CHAMBERSS ENCYCLOPEDIA A DICTIONARY OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE This is the first letter in almost all alphabets; the only exceptions, perhaps, are the Ethiopian, where it stands thirteenth, and the Runic, in which the order is altogether different (see RUNES). It has in English at least four distinct sounds, as heard in ale, man, father, all. Of these, the third may be considered its primitive and proper sound; it is its name-sound in perhaps all languages except English, and is that which is assigned to it in comparative grammar. sound is the purest and fullest in human speech; it is that which the child learns first and most easily to produce, and its sign stands as if by right at the head of the alphabet. In the oldest languages it is the predominating vowel, and gives them their peculiar fulness and strength. Philologists consider it the heaviest of the three fundamental vowels; the other two, i and-u (whose primitive and proper sounds are heard in me and do), seem to have arisen out of a, by lightening or weakening it (Lat. cadence-incidence, calco-inculco). By combining with these, a gives rise to ai, au, which in their turn coalesce into é and 6.-In the Phoenician alphabet, the letter A bears the name of aleph; i.e., ox,' with reference to its most ancient form, which rudely represented an ox's head. From this came the Greek name alpha. For engraving or tracing on stone or other hard materials, characters composed of straight lines are best adapted, and such was naturally the earliest form of A and the other letters. It is easy to trace the growth of our small a or a out of the monumental A. In Greek and Roman inscriptions executed hastily or carelessly, the form A is often found; and this, written with a flexible reed, became rounded into A, as a note in Music, is the major sixth of the scale of C, major. When perfectly in tune to C, it stands in the proportion of of 1. But in this state it would not be a fifth to D, the second note of the scale of C, being a comma too flat, which difference is as 80 to 81. The ear being sensibly offended with this deficiency, the note A is therefore made the least degree higher than perfect-namely, 96, by which the advantage is gained, that A is a fifth above D (184), or only deficient in the proportion of 181 a deficiency so trifling that the ear accepts the fifth, D, A, and the sixth, C, A, as perfect, although, the other too small.-For A Major and A Minor, mathematically calculated, the one is too great and see KEY. A1, a symbol by which first-class vessels are. known in Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping (q. v.), and by which the operations of shippers of goods and insurers are governed. Surveyors appointed by the society examine all vessels in course of building, with a view to ascertaining their character, and inscribing them accordingly in the register. A designates the character of the hull of the vessel; the figure 1, the efficient state of her anchors, cables, and stores; when these are insufficient, in quantity or quality, the figure 2 is used. The character A is assigned to a new ship for a certain number of years, varying from four to fifteen, according to the material and mode of building, but on condition of the vessel being statedly surveyed, to see that the efficiency is maintained. A vessel built under a roof is allowed an additional year on that account. An additional period of one year, and, in certain cases, of two years, is also allowed to vessels whose decks, outside planking, &c., are fastened in a specified way. After the original period has elapsed, the character A may be continued' or 'restored' for a time (1-8 years), on condition of certain specified repairs.-When a vessel has passed the age for the character A, but is still found fit for conveying perishable -For A and the other letters as abbreviations, see goods to all parts of the world, it is registered A ABBREVIATIONS, in red. (The symbol for this class was formerly Æ A CAPELLA-ABANDON. AA, the name of a number of rivers and streams in the north of France, Holland, Germany, and Switzerland. As many as forty have been enumerated. The word is said to be of Celtic origin, but it is allied to the Old German aha, Gothic ahva, identical with the Latin aqua, 'water.' Ach or Aach is another form of the same word. Four streams of the name of Ach fall into the Lake of Constance. The word, in both forms, occurs as final syllable in many names of places, as, Fulda (formerly Fuldaha), Biberach, Biberich, &c. In the plural, it is Aachen (waters, springs), which is the German name of Aix-la-chapelle (q.v.). Aix, the French name of so many places connected with springs, is derived from Lat. Aqua, which became in old French Aigues, and then Aix. Compare the Celtic Esk, Ex, Axe, Ouse. AALBORG (meaning Eel-town), a seaport in the north of Jutland, with considerable trade; pop. 11,721. AAR, next to the Rhine and Rhone, the largest river in Switzerland, rises in the glaciers near the Grimsel in Berne, forms the Falls of Handeck, 200 feet high, flows through Lakes Brienz and Thun, and passing the towns of Interlaken, Thun, Berne, Solothurn, Aarau, Brugg, and Klingenau, joins the Rhine at the village of Coblenz, in Aargau, after a course of nearly 200 miles. It is a beautiful crystal stream, and, though rapid, is navigable for