nations, however, it has at various times been subject to certain
conventions. Thus the Romans had a set ritual of applause for public
performances, expressing degrees of approval: snapping the finger and
thumb, clapping with the flat or hollow palm, waving the flap of the
toga, for which last the emperor Aurelian substituted a handkerchief
(_orarium_), distributed to all Roman citizens (see STOLE). In the
theatre, at the close of the play, the chief actor called out "Valete et
plaudite!", and the audience, guided by an unofficial choregus, chaunted
their applause antiphonally. This was often organized and paid for
(Bottiger, _Uber das Applaudieren im Theater bei den Alten_, Leipz.,
1822). When Christianity became fashionable the customs of the theatre
were transferred to the churches. Eusebius (_Hist. Eccl._ vii. 30) says
that Paul of Samosata encouraged the congregation to applaud his
preaching by waving linen cloths ([Greek: othonais]), and in the 4th and
5th centuries applause of the rhetoric of popular preachers had become
an established custom. Though, however, applause may provide a healthy
stimulus, its abuse has led to attempts at abolishing or restricting it
even in theatres. The institution of the _claque_, people hired by
performers to applaud them, has largely discredited the custom, and
indiscriminate applause has been felt as an intolerable interruption to
serious performances. The reverential spirit which abolished applause in
church has tended to spread to the theatre and the concert-room, largely
under the influence of the quasi-religious atmosphere of the Wagner
performances at Baireuth. In Germany (e.g. the court theatres at Berlin)
applause during the performance and "calling before the curtain" have
been officially forbidden, but even in Germany this is felt to be in
advance of public opinion. (See also ACCLAMATION and CHEERING.)

APPLE (a common Teut. word, A.S. _aepl, aeppel_, O.H.G. _aphul, aphal,
apfal_, mod. Ger. _Apfel_), the fruit of _Pyrus Malus_, belonging to the
sub-order _Pomaceae_, of the natural order _Rosaceae_. It is one of the
most widely cultivated and best-known and appreciated of fruits
belonging to temperate climates. In its wild state it is known as the
crab-apple, and is found generally distributed throughout Europe and
western Asia, growing in as high a latitude as Trondhjem in Norway. The
crabs of Siberia belong to different species of _Pyrus_. The apple-tree
as culti