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ATiRVG-Jijnya, in C.-o^r,if>hy, a populous town of 

 Traill) Ivaiiia, in the diftrlct of \VeiiTciiburg, tlie rcfidcncc 

 of llii; Mine office, aad the thief of the metal towns. It is 

 fitujted amonijll iniaes of gold and lilver. E. loii;^'. 23° 24'. 

 N. Int. 4''i yo'. 



ABRUl'TION, in Surgery, a term of the fame figniSca- 

 tloii With Abouction. 



AiiRUS, in Bo.-iiny, of a^f>i, /oft or Jflkalr, fo called 

 from the extreme tcndlniel's of tlie leaves, is a penus of the 

 natural order of Lrgumn /.-, and the 17th elafs oi Dla- 

 iW:'- ./ D.cinJ Li; its generic cliaratlers are, that the ra/i'.v has 

 a o •--'.eared, bell-lhaped, oblciircly four-lobed pcriaiithium, 

 WiUi blunt tcetli, the upper one broader tlian the rcll ; the 

 eori!!.! is papilionaceous, with a roundiih banner, flatted at 

 the fides longer t lan the wings and keel, oblong blunt 

 win^, a .d ublong lickle-fliaped gibbous keel ; \X\e Jliimhia 

 are niiie fi amints united in a Iheath, cloven above, with ob- 

 long erect lathers; the p /}'/ is a cylindrical hairy germen, 

 with fubulate llyle, fhortev than the ftamina, a.id fmall 

 ftigma in funn of a head ; the pencprf^um is a legume or 

 pod, like a rhomb, comprefTed, coriaceous, bivalved, with four 

 or five cells, and a f jbulate deflex claw ; and the feeils are 

 folitary and fubglebole. There is one fpecies, viz. the 

 ttihrus precj'onus, fonnerly the CIy:lne alrus of Linnveus, the 

 Ph.if I t of jloane, and Oroliis yfnericaiiiu, &c. of Tourne- 

 fort. It grows nntunilly in both liidies, Guinea, and 

 EgNT>t. It is a perennial plant, rifmg to the height of 

 eigii: or ten feet. Its leaflets have the tafte of liquorice, 

 whence it is called in the Weil Indies Jamaica wild /iquorue, 

 and ufed for the fame pui-pofe. There art two varieties, one 

 with a white, and t!ic other with a yellow feed. The feeds 

 are commonly (Irung, and worn as ornaments in the countries, 

 where the plant grows wild ; and they are frequently 

 brought to Europe from Guinea, and the Eaft and Well 

 Indies, and wrought into various forms with other hard 

 feeds and (hells. They are alfo ufed for weighing precious 

 commodities, and ftrung as beads for rofaries, whence the 

 epithet 6rfra/or/ux. They are frequently thrown, with other 

 Weft Indian feeds, on the coaft of Scotland. This plant 

 was cultivated by Bifliop Compton at Fulham before 1680. 

 It is propagated by feeds, lown on a good hot-bed in fp-ing, 

 and previoully foakcd for 12 or 14 hours in water. When 

 the plants are two inches, each of them fiioukl be tranf- 

 plan d into a feparate pot of light earth, and plunged into 

 Let-' .'Is of tanners' bark, and Ihaded from the fun. They 

 will flower the fecond year, and fometimes ripen their feeds 

 in England. Miller by Martyn. 



Abrus, in tlie MnUria MaUca, the name of a feed pro- 

 duc -d by one of the phafeola, or kiduey-beans, and com- 

 monly called Ango'a feeds. 



ABRUZZO, in G^f'graphy, aprovince of Naples, deriving 

 its nnmefrom the ancient city of Ter am o, which was focalled. 

 Th s name was applied by the Goths, Lombards, and Nor- 

 m:ms, to a fmall domain, denominated the county of Apruz- 

 zo, or Aprutinus. Under the Swabian govemment it was 

 extended to the whcie country that now bears this appella- 

 tion. It is divided by the river Pefcara into two parts, one 

 of which is denominated Ulterior, or Ulti-a, having Aquila 

 for its capital, and the other Cit^rior or Citra, whofe capi- 

 tal is Chilli. The tribunals of govemment in this country 

 were fixed, on the acceffion ot the houfe of Arragon, at 

 Aquil.i and Chieti. But in the laft century it was found 

 expedient to divide that of Aquila into two jurifdiclions : 

