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Abdul-Medjid (1823-61), Sultan of Turkey, succeeded his father, Mahmud II. (1839), and in 1841 concluded peace with Mehemet Ali of Egypt. He followed up the reforms of his father by the organic statute of Gulhana (Nov. 3, 1839), securing the rights of person and property to all his subjects without distinction of religion; and, counselled by Stratford Canning from 1842, he introduced many reforms, which form part of the treaty of Paris (March 30, 1856). He resisted in 1853 those claims of Russia to a protectorate over his orthodox subjects which led to the Crimean War. He instituted the Imperial Order of the Medjidieh (1852).

Abdur-Rahman, Arab chief, fought at the battle of Toulouse (721); invaded Aquitaine in 732, sacked Bordeaux, and carried destruction as far as Burgundy. In 732, however, he was defeated and slain by Charles Martel, leader of the Franks, after seven days' fighting.

Abdur-Rahman I. (731-787), founder (755) of the Ommiad dynasty of Cordova, was born at Damascus. He was engaged in almost constant warfare, and conquered the Iberian peninsula northwards to the Pyrenees.

Abdur-Rahman II. (788-852), fourth Ommiad ruler of Cordova, and son and successor of AlHakim 1. (822). His reign was disturbed by intestinal wars, and also by those against the French, the Astures, and the caliph of Bagdad. He wrote Annals of Spain in Arabic.

Abdur-Rahman III., or ABDERAME (912-961), eighth and greatest ruler of the Ommiad dynasty in Spain. His great wars against the Christian princes, Alfonso III. of Leon and Sancho of Navarre, culminated in the defeat of their combined forces in 918. He was defeated by Ramiro II. of Leon at Alhandega (939); but on Ramiro's death he assisted the deposed Sancho I. to regain his throne. He did much to promote Mohammedan unity in Spain. See Dozy's Hist. des Musulmans d'Espagne.

Abdur-Rahman Khan (18301901), Ameer of Afghanistan (1880), did much to consolidate the power of his country, define its boundary, and improve its social Conditions. He was succeeded by his son, Habibullah Khan. See AFGHANISTAN; also Life by S. Wheeler (1895); Autobiography (1901).

Abecedarians (from A B C), a nickname applied to an extreme section of the German Anabaptists in the 16th century who depised all human learning.

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A Becket, THOMAS. See BECKET.

À Beckett, ARTHUR WILLIAM (1844), English journalist, son of Gilbert Abbott à Beckett; war correspondent to the Standard and the Globe in the Franco-German War; joined Punch (1874); has published Our Holiday in the Highlands (1874), London at the End of the Century (1900), etc.

À Beckett, GILBERT ABBOTT (1811-56), English humorous writer and journalist; born in London; called to the bar, and was a metropolitan police magistrate (1849-56). He wrote numerous plays, edited Figaro in London, and was on the original staff of Punch; wrote leaders for the Times, Morning Herald, etc., Comic Histories of England Rome, Comic Blackstone (1844), and Quizziology of the British

Drama.

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Abeel, DAVID (1804-46), American clergyman and missionary to China, was born at New Brunswick, N. J., educated at Rutgers College, and, entering the university, was for a time pastor of a church at Athens, N. Y. Afterwards he became a missionary to China, founded the Amoy Mission, and travelled widely in the Far East. Ill health compelled him to relinquish his labors and to return home, though he afterwards returned to China, but finally left it to return to America, where he died. He wrote Journal of a Residence in China, etc. (1834). See the Life (1848) by Williamson.

Abel, the second (perhaps twin) son of Adam;, a shepherd, who, having offered to God a more than acceptable sacrifice his brother Cain, was slain by the latter out of jealousy (Gen. 4:1-8). In the New Testament 'righteous Abel' is regarded as the first martyr, and as a hero of faith (Matt. 23:35; Heb. 11:4). Around his name many Jewish and Mohammedan legends gathered. See Dillmann's Genesis (1882), and articles in Jewish Encyclopedia, and literature mentioned there.

Abel, SIR FREDERICK AUGUSTUS (1827-1902), English chemist, born in London; professor of chemistry at the Royal Military Academy (1851-5); chemist to the War Department (1854-88); president of the British Association (1890). He was a high authority on explosives, and especially improved the manufacture of guncotton. He was part inventor (with Professor Dewar) of cordite, and invented the close-test apparatus for determining the flashpoint of petroleum. He was the first director of the Imperial Institute (1887), and published GunCotton (1866), The Modern History of Gunpowder (1866), On Explosive Agents (1872), Researches

Abelard

in Explosives 1875), and Electricity applied to Explosive Purposes (1884).

