuperandis libri
tres (Venice, 1432, translated into Italian, 1543, and into
French, 1620), which, though itself of little interest, is
said to have furnished Tasso with the historic basis for
his Jerusalem Delivered. Another work of Accolti's-De
Praestantia Virorum sui Aevi--was published at Parma in
1689. His brother Francesco (1418-1483) was also a distinguished
jurist, and was the author of Conrilia seu responsa (Pisa,
1481); Commentaria super lib. ii. decretalium (Bologna, 1481);
Gommentaria (Pavia, 1493); de Balneis Puleolanis (1475).
ACCOLTI, BERNARDO (1465--1536), Italian poet, born at
Arezzo, was the son of Benedetto Accolti. Known in his
own day as l'Unico Aretino, he acquired great fame as a
reciter of impromptu verse. He was listened to by large
crowds, composed of the most learned men and the most
distinguished prelates of the age. Among others, Cardinal
Bombo has left on record a testimony to his extraordinary
talent. His high reputation with his contemporaries seems
scarcely justified by the poems he published, though they
give evidence of brilliant fancy. It is probable that he
succeeded better in his extemporary productions than in
those which were the fruit of deliberation. His works,
under the title Virginia, Comedia, Capitoli e Strambotti
di Messer Bernardo Accolti Aretino, were published at
Florence in 1513, and have been several times reprinted.
ACCOLTI, PIETRO (1455--1532), brother of the preceding,
known as the cardinal of Ancona, was born in Florence on the
15th of March 1455, and died at Rome on the 12th of December
1532 (Ciaconi, Vitae Pontificum, 1677, iii. 295). He was
made bishop of Ancona, in 1505, and cardinal on the 17th of
March 1511, by Julius II. He was abbreviator under Leo X.,
and in that capacity drew up in 1520 the bull against Luther
(L. Cardella, Memorie Storiche de' Cardinali, 1793, iii.
450). He held successively the suburban sees of Albano and
Sabina, also the sees of Cadiz, Maillezais, Arras and Cremona,
and was made archbishop of Ravenna, 1524, by Clement VII.
F. Cristofori (Storia dei Cardinali, 1888) and others have
confused him with his nephew BENEDETTO (1497-1549), son
of Michaele; who followed him in several of his preferments,
was made cardinal, 1527, by Clement VII., and is known as
a writer in behalf of papal claims and as a Latin poet.
ACCOMMODATION (Lat. accommodare, to make fit, from ad, to,
cum, with, and modus, measure), the process of fitting, adapting,
adjusting or supplying with what is needed (e.g. housing).
In theology the term ``accommodation'' is used rather loosely
to describe the employment of a word, phrase, sentence or
idea, in a context other than that in which it originally
occurred; the actual wording of the quotation may be modified
to a greater or lesser extent. Such accommodation, though
sometimes purely literary or stylistic, generally has the
definite purpose of instruction, and is frequently used both
in the New Testament and in pulpit utterances in all periods
as a means of producing a reasonably accurate impression
of a complicated idea in the minds of those who are for
various reasons unlikely to comprehend it otherwise. There
are roughly three main kinds. (1) A later Biblical passage
quotes from an earlier, partly as a literary device, but
also with a view to demonstration. Sometimes it is plain
that the writer deliberately ``accommodates'' a quotation
(cf. John xviii. 8, 9 with xvii. 12). But New Testament
quotations of Old Testament predictions are often for us
accommodations---striking or forced as the case may be --while
the New Testament writer, ``following the exegetical methods
current among the Jews of his time, Matthew ii. 15, 18, xxvi.
31, xxvii. 9'' (S. R. Driver in Zechariah in Century
Bible, pp. 259, 271), puts them forward as arguments. To
say that he is merely ``describing a New Testament fact in
Old Testament phraseology'' may be true of the result rather
than of his design. (2) Much beeides in the Bible--parable,
metaphor, &c.--has been called an ``accommodation,'' or
divine condescension to human weakness. (3) German 18th-century
rationalism (see APOLOGETICS) held that the Biblical writers
