A V A 



113 



AVI 



o"i a'tolishod. So called, because first ex- 

 tracted from a MS. copy of the Novel 

 (liber aulhenticHs) , put among the altered 

 passages of the code, and have thus re- 

 mained in the editions of the Corpus Juris. 



AUTOCAR'FGUS, Or. from ctufCf, him- 

 self, and xat^ot, fruit. A name given to 

 such fruit as consists of nothing but peri- 

 carp, without any additional organ. 



AUTOCH'THON (aort^Oari, one produced 

 from the ground. Several ancient nations 

 assumed the name of autochthones, to in- 

 dicate the antiquity of their origin. 



AU'TO v\ raf, Port. \ literally, act of 



AU'TO DJB TB', Span, j faith. A sentence 

 given by the Inquisition, and read to a 

 criminal (heretic; on the scaffold just be- 

 fore he is executed. 



AUTOM'ALITE, \ octahedral corundum. 



ACTOX'OLITE, J A variety of corundum 

 containing oxide of zinc (thence called 

 pinelle zincifere by Hauy) and alumina. 

 It is sometimes called fahlunite, because 

 found in a talcose rock at Fahlun, and 

 gahnite, from Gahn, its discoverer. 



AUTOMAT'IC, self-acting. Applied to 

 machinery which in some measure super- 

 sedes manual labour and attention. 



self, and ftcua, to move Any mechanical 

 contrivance which, by some concealed 

 force (springs or weights), can carry on 

 for some time certain movements, more 

 or less resembling animal exertion. In 

 this respect all kinds of clocks, watches, 

 and numerous other machines employed 

 in cotton and other factories, are deno- 

 minated automata ; but the term is more 

 commonly restricted to that class of 

 mechanism in which the power is made 

 to imitate the voluntary motions of living 

 beings. "When such automata represent 

 human figures and actions, they are 

 termed androidcs (man-like). 



AU'TUMN, Lat. antumnus. That one of 

 the seasons, which, in the N. temperate 

 zone, begins when the sun, in its apparent 

 descent to the southern hemisphere, 

 touches the equator, and enters Libra 

 (23rd September), and ends at the winter 

 solstice (20th December): from this as- 

 tronomical autumn, the popular autumn 

 differs according to climate. 



AUTCM'NAL POINT, the point where the 

 equator cuts the ecliptic : the sun reaches 

 it on the 23rd September. It is said to be 

 at the beginning of Libra, but the point 

 has really long since receded from this 

 constellation : it is now near the stars on 

 the left shoulder of Virgo. 



AUTUM'NAI. SIGNS, the signs libra, Scor- 

 pio, and Sagittarius. 



A'VA-A'VA, a plant of Otaheite, from 

 which the inhabitants obtain a species of 

 rack. 



AVALANCHE, the name given to those 



vast snoNV-siips which roll down the Alps 

 and often overwhelm forests, villages, &c. f 

 in their course. The term is from FT. 

 avaler, to swallow. 



AVA'ST, with seamen, cease, stop, stay ; 

 Germ, basta, stop. 



AVELLA'NA, the hazel-nut : a species of 

 corylus. Named from Avella, a town of 

 Campania. 



A'VE MAR'IA, Are Mary. Among Catho- 

 lics, the beginning of a prayer to the 

 Holy Virgin is Are Maria, whence the 

 whole prayer takes that name (Ave meang 

 hail}. The name Ave Maria is also given 

 to the little balls in rosaries, each of which 

 denotes a prayer called Ave Maria, while 

 the larger balls denote a Pater -nosier. 



AVE'JJA, the oat-grass. A genus of which 

 the plant that produces the grain, well 

 known under the name of oats, is a species 

 (A.satita). Triandria Digynia. Name ap- 

 plied by the ancients to the Brome-grass. 



AV'ENAOE, oats (avena). Paid by a ten- 

 ant in lieu of rent or other duty. 



AV'ENER,-OR, in feudal law, an officer of 

 the king's stables, whose duty it was to 

 provide oats. 



AV'ERAOE, a term used in commerce and 

 navigation, to signify a general contribu- 

 tion to make up a particular loss ; as when 

 the goods of a particular merchant are 

 thrown overboard to prevent the ship 

 from sinking, or where the masts, cables, 

 anchors, or other furniture of the ship, 

 are cut away or destroyed for the preser- 

 vation of the whole, or money or goods 

 are given to pirates to save the rest, or 

 where any expense is deliberately and 

 voluntarily made, or any expense fairly 

 and bond fide incurred, to prevent a total 

 loss such sacrifice or expense ought to 

 be rateably borne by the owners of the 

 ship, freight, and cargo, so that the loss, 

 for the good of all, may fall equally on 

 all. There are also some small charges 

 called petty or accustomed averages : it is 

 usual to charge one-third of them to the 

 ship, and two-thirds to the cargo. Hence 

 the expression in bills of lading, " freight 

 with primage and average accustomed." 



AVER'NUS, a lake of Italy, 10 miles west 

 of Naples, celebrated in antiquity as the 

 entrance to the infernal regions. 



AVERRUNCA'TOR. Lat. averrunco, I dress 

 or weed ; in arboriculture, an instrument 

 for cutting off the branches of trees, con- 

 sisting of two blades fixed on the end of a 

 rod; one of which has a moveable joint, 

 which, by means of a line fixed to it, 

 operates like a pair of scissors. 



AVER'SE, Lat. aversus, turned back. In 

 ornithology, when the posterior extremi- 

 ties are attached to the trunk near the 

 anus, so that the body is held erect, as in 

 the penguin. 



AVICES'XA, the generic name of the 

 Mangrove-tree. Didynamia Angiotvtrmt*, 



