ANTHROPOS. – An international review of theology and linguistics founded in 1906 at Möhlling, near Vienna, by Fr. Wilhelm Schmidt of the Society of the Divine Word, and recently transferred to Fribourg in Switzerland. It is published in quarterly issues, collected annually into a volume richly illustrated with images, plates, diagrams, plans, and geographical maps. It publishes writings in the principal European languages and in Latin, as well as contributions from scholars and missionaries on religions, myths, ethical and social life, ergology, etc. Special scientific questions of particular interest are addressed in dedicated *Anla-lecta* and *Additamenta*. The periodical is supported by three series of contributions, respectively on ethnological, linguistic, and exploratory topics: the latter are the result of field research conducted by members of the institute among peoples of major ethnological interest.
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**ANTIBIOTICS**, from ἀντί = against, and βίος = life. – The term *antibiosis* was first used in 1889 by P. Vuillemin to denote certain manifestations of vital competition among microorganisms. It was later revived by S. A. Waksman, E. S. Horning, M. Welsch, and H. B. Woodruff (1942) to designate the action of a category of chemical substances produced by microbial metabolism capable of inhibiting the multiplication or metabolic activities of other microorganisms. However, this definition becomes increasingly incomplete and inaccurate as our knowledge of antibiosis expands and its boundaries blur with those of other microbicidal and vital competition phenomena.
In any case, antibiotics are understood to be substances produced by the metabolism of living beings, mostly lower plants, but also higher plants and even animals (M. Pavan). Their chemical constitution, which is fully known only in a few cases, is extremely complex and varied, and does not allow for a definition or delimitation based on this criterion. In their action, which is evident even at very high dilutions, antibiotics exhibit a certain specificity, more or less narrow.
The first observations on antibiosis date back to the father of bacteriology himself, Pasteur, who as early as 1877 noted the antagonistic action exerted by certain saprophytic germs on the anthrax bacillus and drew hopes for therapeutic applications from this discovery. Many other scholars observed antibiosis phenomena in the following decades, and some even attempted therapeutic applications, though these met with limited success.
The antibiotic era in medicine was inaugurated only recently with the discovery of penicillin, identified and studied in 1929 by A. Fleming, and subsequently purified and tested by H. W. Florey, Chain, and a large number of other researchers. Penicillin, produced by a mold, *Penicillium notatum*, is particularly effective against infections caused by cocci and spirochetes, and its introduction into therapy has brought about a true revolution in the prognosis and course of these diseases, sometimes halting severe morbid conditions within hours and transforming previously fatal prognoses into favorable ones.
A second antibiotic of considerable medical importance is streptomycin, produced by *Streptomyces griseus*, discovered and studied by Waksman and collaborators. This antibiotic is particularly effective against germs that do not respond to penicillin therapy. Its therapeutic action in tuberculosis, though not yet fully clarified or defined in its scope and potential, has nonetheless aroused great enthusiasm and hope.
Numerous antibiotics have been isolated and studied, but regarding their therapeutic applications, they remain in the experimental phase. Among the best known are gramicidin, tyrocidine, subtilin, chloromycetin, polymyxin, etc.
Apart from their immense practical importance in medicine, antibiotics are also of great theoretical interest. Some have sought to interpret them in a finalistic sense, considering them as a means of defense for living beings against other living beings in the struggle for existence. While this may hold true in some cases, it should not be generalized. Even within the same species of microorganisms, only a few strains are capable of producing antibiotics in significant quantities, and only under very specific environmental conditions, which are rarely found in nature. Moreover, antibiotic activity is particularly intense against germs that rarely compete vitally with the microorganism producing the antibiotic. Furthermore, as can be experimentally verified, germs can relatively easily adapt to antibiotics: they become antibiotic-resistant.
Therefore, while it may be admitted that antibiosis can constitute one of the many weapons that living beings deploy in vital circumstances, it cannot be attributed a purely finalistic value. Rather, the phenomenon of antibiosis must be recognized as one of the many wondrous phenomena of harmony-disharmony encountered in the unfathomable mystery of life.
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PONTIFICAL ANTECHAMBER. – The Pontifical Antechamber (A. P.) – or, as it is read in the *Annuario Pontificio*, the Noble Secret Antechamber – comprises all those offices that serve the Pope directly. The first among its members is the Majordomo of His Holiness, followed by the Master of the Chamber, the Auditor of His Holiness, the Master of the Sacred Apostolic Palace, the Grand Master of the Holy Hospice, the Privy Chamberlains Participating, and the Privy Chamberlains of Sword and Cape Participating, for all of whom see **FAMIGLIA PONTIFICIA**.
The designation of A. P. or any equivalent term is not found in the *Lunadoro*, *Relazione della corte di Roma*, published in 1664; from this, one might conjecture that the expression was of more recent origin. In the *Diari di Roma*, which began publication in 1716, the complex of persons assigned to the immediate service of the Pope is instead clearly and repeatedly referred to as the “secret antechamber.” Given the nature of its duties, it was natural that it should consist of officials and personnel in the personal confidence of the Holy Father; hence, it followed that, upon the death of the Pope, many members of the Noble Secret Antechamber were replaced by others enjoying the particular favor of the newly elected pontiff. Often, however, popes confirmed all or part of their predecessor’s Secret Antechamber.
Throughout history, numerous familiars of the Pope, during their service, received special assignments of great importance or were sent to sovereign and princely courts to handle matters of significance, or to represent the Pontiff in ceremonies or extraordinary events.