A B S 
A B S 
A B S 
5 
a count or declaration : thus, in assize, a man 
is said to abridge his plaint, and a woman her 
demand in action of dower, if any land is put 
therein, which is not in the tenure of the de- 
fendant; for on a plea of non-tenure, in abate- 
ment of the writ, the plaintiff may leave out 
those lands, and pray that the tenant may 
answer to the remainder. The reason is, that 
these writs run in general, and therefore shall 
be good for the rest, Coxsel. 
ABROMA, in botany, a genus of the 
pobjadelphia dodeqaudria class and order. 
The corolla consists of Jive petals larger than 
the calyx : and the essential character is, pis- 
tils 5 ;" capsule five-celled one valved, gaping 
at top ; seeds subovate, incompletely arilled. 
We know of only two species : t'ce one 
abroma angusta, a native of New South 
Wales, amUthe Philippine isles ; the other of 
the East Indies. The former is a tree bearing 
a purple flower, the other only a shrub in its 
native climate. \\ ith us, the abroma an- 
gusta is treated as a stove plant, and may be 
propagated by cuttings ; the abroma W lieleri 
is not known in Europe. 
AB11US, in botany and the materia me- 
dic.i, a genus of plants* of the class and order 
diadelphia decandria, called vulgarly the zvi/d 
liquorice. The essential character is, the 
calyx obscurelv four-lobed, the upper lobe 
broadest. Filaments nine, united in a sheath 
at bottom, gaping at the back. Stigma blunt, 
seeds sub-globose. 
We know of but one species of this elegant 
plant, which grows wild in both Indies, Gui- 
nea and Egypt ; and produces those beauti- 
ful red seeds resembling beads with a blgck 
spor or eye at the end annexed to the pod, 
which have been so much admired. 1 hey 
have been worn in many countries as orna- 
ments. They are eaten in Egypt, but are 
the most unwholesome and indigestible of the 
pulse tribe ; one variety produces white, and 
another yellow seeds, but otherwise they are 
not essentially d.fferent. 1 he abrus is with 
us a stove plant, raised from seeds sown in 
light earth, and plunged in a iiot-bed. It 
sometimes ripens seed in England. 
ABSCESS, an inflammatory tumour, con- 
taining purulent matter, pent up in a fleshy 
part. 
Abscess is synonymous with apostem, im- 
posthume, and imposthumation ; and is al- 
ways the effect of an inflammation, which 
frequently may be discussed without coming 
to a suppuration, or before an abscess is 
formed. See Surgery, Ac. 
ABSC1SSE, in conic sections, the part of 
the diameter of a curve line intercepted be- 
tween the vertex of that diameter, and the 
point where any ordinate or semi-ordinate to 
the diameter falls. 
From this definition it is evident, that 
there are an infinite number of variable ab- 
scisses in the same curve, as well as an infi- 
nite number of ordinates. In the parabola, 
one ordinate has but one abscisse ; in an el- 
lipsis, it has two; in an hyperbola consisting 
of two parts, it has also two ; and in curves of 
the second and third order, it may have three 
and four. In the parabola, the abscisse is a 
third proportional to the parameter and semi- 
ordinate. In the ellipsis, the square of the 
semi-ordinate is equal to the rectangle of the 
parameter into the abscisse, subtracting an- 
other rectangle of the same abscisse into a 
fourth proportional to the axis, the parame- 
ter, and abscisse. In the hyperbola, the 
squares of the semi-ordinates are to each 
other as the rectangles of the abscisse, into a 
line composed of the same abscisse and t lie 
transverse axis. See Conic Sections. 
ABSCISSION, in rhetoric, a figure of 
speech, whereby the speaker stops sort in the 
middle of his discourse: ,e. g. “ One of her 
age and beauty, to be seen alone, at such an 
hour, with a man of his character! 1 need 
say no more.” 
ABSINTHIUM. See Artemisia. 
ABSOLUTE number , is the known quan- 
tity wh cli possesses one side of an equation ; 
thus, in x 1 + L2 x= 24, the absolute num- 
ber is 24, which is equal to the square of a 
added to 1 2 times x. 
Absolute equation, in astronomy, is the 
sum of the optic and eccentric equations. 
The apparent inequality of a planet’s motion, 
arising from its not being equally distant from 
the earth at all times, is called its optic equa- 
tion ; this would subsist if the planet’s real 
motion was uniform. The eccentric inequa- 
lity is caused by the planet’s motion not be- 
ing uniform. 
ABSOLUTELY, among divines, is used 
for completely, or with full power, and effect, 
independently of any thing else : thus catho- 
lics hold that the priest forgives sins abso- 
lutely; whereas proiestant divines do it only 
declaratively. 
