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ABRAVANÑUS, in Ancient Geography, the name of a promontory and river of Galloway in Scotland, so called from the Celtic term Aber, signifying either the mouth of a river or the confluence of two rivers, and Avon, a river.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 42 [7:2:42]
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kp-eb0702-004207-0355
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ABRAUM, in Natural History, a name given by some writers to a species of red clay, used in England by the cabinet-makers, &c. to give a red colour to new mahogany wood. We have it from the Isle of Wight; but it is also found in Germany and Italy.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 42 [7:2:42]
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kp-eb0702-004208-0355
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ABRAXAS, an antique stone with the word abraxas engraven on it. They arc of various sizes, and most of them as old as the third century. They are frequent in the cabinets of the curious; and a collection of them, as complete as possible, has been desired by several. There is a fine one m the abbey of St Genevieve, which has occasioned much speculation. Most of them seem to have come from Egypt; whence they are of some use for explaining the antiquities of that country. Sometimes they have no other inscription besides the word: but others have the names of saints, angels, or Jehovah himself annexed; though most usually the name of the Basilidian god. Sometimes there is a representation of Isis sitting on a lotus, or Apis surrounded with stars; sometimes monstrous compositions of animals, obscene images, Phalli and Ithyphalli. The engraving is rarely good, but the word on the reverse is sometimes said to be in a more modern style than the other. The characters are usually Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, or Hetrurian, and sometimes of a móng-rel kind, invented, as it would seem, to render their meaning the more inscrutable. It is disputed whether the Veronica of Montreuil, or the granite obelisk mentioned by Gori, be Abraxases.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 42 [7:2:42]
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kp-eb0702-004209-0355
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ABREAST (a sea term), side by side, or opposite to; a situation in which two or more ships lie, with their sides parallel to each other, and their heads equally advanced. This term more particularly regards the line of battle at sea, where on the different occasions of attack, retreat, or pursuit, the several squadrons or divisions of a fleet are obliged to vary their dispositions, and yet maintain a proper regularity by sailing in right or curved lines. When the line is formed abreast, the whole squadron advances uniformly, the ships being equally distant from and parallel to each other, so that the length of each ship forms a right angle with the extent of the squadron or line abreast. The commander-in-chief is always stationed in the centre, and the second and third in command in the centres of their respective squadrons.— Abreast, within the ship, implies on a line with the beam, or by the side of any object aboard; as, the frigate sprung a leak abreast of the main hatchway, i. e. on the same line with the main hatchway, crossing the ship’s length at right angles, in opposition to afore or abaft the hatchway.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 42 [7:2:42]
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kp-eb0702-004210-0355
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ABRIDGEMENT, in Literature, a term signifying the reduction of a book into a smaller compass.
“The mode of reducing,” says the author of the Curiosities of Literature, “what the ancients had written in bulky volumes, practised in preceding centuries, came into general use about the fifth. As the number of students and readers diminished, authors neglected literature, and were disgusted with composition; for to write is seldom done, but when the writer entertains the hope of finding readers. Instead of original authors, there suddenly arose numbers of abridgers. These men, amidst the prevailing disgust for literature, imagined they should gratify the public by introducing a mode of reading works in a. few hours, which otherwise could not be done in many months; and observing that the bulky volumes of the ancients lay buried in dust, without any one condescending to examine them, the disagreeable necessity inspired them with an invention that might bring those works and themselves into public notice, by the care they took of renovating them. This they imagined to effect by forming abridgements of these ponderous volumes.
“All the⅛g Abridgers, however, did not follow the same mode. Some contented themselves with making a mere abridgement of their authors, by employing their own expressions, or by inconsiderable alterations. Others composed those abridgements in drawing them from various authors, but from whose works they only took what appeared to them most worthy of observation, and dressed them in their own style. Others, again, having before them several authors who wrote on the same subject, took passages from each, united them, and thus formed a new work. They executed their design by digesting in common-places, and under various titles, the most valuable parts they could collect, from the best authors they read. To these last ingenious scholars we owe the rescue of many valuable fragments of antiquity. They happily preserved the best maxims, the characters of persons, descriptions, and many other subjects which they found interesting in their studies.
[7:2:43]
“There have been learned men who have censured these Abridgers, as the cause of our having lost so many , excellent entire works of the ancients; for posterity becoming less studious, was satisfied with these extracts, and neglected to preserve the originals, whose voluminous size was less attractive. Others on the contrary say, that these Abridgers have not been so prejudicial to literature as some have imagined; and that had it not been for their carc, which snatched many a perishable fragment from that shipwreck of letters which the barbarians occasioned, we should perhaps have had no works of the ancients remaining.
“Abridgers, Compilers, and even Translators, in the present fastidious age, are alike regarded with contempt; yet to form their works with skill requires an exertion of judgment, and frequently of taste, of which their contemners appear to have no conception. It is the great misfortune of such literary labours, that even when performed with ability, the learned will not be found to want them, and the unlearned have not discernment to appreciate them.” (D’Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature?)
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 42 [7:2:42]
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kp-eb0702-004301-0368
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ABRIES, a town in France, in the department of the Upper Alps, and arrondissement of Briançon. It was formerly a portion of Savoy. Inhabitants 2030.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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kp-eb0702-004302-0368
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ABROGATION, the act of abolishing a law, by authority of the maker; in which sense the word is synonymous with abolition, repealing, and revocation.
Abrogation stands opposed to rogation; it is distinguished from derogation, which implies the taking away only some part of a law; from subrogation, which denotes the adding a clause to it; from abrogation, which implies the limiting or restraining it; from dispensation, which only sets it aside in a particular instance; and from antiquation, which is the refusing to pass a law.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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kp-eb0702-004303-0368
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ABROKANI, or Mallemolli, a kind of muslin, or clear, white, fine cotton cloth, brought from the East Indies, particularly from Bengal.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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kp-eb0702-004304-0368
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ABROTONUM, in Ancient Geography, a town and harbour on the Mediterranean, one of the three cities that formed Tripoli.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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kp-eb0702-004305-0368
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ABRUCENA, a town on the district of Guadix, in the province of Granada, in Spain, between the Sierra Nevada and Jaen.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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kp-eb0702-004306-0368
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ABRUD-BANYA, a town of Hungary, in the province of Magyoren, in the circle of Weissenburg. It is situated on the river Ampoy, has one Reformed and one Greek church, is the seat of a board of mining, and in its vicinity mines of gold and of silver are wrought. It is in Lat. 46. 14. 9. N. and Long. 23. 49. 3. E.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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46 14' 9" N 23 49' 3" E
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kp-eb0702-004307-0368
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ABRUS, in Botany, the trivial name of the Glycine.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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kp-eb0702-004308-0368
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ABRUZZO, one of the four provinces into which the continental part of the kingdom of Naples, or of the two Sicilies, was formerly divided, but now the name given to three out of the 17 provinces of the later division of that country. It is, with altered boundaries, now distinguished as Abruzzo Ulteriore First, Abruzzo Ulteriore Second, and Abruzzo Citeriore.
Abruzzo Ulteriore First, is a maritime province on the Adriatic Sea,»which is its boundary towards the northeast. On the north-west the Papal dominions bound it, on the south-east Abruzzo Citeriore, and on the southwest Abruzzo Ulteriore Second. The western part of the province is very mountainous; the highest crest of the Appenines divides it from Abruzzo Ulteriore Second, and extends towards the sea. The district on the sea-coast is flat, but everywhere else hilly. The valleys between the hills possess a rich soil, well watered by rivulets and brooks in the winter and spring, but which are generally dried up in the summer months. These streams either run into the Pescara, which bounds the province towards Abruzzo Citeriore, or into the Tronto, which is the boundary on the Papal frontier. The extent of the province is 1140 square miles, or 730,600 English acres. The cultivation is badly conducted, and many districts are almost left in a state of natural wildness. The art of irrigation is not understood, nor embankment of the rivers practised, so that the best of the land is often rendered useless. There are owners of two or three hundred acres of land, who scarcely raise sufficient food for their families; and yet the soil, when tolerably managed, will yield 12 grains of wheat for one. The corn most cultivated and preferred is maize. Hemp and flax are raised, but, like corn, merely sufficient for the home supply. Olives, almonds, figs, grapes, and chesnuts, are abundant, as is wood for construction and fuel. The number of inhabitants is 157,339, according to the late census. They are a hardy, bold, idle, and superstitious, race. The most industrious of them stroll yearly into the territories of the Church to work at harvest and in making charcoal, and return home in winter with their wages. The province is divided into two districts, Teramo and Civita di Penne. The city of Teramo is the capital of the province.
Abruzzo Ulteriore Second, a province in the continental division of the kingdom of Naples. It is an inland district, bounded on the north by the Papal States, on the north-east by Abruzzo Ulteriore First, on the south-east by Abruzzo Citeriore, on the south by the province Terra di Lavora, and on the west by the States of the Church, The extent is 2210 square miles, or 1,414,400 acres. The whole province is nearly covered with mountains of various heights, one of which, the Grand Casso d’ltalia, near Aquila, is the loftiest peak of the Appenines. There are no plains; but among these mountains some beautiful and fruitful valleys have been formed by the various streams that run through them. None of the rivers are navigable, but all of them have abundance of water, except in the hottest of the summer months. The largest fresh lake of the kingdom is that of Cellano, 14 miles long, and 9 broad, surrounded with hills. A canal, built by the Romans to carry off the surplus water, has been long neglected and stopped up, but is now in course of being cleaned and opened. The air is generally temperate, and the sirocco is never felt. The cultivation just suffices to provide sufficient corn for the inhabitants, who, when the maize is dear, make out their subsistence by the help of chesnuts. Olives and vines rarely bring their fruit to full ripeness. Some flax and hemp are raised, and a vast quantity of saffron, which is generally preferred to all other. The sheep produce fine wool when the flocks migrate,.and the flesh is good. The cows·, yield good butter and cheese, which form the chief articles of exportation to the neighbouring provinces. The inhabitants amount to 249,600. Like all mountaineers, they are a strong and active race, and frugal in their habits. The manufactures are insignificant, consisting of some little woollen and linen cloth, some paper, pottery, and wood-ware; but not sufficient of any for the demand of the territory, which is supplied by the exchange of almonds, figs, saffron, wool, butter, and cheese. The chief city is Aquila.
Abruzzo Citeriore, a province in the kingdom of Naples. It is bounded on the north-west by Abruzzo Ulteriore First, on the north-east by the Adriatic Sea, on the south-west by the province Molise, and on the west by that of Abruzzo Ulteriore Second. This province is less hilly than the other two Abruzzos, but the Appenines are extended through the south-west part. They, however, gradually decline in height, and extend themselves in wide plains of sand and pebbles. The rivers [7:2:44]all run to the Adriatic, and are very deficient in water during the summer months. Agriculture is in a very backward state, and the soil is rather ungrateful when ' labour is bestowed upon it; and the inhabitants prefer the chase and the fishery to it. The corn is sufficient for the population, who grow and consume much more maize and rice than wheat or barley. On the coast some oil and some silk are produced, which, with wine, form the chief export articles. Hemp, flax, liquorice, almonds, and figs, are grown for home consumption. The cattle are more neglected than in the other Abruzzos, though there is excellent pasture both for sheep and cows. There are, however, abundance of swine, goats, and asses. The manufactures are very insignificant. All the exchange of commodities is carried on by land; for though the province has an extensive frontier to the sea, it has no harbour or secure anchoring places. The extent is 1920 square miles, or 1,228,800 acres. The inhabitants are 222,730. There is but one decent road through the province. The capital is Civita di Chicti, formerly called Teti.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 43 [7:2:43]
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kp-eb0702-004401-0381
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ABSALOM, in Scripture History, the son of David by Maacah, was brother to Tamar, David’s daughter, who was ravished by Amnon, their eldest brother by another mother. Absalom waited two years for an opportunity of revenging the injury done to his sister; and at last procured the assassination of Amnon at a feast which he had prepared for the king’s sons. He took refuge with Talmai, king of Geshur; and was no sooner restored to favour than he engaged the Israelites to revolt from his father. Absalom was defeated in the wood of Ephraim: as he was flying, his hair caught hold of an oak, where he hung till Joab came and thrust him through with three darts. David had expressly ordered his life to be spared, and extremely lamented him. The weight of Absalom’s hair, which is stated at “200 shekels after the king’s weight,” has occasioned much critical discussion. If, according to some, the Jewish shekel of silver was equal to half an ounce avoirdupois, 200 shekels would be 6½ pounds; or, according to Josephus, if the 200 shekels be equal to 5 minae, and each mina 2½ pounds, the weight of the hair would be 12½ pounds, a supposition not very credible. It has been supposed by others, that the shekel here denotes a weight in gold equal to the value of the silver shekel, or half an ounce, which will reduce the weight of the hair to about 5 ounces; or that the 200 shekels are meant to express the value, not the weight.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004402-0381
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ABSCESS, in Surgery ; from abscedo, to separate; a cavity containing pus, or a collection of puriform matter in a part: So called, because the parts which were joined are now separated; one part recedes from another, to make way for the collected matter.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004403-0381
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ABSCISSE, in Conics, a part of the diameter or transverse axis of a conic section, intercepted between the vertex or some other fixed point and a semiordinate. See Conic Sections.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
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License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004404-0381
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ABSCONSA, a dark lantern used by the monks at the ceremony of burying their dead.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
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License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004405-0381
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ABSENTEE. See Ireland.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004406-0381
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ABSIMARUS, in History, having dethroned Leontius, cut off his nose and ears, and shut him up in a monastery, was proclaimed by the soldiers emperor of the East, a. d. 698. Leontius himself was also an usurper. He had dethroned Justinian II. who afterwards, with the assistance of the Bulgarians, surprised and took Constantinople, and made Absimarus prisoner. Justinian, now settled on the throne, and having both Absimarus and Leontius in his power, loaded them with chains, ordered them to lie down on the ground, and with a barbarous pleasure held a foot on the neck of each for the space of an hour in presence of the people. They were beheaded A. d. 705. '
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004407-0381
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ABSINTHIATED, any thing tinged or impregnated with absinthium or wormwood. Bartholin mentions a woman whose milk was become absinthiated, and rendered, as bitter as gall, by the too liberal use of wormwood.
Vinum absinthites, or poculum absinthiatum, “wormwood wine,” is much spoken of among the ancients as a wholesome drink, and even an antidote against drunkenness. Its medical virtues depend on its aromatic and bitter qualities. Infused in wine or spirits, it may prove beneficial in cases of indigestion or debility of the stomach.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004408-0381
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ABSINTHIUM, in Botany, the trivial name of the common wormwood.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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kp-eb0702-004409-0381
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ABSOLUTE, in a general sense, something that stands free or independent.
Absolute is more particularly understood of a being or thing which does not proceed from any cause, or does not subsist by virtue of any other being, considered as its cause; in which sense God alone is absolute. Absolute, in this sense, is synonymous with independent, and stands opposed to dependent. Absolute also denotes a thing that is free from conditions or limitations; in which sense the word is synonymous with unconditional. We say, an absolute decree, absolute promise, absolute obedience.
ABSOLUTE Government, that in which the prince is left solely to his own will, being not limited to the observance of any laws except those of his own discretion.
ABSOLUTE Equations, in Astronomy, is the aggregate 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 equation, and would subsist even if the planet’s real motion were uniform. The eccentric inequality is caused by the planet’s motion being uniform. To illustrate which, conceive the sun to move, or to appear to move, in the circumference of a circle, in whose centre the earth is placed. It is manifest, that if the sun moves uniformly in this circle, it must appear to move uniformly to a spectator on the earth; and in this case there will be no optic nor eccentric equation: but suppose the earth to be placed out of the centre of the circle, and then, though the sun’s motion should be really uniform, it would not appear to be so, when seen from the earth; and in this case there would be an optic equation, without an eccentric one. Imagine further, the sun’s orbit to be not circular but elliptic, and the earth in its focus; it will be as evident that the sun cannot appear to have an uniform motion in such ellipse: so that his motion will then be subject to two equations, the optic and the eccentric.
ABSOLUTE Number, in Algebra, is any pure number standing in any equation without the conjunction of literal characters; as 2 x + 36 = 48; where 36 and 48 are absolute numbers, but 2 is not, as being joined with the letter x.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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ABSOLUTION, in Civil Law, is a sentence whereby the party accused is declared innocent of the crime laid to his charge.
