ABE 



from their distribution to the 

 abductor muscle of the eyeball. 



ABDUC'IION, Lat. abductio, from ab- 

 duco. See ABDUCENT. 1. In physiology, 

 the action by which muscles draw back 

 by their contraction the parta into which 

 they are inserted ; and also the state of a 

 part so withdrawn, o. g. when certain 

 muscles withdraw the arm from the side, 

 or the thumb from the rest of the fingers, 

 they are said to perform the abduction of 

 those parts, and the parts are said to be 

 in a state of abduction. - 2. In surgery, 

 a species of fracture in which the parts 

 recede from each other. It is sometimes 

 used to denote a sprain. - 3. In laic, 

 the taking away of a child, a ward, a 

 wife, &c., either by fraud, persuasion, or 

 open violence. - 4. In logic, a species of 

 argumentation, called by the Greeks apa- 

 goge, in which the major is evident; bnt 

 the minor is not so clear as not to require 

 further proof; e. g. in this syllogism 



'Whatever God has revealed is certainly trne : 

 Now God has revealed a future retribution ; 

 Therefore a future retribution is certainly 

 true. 



ABDCC'TOR, Lat. abductor -oris, from ab- 

 dttcr.. In anatomy, a muscle which per- 

 forms the abduction of any part; its an- 

 tagonist is called an adductor, e.g. the ab- 

 (hictor pollicis pedis, which pulls the great 

 toe from the rest. 



ABECEDARIAN, or ABECE'DART, one who 

 teaches the letters of the alphabet. A 

 novice in any art or science. 



ABEUE'IIARY, pertaining to or formed 

 of the letters of the alphabet. See AB- 



CEDARY. 



ABELE,or.ABEt,-TREE,thehoary or white 

 poplar (popuhts alba). The wood is white 

 and soft, tit only for coarse work. The 

 best sort of abel-trees having come from 

 Holland, it is in some places known by 

 the name of Diitch beech. 



ABEL'IANS, ABELO'NIANS, or A'BELITZS. 

 In church history, a sect which arose in 

 Africa during the reign of Arcadius ; they 

 married, but lived in continence, after the 

 manner, as they pretended, of Abel, and 

 atteiu ptedtomaintain the sect by adopting 

 the children of others. 



APE I.L ic E' A , an old name of the logwood- 

 tree (htematoxylon campechianttm). 



ABELMOSK, ABELMOSCH, or ABELMUSK., 

 the Syrian mallow, or musk okro, a spe- 

 cies of hibiscus (II. abelmoschus). The plant 

 rises on an herbaceous stalk of three or 

 four feet in height. The seeds have a 

 musky odour; hence its name, habb el 

 nusk (Arabic), musk seed. It is a native 

 of the East Indies. 



ABERRA'TION, Lat. aberratio, from ab- 

 trro, to wander from ; wandering, devia- 

 tion. 1. IM astronomy, a small apparent 

 lotion of the fixed stars, occasioned by 



ABE 



the progressive motion of light, and the 

 earth's annual motion in its orbit. The 

 A. of a planet is equal to the space it ap- 

 pears to move, as seen from the earth, 

 during the time that the light employs in 

 passing from the planet to the earth. 

 Thus, in the sun the aberration (in longi- 

 tude) is constantly 20", that being the 

 space moved by the earth in 8' 7" of time, 

 the interval that light takes to pass from 

 the sun to the earth. From this the ab- 

 erration of the other planets is readily 

 found ; for, knowing the distance of the 

 sun from the earth, it will be, by common 

 proportion, as the distance of the earth 

 to the sun is to the planet, so is 8' 7" to 

 the time the light takes to pass from 

 the planet to the earth; then finding 

 the planet's geocentric motion in that 

 time, it will be the aberration of the 



planet. 2. In optics, a deviation of the 



rays of light, when inflected by a lens or 

 speculum, by which they are prevented 

 from uniting in one point. It is occasioned 

 by the figure of the reflecting body, or by 

 the different refrangibility of the rays 

 themselves : this last is called the New- 

 tonian aberration, from the name of its 

 illustrious discoverer. Crown of aberra- 

 tion, a luminous circle round the disc of 

 the sun, depending on the aberration 

 of the solar rays, by which his apparent 



diameter is enlarged. 3. In medical 



language, (1.) The passage of a fluid in 

 the living body into vessels not destined 

 to receive it; (2.) The determination of a 

 fluid to a part different to that to which 

 it is usually directed; (3.) The alienati<jn 

 of the mind. 



ABESASUM, the oxide which forms on 

 the iron of wheels: formerly used in 

 medicine. 



ABET', in laic, to encourage, counsel, 

 incite, or assist, in a criminal action ; 

 from Sax. betan, to push forward, or ad- 

 vance. 



ABET'TOR, one who abets or incites. In 

 law, one who encourages another to the 

 performance of an unlawful action. In 

 Scotch law, an abettor is said to be art and 

 part. In treason, there are no abettors ; 

 all concerned are principals. 



ABEVACCA'TION, from ab, dim. and eva- 

 cuation (q. v.). In medicine, a partial 

 evacuation of the morbid humours, either 

 by nature or art. 



ABEY'ANCE, from Norm, abaizance, in 

 expectation (layance). In expectation of 

 law. The fee-simple or inheritance of 

 lands is in abeyance, when there is no 

 person in whom it can vest ; so that it is 

 in a state of expectancy, until a proper 

 person shall appear ; e. g. if land is leased 

 to a man for life, remainder to another 

 for years, the remainder for years is IB 

 abtyantt, until the death of the le*e for 

 life. 



