A'BACUa 



ABATIS 



each style. Tu a great extent, it appear* to have been treated in 

 Gothk architectur* according to the fancy of the individual architect : 

 U any rate, it wa* not regulated by ttrict rule* as in the classic 

 But it may b* *tatod generally, that in the Romanesque, or what in 

 England i* commonly known as the Norman style, the abacus i* usually 

 qoare ; in ftnt pointed, or Early Kngliah gothic, it U nearly always 

 round; and in the later style* more commonly octagonal. In French 

 gixhic however the square abacus was retained much longer than in 



A*BACL'8, an instrument employed to facilitate arithmetical calcu- 

 lation*. The name may be given with piopricty to any machine for 

 m~+**tti wjth counter*, bead*. Ac , in which one line is made to stand 

 for unit*, another for tons, and ao on. For teaching the first principles 

 of arithmetic, a convenient abacus would be about three times as long 

 i* it i* broad. It conaista of a frame, traversed by stiff wires, on 

 which hssrts or counter* are strung so as to move easily. The beads 

 on the Ant row are units, those on the next tens, and so on. There is 

 an instrument sold in the toy-shops with twelve wires, and twelve 

 t.isad* on each wire, for teaching the multiplication-table; but it may 

 be made still further useful in judicious hands. 





S3 



Tbe abacus can never be much used in this country, owing to our 

 variou* division of weight* and measures. We should need one abacus 

 for pound*, (hillings, and pence; another for avoirdupois weight; a 

 third for troy weight; and so on. In China, however, where the 

 whole lyttt-m is decimal, that in, where every measure, weight, &c., is 

 the tenth part of the next greater one, this instrument, called 

 in China** ahwanpan, it very much used, and with astonishing 

 rapidity. It is said that while one man reads over rapidly a number of 

 urn* of money, another can add them so as to give the total as soon as 

 the first hat done reading. Their abacus differs from the one described 

 above, in having only five beads on each wire, one of which is dis- 

 tinguished from the rest either in colour or size, and stands for five. 

 There is one of these instruments in the East India Company's 

 Xoeeum. The Greeks and Romans used the same sort of abacus, at 

 leart in later times. The Russians are also much in the habit of in- 

 forming calculation* by string* of beads. A chequered board, such as 

 we (till wmetimes gee at the doors of public-houses, was formerly used 

 in thi* country a* an abacus, and a chess-board would now do very well 

 for the purpoee of instruction above-mentioned. The multiplication- 

 table U aometime* called the Pythagorean abacus. 



In 1889, Dr. Reid brought liefore the notice of the British Asso- 

 ciation a small apparatus, which he called a Chemical Abaritt, and 

 which he had found useful in introducing his pupils to a precise know- 

 ledge of UM constitution of the more important chemical compounds. 

 It conawted of a wooden frame with cross-wires and beads on the 

 win* ; each wire corresponded to a chemical element, and the beads to 

 atom* ; while the name* of the elements were placed on the frame at the 



itrnniti** of the wire*. Dr. Daubeny suggested that the apparatus 

 might be improved, by having the beads of different colour* to cor- 

 rdjnond with the different element*. 



The advocate* of decimal coinage in England might strengthen their 

 advocacy by a notice of the possible usefulness of the abacus as a 

 rerAnnmg apparatus under that system. 



For mechanical aid of a more complex kind, in calculating and regis- 

 tering prut*****, *ee CALCULATING MACHINES. Examples of a special 

 character are noticed under SLIDE Iti 1.1 . 



N'T. term used in marine insurances. Before a 

 ptnon, who iurare* a chip or good*, can demand from an insurer, or 

 underwriter, the stipulated compemation for a total loss of such ship 

 or goodi, b* miMt abandon or relinquish to the insurer, all his interest 

 in any put of the property which may be saved. 



ABATEMENT. Thi* word I* derived from the old French word 

 ioftr, which mgnifle* to beat down, prostrate, or destroy. But before 

 entering upon aa explanation of the preaent meaning of the term, it 



U be weU to obnerve, for the information of those who may not be 

 acquainted with the history of our law, that by far the greater number 

 of the term* of art (a* they may be called) peculiar to it, are derived 

 either from the Norman-French, or the Latin. Wo shall therefore give 



* S ar * ***" * ** reuni*tancei which led to their adoption. 



illiam I., commonly rtyled the Conqueror, became King of 



Enttod. he fiUed all the poet, of profit and honour with subjects from 



Norman dominion* the civil place* chiefly with ecclesiastics. 



r*icnj>rie*te having thus obtained all the seats of the judge* and 



-ner officer* of the mperior court* of juiticc, it was found neccs- 



ordain that all proceeding* in them should be carried on in the 



man tongue Instead of the English, of which these new judges were 



t part altogether ignorant. Thi* practice continued until 



III. *b..||.nl the <we of French, and mib*t>uted English as the 



language of such pleadings. At the same time that all arguments and 

 judgments were spoken in French, the written parts of the proceedings, 

 such as the writs and records, were engrossed in the Latin language, a 

 practice which continued long after Edward III. had sxpe&ed the 

 French tongue from our courts; for it was not until the reign of 

 George II., that an Act of Parliament was passed, providing that 



d records chould for the future be in English. 



