the situation of the sails, when their surfaces are flatted against the mast by the force of the wind. This may be either by a sudden change of the wind, or an alteration in the ship's course to avoid some imminent danger. ABACO, one of the most considerable of the Bahama islands, lying in N. Lat. 26. 22. W. Long. 77. 14. Some writers have conjectured that this was the first spot of the western world upon which Columbus touched. See BAHAMA. ABACOOCHE, or CooSEE, a river of N. America, which rising in the S. W. territory, and flowing through Georgia, unites with the Oakfuskee, and forms the Alabama. ABACOT, a cap of state, worn in ancient times by the kings of England, the upper part of which was in the form of a double crown. ABACTED, from abactus, L. drawn away by stealth or violence. ABACTUS, or ABIGEATUS, among ancient medical writers, an abortion procured by the force of medicines. See ABORTION. ABACUS, among the ancients, was a kind of cup-board or buffet. Livy, describing the luxury into which the Romans degenerated after the conquest of Asia, says they had their abaci, beds, &c. plated over with gold. See also Juv. Sat. iii. 203. ABACUS, signified also a table covered with dust on which mathematicians drew their diagrams, and a draft or chess board, on which the ancients played games of chance. Macrob. v. Stuck. Ant. Conviv. xi. 16. The ABACUS, in architecture, Vitruvius tells us, was originally intended to represent a square tile laid over an urn, or rather over a basket.-An old woman of Athens happening to place a basket covered thus, over the root of an acanthus, the plant, shooting up the following spring, encompassed the basket all around, till meeting with the tile, it curled back in a kind of scroll. Callimachus, an ingenious sculptor, passing by, took the hint, and immediately executed a capital on this plan; representing the tile by the abacus, the leaves by the volutes, and the basket by the vase, or body of the capital.—The form of the abacus is not the same in all orders: in the Tuscan, Doric, and Ionic, it is generally square; but in the Corinthian and Composite, its four sides are arched inwards, and embellished in the middle with some ornament, as a rose or other flower. Scammozzi uses abacus for a concave moulding on the capital of the Tuscan pedestal; and Palladio calls the plinth above the echinus, or boultin, in the Tuscan and Doric orders, by the same name. ABACUS is also the name of an ancient instrument for facilitating operations in arithmetic. It is variously contrived. That chiefly used in Europe is made by drawing any number of parallel lines at the distance of two diameters of one of the counters used in the calculation. A counter placed on the lowest line, signifies 1; on the 2d, 10; on the 3d, 100; on the 4th, 1000, &c. In the intermediate spaces, the same counters are estimated at one half of the value of the line immediately superior, viz. between the 1st and 2d, 5; between the 2d and 3d, 50, &c. ABACUS, the Chinese. See SwANPAN. ABACUS Pythagoricus, the multiplication table of Pythagoras, similar to the common one, which has also been attributed to him. ABACUS Logisticus, is a rectangled triangle, whose sides, forming the right angle, contain the numbers from 1 to 60; and its area, the facta of each two of the numbers perpendicularly opposite. This is also called a canon of sexagesimals. ABACUS & Palmula, in the ancient music, denote the machinery, whereby the strings of Polyplectra, or instruments of many strings, were struck with a plectrum made of quills. ABACUS Harmonicus, is used by Kircher for the structure and disposition of the keys of a musical instrument, whether to be touched with the hands or the feet. ABACUS Major, in metallurgic operations, the name of a trough used in the mines, wherein the ore is washed. ABACUS, aẞaž, Gr. Ben Jonson uses aback to denote simply a square surface. In the centre or midst of the Pegm, there was an aback or square in which this elegy was written. Jonson's Coronation Pageant. ABADDON, the name which St. John in the Revelation gives to the angel of the bottomless pit. The inspired writer says, this word is Hebrew, and in Greek signifies Arоλλvwv, i. e. a destroyer. See Rev. ix. 11. ABADE, or SCHECK ABADE, in Egypt. See ANTINOE. ABADEH, a town of Persia, in the district of Fars, which is celebrated