358 



AVEKNUS -AVICENNA. 



Roman code. Average, particular, is the loss, ex- 

 IT use, and damage sustained on a ship, freight, or 

 cargo, which is to be bonie by tlie party to whom the 

 interest tx*longs, without auy claim upon the other 

 interests for contribution, anil, in general, compre- 

 hends loss or damage that happens accidentally, and 

 is not incurred voluntarily aiul purposely. It is also 

 called partial loss, which description is likewise ap- 

 plied to a loss of only a part of the value of the in- 

 terest at risk, in distinction from a total loss. 



AVKRNTO ; a lake in the kingdom of Naples, be- 

 tween ancient Cuma and 1'iitmli. It is circular, in 

 some places 180 feet deep, and surrounded by hills 

 of a moderate height, which used to be covered with 

 immense woods, so that gloom and darkness sur- 

 rounded the lake, and accumulated effluvia filled the 

 air with contagion. These woods no longer stand, 

 but the regions about the lake are still unhealthy. 

 In iincient times, a savage people fled hither, who 

 only ventured out by night. Their conduct struck 

 terror into the neighbouring people, whose stories 

 gave rise to the fable of the Cimmerians, who lived 

 in perpetual darkness ; and the idea arose, that the 

 dead were here called up from the infernal world. 

 Homer makes this lake the entrance to hell, and 

 describes the visit of Ulysses to it. Virgil has fol- 

 lowed in his steps. Afterwards, certain priests also 

 took up their residence at this lake, who dealt in 

 conjurations, exorcised spirits, &c., and carried on 

 their occupation only by night Hence this wood 

 became the grove of Hecate. 



AVERROES (corrupted from Ebn or Ibn Rushd) ; 

 the most renowned of the Arabian philosophers, and 

 intruder of Moses Maimonides, was born at Cordo- 

 va, in Spain. His father, chief magistrate there, 

 in-tnicted him in the Mohammedan laws, and ap- 

 pointed Tophail to teach him theology and philoso- 

 phy. His talents and knowledge procured him the 

 succession to his father's office. The king of Morocco 

 appointed him cadi hi the province of Mauritania. 

 But his success was envied, and he was accused of 

 rejecting the established religion, and, in consequence, 

 deprived of his offices, and banished to Spain. He 

 returned to Cordova, where he was assisted by his 

 scholar Maimonides ; but was soon persecuted there 

 also, and fled to Fez. Here he was condemned, by 

 a spiritual court, to recant, and undergo a public 

 penance. Upon this, he went back to his own coun- 

 try, where the caliph Almansor, after a time, restored 

 him to his dignities. He died, after an active life, 

 at Morocco, A. D. 1217 or 1225. A. regarded 

 Aristotle as the greatest of all philosophers, and ex- 

 plained his writings, with only a slight deviation 

 from his views. The Alexandrian doctrines, also, 

 had much influence upon him. Against the orthodox 

 Arabians, particularly against Algazal, he set himself 

 up as a defender of philosophy on rational principles. 

 He was called, among the Arabians, by way of emi- 

 nence, the Interpreter (of Aristotle). They adhered 

 very closely to his translation of Aristotle, made from 

 the Syriac. He wrote-, also, a compendium of physic, 

 called Colliget, or Universal, and many treatises in 

 theology, philosophy, jurisprudence, and medicine. 



AVESNES, or AVENNES ; one of those many fortresses 

 which protect France on the side of Germany, and 

 which mostly originated under the restless Louis 

 XIV. It was also one of the fortresses kept by the 

 allies by the terms of the peace of 1815. Lon. 4 E. ; 

 lat. 50" 7' N. 



AVEYROX, d<epartement de 1' ; a French department 

 in the former Guyenne and Garogne. See Depart- 

 ment. 



AVIARY. The aviary was common to the country- 

 houses of the Romans, but used principally, as it 

 would appear from Pliny, for birds destined to be 



eaten. Singing-birds, however, were kept by the 

 Persians, Greeks, and also the Romans, in wicker- 

 cages ; and these utensils, no doubt, gave rise to the 

 large and fixed cage called an aviary ; but in what 

 country, and in what age, appears uncertain. They 

 are highly prized in China. In the altercations which 

 took place during lord Amherst's embassy, it was 

 stated, on the part of the emperor, that Sir George 

 Staunton had built himself a house and an aviary. 

 That they were in use in England in Evelyn's time, 

 is evident from a memorandum entered in his diary, 

 that the marquis of Argyle took the parrots in his 

 aviary at Sayes' court for ow/jj. The canary, or 

 singing-bird aviary, used not unfrequently to be 

 formed in the opaque-roofed green-house or COIIMT- 

 vatory, by enclosing one or both ends with a partition 

 of wire, and furnishing them with dead or living 

 trees, or spray and branches suspended from the roof 

 for the birds to perch on. Such are chiefly used for 

 the canary, bullfinch, linnet, c. The parrot aviary 

 is generally a building formed on purpose, with a 

 glass roof, front, and ends ; with shades and curtains 

 to protect it from the sun and frost, and a flue for 

 winter heating. In these, artificial or dead trees, 

 with glazed foliage, are fixed in the floor, and some- 

 times cages hung on them ; and at other times the 

 birds allowed to fly loose. The verdant aviary is 

 that jn which, in addition to houses for the different 

 sorts of birds, a net or wire curtain is thrown over 

 the rows of trees, and supported by light posts or 

 hollow rods, so as to enclose a few poles or even 

 acres of ground and water in various forms. In this 

 the birds in fine weather sing on the trees, the aquatic 

 birds sail on the water, or the gold-pheasants stroll 

 over the lawn; and in severe seasons they betake 

 themselves to their respective houses or cages. Such 

 an enclosed space will of course contain evergreen 

 as well as deciduous trees, rocks, reeds, aquatics, 

 long grass for larks and partridges, spruce firs for 

 pheasants, furze-bushes for linnets, c. An aviary, 

 somewhat in this way, was formed by Catharine of 

 Russia, in the Hermitage palace. These are the 

 only sorts admissible in elegant gardens ; since no- 

 thing, to one who is not an enthusiast in this branch 

 of natural history, can be more disagreeable than an 

 apartment filled with the dirt and discordant music 

 of innumerable birds; such, for example, as the 

 large aviary at Kew. Birds from the hot climates 

 are sometimes kept in hot-houses among their native 

 plants, as in the large conservatories at Vienna, In 

 this case, the doors and openings for giving air must 

 be covered with wire cloth, and the number must 

 not be great, otherwise they will too much disfigure 

 the plants with their excrement. Gallinaceous avi- 

 ary. At Chiswick, portable netted enclosures, from 

 ten to twenty feet square, are distributed over a part 

 of the lawn, and display a curious collection of do- 

 mestic fowls. In each enclosure is a small wooden 

 box or house for sheltering the animals during night, 

 or in severe weather, and for breeding. Each cage 

 or enclosure is contrived to contain one or more trees 

 or shrubs ; and water and food are supplied in small 

 basins and appropriate vessels. Curious varieties of 

 aquatic fowls might be placed on floating aviaries on 

 a lake or pond. 



AVICENNA, or EBN-SINA, an Arabian philosopher 

 and physician, was born at Assena, near Bochara, 

 A. D. 980. He possessed a ready genius and a 

 strong memory, and, after going through a course of 

 study with various masters, became a pupil at the 

 school of Bagdad, where he exhibited indefatigable 

 industry, ana no inconsiderable portion of fanaticism. 

 According to his own account, he read the metaphy- 

 sics of Aristotle forty times without understanding 

 them. He completed his studies at the early age of 



