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&c. The life of aTerment being to afceitain what is al- 

 leged doubtfully, deeds may fometimcs be made good by- 

 averment, where a perfon is not certainly named ; but where 

 the deed itftlf is void for uncertainty, it cannot be made 

 good by averment. 5 Rep. 155. Averment, which is mere- 

 ly the allegation of a party, cannot be made againft a 

 record, which imports an uncontroulable verity. Co. Lit. 

 246. Jenk. 232. Lil. P. R. 155. Averment docs not 

 lie againft the proceedings of a court of record. 2 Hawk. 

 P. C. c. i. § 14. Nor fhall it be admitted againft a will 

 concerning lands. 5 Rep. 6S. And an averment (hall not 

 be allowed where the intent of the tcftator cannot be col- 

 ledtd out of the words of tiie will. 4 Rep. 44. Nor (hall 

 ■ any one aver a thing contrary to the condition of an obli- 

 gation, which is fiippofed to be made upon good delibera- 

 tion, and before witne(rts, and therefore not to be con- 

 tradicted by a bare avtrment. i Lill. Abr. J56. If an 

 heir is fued on the bond of liis anceftor, it muft be averred 

 that the heirs of the obligor were exprefsly bound. 2 Sauiid. 

 136. Another confideration than that mentioned in a deed 

 may be averred, where it is not repugnant or contrary to 

 the deed. Dyer, 146. But a conlideration may not be 

 averred, that is againft a particular exprefs conlideration ; 

 nor may averment be made againft a conlideration men- 

 tioned in the deed, that there was no confideration 

 given. I Rep. 176. 8 Rep. 155. If one has two ma- 

 nors known by t!ie name of W. and levies a fine, or grants 

 an annuity out of his manor of W., he (liall by averment 

 afcertain which of them it was. 6 Mod. 235. Cha. Rep. 

 138. If a piece of ground was anciently called by one 

 name, and of late is called by another, and it is granted to 

 me by this new name, an averment that it is the fame will 

 make it good. Dyer, 37. 44. No averment lies againft any 

 returns of writs, that aredefmitive to the trial of the thing 

 returned ; as the return of a fncrifl upon his writs, &;c.; but 

 it may be where fuch arc not definitive; and againft certili- 

 cates upon commifiions out of any court ; alio againft the 

 returns of baiiifTs of franchifes, lo that the lords be not 

 prejudiced by it. Dyer, 348. 8 Rep. 121. 3 Cro. 13. A 

 fpecial averment muft be made upon the pleading of a 

 general pardon, for the party to bring himfclf within the 

 pardon. Hob. 67. A perfon may aver he is not the (ame 

 perfon on appeal of death in favour of life, i Nelf. Abr. 

 305. Where a man is to take a benefit by an aft ot parlia- 

 ment, he muft aver in pleading, that he is not a perfon ex- 

 cepted. Plow. Com. 87. 48S. Pleas merely in the nega- 

 tive (hall not be averred, bccaufe they cannot be proved ; 

 Bor iliall what is againft prefuiYiption of law or any thnig 

 apparent to the court. Co. Litt. 362. 373. By flat. 4 & 5 

 Ann. c. 16. no exception or advantage (hall be taken upon 

 a demurrer, for want of averment hoc paratits efi, Sec. except 

 the fame be fpecially fet down for caufe of demurrer. 



AVERNI, among the Ancie!:! NatiiraUjls, certain lakes, 

 grottoes, and other places, which infect the air with poi- 

 (onous fteams or vapours ; called alio mcph'ites. 



The word is fo'rm.ed of the privative «, and cpt?, liid, 

 as intimating that birds could not fly over them, but dropped 

 down dead. Jvenuis, q. d. aoniiis, locus fuie aviius. 



Averni are faid ,to be frequent in Hungary, on account 

 of the abundance of m.ines therein. The Grotto del Cam, m 

 Italy, is a famous one. But the moft celebrated Avernns was a 

 Jake near Eaia;, in Campania, by the modern Italians ca.led 

 Lago di Tripergola, and lltuatein the country of Lavora m 

 Naples, near Puzzuoll, and laid to be about 600 yards in dia- 

 meter, and iu fome places 188 feet deep.— The tumcs it 

 emitted are reprefented by the ancients asbeii.gof lo malignant 

 a nature, that birds could not fly over it, but tunk do« a dead ; 

 Vol. III. 



