AZOV

azov, sea of an inland sea of southern europe, communicating with the black sea by the strait of yenikale, or kerch, the ancient _bosporus cimmerius_. to the romans it was known as the _palus maeotis_, from the name of the neighbouring people, who called it in their native language _temarenda_, or mother of waters. it was long supposed to possess direct communication with the northern ocean. in prehistoric times a connexion with the caspian sea existed; but since the earliest historical times no great change has taken place in regard to the character or relations of the sea of azov. it lies between 45deg 20' and 47deg 18' n. lat, and between 35deg and 39deg e. long., its length from south-west to north-east being 230 m., and its greatest breadth 110. the area runs to 14,515 sq. m. it generally freezes from november to the middle of april. the don is its largest and, indeed, its only very important affluent. near the mouth of that river the depth of the sea varies from 3 to 10 ft., and the greatest depth does not exceed 45 ft. of recent years, too, the level has been constantly dropping, for the surface lies 4-3/4 ft. higher than the surface of the black sea. fierce and continuous winds from the east prevail during july and august, and in the latter part of the year those from the north-east and south-east are not unusual; a great variety of currents is thus produced. the water is for the most part comparatively fresh, but differs considerably in this respect according to locality and current. fish are so abundant that the turks describe it as _baluk-deniz_, or fish sea. to the west, separated from the main basin by the long narrow sand-spit of arabat, lie the remarkable lagoons and marshes known as the sivash, or putrid sea; here the water is intensely salt. the sea of azov is of great importance to russian commerce; along its shores stand the cities of taganrog, berdyansk, mariupol and yenikale. azoximes (furo [a.b.] diazoles), a class of organic compounds which contain the ring system <math>hc = n n = ch[|]\/[|]o.<math> they may be prepared by converting nitriles into amidoximes by the action of hydroxylamine, the amidoximes so formed being then acylated by acid chlorides or anhydrides. from these acyl derivatives the elements of water are removed, either by simple heating or by boiling their aqueous solution; this elimination is accompanied by the formation of the azoxime ring. thus nh_2oh // n.oh boil with c_6h_5cn --------> c_6h_5.c --------> \ nh_2 propionic anhydride [ //n.o.coc_2h_5 ] // n.o \ [ c_6h_5c ] --> c_6h_5.c c.c_2h_5. [ \ nh_2 ] \ n // [v.03 p.0086] azoximes can also be produced from [alpha]-benzil dioxime by the "beckmann" change. most of the azoximes are very volatile substances, sublime readily, and are easily soluble in water, alcohol and benzene. for detailed descriptions, see f. tiemann (_ber._, 1885, 18, p. 1059), o. schulz (_ber._, 1885, 18, pp. 1084, 2459), and g. mueller (_ber._, 1886, 19, p. 1492); also _annual reports_ of the chemical society). aztecs (from the nahuatl word _aztlan_, "place of the heron," or "heron" people), the native name of one of the tribes that occupied the tableland of mexico on the arrival of the spaniards in america. it has been very frequently employed as equivalent to the collective national title of nahuatlecas or mexicans. the aztecs came, according to native tradition, from a country to which they gave the name of aztlan, usually supposed to lie towards the north-west, but the satisfactory localization of it is one of the greatest difficulties in mexican history. the date of the exodus from aztlan is equally undetermined, being fixed by various authorities in the 11th and by others in the 12th century. one mexican manuscript gives a date equivalent to a.d. 1164. they gradually increased their influence among other tribes, until, by union with the toltecs, who occupied the tableland before them, they extended their empire to an area of from 18,000 to 20,000 square leagues. the researches of humboldt gave the first clear insight into the early periods of their history. see mexico; nahuatlan stock.