ABERRATION 



harbors of the Pacific coast of the United 

 States; the government has expended $5,000,000 

 here on the giant rock and concrete jetties and 

 on widening and deepening the channel, which 

 now permits the entrance of the world's largest 

 freight carriers. Through this harbor 714,- 

 037,000 feet of lumber were shipped in 1915, 

 more than from any other port in the world. 

 Logging and lumbering were formerly the chief 

 industries, but recently much attention has 

 been given to agricultural and dairying devel- 

 opment. The fishing industry is important, 

 and extensive salmon and clam canneries are 

 located here. Beside fifteen lumber and shingle 

 mills, the city has three shipyards, three foun- 

 dries, and furniture, woodenware and other 

 manufactories. Aberdeen has a $75,000 city 

 hall, a $100,000 Electric building, the $150,000 

 Finch building, the $125,000 Weatherway High 

 School and a $40,000 library. The business dis- 

 trict of the city was swept by fire in 1902 and 

 in 1903. c. OF c. 



ABERRA'TION, a word which means to 

 wander or stray from a given path, or from a 

 right course. We apply the term to a condi- 

 tion known as mental aberration, meaning 

 treacherous or defective memory, sometimes 

 not serious, but often resulting in total loss of 

 that faculty and even in insanity. These con- 

 ditions are due to causes which only physicians 

 can explain. 



In physics, the term is used to indicate the 

 failure of rays of light to meet at a common 

 point when they are reflected by a concave 

 mirror or refracted by a convex lens (see 

 MIRROR; LENS). During the passage of parallel 

 rays through a double convex lens, the rays 

 near -the edge come to a common point, or 

 focus, sooner than those which pass through 

 near the center. As a result, an indistinct 

 image is formed. In the case of the camera, 

 telescope and other optical instruments the 

 defect is overcome by means of a diaphragm 

 which shuts off the edge. The diaphragm 

 serves to make the outline of the image more 

 distinct, but diminishes its brilliancy. 



In astronomy, the difference between the 

 true and the observed position of a heavenly 

 body is called aberration. 



ABILENE, ab' ileen, TEX., a growing city in 

 Taylor County, of which it is the county seat. 

 It is situated northwest of the geographical 

 center of the state, on the Abilene & Southern, 

 Texas & Pacific, and Wichita Valley railways, 

 160 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Between 

 1910 and 1914 the population increased from 



10 ABORIGINES 



9,204 to 12,806. The area is less than five 

 square miles. 



Abilene is the center of a stock-raising, cot- 

 ton and farming section. It has large grain ele- 

 vators and manufactories of saddlery, harness 

 and lumber, but its chief interests lie in cotton- 

 gins and flour mills. Beside the public schools 

 the city has a Baptist college and a Carnegie 

 Library. Abilene has a Federal building and 

 a state epileptic colony. The commission form 

 of government is in operation. 



ABOLITIONISTS , ab o lish' un ists, in Amer- 

 ican history, a large number of people in the 

 Northern United States who became influential 

 during the first half of the nineteenth century 

 in urging the immediate abolition of slavery. 

 The importance of the movement dates from 

 the beginning of the work of William Lloyd" 

 Garrison in 1829, and the formation of the 

 American Anti-slavery Society in 1833. Divi- 

 sion of opinion soon developed, Garrison and 

 his followers advocating abolition even at the 

 cost of disunion of the republic, while the 

 more moderate party wished abolition through 

 constitutional forms. The latter formed the 

 Liberty party and later the Free-Soilers, and 

 finally, in 1856, joined the Republican party. 

 Among the prominent leaders of the radical 

 Abolitionists were Wendell Phillips and John 

 G. Whittier. 



ABOMEY, ah bo may', before the capture 

 of the country by the French in 1892, the cap- 

 ital of the kingdom of Dahomey, in West 

 Africa, near the coast of Guinea. The town is 

 surrounded by a mud wall and a trench which 

 encloses a large tract of land, most of which 

 is under cultivation. An important trade in 

 ivory, gold and palm oil is carried on. It was 

 at one time an important slave market, which 

 traffic the French abolished. Population, 

 about 11,000. 



ABORIGINES, aboridg' eneez, the first or 

 earliest known inhabitants of a section or coun- 

 try. The word is of Latin origin, and literally 

 translated means from the beginning. The 

 ancient Romans applied it to the mythical race 

 said to have been found by Aeneas when he 

 reached the mouth of the Tiber. Some modern 

 scholars have suggested Aborigines was the 

 proper name for these people, but this theory 

 was unknown to the Romans. 



The aborigines throughout the world have 

 invariably given way to newer races from other 

 parts of the globe. The migration of peoples 

 has made it uncertain, in some cases, who the 

 original inhabitants were, and the term abo- 