small-craft from Lake Thun. There are several small rivers of the same name in Germany. AARGAU (ARGOVIE), a canton of Switzerland, on the lower course of the Aar, and having the Rhine for its north boundary. Its surface is diversified with hills and valleys, is well wooded, and generally fertile. The area is about 530 sq. miles, and the population in 1870 was 198,873, rather more than half being Protestants. Besides agriculture, considerable manufacturing industry in cotton and silk is carried on both in the towns and country, and the prosperity of the population has of late markedly increased. In this canton is the castle of Habsburg or Hapsburg, the original seat of the imperial family of Austria. The chief town is AARAU, situated on the Aar; pop. 5449. AARHUUS, a seaport on the east coast of Jutland, and seat of a bishop; pop. (1870) 15,025. AARON, the elder brother of Moses, was appointed his assistant and spokesman, and at the giving of the Mosaic law received for himself and his descendants the hereditary dignity of the priesthood. Aaron assisted his brother in the administration of public affairs. He died in the 123d year of his age, on Mount Hor, on the borders of Idumea. His third son, Eleazar, succeeded him in the office of high-priest. ABACA, or MANILLA HEMP, is the fibre of a species of plantain or banana (Musa troglodytarum), a native of the Philippine Isles, where it is extensively cultivated. The leaf-stalks are split into long stripes, and the fibrous part is then separated from 2 the fleshy pulp. A labourer can in this way produce daily 50 lbs. of hemp. Before 1825, the quantity produced was insignificant, but now it amounts to nearly 31,000 tons annually. In Manilla there is a steam rope-work for making ropes of it for naval purposes. They are very durable, but not very flexible. The fibre of a number of species of Musa is used in tropical countries. See PLANTAIN. A'BACUS, an instrument seldom seen except in infant-schools, where it is used to make the elementary operations of arithmetic palpable. It consists of a frame with a number of parallel wires, on which beads or counters are strung. In ancient times, it was used in practical reckoning, and is said to be so still in China and elsewhere.-Abacus Pythagoricus meant the multiplication-table.-ABACUS, in arch., is a square or oblong level tablet on the capital of a column, and supporting the entablature. In the Doric, old Ionic, and Tuscan orders, the abacus is 2833328333 Chinese Abacus. Doric Abacus. a regular oblong; but in the new Ionic, Corinthian, and Roman orders, the abacus has concave sides, with truncated angles. Square marble tablets let Corinthian Abacus. into walls, and fields with figures in them inserted in mosaic floors, were also included under the term abacus in ancient architecture. ABAD (allied both in etymology and meaning to the Eng. abode), an affix to names of Persian origin, as Hyderabad, the 'dwelling' or city of Hyder. When the fesse, or any other armorial figure is ABAISSÉ (lowered), a term used in Heraldry. depressed, or situated below the centre of the shield, it is said to be abaissé. affronté or confronté (facing or fronting one another), Adossé (back to back), aiguissé (sharpened at the point), ailé (winged), are other heraldic terms borrowed, like abaissé, from the French, and used by English heralds in senses not differing essentially from their ordinary significations in that language. ABANDON (Abandoning, Abandonment). This term, in its different grammatical and etymological forms, has various applications in legal phraseology, but all more or less corresponding to its popular meaning. The following are examples: ABANDONING AN ACTION is a technical expression in Scotch legal procedure, signifying the act by which a plaintiff or 'pursuer,' as he is called in Scotland-abandons or withdraws from his action on the payment of the costs incurred, and with the approval of the judge before whom the action had viously been conducted. The same purpose is effected in England by the plaintiff in a Court of Common pre ABANDONMENT-ABAUZIT. Law either entering a Nolle Prosequi, or at the trial withdrawing the record. In the Courts of Equity, the plaintiff may move the dismissal of his own bill, or the defendant may move to dismiss the suit for want of prosecution by the plaintiff. Suits may also abate by the death or supervening incapacity of the parties. See ACTION. ABANDONMENT, in Marine Insurance, signifies the relinquishment to the insurer or underwriter of goods or property saved from a shipwreck, and of all interest in the same, previous to the owners' demanding payment in terms of the policy. See INSURANCE ABANDONMENT OF RAILWAYS. By the act of parliament 13 and 14 Vict. c. 83, facilities are afforded for the A. of railways, and the dissolution of railway companies by consent of the holders of three-fifths of the shares or stock, and by warrant of the Commissioners of Railways,' or, as it now is by the 14 and 15 Vict. c. 64, by warrant of the Board of Trade, who, in this respect, as well as in other matters regarding the regulation of railways, have superseded the former body. See RAILWAY. ABANDONING or deserting seamen, by masters of merchant-vessels, is, by 9 Geo. IV. c. 31, s. 30, a misdemeanour, and punishable by imprisonment. See SEAMEN. ABATEMENT. This is a term used in various senses in the law of England, as follows: 1. A. of Freehold, where a stranger without right enters and gets possession. See FREEHOLD. 