Receiver.

Air-shaft, n. A hole made from the surface to the adits of a mine, to furnish fresh air to the miners. Air-slacked, a . Slacked by exposure to the air; as air - slacked lime. Air'-threads, n . pl . (Nat. Hist.) The long filaments which float in the air in autumn. They are made by the long-legged field-spiders. - See GOSSAMER. Air-tight, a. Impermeable to air. Air-trap, n. A contrivance for expelling foul air from drains, . Air'-tub, n. See SPIRAL VESSELS. Air-ve el, n. A ve el, cell, or duct, containing or conducting air. Air'y, GEORGE BIDDELL, an English astronomer, born at Alnwick, 1801. The management of the Cambridge Observatory was intrusted to him in 1828. Fellow of the Royal Society, correspondent member of the French Institute, and other foreign scientific bodies, and Astronomer Royal. He was considered one of the most able and indefatigable savants of our age. His principal work is Astronomical Observations, Cambridge, 1828-1838, 9 vols. Died Jan. 4, 1892. Aisle, n. [Fr. aile , from Lat. ala , a wing.] ( Arch .) The wing of a building. - In churches, that lateral divi- sion which forms the side of the edifice. When a church is divided into three compartments, the middle or prin- cipal compartment, separated from the others by two rows of piers, is called the nave, and the two outlying compartiments form the aisles. Modern churches have seldom more than two aisles; but in Gothic cathedrals there are often as many as four aisles, two on each side of the nave. Sometimes the term aisle is given to all the compartments of a church, which is then spoken of as three-aisled, the nave or body of the building forming the middle aisle , and the side compartments the side- aisles. See NAVE, TRANSEPT. Aisled, a. That has aisles. Aisne, a river of France, which gives its name to a de- part ment. It rises to the west of a chain of hills which forms the western boundary of the basin of the Meuse, and, after a course of 150 miles, joins the river Oise, just above Compiègne. It becomes navigable at Rethel. Aisne', a department in the north of France, includ- ing portions of the ancient Picardy, Isle of France, and Champagne. It is divided into 5 arrondi ements and 37 cantons. It is drained by the rivers Oise, Aisne, and Marne, and gives rise to the Sambre, the Somme, and the Escant. Area 2,830 sq. m. Lat. betw. 48° 50 and 50° N.; Long. betw. 2° 50 and 4° 12′ E. The surface generally consists of undulating plains. The quantity of forest land is considerable, and the soil so fertile in grain and hay that the inhabitants export two thirds of their harvest. Ind . Considerable manuf. of cotton; the famous manuf. of mirrors at St. Gobain; manuf. of linens, shawls in imitation of Cashmere, soaps, . Its chief towns are: Laon (préfecture), St. Quentin, Sois- sons, Château-Thierry, Vervins (sub-préfectures); La Fère, a fortre on the Oise, and La Ferté-Milon, the birthplace of Racine. Pop . 564,597. Ai é, MLLE. DEMOIS, was born in Cir ca ia, 1689, and pur- chased by the Count de Ferriol, the French amba ador at Constantinople, when a child of 4 years, for 1500 livres. The seller declared her to be a Circa ian prin- ce . She was of great beauty. The Count took her with him to France, and gave her an education, in which nothing was neglected but the inculcation of virtuous principles. Her disposition was good, but her life im- moral. She sacrificed her innocence to the solicitations of her benefactor. On the other hand, she resisted the splendid offers of the Duke of Orleans; and, of her nu- merous suitors, she favored only the Chevalier Ayde A prey to the bitterest remorse, she lived in a continual struggle with herself, and died 1727, thirty-eight years old. Her letters, written in a pleasant and fluent strain, were published with notes by Voltaire, in 1787. They contain many anecdotes of the prominent personages of her times. Ait', and ExOT, n. [From islet .] A small island in a river or lake. It is called a willow ait when planted with osiers. Aitkin, in Minnesota, a N. central co.; formerly spelled AIKEN ( q.v. ) Aix', a town of France, formerly capital of Provence, now chief town of arrond. in the dep. of Bouches-du- Rhône. It is situated in a plain, 16 miles N. of Mar- seilles. It is the seat of a Court of A izes and a uni- versity, with faculties of theology and law. It has a magnificent cathedral, a museum of pictures, a col- lection of antiquities, and a library containing over 150,000 vols. - Manuf . , silk, wool, and cotton; Trade , oil. The town was founded by C. Sextus Calvin us, a Roman general, 120 years B. c., and received the name of Aquæ Sextæ , from its famous hot springs. Pop . 