Absolution, in the Canon Law, is a juridical act, whereby the priest declares the sins of such as are penitent remitted.—The Romanists hold absolution a part of the sacrament of penance; the council of Trent, sess. xiv. cap. iii. and that of Florence, in the decree ad Armenos, declare the form or essence of the sacrament to lie in the words of absolution, “I absolve thee of thy sins.” The formula of absolution, in the Roman church, is absolute; in the Greek church, it is deprecatory; and in the churches of the Reformed, declarative.
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Absolution is chiefly used among Protestants for a sentence by which a person who stands excommunicated, is released or freed from that punishment.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 44 [7:2:44]
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ABSORBENT, in general, any thing possessing the faculty of absorbing, or swallowing up another.
Absorbent Medicines, testaceous powders, or substances into which calcareous earth enters, as chalk, crabs eyes, &c. which are taken inwardly, for drying up or absorbing any acid or redundant humours in the stomach or intestines. They are likewise applied externally to ulcers or sores with the same intention.
ABSORBENTS, Or ABSORBING VβSSelS, in Anatomy, a name given promiscuously to the lacteal vessels, lymphatics, and inhalant arteries; a minute kind of vessels found in animal bodies, which imbibe fluids that come in contact with them. On account of their minuteness and transparency, they escape observation in ordinary dissection. They have, however, been detected in every tribe of animals, and, in the animals which have been examined, in every part of the body.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 45 [7:2:45]
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ABSORPTION, in the animal economy, is the function of the absorbent vessels, or that power by which they take up and propel substances. This power has been ascribed to the operation of different causes, according to the theories which physiologists have proposed. Some attribute it to capillary attraction, others to the pressure of the atmosphere, and others to an ambiguous or unknown cause, which they denominate suction; for this last is nothing else than the elastic power of one part of the air restoring the equilibrium, which has been destroyed by the removal or rarefaction of another part.
ABSORPTIONS of the Earth, a term used by Kircher and others for the sinking in of large tracts of land by means of subterranean commotions, and many other accidents.
Pliny tells us, that in his time the mountain Cybotus, with the town of Curites, which stood on its side, were wholly absorbed into the earth, so that not the least trace of either remained; and he records the like fate of the city of Tantalis in Magnesia, and after it of the mountain Sipylus, both thus absorbed by a violent opening of the earth. Galanis and Gamales, towns once famous in Phoenicia, are recorded to have met the same fate; and the vast promontory called Phegium, in Ethiopia, after a violent earthquake in the night-time, was not to be seen in the morning, the whole having disappeared, and the earth closed over it. These and many other histories, attested by the authors of greatest credit among the ancients, abundantly prove the fact in the earlier ages; and there have not been wanting too many instances of more modern date. (Kircher’s Mund. Subter, p. 77.)
Picus, a lofty mountain in one of the Molucca isles, which was seen at a great distance, and served as a landmark to sailors, was entirely destroyed by an earthquake; and its place is now occupied by a lake, the shores of which correspond exactly to the base of the mountain. In 1556, a similar accident happened in China. A whole province of the mountainous part of the country, with all the inhabitants, sunk in a moment, and was totally swallowed up: the space which was formerly land was also covered with an extensive lake of water. And, during the earthquakes which prevailed in the kingdom of Chili, in the year 1646, several whole mountains of the Andes sunk and disappeared.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 45 [7:2:45]
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ABSORUS, Apsorus, Absyrtis, Absyrtides, (Strabo, Mela, Ptolemy); islands in the Adriatic, in the gulf of Carnero; said to be so called from Absyrtus, Medea’s brother, there slain. They are now called Cherso and Osero.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 45 [7:2:45]
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ABSTEMII, in church history, a name given to such persons as could not partake of the cup of the eucharist on account of their natural aversion to wine. Calvinists allow these to communicate in the species or bread only, touching the cup with their lip; which, on the other hand, is by the Lutherans deemed a profanation.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 45 [7:2:45]
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ABSTERGENT Medicines, those employed for resolving obstructions, concretions, &c. such as soap, &c.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 45 [7:2:45]
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ABSTINENCE, in a general sense, the act or habit of refraining from something to which there is a strong propensity. Among the Jews, various kinds of abstinence were ordained by their law. The Pythagoreans, when initiated, were enjoined to abstain from animal food, except the remains of sacrifices; and to drink nothing but water, unless in the evening, when they were permitted to take a small portion of wine. Among the primitive Christians, some denied themselves the use of such meats as were prohibited by that law, others regarded this abstinence with contempt; of which St Paul gives his opinion, Rom. xiv. 1-3. The council of Jerusalem, which was held by the apostles, enjoined the Christian converts to abstain from meats strangled, from blood, from fornication, and from idolatry. Abstinence, as prescribed by the gospel, is intended to -mortify and restrain the passions, to humble our vicious natures, and by that means raise our minds to a due sense of devotion. But there is another sort of abstinence, which may be called ritual, and consists in abstaining from particular meats at certain times and seasons. It was the spiritual monarchy of the western world which first introduced this ritual abstinence, the rules of which were called rogations ; but grossly abused from the true nature and design of fasting. In England, abstinence from flesh has been enjoined by statute since the Reformation, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, on vigils, and on all commonly called fish days. The like injunctions were renewed under Queen Elizabeth; but at the same time it was declared that this was done, not out of motives of religion, as if there were any difference in meats, but in favour of the consumption of fish, and to multiply the number of fishermen and mariners, as well as to spare the stock of sheep. The great fast, says St Augustin, is to abstain from sin.
Abstinence is more particularly used for a spare diet, or a slender parsimonious use of food. Physicians relate wonders of the effects of abstinence in the cure of many disorders, and protracting the term of life. The noble Venetian Cornaro, after all imaginable means had proved vain, so that his life was despaired of at 40, recovered, and lived to near 100, by the mere effect of abstinence; as he himself gives the account. It is indeed surprising to what a great age the primitive Christians of the East, who retired from the persecutions into the deserts of Arabia and Egypt, lived, healthful and cheerful, on a very little food. Cassian assures us, that the common rate for 24 hours was 12 ounces of bread, and pure water: with such frugal fare St Anthony lived 105 years; James the Hermit, 104; Arsenius, tutor of the Emperor Arcadius, 120; St Epiphanius, 115; Simeon the Stylite, 112; and Romauld, 120. Indeed, we can match these instances of longevity at home. Buchanan informs us, that one Laurence arrived at the great age of 140 by force of temperance and labour; and Spotswood mentions one Kentigern, afterwards called St Mongah or Mungo, who lived to 185 by the same means. Abstinence, however, is to be recommended only as it means a proper regimen; for in general it must have bad consequences when observed without a due regard to constitution, age, strength, &c. According to Dr Cheyne, most of the chronical diseases, the infirmities of old age, and the short lives of Englishmen, are owing to repletion, and may be either cured, [7:2:46] prevented, or remedied by abstinence; but then the kinds of abstinence which ought to be observed, either in sickness or health, are to be deduced from the laws of diet and regimen.
Among the inferior animals, we see extraordinary instances of long abstinence. The serpent kind, in particular, bear abstinence to a wonderful degree. We have seen rattle-snakes which had lived many months without any food, yet still retained their vigour and fierceness. Dr Shaw speaks of a couple of cerastes (a sort of Egyptian serpents), which had been kept five years in a bottle close corked, without any sort of food, unless a small quantity of sand in which they coiled themselves up in the bottom of the vessel may be reckoned as such; yet when he saw them, they had newly cast their skins, and were as brisk and lively as if just taken. But it is natural for divers species to pass four, five, or six months every year, without either eating or drinking. Accordingly, the tortoise, bear, dormouse, serpent, &c. are observed regularly to retire, at those seasons, to their respective cells, and hide themselves, some in the caverns of rocks or ruins; others dig holes under ground; others get into woods, and lay themselves up in the clefts of trees; others bury themselves under water, &c. And these animals are found as fat and fleshy, after some months’ abstinence, as before.—Sir G. Ent^[1. Ρhil. Trans. No. 191. ] weighed his tortoise several years successive!y, at its going to earth in October, and coming out again in March; and found, that of four pounds four ounces, it only used to lose about one ounce.
We have instances of men passing several months as strictly abstinent as other creatures. In particular, the records of the Tower mention a Scotsman imprisoned for felony, and strictly watched in that fortress for six weeks, during which time he did not take the least sustenance; and on this account he obtained his pardon. Numberless instances of extraordinary abstinence, particularly from morbid causes, are to be found in the different periodical Memoirs, Transactions, Ephemerides, &c. It is to be added, that, in most instances of extraordinary abstinence related by naturalists, there were said to have been apparent marks of a texture of blood and humours, much dike that of the animals above-mentioned. Though it is no improbable opinion that the air itself may furnish something for nutrition, it is certain there are substances of all kinds, animal, vegetable, &c. floating in the atmosphere, which must be continually taken in by respiration; and that an animal body may be nourished thereby, is evident in the instance of vipers; which, if taken when first brought forth, and kept from every thing but air, will yet grow very considerably in a few days. So the eggs of lizards are observed to increase in bulk after they are produced; and in like manner the eggs or spawn of fishes grow and are nourished with the water. And hence, say some, it is that cooks, turnspit dogs, &c. though they eat but little, yet are usually fat.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 45 [7:2:45]
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ABSTINENTS, or Abstinentes, a set of heretics that appeared in France and Spain about the end of the third century. They are supposed to have borrowed part of their opinions from the Gnostics and Manicheans, because they opposed marriage, condemned the use of flesh' meat, and placed the Holy Ghost in the class of created beings. We have, however, no certain account of their peculiar tenets.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 46 [7:2:46]
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ABSTRACT, in a general sense, any thing separated from something else.
ABSTRACT Ideas, in Metaphysies. See Abstraction. ABSTRACT Mathematics, Otherwise called Pure Mathematics, is that which treats of magnitude or quantity, absolutely and generally considered, without restriction to any species of particular magnitude; such are Arithmetic and Geometry. In this sense, abstract mathematics is opposed to mixed mathematics; wherein simple and abstract properties, and the relations of quantities primitively considered in pure mathematics, are applied to sensible objects, and by that means become intermixed with physical considerations: such are Hydrostatics, Optics, Navigation, &c.
Abstract Numbers, are assemblages of units, considered in themselves, without denoting any particular and determinate things. Thus, six is an abstract number when not applied to any thing; but if we say 6 feet, 6 becomes a concrete number.
Abstract Terms, words that are used to express abstract ideas. Thus beauty, ugliness, whiteness, roundness, life, death, are abstract terms.
Abstract, in Literature, a compendious view of any large work; shorter and more superficial than an abridgement.
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 46 [7:2:46]
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ABSTRACTION, in Metaphysics, is a term used to denote the mind’s power of considering certain qualities or attributes of an object apart from the rest; or the power which the understanding has of separating the combinations which are presented to it.
Abstraction is chiefly employed in these three ways. First, When the mind considers any one part of a thing, in some respect distinct from the whole; as a man’s arm, without the consideration of the rest of the body. Secondly, When we consider the mode of any substance, omitting the substance itself; or when we separately consider several modes which subsist together in one subject. This abstraction the geometricians make use of when they consider the length of a body separately, which they call a line, omitting the consideration of its breadth and thickness. Thirdly, It is by abstraction that the mind forms general ideas. Thus, when we would understand a thinking being in general, we gather from our self-consciousness what it is to think; and omitting those things which have a particular relation to our own minds, or to the human mind, we conceive a thinking being in general.
Ideas formed in this manner, which arc what we properly call abstract ideas, become general representatives of all objects of the same kind. Thus the idea of colour that we receive from chalk, snow, milk, &c. is a representative of all of that kind; and has a name given it, whiteness, which signifies the same quality wherever found or imagined. See the article Metaphysics.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 46 [7:2:46]
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ABSURDUM, reductio ad absurdum, is a mode of demonstration employed by mathematicians when they prove the truth of a proposition by demonstrating that the contrary is impossible, or leads to an absurdity. It is in this manner that Euclid demonstrates the fourth proposition of the first book of the Elements, by showing that the contrary involves a manifest absurdity, viz. That two straight lines can inclose a space.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
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ABSYRTUS, in heathen mythology, the son of Aeetes and Hypsea, and the brother of Medea. The latter running away with Jason, after her having assisted him in carrying off the golden fleece, was pursued by her father; when, to stop his progress, she tore Absyrtus in pieces, and scattered his limbs in his way.
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ABTERODE, a town in the bailiwick of Bilstein, in Hesse-Cassel, in Germany, with 972 inhabitants, who find employment chiefly in making woollen cloth.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 46 [7:2:46]
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ABTHANES, in History, a title of honour used by the ancient inhabitants of Scotland, who called their nobles thanes, which in the old Saxon signifies kings ministers ; and of these the higher rank were styled abthanes, and those of the lower underthanes.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
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ABU and CANDU, a group of twelve islands in the southern division of the Indian Ocean, to the south of the Maldives, in Lat. 5. 6. S. and Long. 74. 23. E. They are rocky, but have good anchorage, under the shelter of a reef., There are no inhabitants, nor has any good water been found.
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABU-ARISCH, the capital of the territory of the same name, on the Red Sea, in a fruitful plain, with rock-salt mines near it. It is in Lat. 16.45. N. and Long. 42.33. E.
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUBEKER, or Abu-Becr, the first caliph, the immediate successor of Mahomet, and one of his first converts. His original name was Abdulcaaba, signifying servant of the caaba or temple, which, after his conversion to Mahometanism, was changed to Abdallah, servant of God ; and on the marriage of the prophet with his daughter Ayesha, he received the appellation of Abu-Beer, Father of the virgin. Illustrious by his family, and possessed of immense wealth, his influence and example were powerful means of propagating the faith he had adopted, and in gaining converts to the new religion. Abubeker was a sound believer; and although he lived in the greatest familiarity with Mahomet, he had always the highest veneration for his character. He vouched for the truth of his revelations after his nightly visits to heaven, and thus obtained the appellation of the faithful. He was employed in every mission of trust or importance, was the constant friend of the prophet, and when he was forced to fly from Mecca, was his only companion. But notwithstanding his blind devotion to Mahometanism, his moderation and prudence were conspicuous in checking the fanatical zeal of the disciples of the new religion on the death of Mahomet. This event threatened destruction to the doctrines of Islamism. Its followers could not doubt that it had taken place, and they were afraid to believe it. In this uncertainty and fluctuation of belief, Omar drew his sword, and threatened to cut in pieces all who dared to assert that the prophet was dead. Abubeker, with more coolness and wisdom, addressed the people, Is it, says he, Mahomet wham you adore, or the God whom he has revealed to you ? Know that this God is alone immortal, and that all those whom he has created are subject to death. Appeased and reconciled by this speech, they elected him successor to Mahomet, and tie assumed the modest title of caliph, which has continued with all his successors. Ali, the son-in-law of the prophet, regarding the elevation of Abubeker as a violation of his legal rights to the succession, refused at first to recognise the appointment, till he was forced by threats into compliance and submission. His partisans, however, still considered him as the legitimate successor, and their opinion has prevailed among many Mussulmans, who believe that the sovereign authority, both spiritual and temporal, remains with his descendants.
Abubeker first collected and digested the revelations of Mahomet, which had hitherto been preserved in detached fragments, or in the memories of the believers; and to this the Arabians gave the appellation Almoshaf, or the Book. He died in the 13th year of the Hegira, respected as a prudent and equitable ruler.
