teacher, born near Nantes, in Brittany, in 1079. He made extraordinary
progress with his studies, and, ultimately eclipsing his teachers, he
opened a school of scholastic philosophy near Paris, which attracted crowds
of students from the neighbouring city. His success in the fiery debates
which were then the fashion in the schools made him many enemies, among
whom was Guillaume de Champeaux, his former teacher, chief of the cathedral
school of Notre-Dame, and the most advanced of the Realists. Abelard
succeeded his adversary in this school (in 1113), and under him were
trained many men who afterwards rose to eminence, among them being the
future Pope Celestin II, Peter Lombard, and Arnold of Brescia. While he was
at the height of his popularity, and in his fortieth year, he fell
violently in love with Heloise--then eighteen years of age--niece of
Fulbert, a canon of Paris. They obtained a home in Fulbert's house under
the pretext of teaching Heloise philosophy, and their intercourse at length
became apparent. Abelard, who had retired to Brittany, was followed by
Heloise, who there gave birth to a son, named Astrolabius. A private
marriage took place, and Heloise returned to her uncle's house, but,
refusing to make public her marriage (as likely to spoil Abelard's career),
she was subjected to severe treatment at the hands of her uncle. To save
her from this Abelard carried her off and placed her in a convent at
Argenteuil, a proceeding which so incensed Fulbert that he hired ruffians
who broke into Abelard's chamber and subjected him to a shameful
mutilation. Abelard, filled with grief and shame, became a monk in the
abbey of St. Denis, and Heloise took the veil. When time had somewhat
moderated his grief, he resumed his lectures; but trouble after trouble
overtook him. His theological writings were condemned by the Council of
Soissons, and he retired to an oratory called the Paraclete, subsequently
becoming head of the abbey of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys in Brittany. For a short
time he again lectured at Paris (1136), but his doctrines once more brought
persecution on him, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the most powerful man in
the Church in those days, had him condemned by the Council of Sens and
afterwards by the Pope. Abelard did not long survive this, dying at St.
Marcel, near Chalon-sur-Saone, 21st April, 1142. Heloise, who had become
abbess of the Paraclete, had him buried there, where she herself was
afterwards laid by his side. Their ashes were removed to Paris in 1800, and
in 1817 they were finally deposited beneath a mausoleum in the cemetery of
Pere la Chaise. According to John of Salisbury, Abelard is credited with
the invention of a new philosophical system, midway between Realism and
Nominalism. In Ethics, Abelard seems to have attached importance to the
psychological element in the action, rather than to the action itself. "The
intention of sinning", he maintained, "is worse than the actual physical
sin." A complete edition of his works was published by Cousin (2 vols.,
Paris, 1849-59), and the letters of Abelard and Heloise have been often
published in the original and in translations. Pope's _Eloisa to Abelard_
is founded on them. Abelard's autobiography, entitled _Story of my
Calamities_, is still extant.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Charles de Remusat, _Abelard_
(2 vols.); J. McCabe, _Life of Abelard_.
ABELE (a-b[=e]l'), a name of the white poplar.
A'BELITE, or Abe'lian, a member of a religious sect in Africa which arose
in the fourth century after Christ. They married, but lived in continence,
after the manner, as they maintained, of Abel, and attempted to keep up the
sect by adopting the children of others.
ABELMOSCHUS (-mos'kus), a genus of tropical plants of the mallow family.
_A. esculentus_, cultivated in India, Algeria, &c., yields edible pods and
also a valuable fibre. The fruit, called _okro_ or _ochro_, is used in
soups.
ABENCERRAGES (ab-en-ser'a-jez), a powerful and distinguished Moorish family
of Granada, the chief members of which, thirty-six in number, are said to
have been massacred in the Alhambra by the king Abu-Hassan (latter half of
the fifteenth century) on account of the attachment of his sister to one of
them. There is a room in the Alhambra which is still called 'the hall of
the Abencerrages'. The legend has furnished the subject of many poems both
Arabic and Spanish (_Las Guerras Civiles de Granada_, by Gines Perez de
Hita), and formed the basis for Chateaubriand's _Aventures du dernier des
Abencerages_.
