A B Y 



The AbyHlnians Iiave divers times esprcITcd an inclination 

 to be reconciled to the fee of Rome ; but ratlier out of in- 

 tereil of (late than any other motive. See Abyssikia. 



Several milfionaries accufe the AbvlTniians of Judaifm, 

 in regard to the many Jewifli obfervances ftill in ufe amonir 

 them : fome have even doubted, whether they arc more 

 Clirillians, or jews. Lobo fays exprofsly, they are only 

 Chrilliaus in name: they praftlfe circumcifion on females as 

 well as males. But different opinions are held in different 

 provinces with re;^ard to the origin and oblij^-ation of this rite, 

 r.s well as the time and mode of performing it. 1'he Abvf- 

 finians of Tigre proiefs to have derived it from Hhmatl's 

 family and his dele 'ndants, with whom they were connefted 

 at an early period ni their trading voyages ; and they fav, 

 that the queen of Sheba, and all the women of that coall, 

 had fuffered excifion at the ufual time of life, before pu- 

 Ijerty, and before her journey to Jerufalem. The Falalha 

 declare, that their circunicilion was that commonly prae- 

 tifed at Jerufalem in the time of Solomon, and in ufe among 

 them when they left Palclline, and came into Abyfliuia. 

 They pcrtonn it on the 8th day, as a religious rite, accord- 

 ing to the firR iiillitution by God to Abraham. The Abyf- 

 iinians pretend tlieirs is not of this kind, and that they prac- 

 tife it bccaufe Chrift and the apoRles were circumcifed, 

 though they do not hold it ncceffaiy to falvation. But 

 none of them pretend thst circumciiion arifes from any kind 

 of neceffuy, or from any impediment to procreation, or that 

 it is neceflary for cleanlinefs, or from the heat of the climate ; 

 and therefore it is probable, that it was originally derived 

 from a divine command, and as fuch, tranfmitted to tliem. 

 See CiRCUMCisiOM. The Abyffinians eat no meats prohi- 

 bited by the law of Mofes. Women are obliged to the 

 legal purifications. Brothers many their brothers' wives, 

 &c. They abitain from hog's flelh, blood, meats flrangled, 

 &c., and obferve both Satui-day and Sunday labbath, ac- 

 cording to the cuftom of the primitive church : all of them 

 marks of Judail"m ; though bv fome refolved into mere 

 human inftitution, and ufage. They celebrate the Epiphany 

 with peculiar feftlvity, in memory of Chrift's baptifm ; 

 when they plunge and fport in ponds and rivers, v>-liich has 

 occaiioned fome to affirm that they were baptifed a-new 

 eveiy year. This is pofitively affertcd by Alvarez, but as 

 pofitlvely contradicted by Mr. Bruce, (vol. Hi. p. 324, &c. ) 

 who has given a veiy ample accoimt of this ceremony, which 

 is an old obfervance of the eallern church, formerly per- 

 foiTned publicly in Egypt, as it is now in Ethiopia. Many 

 falfehoods have been propagated with regard to the mode of 

 baptifm in Abyflinia, in order to impugn the validity of it, 

 and to excufe the raffi conduft of the Jefults in rebaptifing 

 all the Abvffniians, as if they had been a Jcwifli and Pagan 

 people that had never been baptifed at all. Among the 

 faints-days, which are very numerous, is one confecrated to 

 Pilate and his wife ; becaufe Pilate wafhed his hands before 

 he pronounced fentence on Chrift ; and his wife defired 

 him to have nothing to do with the blood of that jull perfon. 

 They have four Lents : the great one commences ten days 

 earlier than ours, and is obferved with much feverity, many 

 abllaining therein even from fifti, becaufe St. Paid fays there 

 is one kind of flefh of men, and another of fillies. They 

 allow of divorce, which is eafily granted among tliem, and 

 by the civil judge : nor do their civil laws prohibit poly- 

 gamy. They have at leaft as many miracles, and legends 

 of faints, as the Romilh chuich ; v\hich proved no fmall 

 embarraiTrnent to the Jefuit miflionaries, to whom they pro- 

 duced fo many miracles, wrought by their faints, in proof 

 cf their religion, and thofe fo well circumllantlated and at- 

 teded, that the Jefuits were obliged to deny miracles to be 

 Vol. I. 



