Afiun Qarahisar

AFIUN QARAHISAR, the popular name of Kara-hissar Sahib, the chief town of a vilayet in Asiatic Turkey, nearly zoom. east of Smyrna, and 5om. south-south-east of Kutaiah. Popula tion (1927), 102,487. Called Nicopolis by Leo III. after his vic tory over the Arabs in 74o, its name was changed by the Seljuk Turks to Kara-hissar. It stands partly on level ground, partly on a declivity, and above it rises a precipitous trachytic rock (400ft.) on the summit of which are the ruins of a Byzantine castle. The town is an important centre of trade. Opium in large quantities is produced in its vicinity and forms the staple article of its com merce ; and there are, besides, manufactures of black felts, carpets, arms and saddlery. Afiun contains several mosques (one of them a very handsome building). The town is connected by railway with Smyrna, Konia, Angora and Constantinople.

See V. Cuinet, Turquie d'Asie (Paris, 1894), vol. iv.

A FORTIORI

(Lat. "from a stronger [reason]"), a term used of an argument in which the conclusion is supported by a ground that is stronger than another that has already been ac cepted, or is commonly accepted, as sufficient justification for asserting the predicate of the conclusion of that kind of subject. For example, if in a right-angled triangle the side opposite the right angle must be greater than either of the other sides (be cause the right angle is greater than either of the other angles), "how much more so" (a fortiori) must this be the case in an obtuse-angled triangle (which is even greater than a right angle).