in the Persian civil wars of the last century. Its fortifications are in decay, but the neighbourhood is fruitful. Population 5000. ABADIR, a title which the Carthaginians gave to gods of the first order. In the Roman mythology, it is the name of a stone which Saturn swallowed, by the contrivance of his wife Ops, believing it to be his new born son Jupiter: hence it ridiculously became the object of religious worship. ABE, or ABA. See ABA. From ABA'FT, adv. abartan, Sax. behind. the fore part of the ship, towards the stern; in opposition to afore. ABAFT THE BEAM, in maritime affairs, signifies the position of an object somewhere between a line at right angles with the keel, and the points to which the ship's stern is directed. ABAGI, a silver coin of Persia, worth about 36 sols, French money. Four chaouris, which are also called sains, make one abagi. ABAGUN, in ornithology, an Ethiopian bird of great beauty, having a crested horn on its head, adding much to its appearance and giving it perhaps its name, which signifies lordly abbot. Lobo. 71. ABALSANCE, n. s. from the French abaiser, An act of reverence, to depress, to bring down. a bow. Obeysance is considered by Skinner as a corruption of abaisance, but is now universally used. ABAISIR, in chemistry, a name sometimes given to spodium. ABAIS'SED, ABAISSE', in heraldry, an epithet applied to the wings of eagles, &c. when the tip looks downwards to the point of the shield, or when the wings are shut. ABAISSED, or ABAISSE, in heraldry. See HERALDRY. ABAITE, a river of Brazil in the Minas Geraes province, falling into the Francisco, near which was found the largest diamond ever discovered in the country. ABAKA khan, the 18th emperor of the Moguls, a wise and clement prince, who is said to have been so far a Christian, as to have joined in keeping the feast of Easter, a short time before his death. He reigned 17 years. ABAKANSKOI, or ABANKANSK, a town of Siberia, on the river Abakan. It was founded in 1707, and rebuilt in 1725. It has a garrison, and is provided with artillery. Population 1250. Lon. 91. 5. E. Lat. 53. 5. N. ABALAK, a town in Siberia, sixteen miles from Tobolsk, celebrated for an image of the Virgin, which is visited by many pilgrims. Lon. 68. 20. E. Lat. 58. 11. N. ABALIENATUS, in medicine, signifies that the part spoken of is in a state that requires amputation; and, when applied to the mind, denotes its total derangement. ABALLABA, the ancient name of Appleby, in Westmoreland, remarkable as having been a Roman station. See APPLEBY. ABALUS, in ancient geography, supposed to be an island in the German Ocean, called by Timæus, Basilio, and by Xenophon Lampsacenus, Baltia. Here, according to Pliny, amber dropped from the trees; and sacrifices were offered to the manes of the drowned if the body were lost. ABALUS, the peninsula of Scandinavia. ABANA, or AMANA, in ancient geography, a river of Phoenicia, called Chrysorrhea, by the Greeks, which, rising from mount Hermon, washed the south and west sides of Damascus, and fell into the Phoenician sea, north of Tripolis. Scripture supplies a fine instance of the expression of disdain, in the reply of the Syrian General, Naaman, to the prophet Elisha, respecting this river: "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean?" 2 Kings v. 12. ABANCAY, or AVANCAY, a province of Peru, bounded on the E. by the city of Cuzco; S. by the provinces of Cochabamba & Aimarez; W. by Andahuelas; and N. by Calcayleres. It is the jurisdiction of a corregidor, containing 17 settlements or towns, and a noble chain of mountains, which diversify the climate to almost every degree of temperature. Silver mines are found here; the sugar cane flourishes, as well as wheat, maize, and all grain, which, together with the hemp manufactured into cloth, is conveyed by the Apurimac to the Amazons. Abancay has also a fine breed of horned cattle. ABAND', v. Sax. Bannan, Abannan, ABAN ́DON, v. n. past. part. Abanned. From ABAN DONER, this past participle is formABANDONING, ed the verb abandon, sigABANDONMENT, nifying primarily to band or bind, or put in bondage. From this original Oh! sacred, shadowy, cold, and constant queen, Beaumont and Fletcher's two Noble Kinsmen. Milton's Samson Agonistes. She loses all her influence. Cities then Couper's Task. When thus the helm of justice is abandoned, au