A B S 



te pafs four, five, or fix months, every year, without eiih^-r 

 eating or drinking : accordin'rly the tortoile, dormouie, fer- 

 pent, &;c. are obien-ed regularly to rrtire, at certain fea- 

 fons, to their refpeftive cells, and hide lliemfelves ; lome 

 pet in-to the cavems of rocks, or ruins ; others di^r holes 

 under ground ; others get into the woods, and lay thcm- 

 felves up in the clefts of trees ; others buiy theinlclvi.s luider 

 water, &c. See Sleepers. 



The fcrpent kind bear abllinence to a ve'.y great degree. 

 We have feen rattle-fnakes that have fubfilled many months 

 without any food, yet Hill retain their vigour and tierce- 

 nefs. Dr. Shaw (Trav. p. 411.) fpeaks of a cotiple of 

 ci-rajlei (a fort of Egyptian ferpents), which had been kept 

 five years in a large ciyftal vcffel, without any fort of food, 

 unlels a fmall quantity of fand, wherein ihey coiled them- 

 felvts up in the bottom of the vefTel, may be reckoned as 

 fuch ; yet, when he faw them, they had juil call their Ikins, 

 and were as brilk and hvely as if jull taken. 



Indeed, feveral fpecies of birds, the whole tribe almofl of 

 infefts, and many among the other tribes, are able to fubllll 

 all through the winter, not only without food, but many of 

 them in a ftate of apparent infenfibility and torpor. — This 

 furnilhes an admirable inftance of the wifdora of the Crea- 

 tor : the proper food of thefe creatures, efpecially the in- 

 feft tribe, being then wanting, there is provifion for tlicm 

 to hve without it. When the fields are diverted of their 

 floweiy furniture, and the trees and plants are ftripped of 

 their fruits, what would become of fuch animals as are fub- 

 ililed only by the produce of tlie fpring and fummer, and of 

 others which arc incapable of bearing fevere cold ? To pre- 

 vent the total dellruftion and extirpation of many fpecies of 

 animals, the Author of nature has provided, that creatures, 

 bereaved by the feafon of their food, (hould be likewife impati- 

 ent of cold : that they might thus be led to Ihelter themfclves 

 out of the way of danger ; and that when arrived in a place 

 of fafety, the natural texture and vifcidity of their blood 

 fhould difpofe it, by a farther degree of cold, to ftagnate 

 in the veffels : fo that the circulation flopping, and the 

 animal funftions being, in a great meafure, fui'pended, there 

 is no fentible waile or confumption of parts, but they re- 

 main in a kind of drov.fy neutral ftafe, between life and 

 death, till the warm fun revives botli them and their food to- 

 gether, by thawing the congealed juices, both of fuch ani- 

 mals audi vegetables. The faft, hov/ever, is quellionable ; 

 and will be more particularly confidered hereafter. 



It is more than probable, that all motion of the animal 

 juices is extinft in ilies, and other infcfts, when thus alleep ; 

 becaufe, though they are cut in pieces, they do not awake, 

 nor does any fluid ooze out of the wound, unlefs iome ex- 

 traordinary degree of warmth hath been iivft applied to un- 

 bind the congelation. See //(v/vc-HoG. The deep of fuch 

 animals is little elfe than death, and their waking a relur- 

 redlion. — For if life docS not conilft in a circulation of the 

 blood, we do not know in what it confifcs. 



Hence it is no wonder that tortoifes, dormice, &c. are 

 found as fat and flelhy, after fome months abftinence, as 

 before. Sir G. Er.t weighed his tortoife ieveral years fuc- 

 cefilvely, at its going to earth in October, and coming out 

 again, in March ; and found that of four pounds four 

 ounces, it only ufed to lofe about one ounce. Phil. Tranf. 

 N^ 194. 



We have fome inftances of men who have paficd feve- 

 ral weeks, and even months in abllinence without injuiy. 

 The records of the Tower mention a Scotfman, imprifoned 

 for felony, and ftriftly watched for fix weeks ; during 

 which time he did not take the lead fuftenance : on which 

 account he obtaiaed his pardon. There are Kany cales 



Voj.. I. 



