r uses, applied to
the second cervical vertebra, and in botany it means the stem.

AXLE (in Mid. Eng. _axel-tre_, from O. Norweg. _oxull-tre_, cognate with
the O. Eng. _aexe_ or _eaxe_, and connected with Sansk. _aksha_, Gr.
[Greek: axon], and Lat. _axis_), the pin or spindle on which a wheel turns.
In carriages the axle-tree is the bar on which the wheels are mounted, the
axles being strictly its thinner rounded prolongations on which they
actually turn. The pins which pass through the ends of the axles and keep
the wheels from slipping off are known as axle-pins or "linch-pins,"
"linch" being a corruption, due to confusion with "link," of the Old
English word for "axle," _lynis_, cf. Ger. _Luense_.

AX-LES-THERMES, a watering place of south-western France, in the department
of Ariege, at the confluence of the Ariege with three tributaries, 26 m.
S.S.E. of Foix by rail. Pop. (1906) 1179. Ax (Aquae), situated at a height
of 2300 ft., is well known for its warm sulphur springs (77deg-172deg F.),
of which there are about sixty. The waters, which were used by the Romans,
are efficacious in the treatment of rheumatism, skin diseases and other
maladies.

AXMINSTER, a market-town in the Honiton parliamentary division of
Devonshire, England, on the river Axe, 27 m. E. by N. of Exeter by the
London & South-Western railway. Pop. (1901) 2906. The minster, dedicated to
St Mary the Virgin, illustrates every style of architecture from Norman to
Perpendicular. There are in the chancel two freestone effigies, perhaps of
the 14th century, besides three sedilia, and a piscina under arches.
Axminster was long celebrated for the admirable quality of its carpets,
which were woven by hand, like tapestry. Their manufacture was established
in 1755. Their name is preserved, but since the seat of this industry was
removed to Wilton near Salisbury, the inhabitants of Axminster have found
employment in brush factories, corn mills, timber yards and an iron
foundry. Cloth, drugget, cotton, leather, gloves and tapes are also made.
Coaxdon House, the birthplace in 1602 of Sir Symonds d'Ewes, the Puritan
historian, is about 2 m. distant, and was formerly known as St Calyst.

Axminster (Axemystre) derives its name from the river Axe and from the old
abbey church or minster said to have been built by King Aethelstan. The
situation of Axminster at the intersection of the two great ancient roads,
Iknield Street and the Fosse Way, and also the numerous e