ABE 



ABE 



together. I Cor. vii. 29. The learned have taken great 

 pains to afcertain the principle upon which thjv aiScd, and ths 

 reafon of their denomination, to very little purpofe. But, 

 in efFedt, it is more than probable, they took their name 

 from Abel for no other realon, but bccaufe, like that pa- 

 triarch, they had no ilTue ; not that he lived in continence 

 after marriage ; but becaufe lie was killed before he iiad 

 married, or died without ifl'ue. In order to perpetuate the 

 feet, St. Aullin informs us, (ubi fupra,) that when a man 

 and woman entered into this fociety, they adopted a boy 

 and girl, who were to be tlieir heirs, and to many under 

 the fame obligation of continence, and of adoptiiig two 

 children of diilerent fexes. 



ABELICF.A, \n Botany, the name of a vt-ry tall tree, 

 growing principally in Crete, called aUo Jliri'ii/us aJultcrhin, 

 and pfciidofanliiliim. 



A BELL, "/{jAnjin/^M^'VrtA/iv.anEnglifh mufieian,who be- 

 longed to the chapel of Charles ILand coutiniu.d in it till the 

 revolution, when he was difcharged, becaufe he wasapapilt. 

 After many rambles on the continent, and fingular adventures, 

 he returned to England ; and, in 1701, pubhihed a eoUeetion 

 of fongs in feveral languages, which he dedicated to King 

 William. It is faid that this artift poflelTed the fecret of 

 preferving the natural tone of his voice to extreme old age. 

 Hawkins's Hill. Muf. vol. iv. p. 455. 



ABELLA, in Ancient Geography, a municipal town of 

 Campania, near the river Clams, mentioned by Virgil, lib. 

 vii. V. 740.) and by Silius (lib. viii. v. 544.) and inhabited, 

 according to Jullin, (lib. xx. cap. i.) by a colony of Chal- 

 cidians. The nux Avellana, or hazle-nut, takes its name, 

 according to Macrobius, from this town. It is now a heap 

 of luins, near the town and eallle of Avella. The ancient 

 walls enclofe a circuit of near three miles, and in the 

 midtlle are the fragments of an amphitheatre ; the environs 

 are remarkable for the excellent quality of their fruit and 

 honey. Swinburne's Trav. vol. i. p. 162. 



ABELLI,/,("zi'«,inZ?/(?5-/-i7/i/jy,bi{hop and count of Rhodes, 

 was born in the Vcxin Francjois, in 1 603. Quitting his bifliop- 

 ric foon after his promotion, he retired to St. Lazare, where 

 he died in 1691, at the age of _ 88 years. His Me- 

 dulla Theohg'ica, in 2 vols. 1 2mo. is a book which has been 

 often cited by proteftants againft Boffuet, becaufe it fuppHed 

 them with weapons againft the catholic zeal of making con- 

 verts. He wrote other books in I^atin andFrench. Gen. Di£l. 



ABELLINUM, in Ancient Geography, a town of the 

 Hii-pini, a people of Apiiha, near the river Sabbato, be- 

 tween Beneventum and Salcnuim. Pliny calls the inhabi- 

 tants Abellmates Protopi, in order to diftinguilh them from 

 the AheU'inates Marfi. It is now Avellino. E. long. 15° 

 20'. N. lat. 21°.' 



ABELMOLUCH, a fpecies of the rtc'mus, or Palma 

 Chr^i. 



ABELMOSCH, or Abf.lmusk, the mn{l< feed; a 

 finall odoriferous feed brought from Egypt, chiefly ufed in 

 perfumes. The beil comes from Martin ico. The plant 

 which produces it is the Hibiscus ^i^c/w^/I^w-f of Linnxus. 



ABENAS, in Geography, a town in France, in Lan- 

 guedoc, and in the Lower Vivarais, fituated on the river 

 Ardefch, at the foot of the Cevennes. E. long. 4° 43'. 

 N. lat. 44° 40'. 



ABENDANA, Jacob, in Biography, a learned Spanidi 

 Jew, prefeft of a fynagogue in London ; known as the 

 author of a Spicilegium of explanations on feletl pafiages of 

 Scripture in Hebrew. Amft. 1685. fol. He died ia 1685. 



ABENEL Cauby, a fixed ftar of the fecond or third 

 magnitude, in the fouth fcale of the conftellation Libra. 



