A B D 
A B D 
treme avarice; as alfo Aboulzcbah , becaufe his breath was 
faid to be fo poifonous as to kill all the flies which relied on 
his face. Yet he furpafled all his predeceflors in power and 
dominion; for in his reign the Indies were conquered in 
the eaft, and his armies penetrated Spain in the weft: he 
likewife extended his empire toward the fouth, by making 
himfelf matter of Medina and Mecca. He began his reign 
in the fixty-fifth year of the Hegira, A. D. 648; reigned 
fifteen years; and four of his Ions enjoyed the khalifate 
one after another. 
ABDALMOTHLEB, or Abdai, Mateleb, the fon 
of Hafiiem, the father of Abdalla, and grandfather of 
Mahomet the prophet of the Muffulmans, was, it is faid, 
of fuch wonderful comelinefs and beauty, that all women 
who law him became enamoured; which may have given 
occalion to that prophetic light which, according to the 
Arabians, l'hone on the forehead of him, his anceftors, 
and defcendants; it being certain that they were very hand- 
fome and graceful men. He died when Mahomet, of 
whom he had taken particular care, was onl" eight or nine 
years old; aged, according to fome, no, and according to 
other writers 120. 
ABDALONYMUS, or Abdolonymus (in claflic 
hiltory), of the royal family of Sidon, and defcended 
frond king Cinyras, was contented to live in obfcurity, 
and obtain his fubfiltence by cultivating a garden, while 
Strato was in pofleflion of the crown of Sidon. Alexan¬ 
der the Great having depofed Strato, enquired whether 
any of the race of Cinyras was diving, that he might fet 
him on the throne. It was generally thought that the 
whole race was extinft: but at la(t Abdalonymus was 
thought of, and mentioned to Alexander; who immedi¬ 
ately ordered fome of his foldiers to fetch him. They 
found the good man at work, happy in his poverty, and 
entirely a Itranger to the noife of arms, with which all 
Alia was at that time disturbed; and they could fcarcely 
perfuade him they were in earned. Abdalonymus at firft 
thought it an infult offered to his poverty. He requelted 
them not to trouble him with their impertinent jefts, and 
to find feme other way of amufing themfelves, which 
might leave him in the peaceable enjoyment of his obfeure 
habitation. At length, however, they convinced him 
that they were ferious in their propofal, and prevailed 
upon him to accept the regal office, and accompany them 
to the palace. No fooner was.he in pofleflion of the go¬ 
vernment, than pride and envy created him enemies, who 
cvhifpered their murmurs in every place, till at laft they 
reached the ear of Alexander; who, commanding the 
new-elefted prince to be fent for, required of him, with 
what temper of mind he had borne his poverty. “ Would 
to heaven, (replied Abdalonymus,) that I may be able to 
bear my crown with equal moderation: for when 1 pof- 
fefled little, I wanted nothing: thefe hands fupplied me 
with whatever I defired.” From this anfwer Alexander 
formed fo high an idea of his wifdorn, that he confirmed 
the choice he had before made, and annexed a neighbour¬ 
ing province to the government of Sidon. 
ABDALS, in the ealtern countries, a kind of faints 
fuppofed to be infpired to a degree of madnefs. The 
word comes, perhaps, from the Arabic Abdallah , the 
fervant of God. They are often carried by excefs of 
zeal, efpecially in the Indies, to run about the fireets, and 
kill all they meet of a different religion; of which tra¬ 
vellers furnifh many inftances. The Englifh call this run¬ 
ning a muk , from the name of the inftrument, a fort of 
poniard, which they employ on thofe defperate occasions. 
If they are killed, as it commonly happens, before they 
have done much mifehief, they reckon it highly meritori¬ 
ous ; andareeffeemed,by the vulgar, martyrs for their faith. 
ABDARA, or Abdera, anciently a town of Bceotia 
in Spain, a Phoenician colony; now Adra, to the weft of 
Alnteira in the kingdom of Granada. 
