356 



AUTOPSY A VATAH. 



again ; n <,(,.,.! spidtr; a hissing seqient, &c. Ar 

 engine has been made by Mr Babbage capable o; 

 computing any table by the method of differences, 

 Tin- greater the number of differences, tlie more it 

 will outstrip the most rapid calculator. See Arith- 

 metic. 



AUTOPSY (from Greek aunt, himself, and t- 

 sight); observation which one makes himself, in con- 

 tradistinction from knowledge which we get from the 

 accounts of other-.. 



AUTUMN ; tliat one of the seasons, which, in the 

 northern temperate zone, begins when the sun, in its 

 apparent descent to the southern hemisphere, louche: 

 the equator. The end of autumn is at the time of 

 the sun's greatest south declination, or when he enters 

 Capricorn. According to our computation of time, 

 the beginning of autumn is Sept. 23, when, for the 

 second time in the year, the days and nights are 

 equal ; and the end is Dec. 21, at the time of the 

 shortest day. The autumn of the southern hemis- 

 phere takes place at the time of our spring. From 

 ili^ astronomical autumn the physical or popular 

 autumn differs according to the climate. Autumnal 

 eyuinojc. (See Equinox.) Autumnal point is called, 

 by astronomers, that point where the equator cuts the 

 ecliptic : the sun reaches it Sept. 23. It is said to be 

 at the beginning of Libra, and is continually marked 

 so, notwithstanding the point has long since receded 

 from this constellation, and is now near the stars of 

 the left shoulder of Virgo. It is opposite to the ver- 

 nal point ; therefore its ascension amounts to 180, 

 and its longitude also to as many, or six signs ; its 

 declination and latitude, = 0. 



AUVKRGNE ; a ci-devant province of France, which 

 took its name from the ancient inhabitants, called 

 Averni. It was surrounded by Velay and Forez, 

 Limousin, Bourbonnais, Berry, Rouergue, and Ge- 

 vaudan, in the heart of France. Upper and lower 

 Auvergne contained together, on 600 square leagues, 

 800,000 inhabitants. The mountains of Auvergne 

 are among the most noted of France. The northern 

 part is called Puy de Dome ; the southern, Puy de 

 Cantal ; while the centre is formed of the Mont d'Or. 

 The revolution divided this province into three de- 



Eartments. (See Department.) Auvergne was cele- 

 rated in the time of ancient Gaul, and has always 

 remained a very important part of France. 



AUVERNAS ; a deep coloured wine, made of black 

 raisins, so called at Orleans. It is not fit for use 

 until a year old, but, if kept two or three years, be- 

 comes excellent. 



AVA, or AUNGWA ; a town in Asia, formerly the 

 capital of Ava, or Birmah, on the Irrawaddy, four 

 miles W. S. W. of Ummerapoora, 500 miles E. Cal- 

 cutta ; long. 95 58' E. ; lat 21 51' N. It was divid- 

 ed into the upper and lower city ; both fortified. The 

 lower was about four miles in circumference, pro- 

 tected by a wall 30 feet high, with a deep and broad 

 ditch ; an embankment of earth supports the wall 

 within. The upper town, which may be called the 

 citadel, does not exceed a mile in circumference, and 

 is much stronger and more compact than the other. 

 The walls are now mouldering, and a great part of 

 the timber of which the houses were built has been 

 carried away to be used in a new town, called Um- 

 merapoora. Numerous temples are falling, and the 

 few houses built of brick become the abode of bats. 

 In the temple of Logathero Praw is still to be seen a 

 gigantic image of Godama, of marble. The height 

 of the idol, from the top of the head to the pedestal 

 on which it sits, is nearly 24 feet; the head is eight 

 feet in diameter, and across the breast it measures 

 ten feet The Birmans assert that it is composed of 

 one entire block of marble; nor can any junction be 

 perceived. See Embassy to the kingdom of Ava, by 



Michael Symes, and Journal of an embassy to the 

 Court of Ava, in 1827, by John Crawford. The 

 coimty of Ava will be fully treated of in this Ency- 

 clopedia under the article llirman Empire. 



AVA-AVA ; a plant so called by the inhabitants of 

 Otaheite, who make an intoxicating juice out of it. 

 Their chiefs vie with each other in drinking the 

 greatest number of draughts, as the German students 

 do in drinking beer. 



AVADONTAS ; a sect of Bramins, who, in austerity, 

 surpass all the rest. They even reject the earthen 

 vessels to hold provisions, and Uie stick to lean on 

 luxuries which the other sects allow themseKes. 

 Some Avadontas go perfectly naked ; when hungry, 

 they beg for something to eat : others go to the holy 

 rivers, and there expect the peasants to feed them. 



AVAL, or BAHHREIN ; the largest of the Bahhrein 

 islands in the gulf of Persia, 30 miles in length, and 

 12 wide, where it is broadest. Besides the fortified 

 town of Bahhrein, it contains some poor villages. 

 Lon. 48 4' E. ; lat. 26 36' N. 



AVALANCHES (in German, Lavinen, or Lauwinen) ; 

 large masses of snow, which roll down from the 

 mountains, causing great damage by their fall. 

 There are three kinds. The wind or dust avalanches 

 are so called because they are occasioned by the 

 wind, which carries along the fresh fallen snow, and 

 throws it, in the form of dust, into the valleys. The 

 rapidity with which they come would render this 

 kind the most dangerous of all, were it not for their 

 great lightness, which renders it easy to extricate 

 one's self from them. There have been instances of 

 people remaining 24 hours under such avalanches 

 without being suffocated. The second kind are called 

 mountain, snow, hail, or thunder avalanches (Schrund- 

 Lavinen). These are not blown off by the wind, but 

 fall by their own weight, bringing down with them 

 all the ground on which they lie, together with the 

 trees, rocks, &c., which are there. They generally 

 fall in the spring, when the increasing warmth has 

 rendered the snow more damp and heavy. Their 

 fall makes mountain and valley tremble, and is ac- 

 companied with a noise like thunder. The third kind , 

 earth avalanches, or landslips, occur when the soil 

 has been weakened by long continued and deep pe- 

 netrating rains, when it slides down into the valleys, 

 with alfthe houses, trees, and entire forests which 

 stand thereon, and causes the most horrible destruc- 

 tion. 



AVANTURINE. See Quartz. 

 AVARES ; a nation, the remains of the Scheu-Schen. 

 driven from their country by the Turks. They came, 

 100 years later than the Bulgarians, to the regions 

 around the Don, the Caspian sea, and the Wolga. A 

 part remained in Circassia, where they still exist ; 

 mother portion advanced to the Danube, in 555, and 

 settled in Dacia, served in Justinian's army, aided the 

 Lombards in destroying the kingdom of the Gepidas, 

 and gradually conquered (especially under the power- 

 ill khan Bajan, in 582) the region of Pannonia. 

 Under his successors, they made themselves mas- 

 ters of Dalmatia, pressed into Thuringia and Italy, 

 where they fought with the Franks and Lombards, 

 and extended their dominion over the Sclavonians 

 dwelling on the Danube, and farther north, as well as 

 over the Bulgarians on the Black sea. But they were 

 soon divided, and lost Dalmatia in 640. Limited to 

 'annonia, they were at length overcome by Charle- 

 magne, 796, and expelled from Moravia and Pet- 

 schenegera. After 827, they disappear from history. 

 AVATAR, in Hindoo mythology ; an incarnation of 

 e Deity. Innumerable incarnations have taken 

 )lace, according to the Hindoos, but ten are pecu- 

 iarly distinguished, and four of them are the subjects 

 of Purands, or sacred poems. These ten are the 



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