AB'EN EZRA (Ibn Ezra), a celebrated Jewish rabbi, born at Toledo about
1093, travelled in pursuit of knowledge in England, France, Italy, and
Greece, and is supposed to have died in Rhodes about 1167. He is best known
as a commentator on Scripture.
ABENSBERG ([:a]'b[.e]ns-ber_h_), a village of Bavaria, in the Danube
valley, below Ingolstadt, celebrated for Napoleon's victory over the
Austrians, 20th April, 1809.
ABEOKU'TA. See _Abbeokuta_.
AB'ER, a prefix in Celtic geographical proper names signifying the mouth or
entrance of a river into the sea, or into another stream. It is used
chiefly in Wales and Scotland, having the same meaning as _inver_.
ABERA'VON, a municipal borough of Wales in Glamorganshire, near the mouth
of the Avon in Swansea Bay, embracing Aberavon proper and its harbour Port
Talbot. There are collieries, ironworks, copper-works, &c. Since 1918
Aberavon gives its name to a parliamentary division of the county. Pop.
(municipal borough) (1921), 15,370.
ABERBROTH'OCK. See _Arbroath_.
ABERCARN', an urban district or town of England, Monmouthshire, 10-1/2
miles north-west of Newport, with collieries, ironworks, &c. Pop. (1921),
20,123.
AB'ERCROMBIE, John, M.D., a Scottish writer on medical and moral science,
and an eminent physician, born in Aberdeen, 1781, died at Edinburgh in
1844. He graduated at the university of Edinburgh in 1803, and subsequently
pursued his studies in London, returning to Edinburgh in 1804, where he
acquired an extensive practice as a physician. Apart from medical
treatises, he is known from his _Inquiries concerning the Intellectual
Powers_ and his _Philosophy of the Moral Feelings_.
AB'ERCROMBIE, Patrick, a Scottish historical writer and antiquary, born at
Forfar, 1656; date of death uncertain. Educated at St. Andrews and abroad,
he took the degree of M.D., and practised as a physician in Edinburgh. In
1685 he was appointed physician to James II. His chief work is _Martial
Atchievements of the Scots Nation_, 2 vols. folio, 1711-6.
AB'ERCROMBY, Sir Ralph, a British general, born in 1734 in
Clackmannanshire, Scotland. He entered the army in 1756 as cornet in the
3rd Dragoon Guards; and he gradually passed through all the ranks of the
service until he became a major-general in 1787. He served as
lieutenant-general in Flanders, 1793-5, and was then appointed
commander-in-chief of the forces in the West Indies, where he captured the
islands of Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad, with the
settlements of Demerara and Essequibo. On his return in 1798 he was
appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland; and he afterwards held a
corresponding command in Scotland. His next and concluding service was in
the expedition to Egypt, of which he was commander-in-chief. He landed,
after a severe fight, at Aboukir, 8th March, 1801; and on the 21st of the
same month the battle of Alexandria was fought, in which Sir Ralph was
mortally wounded.
ABERDARE (-d[=a]r'), a town of South Wales, in Glamorganshire, pleasantly
situated at the junction of the Cynon and Dare, 4 miles south-west of
Merthyr-Tydfil, with extensive coal and iron mines in the vicinity. It
belongs to the parliamentary borough of Merthyr-Tydfil. Pop. (1921),
55,010.
ABERDEEN', a university city and royal, municipal, and parliamentary burgh
of Scotland, capital of the county of same name, mainly on the north bank
of the Dee at its entrance into the North Sea, and between this river and
the Don, with a part also on the south bank of the Dee, while the municipal
limits include the adjacent Woodside. The site is in places somewhat hilly.
