ARIZONA, University of, State institu tion, established by the legislature in 1885 and opened in 1891 at Tucson, Ariz. Its buildings and grounds are valued at about $500,000. The United States government appropriates annually $50,000 to the institution and the State appro priation amounts $120,000. The library con tains 23,000 volumes and in 1917 there were in the institution 52_professors and instructors and 450 students. The departments are those Of agriculture, civil, electric, mechanical and mining engineering, commerce, liberal arts, and economics.
ARK, (1) the box made of bulrushes in which Pharaoh's daughter found the infant Moses. (2) The great vessel or ship in which Noah took refuge during the deluge. Accord ing to the story in Genesis, Noah's ark was large enough to contain his family and repre sentatives of each kind of animal. Its dimen sions were 450 feet long, 75 feet broad and 45 feet high. It was made of "gopher" wood, which has been variously identified with cypress, pine, and cedar. Until the advent of "the higher criticism" there were many theories as to the number of animals and the space necessary for their reception. Modern criti cism and the surrender of attempts to square scientific facts with a literal interpretation of the Bible are indicated by the following sug gestion of Bishop Stillingfleet, approved by many eminent authorities: The insuperable dif ficulties connected with the belief that all the existing species of animals were provided for in the ark, are obviated if we assume that the deluge did not extend beyond the region of the earth then inhabited, and that only the animals of that region were preserved in the ark." (3)
A chest or cupboard in the Jewish synagogue in which are placed the scrolls of the Torah. It is placed against or in the wall in the direc tion of Jerusalem. (4) The Ark of the Covenant, Ark of the Revelation, Ark of the Testimony, are the full names of the sacred chest of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which the Israelites took with them on their journey into Palestine. It was an oblong box three feet nine inches in length, two feet three inches broad and the same in height. It was lined within and without with gold, and through four golden rings were placed staves of acacia wood, by means of which it was carried. In it were preserved the tables of the law. It was borne by the Levites, often at the head of a battle host, and had an eventful history be fore it was finally placed in the city of Jeru salem by David. Later its importance was ap parently merged with that of the Temple which Solomon erected. There is no record of when or how it finally disappeared, but there are many popular legends regarding it, one of which speaks of its translation to heaven until the coming of the Messiah.