ABO 



ABU 



that motion may be. It will he Iciist when 

 the- planet is st:ition:iry; and greatest in 

 the superior planets, \\hi-n they are in 

 opposition; hut in the interior planets, 

 the aberration is greatest at the time of 

 their superior con junction. 



Aiu HitvnoN, in optics, a deviation of 

 the rays of light, when reflected, whereby 

 they art- prevented from meeting 1 in the 

 same point. Aberrations are of two kinds; 

 mie arising from the figure of the reflect- 

 ing body, the other from the different re- 

 frangibility of the rays themselves: this 

 last is called the Newtonian aberration, 

 from the name of the discoverer. 



ABETTOK, or ABIJETTOI:, in law, the 

 pei-son who promotes or procures a eri me 

 to be committed : thus, an abettor of mur- 

 der is one who commands or counsels an- 

 other to commit it.. An abettor, accord- 

 ing as lie is present or absent at the time 

 of committing the fact, is punishable as a 

 principal or accessary. See ACTKSSAHT. 



An abettor is the same with one who is 

 deemed <.';/<;Nr//>r/,bv the law of Scotland. 



ABEYANCE, in law, is that which is in 

 expectation, remembrance, and intend- 

 ment of. law. By a principle of law, in 

 every land there is a fee simple in some- 

 body, or it is in abeyance ; that is, though 

 at present it be in no man, yet it is in ex- 

 pectancy, belonging to him that is next to 

 enjoy the land. Where no person is seen 

 or known, in whom the inheritance can 

 vest, it may be in abeyance, as in limita- 

 tion to several persons, and the survivor, 

 and the heirs of such survivor, because it 

 is uncertain who will be the survivor, yet 

 tlie freehold cannot, because there must 

 In- a tenant to the prxcipe always. 



ABJUKATION, in law, is us'ed for re- 

 nouncing, disclaiming, and denving the 

 Pretender to have any manner of right to 

 the throne of these kingdoms: and that 

 upon oath, which is required to be taki n 

 upon divers pains and penalties !>v many 

 statutes, particularly 1 W. and M*. lo V\ . 

 111. 1 Anne, 1 (ieo. I. 



ABOLITION, in law, denotes the re- 

 pealing any law or statute, and prohibit - 

 i< custom, ceremony, &c. Some- 

 times also it signifies leave granted by the 

 king, or a judge, to a criminal accuser, to 

 forbear any farther prosecution. 



Abolition is also used by ancient civi- 

 'i:ms and lawj ers, for desisting from, or 

 annulling, a legal prosecution ; for remit- 

 ting the punishment of a crime ; and for 

 ancelling or discharging a public debt. 



ABOMA8U8| ABOMASI v, or ABOMASI- 

 rs, in comparative anatomy, names used 

 !br the fourth stomach of ruminating 



beasts, or such as chew the cud. These 

 have four stomachs, the first of which is 

 railed tp;i.'tr/ the second, rcticiilum , the 

 third, omunus ; and the -fourth, ubomamta. 

 This last is th. piai-e where the chyle is 

 formed, and from which the food descends 

 immediately into the intestines. 



ABORTION, in medicine, an untimely 

 or premature birth of a foetus, otherwise 

 called a miscarriage ; but if this happen 

 before the second month of pregnancy, 

 it is only called a false conception. Sec 

 MKIIK IXK, MIMWIKKUV, &.c. 



ABORTION, in law, if caused by giving 

 a potion to, or Striking, a pregnant wo- 

 man, was murder, but now is said to be a 

 great misprision only, and not murder, un- 

 less the child be born alive, and die there- 

 of. 



ABOUT, in military affairs, a word to 

 express the movement, by which a body 

 of troops changes its front, by facing ac- 

 cording to any given word of command. 



ABRA, a silver coin of Poland, nearly 

 equivalent to the English shilling. Sec 

 Coix. 



ABREAST, a sea term, expressing the 

 situation of two or more ships, that lie 

 with their sides parallel to each other, and 

 their heads advanced. When the line of 

 battle at sea is formed abreast, the whole 

 squadron advances uniformly, slbreust 

 \oithin the *(/>, denotes on a line with the 

 beam, orby the side of any objectaboard. 



ABRIDGEMENT, in law, the shorten- 

 ing a count, or declaration: thus, in as- 

 size, a man is said to abridge his plaint, 

 and a woman her demand in action of 

 dower, if any land is put therein, which Is 

 not in the tenure of the defendant; for. <;n 

 a plea of non-tenure, in abatement of the 

 writ, the plaintiff may leave out those 

 lands, and pray that the tenant max an- 

 s\\er to the remainder. The reason is, 

 thai these writs run in general, and there- 

 fore shall he good for the rest. 



ABKOMA, in botany, a \\ord signifying 

 not Jit for fno(f, is used in opposition to 

 Theobroma, as a genus of plants belong- 

 ing to the natural order of Columnifera-, 

 and the cij;-h;ernih ela.ss of l'ol\ adelphia 

 Dodecandria. There are two spec' 

 the maple-leaved abroma, which is a tree 

 withastraighttrunk,yieldingag.m; u lien 

 cut, and filled \\iih a white pith like the 

 elder; it flowers from .lime to October, 

 and its fruit ripens in September and Oc- 

 tober; it is a native of New South \\ airs 

 and the Philippine islands, was introduced 

 into Kew gardens about 1770, and is a 

 hoi-house plant, requiring great heat, and 

 inufb. water: -and Whirr's Abroma. so 





