APOTHE´CIUM, in botany, the receptacle of lichens, consisting of the spore-cases or asci, and of the paraphyses or barren threads.
APOTHEO´SIS (deification), a solemnity among the ancients by which a mortal was raised to the rank of the gods. The custom of placing mortals, who had rendered their countrymen important services, among the gods was very ancient among the Greeks. The Romans, for several centuries, deified none but Romulus, and first imitated the Greeks in the fashion of frequent apotheosis after the time of Cæsar. From this period apotheosis was regulated by the decrees of the senate, and accompanied with great solemnities. Almost all the Roman emperors were deified.
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS (ap-pa-l[=a]´chi-an), also called ALLEGHANIES, a vast mountain range in N. America extending for 1300 miles from Cape Gaspé on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, s.w. to Alabama. The system has been divided into three great sections: the _northern_ (including the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains, the White Mountains, &c.), from Cape Gaspé to New York; the _central_ (including a large portion of the Blue Ridge, the Alleghanies proper, and numerous lesser ranges), from New York to the valley of the New River; and the _southern_ (including the continuation of the Blue Ridge, the Black Mountains, the Smoky Mountains, &c.), from the New River southwards. The chain consists of several ranges generally parallel to each other, the altitude of the individual mountains increasing on approaching the south. The highest peaks rise over 6600 feet (not one at all approaching the snow-level), but the mean height is about 2500 feet. Lake Champlain is the only lake of great importance in the system, but numerous rivers of considerable size take their rise here. Magnetite, hematite, and other iron ores occur in great abundance, and the coal-measures are among the most extensive in the world. Gold, silver, lead, and copper are also found in small quantities, while marble, limestone, fire-clay, gypsum, and salt abound. The forests covering many of the ranges yield large quantities of valuable timber, such as sugar-maple, white birch, beech, ash, oak, cherry tree, white poplar, white and yellow pine, &c., while they form the haunts of large numbers of bears, panthers, wild cats, and wolves.