55S A V E 
is defcribed by Strabo as lying within the Lucrine bay, 
deep and darkfome, lurrounded with deep banks that hang 
threatening over it, andonly accedible by the narrow padage 
through which you fail in. Black aged groves (Iretched 
tlteir boughs over the watery abyfs, and with impenetra¬ 
ble foliage excluded almoft every ray of wholefome light; 
mephitic vapouts afcending from the hot bowels of the 
earth, being denied free padage to the upper atmofphere, 
floated along the furface in poifonous miffs. Thefe cir- 
cumftances produced horrors fit for fuch gloomy deities; 
a colony of Cimmerians, as well fuited to the rites as the 
place itfelf, cut dwellings in the bofom of the furround¬ 
ing hills, and officiated as prieffs of Tartarus. Superlli- 
tion, always delighting in dark ideas, early and eagerly 
feized upon this (pot, and hither llie led her trembling 
votaries to celebrate her difmal orgies ; here fhe envoked 
the manes of departed heroes : here (lie offered facrifices. 
to the gods of hell, and attempted to dive into the fecrets 
of futurity. Poets enlarged upon the popular theme, and 
painted its awful fcenery with the firongeft colours of their 
art. Homer brings Ulylfes to Avernus, as to the mouth 
of the infernal abodes ; and in imitation of the Grecian 
bard, Virgil conducts his hero to the fame ground. Who¬ 
ever failed thither, firfl did facrifice ; and endeavoured to 
propitiate the infernal powers, with the afliftance of fome 
priefls, who attended upon the place, and directed the 
myllic performance. Within, a fountain of pure water 
broke out jult over the fea, which was fancied to be a 
vein of the river Styx ; near this fountain was the oracle ; 
and the hot waters frequent in thofe parts were fuppofed 
to be branches of the burning Phlegethon. The poifon¬ 
ous effluvia from this lake were faid to be fo ftrong, that 
they proved fatal to birds endeavouring to fly over it. 
Virgil afcribes the exhalation not to the lake itfelf, but 
to the cavern near it, which was called Avernus or ‘ Cave 
of the Sybil,’ and through which the poets feigned a def- 
eent to hell. Hence the proper name of the lake is Lacus 
Averni, the ‘ lake near the cavern,’ as it is called by fome 
ancient authors. 
The famStity of thefe (hades remained unimpeached for 
Biany ages : Hannibal marched his army to offer incenfe 
at this altar ; but it may be fufpedted he was led to this 
aft of devotion rather by the hopes of furprifing the gar- 
rifon of Puteoli, than by his piety. After a long reign of 
imdiflui bed gloom and celebrity, a hidden glare of light 
was let in upon Avernus; the horrors were difpelled, and 
w ith them vanifhed the priefls of the lake : the axe of 
Agrippa brought its foreft to the ground, dilhirbed its 
(leepy waters with (hips, and gave room for all its malig¬ 
nant effluvia to efcape. The virulence of thefe exhala¬ 
tions, as defcribed by ancient authors, has appeared fo 
very extraordinary, that modern writers, Who know the 
place in a cleared (late only, charge thefe accounts with 
exaggeration: but Mr. Swinburne thinks them entitled 
to more refpeft; for even now, he obferves the air is fe- 
verifli and dangerous, as the jaundiced faces of the vine- 
dreffers, who have fucceedcd the Sybils and the Cimme¬ 
rians in the poffeflion of the temple, mod ruefully teftify. 
Boccaccio relates, that, during his refidence at the Nea¬ 
politan court, the furface of this lake was fiuidenly covered 
with dead filli, black and fimged, as if killed by fome fub- 
aqueous eruption of fire. At prefent the lake abounds 
with tench ; the Lucrine with eels. The change of for¬ 
tune in thefe lakes is lingular. In the fplendid days of 
imperial Rome, the Lucrine was the cliofen fpot for the 
brilliant parties of pleaftire of a voluptuous court : now, 
a (limy bed of ruflies covers the fcattered pools of this 
once beautiful fheet of water ; while the once dufky Aver- 
nus is clear and ferene, offering a mo ft alluring furface 
and charming feene for fimilar amufements. Oppofite to 
the temple is a cave ufually ftyled the Sybil’s grotto; but 
apparently more likely to have been the mouth of a com¬ 
munication between Coma and Avernus, than the abode 
of a prophetefs ; efpecially as the Sybil is pofitively faid 
to have dwelt in a cavern under the Cumean citadel. 