Abel, HEINRICH FRIEDRICH OTTO (1824-54), historian, born at Reichenbach, Würtemberg; was for several years engaged in the Prussian diplomatic service; appointed professor of history at Bonn (1851). His works include Makedonien vor König Philipp (1847); Das neue Deutsche Reich und sein Kaiser (1848); König Philipp der Hohenstaufe (1852); Die deutschen Personennamen (1853); Die deutschen Kaiserdynastien (1851); and Die Legende vom heiligen Nepomuk (1855).

Abel, JOHN (1857), American physiologist and chemist, was born at Cleveland, O., and was educated at the University of Michigan, thereafter studying in Germany. He was professor of pharmacology in the Medical school of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and subsequently professor of physiological chemistry. He has investigated especially animal tissues and fluids.

Abel, NIELS HENRIK (1802-29), Norwegian mathematician, born at Findö. He distinguished himself by his able development of the theory of elliptical functions and algebraic equations. See his Works (pub. in French, 1839), and Life by Bjerknes, also in French (1885).

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Abélard, or ABAILARD (Lat. Abalardus), PIERRE (1079-1142), theologian and scholastic philosopher, was born at Pallet (Palais), near Nantes, whence he received the epithet Doctor Palatinus.' He lived when the controversy of the scholastic philosophy between nominalism and realism was at its height; studied under Roscellin, and then under William of Champeaux, the champions, respectively, of the opposing principles. He became, at thirty-six years of age, the most famous teacher in Europe, and his school at Notre Dame was crowded by students from every land. Abélard rose above the abstract controversy of the schools, and taught a critical as opposed to the prevalent dogmatic method.

Abélard is most remembered for the story of the love of Héloïse, niece of Fulbert, canon of Notre Dame, who, believing that Abélard had deceived his ward, procured an outrage upon him. Abélard then became a monk at St. Denis; Héloïse, a nun of Argenteuil. Having suffered imprisonment for heresy, by judgment of the synod of Soissons in 1211, Abélard retired to a hermitagethe 'Paraclete'-where eager students surrounded him; and later was called to preside over the abbey of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys in.

Abelin

Brittany, while Héloïse directed a sisterhood at Paraclete. Leaving the abbey after ten years, Abélard again became a teacher of great influence; but his enemies accused him of heresy, and Abélard set out for Rome, to die in the priory of St. Marcellus, near Châlon. His body was taken Paraclete, where Héloïse was laid beside him in 1163; their remains were placed (1817) in one tomb, within the churchyard of Père-laChaise in Paris.

to

The first of Abélard's works to be printed was the ethical discourse Scito te ipsum (1721). But it was only in Victor Cousin's Ouvrages inédits d'Abélard (1836-59) that his principles were made plain. Cousin printed the Dialectica, and Abélard's logical commentaries upon Aristotle, Boethius, and Porphyry, together with portions of his work Sic et Non, a collection (to serve discussion) of opposite views on points of doctrine. Stölzle published in 1891 a long-hidden treatise on the Trinity. Selections from another work, Glossula super Porphyrium, are accessible in the notable monograph Abelard (1845) by the Comte de Rémusat, who also wrote a philosophical drama with the same title (1877). See also works on Abélard by Wilkens (1855), Carrière (1853), and Deutsch (1883); also Gabriel Compayre's Abelard and the Origin and Early Hist. of Universities (Great Educators Series), 1893; Pope's Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard; Life by Joseph M'Cabe (1901); Wright's Lives and Letters of Abelard and Héloïse (1861); Richardson's Abélard and Héloise (1884).

Abelin, JOHANN PHILIPP (d. c. 1635), German historian; better known by the pseudonym JOHANN LUDWIG GOTTFRIED, or GOTHOFREDUS, born at Strassburg; founded the Theatrum Europæum and wrote Arma Suecica (1631), Inventarium Suecia (1632), Historia Antipodum (1655), etc.