 and a third tribunal was ellabliflied at Teramo. In this pro- 

 vince there are, befides the Apennine mountains, two others 

 called Monte CavsUo and Moute Maiello, the top of the laft: 

 of which is always covered with fuow, and many more of 



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inferior note. Although Abnizzo is a cold countiy, it is 

 fertile in corn, rice, fruit, oil, and wine, which aiRird not 

 only a fufficicnt fupply for the natives, but articles for ex- 

 portation. Wool is ;di'o a ftaple commodity, which is fur- 

 niflied by the flocks that pafs the fummer on the fine paftures 

 of the mountains, and are di-iven in winter to the plains ef 

 Puglia, and other parts near the fea co;ift, where the fuow 

 does not lie. Safli-on was fonnerly produced in great abun- 

 dance in the territory of Aquila, but lines the culture of it 

 in Lombardy, it has been neglected in Abruzzo. Liquorice- 

 routs are exported from the maritim.e diftrifts of this country ; 

 and in the province of Teramo there is a manufa<5lory of 

 pottery-ware, which is valued in Germany, and conveyed 

 thither by the way of Trieste ; but this is linking into decay. 

 This country, which is naturally fertile and productive, 

 needs only indullry and labour, under the protcilion and 

 encouragement of a good government, to render it important 

 and proiperous. But dellitute of internal improvement and 

 convenient fea-ports, it is, in moll parts of it, dcfolate and 

 wretched. Feudatoiy eftates abound ; but the towns are 

 thinly inhabited, and the face of the countiy exhibits traces 

 of inattention and neglect. The antiquary and naturalift 

 may travel through this province with pleafure and advan- 

 tage. The moft; intereiling monuments are thofe of Monte- 

 Corno and Majella. The inhabitatits bear a great refem- 

 blanceto their northern progenitors, who were firll Lombards, 

 and afterwards Normans, pofieffing the fame gwodnefs of heart 

 w'ith great indolence, and an indifpofition to a£tive exer- 

 tions. Among the mountaineers there are evident traces of 

 the Frank and Teutonic languages. In this province is the 

 lake Celano. Swinburne's Travels, vol. iv. p. 378.. 



ABSALOM, in Scripture Hilary, the fon of David, by 

 Maacah, d:vughtcr of Talmai, king of Gefliur, and brother 

 of Tamar, who was dilhonoured by Amnon, David's fon by 

 another mother. For this injury, Amnon was atTafrmated 

 by Abfalom at a feafl which he prepared for the royal fami- 

 ly. He then took refuge with Talmii, in the countiy of 

 Gefliur ; and foon after he was reftored to favour, he en» 

 gaged the Ifraelites to revolt from his father. iHaving been 

 proclaimed king at Hebron, his father was under a neceffity 

 of leaving Jerulalem, where Ablalom was received by the 

 people. He and his army, however, were foon routed by 

 David's forces under the command of Joab ; and flying into 

 the foreft of Ephraim, his hair was entangled in the branches 

 of an oak, and in this lituation he was killed by Joab and 

 his armour-bearer, A.M. 2980, ante A. D. 1024. David, 

 who had ordered his life to be preferved, lamented his death 

 w;th exceflive grief. The extraordinaiy weight of Abfalom's 

 hair, which is ftated (2 Sam. xiv. 26.) at " 2CO flitkels 

 after the king's weight," has been confidered by critics and 

 commentators as a diiliculty, which is not eafily folved. If 

 we allow with Dr. Cumberland, (EiTay on weights, &ci 

 p. 103.) that the Jewifli fliekel of filver was equal to half an 

 ounce avoirdupoife, 200 (hekels would be equal to 6f 

 pounds. Jofephus (Op. t. i. p. 3S6.) fuppofes the 200 

 fltekels to be 5 miii?e, and eich mina to be 2i pounds, 

 and confeqnently the weight of the hair to be I2| 

 pounds, which is Itill more incredible. For the folii- 

 tion of this difiicu'ty fo e have fuppofed that the fhekel 

 in this paCage denoted a weight in gold equal to the value 

 of the filver fliekel, or half an ounce, and thus reduce the 

 weight of the hair to abut 5 ounces. Others fnppofe, 

 that the 200 fliekels fignify, not the weight, but the value 

 of the hair. Others, again, are of opinion, that there has 

 been an en-or in tranfcribiiig the Hebrew copy ; fo that the 

 number of fliekels being expreflTed by the letter -, which de- 

 notes 20, was millaken for '\, or 200, or that "J, which fig- 



uiiiea 