Aberdeen is one of the oldest towns in Scotland, and was constituted a
royal burgh by William the Lion in 1179. The streets are generally spacious
and regular, the houses built of fine grayish-white granite. There are many
handsome public buildings, as the County and Municipal Buildings, Marischal
College, Grammar School, Infirmary, Arts School, Art Gallery, Music Hall
Buildings, public library, &c. The finest street, Union Street, made in
1800, is carried over a valley by a granite bridge having an arch of 132
feet span. The small portion of the city called Old Aberdeen, long a
separate town, consists mainly of a single street, stretching northwards to
the River Don. Its chief buildings are King's College and St. Machar's
Cathedral. Noteworthy features of the college buildings are the crown-tower
and the chapel, the latter containing some very fine old carved woodwork.
The cathedral, now used as a parish church, was commenced about 1357. There
are several bridges over the Dee and Don. Over the latter is a fine old
bridge (Brig o' Balgownie) of one arch, erected according to some accounts
by Robert Bruce. There are docks 34 acres in area, an extensive tidal
harbour and basin, and a graving-dock. The shipping trade is extensive. The
industries embrace wool, jute, linen, combs, soap, preserved provisions,
chemicals, paper, shipbuilding, engineering, and especially the cutting and
polishing of granite. The fishing industry is of great importance. The city
of Aberdeen returns two members to Parliament. Pop. 158,969.--_The County
of Aberdeen_ forms the north-eastern portion of Scotland, and is bounded on
the east and north by the North Sea. Area, 1,261,521 acres. It is divided
into six districts (Mar, Formartine, Buchan, Alford, Garioch, and
Strathbogie), and is generally hilly, there being in the south-west some of
the highest mountains in Scotland, as Ben Macdhui (4295 feet), Cairntoul
(4245), Cairngorm (4090), Lochnagar, &c. Its most valuable mineral is
granite, large quantities of which are exported. The principal rivers are
the Dee and the Don, both of which enter the sea at the town of Aberdeen.
Cereals (except wheat) and other crops succeed well, and the number of
acres under cultivation is nearly double that of any other Scottish county.
Great numbers of cattle are fattened and sent to London and the south. On
the banks of the upper Dee is situated Balmoral, a favourite residence of
Queen Victoria. Aberdeenshire and Kincardine unite in sending three members
to Parliament. Pop. 300,980.--_Aberdeen University_, as now constituted,
derives its origin from two different foundations; one, the University and
King's College (Old Aberdeen), founded in 1494 by Bishop Elphinstone (who
was bishop of Aberdeen from 1483-1514) under the authority of a papal bull
obtained at the instance of James IV; the other, Marischal College and
University (New Aberdeen), founded in 1593 by Geo. Keith, Earl Marischal,
by a charter ratified by act of Parliament. The two foundations existed as
separate universities, both having the right of conferring degrees, till
1860, when they were united and incorporated into one university, the
University of Aberdeen. Holding the funds of both colleges and dating as
from the foundation of King's College in 1494, the university has about 300
bursaries or exhibitions, mostly open to public competition, and a number
of money prizes and scholarships. The classes for arts and divinity are
held in King's College, and those for law and medicine in Marischal
College. There is a full teaching staff in the faculties of arts, medicine,
science, and divinity, and two professors in that of law. There are in all
25 professors and some 900 matriculated students. The constitution of the
university is similar to that of Edinburgh and the other Scottish
universities. The library contains over 80,000 volumes. The university
unites with those of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St. Andrews in sending three
members to Parliament.