Absolutely, in grammar; a word is 
taken absolutely when it has no government: 
thus, in “ Pray without ceasing ;” the word 
pray is taken absolutely, as it governs no- 
thing. 
ABSOLUTION, among civilians, is used 
for a definitive sentence, declaring the ac- 
cused person innocent, and releasing him 
from all farther prosecution. 
Absolution, among catholics, is a pre- 
tension assumed by the priests to forgive sins 
absolutely, that is", by virtue of a power in- 
herent in themselves. By slat. 23 Eli/., to 
procure absolutions from Rome is declared to 
be high treason. Protestant divines pretend 
to no such power, but only declare the scrip- 
ture terms of pardon. * 
Absolution, in the Scotch presbyterian 
church, is chiefly used for a sentence ot the 
church-judicatories, releasing a man from ex- 
communication, and receiving him again into 
communion. 
Absolutio ad cautclam, is a provisional 
absolution, granted to a person who has ap- 
pealed from a sentence of excommunication. 
ABSORBENTS, are such medicines as 
have the power of drying up redundant hu- 
mours, whether applied to ulcers, or inwardly 
taken. 
Absorbent Vessels , in anatomy, is a name 
indiscriminately given to the lacteals, lympha- 
tics, and inhalent arteries. See Anatomy. 
Absorbent Vessels is also a name used 
by some naturalists for the fibres of the roots 
of plants, which draw nourishment from the 
surrounding earth. See Physiology of 
Plants. 
ABSORBING, the swallowing up or im- 
bibing any thing: thus black bodies are said 
to absorb the rays of light; luxuriant branches 
to absorb or waste the nutritious juices, which 
should feed the fruit of trees, &c. 
ABSORPTION, the effect of absorbing : 
thus we read of absorptions of the earth, when 
large tracts of land have been swallowed up. 
Mount Vesuvius has in the course of time 
lost half its height; the upper part having 
been undermined by t.;e lire beneath, and 
falling in, has been absorbed by the under 
part and the sea. In the year 1640, during 
the terrible earthquake in the kingdom of 
Chili, several whole mountains of the Andes 
disappeared, and were one alter another 
wholly absorbed in the earth. 
Absorption. It is a well-known chemical 
fact, that in most cases of the combination of 
gaseous substances, either with other gases, 
or with liquids and solids, a very considerable 
diminution of Ihe volume is experienced. 
This effect is called absorption. 
ABSTEMII, a name given to persons who 
could not partake of the cup of the eucharisl, 
on account of their natural aversion from 
wine. 
ABSTERGENTS, medicines proper for 
cleansing the. body from concretions and other 
impurities, not to be .effected by simple ab- 
luents. 
ABSTINENCE, the abstaining or refrain- 
ing from certain enjoyments ; but more espe- 
cially from excessive eating and drinking ; 
thus, it has always been a practice to abstain 
from a luxuriant diet at stated times, as well 
out of a religious view, as to confirm anti pre- 
serve health. 
Abstinence is highly extolled by some phy- 
sicians ; and that justly, when no more is 
meant bv it than a proper regimen ; but it 
must have bad consequences, when practised 
without a due regard to the constitution, age, 
strength, &c. of the person who uses it. 
There are many instances of the cure of dis- 
orders, and of protracting the term of life, 
by means of a strict and well-regulated absti- 
nence. Cornaro, a nobleman of Venice, af- 
ter all other means had been tried ;n vain, 
recovered, and lived to the age of a hundred 
years, by rigid abstinence only. Many of 
the early Christians who retired from perse- 
cution into the deserts of Arabia, lived to a 
very advanced age upon bread and water 
onlv. St, Anthony lived 105 years ; James 
the" hermit 104; Arsenins 120; Epiplumius 
1 15, &c. The records of the Tower mention 
a Scotsman imprisoned, and watched six 
weeks, during which he took no sustenance 
whatever ; and on this account he obtained 
his pardon. 
ABSTRACT idea, among logicians, the 
idea of some general quality or property con- 
sidered simply in itself, without any respect 
to a particular subject ; thus, magnitude, 
equity, See. are abstract ideas, when we con- 
sider them as detached from any particular 
body or person. 
It is generally allowed, that there are no 
objects in nature corresponding to abstract 
ideas ; nay, some philosophers, and particu- 
larly lord Bolingbroke, dispute the existence 
of abstract ideas themselves, thinking it im- 
possible for the human mind to form any such. 
Abstract ideas are the same with those 
called universal ones; and the manner of 
forming them, according to modern philoso- 
phers, is this : we readily observe a resem- 
blance among some of our particular ideas, 
and thus form a general notion applicable to 
many individuals. Thus, horses are found to 
resemble each other in shape, voice, and the 
general configuration of their parts. Now, 
the idea which takes in this resemblance, ex- 
cluding what is peculiar to each individual* 