Abelites. (1.) A sect of Christians of the fourth century who lived in No. Africa. They held peculiar views in regard to propagating their species, which they restrained themselves from doing, after their pattern Abel, the brother of Cain, who is understood to have had no children. Hence, though they accepted matrimony, they refrained from sexual intercourse, holding it to be the original sin; and while adopting children they refused to have any of their own. (2.) A German sect in Greifswald about 1745, who took Abel as their model of sincerity and upright

ness.

Abelmoschus. See HIBISCUS. Abenakis or ABNAKI, an Indian tribe of the Algonquin 'Confeder

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acy, inhabiting the State of Maine, in the region of the St. John valley and the sources of the Kennebec and St. Croix rivers. In the struggle on the Acadian border between the French and English colonists just before the era of Queen Anne's war (1702-14), the Abenakis were the allies of the French in Canada, and in the strife of the period greatly harassed the 'Bostonnais or New Englanders, at the instigation of Count Frontenac. After the conquest and the fall of French dominion in America, most of the Abenakis withdrew

to Canada, finding homes for themselves along the St. Lawrence River and on the Gulf in the region of the New Brunswick Province. See McKeney and Hall, Indian Tribes, 1854.

Abenakis Springs, Quebec, Canada, a summer resort, with mineral springs, on the St. Francis River, 18 m. from St. Guillaume. Pop. (1905) 800.

Abencerrages, an ancient and powerful Moorish family of Granada, who were at feud with the family of Zegris, and were, it is traditionally said, massacred within the hall of the Abencerrages in the Alhambra in the 15th century. Their story is found in Gines Perez de Hita's Guerras Civiles de Granada, on which Chateaubriand's Aventures du dernier des Abencérages and Cherubini's opera are based.

Aben-Ezra. See IBN-EZRA.

Abeokuta, or ABBEOKUTA (‘under a rock'), tn., cap. of Egba, Yoruba, in the Lagos Protectorate, w. coast of Africa, on Ogun R., by which it is accessible for small boats up to the rapids of Aro (2 m. off) during the flood season, and up to Agmega during the dry season. It is 80 m. from Lagos to Abeokuta by the Ogun, and 60 m. by rail. Pop. 150,000.

Abercarn, vil., England, 10 m. N.W. of Monmouth, with collieries and iron works. Pop. (1901) 12,607.

Abercrombie, JOHN (17801844), the celebrated physician, was born in Aberdeen; became one of the foremost consulting physicians in Edinburgh, and was appointed physician to the king in Scotland (1824).

His

papers in the Edin. Med. and Surg. Jour. (1816-24) formed the basis of his later works, Diseases of the Brain (1828) and Diseases of the Stomach (1828). Besides minor essays on religious subjects, he published The Intellectual Powers (1830) and The Moral Feelings (1833), which were popu

lar.

Abercrombie, JOHN JOSEPH (1802-77), American general, was born in Tennesse, and graduated at West Point in 1822. He served on the Western frontier in the Black

Aberdeen

Hawk War, in the Seminole War, and in the war with Mexico. He was wounded at Monterey, though for his services he was brevetted a lieutenant-colonel.

During the

Civil War he served in Peninsula and Shenandoah campaigns, and was wounded in the battle of Fair Oaks. Until 1864 he was in command of troops before Washington, and in the following year he retired from active service with the rank of brigadier-general.

Abercromby, SIR RALPH (1734-1801), was born at Tullibody, near Alloa; fought under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in Germany (1758); served under the Duke of York in Flanders (1793-5); and on his return to England was made a Knight of the Bath. In 1795-6 he conducted the campaign in the W. Indies. In 1799 he commanded the first division in the expedition to Holland; and in 1801 landed at On Aboukir Bay, in Egypt. March 21 he repulsed the attack of the French under General Menou, but was himself wounded, and died on March 28. Abercromby did much to improve the discipline of the army, and was universally respected for his courage, uprightness, and personal charm. See the Memoir (1861) by his son James, Lord Dunfermline.

Aberdare, tn., Glamorganshire, Wales, about 4 m. s.w. of Merthyr-Tydül. Coal mines, iron and tin works. Pop. (1901) 43,357..