2. A. of Nuisances, which is a remedy against injury by nuisance. See NUISANCE. 3. Plea in A. by means of which a defendant, on some formal and technical ground, seeks to abate or quash the action. See ACTION. 4. A. of Legacies and Debts, where the estate is insufficient for payment in full. See LEGACIES. 5. A. by the death of parties to actions at law and suits in equity, which are in consequence stopped till revived. The marriage of a plaintiff, the change or loss of interest and right, and other similar considerations, have also the effect of abating legal proceedings. See ACTION. 6. A. or discount, in Commercial Law. See COMMERCIAL LAW. 7. A. or deduction of duties levied by the Custom-house. See CUSTOM-HOUSE. which might with less impropriety be classed with abatements. ABATTIS, a species of intrenchment, and one of the oldest. It consists of trees felled (abattu), and laid side by side, with the branches directed towards the enemy, the softer twigs being cut off. It thus forms a breastwork to fire over, and is very useful in field-works and in the out-works of regular fortifications, for retarding the enemy's advance. ABATTOIR (Fr. abattre, to fell or destroy), a slaughter-house. The use of this term has passed into England from France, where the example was first given of public establishments for the slaughter of animals used as food, on such a scale and with such sanitary arrangements as to obviate the injuri ous effects that are found to result from the existence of private slaughter-houses in the midst of a crowded population. This great public improvement originated with Napoleon, who passed a decree in 1807 for the erection of public abattoirs. The extensive works connected with this design were nearly completed before the fall of the Empire; but it was not till the close of 1818, that the Parisian butchers ceased to slaughter in their private establishments. There are now five of these abattoirs in Paris-three on the right, and two on the left bank of the Seine, containing 240 slaughter-houses in all-which, both in architectural propriety and completeness of internal arrangement, may be regarded as models of their kind. The charge per head is, for an ox 6 francs, a cow 4 fr., a calf 2 fr., and a sheep 50 cents. Of the appearance and management of one of the great Parisian abattoirs, a good account is given by Sir Francis Head, in his amusing work, A Faggot of French Sticks. Other towns in France have similar abattoirs; and so have Mantua and Brussels. The erection of similar establishments in Britain is of comparatively recent date. Public slaughterhouses formed part of the plan in the establishment of the new cattle-market in the Metropolis in Copenhagen Fields. Those built are well arranged; and such of the old slaughter-houses as remain are placed under sanitary inspection. The increased use of country-killed meat obviates the necessity for further abattoirs. In Edinburgh, an excellent A. was erected by the town-council in 1851. A BATTUTA (Ital.), in Music, in strict or measured time. ABATEMENT, in Heraldry, is a mark placed over a portion of the paternal coat-of-arms of a ABAUZIT, FIRMIN, a French savant, was born family, significative of some base or ungentleman-like act on the part of the bearer. The coat is then said at Uzès, in Languedoc, 1679, and died at Geneva to be abated, or lowered in dignity. Guillim gives 1767. His parents were Protestant, and at the nine such marks, all of which are of either one or the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, being only six other of the two disgraceful colours, tenné (tawney) years of age, he escaped with difficulty, by his and sanguine. Such are the delf tenné, assigned mother's contrivance, from the hands of the authorito him who revokes his challenge; the escutcheon ties who wished to educate him into Catholicism, and reversed sanguine, proper to him who offends the was sent to Geneva. Here he prosecuted his studies chastity of virgin, wife, or widow, or flies from his with such intense ardour and diligence, that he became Sovereign's banner; the point-dexter tenné, due to versed in almost all the sciences. He travelled in him who overmuch boasteth himself of his martial England and Holland in 1698, where he made the acts; and the like. Marks of abatement are gener- acquaintance of Newton, Bayle, and other eminent ally repudiated by the best writers. Newton, in sending him one of his controheraldic authorities. Menestrier versial works, paid him the distinguished complicalls them sottises Anglaises, and ment of saying: You are worthy to decide between Montagu is of opinion that we Leibnitz and me.' King William wished to retain shall seek in vain for a more him permanently in England, and to that end made appropriate designation. Abate him several advantageous offers; but his affection ments are carefully to be distin- for his mother induced him to return to Geneva. He guished from such subtractive translated the New Testament into French in 1726; alterations in coats-of-arms as and for his lucid investigations into the ancient signify juniority of birth, or history of Geneva, he received from its authoriAbatement. removal from the principal house ties the rights of citizenship. He likewise wrote or senior branch of the family. numerous theological and archæological treatises, These are commonly called marks of cadency, besides leaving one or two scientific and artistic distinctions, differences, or brisures. The latter dissertations in manuscript, but the greater portion term is generally applied to marks of bastardy, of these were burned by his heirs, who were Catholics. 