A C A 



any fu.Tielent proof of a true religion ; anJ to allrjrc 

 the fame arguments againft tlic AbyfTinians, which pro- 

 teftants in Europe allege agaiiid the papills. They pray 

 for the dead, and invoke faints and angels ; and hnvc (o 



freat a veneration for the Virgin, that ihcy charged the 

 eiults with not rendering her honour enough. Im.!ge4 in 

 painting they venerate, and piiftures have been ufed in their 

 churches from the earlicfl age of Chriftianily, but thty ab- 

 hor all thofe that arc eniboffed and in relievo ; nur do tlify 

 uieacrofs on the top of the ball of the Sendlck or (landard, 

 becaufe it calls a (hade. Tiiey hold that the foul of man 

 is not created, becaufe, fav they, God finifhid all lii-. 

 works on the fixth day. Tliey have the fame books of 

 fcrlpture with us ; though few arc able lo purchafc entire 

 copies either of the Old or New Te'.lamcnt. The Revela- 

 tion of St. John is a favourite hook with them. The Song 

 of Solomon Is alfo much cftcemed by the old priclls, but the 

 reading of it is prohibited to the yi>ung ones, the deacons, 

 laymen, and women. The Abyffinians l>ilie\e that this 

 fong was made by Solomon in pralfc of Pliaraoh'a daugh- 

 ter ; but they do not think, with fome of our divines, tliat 

 it contains any myllery or allegoiy refpeO^ing Chrift and the 

 church. Tiiey alio admit the apociyplial books, and the 

 canons of the apollles, as well as tlie apollulical conllitu- 

 tions, for genuine. Their liturgy is given by Alvarez, and 

 in Englifli by Pagit ; their calendar by Ludolf ; the anfvvei-s 

 to abbe Gregory to certain quellions, propofed by the au- 

 thor laft cited, are publiflied by Fabricius, under the title of 

 Thcologia iEthiopica. 



ACA, Acco, and Acon, in /Indent Cfigrnphy, a town 

 of Phccnicia, on the Mediterranean ; afterwards called PiO' 

 lanais, now Acre. See AciiA. 



ACABA,a ridge of mountains near Gerri, in AbylTinia. 

 ACABENE, one of the dlilrifts or provinces into which 

 Ptolemy divided Egypt. It was fitiiated near the river 

 Tigris. 



ACABIS, a fmall town in Cyrenaica, mentioned by 

 Ptolemy. 



ACACALIS, in the Materia Medlca, the naine givea 

 by i'ome authors to the Jiii'/i/a fylvrjlr'uy or \\\\A enrol/. Dale. 

 ACACALOTL, or Acalot, in Ornithology, the name 

 of an American bird, which is the Tavt/ilus Mtxieanus 

 of Gmelin, and called by fome corvus aquutkus, or the 

 water raven. 



ACACESIUM, a dty of Arcadia, fo called from 

 Acacus the ion of Lycaon. It is mentioned by Paufanlas, 

 L8. 



ACACIA, or Akakia, Martin, in Bin^raJ'hy, was bom 

 at Chalons fur Marnc, about the year 1520. He iludicd 

 at Paris under the celebrated Monf. Briflot, .and was made 

 Profeffor of Medicine and Surgery there, and acquired ccn- 

 fidevable reputation as a teacher in thofe fciences. 



He pubhlhed commentaries on fcveral of the works of 

 Galen, in the years 1548, and 155:5, and two hooks de Mor- 

 bis Muliebribus, inferted in the Gynii-ciaby Spachicus. He 

 died m the year 1588. 



Acacia, in Botany. See Guilandina, Guaiacvm, 

 Mimosa, Poinciana, and Spartium. 



The flowers of a fpecles of the acacia are ufed by the 

 Chinefe in making that yellow, which, we fee, bears wafli- 

 ing in their filks and ftuffs ; and appears with io much ele- 

 gance in their painting on paper. The method is this : 



They gather the flowers before they are fully open ; thefe 

 they put into a clean earthen vcffel over a gentle heat, and 

 ftir them continually about, as they do the tea-leaves, till 

 they become dryilh and of a yellowifh colour ; then to half 

 a pound of the flowers they add ihrcc fpoonfuls of fair 



N water* 