It will be evident that, under the circumstances described, the more 

 ancient legal terms would, whenever that could conveniently be 

 l>e translated into the French and Latin languages; and as, dmi: 

 periods mentioned above, the laws of England experienced great altera- 

 tions and received many additions, abundance of new terni.- 

 necessarily called for to express new notions, and .,,] naturally drawn 

 from the languages then in legal use. Many of the expressions ilm- 

 translatcd. and those first invented, are employed at the present day 

 with little or no alteration, of this we have an example in tl. 

 which is the subject of this article. 



The word , used in its literal sense when we speak of 



abating or beating down a nuisance. Whatever unlawfully am 

 does damage to any person, is a nuisance, which he may abate, that in, 

 beat down and remove : provided he commits no breach of the peace, 

 and does no more injury to the thing than is necessary for effecting his 

 purpoee. If a new house or a wall be erected so near to an old house 

 as to obstruct its ancient lights, this is a private nuisance, which the 

 person injured may peaceably abate. If a gate or ot',, -ion be 



placed across a public road, this is a put. lie nuisance, and any person 

 tnay beat down and remove it. But a person thus taking the law into 

 liis own hands, must be careful, in every cose, to do no more than is 

 absolutely necessary to enable him to exercise or enjoy his own 

 right. 



Another signification of abatement is that of abating a civil action. 

 or on indictment. Here it is taken figuratively, and - 

 beating down or overthrowing auch action or indictment. '1 

 effected in an action at law, l>y way of pi, -me matter which 



renders it the duty of the court to put an end to the proceeding^. 

 Thus, it may be alleged that the plaintiff in such proceedings is nu 

 outlaw, or an attainted person, or otherwise incompetent to 

 tain an action; or that there are other persons still living who ai.- 

 equally liable with the defendant, and ought to be joined with him in 

 the demand. But it is a rule that he who takes advantage of a flaw 

 must, at the some time, show how it can be amended ; and pleas 

 in abatement must, therefore, not only point out the flaw, but disclose 

 the remedy. Therefore, if a defendant pleads that another ought 

 sued along with him, he must state where he can be found ; for if he be 

 not within the jurisdiction so as to be served with a writ, the plea is 

 bad. Pleas in abatement have always been discouraged by the courts ; 

 and they are required to be verified by affidavit (4 4: 5 Anne c. 16; 

 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 45). But in consequence of the amp!, 

 amendment conferred by the Common Law Procedure Act, 1852, such 

 pleas are now of rare occurrence. 



A similar observation applies to pleas in abatement in crimm 

 ceedings (14 & 15 Viet. c. 100). If an indictment as.-ij,ni to the 

 defendant no Christian name or a wrong one, no surnam. 

 one, he may plead this matter in abatement ; and so formerly, v. I 

 addition or description of the calling of a defendant was maii 

 error in or want of it was the subject of a plea. This addition or 

 description is no longer necessary. (18 & 14 Viet. c. 100, a. 24.) Mis- 

 nomer then is the only case in which a plea in abatement has been 

 usual iu practice ; and, at the present day. .-u. h a plea is of no avail to 

 a defendant, for the court has authority to amend the indictment, and 

 then call upon the party to plead to the charge (Blackst. 'Comm.' 

 .'sed. vol. iii. p. 880; iv. 396). Again, if a plaintiff dies, or a female 

 plaintiff marries, the proceedings are said to be abated ; and if a 

 defendant dies, the proceedings as to him are said to til, ate. \VI, 

 th interest of the person who dies survives to those who rep 

 him, the action or suit may be revived; and the snl.je, I 



matter of the proceeding is one for which th. of the 



deceased may be made liable, the action or suit may be revived and 

 continued against them. (' Blackst. Couim.' Mr. KBIT'S ed. vol. iii. 

 pp. 403, 519.) 



It is said to be "an abatement when a man dies 

 of inheritance, and between the death ami the entry of the heir, a 

 stranger doth interpose himself and abate." c Co. Lilt.' -J77 a.) This 

 entry of a stranger on the lands is an abatement ; th, hich is 



that the true owner can only recover the Ml ry [ KNTIIY], If 



the abater died seised, the 'land d, "1 the right 



of entry at common law was gone. The true owner must th. 

 resorted to a ivnlicular form of action. Now. hov. ight of 



entry subsists (3 ft 4 Will. IV. a _';>. cn.ililing the true owl 



, ither l,y entry or 'the ordinary action of ejectment. 

 (Blackstone's Oommmtarim, Mr. K.-n's c,l. vol. iii. p. 170.) 

 AI',ATKMI:NT OF LF.CACIKS. |LK.:A<;V.] 



ABATIS, a military term, signifying a work comi>scd of fcll.il 

 trees, with the softer branches cut off, laid side l.y side with tl,. 

 from which the branches grow towards the enemy: thus forming an 

 obstruction to his progress, and a breast-work for musketry to Iii 

 This xp, n used in (icldworks. \ not of 



to,, gi, plentiful. Lin,-. I!. inked l>y ' 6 thus 



