o establish among them a uniform
system of customs rates.

ZONES, the name given to belts of climate on the surface of the
earth marked off by the tropical and polar circles, of which the former
are 231/2 deg. from the equator and the latter 231/2 deg. from the poles, the zone
between the tropical circles, subject to extremes of heat, being called
the Torrid Zone, the zones between the polar circles and the poles,
subject to extremes of cold, being called respectively the North Frigid
Zone and the South Frigid Zone, and the zones north and south of the
Torrid, subject to moderate temperature, being called respectively the
North Temperate, and the South Temperate Zone.

ZOROASTER, ZARATHUSTHRA, or ZERDUSHT, the founder or reformer
of the Parsee religion, of whom, though certainly a historical personage,
nothing whatever is for certain known except that his family name was
Spitama, that he was born in Bactria, and that he could not have
flourished later than 800 B.C.; he appears to have been a pure
monotheist, and not to be responsible for the Manichean doctrine of
dualism associated with his name, as Zoroastrianism, or the institution
of fire-worship.

ZOSIMUS, Greek historian; wrote a history of the Roman emperors from
the time of Augustus to the year 410, and ascribed the decline of the
empire to the decay of paganism (408-450).

ZOUAVES, the name given to a body of light infantry in the French
army wearing the Arab dress, a costume copied from that of Kabyles, in
North Africa, and adopted since the French conquest of Algiers; some
regiments of them consist of French soldiers, some of Algerines, though
originally the two were incorporated into one body.

ZOUTSPANSBERG, a ridge of mountains on the NE. of the Transvaal,
being a continuation of the Drakensberg.

ZSCHOKKE, JOHANN HEINRICH, a German writer, born in Magdeburg, lived
chiefly at Aarau, in Aargau, Switzerland, where he spent forty years of
his life, part of them in the service of his adopted country, and where
he died; wrote histories, and a series of tales, but is best known by his
"Stunden der Andacht" (i. e. hours of devotion), on ethico-rationalistic
lines (1771-1845).

ZUG (23), the smallest canton of Switzerland, and sends only one
representative to the National Council; is 12 m. long by 9 m. broad; is
hilly and pastoral in the SE., and has cultivated fields and orchards in
the NW.; all but includes Lake Zug, at the NE. of which is Z