Aberdeen. (1.) A royal munic., and parl. bur. of Scotland, 130 m. N.E. of Edinburgh by rail (Tay and Forth Bridges). The municipal burgh (6,694 ac.) comprises the district between the Dee and the Don, embracing the burgh of Old Aberdeen (1 m. N.), and Woodside (2 m. N.W.), both on the r. bk. of the Don; Cults (4 m. s.w.), on the 1. bk. of the Dee, and Torry, on the r. bk., are also included within the city parish. It was constituted a county of a city in 1899. The parliamentary burgh (6,234 ac.) consists of a N. and a s. division, each sending one member to Parliament. Aberdeen rose into importance in the 12th century, when it became the see of the north. It took an active part on behalf of Bruce. It is a handsome town, built chiefly of granite, and so called 'the Granite City.' Of

modern edifices, the chief are the fine Municipal Offices in the Scottish Baronial style, the Post Office and Parish Council Offices in Renaissance style, Marischal College in Gothic, and the United Free Church College in Tudor, the new Market, Trades Hall, Royal Infirmary, Asylum, Grammar School, Art Gallery and School, and Gordon's College. Of its churches, the most noteworthy are the East and West,

Aberdeen University

which have a spire in common; and the Roman Catholic Cathedral. Chief industries are salmon and herring fisheries, fish-curing, engineering, chemical tanning, brewing, distilling, and papermaking; woollen, linen, cotton, jute, and combs. The trade of the port amounts to over £1,100,000, of which about nine-tenths are imports. Pop. of parl. burgh (1901), 143,728; of roy. and munic. burgh, 153,114. See Smith's New and Old Aberdeen (1882), and Watt's Aberdeen and Banff, with full bibliography (1900). (2.) Tn., So. Dak.,co. seat of Brown co., at the junct. of several R. Rs., 82 m. N. of Huron. Its artesian wells furnish a valuable water-power, and there are manufactured chemicals, patent medicines, brooms, artesian well furnishings, grain-pitchers, etc. Pop. (1910) 10,753. (3.) Tn., Miss., co. seat of Monroe co., on the Tombigbee R.; is engaged in the cotton trade, and has a number of mills, factories, and machine shops. Pop. (1910) 3,708. (4.) Tn. Wash., Chehalis co., 12 m. w. of Montesano, on shore of Gray's Harbor; has important lumber, coal, iron-mining, and salmon fishing and canning interests. Pop. (1910) 13,660.

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Aberdeen University prises the two separate foundations of King's College and Marischal College, which were united in 1860. The former was founded in 1494-5, at Old Aberdeen, by Bishop Elphinstone. Marischal College was founded at New Aberdeen in 1593 by George Keith, fifth earl marischal. There are 24 professors, classified under the five faculties of arts, sciences, divinity, law, and medicine, 40 lecturers, and about 860 students. The library dates from 1500, and contains upwards of 140,000 volumes. Along with Glasgow University, it sends one member to Parliament. See University Calendar (yearly from 1864); J. M. Bulloch's Hist. of the Univ. of Aberdeen (1895); R. S. Rait's The Univ. of Aberdeen: a Hist. (1895).

His

Aberdeen, GEORGE HAMILTON GORDON, FOURTH EARL OF (17841860), was born in Edinburgh; appointed minister to Vienna (1813), and signed the treaty of Toplitz; Foreign Secretary in Wellington's ministry (1828-30); Colonial Secretary (1834-5). Non-Intrusion Bill (1840) failed to avert schism in the Scottish Church; and his similar bill of 1843, although it became law was practically nullified by the Abolition of Patronage Act, 1874. Foreign Secretary in Peel's administration (1841), he negotiated the Tahiti incident (1844), the peace with China, the Ashburton treaty (1842), and the Oregon treaty 1846) resigned office with Peel

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(1846), and became prime minister (1852). His cabinet, termed the 'Coalition Ministry,' which included Lord John Russell, Palmerston, Gladstone, and the Duke of Argyll, did not fulfil its promise; the alliance with France and the Crimean war were consequences of a weak and 'drifting' policy; the commissariat was grossly mismanaged; and majority having been returned in favor of Roebuck's motion calling for inquiry, Aberdeen resigned (1855). He wrote an Inquiry into the Principles of Beauty in Grecian Architecture (1822). His Correspondence was privately printed (1858-88). See Life by Sir A. Gordon (1893); Kinglake's Crimea.

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Aberdeen, JOHN CAMPBELL HAMILTON GORDON, SEVENTH EARL OF (1847), grandson of the fourth earl; lord-lieutenant of Ireland (1886); governor-general of Canada (1893-8).