27,659. Aix-la-Chapelle'. [Ger. Aachen .] The chief city of a district of the same name, prov. of the Lower Rhine, Pru ia, on the river Wurm, 40 m. S.W. of Cologne. Lat. 50° 47′ N.; Lon. 6° 3′ E. Pop . 100,000. The situation of the city is agreeable; it stands on uneven ground, sur- rounded by hills of moderate elevation, generally cov- ered with wood. There are many public buildings in the city deserving of notice, principally the Minster , which is said to have been commenced by Charlemagne, contains the tomb of this monarch, a great number of relics, and doors of bronze. Aix-la-Chapelle once pos- se ed a much more extensive trade than it has at present. This decline has been caused by the spring- ing up of other rival seats of industry all around it. Manf. Woollen cloth, kerseymeres, pins, needles, hats, and Pru ian blue. Founded A. D. 125 by Severus Gra- nius, a Roman general, under the name of Aquis - Granum . Aix was the favorite residence of Charlemagne. The emperors of Germany were once crowned here; and, as long as the Germanic empire lasted, this city claimed the privilege of being the place of coronation, as it was also the proper residence of the emperor. The name of Aix, or Aachen, is evidently derived from the springs, for which the place has been always famous. The hot springs have a temperature of about 143° Fahrenheit, and contain a large portion of sulphur. These waters are used both for bathing and drinking. In 1668, a treaty of peace was concluded at Aix between France and Spain. In 1748 a congre was held in it, between France, England, Holland, Austria, Spain, Sardinia and Modena, in order to adjust the political interests of these powers, which had suffered from a war arising out of the failure of the male branch of the house of Austria, by the death of Charles VI. in 1740. A treaty was con- cluded between all the powers, stipulating the indepen- dence of Switzerland, the free navigation of the Rhine, the security of the Protestant succe ion in England, Aj'utage, n. [Fr.] A kind of tube fitted to the mouth or aperture of a ve el, through which water is to be discharged; a part of the apparatus of an artificial foun- tain, or jet d'eau. Ak'abah, (GULF OF,) the Sinus Elaniticus of antiquity, so called from the port of Elana or Elath, is a deep nar row inlet, uniting with the N.E. extremity of the Red sea. It extends in N.N.E. direction from 28° to 29 32′ N. lat.; being, where broadest, 16 or 17 miles acro Being exposed to sudden and heavy squalls, and encum bered in parts with coral reefs, its Lavigation is not little dangerous. It takes its modern name from the castle of Akabah, where is deposited, under the guar of some Egyptian soldiers, the corn for the supply of the caravans, in their journey from Cairo to Mecca. Ak an, a township of Wisconsin, situated in Rich land Ak'bar, or AKBER, (i. e., the Great,) properly JELAL- ED-DIN-MOHAMMED, emperor of Hindostan, was born in 1542, at Amerkota, in the great sandy desert east of the Indus. At the death of his father, the Mogul emperor Humayun he succeeded him in the government of Delhi, is the 14th year of his age, 1556. Feeling diffident on account of his youth and inexperience, he conferred the teraporary dignity of Khan Caba (i. e., regent or protector) on his minister Beiram Khan. His great talents were early developed. He fought with distinguished valor against his foreign foes, and was very succe ful in nie wars. Neverthele , in an attempt to subjugate the Afghan mountain districts which encircle the plain of Peshawur, his army, commanded by Zein Khan Koka, was completely defeated by the Yoosoofzyes or Eusofzies, the most powerful of the Afghan tribes in this direction, 4. D. 1591. Though compelled, by continued commotions, to visit the different provinces of his empire at the head of his army, he loved the sciences, especially history, and was indefatigable in his attention to the internal administration of his empire. He instituted inquiries into the population, the nature and productions of each province. The results of his statistical labors were collected by his minister, Abul Fazl, in a work entitled Ayeen Akberi, printed in English, at Calcutta, 1783-86, 3 vols., and reprinted in London. A. died, after a reign of 49 years, in 1017 (1604, A. D.) His splendid sepulchral monument still exists near Agra, with the simple inscription, Akbar the Admirable . all Fig. 64.-YOOSOOFZTE.- KINGDOM OF CABOOL.