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUCCO, Abocco, or Abochi, a weight used in the kingdom of Pegu. One abucco contains 12½ teccalis; two abuccos make a giro or agire ; two giri, half a hiza ; and a hiza weighs an hundred teccalis; that is, two pounds five ounces the heavy weight, or three pounds nine ounces the light weight of Venice.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUCHO W, a village in Russia, in the circle of Bo-goradsk, and government of Moscow, where are mills belonging to the emperor, from whence 10,000 poods of gunpowder are annually delivered. It stands on the river Kliasma, whose stream turns seven mills.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUKESO, in commerce, the same with Aslan.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUKOR, a town near Lepanto, in the province of Aimabochte, in Turkey in Europe.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABULAHOR, a town of Turkey in Europe, on the river Aspre, in the Sandschac or Standard of Joanina, and province of Romelia.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABULAWO, a town of Russia, in the circle of Kra-piwna, and government of Tula.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABULFARAGIUS, Gregory, son of Aaron, a physician, born in 1226, in the city of Malatia, near the source of the Euphrates in Armenia. He followed the profession of his father, and practised with great success; but he acquired a higher reputation by the study of the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic languages, as well as by his knowledge of philosophy and divinity; and he wrote a history which does great honour to his memory. It is written in Arabic, and divided into dynastics. It consists of ten parts, being an epitome of universal history from the creation of the world to his own time. The parts of it relating to the Saracens, Tartar Moguls, and the conquests of Jenghis Khan, are esteemed the most valuable. He professed Christianity, was bishop of Aleppo, and is supposed to have belonged to the sect of the Jacobites. His contemporaries speak of him in a strain of most extravagant panegyric. He is styled the king of the learned, the pattern of his times, the phoenix of the age, and the crown of the virtuous. Dr Pococke published his history with a Latin translation in 1663, in 2 vols. 4to.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABULFAZEL, who is called by Sir William Jones, “a learned and elegant,” and by others, “the most elegant” writer that the East has produced, was vizier and historiographer to the Great Mogul, Akber. We have not been able to discover the year of his birth, but his death took place in 1604, when he was assassinated on his return from a mission to the Decan. According to some writers, this foul act was perpetrated at the instigation of the heir apparent to the throne, who had become jealous of the minister’s influence with the emperor. Akber greatly lamented the loss of a man who was not only an able minister of state, but of such talents as a writer, as to make it a common saying in the East, “that the neighbouring monarchs stood more in awe of his pen than of the sword of his master.” He wrote, by the emperor’s command, a history of his reign, which came down to the forty-seventh year, in which he was assassinated. In connection with this, he also compiled a volume, intended to exhibit a geographical and statistical view of the empire, and of the revenue, household, and expenses of the sovereign. It likewise embraces an account of the religion of the Hindoos, of their sacred books, and their several sects in religion and philosophy. This work, which is fraught with much curious and valuable information, is known under the name of the Ayeen Αkbery. It has been translated into English with great accuracy by Mr Francis Gladwin. The translation was undertaken and published at Calcutta, under the intelligent patronage of Mr Hastings. “Such a work,” he said, in a minute of council, “could not but prove peculiarly useful; as it comprehends the original constitution of the Mogul Empire, described under the immediate inspection of its founder, and will serve to assist the judgment of the Court of Directors on many points of importance to the first interests of the company.”—The Calcutta edition, published in 1783-6, in three volumes quarto, is a splendid book, and the most valuable in every respect, as the London reprints are by no means accurate.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUNA, the title given to the archbishop or metropolitan of Abyssinia.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUNDANT Number, in Arithmetic, is a number, the [7:2:48]sum of whose aliquot parts is greater than the number itself. Thus, the aliquot parts of 12 being 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, they make, when added together, 16. An abundant number is opposed to a deficient number, or that which is greater than all its aliquot parts taken together; as 14, whose aliquot parts are 1, 2, and 7, which makes no more than 10; and to a perfect number, or one to which its aliquot parts are equal, as 6, whose aliquot parts are 1, 2, and 3.
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 47 [7:2:47]
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ABUNDANTIA, a heathen divinity, represented in ancient monuments under the figure of a woman with a pleasing aspect, crowned with garlands of flowers, pouring all sorts of fruits out of a horn which she holds in her right hand, and scattering grain with her left, taken promiscuously from a sheaf of corn. On a medal of Trajan she is represented with two cornucopiae.
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABUS, in Ancient Geography, a river of Britain, now the Humber.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABUSAID, Ebn Aljaptu, sultan of the Moguls, succeeded his father anno 717 of the Hegira. He was the last monarch of the race of Jenghis Khan, who held the undivided empire of the Moguls; for after his death, which happened the same year that Tamerlane was born, it became a scene of blood and desolation, and was broken into' separate sovereignties.
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABÛSIR, a town of Egypt, twelve hours to the west of Alexandria. It is in a ruinous condition, with remains of an ancient temple, and many scattered vestiges of former extent and population.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABUSUMBOL, or Ebsambul, or Ipsambul, a town on the Nile, in Nubia, to the south of the island of Kogos, in Lat. 22. 20. 11. N. and Long. 31. 40. 57. E. About twenty feet above the river is a temple hewn out of the perpendicular face of the rock. At the entrance are six colossal figures of young persons, in bas-relief, and the space between them filled with hieroglyphics which denote a very high antiquity.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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22 20' 11" N 31 40' 57" E
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ABU-TEMAN, an Arabian poet, of whom, though but little can be said, it would be improper altogether to omit, because he was held to be the prince of Arabian poets, during the best periods of Arabian literature. He was born about the year 787; and, happily for him, under sovereigns whose love and patronage of literature made poetical eminence an unfailing road to wealth and honour. Part of his early life was passed in Egypt, in the servile capacity of administering drink to those who frequented a mosque. It is also said, that he was for some time employed in the trade of a weaver at Damascus. But his talents for poetry soon lifted him from this humble sphere, and removed him to Bagdad, where the caliphs loaded him with presents, and treated him with the greatest respect. If we are to believe the Arabian historians, a single poem sometimes procured for him many thousand pieces of gold. So highly was he esteemed by his countrymen, that it was said “no one could ever die whose name had been praised in the verses of Abu-Teman !” His own life was very short, for he died in his fortieth year; “the .ardour of his mind,” says one of his contemporaries, “having wasted his body, as the blade of an Indian scimitar destroys its scabbard.” Besides being a great original poet, he was the compiler of three collections of select pieces of the poetry of the East; the most esteemed of which collections is that called the Hamasa. Sir William Jones speaks of it as a very valuable compilation. Many of the elegant specimens of Arabian poetry contained in Professor Carlyle’s well-known work, were translated from pieces contained in this miscellany. A large portion of it, with a Latin version, was annexed by Schultens to his edition of Erpenius’s Arabic Grammar, published at Leyden in 1748; and there are also many extracts from it in the collection entitled Anthologia Arabica, published at Jena in 1774.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABUTILON, in Botany, the trivial name of several species of the sida.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABUZOW, a town of Russia, in the circle of Sergatsch, and government of Rishegorod.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABYDOS, in Ancient Geography, anciently a town built by the Milesians, in Asia, on the Hellespont, where it is scarce a mile broad, opposite to Sestos, on the European side. It was famous for Xerxes’s bridge, and for the loves of Leander and Hero (Musaeus, Ovid); celebrated also for its oysters (Ennius, VirgiD. The old castle of the Dardanelles, built by the Turks, lies a little southward of Sestos and Abydos.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABYDUS, in Ancient Geography, an inland town of Egypt, between Ptolemais and Diospolis Parva, famous for the palace of Memnon and the temple of Osiris.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABYLA (Ptolemy, Mela), one of Hercules’s pillars, on the African side, called by the Spaniards Sierra de las Monas, opposite to Calpe in Spain, the other pillar; supposed to have been formerly joined, but separated by Hercules, and thus to have given entrance to the sea now called the Mediterranean ; the limits of the labours of Hercules. (Pliny.)
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABYSS, in a general sense, denotes something profound, and, as it were, bottomless. The word is originally Greek, αζυσσος; compounded of the privative α, and βυσσος, q. d. without a bottom.
Abyss, in a more particular sense, denotes a deep mass or fund of waters. In this sense, the word is particularly used in the Septuagint, for the water which God created at the beginning with the φrth, which encompassed it round, and which our translators render by deep. Thus it is that darkness is said to have been on the face of the abyss.
Abyss is also used for an immense cavern in the earth, in which God is supposed to have collected all those waters on the third day: which, in our version, is rendered the seas, and elsewhere the great deep. Dr Woodward, in his Natural History of the Earth, asserts, that there is a mighty collection of waters inclosed in the bowels of the earth, constituting a huge orb in the interior or central parts of it; and over the surface of this water he supposes <he terrestrial strata to be expanded. This, according to him, is what Moses calls the great deep, and what most authors render the great abyss. — The different arguments concerning this subject may be seen collected and amplified in Cockburn’s Inquiry into the Truth and Certainty of the Mosaic Deluge, p. 271, &c.
Abyss is also used in Heraldry to denote the centre of an escutcheon. In which sense a thing is said to be borne in abyss, en abysme, when placed in the middle of the shield, clear from any other bearing: He bears azure, a fleur-de-lis, in abyss.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 48 [7:2:48]
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ABYSSINIA, a large country on the eastern coast of Africa, and the chief of the native kingdoms of that continent, is bounded on the east by the Red Sea, on the north and west by the barren sands of Nubia, on the south by unknown ranges of desert, and barbarous kingdoms. The country itself is diversified by many chains of high and rugged mountains. The loftiest appears to be that of Lamalmon, which, with the mountains of Samen to the west, and other branches stretching in various directions, nearly cover all Tigré or Northern Abyssinia. These mountains are of various shapes, and tost about in a confusion so wild, that Bruce, with some exaggeration, has compared some of them to pyramids pitched on their bases. The assertion made by the early missionaries, that the Alps and Pyrenees are but molehills in comparison, has proved to be a ridiculous hyperbole; but snow does actually fall on some of the more lofty pinnacles—a fact which, under the tropics, indicates a very great elevation. In the west, the mountains of Gojam are not nearly so high, but cover a great extent of territory. They are inhabited by the Agows, a primitive pastoral race, who worship the Nile.
In our climates, great ranges of mountains render a region picturesque indeed in its appearance, but naked and unfertile. It is quite otherwise beneath the burning suns of the tropic. Exposed to their influence, soils of the greatest natural fertility soon become parched and arid: they must be watered and even inundated, ere crops can cover them. Fortunate under this latitude is the country which, like Abyssinia, is filled with storehouses of water, which, formed in the mountains, are thence diffused over every part of its surface. Thus its numerous plains and valleys are not surpassed in fertility by any region in the world. Rice, the great Asiatic grain, has not been introduced; but on many parts of its varied surface, wheat, barley, and other grains of the temperate climates, are copiously raised. The low and hot grounds are chiefly covered with teff, a weak herbaceous plant with a thin stalk, and grains not much larger than the head of a pin, out of which is made the bread in general use throughout the kingdom. A black bread for the poorest classes is made from a still coarser grain called tocusso. The horses arc strong and beautiful, and the herds numerous, among which is a species of oxen with horns of monstrous length, introduced by the Galla. Bees swarm on all the hills, and Abyssinia is a land flowing with excellent honey. The nobler animals of prey, the lion, and the tiger, are scarcely known; but ferocious and untamable hyenas haunt in crowds the scenes of slaughter which the country too often presents: they roam by night through the cities, and enter even the houses. The buffalo is here wild and furious, roaming through the most lonely and unfrequented tracts. Along the banks of the rivers, amid the copious moisture there afforded, and the rank vegetation to which it gives rise, those huge animals, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the river-horse, and the crocodile, toss their unwieldy bulk. All the ravages committed by them, however, are trivial when compared with what Abyssinia suffers from swarms of locusts, which here, as in other parts of the East, appear sometimes in close array like regular armies, and in a few days devour the harvest of provinces.
The numerous waters of Abyssinia unite in two great rivers, which though they do not, as some have supposed, constitute the Nile, reach and swell the channel of that great river. All the western mountains are drained by' the Tacazze, which rolls for a great part of its course through deep valleys, choked with luxuriant vegetation, and tenanted only by wild beasts and human savages. It then penetrates the sands of Nubia, and joins the Nile in the district of Berber. The numerous streams of Go-jam unite in forming the Dembea, a great lake in the heart of the kingdom, out of which flows the Azergue, or. Blue River, which many of the moderns have obstinately held to be the main stream of the Nile. Bruce, indeed, on viewing its sources, announced himself as having accomplished the object of an arduous journey, by discovering the springs of that famous river. It is now, however, considered to be a clear point, that when the Blue River, after taking a semicircular sweep through Abyssinia, and passing its precincts, meets the Abiad, or White River, the latter, coming from sources far to the west and in the interior of Africa, is a much deeper and greater stream, and entitled to be considered as the real Nile, to which the other is only a tributary.
Abyssinia, though thus mountainous, does not contain many mineral productions; for the gold, of which a good deal passes through it, is brought from countries farther in the interior. It has, however, on its frontier a great plain, about four days’ journey across, covered entirely with salt. There is generally a depth of two feet of perfectly pure and hard salt on the surface; below, the mineral is coarser and softer. Both the digġîng for the salt and the carrying it off are very dangerous operations, from the vicinity of barbarous plundering tribes, always ready to attack those employed, who must therefore be associated in numerous and well-armed bodies.
Abyssinia was evidently included by the ancients under that wide territory to which they gave the name of Ethiopia, and which includes all Africa south of Egypt, and of the mountain range of Atlas. It formed no part, however, of the celebrated Ethiopia, whose capital was Meroe, This region, involved in dim religious mystery, which conquered Egypt, and which Cambyses vainly sought to conquer, comprised the territory along the Upper Nile now known by the name of Nubia. Abyssinia, barred by lofty mountains, by forests, marshes, and deserts, is not recorded as having ever been reached by any land expedition. Neither Petronius, when sent by Augustus against Queen Candace, nor Probus in his expedition against the Blemmyes, arrived even at Meroe; and consequently did not make an approach towards Abyssinia. Herodotus indeed mentions the isle of the Exiles, on which a numerous body of deserters from Psammetichus, king of Egypt, were settled by the Ethiopian monarch. As that historian, however, evidently understands this isle, by which, according to the practice of antiquity, he means a region inclosed by river-channels, to extend' along the Nile, which river he understood to come from the west, it would appear that this description must have pointed either to Sennaar, or some region on the Bahr-el-Abiad, and could comprehend no part of the modern Abyssinia. The only slight notices which the ancients gleaned respecting that country, were obtained by the way of its coast, situated on the Red Sea.
It is a firm article in the national creed of Abyssinia, that the Queen of Sheba, who came from the remotest south to listen to and admire the wisdom of Solomon, [7:2:50]was their queen; and that it was Abyssinia which furnished the splendid and costly presents which she brought to Jerusalem. They add with equal confidence, that her majesty returned pregnant by that great monarch, and brought forth a son, Menilek, whose posterity, though with some interruption, continued to rule over Abyssinia; the monarchs of which country thus boast themselves to be of the race of Solomon. This genealogy, however deeply rooted in Abyssinian conviction, does not seem tenable on any rational grounds. The two leading features were the profusion of aromatics and the numerous camels. But the camel is an animal decidedly Arabian, has never been naturalized in Abyssinia, nor is at all suited to the rugged surface of that country; and even if an Abyssinian queen had possessed a stock of these animals, she would have had no convenience, or even possibility, in that era of navigation, of transporting them across the Arabian Gulf. The abundance of spices is equally foreign to the rugged soil of Abyssinia, and characteristic of that of Sabea, or the happy Arabia of the classic writers, to which, indeed, every indication points as identical with the Sheba of Scripture. The commerce between Sheba and Judea is often mentioned in the sacred writings, and always as a land intercourse, carried on by camels, and in numerous caravans. It may be observed, also, that the inspired writers nowhere give the least hint of that species of intimacy between Solomon and her majesty, upon which the Abyssinians found this genealogical claim.
Strabo has given some notices of Abyssinia, not in connection with Egypt or with Africa, but with Arabia, as forming the western coast of the Arabian Gulf. It would be difficult, and not very edifying, to verify the successive chain of his positions; but we may recognise already the leading features which distinguish modern Abyssinia; the vast herds and huntings of the elephant; the extreme rudeness of many among the native tribes, living in caves under the shelter of trees; the prevalence of barbarous and dissolute manners; the use of blood as an article of diet; copious libations of hydromel among the higher ranks, and of an infusion of grain among the lower. He represents them as wrapping pieces of flesh in skins, and swallowing both together; probably an erroneous version of the custom of wrapping slices of meat in teff cakes, and stuffing them down in huge mouthfuls. After a long range of this coast came another, producing incense, aromatics, and even a species of cinnamon. This coast, evidently that of Berbera, terminated in the Southern Horn; the region beyond which was unknown to Strabo, and to Artemidorus, from whom his information was chiefly derived.
An important series of early Abyssinian history has been disclosed by a very slight and casual circumstance. An Egyptian monk, named Cosmas Indicoleustes, having penetrated into Abyssinia, was employed by Elesbaan, the king, to copy two inscriptions on a chair and small column of white marble, which had been erected at the port of Adulis. One of these inscriptions commemorates conquests made in Asia by Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt; the other relates conquests which extended over the greater part of Abyssinia, the provinces of which are mentioned almost under their modern names. Such extensive dominion obtained by Euergetes in this part of Africa excited considerable surprise, especially as no hint of it had been given in any of the Greek writers. Mr Salt copied at Axum a tablet, in which similar exploits, almost in the same terms, are ascribed to Aeizanes, king of the Axumites; and considering the silence of ancient authorities, and that such an extent of Egyptian conquest was rather improbable, he inclines to believe that the second inscription of Cosmas, the commencement of which had been obliterated, related not to Euergetes, but to Aeizanès, and was only a repetition of the Axum inscription. Dr Vincent, however, still adhered to the opinion which makes Ptolemy the subject of both these inscriptions, and consequently supposed him to have made the conquest of Abyssinia.