universal abandoning of all other posts will succeed. Burke. ABANDUM, in old law, any thing that is sequestrated, confiscated, or forfeited. ABANGA, the name given by the black natives of the Island of St. Thomas, to the fruit of the ady or palm tree. The Portuguese call it caryoces and cariosse. See ADY. ÅBANNEG, or ABNET, Heb. a girdle worn by the priests of the Jews. ABANNITION, n. s. Lat. abannitio, an old punishment, of one or two year's banishment for manslaughter. ABANO, a town of Italy near Padua, famous in ancient as well as modern times, for its hot baths. Population 3000. ABANTIS or ABANTIAS, in ancient geography, an island in the Egean sea, extending along the coast of Greece from the promontory Sunium in Attica, to Thessaly; and separated from Boeotia by a narrow strait called Euripus. It is known in history by the different names of Chalcis, Ellopia, Aonia, &c. It was afterwards called Eubea, from a famous cave on the eastern coast of the island; and Macris from its length. Its present name is Negropont. It derived the name Abantis from the ABANTES, a peop.e originally of Thrace, although some historians suppose they were Arabians who followed Cadmus. The Abantes are well known in history; Homer calls them одισ0εv Koμоwvтeç from their wearing the hair long behind. They are also called Curetes, from cutting their hair short before. ABANTIS, a country of Epirus. Paus. v. C. 22. ABAPTISTON, or ANABAPTISTON, in surgery, an ancient name for the perforating part of the instrument called a trepan. ABARCA, or ABAREA, an ancient kind of shoe, used by the Spaniards, in travelling over mountains. ABARIM, mountains which separated the territory of the Moabites and Ammonites from Canaan. Nebo and Pisgah were among them. Josephus says, they stood opposite to Jericho, and were the last station but one of the Israelites, before they took possession of Canaan. ABARIS, the Hyperborean, a celebrated sage of antiquity, of whom a great number of fabulous stories are told; such as, that he received a present of a miraculous arrow from Apollo, with which he travelled without taking food; that he could foretel earthquakes, allay tempests, drive away the pestilence, &c. &c. Harpocration tells us, that the whole earth being infested with a deadly plague, Apollo ordered, that the Athenians should offer up prayers in behalf of all other nations; upon which, ambassadors were sent to Athens from different countries. Among these was Abaris, who, during this journey, renewed the alliance between his countrymen, and the inhabitants of the Isle of Delos. He also went to Lacedæmon, where he built a temple to Proserpine the Salutary. It is said that there is a Greek MS. of his epistles to Phalaris in the library of Augsburg. ABARNAŘE, Šax. in Law. To discover to a magistrate any secret crime. ABARNUS, ABARNIS, OF APARNIS, in ancient geography, a city, country, and promontory of Pariana, near the Hellespont. Milesius calls it a promontory of Lampsacus. The Phocians are said to have given it the name of Abarnis from one of their countrymen, who built Lamp sacus. ABARTAMEN, in chemistry, a name for lead. ABARTICULATION. n. s. from ab, from, and articulus, a joint, Lat. A good and apt construction of the bones, by which they move strongly and easily; or that species of articulation that has manifest motion. ABARTICULATION, in anatomy, that species of articulation, that takes place in the joints of the arms, hands, thighs, &c. which is called also Dearticulatio, and Diarthrosis, to distinguish it from that sort of articulation, which admits of a very obscure motion, and is called Synarthrosis. ABAS, a small weight used in Persia, for weighing pearls. It is one eighth less than the European carat. ABAS, in the heathen mythology, the son of Hypothoon and Metanira, who entertained the goddess Ceres, and offered a sacrifice to her; but Abas, ridiculing the ceremony, and giving her opprobrious language, she turned him into a water lizard. Also in ancient history, the 11th king of Argos, who built Abæ. A son of Eurydemus, killed by Eneas near Troy; a companion of Eneas killed in Italy; another lost in the storm which drove him to Carthage; a Latian chief who befriended him, and was killed by Lausus ; and an author, quoted by Servius, who described Troy. Virg. Æneid. ABAS, in ancient geography, a river