ABERDEEN', George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of, British statesman, born 28th
Jan., 1784, died 14th Dec., 1860. He began his diplomatic life in 1801 as
attache to Lord Cornwallis's embassy to France, which resulted in the
signing of the treaty of Amiens. In 1806 he entered Parliament as a
Scottish representative peer, and in 1813 was entrusted with a successful
mission to Austria for the purpose of inducing the emperor to join the
coalition of sovereigns against Bonaparte. In 1814 he was created a British
peer, and in 1828 he became foreign secretary in the Duke of Wellington's
administration. During the short premiership of Sir Robert Peel in 1834-5
he acted as colonial secretary, and when Sir Robert again became premier in
1841 he took office as Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He was a warm
supporter of Catholic Emancipation, and endeavoured, though without result,
to bring in a compromise bill in 1846, during the struggle which divided
the Established Church of Scotland. Quitting office with his chief in 1846,
he came, on the death of Peel in 1850, to be regarded as the leader of the
Conservative free-trade party. On the Derby ministry failing to maintain
its place, Lord Aberdeen returned to office in the end of 1852 as head of a
coalition ministry. The principal event which marked his administration was
the Crimean war; but the bad management of this irritated the country, and
the ministry resigned in 1855. This event marks the close of Lord
Aberdeen's public career. From his travels and his acquaintance with Greece
and its antiquities he was called by Byron "the travelled thane, Athenian
Aberdeen".
AB'ERDEVINE. See _Siskin_.
ABERGAVEN'NY (sometimes pron. ab-[.e]r-ge'ni, the Roman GOBANNIUM), a
municipal borough and market town of England, in Monmouthshire, situated
amid delightful scenery in the beautiful valley of the Usk. It manufactures
woollens and shoes, and has considerable trade. Pop. (1921), 9252.
ABERNETHY (ab-[.e]r-neth'i), John, an eminent English surgeon, of somewhat
eccentric habits, born in 1764 in London, a pupil of the celebrated John
Hunter. In 1787 he became assistant surgeon at St. Bartholomew's Hospital,
and shortly after lecturer on anatomy and surgery. In 1815 he was elected
principal surgeon, and under his auspices the hospital attained a celebrity
which it had never before enjoyed. He published _Surgical Observations_;
_The Constitutional Origin and Treatment of Local Diseases_; and
_Lectures_, explanatory of Hunter's opinions of the vital processes;
besides smaller essays. He died in 1831.
ABERRA'TION, in astronomy, the difference between the true and the observed
position of a heavenly body, the result of the combined effect of the
motion of light and the motion of the eye of the observer caused by the
annual or diurnal motion of the earth; or of the motion of light and that
of the body from which the light proceeds. When the auxiliary cause is the
annual revolution of the earth round the sun it is called _annual
aberration_, in consequence of which a fixed star may appear as much as
20.4" from its true position; when the auxiliary cause is the diurnal
rotation of the earth on its axis it is called _diurnal aberration_, which
amounts at the greatest to 0.3"; and when the auxiliary cause is the motion
of the body from which the light proceeds it is called _planetary
aberration_.
ABERSYCHAN (ab-[.e]r-sik'an), a town of Monmouthshire, England, about 10
miles north of Newport, in a rich coal-mining district. Pop. (1921),
27,089.
ABERTIL'LERY, an urban district or town of England, Monmouthshire, 16 miles
north-west of Newport, with tinplate works, coal-mines, &c. Since 1918 it
gives its name to a parliamentary division of the county. Pop. (1921),
38,805.
ABERYSTWITH (ab-[.e]r-ist'with), a seaport and fashionable watering-place
of Wales, county of Cardigan, on Cardigan Bay. The town is well built, and
the surrounding country is picturesque. There is here a University College
of the University of Wales, occupying a handsome Gothic building. Pop.
(1921), 12,289.
ABEYANCE, in law, a legal term meaning that the title to dignity, office,
or real or personal property is not vested in anyone, but is suspended
until the right thereto is determined by the appearance of the true owner.
Under English law, when a nobleman dies leaving no male issue, the title,
if descendible to his heirs general, as in the case of baronies by writ, is
said to be in abeyance, until the king, by his prerogative, terminates the
abeyance in favour of one of the co-heiresses. See _Property_.
ABGAR, title of the Syrian rulers at Edessa. The fourteenth prince of the
dynasty, a contemporary of the Roman emperor Tiberius (A.D. 14-37), is said
to have written a letter to our Saviour.