A V E 
A'VERON, an ifland in the North Sea, near the coaft 
of Norway. Lat. 6.3. 6. N. Ion. 25. 30. E. Ferro. 
AVERRO'A,yi [So named in honour of Ebu Elvelid 
Ebu Rufhad, commonly called Avcrroes, of Corduba in 
Spain, a famous commentator on Ariftotle and Avicenna, 
lie alio publifhed Colliget, or the plants ufed in food, Si c. 
He died at the beginning of 13th century.] In botany, a 
genus of the clafs decandria, order pentugynia, natural 
order gruinales. The generic characters are—Calyx! 
perianthium five-leaved, erect, final 1 ; leaflets lanceolate, 
permanent. Corolla : petals five, lanceolate, the lower 
part ereft, the upper fpreading. Stamina : filaments ten, 
fetaceous ; alternately the length of the corolla, and flior- 
ter; antherae roundifh. Piftillum: germ oblong, obfeurely 
five-cornered ; ftyles five, fetaceous, erett; ftigmas fitri¬ 
ple. Pericarpium : pome turbinate, five-cornered, five- 
celled. Seeds angular, feparated by membranes.— EJfen- 
liaL Character. Calyx five-leaved ; petals five, expanding 
above; pome five-cornered, five-celled. 
Species. 1. Averroa bilimbi : trunk naked, fruit-bear¬ 
ing, pomes oblong, obtufe-angled. This is only about 
eight feet in height, with few reclining branches. The 
leaves have ten pairs of leaflets and more. The flowers 
are red purple, on oblong final! racemes adhering to the 
trunk. The fruit is an oblong pome, the thicknefs of a 
finger, fmooth on theoutfide. Native of Goa, and many 
parts ot India, both within and without the Ganges. Bur- 
man deferibes it as a beautiful tree, with green flefhy fruit 
filled with a grateful acid juice ; the fuftftance and feeds 
not unlike thofe of cucumber; it grows from top to bot¬ 
tom, at all the knots and branches. They make a fyrup 
of the juice, and a conferve of the flowers, which are 
efteemed excellent in fevers and bilious diforders. 
2. Averroa carambola : axillas of the leaves fruit¬ 
bearing; pomes oblong, acute-angled. This is a tree 
above the middle fize, with fpreading branches, and a 
very clofe head. The leaves have only about four pairs 
of leaflets, which are ovate, acuminate, quite entire, 
imooth, petioled, oppofite, the upper ones largelt. Flow¬ 
ers lateral, fcattered, on fhort racemes, ufually from the 
fmaller branches, fometimes from the larger ones, or the 
trunk itfelf. According to the obfervation of Dr. Bruce, 
the petals are connected by the lower part of the lamina, 
and in this way they fall off vvhilft the claws are quite dif- 
tinct. This author gives a curious detailed account of 
the fenfitive quality of the petioles and even brandies of 
this tree. Rheede relates, that the carambola is twelve 
or fourteen feet in height, fcarcely a foot in girth, with a 
rough brown bark : that it bears fruit three times a year, 
from the age of three to fifty : that the root, leaves, and 
fruits, are ufed medicinally, either alone or with betel 
leaves ; that the latter, when ripe, are elleemed delicious; 
unripe, are pickled ; and that they are alfo ufed in dying 
and for other economical purpofes. Burman fays, that 
the acid juice of this is not fo pleafant as that of the fore¬ 
going ; that the fruit is rather larger, and is ufed for the 
fame purpofes ; and that it is a very beautiful tree. In 
Bengal they call it camruc or camrunga ; in Malabar, tama- 
ra-tonga : the Bramins and Portuguefe call it carambola ; 
and the Dutch, vyfhoeken. Both the fpecies are now in¬ 
troduced into the royal botanic garden at Kew. 
Averroa Acida. See Cicca. 
AVER'ROES, or Aben-Roes, a very fubtile Arabian 
philofopher, who flourifhed about the end of the 1 ith cen¬ 
tury, when the Moors had poffeflion of part of Spain. 
He was the fon of the high prieft and chief judge of Cor¬ 
duba or Cordova in Spain : but he was educated in the 
univerfity of Morocco, where he was profeffor, and where 
he died in 1206, having there (tudied natural philofophy, 
medicine, mathematics, law, and divinity. He was ex- 
cellively fat, though he ate but once a day, and fpent mod 
part of the night in the (tudy of philofophy, when lie was 
fatigued amuling himfelf witli reading poetry or hiftory. 
He was never feen to play at any game, or to partake in 
any diverfion. He was extremely fond of Ariftotle’s works. 