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vrhicli fome later writers have chofen to attribute to thi«, that 

 Its fulphurcous effluvia not being of confilVcnce to fuftain the 

 birds, they dropped by their own weight. Thiscircumllancc, 

 joined witli the great depth of the lake, occafionedtheancitntk 

 to take it for the gate or entrance of htll ; and accordingly 

 Homer brings UlylTes toAvcrnui, as to the mouth of the 

 infernal regions ; and in imitation of the Grecian bard, Vir- 

 gil makes jEneas defcend this way into the fame abode;. — 

 Vibius Sequcfter fays, that no bottom of it has been found. 

 (See Hell.) Next to the Baiac (fays Strabo) lies the Lu- 

 crinc bay, ai'd within it the lake Avcmus ; which is a deep 

 darkfcm.e lake, with a narrow enii-y from the outer bay : 

 it is furroundcd with ftetp banks, that hang threatening 

 over it; and is only accelTiblc by tlie narrow palTage through 

 which you fail in. Thefe banks were anciently quite over- 

 grown with a wild wood, impenetrable by a human foot. 

 Its gloomy fliade impreiTed an awful luperftition upon the 

 m.inds of the beholders ; whence it was reputed the feat of 

 the Cimmerians, who dwelt in perpetual night. Whoever 

 failed hither, firft ofi'ered Qicrifice ; and endeavoured to 

 propitiate the infernal powers, with the alTiliance of f-jme 

 priells, who attended upon the place, and dirtftcd the 

 myftic performance. Wltliin, a fountain of pure water broke 

 out juft over the fea ; but no creature ever tafted of it, 

 believing it to be a vein of the river Styx : fomcwliat near 

 this fountain was the oracle : and the hot waters frequent 

 in thefe parts, made them think t!iey were branches of the 

 burning Phlcgcthon. 



The ho'.incfs of thefe (hades (fays a modem trareller) re- 

 mained unimpeachcd for many ages. Hannibal marched hit 

 army to offer incenfe at this altar ; though, perhaps, he was 

 led to this aft of devotion, rather by the hopes of furprifing 

 the garrifon of Puteoli, than by his piety. After a long 

 reign of undifturbec! gloom and celebrity, a fudden glare of 

 light was let in upon Avcmus ; the horrors were difpcUed, 

 and with them vauilhed the fanftity of the lake : the axe of 

 Agrippa brought its foreft to the ground, difturbed its 

 (leepy waters with (hips, and gave room for all its malignant 

 elEuvia to efcape. The virulence of thefe exhalations is de- 

 fcribed by ancient authors as very extraordinary ; but modem 

 writers, wlio know the place merely in a cleared (late, charge 

 thefe accounts with exaggeration ; and yet it muft be owned 

 that they claim fome relpeft, as the air is even now fevcri(k 

 and dangerous, which the jaundiced faces of the vine- 

 drefters, who have fucceeded the Sibyls and Cimmerians in 

 the poircflion of the temple, moft ruefully teftify. Boccacio 

 relates, that during his refidence at the Neapolitan court, 

 the furface of this lake was fnddcnly covered with dead fi(h, 

 black and finged, as if killed by fome fubaqucous eruption 

 of fire. At prefent, however, it abounds with tench, an3 

 the dulky Avernus is become clear and ferene ; fo that it 

 ofters a moft alluring furface and a chaiTning fcene for amufc- 

 ments (iniilar lo thofe which were fought for at the Lucrine 

 lake in the time of Seneca, and which he has defcribed. 

 Spallanzani infoniis us, that he faw great numbers of feaU 

 fwimming on its furface ; ard the pcafants a(rure'd him, that 

 the lake "abounded with water-fov.l i:i the winter. " Nor 

 do I know," fays this writer, " any caufe which can at 

 prefent drive thtm from a place where they may find 

 plenty of fond, as neither the en> irons, nor the lake itfelf, 

 aftord any indication of noxious exhalations." There can 

 be no dciubt that tliis lake was the ci-atcr of an ancient vol- 

 cano. Like otiier volcanic craters, its internal fides become 

 narrow towards the bottom ; and both the bottom and the 

 external part of Monte Nuovo, fo called becaufe it was pro- 

 duced by fublen-anean Cix-s in 1J38, confift of a fnablc 

 tufa, in manv places covered with plants. The fea bathea 

 T t the 