A B S 



of abftinence from morbid caufu, that are related in the 

 different periodical Memoirs, Tr.ir.f.id:ons,KplicmiTidci, &i;. 

 It is to be added, that in moll of the inlbinccs of loii||f 

 abftinence related by naturalilh, there were apparent maikt 

 of a texture ot blood and humours, much Lke llut of fHm- 

 mer bealls and infedts ; though it is no improbable opinion 

 that the air itfelf may furnilh fomctliing for nutrition. It 

 is certain, there are fubftanccs of all kinds, animal, ve- 

 getable, &c. floating in the almofphere ; which inuil be 

 continually taken in by relplration : and that an 3nim:il 

 body may be nouriflied thereby, is evident in the inflaijcc 

 of vipers ; which, if taken wiicn fiHl brougiit forth, and 

 kept from cverj- thing but air, will yet grow very corjider- 

 ably in a few days. So the eggs of iizardi arc a!fo ob- 

 ferved to increafe in bulk, after diey are produced, thougk 

 there be nothing tA furnilh the inaemcnt but air alone ; after 

 the like manner as the egg.! or fiiawn of llfnes grow, and 

 are nourifhed with the water. And hence, fome f.iy, It is, that 

 cooks, turnfpit dogs, &c. though they cat hut little, yet 

 are ufually fat. 



Abstinence is atfo ufed fometimcs to fignify a fupprrf. 

 fwn. Thus in Coeliiis Aurelianus, aijlinenlia J'uilorii, fig. 

 nifies a fuppreflion of fweat. Sometimes in this author it 

 means a coniprejfion ; as Sp'irifiis ob abftincntiam claufus^ 

 means the wind fhut up in the intcftincs by coniprellion, 

 thereby caufing the w-xkz pn'Jion, 



ABSTINENTES, in EccUfuMcal ITJlory, a fort of 

 people, who earned abllinence and mortification fo far, thjt 

 they have been put into the catalogue of heretics ; though 

 it i« not known in what their cvror confilled. 



Some reprefent them as the fame with thofe other\vifi 

 called Cmitmcnles, and that they particularly enjoined ab- 

 ftinence from the ufe of marnage : otiiers (ay, from flefii, 

 and others from wine. Others will have them a bi-anch of 

 the Gnostics. Some make them the fame with the 

 HiERACiTES ; others with the Encratites. They are 

 faid to have rllen in Spain and France towards the clofe of 

 the third centur\'. 



ABSTOTTEN, in Geogrnf.hy, a fmall market town, 

 belonging to the bilhop of Paflau, in the circle above the 

 foreil of Wiener, in Auftria. 



ABSTlvACT, Abstractum, in a general feiife, any 

 thing ieparated from fomething elfe. 



Abstract of a fine, in Laiv. See Fine. 



Abstract idea, in Metaphyjics, is a partial idea of a 

 complex objecl, limited to one or more ot the component 

 parts or properties, laying alide or abllrafting from the reft. 

 But among thofe who adopt the fyllem of Mr. Locke, an 

 abjIraB idea denotes an idea formed in the mind, when we 

 confider a thing liinply in itfclf, without refpedl to the fub- 

 jeCt wherein it refules ; or it is a rim])Ie idea detached and 

 ieparated from any piinicular fubjecl or complv.; idea, for the 

 fake of viewing and confidering il more diftintily. 



Thus, magnitude and humanity are abJlraPtS or alJlraB 

 ideas, when confidered in themfelves, and without being at- 

 tached to any particular body, o-- perfon ; though they can- 

 not have any real fuhfiftence without fuck fubjefls, nor the 

 fubjefts without them. 



Whitenefs is an a'Lftraft, inafmuch as it does not denote 

 any one white objetl, but that colour, or idea in the geneiT.V, 

 wherever found. 



Abllrafl ideas are oppofcd to thofe which are concrete ; 

 the concrete denoting a general or abllraifl idea's being at- 

 tached to fome particular fubjeft, or cor.fidcrcd as coinbincd 

 with fome other ideas : as, great houft, •n-hii: waU. All our 

 fimple ideas, fays Mr. Locke, have abftraft, as well a,; ctn- 

 crcV names : v.i w/jiur.'/'s, wkilf ; hveclnrfs, fw^ct, Si.z. The 



K ■ like 