Aberdeenshire, a maritime co. in the N.E. of Scotland, bounded on the N. and E. by the North Sea. Greatest length, from N.E. to s.w., about 86 m.; breath, from N.w. to S.E., 47 m.; coast-line, 62 m.; area (excluding foreshore), 1,982 sq. m., or 1,268,705 ac. Pop. (1901) 304,439; in 1801 the pop. was 121,061. Towards the sea the land is fertile and comparatively level, but a great portion lies in the mountainous region of the Grampians, which form in the s.w. the knot of the Cairngorm; the soil in the vicinity of the river is rich and loamy, but in the hilly parts there are extensive tracts of moorland. The principal rivers are the Deveron; Ythan; Don, with the Urie (824 m.); and the Dee (87 m.). They are all noted salmon rivers. The predominant rocks are granite and gneiss; other minerals are manganese, plumbago, rock-crystal (cairngorms), and amethysts. The county is divided politically into two divisions, each sending one member to Parliament. The county town is Aberdeen. See Smith's New Hist. of Aberdeenshire (1875); Watt's Aberdeen and Banff (County Histories: 1900). Мар, р. 20.

Abergavenny (the Gobannium of the Romans), mrkt. tn. and munic. bor., W. Monmouthshire, England, 16 m. w. of Monmouth. It stands on an eminence in the valley of the Usk. Its castle, still partly inhabited, was the scene of the treacherous murder of Welsh princes by William de Braose. Collieries and iron works in vicinity. Pop. (1901) 7,795.)

Abernethy, JOHN (1680-1740), Irish Presbyterian clergyman; was born at Colerain, appointed minister of a church in Antrim (1703); received calls from churches in Dublin and Belfast

Aberration

In

(1717). The synod agreed that he should go to Dublin, but he decided to remain at Antrim. His refusal caused a division in the Irish Presbyterian Church, his party of the non-subscribers being opposed by the subscribers. 1730 he went to Dublin, and engaged in the controversy relative to the Test Act (1731), which he opposed. His Discourses on the Divine Attributes (1740-2), Posthumous Sermons (1748-51),containing a Life by Duchal, and Tracts (1751), show advanced principles. See manuscript Diary (6 vols.).

Abernethy, JOHN (1764-1831), eminent English surgeon; born and studied in Londen; surgeon cf St. Bartholomew's Hospital (1815-27), and lecturer cn anatomy at the College of Surgeons (1814-29). His insistence on the connection of local diseases with disorders of the digestive system deeply influenced English medical practice. His writings were collected in the Works (4 vols. 1830). See Memoirs by Macilwain (1853), and B. C. Brodie's Autobiography (1865).

Aberration, an apparent displacement of the heavenly bodies, due to the combined effects of the earth's orbital mction and of the finite velocity of light. Each star, consequently, describes about its true position a small ellipse, the semi-major axis of which represents the arc traversed by the earth during the interval cf light-transmission from the

SUN

STAR

Apparent Annual Path of a Star due to Aberration of Light.

sun, and is known as the 'constant of aberration.' Its accepted value is 20.47". And since it stands for the ratio of luminous to terrestrial speed, the distance of the sun can thence be deduced when the velocity of light has been independently determined. This explanation is very simple on the old corpuscular theory of light, but presents great difficulties on the wave theory of

Aberration

light. (See ETHER.) A similar but much smaller effect, depending upon the earth's axial movement, known 'diurnal

is

as

aberration.' A third variety, called 'planetary aberration,' crises from the delay in the visibility of a moving luminous body caused by the progressive transmission of light.

Aberration, SPHERICAL AND CHROMATIC, in optical instruments, means the deviation of part of a pencil of rays from the point through which every component ray of the pencil should pass, if the theoretical conditions for distinct vision are to be rigorously fulfilled. It is of two kinds, spherical and chromatic. Spherical aberration results from the sphericity of the lens surfaces, or of the mirror used to produce the image of the object, distant or near according as the instrument is a telescope, camera, or microscope. Consider in particular the case of a convex lens. (See LENS.) Parallel rays passing through the lens are brought very nearly to a focus; but no lens with spherical surfaces will bring all rays exactly to this focus, even though these rays are of the same color and refrangibility. The amount of deviation of any particular ray from the focus will depend upon which