of Armenia, near which Pompey routed the Albani; also a mountain of Syria, near the sources of the Euphrates. ABAS, in medicine, a name sometimes given to the epilepsy. See TINEA. ABAS or ABASIA, in entomology, a species of the Bombyx of Fabricius, and of the Phalana of Linnæus, found in Surinam. It has brown, spreading wings, the hinder wings cinereous, and the ocellus of a reddish colour. ABAS, Schah, the Great, 7th Sophi, or emperor of Persia, succeeded his father in 1585, at eighteen. The empire having been much reduced by the conquests of the Turks and Tartars, he recovered most of the provinces they had taken; but death put a period to his victories, in 1626, in the 62nd year of his age, and 44th of his reign. He transferred the seat of empire to Ispahan. ABAS, II. Schah, the 9th Sophi of Persia, the son of Sefi, and grandson of Abas_the Great, succeeded his father at thirteen, and was only eighteen years of age, when he retook the city of Candahar, and the whole province around it, from the Great Mogul, who had seized it in his father's reign; and he afterwards defended it against him, though he besieged it more than once, with an army of 300,000 men. He was a merciful prince, and openly protected the Christians. He died at thirty-seven years of age, in 1666. ABASE', Fr. abaisser; Lat. basis or ABAS'ING, n. bassus; Ital. abbassare; Span. ABASE MENT, abaxar. These are all to be referred to the Gr. Baoig, the foot of a pillar. Hence it signifies, to lessen or keep under, to depress, to bring low, to degrade, to disgrace in a figurative and personal sense, says Johnson, which is the common use. Gower. Our kynge hath do this thing amisse, Shakspeare's Rich. III. act i, sc. 2. It is a point of cunning to wait upon him with whom you speak with your eye; yet with a demure abasing of it sometimes. Lord Bacon's Essay on Cunning. Her either cheek resembled blushing morn; Or roses gules in field of lilies borne; "Twixt which an ivory wall so fair is raised, That it is but abased when it's praised. Drummond. Behold every one that is proud, and abase him. Job xl. 11. If the mind be curbed and humbled too much in children; if their spirits be abased and broken much, by too strict an hand over them; they lose all their vigour and industry. Locke on Education. There is an abasement because of glory; and there is that lifteth up his head from a low estate. Ecclesiasticus, xx. 11. Heaven was to be earned only by penance and mortification; by the austerities and abasement of a monk, not by the liberal, generous, and spirited conduct of a man. Smith's Wealth of Nations. ABASCIA, or ABCAS, a country in Asia, tributary to Russia, surrounded by Mingrelia on the E. and S. black Circassia on the N. and W. and the Black Sea on the S.W. It has few towns, and they are of little consequence. Anacopia, Dandar, and Czekorni, are the chief. Great and Little Abcas are both included in the government of Caucasus, but the Russian authority in the heart of the country is but nominal. The inhabitants called ABASCIANS, OF ABKHAS, have the name of Christians, but nothing else. The men are robust and strong, and the women beautiful; but they are so poor, thievish, and treacherous, that there is no trading with them, without the utmost caution. They even live in continual dread of each other, for the most powerful seize as many as they can of the poorer sort, especially the females, and sell them to the The tribe of Natukasch is the principal. Their commodities are furs, buck and tiger skins, linen yarn, box-wood and bees'-wax; but their chief traffic lies in selling their own children. An Abascian prince lately (1807) carried his depredations far into the neighbouring governments, and was sometime captive in Russia, but he escaped. Their customs resemble those of the MINGRELIANS, which see. Turks. ABASH', v. of the same derivation as abase, ABASH'MENT, unless it comes from abaw, a verb peculiar to Chaucer, and which Barret translates, to be abashed or astonied. Abash is used by Gower as a substantive. It is to be distinguished, however, from the preceding article, as it is applied to the feelings of those who are abased, depressed, disgraced. It generally implies a sudden impression of shame which generates painful surprise and confusion. The substantive is used to signify the state of being confused, and