ABHOR'RERS, in English history a name given to the Court party in 1679-80,
who, on petitions being presented to Charles II praying him to summon
Parliament, signed counter-petitions expressing _abhorrence_ for those who
were thus attempting to encroach on the royal prerogative.
A'BIB, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, and the seventh
of the civil year, corresponding to the latter part of March and the first
of April. Also called _Nisan_.
ABIES (ab'i-es), a genus of trees. See _Fir_ and _Spruce_.
AB'INGDON, a town of England, in Berkshire, 50 miles north-west of London,
on the right bank of the Thames. It was an important place in Anglo-Saxon
times, and Offa, King of Mercia, had a palace in it. Formerly a
parliamentary borough, it now gives name to a parliamentary division of
Berks. Pop. (1921), 7167.
ABIOGENESIS (a-b[=i]-o-jen'e-sis), the doctrine or hypothesis that living
matter may be produced from non-living; spontaneous generation. See
_Generation (Spontaneous)_.
ABJURA'TION, Oath of, an oath which by an English Act passed in 1701 had to
be taken by all holders of public offices, clergymen, teachers, members of
the universities, and lawyers, abjuring and renouncing the exiled Stuarts:
superseded in 1858 by a more comprehensive oath, declaring allegiance to
the present royal family.--_Abjuration of the realm_ was an oath that a
person guilty of felony, who had taken sanctuary, might take. This oath
permitted him to go into exile, and not return on pain of death, unless by
the king's permission. In ecclesiastical language the term is applied to
renunciation of heresy.
ABKHA'SIA, a Russian district, at the western extremity and south of the
Caucasus, between the mountains and the Black Sea. The Abkhasians form a
race distinguished from their neighbours in various respects. At one time
they were Christians, but afterwards adopted Mahommedanism. Many of them
migrated into Turkish territory in 1864 and 1878.
ABLAINCOURT. See _Somme_.
AB'LATIVE, a term applied to a case of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns in
Latin, Sanskrit, and some other languages; originally given to the case in
Latin because separation from (_ab_, from _latus_, taken) was considered to
be one of the chief ideas expressed by the case.
ABNAKI, a Confederacy of Algonquin tribes, formerly occupying what is now
Maine and Southern New Brunswick. Their territory, to which they removed
after 1724, is in Canada on the St. John River and at St. Francis.
ABO ([=o]'b[=o]), a town and port in Finland, the see of an archbishop, and
the capital of Finland till 1819, when it was supplanted by Helsingfors.
Pop. (1919), 56,168.
ABOLITIONISTS. See _Slavery_.
ABOMA'SUM, or ABOMA'SUS, the fourth stomach of ruminating animals, next the
_omasum_ or third stomach.
ABO'MEY, or AGBO'MEY, the capital of the French territory and former
kingdom of Dahomey, in West Africa, in a fertile plain, near the coast of
Guinea. Pop. 11,000.
ABORIGINES (ab-o-rij'i-n[=e]z), the name given in general to the earliest
known inhabitants of a country, those who are supposed to have inhabited
the land from the beginning (Lat. _ab origine_). (The singular of the word
is _Aboriginal_, or sometimes _Aborigine_.)
ABORTION, in medicine, the expulsion of the foetus before it is capable of
independent existence. This may take place at any period of pregnancy
before the completion of the twenty-eighth week. A child born after that
time is said to be _premature_. Abortion may be the result of the general
debility or ill-health of the mother, of a plethoric constitution, of
special affections of the uterus, of severe exertions, sudden shocks, &c.
Various medicinal substances, generally violent emmenagogues or drastic
medicines, are believed to have the effect of provoking abortion, and are
sometimes resorted to for this purpose. Attempts to procure abortion are
punishable by law in all civilized states. When the death of the woman
ensues as a result of the attempt, the crime is murder.--The term is
applied in botany to denote the suppression by non-development of one or
more of the parts of a flower, which consists normally of four
whorls--namely, calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir
W. O. Russell, _Crimes and Misdemeanours_ (3 vols.); A. S. Taylor,
_Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence_.