of the lens it passes through. Lenses might be ground with suitable forms of surface to produce perfect focussing for a particular kind of light from a source at a definite distance; but these would not have the same accurate focussing effect upon other kinds of light, or upon rays coming from sources at different distances. For ordinary use of telescopes and microscopes this imperfection is not of great significance, and in high-class types of instruments other causes operate which are as effective as spherical aberration in diminishing definition. Chromatic aberration is due to quite a different cause-viz. the different refrangibilities of the colored components of white light. When a single lens is used, the different colored rays from a given source are brought to different foci, thereby producing an image fringed with color. (See DISPERSION.) This defect-a much more serious one than any that practically arises from spherical aberration-is almost entirely removed by means of achromatic combinations of lenses. These are compound lenses formed of lenses of different kinds of glass; and their action depends upon the fact that there is no necessary relation beween refraction and dispersion. See TELESCOPE.

Abert, JOHN JAMES (1788-1863), American military engineer, was born at Shepherdstown,

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Va., graduated at West Point (1811), and served in the War of 1812. Entering the U. S. corps of topographical engineers, in 1829 he was placed in charge of the bureau, gaining subsequently the rank of colonel. For many years he was actively engaged in national works of an engineering character. He retired from active service in 1861.

Aberystwyth, port and wat.pl., Cardiganshire, Wales. It has a university college (1872), with about 500 students, which forms part of the University of Wales. Exports lead and copper ore, bark, and timber. Pop. (1901) 8,005.

Abeyance. In English law the suspension of the title to real property, a dignity or an office, in consequence of the lack of a qualified person to take the same. A peerage is said to be in abeyance when, the inheritance of a deceased peer passing to his daughters as coparceners, it is as yet undetermined which of them shall take the title. It was a maxim of the common law that a freehold could never be in abeyance. There is no interval of time between the death of an ancestor and the acquisition of the estate by his heir, nor between the grant or devise of lands and their acquisition by the grantee or devisee. For this reason a conveyance to take effect in futuro was formerly held to be void. Modern methods of conveyancing have, however, made it possible to create future interests in land without_putting the title in abeyance. The rule never applied to incorporeal interests in land, such as remainders, which, the freehold being vested in the present tenant, might be conferred on an indeterminate or unascertained person. See FREEHOLD, REMAINDer.

Abgar, the titular name of twenty-eight kings of Osrhoene (in Mesopotamia, of which Edessa was the capital), one of whom was said to have sent a letter to Jesus, asking Him to share his kingdom and cure his disease, and to have received a reply from Christ. The letters were translated by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. I. xiii.), but were discredited by Pope Gelasius in 494. The alleged correspondence and the traditions are translated from Syriac sources in Ante-Nicene Fathers (Am. ed., (1886, vol. viii. pp. 648 ff, 702 ff). See Phillips' Doctrine of Addai the Apostle (1876); see Lipsius Die Edessenische Abgarsage (1880) Tixeront, Les Origines de l'Eglise d'Edesse (1888).

Abhorrers, a name given (167980) to the Court or Prerogative party, who signed addresses to the English crown abhorring' the petitions presented by certain of Shaftesbury's followers. The latter (named 'Petitioners,' 'Ex

Abijah

cluders,' 'Protestants,' 'Country Party') besought the crown not to prorogue Parliament further, in order that the Exclusion Bill against the Duke of York, afterwards James II., might be proceeded with, and that measures might be taken, in the Protestant interest, to smite the king through the duke's side.' The Abhorrers (known also as 'Tantivies,' 'Masqueraders,' and 'Papists in Masquerade') received the nickname of "Tories,' and the Petitioners that of 'Whigs'; and these terms superseded the names 'Abhorrers' and 'Petitioners,' 'Court Party' and 'Country Party.'

Abiathar ('Father of Plenty'), son of Ahimelech or Ahijah (cf. 1 Sam. 14:3 with 22:9) the chief priest, escaped when Doeg slaughtered the priests at Saul's command (1 Sam. 22:20), and joined David at Keilah. Appointed high priest with Zadok (1 Chron. 15:11), he became David's counsellor (1 Chron. 27:34), and remained faithful to him during Absalom's rebellion (2 Sam. 15: 24), but later joined Adonijah in his revolt (1 Kings 1:7, 19), and was therefore deposed by Solomon (1 Kings 2:26). See H. P. Smith's Samuel (1899).