the cause of confusion. He stode al abashed, with colour wan and pale. Chaucer's 2nd Tale. The town restlesse with furie as I sought Th' unlucky figure of Creusae's ghost, Of stature more than wont, stood fore mine Abashed then I waxe: therewith my heare Gan start right up my voice stuck in my throte. Surrey. eyen Why, then, (you princes) Do you with cheeks abashed behold our workes, And think them shame, which are (indeed) nought else, But the protractiue trials of great Joue, To find persistiue constancy in men. Shakspeare's Tro, and Cressida They heard, and were abasht, and up they sprung, Upon the wing. Milton's Paradise Lost. Silence was in the court at this rebuke : look. Nor could the gods, abash'd, sustain their sovereign's The ruddy shamefastness in her vysage fyll, that vast perfection to which some men would extol it, that it scarce knows what man or itself is. Ellis's Knowledge of Divine Things. ABASITIS, in ancient geography, a tract of Asiatic Mysia, in which the city of Ancyra was situated. Strabo. ABASKI, a town of Circassia, 40 miles S. E. of Kopiel. ABASSI, or ABASSIS, a silver coin, current in Persia, so named after Schah Abbas, II. equal to about a shilling of English money. ABASSUS, in ancient geography, a town of the Greater Phrygia, on the confines of Galatia. ABAT-CHAUVEE, a name given in Poitou, and other parts of France, to a species of very coarse wool. ABATE, (A.) a Neapolitan painter of some eminence, who was employed in the Escurial. His boldness of colouring and shade was highly praised by Luca Giordano. Abate died in 1732. ABATE', v. a.s.beatan, to beat. The word ABATEMENT, exists without the prefix a, as ABATER, bate; but, in modern usage, it is more limited in its application. The verb is both active and neuter. It not only signifies to beat down, but to subtract, as in arithmetic. Thus it has grown to mean to lessen, diminish, contract, deject, and depress. It is employed technically in law and in horsemanship. In the one it is used in reference to a nuisance,—to get rid of it ; to a castle,—to beat it down or remove it; to a writ to defeat and overthrow it in horsemanship, it implies the exact performance of any downward motion. Its general and popular usage is set forth in the following specimens. The kyng did samen his men, to abate Gryflyn's pride, And when the sunne hath eke the darke opprest, Who can tell whether the divine wisdom, to abate the glory of those kings, did not reserve this work to be done by a queen, that it might appear to be his own immediate work. Sir John Davies on Ireland. This iron world Brings down the stoutest hearts to lowest state : Spenser. M. Hubberd's Tale. Your ignorance deliver you, As most abated captives to some nation That won you without blows. Shakspeare's Coriolanus. HEL. O weary night, O long and tedious night, When you yourselves shall stand before a judge, Beaumont and Fletcher's Plays. Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond. If we could arrest time, and strike off the nimble wheels of his chariot, and like Joshua, bid the sun stand still, and make opportunity tarry as long as we had occasion for it; this were something to excuse our delay, or at least to mitigate or abate the folly and unreasonableness of it. Tillotson's Works. The law of works is that law, which requires perfect obedience, without remission or abatement. Locke. ABATELEMENT, in commerce, a sentence of prohibition from trade, issued by the French consuls against those who will not stand to their bargains, or who refuse to pay their debts. It must be taken off, before they can sue any person for payment. ABATEMENT, in heraldry, a certain mark of degradation, inserted in the bearings of particular persons or families, called also diminutiones, vel discernula armorum. Authors on this subject mention nine of these marks. See SELDEN, and GUILL. DISP. HERALD. ABATEMENT, in commerce. and REBATE. See DISCOUNT ABATIS, or ABBATIS, from batum, an old measure for corn, an ancient term for an officer of the stables, who had the care of the provender. ABATIS, OF ABBATIS, from Abattre to pull down, Fr. in fortification, a heap of large trees thrown together, to guard intrenchments, obstruct roads, and prevent the approaches of an enemy. ABATOS, from a priv. and ẞavw to go, i. e. inaccessible, in ancient geography, an island in