Some notices respecting the early state of Abyssinia are found in the work entitled Periplus of the Erytkrean Sea, written by Arrian, a merchant of Alexandria, and intended seemingly as a coasting guide for the merchants of that capital. In this work Adulis, situated near the modern Masuah, is described as the great emporium of this region, the trade of which consisted chiefly in the exportation of fine ivory, and rhinoceros’ horns; in return for which, they imported wine, oil, and many manufactures and luxuries produced in the Roman empire. The ivory was brought chiefly from Coloe, situated three days’ journey in the interior; while five days beyond was Axum, the metropolis, and a city of great magnificence, as its ruins still attest. The coast beyond Adulis, forming now the territory of the Baharnegash, was ruled by a prince called Zoskales, who is described as highly polished and intelligent, and as giving the most hospitable reception to the strangers who visited this coast. Abyssinia appears thus by its intercourse with Egypt to have acquired a degree of improvement and refinement which it lost at a subsequent period.
The first event in the modern history of Abyssinia was the introduction of Christianity by Frumentius, in the fourth century. That religion was then embraced by the court and a great proportion of the inhabitants; and the church of Abyssinia has since, with a short interval, during which the Romish religion prevailed, continued subject to the patriarch of Alexandria, and has observed the peculiar doctrines and ritual of the Alexandrian church. Soon after this period reigned Elesbaah, the most powerful and only conquering prince that ever occupied the throne of Abyssinia. Involved by religious antipathies in hostility with the Sabaeans or Homerites, on the opposite coast of Arabia Felix, he invaded, and appears to have made himself completely master of that country. He assembled next a formidable force, with which he advanced and laid siege to the already sacred city of Mecca. Tradition represents his army as partly mounted upon elephants, from which this expedition was termed the war of the elephant. According to the Arabian historians, a miraculous shower of stones destroyed the Ethiopian army; and we may probably conclude that famine and disease, in this barren and dreary region, thinned its ranks, and compelled it to a disastrous retreat.
Notwithstanding this check, the Ethiopian monarchs appear to have held sway over a considerable part of Abyssinia, till the time when the rise of the religion of Mahomet, and its diffusion by force of arms, changed the face of the East. The Mahometans boast that they established their faith in Abyssinia; but no tradition or history of that country gives any countenance to the assertion, nor does its present state exhibit the least vestige of such a change. It appears, however, that they were driven before this torrent of fanatical conquest out of all their possessions in Arabia; that Islamism even crossed the sea, and established itself in Adel and other territories, by which Abyssinia is closely hemmed in, and with whose people she was ever after involved in rooted hostility, both religious and political.
From this time we are reduced to the dim lights of Abyssinian tradition, which appear, however, to record a remarkable revolution. The Mahometan conquest had [7:2:51] driven before it a considerable number of Jews, who, amid the calamities of their country, had established themselves in different parts of Arabia. They sought refuge in Abyssinia, where they became numerous and powerful, and even established an independent dominion in the province of Samen. Judith, a Jewish princess, possessed of more than manly courage, and ruthless ambition, conceived the design of usurping for herself and her country the entire sovereignty of the kingdom. Availing herself of the'singular custom of immuring the whole royal family on the top of a mountain, she gained possession of this post, and made a general massacre of all those who could advance any claim to the throne. The infant king, however, was carried of fbysome faithful adherents, and conveyed to Shoa, where his authority was acknowledged; while Judith reigned for forty years over the rest of the kingdom, and transmitted the crown to her posterity. In 1268, however, the house of Solomon, as it was called, (chiefly, it is said, through the influence of Tecla Haimanout, a monk highly revered for sanctity,) was restored in the person of Icon Amlac.
From the time of Icon Amlac the Abyssinians appear to have kept regular annals, and record a list of successive kings. Mr Bruce has even drawn up from these annals a somewhat detailed history of Abyssinia. But a narrative containing only the contests of these barbarous tribes, mingled with superstition and fable, and illumined by few traits of honour and generosity, is little calculated to edify or interest. For a long time it was diversified chiefly by the wars with Adel, a country situated along the coast of the Arabian Gulf. The Adelians had embraced the Moslem creed, so that national antipathies were heightened by religious bigotry, which rages so fiercely in uninformed minds. The war was therefore carried on with excessive fury, each party signalizing their victory by burning towns and villages, and making a general massacre of the people. After a contest of several centuries, Adel appears to have been completely humbled, and is no longer mentioned among the enemies of Abyssinia. Violent dissensions then arose on the subject of religion. The Romish faith was introduced by a succession of missionaries from Europe; and several of the kings not only embraced, but endeavoured to impose this religion by violence upon their subjects. This gave rise to civil wars, which did not terminate even after the missionaries had been banished, the Catholic system abolished, and the nation had been replaced under the spiritual sway of the Patriarch of Alexandria.
About two centuries ago, Abyssinia began to suffer from a new and formidable enemy, by which she has ever since been more and more hardly pressed. From the southern interior regions the Galla, a negro and Pagan race of the most uncouth and savage aspect, and surpassing in ferocity even the Abyssinians themselves, began a series of desolating inroads, sparing neither age nor sex. For a long time they succeeded only in desultory incursions, and were uniformly routed in the open field; but at last, taking advantage of the dissensions in which the kingdom was still plunged, they insinuated themselves into the service of different chiefs, and acquired a degree of discipline which rendered them truly formidable. They have thus finally succeeded in overrunning all the central and finest portions of the kingdom, and leaving to the native rulers only two detached and severed portions.
After this rapid sketch of Abyssinian history, it will be a more interesting object to trace the steps by which the country was penetrated and explored by Europeans, and their observations on the peculiar and striking features of nature and society which it presents.
About the year 330, an ecclesiastic named Frumentius, who had been travelling with his relation, Meropius, a Tyrian philosopher, and who, at an island in the Red Sea,' had become acquainted with some Abyssinians, represented to Athanasius, the patriarch of Alexandria, the wish of these people to have Christianity introduced into their country. Frumentius was accordingly consecrated Bishop of Axum by the patriarch, and appears to have made many converts among the Abyssinians. But as Constantine the Roman Emperor had embraced Arianism, and was at variance with the patriarch of Alexandria, he was desirous to recall Frumentius, either that he might appoint an Arian bishop, or that Frumentius might be re-consecrated by one of that persuasion. With this view he wrote a letter to the monarch of Abyssinia. By whom this letter was conveyed is not certain, thougĥ it is probable that it was by a person named Theophilus, who travelled into that country about A. d. 333. The only notice which remains of the journey of Theophilus is given by Philo-storgius (Hist. Eccles.'), and it is very meagre. Theophilus found the descendants of some Syrians in Abyssinia, sprung, he supposes, from a Syrian colony planted there in the time of Alexander the Great.
In the year 533, the conquests of the Abyssinians in Arabia, and the warm professions of friendship which they held out to the Roman empire, induced Justinian to send an embassy into that remote country, with the hope of persuading its sovereign to employ his forces then in Arabia against the Persian monarch. At this period the Abyssinians were acquainted with the arts of navigation, and had recently imbibed the spirit of trade, and acquired the sea-port of Adule, from which they penetrated along the African coast, as far as the equator, in search of gold, emeralds, and aromatics. For this important commission Justinian selected Nonnosus, descended from a family of ambassadors. He took the route of the Nile, from which he crossed to the Red Sea, and landed at the port of Adule. Though the distance of this place from Axum, at that period the residence of the sovereigns of Abyssinia, is only fifty leagues, yet the winding passes of the mountains which lie between them detained Nonnosus fifteen days. He was received with great pomp and favour by the Abyssinian monarch, Amda, or Ameda; but we are not very distinctly informed as to the fate of his mission. Of his original narrative, some extracts only are preserved in the Bibliotheca of Photius, and in the Chro-nographia of John Malala. From these, among other particulars, we learn that Nonnosus saw, in his passage through the forests which intervene between Adule and Axum, an immense number of wild elephants; and that the Abyssinian monarch gave audience in an open field, seated on a lofty chariot drawn by four elephants superbly caparisoned, and surrounded by his nobles and musicians. In his hand he held two javelins, and a light shield; his clothing was a linen garment and fillet; and though thus imperfectly covered, he displayed a profusion of gold chains, collars, and bracelets, adorned with pearls and precious stones. Nonnosus represents Axum as large and populous. In detailing his passage over the mountains of Taranta, he remarks the great contrast of the seasons on different sides of it; from Ave to the coast, it was summer and harvest time; whereas from Ave to Axum, and the rest of Abyssinia, it was winter. The truth of this observation is amply confirmed by Mr Salt.
About the same period Cosmas, surnamed Indicopleustes, or the Indian Navigator, visited Adule. It was the design of this author, in publishing his work entitled Topogvaphia Christiana, to confute the heretical opinion that the earth is a globe, and offer proofs that it was a flat oblong, as represented in the Scriptures. His voyage [7:2:52] was performed A. D. 522, and his book published at Alexandria A. D. 547. Photius, to whom we are indebted for many curious extracts from works now lost, gives some interesting passages from it; and the complete work was published by Montfaucon, at Paris, in 1707, in the Nova Collectio Patrum, tom. ii. The most valuable part of it has been published in French and Greek, by Melchisidec Thevenot, in his Relations de Divers Voyages Curieux, non encore publiées ou traduites, Paris, 1682. To this author we are indebted for the Adulic inscriptions. It appears that Elesbaan, king of the Axumites, had ordered the governor of Adule to send him a copy of these inscriptions; and the governor employed Cosmas, who happened to be there at that time, and one Menas, a merchant, for that purpose. Till Mr Salt examined these inscriptions, during his first journey, they had always been regarded as forming only one; though in this view their meaning was not very clear, and they were at variance with authenticated history: but he satisfactorily proved, that instead of being a single inscription, referring exclusively to Ptolemy Euergetes, there were two distinct inscriptions, one of which refers to Ptolemy, and the other to the affairs of Abyssinia. The former inscription, among other things, mentions that Ptolemy and his father were the first that brought elephants from the Troglodytes and Ethiopia.
Besides the interesting information which Cosmas affords respecting the port and inscription of Adule, he particularly describes the trade of the Axumites along the African coast of Barbaria or Zingi, and as far as Trapobane, Ceylon; and mentions, that every other year the king of Axum sent several persons of distinction to traffic with the natives of Agow for gold, which they bartered for cattle, salt, and iron. The journey commonly occupied six months. He represents the fountains of the Nile as in the vicinity of Agow, which sufficiently points it out as the country of the Agows mentioned by Peter Paez, who travelled in Abyssinia in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Respecting Abyssinia, the notices of travellers are few and very meagre, from the time of Cosmas and Nonnosus, to the conclusion of the fifteenth century. We find it mentioned by Marco Polo, and by Ibn El Wardi, an Arabian author; and some slight notices, particularly of the religious missions into that country, till the year 1500, are supplied by Renaudot, from the Coptic writers, in his Historia Patriarcharum Alexandrinorum, Paris, 1713.
At the close of the fifteenth century, the Portuguese missions into Abyssinia commenced: they originated in rather a singular circumstance. John II. king of Portugal was extremely anxious to discover the residence of Prester John, who had long been represented in Europe as a Christian sovereign of great power, ruling somewhere in the centre of Asia. For this purpose, John sent Peter Covilham and Alphonso or Michael de Payva into Asia: the latter soon died, but the former, during his abode on the western coasts of the Red Sea, hearing much of the Abyssinian emperor, and of his being a Christian, concluded that he had found the object of his search. He immediately conveyed this information to his own court, and proceeded himself to Shoa, then the residence of the Negush, or monarch of Abyssinia. He was received and treated with great kindness and respect; but, according to the usual policy of the Abyssinian court at that period, he was not permitted to leave the country. An account of his residence is given by Damiano Goez, in his Legatio Magni Indorum Presb. Joan, ad Emanuel Lusitaniae, Antwerp, 1552. King Emanuel, who was desirous of maintaining an intercourse with the sovereign of Abyssinia, (not less from commercial and political than religious motives,) sent an embassy into that country in the year 1520. At the head of this embassy he placed the famous Edward Galvan, who had been secretary of state, and ambassador in France, Germany, and Rome. The selection of such a man points out the importance which Emanuel attached to this mission. But unfortunately, Galvan, being extremely old, was unequal to the fatigues of so long and dangerous a journey, and died soon after the embassy entered the Red Sea. In his stead Rodriguez de Lima was appointed; and Francisco Alvarez, who had been chaplain to Galvan, was continued in the same office by Rodriguez. Their journey from the coast of the Red Sea was long and troublesome, on account of the heat of the climate and the badness of the roads; but they arrived at the Abyssinian court on the 12th of April 1520, where they were received with much splendour and courtesy by the Emperor David. They were detained in Abyssinia six years, from various causes; and on their departure, the emperor requested Rodriguèz to leave behind him his physician, John Bermudez, and a painter of his retinue, with which request the ambassador complied. Alvarez wrote a minute account of Abyssinia, of which there are several editions ;—that published by himself at Lisbon in 1540; a Spanish translation from the Portuguese, published at Antwerp in 1557; an Italian translation from the Portuguese manuscript, published by Ramusio in his Collection of Voyages, lib. i∙, (which differs materially from the Lisbon edition); a French translation in 1558; and an English translation, in Purchas’s Collection of Voyages. The value and accuracy of this author’s statements have been differently appreciated; but it seems probable that several fabrications were published in his name; for Damiano Goez asserts that he had seen a journal written by Alvarez, very different from most of the published works.^[1. The translation of Ramusio was made from a manuscript supplied by Goez. ] In some respects, the description which he gives of Abyssinia is extremely valuable. No European traveller, since his time, has visited Angot, Amhara, and Shoa; the first a region occupied by the Pagan Galla, and bordering with some barbarous tribes near the Red Sea. This traveller visited Axum a short time before it was almost totally destroyed by the Turkish invasion, and he describes it as a large and beautiful place. According to him, none of the cities of Abyssinia contained more than fifteen hundred houses; a statement with which the assertion of Bruce, that Gondar, when he was there; contained ten thousand families, can hardly be reconciled.
In the year 1538, Bermudez was sent back to Portugal, as ambassador from the Abyssinian monarch; and after a short abode at Lisbon, he was ordered to return by the way of Goa, and take from that place some troops to reinforce the Abyssinian, who at this period had been compelled to take shelter from the Moors in the mountainous part of his kingdom. The reinforcement was landed at Massowa, and after a difficult journey through the mountainous passes and defiles, they joined the emperor. Bermudez published an account of his j∙ourney at Lisbon in 1565. There are also editions of it published at the same place in 1569 and 1615, which are very scarce. It was translated into English by Purchas (Pilgrims, 1. vii. c. vii. p. 1149), and from thence into French by La Croze, (Christianisme d’Ethiope, p. 92-265.) But the greater part of his work relates to the victories, defeat, and death [7:2:53]of the Portuguese general, Christopher de Gama; and is principally valuable from the description which he gives of some, otherwise little known, parts of the country, which he visited in the course of the war.
In the year 1556, Ignatius Loyola, at the urgent request of an Abyssinian priest called Peter, who had visited Rome, projected a new mission into Abyssinia, and by his influence with the king of Portugal, persuaded him to send an ambassador and a patriarch along with the missionaries. They went first to Goa, where they learned that an entrance into Abyssinia by the Red Sea would be extremely difficult and dangerous, if not quite impracticable, as the Turks carefully guarded the sea-coasts with their ships. In consequence of this intelligence, it was resolved that the ambassador and the patriarch should not attempt the journey; and of the missionaries only one arrived in Abyssinia. An account of this mission was published in 1615;^[2. De Aethiopiae Patriarchis, J. N. Barreto et Andrea Oviedo, P. N. Godìgno. Lugduni, 1615. ] it contains a great deal of curious information, but ought to be read, like all the other accounts of the Jesuit missionaries, with great caution.