3 ABBADIE-ABBOT. His orthodoxy has been disputed. From some of his works we gain the impression that he was a Unitarian. His personal qualities secured him universal esteem. Rousseau, who could not bear to praise a contemporary, penned his solitary panegyric on A. ABBADIE, ANTOINE and ARNOULD-MICHEL D', two brothers, French travellers, known for their researches in Abyssinia, from 1837 to 1845. According to their own account, their objects were purely ethnological and geographical; but they were regarded by certain English travellers and missionaries as agents employed by the French government for religious and political purposes; amongst the results of their travels are a catalogue of Ethiopian MSS., an Ethiopic version of the Pastor of Hermas, and the now completed Géodesie de l'Ethiopie. The English expedition to Abyssinia led Arnould d'A. to publish, in 1868, his Douze Ans dans la Haute-Ethiopie. Arnould has also distinguished himself by his study of the Basque language. ABBANDONAMENTÉ (Ital.), in Music, with self-abandonment; despondingly. ABBAS, the uncle of Mohammed, the Arabian prophet, and the chief promoter of his religion (d. 652), was the founder of the family of the ABBASIDES, who ruled as califs of Bagdad from 749 to 1258, and afterwards exercised the spiritual functions of the califate in Egypt, under the protection of the Mamelukes, till 1517, when that dignity passed to the Turkish sultan. Descendants of this family still live in Turkey and India.-The ABBASIDES in Persia were descended from the race of the Sofi, who ascribed their origin to the calif Ali. This race acquired dominion in 1500, and became extinct in 1736. Among them, Abbas I., surnamed the Great, was the most eminent ruler. He came to the throne 1586, and died 1628. His reign was marked by a series of victories over the Turks. In alliance with England, he destroyed, in 1621, the Portuguese colony at Ormuz. His eldest son, Mohammed Mirza, mounted the ABBATE, NICCOLO DELL, or NICCOLO ABATI, ABBE, the French name for an Abbot (q. v.), but abbots. ABBESS, the superior of a religious community of women, corresponding in rank and authority to an abbot (q.v.), except in not being allowed to exercise the spiritual functions of the priesthoodsuch as preaching, confession, &c. ABBEVILLE (Abbatis Villa), in France, next to Amiens, the most considerable town in the department of Somme, is situated on the river Somme; pop. 16,753. The town is well built, and is the seat of considerable woollen manufactures. Here a factory, founded in 1669, under the patronage of the minister Colbert, still employs above 500 hands. See SUPP. ABBEY. See MONASTERY. ABBAS-MIRZA, a Persian prince, well known by his wars against Russia, was the son of the Shah Feth-Ali, and was born in 1783. Abbas possessed great talents and acquirements, and a love for the manners and culture of the West. When he was yet young, his father made him governor of the province Azerbijan, where, by the help of English officers, he applied himself to the reform of the army. When Persia, in 1811, influenced by France, declared war against Russia, Abbas was commander-in-chief of the main body of the Persian army, but was unsuccessful. Persia lost, at the peace of Gulistan, in 1813, its remaining possessions in the Caucasus, and was forced to acknowledge the flag of Russia on the Caspian Sea. At the instigation of Abbas, a new war broke out in 1826, between Feth-Ali and Russia. The prince fought a second time with extraordinary bravery at the head of the army, but was again obliged to yield to the riority of the Russian arms, and to conclude a peace, on February 22, 1828, at Turkmantschai, by which Persia lost all share in Armenia. In this treaty, ABBOT ('father'). This name, originally given Russia had guaranteed to Abbas the succession to to any aged monk, was afterwards more strictly the Persian throne, the consequence of which was applied to the superior of a monastery or abbey. that he became dependent on Russia, and was Since the 6th c., abbots have belonged to the obliged to give up his connection with England. clerical orders, but at first they were not necesWhen, in 1829, the Russian ambassador at Teheran sarily priests. After the second Nicene Council was murdered in a popular tumult, which he had | (787), abbots were empowered to consecrate monks provoked by imprudence, Abbas went in person to for the lower sacred orders; but they remained St Petersburg, to prevent any ill consequences, and to maintain the peace. He was received by the emperor with kindness, and went back to Persia loaded with presents. He died in 1833. His death was a great loss to his country, although he could not have prevented the encroachments of Russia. supe ABBEY is used in a legal sense in Scotland, and signifies the sanctuary or protection to a debtor against legal process afforded by the A. of Holyrood. See SANCTUARY. in subordination under their diocesan bishops Even |