the Lake Moeris, famous for its papyrus, and for being the burial place of Osiris. Hence sacred from profane intrusion. ABATUTTA, or ABUTUTTA, in music, an Italian direction for continuing to beat the time as before. ABAUZIT, (F.) a modern French writer and philosopher of some celebrity. He was born at Rezes, 1679; but sent off to Geneva, at two years of age, by his mother, a zealous protestant, to secure his education in that religion. He well rewarded her solicitude, becoming afterwards in this country the friend of Sir Isaac Newton, who complimented him by observing that he was (C a fit judge between Leibnitz and himself." William III. wished him to remain in England, but he returned to become the librarian of the city of Geneva, in 1726. In 1730 he republished Spon's History of Geneva, with notes and dissertations, which was his chief work. Voltaire and Rousseau compliment him. He died 1767. ABA-UJVAR, a palatinate of Upper Hungary, on the W. of Thorn. It contains the four circles of Futzer, Kaschau, Siepschow, and Tscherchat: There are 40 catholic, and 41 reformed parishes; 18 of the Greek church, and 3 Lutheran, comprised in this palatinate, which is about 50 miles in length, and from 12 to 15 in breadth. Population 125,000. ABAVI, or ABAY, i. e. the Father of waters, an Abyssinian name for the Bahr-el-Azergue, which they consider as the head of the Nile. ABAVI, ABAVO, or ABAVUM, in botany, a large tree in Ethiopia, that bears a fruit like a gourd. It is a synonime of the ADANSONIA, which see. ABB, or ABB-YARN, N. s. the yarn on a weaver's warp; a term among clothiers. ABBA, in ancient geography, a town of Africa, near Carthage. AB'BA, n. In Chaldee and Syriac 8, AB'BACY, AB'BESS, AB'BEY, Father. Titles of honour and authority, first derived from the literal signification of the word. In scripture Abba is once used by Jesus Christ in prayer, and twice in the epistles, having in each place the explanation it was given at a very early date to their bishops; πατηρ annexed to it. In the eastern churches, -and Baba, Papa, Pope, had their origin from the same root. turies was gradually, and at last distinctively, ABBAT, Or ABBOT, in the fourth and fifth cenapplied to the heads of those religious orders who then began to exclude themselves from the world. For a particular account of these we refer our readers to the history of Monachism at large.— Mosheim's Eccles. His. &c. And anon, after this abbot I wode that thyn hede were of, Chaucer's Coke's Tale of Gamelyn. ABBACY, n. s. Lat. abbatia, the rights or privileges of an ABBOT, which see. ABBADIE, (James,) an eminent protestant divine, born at Nay in Bearn, in 1654; educated under the famous La Placette, and afterwards at the university of Sedan; from whence he went into Holland and Germany, and became minister of the French church at Berlin. In 1690, he came into England, was minister of a French church in London, and was made dean of Killaloe in Ireland. He died at St. Maryle-bone, 1727, aged 75. His writings, published in French, were, A Treatise on the Truth of the Christian Religion; The Art of Knowing one's Self; A Defence of the British Nation; The Deity of Jesus Christ essential to the Christian Religion; The History of the last Conspiracy in England, written by order of King William III.; and the Triumph of Providence and Religion, or the opening the Seven Seals by the Son of God. ABBAISSEUR, in anatomy, a name given by Winslow and other French writers to one of the muscles of the eye, called by others the deprimens and humilis; and by Fabricius the rectus inferior. ABBAS, the son of Abdalmothleb, and Mahomet's uncle. He at first opposed his nephew, but being taken prisoner at the battle of Bedir, in 623, (the 2d of the hegira,) and a great ransom being demanded, he represented that so large a sum would reduce him to poverty: but Mahomet, reminded him of the gold he had left with his mother at Mecca: whereupon Abbas, believing him to be really inspired, embraced his religion, became one of his chief officers, and saved his life, when in the utmost danger, at the battle of Honain. He afterwards commenced a doctor of the Mussulman law, and read lectures upon the Koran. ABBATHY. See ABBACY. ABBE, n. s. 1. In a monastic sense, the same with Abbot, which see. This was also, before the revolution, the name of a kind of |