ABENEZRA, Abraham, in Biography, a celebrated 



Rabbi, born at Toledo, in Spain, and called by the Jews, 

 the wife, great, and admirable doiHor, was a very able in- 

 terpreter ol the Holy Scriptures, and well (Icilled in gram- 

 mar, poetiy, philofophy, allronoiny, and medic iie. He 

 was alio a perfedl mailer of the Arabic. His principal work 

 is Commentaries on the Old Teilament, which arc nu ch 

 efteemed, and printed in Bomberg'.s and Buxlorf's Hebnw 

 Bibles. His llyle is clear, elegant, coiicife, and much like 

 that of the Sacred Writings. He gener.iUy adheres to the 

 literal fenfc, and always man'fells genius and judgment ; 

 though his fentiments are fometimes erroneous. His 'Jcjiid 

 Mora, which recommends the lludy of the Talmud, is the 

 moll rare of alibis writings. His Poem on the game of Chefs 

 was tranflated by Dr. Hyde. Many other theological, gram- 

 matical, mathematical, and allrological works of this author 

 remain in ancient libraries, and have not yet been edited. 

 He died at Rhodes in I I 74, or 1190, aged 75. MafeKf. 

 Heb. Oram. vol. ii. p. 30. 



ABEN-MELEK, a" learned Rabbi, whofe work, in- 

 titled. The Perfeftion of Beauty, printed at Amllerdam, 

 1 66 1, fol. in Hebrew, and tranllated into Latin in 4to. and 

 in 8vo. is a Commentary on the Bible, in which he confines 

 himfelf to the explanation of the grammatical fenle. 



ABENOW, in Geography, a mountain of Suabia, thir- 

 teen miles from Fril)urg, remarkable as the fource of the 

 Danube, and for giving name to a chain of mountains ex- 

 tending from the Rhine to the Neckar, and from the forell- 

 towns to the city ot Thorfheim. 



ABENRAD, a town of Denmark, in Slefwick, in a 

 territory of its own name. It is fituated on a fpaciou:; bay 

 of the Baltic, furrounded by three high mountains, and has 

 been lately much improved. E. long. 9° 14'. N. lat. 55° 6'. 



ABEMSBERG, a fmall town in the circle of Bavaria, 

 on the river Abens, near the Danube. E. long. 11° 55'. 

 N. lat. 48° 46'. 



ABER, in Natural Hi/lory, the name given by Adanfon 

 to the Mytilus puniceus of Linna?us, wth a gibbous acumi- 

 nated fliell, 15 furrows, and a dentated margin. It is found 

 on the wtftern (liore of Africa. 



ABERARTHY. See Cardigan Bay. 



ABERAVON, a fmall borough-town in Glnmorgan- 

 fiiire, in Wales, governed by a portreeve. It is now an in- 

 confiderable village, fituated at the mouth of the river Avon, 

 whence its name ; Aber, in the ancient Britifh, denoting fuch 

 a fituation. W. long. 3° 48'. N. lat. 51° 35'. — The cop- 

 per-works eftabliflied near this place have given it importance, 

 and increafed its population. 



At a fmall diilance from this town is the charming feat of 

 Lord Vernon, at Briton feriy, where the Neath river, iffu- 

 ing from the bold hills which enclofe its vale, pafles be- 

 tween fevera! majeflic groves,and precipitates itfelf into the fea. 



ABERBROTHICK, or Arbroath, one of the Royal 

 Burghs of Scotland, fituated in the county of Angus, about 

 forty miles N. N. E. of Edinburgh, at the dilcharge of 

 the river Brothic into the fea. It is a fmall well-built 

 town, and is gradually improving. Its manufatlures confiil 

 of coarfe brown linens, iailcloth, and thread. Its export 

 trade confills of thefe articles, barley, and wheat ; and its 

 imports are flax and timber from the Baltic. Coals and lime 

 form its eoafting trade. This port is veiy ancient, and it is 

 famous for the ruins of an abbey, founded by William the 

 Lion, in 1178, and dedicated to Thomas a Bccket. The 

 monks were oi the Tyronenfian order, and the lad abbot 

 was Cardinal Beaton. This town has a chalybeate water, 

 containing iron diffolved in fixed air, and ufed as a diuretic 



d corroborative. W. long. 2*^ 29'. N. lat. 56° 36'. 



ABERCONWAY. See Conwav. 



ABER- 