Abib, in the Jewish calendar, the first month of the ecclesiastical year, on the 14th of which the feast of the Passover is celebrated; later named Nisan, and corresponding nearly to our April.

Abich, WILHELM HERMANN (1806-86), German geologist, born in Berlin; professor of mineralogy at Dorpat (1842); went to Vienna (1877). He explored the Caucasus, Russian Armenia, N. Persia, and Daghestan, and published Geologische Forschungen in den Kaukasischen Ländern (3 vols. 187888), Ueber die geologische Natur des armenischen Hochlandes (1893),

etc.

Abies. See FIR.

Abigail (Father has rejoiced'), (1.) wife of Nabal the Carmelite, who, by her tactful speech and gifts, dissuaded David from taking revenge upon her churlish husband (1 Sam. 25:18-35). After Nabal's death she became the wife of David (ver. 39-42), and, after a short period of captivity among the Amalekites, resided at Hebron, where she bore David a son, named Chileab or Daniel (2 Sam. 3:3; 1 Chron. 3:1). In speaking to David she called herself thine handmaid,' and her name has thus come to be colloquially used for 'waiting maid,' 'servant.' (2.) a sister of Zeruiah (and of David, 1 Chron. 2:16), 2 Sam. 17:25. See H. P. Smith's Samuel (1899).

Abijah, the name of several individuals mentioned in the Bible, of whom the most notable

Abilene

over

are the following:-(1.) A king of Judah (c. 920-918), also called Abijam, the son and successor of Rehoboam. The meagre account of him given in 1 Kings 14:31 to 15:8 is supplemented by 2 Chron. 13, according to which he gained an overwhelming victory Jeroboam, of whose army no fewer than half a million were slain, near Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim. He was succeeded by his son Asa. (2.) A son of Jeroboam 1., who died in childhood (1 Kings 14). (3.) One of the descendants of Eleazar, son of Aaron, who was chief of the eighth of the twentyfour courses of David's priests (1 Cl.ron. 24:10; cf. Luke 1:5, 'Abia'). (4.) Second son of Samuel (1 Sam. 8: 2, R. V.), whose corrupt administration of justice gave the elders of Israel a colorable plea for their demand for a king. For other bearers of the name, see 1 Chron. 2: 24 (Abiah); 7: 8 (R.V.); 2 Chron. 29:1 (mother of Hezekiah).

Abilene. (1.) City, Kan., co. seat of Dickinson co., on the Kansas R. and the Union Pac., the Chi. Rock Is. & Pac. and other R. Rs., 160 m. w. of Kansas City. The city has flour mills, machine shops, manufactories of carrousels, etc., and is a shipping point for live stock. Here is the Mt. Saint Joseph Academy. Pop. (19104,118. (2.) City, Tex., co. seat of Taylor co., on the Texas and Pacific R. R., 161 m. w. of Fort Worth. It is in a grain and cattleraising district, and has grist, flour, and planing-mills. Pop. (1910) 9,204.

Abimelech ('My father is king' or 'is Molech'), (1.) a king of Gerar, who, owing to Abraham's misrepresentation, took Sarah into his harem; but being warned in a dream, restored her to her husband (Gen. 20). What is regarded as a variant of the same story is told in connection with Isaac and Rebekah (Gen. 26). See W. R. Smith's Old Testament in Jewish Church, p. 416 (2d ed. 1892). (2.) Son of Gideon and a Shechemite woman, who persuaded the Shechemites to make him their king, and by assassination got rid of his seventy half-brothers except Jotham (Judg. 9). In a general revolt against his authority, while assaulting Thebez he was struck by a piece of a millstone cast from the wall by a woman, and, to save himself from the disgrace of having died by female hands, he ordered his armor-bearer to kill him. See G. F. Moore's Judges, 237 ff. (1895).