ABDERA, was formerly a maritime town of Thrace, 
not far from the mouth of the river Neffus, on the eaft 
fide. The foundation, according to Herodotus, was at¬ 
tempted to be laid by Timefius the Clazomenian; but he 
was forced by the Thracians to quit the defign. The 
Teians undertook it, and fucceeded; fettling there, in 
order to avoid the infults of the Perfians. Several Angu¬ 
larities are told of Abdera. The grafs of the country 
round it was fo ftrong, that fuch horfes as ate of it ran 
mad. In the reign of Callander king of Macedon, this 
city was fo peftered with frogs and rats, that the inhabi¬ 
tants were forced to quit it for a time. The Abderites, or 
Abderitani, were very much derided for their want of 
wit and judgment: yet their city has given birtli to feve- 
ral eminent perfons; as Protagoras, Democritus, Anax- 
archus, Hecataeus the hillorian, Nicensetus the poet, and 
many others, who were mentioned among the illuftrious 
men. 
ABDERAKMA, a Saracen viceroy in Spain, who re¬ 
volted and formed an independent principality at Cordova. 
He had feveral fucceffbrs of the fame name. 
ABDEST, a Perlian word, properly fignifying the wa¬ 
ter placed in a bal'on for waffling the hands; but is ufed to 
imply the legal purifications praftifed by the Mahometans 
before they enter on their religious ceremonies. 
ABDIAS of Babylon, one of the boldeft legend- 
writers, who boafted he had feen our Saviour, that he 
was one of the feventy-two difciples, had been eye-witnefs 
of the aftions and prayers at the deaths of feveral of the 
apoftles, and had followed into Perfia St. Simon and St. 
Jude, who, he faid, made him the firft bilhop of Baby¬ 
lon. His book intitled Hjloria certaminis apojlolici , was 
publifhed by Wolfgang Lazius, at Bal'd, 1551; anaithas 
iince borne feveral impreflions in different places. 
To ABDICATE, v. a. [abdico , Lat.] To give up one’s 
right; to refign; to lay down an office. 
Old Saturn here, with upcafteyes, 
Beheld his abdicated Ikies. 
Aadifon. 
ABDICATION, f. \abdicatio , Lat.] The aft of abdi¬ 
cating; refignation; quitting an office by one’s own pro¬ 
per aft before the ufual or ftated expiration. 
Abdication, inlaw, is where a magiltrate or perfon 
in office renounces and gives it up. So on king James the 
Second’s leaving the kingdom, the commons voted that he 
had abdicated the government, and thereby the throne 
was become vacant. The lords would have had the word 
deferted to be made ufe of, but the commons thought it 
was not comprehenlive enough, for then the king might 
have liberty of returning. 
ABDICATIVE, adj. [from abdo, Lat. to hide.] That 
which has the power or quality of hiding. 
ABDOMEN, / [from abdo, Lat. to hide.] A cavity 
commonly called the lower venter or belly. It contains 
the ftomach, guts, liver, fpleen, bladder, and is within 
lined with a membrane called the peritonaeum. See 
Anatomy. 
ABDOM 1 NALES, or Abdominal Fishes, confti- 
tute the IVth Order of the Fourth Clafs of Animals, in 
the Linnaean fyftem. See Zoology. 
To ABDUCE, v. a. \_abduco , Lat.] To draw to a dif¬ 
ferent part; to withdraw one part from another. A word 
chiefly ufed in phyfic or fcience. 
ABDUCENT, adj. Mufcles abducent are thofe which 
ferve to open or pull back divers parts of the body; their 
oppofiteS being called adducent. 
ABDUCTION, / [ abduElio , Lat.] The art of draw¬ 
ing apart, or withdrawing-one part from another.—In lo¬ 
gic, a particular form of argument, by the Greeks called 
apagoge, wherein the greater extreme is evidently con¬ 
tained in the medium, but the medium not fo evidently in 
the lefs extreme as not to require fome/arther medium or 
proof, to make it appear.—In furgery, a fpecies of frac¬ 
ture, wherein the broken parts of the bone recede from 
each other. 
ABDUCTOR,/ [abduElor, Lat.] The name given by 
anatomifts to thofe mufcles which ferve to lead, or draw 
back, the feveral members of the body. 
ABECEDARIAN, 