From this period, till the close of the sixteenth century, Abyssinia was extremely difficult of access, in consequence of the Turks having exclusive possession of the sea-coast. At length, in 1589, Philip II. of Spain, anxious to renew the alliance between the two courts, sent a letter to the Abyssinian monarch by an Italian bishop, John Baptista, and a person of the name of Lewis de Mendoza, who was then settled at Diu, and was well acquainted with the commerce of the Red Sea. The bishop died during his journey, but Mendoza penetrated into Abyssinia, delivered his letter, and carried back one from the emperor to Philip. In consequence of his success, Mendoza was sent on a second mission, and sailed from Goa in February 1589, accompanied by Antonio de Montser-rato, a Catalonian, and Peter Paez, a Spaniard. In their voyage they were shipwrecked and taken prisoners. This circumstance proved of great advantage to Paez, who, being a man of considerable talents, and of great activity of mind, as well as zeal, spent the seven years of his captivity in making himself a perfect master of the Arabian language. In consequence of the intelligence of their misfortune reaching Goa, two other missionaries wcrc dispatched for Abyssinia; Abraham dc Georgiis, a man of great learning and courage, and a thorough master of all the eastern languages, and Melchior de Sylva, by birth an Indian: only the latter, however, arrived in Abyssinia, the former having been taken and beheaded by the Mahometans. In the mean time, Peter Paez having been ransomed, found means to penetrate into Abyssinia, where he soon gained an ascendancy over the mind of the emperor. He is the first European who visited what the Abyssinians deem the sources of the Nile. He died in that country in the year 1622; and his manuscript, detailing the affairs of Abyssinia from the year 1556 to his death, was transmitted to Rome, where it is said to be Still preserved. The only extract which has been printed from it relates to his journey to the sources of the Nile, and is given by Kircher in his Oedipus Egyptiacus. Paez was succeeded, in 1623, by Father Emanuel D’Almeyda, who travelled from Massowa, by Adejada, across the plain SeraWc, and partly along the course of the Mareb, till he arrived at the monastery of Fremona, the usual residence of the missionaries. He was succeeded by another of the society of Jesuits called Antonio dė Angelis, who was famous for his skill in the Amharic language. In 1624, Alphonso Mcndez was sent patriarch into Ahyssinia. He arrived at Fremona on the 21st of June in that year; but, on account of the dangerous travelling through Tigré at that season, he was obliged to stay there till the October following, when he went to the residence of the emperor, by whom he was received with great pomp. His behaviour, however, was not such as to render him long a favourite; and he was ordered to retire to Fremona. Scarcely had he arrived there, before he received a fresh order to leave the kingdom; and, not immediately complying, he was conducted to Massowa. He wrote the history of Abyssinia in Latin, a French translation of which was printed at Lislc in 1633.^[3. Relation du Reverendissime Patriarche d’Ethiopic, Dom. Alphonze Mendez, touchant la conversion des âmes qui s’est faite en çet Empire. ] During the residence of Mendez in this kingdom, Peter Heyling of Lubeck, a Lutheran, well versed in the Arabic, ingratiated himself into the favour of the Abuna, or metropolitan bishop of Abyssinia at Alexandria, and visited that country along with him; and he continued for several years, being highly esteemed by the court and the clergy, both on account of his skill and success in medicine, and his knowledge of the oriental languages, and of polemic divinity. Respecting the cause and period of his return there is some obscurity. Mendez asserts that he was ordered to leave the kingdom; whereas Ludolphus asserts that the emperor was very unwilling to part with him. He did not live to revisit Europe, having been put to death on his return, either by the Arabs or by the bashaw of Suakcm. An account of his life, and the few particulars which he transmitted to his friends respecting Abyssinia, were published in German, in the year 1724, along with an epitome, in the same language, of Geddes’s Ecclesiastical History of Ethiopia. From the character and attainments of Heyling, in connection with the opportunities of observation and information which he enjoyed, there is no doubt that, had he lived to return to Europe, he would have added considerably to the stock of knowledge at that time possessed regarding this country.
In the suite of Alphonso Mendez was Father Lobo, who, during the greater part of the nine years that he resided in Abyssinia, was rector of the college of Fremona. His description of that country, and history of his travels, though simple and succinct, is much superior in clearness and accuracy to the relations of any of the travellers who had preceded him. Lobo resided for some time in the province of Damot, near the sources of the Nile. It has been supposed, though, we imagine, erroneously, that A short Relation of the river Nile, of its Source and Current, by an Eye-witness, which was first published in 1668, and afterwards republished by Dr Rotheram in 1791, was procured at Lisbon from Lobo himself. This account of the sources of the Nile differs in some respects from the account given in Le Grand’s translation of Lobo. His work was originally published in Portuguese, but it is much better known in the French translation of Le Grand, and in the English translation by Dr Johnson.
In 1660, Father Tellez, at the request of the society of Jesuits, published his General History of Abyssinia under the following title: Historia Geral de Ethiopia Alta, on Preste loam, &c. Coimbra, 1660, folio.^[4. An abridged translation of this work, entitled Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia, was published in the second volume of Knapton’s New Collection of Voyages and Travels, Loud. 1711. ] In compiling this work, he had the advantage of consulting all the relations which the missionaries had drawn up, as well as the annual[7:2:54] letters which they had sent to the college of Jesuits at Lisbon; and, as is noticed in the title-page, the relation of Emanuel d’Almeyda is here abridged.
The Portuguese having lost their credit and influence in Abyssinia by the haughty behaviour of Mendez', the French resolved to use their endeavours to establish themselves in that country; and for this purpose Louis XIV. wrote a letter to the father of the emperor, who was then on the throne, which reached him, though by what means we are not informed. At the same time instructions were sent to Μ. Maillet, the French consul at Cairo, to second the plans of his court; and accordingly, having learned that the emperor was ill, he dispatched Poncet, a physician, to cure him. Along with Poncet was sent, by the influence of the Jesuits, Father de Brevedent, a man particularly conversant in astronomy. They embarked on the Nile on the 10th of June 1698, and arrived within a day and half’s journey of Gondar on the 3d of July of the following year. Here the father died, and Poncet, having rested himself till the 21st of the same month, set out for Gondar. He particularly describes the public audience which was granted him by the emperor, and his rich and splendid attire. Respecting the latter, and also in what he says concerning Gondar, his accounts are considerably at variance with the relations of the Portuguese missionaries: hence the fidelity of his work has been called in question, especially by Le Grand, though on ʼno sufficient grounds. Having succeeded in curing the Abyssinian monarch, he set out from Gondar in the summer of 1700, by the way of Massowa, and arrived safe in France, where he published a distinct account of his journey. A translation of it is given in Lockman’s Travels of the Jesuits. The learned works of Ludolphus— Historia Ethiopica, Francof. 1681; Commentarius in Historiam Ethicrpicam, Francof. 1691; and Helatio Nova, &c. 1693, must not be passed over: for though he chiefly compiled them from the writings of the Portuguese missionaries already mentioned, he was enabled to add considerably to their stock of information, by means of his great knowledge of the Ethiopian language,—by his conversations with Gregory, an intelligent and liberal Abyssinian priest, whom he invited from Rome to the court of Saxe-Gotha,— and by the report of Morat, an Armenian merchant, who had often been in Abyssinia. The Theologia Ethiopica of Gregory is published in Fabricius’s Lux EvangelH.
In 1750, three Franciscans succeeded in penetrating as far as Gondar. From this time, Abyssinia was not reached by any European traveller, till the journey of Bruce.
At the time when Mr Bruce entered Abyssinia, it was rent by civil war. The king Yasous, otherwise popular, had married a Galla princess, an unpopular step, in consequence of which an inveterate prejudice against her, her family, and the king himself,, became rooted in the mind of the Abyssinians. The eldest son, after succeeding to the throne, having died, not without suspicion of poison, was succeeded by Ioas, the son of this Galla queen; but the evident preference which he showed for his relations belonging to this hated race, excited a violent discontent, which issued in the rebellion of Mariam-Barea, governor of the great province of Begemder. The king was obliged to call in the aid of Suhul Michael, the almost independent governor of Tigré. Michael immediately obeyed the call, and soon crushed Mariam-Barea, who sought refuge among the Galla, by whom he was killed. Michael himself, however, now the real master of the kingdom, could not brook the ascendancy of the king’s Galla favourites; and having involved himself in a quarrel with Fasil, the most powerful among that body, both parties took arms. Michael gained a complete victory, after which he put the king to death, and substituted in his place Hannes, an old man, brother to the late monarch, in whose name he administered the affairs of the kingdom with absolute sway. He had before increased his power by marrying Ozoro Esther, widow of Mariam-Barea, and reckoned the greatest beauty in the kingdom. Such was the state of affairs when Mr Bruce entered Abyssinia; and as it is to him chiefly that we are indebted for what we know of the remarkable features of that country, it must be interesting to introduce here at some length the particulars of his journey.
On the 15th of November 1769, Mr Bruce, with two guides, left Arkeeko, on the eastern coast of Africa, and proceeded southwards for Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia. After an hour’s journey, he pitched his tent near a pit full of rain water, where he remained all day; and being detained by some arrangements with his guides, did not finally set out till the evening of the 16th. For the short space they had travelled, the ground was covered with grass broader in the leaf than ours; but in a little time the soil became hard, dry, gravelly, and full of acacia, or Egyptian thorn. On the 17th, they changed their course from south to west, and soon arrived at a range of mountains standing so close to one another, that there was no passage between them except what was worn by torrents; the bed of one of which consequently now became their road. In the evening they pitched their tent at some distance from this torrent, which contained scarcely any water when they left it; but all the afternoon there had been an appearance of rain, with much thunder and lightning at a distance. On a sudden they heard a noise among the mountains louder than thunder; and instantly saw the torrent, swollen immensely by the distant rains, running like a rapid river, and the foremost part of it presenting a body of water about the height of a man. Having run for some time thus violently, the current, no longer supplied by the rains, began to diminish, and by the next morning was entirely gone. Among these mountains the nights are cold even in summer.
On the 18th the journey was resumed, following the bed of the torrent, now almost dry, though the stones were rendered very slippery by the quantity of rain which had fallen. Leaving this disagreeable road, they came to a fine rivulet; which being the first clear water they had seen from the time Mr Bruce left Syria, was exceedingly agreeable. They proceeded along the banks of this river for some time; and soon after leaving it, they came to another of the same kind; but next day were obliged to resume their course in the bed of a torrent. The mountains in this part of the world are .excessively rugged and full of precipices, entirely destitute of soil, and covered with loose stones of a black colour. On the side of the torrent in which they marched, however, there grew very large sycamore trees, some of them little less than 7½ feet in diameter. Their branches afforded shelter to an infinite number of birds, many of them without song, but others having notes very different from the European kinds, and peculiar to the continent of Africa. Most of those which had very beautiful colours were of the jay or magpie kind. The trees were loaded with figs; but they came to nothing, by reason of the ignorance of the savages, who knew not the process of caprification. The streams of water themselves, which at this season were found so delightful, run only after October; they appear on the other side of the mountains when the summer rains in Abyssinia are ceasing; at other times no water is to be met with, excepting what is contained in stagnant pools.
On the 20th of November they began to ascend the [7:2:55]high mountain of Taranta. Their road was now exceedingly rugged and uneven, intersected with monstrous gullies and holes made by the torrents, as well as by huge fragments of rocks which had tumbled down. It was with the utmost difficulty that they could carry the astronomical instruments up the hill; in which work Mr Bruce himself, and one of his attendants named Yasine, a Moor, bore a principal share. The only misfortune they met with was, that their asses, being unloaded, and committed to the care of a single person, refused to ascend this barren mountain; and in spite of all that their drivers could do, set off at a brisk trot for the fertile plains below. Luckily, however, they were afterwards recovered by four Moors sent after them, and the journey resumed without any material interruption.
Taranta is so destitute of earth, that there was no possibility of pitching a tent upon it; so that our travellers were obliged to take up their lodging in one of the caves with which it abounds. The under part of the mountain produces in great plenty the tree called kolquall, which was here observed in greater perfection than in any other place throughout the whole journey. The middle part produced olives, which bore no fruit; and the upper part was covered with the oxycedras, or Virginia cedar, called arze in the language of the country. On the top is a small village named Halai, inhabited by poor shepherds, who keep the flocks of the wealthy inhabitants of the town of Dixan below. They are of a dark complexion, inclining to yellow; their hair black, and curled artificially by means of a stick, and which our author supposes to be the same with the crisping-pin mentioned Isa. iii. 22. The men have a girdle of coarse cotton cloth, swathed six times round their middle; and they carry along with them two lances, and a shield made of bulls’ hides. Besides these weapons, they have in their girdles a crooked knife with a blade about sixteen inches in length, and three in breadth at the lower part. There is here great plenty of cattle of all kinds; the cows generally milk-white, with dewlaps hanging down to their knees; their horns wide like those of the Lincolnshire cattle, and their hair like silk. The sheep are all black, both here and throughout the province of Tigré; having hair upon them instead of wool, like the rest of the sheep within the tropics, but remarkable for its lustre and softness, without any bristly quality. On the top of the mountain is a plain, which, at the time our author was there, they had sown with wheat. The air seemed excessively cold, though the barometer was not below 59° in the evening. On the west side the cedars, which on other parts are very beautiful, degenerate into small shrubs and bushes.
The road down this mountain was for some time not inferior in ruggedness to that by which they had ascended; but as they approached Dixan, it improved considerably. This is the first town on the Abyssinian side of Taranta. It is seated on the top of a hill of a form exactly conical, surrounded by a deep valley like a ditch; and there is no access to it but by a path which winds round the hill. The inhabitants were formerly exterminated by Michael Ras; and the succeeding race were found by Mr Bruce composed of the worst characters from the territories of the Baharnagash and the province of Tigré, on both of which it borders. Here he was in danger from the treachery of his guide Şaloome, who wished to have decoyed him into the power of some assassins. Finding that this could not be done, he surrounded Mr Bruce and his retinue with a body of armed men; but they were dispersed by the authority of Hagi Abdelcarder, who had received orders to provide for the safety of the travellers. The only trade carried on here is that of buying and selling slaves, who are stolen from Abyssinia, chiefly by the priests, and sent into Arabia and India.
The next stage was from Dixan to Adowa, capital of the province of Tigré. Leaving Dixan on the 25th of November, they pitched their tent the first night under a large spreading tree called daroo, which, Mr Bruce says, was one of the finest he saw in Abyssinia, being about 7½ feet in diameter. They had been joined by some Moors driving 20 loaded asses and two bulls, which in that country are likewise used as beasts of burden. Here, our author says, he recovered a tranquillity of mind which he had not enjoyed since his arrival at Masuah; they were now entirely without the dominions of the naybe, and entered into those of the emperor. Saloome attended them for some way, and seemed disposed to proceed; but one of the company, who belonged to the Abyssinian monarch, having made a mark in the ground with his knife, told him, that if he proceeded one step beyond that, he would bind him hand and foot, and leave him to be devoured by wild beasts.
Being now in a great measure delivered from their fears and embarrassments, the company proceeded on their journey with pleasure, through a much better country than they had hitherto passed. In some places it was covered with wild oats, wood, high bent grass, &c. but in not a few places rocky and uneven. Great flocks of a bird as large as a turkey, called in the Amharic language erkoom, were seen in some places. A large animal of the goat kind, called agazan, was found cìead and newly killed by a lion. It was about the size of a large ass, and afforded a plentiful repast. Numbers of kolquall trees were also seen; and the sides of the river Habesh were adorned with a beautiful tree of the same name with the stream. There were in this place also many flowers of various kinds, particularly jessamine. The mountains of Adowa, which they came in sight of on the 5th of December, are totally unlike any thing to be met with in Europe; their sides being all perpendicular rocks, like steeples or obelisks of many different forms.
Adowa, though the capital of an extensive province or kingdom, does not contain above 300 houses; it occupies nevertheless a large space, by reason of the inclosures of a tree called wanzey, which surround each of the houses. It stands on the declivity of a hill, situated on the west side of a small plain surrounded by mountains. It is watered by three rivulets, which never become dry, even in the greatest heats. A manufacture is carried on here of a kind of coarse cotton cloth, which passes for money throughout all Abyssinia. The houses are built of rough stone cemented with mud; lime being only used in the construction of those at Gondar, and even there it is very bad.
Our traveller was very hospitably entertained at Adowa, by one Janni, with whoŗn he resided during his stay there. Leaving it on the 17th of December, he visited the ruins of Axum, once the capital of the empire. He found 40 obelisks, but without any hieroglyphics. A large one is still standing, but the two largest have fallen. There is also a curious obelisk, of which he gives a figure, with other antiquities which our limits will not allow us to enlarge upon. The town has at present about 600 houses, and carries on manufactures of the coarse cotton cloth already mentioned. It is watered by a small stream which flows all the year, and it is received into a fine basin, 150 feet square, where it is collected for the use of the neighbouring gardens. Its latitude was found by Mr Bruce to be 14. 6. 36. N.