Abingdon. (1.) A munic. bor. and mrkt. tn., Berkshire, England, 6 m. s. of Oxford. It dates from about 675, when a Benedictine monastery was founded. The manufacture of ready-made cloth

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(2.)

ing employs about 2,000 persons. Down to 1885 it returned one member to the House of Commons. Pop. (1901) 6,480. city, Knox co., Ill., on the Galesburg Div. of the Chi., Burl. & Q. and other R.Rs., 10 m. s. of Galesburg. It is situated in a rich agricultural district. Here are Hedding College (M. E.) and Abingdon Normal College. The largest animal trap manufactory in the world is here; also a brickyard and a manufactory of wagons. Pop. (1910) 2,464. (3.) tn., Va., co. seat of Washington co., on the North Fork branch of the Norfolk & Western, and the Virginia-Carolina R. Rs., 205 m. w.s.w. of Lynchburg. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic academy and convent, of the Stonewall Jackson Inst., and the Martha Washington College for Girls. Deposits of iron ore, gypsum, and salt are in the neighborhood; the region during the Civil War supplied stores of salt to the Confederacy. Pop. (1910) 1,757.

Abington, town, Mass., co. seat of Plymouth co., on the Plymouth Div. of the N. Y., New Haven & Hartford R. R., 17 m. s. by E. of Boston. Boots and shoes are manufactured, and there are machine shops. Pop. (1910)

5,455.

Abington, MRS. FANNY (17371815), English actress, born in London; was a flower-girl and domestic servant. During her career on the stage (1755-99) she created thirty original characters, her most famous being Lady Teazle. She made her last appearance in 1799.

Abiogenesis, the production of living from non-living matter, was generally believed in until recent times, but was disproved by Pasteur, Tyndall, and others." The

present attitude of biologists is a reserved scepticism, which allows the possibility but denies the probability of spontaneous generation. See Huxley in Brit. Assoc. Report (1870).

Abipones, one of the chief peoples of Gran Chaco, Argentina, between the Bermejo and Rio Grande; a fine tall race, with black eyes, aquiline nose, and long black hair. See Dobrizhoffer's Account of the Abipones (1822).

Abishai, nephew of King David, and one of his most daring and faithful followers (1 Sam. 26: 6). He assisted in the night expedition to the camp of Saul (1 Sam. 26: 6-9). After David's accession he took part with Joab in numerous wars (2 Sam. 2:18, 24; 3:30), was faithful to the king in Absalom's rebellion, and became one of the captains of the kingdom (2 Sam. 23:18).

Abitibi, lake, Canada, a body of water in New Ontario, near the boundary between the Provinces

Ablaut

of Ontario and Quebec, lat. 49° N., long. 80° w. It is drained to the west and north by the Abitibi River, which after flowing northward towards Hudson Bay, forms a junction with the Moose River and together they find outlet at Moose Factory at the foot of James Bay. Abitibi is, with Ashuanipi and Mistassini, an unorganized district of the Ćanadian Province of Quebec.

Abjad is the first of eight mnemonic words which give the numerical order of the Arabic alphabet from 1 to 1,000. It is also the name for the alphabet, as in the phrase huruju-'l-abjad, the letters of the alphabet.' The word is derived from the first four characteristic letters of the Arabic alphabet, a, b, j, and d.

Abjuration. (1.) OF THE REALM. In old English law a means of avoiding the death penalty for felony by voluntary expatriation. It was open to any person accused of crime (except in cases of treason or sacrilege. who took sanctuary and thereafter confessed his guilt and took oath abjuring the realm. The oath pledged the criminal to leave the kingdom forthwith and not to return until pardoned by the king. The usual penalties of attainder, corruption of blood and forfeiture of land and goods, followed as in case of conviction for felony. See SANCTUARY. (2.) OATH OF. The oath prescribed by act of Parliament in England renouncing allegiance to the house of Stuart. In its first form, as enacted in the last year of the reign of William III. (13 Wm. III. c. 6), it was specifically aimed at the Young Pretender, son of James II. and was exacted of all officeholders under the crown, including lawyers and the clergy. It has by subsequent enactments been merged in a general oath of allegiance to the person of the reigning sovereign.

Abkhasia, or ABASIA, dist., Kutais, Caucasia, along the Black Sea littoral; produces wheat_and wine. Chief town, Sukhum Kale. It became Russian in 1809-10, but was not pacified till 1864. Pop. 13,000. A blaut. The use of the term ablaut in philology is due to Jacob Grimm (Deutsche Grammatik). The word gradation is frequently employed as its equivalent in English. It finds special application in the comparative grammar of the Indo-Germanic languages, especially in the Germanic strong verbs, where, as in Anglo-Saxon, for example, there are six distinct classes, differentiated by varying but regular ablaut-rows (compare English sing, sang, sung, write, wrote, written). Ablaut is an inheritance from the hypothetical Indo

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