ABT 



ABYDOS 



takes up coloring matters from sugar solutions 

 (see CARBON ) and clay takes up from soil-water 

 some of the substances required by plants 

 for instance, potassium, ammonia and phos- 

 phoric acid. 



In Physics. It is common to speak of tin- 

 absorption of light and of heat. Colored glasses 

 absorb some of the colors of white light, allow- 

 ing the others to pass. When light falls upon a 



rface such as a mirror it is not all re- 

 flected. Part of it is absorbed and converted 

 into heat. When the surface is dull and dark, 

 much less of the light .1 and corres- 



pondingly more is at >- . n-l < 1 . In some project ion 

 lanterns a glass cell filled with water, placed 

 between the electric arc and the lenses, absorbs 

 the heat but allows th. hunt to pass through. 

 See LIGHT; HEAT. 



In Physiology. Hero the word absorption is 

 applied to the process by which the dig. 

 food is taken into the blood and lymph. Medi- 

 cine and poi-ons are absorbed in the same way. 

 The term- is applied also to the process by which 

 wast' in the tissues are taken up l>y 



the blood. When a swelling or an abscess dis- 

 appears the substances from the blood which 

 were temporarily deposited in the sore spot are 

 said to have been absorbed (or resorbed) by the 

 blood. For the most part plants absorb in 

 ure and nutritive juices through their roots, and 

 on dioxide through their leaves. Insectiv- 

 orous plants are able to absorb organic mat- 

 ter by the leaves. In the lungs of animals the 

 blood exposed to the air in the fine thin-walled 

 capillaries absorbs oxygen. Chemical union of 

 the oxygen with a substance (hemoglobin) in 

 the blood corpuscles takes place. The product 



ioglobin) is bright red. This is why the 

 blood in the arteries (which has recently been 

 aerated in the lungs) is so much brighter in 

 color than the blood in the veins (which is on 

 its way back from the tissues to the heart to be 

 again sent to the lungs for aeration). See 

 CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. j f&. 



i:.i., ( ,,i jfMt* A stin I y of the articles on 



wing subjects will make clearer the 

 processes of absorption: 



IN PHYSIOLOGY 



Blood I- - 'I'- 



ii phatlcs 

 tlon Skin 



ion 

 IN PLANT! 



Osmosis 

 I.'-- Roots 



ABT , 1819-1885), a German wr 



songs, including both \\<rds and music, best 

 o the general public as composer of 



such popular verses as When the Swallows 

 rard Fly. These songs, while they have 

 little of the lasting quality of truly great music, 

 make a universal appeal. 



Abt was born at Eilenburg, studied at Leip- 

 sig, and in 1841 became music master at the 

 court theater in Zurich. In 1852 he went to 

 Brunswick as a musical director of the court 

 theater, and there he remained until 18S1. He 

 composed a number of instrumental selections 

 for the piano, but they were not as well received 

 as his vocal numbers. 



ABU'TILON, a pjant which in most sections 

 is regarded as a common weed. It is known 

 both as velvet leaf, 

 from the smooth ne.-s 

 of its leaves, and as 

 butter-print, due to 

 the former custom of 

 housewives of using 

 its deeply-veined 

 to stamp its 

 design on rolls of but- 

 ter. The plant has a 

 pretty, yellow, bell- 

 shaped flower. The 

 seeds are black and 

 glossy, larger than 

 most grass seeds, 

 which makes it pos- 

 sible to detect their 

 presence before sowing. 



ABYDOS, a by' doss, one of the most ancient 



of Upper Egypt, famous as the burial 



To tin- city the bodies of pious 



r.irypt ians were brought from all parts of Egypt 



for burial near the tomb of the god. Magnifi- 



mples to Osiris were built here by King 



Rameses the Great and King Seti I. Each of 



these kings left in the temple built by him a 



list of his predecessors on the throne of Egypt. 



One of these tablets was di.- \\\ 1818 



and tin- nther in 1864. The ruins of A 



are six miles from the left or west bank of the 



present name is Arabct 



Abydos, an uncimt city of Asia Minor, fa- 

 mous for its association with the legend of 

 <h sec) and Lcander Aludos was 

 on the south shore of the Hellespont, now 

 called the Dardanelles, at it* narrowest point. 

 From Abydos Lcandcr swam nightly to Set- 

 tos, on the oppi. . to sec Hero, his be- 

 In mndrrn times Lord Byron, the 

 poet, accomplished this feat on ilatioo 

 TO. Near Abydos, too, Xerxes 

 and his army in 480 n. c. crossed to Europe. 



Flower and leaf. 