On the 20th of January 1770, our traveller set out from Axum. The road was at first smooth and pleasant, [7:2:56]but afterwards very difficult; being composed of stones raised one above another, the remains, as he conjectures, of a magnificent causeway. As they passed farther on, however, the air was everywhere perfumed by a vast number of flowers of different kinds, particularly jessamine. One species of this, named agam, was found in such plenty, that almost all the adjacent hills were covered by it; the whole country had the most beautiful appearance; the weather was exquisitely fine, and the temperature of the air agreeable. In this fine country, however, Mr Bruce had the first opportunity of beholding the horribly barbarous practice of the Abyssinians, in cutting off pieces of flesh from the bodies of living animals, and devouring them raw; while at the same time they have the utmost horror and religious aversion at pork of every kind; insomuch that Mr Bruce durst not venture to taste the flesh of a wild boar, just after having assisted in the destruction of five or six.
During the remaining part of the journey from Adowa to Şiré, the country continued equally beautiful, and the variety of flowers and trees greatly augmented; but as a report was propagated that Ras Michael had been defeated by Fasil, they now met with some insults. These, however, were but trifling; and on the 22d in the evening they arrived safely at Sire, situated in Lat. 14.4. 35. N.
This town is still larger than Axum, but the houses are built only of clay covered with thatch; the roofs in the form of cones, which indeed is the shape of all those in Abyssinia. Sire stands on the brink of a very steep and narrow valley, through which the road is almost impassable. It is famous for a manufacture of cotton cloth, which, as already observed, passes as money throughout the whole empire. Beads, needles, antimony, and incense sometimes pass in the same way. The country in the neighbourhood is extremely fine; but the inhabitants, from the low situation, are subject to putrid fevers. On leaving it on the 24th, our travellers passed through a vast plain, where they could discern, as far as the eye could reach, only some few detached hills standing on the plain, covered with high grass, which the inhabitants were then burning. The country to the northward is flat and open. In the way to Gondar, however, lies that ridge of mountains called Samen; of which one named Lamalmon is the most remarkable, and by some supposed to be the highest in Abyssinia. Betwixt Siré and these mountains flows the river Tacazze, which, next to the Nile, is the largest in Abyssinia. Mr Bruce informs us that it carries hear one-third of the water which falls on the whole empire; and when passing it he saw the marks of its stream, the preceding year, 18 feet perpendicular above the bottom; nor could it be ascertained whether this was the highest point to which it had reached. The Tacazze has its source in the district of Angot, rising from three sources, like the Nile, in a flat country, about 200 miles to the S. E. of Gondar. It is extremely pleasant, being shaded with fine lofty trees, the water extremely clear, and the banks adorned with the most fragrant flowers. At the ford where they crossed, this’ river was fully 200 yards broad, and about three feet deep, running very Swiftly over a bottom of pebbles. At the very edge of the water the banks were covered with tamarisks, behind which grew tall and stately trees, that never lose their leaves. It abounds with fish, and is inhabited by crocodiles and hippopotami; the former of which frequently carry off people who attempt to cross the river upon blown up skins. The neighbouring woods are full of lions and hyenas. The Tacazze is marked by Mr Bruce in his map as a branch of the Astaboras, which falls into the Nile. The latitude of the ford was found to be 13. 42. 45. N.
This river was passed oh the 26th of January; after which our travellers entered into the country of Samen ;< the governor of which, Ayto Tesfos, had never acknowledged the authority of Ras Michael, nor any of the emperors set up by him since the death of Ioas. The country therefore was hostile; but the uncertainty of the event of the war, and the well-known severity of Michael’s disposition, preserved our traveller and his company from any insult, excepting a feeble and unsuccessful attempt to extort money. Here Mr Bruce observes that the people were more flat-nosed than any he had hitherto seen in Abyssinia. The path among the mountains was for the most part exceedingly dangerous, having a precipice of vast height close by it which way soever you turn. The mountains appeared of very extraordinary shapes; some like cones; others high and pointed, like columns, pyramids, or obelisks. In one place a village was observed in so dangerous a situation, that scarce the distance of a yard intervened between the houses and a dreadful precipice. The lions and hyenas were very numerous among these mountains, and devoured one of the best mules our travellers had. The hyenas were so bold, that they stalked about as familiarly as dogs, and were not intimidated by the discharge of fire-arms. Their voracity was such, that they ate the bodies of those of their own species which our travellers had killed in their own defence.
On the 7th of February the travellers began to ascend Lamalmon by a winding path scarcely two feet broad, on the brink of a dreadful precipice, and frequently intersected by the beds of torrents, which produced vast irregular chasms. After ascending two hours with incredible toil up this narrow path, they came to a small plain named Kedus or St Michael, from a church of that name situated there. On ascending to the very top of the mountain, where they arrived on the 9th of February, our travellers were surprised to find, that though from below it had the appearance of being sharp-pointed, it was in reality a large plain full of springs, which are the sources of most of the rivers in this part of Abyssinia. These springs boil out of the earth, sending forth such quantities of water as are sufficient to turn a mill. A perpetual verdure prevails; and it is entirely owing to indolence in the husbandman if he has not three harvests annually. Lamalmon stands on the north-west part of the mountains of Samen; but though higher than the mountains of Tigré, our author is of opinion that it is considerably inferior to those which are situated on the south-east. The plain on the top is altogether impregnable to an army, both by reason of its situation and the plenty of provisions it affords for the maintenance of its inhabitants; even the streams on the top are full of fish. Here the mercury in the barometer stood at 20½ inches.
During the+me our travellers remained at Lamalmon, a servant of Ras Michael arrived to conduct them safely to the capital, bringing a certain account of the victory over Fasil; so that now the difficulties and dangers of their journey were over. The country appeared better cultivated as they approached the capital; and they saw several plantations of sugar-canes, which are raised from the seed. In some places, however, particularly in Wog-gora, great damage is done by swarms of ants, rats, and mice, which destroy the fruits of the earth. Mr Bruce had already experienced the mischief arising from a small species of ant, whose bite was not only more painful than the sting of a scorpion, but which issued out of the ground in such numbers as to cut in pieces the carpets and every thing made of soft materials.
When Mr Bruce approached the capital, he was dressed like a Moor: and this dress he was advised to keep [7:2:57]until he should receive some protection from government; his greatest, indeed his only, danger arising from the priests, who were alarmed at hearing of the approach of a Frank to the capital. This was the more necessary, as the emperor and Michael Ras were both out of town. For this reason also he took up his residence in the Moorish quarter of Gondar, a large city, containing not fewer than 3000 houses. The only inconvenience he underwent here, was the not being allowed to eat any flesh: for we have already taken notice of a law made by one of the emperors, that none of his subjects should eat flesh but such as had been killed by Christians; and a deviation from this would have been accounted equal to a renunciation of Christianity itself. Here he remained till the 15th of February; when Ayto Aylo waited upon him, and addressed him in the character of physician, which he had assumed. By this nobleman he was carried to the palace of Koscam, and introduced to the old queen. His advice was required for oħe of the royal family who was ill of the small-pox; but a saint had already undertaken his cure. The event, however, proved unfortunate; the patient died, and the saint lost his reputation. Our limits will not allow us to give any particular account of the steps by which Mr Bruce arrived at the high degree of reputation which he enjoyed in Abyssinia. In general, his success in the practice of medicine; his skill in horsemanship and the use of fire-arms, which by his own account must have been very extraordinary; his prudence in evading religious disputes; as well as his personal intrepidity and presence of mind, which never once failed him, even in the greatest emergencies; all conspired to render him agreeable to persons of every denomination. By the king he was promoted to the government of Ras-el-Feel, was his constant attendant on all occasions, and was with him in several military expeditions; but never met with any opportunity of distinguishing his personal valour, though he had the command of a body of horse at one of the battles fought at a place named Serbraxos. Thus honoured and employed, he had an ample opportunity of exploring the sources and cataracts of the Bahr-fel-Azrek, which he considered the Nile, as well as the geography and natural products of the whole country; obtaining also leave at last to return home.
The truth and accuracy of Mr Bruce’s narrative have excited greater controversy than has arisen in regard to any other work of the same description. No book ever passed through a severer ordeal; and some have not even scrupled to represent it as a mass of fiction from beginning to end. Such an opinion is now on all hands admitted to be unfounded. There certainly do appear to be some passages that are highly coloured; nor are there wanting a few adventurous sallies, that seem to have but little foundation in reality. But it is no longer doubted that the events of his journey, and his account of the country and people, are in the main correct.
Mr Salt, though he pointedly exposed the mistakes and exaggerations of Mr Bruce, yet bears ample and willing testimony to the general accuracy of his descriptions and narrative; and records, in more than one instance, the astonishment which the Abyssinians expressed at the knowledge which Mr Bruce displayed of their history and country. Mr Browne and Mr Antes, who had excellent opportunities of comparing Mr Bruce’s statements with the accounts given by persons well acquainted with Abyssinia, l>ear testimony to the general accuracy of his details; and Dr Clarke, while at Cairo, obtained from an Abyssinian Dean, whom he met there, direct and specific evidence in favour of the correctness of some parts of his narrative, which had till then-been regarded with suspicion.
The plates given in Mr Bruce’s Travels, especially those of natural history, were early represented as inaccurate: and' that they may be soin some of theminutiae is not improbable, as Bruce laid no claim to a scientific knowledge of the subject; but when Dr Clarke showed these plates to the Abyssinian Dean, though he knew not the nature of the book in which they were contained, and the name of Bruce was not mentioned, the latter immediately gave the same appellations, and assigned the same uses as Bruce, to the Ergett-denimo, Eyett el krone, Emsett, Kolquall, Gergir, Kantuffa, &c. He confirmed the account of the zimb fly, and asserted that he had heard of armies being destroyed by it. When Bruce’s map was laid before him, though of course he could not read the names, he pointed out the locality of Gondar, exactly where Bruce had placed it.
A considerable period elapsed between the date of Mr Bruce’s travels, and those of Mr Salt, the next European traveller in Abyssinia; and Mr Browne informs us, that, for nine years preceding 1796, there was even no communication between Egypt and that country, probably in consequence of the unsettled state of Sennaar and Nubia.
Mr Salt’s first journey into Abyssinia took place in the year 1805. Having accompanied Lord Valentia in his travels in the East, and his Lordship being desirous of ascertaining the state of Abyssinia, and the probability of opening a commercial intercourse between it and Britain, and her oriental dominions, Mr Salt undertook the conveyance of some presents from his Lordship to the Ras. An abstract of the most important information contained in both his journeys will afterwards be given; at present we shall confine ourselves to a brief outline of his route. From Massowa he proceeded to Arkeeko; and thence southwards, with a little inclination to the west, he passed over Taranta to Dixan. On leaving this place, he proceeded to Antalo, through Abha, Agowma, and Chelicut. At Antalo he found the Ras, and delivered Lord Valentias presents. From Antalo he made an excursion to Axum, by the route of Mucullah and Adowa, at which latter place he met with Fasilydas, the son of Yasous, formerly king of Abyssinia. At Axum he particularly examined the obelisks, inscriptions, and ruins; he also discovered a Greek inscription fifteen hundred years old, which proves Axum to have been the capital of a people called the Axumites, and gives credibility to the accounts before doubted, of embassies sent to them by the Romans. This inscription fixes the conquest of part of Arabia by the Abyssinians at an earlier period than was hitherto supposed. From Axum Mr Salt returned to Antalo by the road he came; and on his leaving the country, he again visited Axum and Dixan.
Mr Pearce, one of his attendants, was left behind at Antalo; and when Mr Salt arrived in Abyssinia the second time, about five years afterwards, he learned from Mr Pearce, that during his residence in that country he had made an attempt to reach Gondar. For this purpose he set out from Antalo, and directed his course through the province of Wojjerat, a plain inhabited by negroes called Doba, and a district of the Galla tribe. Soon afterwards he reached the town of Mocurra, and the village of Dufàt on one of the high Lasta mountains; his course during the whole of this part of his journey being nearly south. After passing the village of Dufàt he arrived at the town of Senare, and visited the sources of the river Tacazze, having before this met with no stream of importance. He now changed his route, following the course of the river, nearly due north, and afterwards north-east to Socota, the reputed capital of Lasta, the district which, before his departure from Antalo, he was advised to pass through, as lying in the most accessible road to Gondar. From Socota [7:2:58]he proceeded northwards along the banks of the Tacazze, and, having crossed it, entered the province of Samen, the mountains of which he ascended till he reached Mishekka, and afterwards descended them to Inchetkaab, where Ras Gabriel resided. Here having learned that Ras Welud Se- 1asse, with whom he had been left by Mr Salt at Antalo, was in danger of being attacked by the Galla, he returned to that town by a more direct route than he pursued in his journey to Inchetkaab. His next excursion was, in company with the Ras, against his enemies, through Lasta; and, the Galla having been defeated, he went into the plains of the Edjow. Next year, engaging again in the campaign, he accompanied the army into Hamazen. He also passed over the salt-plain by Amphila. These were the principal parts of Abyssinia which Mr Pearce had an opportunity of visiting, during the interval between Mr Salt’s departure from and return to that country.
Mr Salt, in his second journey, proceeded from the coast of the Red Sea, by the route of Wéah, to the foot of the Taranta mountains, which he crossed to Dixan, and thence proceeded to Chelicut. Here he ascertained that it was impracticable to accomplish the immediate object of his journey, the personal delivery of the presents with which he had been intrusted by his Majesty to the emperor of Abyssinia; as that monarch lived entirely neglected, and in fact a prisoner at Gondar, which was in the possession of Guxo, a chief of the Galla, and the decided opponent of Mr Salt’s friend, Ras Welud Selasse. Disappointed in this object, he made’an excursion to the Ta-cazze, through the province of Avergale, a distance of sixty miles west from Chelicut; and on his return to the latter town, he made another excursion to Antalo. On finally quitting Chelicut, he passed through the high district of Giralta, whence he descended the steep pass of Atbara, to the banks of the Warre. His route was next to Adowa, over several ridges of hills. From Adowa he made an excursion to Axum, for the purpose of re-examining its ruins and inscriptions. Having accomplished this object, he returned to Adowa, and thence to the seacoast.
From this brief outline of Mr Salt’s two journeys, and of the excursions of Mr Pearce, it will appear that neither of them penetrated so far into Abyssinia as Mr Bruce had done; nevertheless, their narratives are of very considerable value, not only on account of the new information which they supply, but also as they enable us to place more steady confidence in such parts of Mr Bruce’s statements regarding Abyssinia as they had the opportunity of verifying; and to ascribe to his Travels their just degree of value and accuracy.
The voyage of Hemprich, Ehrenberg, and their companions, of which we have as yet only a rapid sketch from the pen of Μ. Humboldt, does not promise to throw much light on the civil and interior state of Abyssinia. It appears that they never passed the barrier chain of mountains, but merely explored that north-eastern face which looks to the Red Sea. Their researches and collections relative to the natural history of this region, as well as of Nubia, and the others to which their journey extended, appear to have been very extensive; but the details have not yet been communicated to the public.
It will now be our object to draw, from the narratives of Mr Bruce and Mr Salt, a connected view of the statistics, and of the civil and social condition of this remarkable country.
When Mr Salt was last in Abyssinia, it was divided into three distinct and independent states. Tigré, which was the most powerful, was under the dominion of Ras Welud Selasse, who possessed the monopoly of all the muskets imported, and of all the salt. Tigré comprehends about, four degrees of latitude, and the same of longitude; it possesses the sea-coast, is naturally strong, and is inhabited by a warlike people. Its divisions are, 1. Tigré proper; the general character of which is, a range of hills, intersected by deep gullies and cultivated plains. 2. Agamé, which lies to the east of Tigré proper. This division, being level land, at a considerable height above the sea, and consequently enjoying a favourable climate, is rich and fertile. On its eastern frontier, and near the Taltal, it is strong; the salt-plain is in its vicinity. 3. The division of Enderta, to the south of Agamé, is mostly mountainous; its capital is Antalo, in which the Ras resides, on account of its being situated so as to protect the southern provinces from the Galla. 4. To the south of Enderta is the division of Wojjerat; a wild district, full of forests, in which the lion, elephant, and rhinoceros are found. 5. Adjoining to Wojjerat, is the small and low division of Wofila, which borders on the lake Ashangel. Here the Galla are intermixed with the native Abyssinians, and profess the Christian religion. 6. The division of Lasta is rugged, and almost entirely composed of inaccessible mountains. To the north of this there arc two mountainous districts; and between them and the Tacazze are two low districts, inhabited by Christian Agows. 7. Farther to the north lies the division of Avergale. It is very narrow, and stretches, for about fifty miles north and south, along the Tacazze. It is inhabited by the Agows. 8. The division of Samen, which is to the east of the Tacazze, is the highest land in Abyssinia. Its mountains run north and south, about eighty miles. 9. Between the northern border of Samen and Tigré proper lies the valuable district of Zemben. 10. Above Zemben, to the west of Axum, is the division of Shiré, the most picturesque part of Abyssinia, abounding in rich valleys, flowery meadows, and shady groves. 11. The last division of Tigré is commonly calléd the kingdom of the Baharnegash.