ABOUKIR ([.a]-b[:o]-k[=e]r'; ancient ZEPHYRION, near ruins of Can[=o]pus),
a small village on the Egyptian coast, 10 miles east of Alexandria. In
Aboukir Bay took place the naval battle in which Nelson annihilated a
French fleet on the night of 1st and 2nd Aug., 1798, thus totally
destroying the naval power of France in the Mediterranean. Near this place,
on 25th July, 1799, Napoleon defeated the Turks under Mustapha; and on 8th
March, 1801, Sir Ralph Abercromby effected the landing of a British army
against the French.
ABOU-SIMBEL. See _Ipsambul_.
ABOUT ([.a]-b[:o]), Edmond Francois Valentin, a French novelist and
miscellaneous writer, born 14th Feb., 1828, died 17th Jan., 1885. He was
educated at the Lycee Charlemagne and the Ecole Normale, Paris; and was
sent at Government expense to the French school at Athens; on his return to
Paris, he devoted himself to literature. Principal novels: _Tolla_, _Le Roi
des Montagnes_, _Germaine_, _Madelon_, _Le Fellah_, _La Vieille Roche_,
_L'Infame_, _Les Mariages de Province_, _Le Roman d'un Brave Homme_
(against Zola and the naturalist school), &c.; miscellaneous works: _La
Grece Contemporaine_, _La Question Romaine_, _La Prusse en 1860_, _Rome
Contemporaine_, &c. In 1884 he was elected a member of the Academy. About
wrote in a bright, humorous, and interesting style, and his novels have
been very popular.
ABRACADAB'RA, a word of Eastern origin used in incantations. When written
on paper so as to form a triangle, the first line containing the word in
full, the one below it omitting the last letter, and so on each time until
only one letter remained, and worn as an amulet, it was supposed to be an
antidote against certain diseases.
A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A
A'BRAHAM, originally ABRAM (Assyrian _Aburamu_, lofty father), the greatest
of the Hebrew patriarchs, was born at Ur in Chaldea in 2153 B.C. according
to Hales, in 1996 B.C. according to Ussher, while Bunsen says he lived 2850
B.C. He migrated, accompanied by his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, to
Canaan, where he led a nomadic life, which extended over 175 years. His two
sons, Isaac and Ishmael, were the progenitors of the Jews and Arabs
respectively.
ABRAHAM, Heights or Plains of. See _Quebec_.
ABRAHAM A SANTA CLARA, a German pulpit orator, whose real name was Ulrich
Megerle, born in 1644. As a preacher he acquired so great a reputation
that, in 1669, he was appointed court-preacher in Vienna, where he died in
1709. His sermons are full of homely, grotesque humour, often of coarse
wit, and impartial severity towards all classes of society. His principal
work and masterpiece is _Judas, the Archknave_ (4 vols.), 1686-95.
ABRAHAMITES, 1, A sect of Syrian Deists of the ninth century, whose
doctrines were allied to those of the Paulicians.--2, A sect of Bohemian
Deists of the late eighteenth century, who professed to be followers of
John Huss and claimed that they followed the religion of Abraham before his
circumcision. Believing in one God, they rejected the Trinity, and accepted
nothing of the Bible except the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer.
Refusing to join either the Jewish or Christian folds, they were excluded
from the edict of toleration promulgated by the Emperor Joseph II, and
expelled to Transylvania in 1783. Some were martyred, others became Roman
Catholics.
ABRAHAM-MEN, originally a set of vagabonds who had been discharged from
Bethlehem Hospital, London; but as many assumed, without right, the badge
worn by them, the term came to signify an impostor who travelled about the
country seeking alms, under the pretence of lunacy.
ABRAM, a town (urban district) of England, Lancashire, 3-1/2 miles from
Wigan; a colliery centre. Pop. (1921), 6858.
AB'RAMIS, a genus of fishes. See _Bream_.