AISLE—AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 
  
  
  
Royal becoming vacant, Mr A. was appointed toit by 
Lord Auckland, then First Lord of the Admiralty. 
If he has not made himself famous by any brilliant 
discovery or important undertaking, like Herschel 
or Hind, he has at least shewn his high talent by 
many useful and interesting improvements, especially 
in the introduction of new or more perfect scientific 
instruments, more rapid methods of calculation, and 
researches in magnetism, meteorology, photography, 
&e. One of the most valuable of his contributions 
to popular science is his well-known article on 
¢ Gravitation,” in the Penny COyclopedia (1837). 
Equally excellent and popular is his treatise on 
Trigonometry, which was written for the Encyclo- 
peedia Metropolitana (1855). He has made, besides, 
numerous useful experiments in the application of 
mathematical science to geognostic and astronomical 
phenomena, and has deservedly obtained the reputa- 
tion of being one of the most able and indefatigable 
of living savans. Mr A. is a Fellow of the Royal 
Society ; an Honorary Member of the Institution 
of Civil Engineers, Corresponding Member of the 
French Institute, and other foreign scientific bodies. 
AISLE (from Lat. ala, 
a wing) means any lat- 
eral division of any part 
of a church, whether 
nave, choir, or transept. 
The number of aisles 
varies in the churches 
of different countries. 
In England, there is only 
one on each side of the 
nave or choir; in most 
foreign countries, there 
are generally two, and 
at Cologne there are even 
three. The continental 
edifices, it would seem, 
have antiquity in their 
favour for this arrange- 
ment (see BAsiricA). The 
word i3 often incorrectly 
Aisle (Melrose Abbey).  applied to the open 
space in the nave of 
churches between the seats of the congregation. 
AISNE, a tributary of the Oise, in France, rises 
in the department of Meuse, and flows north-west 
through the departments of Marne and Ardennes, 
and then west through that of Aisne and part of 
Qise, where it falls into the river Oise, above 
Compitgne. Its course extends to 150 miles, of 
which 70 are navigable. 
AISNE, a department in the north of France, 
formed of a part of ancient Picardy and the Isle of 
France. It belongs to the basin of the Seine, and is 
intersected by the river A., and by other navigable 
streams and canals. The soil is fertile; the chief 
culture is wheat, and other grain. Its rich meadows 
supply Paris with hay. The area is 2830 square 
miles, with a population of 555,530. It is the seat 
of considerable cotton and other manufactures, the 
centre of which is St Quentin (q. v.), and at St 
Gobin is the fainous manufactory of mirrors. The 
department is divided into 5.arrondissements and 
37 cantons. The chief town is Laon (q. v.). 
AIX, a town in France, formerly the capital 
of Provence, now the chief town of an arron- 
dissement in the department of the Bouches-du- 
Rhone. It is believed to have been built by the 
Roman consul, C. Sextius (120 B.c.), on account of 
the mineral springs in the mneighbourhood, and 
thence called Aque Sextize. A. is the seat of a 
court of appeal; and possesses an academy for 
theology and law, and a public library which 
96 
  
  
  
  
reckons nearly 100,000 vols., and 1100 MSS. The 
baptistery of the cathedral is believed to have been 
originally a temple of Apollo. The numerous public 
fountains give a cheerful air to the place. One of 
them has a sculpture of the Good King Réng, exe- 
cuted by David. There is also an old clock-tower, 
the machinery of which, when the clock strikes, 
sets various quaint-looking figures in motion. The 
industry of this again flourishing town consists 
chiefly in the cultivation of the olive, in cotton- 
spinning, leather-dressing, and trade in oil, wine, 
almonds, &e. The warm springs are slightly sulphu- 
reous, with a temperature from 90° to 100° F., clear 
and transparent as the purest well-water, almost 
free from smell, yet with a slightly bitter taste. 
They have the reputation of improving the beauty 
of the skin, and are on this account especially fre- 
quented by the fair sex. The field on which Marius 
defeated the Teutones lies in the plain between A. 
and Arles. In the middle ages, under the Counts of 
Provence (see RENE), A. was long the literary capital 
of Southern Europe. The population of the muni- 
cipality of Aix in 1856 was 23,346. 
AIX (Aque Gratiane, Allobrogum), a small town 
of Savoy, pop. 2—3000, in a delightful valley near 
Lake Bourget, seven miles north from Chambery. 
It was a much frequented bathing-place in the times 
of the Roman empire, and among its numerous 
remains of ancient times, are the arch of Pomponius, 
the ruins of a temple and of a vaporarium. The 
king of Sardinia has a palace here. The hot springs, 
two in number, are of sulphurous quality, and of a 
temperature above 100° F. They are used both for 
drinking and as baths, and attract annually above 
2000 visitors. 
AIX-LA-CHAPELLE (Ger. Aachen) is the 
capital of a districtin Rhenish Prussia. It is situated 
in a fertile hollow, surrounded by heights, and 
watered by the Wurm ; N. lat. 50° 47/, E. long. 6° 
5"; pop. about 50,000, of whom 2000 are Protestants 
and 300 Jews. A.is the centre of numerous thriving 
manufactories, especially of needles and pins— 
celebrated for 200 years—also of broad-cloths and 
bucksking, which have almost driven even the 
English goods out of the American market. As a 
principal station on the Belgian-Rhenish railways, 
A. is an important staple place of Prussian trade. 
The city is rich in historical associations. I# 
emerges from historical obscurity about the time of 
Pepin, and Charlemagne founded its world-wide 
celebrity. Whether it was the birthplace of Charle- 
magne, is doubtful, but it became his grave 814 
A.D. In 796 A.p., Charlemagne caused the alrcady 
existing palace, called the Imperial Palace, to be 
entirely rebuilt, as well as the chapel, in which 
Pepin had celebrated Christmas in 765 A.». The 
two buildings were connected by a colonnade, which 
fell into ruins a short time before the emperor’s 
death, probably from the effects of an earthquake. 
The present town-house has been built on the ruins 
of the palace ; the chapel, after being destroyed by 
the Normans, was rebuilt on the ancient plan by 
Otho III, in 983, and forms the nucleus of the 
present cathedral. This ancient cathedral is in the 
form of an octagon, which, with various additions 
round it, forms, on the outside, a sixteen-sided 
figure. In the middle of the octagon, a stone, witl 
the inscription ¢ CAroLo MAGNoO, marks the grave of 
Charlemagne. Otto III. opened the vault in the 
year 997 A.p. The body of the emperor was 
found in a wonderful state of preservation, seated 
upon a marble chair, dressed in his robes, his sceptre 
in his hand, the Gospel on his knee, a piece of the 
holy cross on his head, and a pilgrim’s scrip attached 
to his girdle. Otto caused the tomb to be built up 
again, after repairing the injuries of the arch. In 
  
  
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