The second independent state is that which still retains the name of Amhara. This is almost entirely in the possession of the Galla, whose chief is Guxo, the enemy of Ras Welud Selasse. His power on the west side of the Tacazze is absolute; and it is much strengthened and increased by his connection with the southern Galla. His cavalry are estimated at twenty thousand, chiefly from the district of Begemder. Gondar belongs to him.
The third grand division, which lies in the south of Abyssinia, is now entirely separated from the two others by the Galla: it consists of the united provinces of Shoa and Efat, which are supposed to retain a larger portion of Ethiopian literature and manners than any other part of Abyssinia. Efat lies between the ninth and eleventh degrees of north latitude. It is principally high land, running north and south, and gradually declining on each side into a plain country. Streams flow from both sides of the mountains, and fall into the Nile and Hawush. Two branches of the latter nearly encircle this province. The present ruler is the grandson of Yasous, mentioned by Bruce (but, as Dofter Esther informed Mr Salt, incorrectly) as having visited Gondar while he was there. He resides at Anko-ber, the capital of Efat. This district is one of the finest in Abyssinia, and in power equal to that of Ras Welud Se-lasse. Its force is chiefly cavalry, who are very skilful and courageous. The province of Shoa lies on a lower level than that of Efat; there is extremely rich pasturage in its valleys; it contains several large towns, and many monasteries. The district of Walaka and Gondar are dependent on the united provinces of Shoa and Efat.
Of the rivers, the Tacazze rises from three small springs in the plains of Margilla; it is joined by the river Arequa, [7:2:59]which runs through the province of Avergale, in a northwest direction, in the district of Zemben; and it forms one of the larger branches of the Nile. The Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue River, or Azergue, the chief Abyssinian branch of the Nile, rises from two fountains in Sacala, near Geesh, flows through the lake of Dembca, sweeps, after quitting the lake, in a semicircular direction round the provinces of Damot and Gojam, and unites with the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White River, at Wed Hogcla, in latitude 16. N. This river, the real Nile, is supposed to rise in the Jibbel-el-Kumri, or mountains of the Moon. The other rivers are, the Maleg, which joins the Abyssinian Nile, after a parallel course, on the west; the Mareb, which forms the boundary between Tigré and the kingdom of the Baharne-gash; the Hanazo and Hawush, which flow in an opposite direction, towards the entrance of the Red Sea; and the Jemma. The principal lakes are, Dembea, or Tzana, about sixty miles long, and thirty broad, where most extensive, and in the wet seasons; the lake of Lawasa, in the southern extremity of Abyssinia, a chief source of the Hawush; the lake of Haik, near the rocks of Geshen and Ambazel; and the Ashangel.
The great difference of climate, owing to the vast extent and variety of elevation in different parts of this empire, is very perceptible in its soil and productions. The mountains in many places are not only barren, but altogether inaccessible, except by those who make it their constant practice to climb amongst them; and even by them they cannot be ascended without great difficulty and danger. The shapes of these mountains, as we have already had occasion to observe, are very strange and fantastical; exceedingly different from those of Europe: some resembling towers and steeples, while others are like a board or slate set up on end; the base being so narrow, and the whole mountain so high and thin, that it seems wonderful how it can stand. In the valleys, however, and flat parts of the country, the soil is excessively fruitful,, though in the warmest places grain cannot be brought to perfection. Wine is also made only in one or two places; but the greatest profusion of fruits of all kinds is to be met with everywhere, as well as many vegetables not to be found in other countries. There is a vast variety of flowers, which adorn the banks of the rivers in such a manner as to make them resemble fine gardens. Among these a species of rose is met with; which grows upon trees, and is much superior in fragrance to those which grow on bushes. Senna, cardamom, ginger, and cotton, are likewise produced here in great quantities.
Among the rare plants to be met with in Abyssinia, Mr Brucc particularly describes the following :—1. The papyrus, the ancient material for paper; which our author supposes to have been a native of Ethiopia, and not of Egypt, as has been supposed. 2. Balessan, balm, or balsam plant; a tree growing to the height of 14 or 15 feet, and used for fuel along with other trees in the country. It grows on the coast of the Red Sea, among the myrrh trees behind Azab, all the way to Babelmandel. This is the tree producing the balm of Gilead mentioned in Scripture. 3. The sassa, myrrh, and opocalpasum trees. These grow likewise along the coast of the Red Sea. The sassa or opocalpasum is used in manufactures; and, according to our author, resembles gum adragant, probably tragacanth. The tree which produces it grows to a great size, and l.∙as a beautiful flower, scarce admitting of description without a drawing. 4. Ėnsete, an herbaceous plant, growing in Narca, in swampy places; but it is supposed to grow equally well in any other part of the empire, where there is heat and moisture sufficient. It forms a great part of the vegetable food of the Abyssinians. It produces a kind of figs, but these are not eatable. When used for food, it is to be cut immediately above the small detached roots, or perhaps a foot or two higher, according to the age of the plant. The green is to be stripped from the upper part till it becomes white; and when soft, it affords an excellent food when eaten with milk or butter. 5. Rack is a large tree, growing not only in Abyssinia, but in many places of Arabia Felix. Its wood is so hard and bitter, that no worm will touch it; for which reason it is used by the Arabs for constructing their boats. It grows, like the mangrove, among the salt water of the sea, or about salt springs. 6. Cusso, or Banksia anthelmintica, is a very beautiful and useful tree, being a strong anthelmintic, and used as such by the Abyssinians. 7. Teff is a kind of grain sown generally throughout Abyssinia, and constituting the bread commonly made use of by the inhabitants. They have indeed plenty of wheat, and are as skilful in forming it into bread as the Europeans; but this is only made use of by people of the first rank: however, the teff is sometimes of such an excellent quality, that the bread made from it is held in equal estimation with the finest wheat. From the bread made of this grain a sourish liquor called bouza is prepared, which is used for common drink like our small beer. A liquor of the same kind, but of inferior quality, is made from barley cakes. Some have been of opinion that the use of teff occasions worms; but this is controverted by Mr Bruce. 8. Nook, a plant not to be distinguished from our marigold, either in shape, size, or foliage, is also sown very generally over the country, and furnishes all Abyssinia with oil for the kitchen and other uses.
Our knowledge in this department is considerably increased by Dr Murray’s edition of Bruce, and Mr Salt’s two journeys. The lehem, or Toberne montana, a tree common near the lake of Dembea, is remarkable for its beauty and fragrance; it grows to a considerable size, the extremities of its branches trailing along the ground, laden with flowers from top to bottom in great profusion, each cluster containing between eighty-five and ninety, open or shut; the fruit is eaten, but has rather a harsh taste. The anguah, found near the Tacazze, produces a gum resembling frankincense. The leaves of the geesh, which is very common, are put by the Abyssinians into their maize; they are likewise reduced to powder, and mixed with the other materials of which they make Sowa. The mergombey, a species of Solanum, is used as a cathartic; and from the niche, or niege, they extract their vegetable oil: it is a specie? of Sesanum. These are the principal plants, descriptions and plates of which are given from Mr Bruce’s manuscripts and drawings, by Dr Murray. Mr Salt’s researches have added eight new genera, and one hundred and twenty-four new species, to botany. Near Shela, a species of narrow-leaved Ficus grows, called by the natives chekunit; the inner rind of the bark of which, having been bruised on a stone, twisted round a stick, and dried, is used as matches for their fire-arms. Near Adowa, Mr Salt found a new and beautiful species of Amaryllis, bearing ten or twelve spikes of bloom on each stem, from one receptacle, as large as those of the belladonna. The corolla is white; each petal is marked down the middle with a single streak of bright purple; it is sweet-scented, like the lily of the valley; the bulbs are frequently two feet under ground. Mr Salt brought this plant to England.
The domesticated animals are oxen. The Galla oxen, or sanga, were not seen by Mr Bruce; and his account of them is not strictly correct, their large horns not being the effect of disease. The largest Mr Salt ever saw was four feet in length, and the circumference at the base twenty-one inches. The horns of one of them are in the [7:2:60]museum of the College of Surgeons in London. The animal itself is of the usual size, and of various colours; it is by no means common in Abyssinia, being brought only by the cafilas, or salt caravans, as a valuable present, from the south. The sheep are small and black; the horses strong and beautiful. Besides these, there are mules, asses, a few camels, and two species of dogs; one of which owns no master, but lives in packs in the villages, like the paria dog in India; the other is kept for game, especially for Guinea fowls, which it catches very expertly.
The wild animals are, the elephant, which is hunted by the Shangalla for their teeth: the cawe leopard, only found in the interior districts; very shy; its skin is an article of barter: the two-horned rhinoceros, only found •in the forests of Wojjerat, and the low land near the Fungĕ; its horns have no connection with the bone of the head, consequently the opinion of Sparman, that they can raise and depress them at pleasure, may be correct. This rhinoceros has no folds in the skin, as the one-horned has; its skin is used for shields; its horns for handles to swords and daggers, and, according to the Abyssinian Deân whom Dr Clarke interrogated at Cairo, as a lining to drinking vessels, being regarded as an antidote to poison. The foremost horn is two feet long, and very large in other respects. The buffalo is very common in the forests of Ras-el-fil; shields are made from its skin with great art. The zebra, in the south chiefly; its mane decorates the collars of the war-horses belonging to chiefs of great rank on days of state. The wild ass is found in some parts; lions occasionally, especially in the sandy districts near the Tacazze. Whoever kills one wears the paw on his shield: the skin, richly ornamented, forms a dress like that worn by the Caffre chiefs. There are several species of leopard, one black, extremely rare, the skin of which is worn only by governors of provinces. The lion-cat, tiger-cat, or grey lynx, and wild-cat, are not uncommon. From the libet, civet is procured, and is an article of commerce. The hyena: Mr Salt remarks that it has a singular cry—three distinct deep-toned cries; then silence for a few minutes, succeeded by the same kind of cry. The hyena and dog seldom fight; they even feed on the same carcass. A small kind of wolf; common fox; sea fox; and jackal. There is a great variety of antelopes, one of which is probably allied to the chamois," being confined to the cold and mountainous district of Samen. Several species of monkey; the wild boar; porcupine; cavy, nearly allied to that of the Cape; a small grey hare, deemed by the natives unclean; squirrel; rats, very numerous in the fields; an undescribed species of lemur, the size of a cat, with a long tail, faintly striped with black and white, with white bushy hair at the end: the hair on the body is long, and of a clear white, except on the back, where there is a large oval spot covered with short deep-black hair. Of this every man in Tigré endeavours, if possible, to have a piece on his shield. The hippopotami are chiefly found in the deep pits, like lochs, between the fords of the Tacazze; they roll and snort like a porpus; they cannot remain longer than five or six minutes under water; their colour is a dusky brown, like the elephant; their usual length sixteen feet. Whips are made of their skin, and used to brush away the flies, which are very troublesome in hot weather: the butt-ends of the whips are ornamented with hair from the tail of the camelopard.
The number of birds in this country is immense. Great numbers of eagles, vultures, hawks, and others of that kind, are met with, and come punctually every year after the tropical rains have ceased. They feed at first upon the shell-fish, which are met with in great quantities on the edges of the deserts, where they had lived in the salt springs, but being forced from their natural habitations when these springs were swollen by the rains, are afterwards left to perish on dry land. When these fail, their next resource is from the carcasses of the large animals, such as the elephant and rhinoceros, which are killed in the flat country by the hunters. Their next supply is afforded by the multitude of rats and field-mice which infest the country after harvest. The vast slaughter of cattle made by the Abyssinian armies, the multitude of persons killed, whose bodies are allowed to rot on the field of battle, &c. furnish them also with another resource. These supplies, however, all fail at the beginning of the rainy season, when the hunters and armies return home, and the vast quantity of water which continually overflows the ground renders it impossible for them to find any other food.
The rarest birds brought home by Mr Salt from Abyssinia are, a new species of Bucco, since called B. Saltii, which clings like the woodpecker to the branches of trees: a variety of the Upupa erythrorhynchos, with a black tail; it feeds on the figs of the Ficus sycamorus : a non-descript species of Merops; a non-descript species of Tanapa, which perches on the backs of the cattle, and feeds on the grubs which infest them in hot weather; the Columba Abyssmica, wild among the daro trees, eaten by the Abyssi-nians; the Tringa Senegalla ; the Erodia ampkilorsis, allied in some degree to the Arodea Pondiceriana, probably a new genus; the Cursorius Europaeus, an extremely rare bird, shot on the sandy plains near the Tacazze.
Bees are domesticated in the province of Wojjerat, which is famous for white honey, sold at Antalo. Mr Salt gives a dreadful account of the ravages of the Abyssinian locust.
Little is known respecting the mineralogy of Abyssinia. Near Wéah there are low hills of granitic rocks, resting on a bed of micaceous earth. In the district of Tigré the soil is sandy; the rocks, composed of slate, schistus, and granite, he in perpendicular strata. In the districts of Geralta and Enderta the strata are rather horizontal. But the salt-plain is the most interesting, not only in a mineralogical, but also in an economical view, as from it the Abyssinians obtain the pieces of salt which they use as money. This plain lies near the country of the Assa Durwa, about fifty miles west of Amphila, on the road to Massowa; it is about four days’ journey in extent from north-east to south-west, and is crossed in sandals made of the leaves of a species of palm. The plain is perfectly flat; for the first half-mile the salt is soft; it then becomes hard and crystallized, like ice on which snow has fallen after it has been partially thawed: branches of pure salt occasionally rise above the surface. It is cut with an adze into pieces the shape of a whetstone. For about two feet immediately under the surface it is hard and pure; afterwards it is coarse and softer, till exposed to the air. The employment of cutting the salt is very dangerous, on account of the Galla, who frequently attack the workmen: none, therefore, are employed except the lowest order of the natives, who lie down on their backs, or flee to the mountains, on the approach of the Galla. Salt caravans, called cafilas, are regularly sent for salt from Antalo; and the situation of Balgudda, or protector of these caravans, is of great importance as well as emolument; for on their safe arrival mainly depends the internal and external commerce of the Abyssinians: when they arrive, therefore, they are received with great acclamation and joy. The Galla frequently attack them. The pay of the Balgu^da is derived from the duty imposed on the importation of salt ;—a camel, the usual load of which is two hundred pieces, [7:2:61]pays eleven; a mule, carrying eighty, pays nine; an ass pays six.
With respect to the climate, Mr Salt found that the thermometer, in March, April, and May, averaged 70° at Chelicut, 65° at Antalo, 95° on the banks of the Tacazze, and on the mountains of Samen he supposed it to be below the freezing point. He contradicts, from his own observation, Mr Bruce’s statement, that snow is not known in Abyssinia. The Samen mountains were covered with snow at the time Mr Salt saw them; and Mr Pearce, in his passage over them, experienced a heavy fall.
