ACIREALE, :Vela-11-51A (Skil. loci). A city in Sicily, 525 feet above the sea. at the mouth of the River A•i, which descends from Mount Etna to form a small harbor here, 9 miles northeast of Catania (Nap: Italy, K 10). The broad streets, spacious houses, and high timers rest on beds of lava, from which many of them were constructed. The climate is con sidered very healthful, and in summer the Terme di Santa Venere offers baths of tepid mineral water containing sulphur, salt, and iodine. There are pleasant walks and drives to neighboring villages on the slopes of Mount Etna, and the grotto of Galatea and the cave of Polyphemus are in the neighborhood. The coast south of Acireale is steep. and has risen more than 40 feet during the historical period. In the sea near by rise the Seogli de' Ciclopi, the rocks which according to tradition were hurled after the wily Ulysses by the blinded Polyphimms.
The most beautiful of them is about 230 feet high and 2300 feet in circumference, and consists of basalt emnaining wonderful crystals and cov ered with hard limestone that carries fossil shells. The city has a gymnasium and a techni val school, and one of the old families possesses a splendid eolleetion of Sicilian coins. The man ufactures are silk, linen, and cotton goods, knives and shears, and there is an important commerce in flax and grain. Pop., 1881, 39,01)0.
A'CIS (Gk. •AKtc, Akis). A small stream flowing from the foot of Simla Etna in Sicily. Legend derived the name from Acis, son of Falun': and Symirthis, beloved by the nymph Galatea. The Cyclops Polyphemus, jealous of the boy, e•ushed him under a rock, and his blood, gushing forth. was changed into the river. See GALA FEA.