Two varieties or wheat are cultivated, of which they make large loaves, either baked or prepared by steam. These, however, are used only at the tables of the great. The teff, which is their usual food, varies in colour from white to black. The Abyssinian Dean informed Dr Clarke that beer, or sowa, was made from selleh, and not from teff; and that it is not made from the latter, is confirmed by the testimony of Michael, Mr Bruce’s servant. (Murray’s Life of Bruce, 4to. p. 252.) The neug, which is like the raggy of India, is next in esteem to the teff, with which, or with barley, it is mixed to make bread. It is harsh and dry. Two kinds of barley are sown; the black in great quantity, but it is only given to horses and mules. Maize is much cultivated between Galla and Dixan, but not made into bread. The vetch is cultivated for the purpose of mixing it with teff, or forming it with ghee and curds into balls. It is eaten in the morning. The worst grain of every kind is generally used for seed. As almost every man cultivates enough for his family, it is seldom sold. On the low lands there are two crops. The ploughs are rudely made, from the root or branch of a tree; sometimes the shares are of iron. They are drawn by oxen. The land is twice ploughed, afterwards the clods are broken by women; and when the corn is half ripe, it is weeded by men, women, and children, singing as they work: only females reap, and when strangers pass they utter a sharp shrill cry, 'the Liralect of Syria, where it is used on the same occasion. It is produced by trilling the tongue against the roof of the mouth, without any distinct words, but a constant repetition of the syllable al, uttered with the utmost rapidity. In some parts the grain, when carried, is secured from the weather by means of tanned kid-skins. The plain of Lara⅛ near Dixan, resembles the vale of Evesham. It is highly cultivated, and irrigation is practised in it. Cotton is grown near the Tacazze, and sold at Adowa.
Mr Salt’s description of a brind feast, though not so highly coloured as that of Mr Bruce, is still sufficient to prove the barbarism of the Abyssinians. The sides of the table are covered with piles of thin cakes made of teff, reaching to the height of a foot, and two feet and a half in diameter; in the middle a row of curry dishes is placed. Near the Ras there are a number of fine wheaten rolls, for his own use, and that of his favourites. The signal to begin the feast is given by his breaking and distributing them: immediately female slaves, having washed their hands, dip the teff into the curry, and serve it to all the guests, except the Ras, who receives his portion from a male slave, and afterwards distributes it among the chiefs, who acknowledge the favour by standing up and bowing. Balls composed of teff, greens, and curds, are next handed about. In the mean time the process of killing the cattle proceeds in the adjoining yard. That process is simple :— the beast is thrown on the ground, and its head separated from the body with a Jambea knife, during which an invocation is always pronounced. The skin is immediately stript off one side, and the entrails being taken out, are devoured by the attendants. While the fibres are yet quivering, the flesh is cut into large pieces. These are of no regu-. lar size; but generally a piece of bone is attached to the' flesh, by which it is brought into the dining-room. The chiefs with their crooked knives cut off large steaks, which they divide into long stripes, half an inch in diameter. If they are not pleased with the piece they have got, they hand it to a dependant, who, in his turn, if not pleased, hands it to another, till it comes to one whose taste or rank does not induce or authorize him to reject it. As soon as the first party is-satisfied, they rise from the table and give way to others. The last cakes are scrambled for with a great noise. It appears from Mr Salt, that though the chiefs sometimes feed themselves aţ these • feasts, yet more frequently, as Mr Bruce relates, they feed one another.
Mr Pearce witnessed a live meal, when travelling with the Lasta soldiers. FIaving fasted long, one of them proposed to cut out the shulada : a cow was thrown down, and two pieces of flesh, weighing about a pound, cut from the buttock, which they called the shulada. Whenever Mr Salt mentioned the term, he was always understood. After the pieces were cut out, the wounds were sewed up, and plastered over with cow-dung. The animal was driven on, but killed at the end of the journey. The Abyssinians are very expert in dissecting a cow, as there are always a number of applicants, each of whom claims a right to a particular portion.
The Abyssinians are very fond of pictures. Their churches are full of them; and such chiefs as can afford it ornament their principal rooms with them. They paint their pictures on the surface of the walls, tracing the outline with charcoal; they afterwards go over it with coarse Indian ink; and lastly, introduce the colours, which are excessively gaudy. They exaggerate the size of the eye, and paint all classes with full faces, except the Jews, whom they uniformly paint with side faces.
On their journeys they sing extemporary verses, one person alone composing and singing them at first, after which they are repeated in chorus by the rest.
Their dress consists of a large folding mantle, and close drawers. To these the priests add a vest of white linen next the skin. On their head they wear a small shawl of white cotton, with the crown exposed. Their houses are of a conic form, covered with thatch. In Dixan the houses are flat-roofed, without windows: instead of chimneys, there are pots of earthen ware on the roofs. There are also caves near this place used as dwellings, which are expeditiously made, in a very simple manner—the earth being dug out, and the mortar tempered occasionally with the blade-bone of an ox, and the stones that are used shaped with an adze.
Their principal liquor is called maize, made of honey fermented with barley, and strengthened with the root of the Rhamnus inebrians, called sadoo. The liquor is drunk out of Venetian decanters, called brullιes. But the common drink among the lower class is made of the bread left at their feasts, and parched barley; it is called sowa, and is drunk out of horns.
Marriage is generally a civil contract. The female, who is seldom consulted on the occasion, is carried to the house of her husband on his shoulders, or those of his friends. The bride and bridegroom are sometimes seated on a throne of turf, shaded with boughs, round which the relations, &c. dance. The dowry consists of gold, cattle, muskets, and cloth, and is always kept apart, and returned in case of separation. Marriage by civil contract can be dissolved at pleasure; by religious contract it is more sacred, especially when the parties take the sacrament after, marriage. Ladies of rank retain their estates and [7:2:62] maiden names, and assume great superiority over their husbands. At Dixan they allow the nails on their left hand to grow to a great length, and cover them with cases of leather to preserve them. In some parts it is not uncommon for one man to have several wives; only one, however, is deemed his lawful wife: each has her separate residence.
When a person is seized with a species of fever called Tigre-ter, his relations show him all the gold and silver ornaments, fine clothes, &c. which they can collect, making, at the same time, a dreadful noise with drums and other musical instruments, to drive the devil out; for they believe all diseases come from the devil. When death is at hand, the drums, &c. cease; and when it actually takes place, howling and tearing the hair and skin from the temples ensue. No time is lost in washing the body and fumigating it with incense, after which it is sewed up in the clothes of the deceased, and buried in great haste. When the burial is over, the toscar or feast of the dead commences; an image of the deceased, in rich garments, on his favourite mule, is carried through the town, accompanied by other mules, &c. in gay apparel, and by female hired mourners, crying out, as in Ireland, “Why did you leave us? had you not houses and land ?” When the procession returns, cattle arc killed, and an immense number of people feasted: a repetition of this feast, at certain intervals, is given by the different relations of the deceased, who vie with one another in profusion and splendour.
When a person is murdered, the criminal is generally given up to the relations of the deceased, who take him to the market-place, and dispatch him with their knives and spears, every relation and friend making a point of striking a blow. When a person accused of any crime is apprehended, he is tied by his garments to another; and it is always considered a sure proof of guilt, if he runs away and leaves his garments behind. The Ras decides disputes; before him each party makes his statement, and stakes a quantity of salt, a mule, slaves, gold, &c. on the veracity of his statement; the party convicted is punished by the forfeiture to the Ras of what he staked. Lands descend from father to son; when there is no son, they go to the brother. All the children and relations have a claim on the property of the deceased; if he has neither, he generally directs it to be sold, and one half to be given to the priests, and the other to the poor.
Their Lent continues fifty-two days, during which they never taste food till after sunset. The chief amusement on the holydays after Lent, among the lower classes, very much resembles the English game of bandy.
On the feast of Epiphany, which, according to the Abys-sinians, is the 11th of January, they assemble, in commemoration of our Saviour’s baptism, near brooks, into which they jump, after having received the blessing of the priest, leaping, dancing, ducking one another, and shouting. In the performance of baptism three priests are engaged; one with the incense, another with a golden cross, and the third with the consecrated oil from the patriarch of Alexandria. The person to be baptized is first washed over with water, and afterwards crossed on the forehead with some of that element, over which the incense has been waved, and into which the consecrated oil has been dropped. When the person is a Mahometan, every joint and limb is crossed with the consecrated oil; he is then wrapped in a white linen cloth, and partakes of the sacrament. No unbaptized person is allowed to enter a church. The sacrament is given in both kinds, with new leavened bread, and wine made of a red grape common in some parts of the country. Great numbers of pilgrims, in a yellow dress, with cords round their waists, resort to the rich and beautiful plains of Walassč, where they spend' their time, by no means innocently, amidst its retired groves.
The Christians near Dixan are distinguished by a cross on their breast, arm, &c. and a blue silk string round their neck. They say prayers over whatever they eat, drink, receive, or give, and afterwards blow on it, turning their heads to the east. They turn the heads of animals to the west when they kill them. A striking resemblance may be traced between some of the superstitions of the Abys-sinians and those which still linger in our own country. The falcon, called goodie-goodie, is never killed by them; and when an Abyssinian sets out on a journey and meets one, he watches it carefully; if it sit still, with its breast towards him till he is past, he regards it as a good omen; if its back is towards him, it is unpropitious; and if it fly away, no motive will induce him to proceed on his journey. It is a prevalent belief, that every worker in iron transforms himself, at night, into an hyena, and preys on human flesh; but if, while thus transformed, he is wounded, the wound remains in the corresponding part of his own body.
The languages spoken in Abyssinia and the neighbouring districts are, a corruption of the Geez, called Tigré, Amharic, Falasha, Gafat, Agow, Tcheretch Agow, Shan-galla, and Galla. According to Dr Murray, the written Geez is the oldest dialect of the Arabic in existence. The Amharic, the modern language of Abyssinia, is likewise an Arabic dialect, more simple than the Geez in the form of its verbs, but in all other respects the same. The Falasha is spoken by the tribes professing the Jewish religion, who formerly ruled in Dembea, Samen, and near the Angrab and Kahha; it is one of the ancient Ethiopian tongues, and has no affinity to the Arabic or Hebrew. The language of the Gafat nation is a corrupted dialect of the Amharic.
Respecting the tribes which border upon, or are intermixed with, the Abyssinians, Mr Salt has supplied us with some additional information.
The Jews are very numerous in Gondar and the provinces of Samen and Kuara; they are chiefly employed in building and thatching houses.
The Hazorta tribe inhabit the mountains near Tubbo, and command the only practicable passage into Abyssinia. They are a brave and rude people. Their population is about 5000, over whom there are five chiefs. They possess many cattle, which they seldom kill, but barter with the Abyssinians for grain, being almost entirely ignorant of the art of raising corn. They assist the Abyssinians in getting in their harvests. During the rainy season they go to the sea-side for three, four, or five months, and on their return bring salt, which they exchange for grain with the Abyssinians. When they beat their tom-toms, they clap their hands, and hiss in such a manner, that the sound resembles the quick alternate pronunciation of the letters pts. Only one person dances at a time, generally a chief; his feet move little, but his body, and particularly his shoulders, is extremely agitated with a kind of writhing gesture.
The name Shangalla (or, according to Bruce, Shankala) is applied by the Abyssinians to the whole race of negroes. One tribe of them were represented to Mr Salt as living three days’ journey beyond the Nile, and as having a very imperfect notion of any supreme being. The only species of adoration which they exhibit occurs during a great holyday, when all the people assemble and kill a cow, by stabbing it in a thousand places. They have no priests or rulers, but pay respect to old age; the [7:2:63]old men being allowed to drink first, and take two wives. In their marriages they mutually take each other’s sisters. If one of the parties has no sister, he gives one of his female slaves. The women assist the men in ploughing, &c. and have an equal share of the produce of the land. These people are named from some circumstances relating to their birth, as “Born in the night ;” or “Born while making booza;” or from some marks on their bodies. They are buried in their clothes, without ceremony, the relatives feasting on the cattle of the deceased, his wife getting the household furniture, and the sons his arms, land, and agricultural implements. When hunting, they eat whatever they can procure, even an elephant or a rat. They tie the legs of their prisoners, and employ them in making cloth, or manufacturing iron. Those who cannot work, they kill. The Abyssinians consider it as sport to hunt the Shangalla.
There are at least twenty tribes of the Galla, some of whom, entering Abyssinia from the south, have become naturalized, and adopted the manners of the Abyssinians. The tribes out of Abyssinia have little connection with one another, though they speak the same language; each has its own chief, and they are often engaged in mutual hostilities. There are two divisions larger than the rest, one of which, near the Abiad, or White River, retains its natural ferocity: they drink warm blood, adorn themselves with the entrails of animals, and ride on oxen. The Assubee Galla wear garments like the Abyssinians; grease and powder their hair; and cover their arms with bracelets, and with trophies, according to the number of the enemies slain.
The inhabitants of Hamazen differ from the rest of the Abyssinians, being darker and stronger limbed, and more like the Fungè, who live near Sennaar; they fight desperately with two-edged swords. In the province of Wojjerat, also, the men are larger and stouter than the other Abyssinians. They are said to be the descendants of Portuguese soldiers. Their fidelity to their rulers is proverbial. The plain, eight hours’ distance from Wojjerat, is inhabited by the Doba, one of the isolated tribes of negroes found in all parts of Africa. They are mentioned by Alvarez, as, in his time, not marrying till they could make oath that they had put to death twelve Christians.
The Agows, who were worshippers of the Nile till the seventeenth century, always fix their residence near the great branches of that river, for whose waters they still retain a veneration so great, that they will supply a stranger with milk, but not with water. Their buildings are without mortar. The houses of the higher ranks are in the form of Egyptian temples. At the earliest dawn of day they assemble before the doors of their chiefs, and chant their prayers.
It has already been mentioned, that one of the objects of Mr Salt’s journeys was to ascertain whether Abyssinia was likely to afford any new openings to British commerce. How far this is likely, will best appear from a sketch of the manufactures and commerce of that country. The former are few and contemptible: though cotton grows in maay parts, and is of a superior quality, yet they import a considerable quantity from India, which they manufacture into a coarse cloth. As they have no dark blue colour, they unravel the threads of the blue cloth of Surat, and weave them again into their own webs: they procure a black dye from an earth, and red, yellow, and light blue from vegetables. Fine cloth is manufactured at Gondar, and coarse at Adowa; the latter, besides its common use, circulates as money: a coarse piece sixteen cubits long, one and three-fourths wide, is equal to' thirty pieces of salt, or one dollar; a piece not so coarse, fifty cubits long, sufficient to make a dress for a chief, is equal to twelve dollars. Coarse carpets, from sheeps’ wool, and the hair of goats dyed, red and light blue, are manufactured at Gondar and in Samen. In some parts the sheep-skins are tanned, and worn by the women round their waists, or over their shoulders, whenever they stir out. At Axum, skins are made into parchment, and finished well. Manufactures of iron and brass are common; the former is procured from Sennaar, Walkayt, and Berbera: knives are made at Adowa, and spears at An-talo: highly finished chains of brass are made by the Galla. There are many fairs and weekly markets. At a weekly market near Abha, were exposed for sale, iron, wrought and unwrought, for ploughshares, &c. cattle, horses, skins, cotton, ghee, butter in round balls and very white, &c. It is not infamous, as Mr Bruce asserts, for men to attend the markets.
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t
Through Adowa, there are imported for Gondar and the interior of Abyssinia, lead, block-tin, gold-foil, Persian carpets, raw silks from China, velvets, French broad cloths, coloured skins from Egypt, and glass beads and decanters from Venice. Ivory, gold, and slaves, are the principal exports through Adowa to the coast. A few slaves from Abyssinia reach Cairo, by way of Cossir and Suez; they are esteemed more beautiful than those of Soudan.
In estimating the probability that Abyssinia may afford a new opening for British commerce, there are two circumstances which require particular consideration. There can be no doubt, that, in so far as a more accurate knowledge of the navigation of the Red Sea, and convenient places for landing the goods, are requisite for this object, the journeys of Lord Valentia and Mr Salt have been of great utility; but there can be no communication with Gondar and the interior of Abyssinia, unless we could either form an alliance with the chief who commands there,—in which case we should be exposed to the enmity of the Ras of T½gré, and thus be prevented even from advancing to a short distance from the coast,—or assist the Ras to liberate his sovereign, and replace him on his throne. Direct assistance could not be given, and the result seems very doubtful were we only to furnish the Ras with a supply of arms. In the . second place, supposing the communication with Gondar to be open and easy, Abyssinia at present can furnish nothing in exchange for our goods. We could indeed supply them, either from Britain or from our Indian possessions, with most of the articles which they procure from Arabia; especially with India goods and raw cotton from India, for which, as cotton is used for clothing in the greater part of Africa, there must be a great demand: besides, our goods could be sold cheaper, being exempt from the heavy duty imposed on what they now import. But for exchange with us, Abyssinia produces only ivory and gold: the latter in small quantities; the former we can procure cheaper elsewhere.
On the whole, therefore, when we consider that the communication with the interior will probably always be liable to interruption; and that, even if the case were otherwise, no returns could be looked for, except from the increased industry and skill of the Abyssinians, or from regions with which the intercourse is slow and precarious; there seems but little reason to expect that this country will afford any new openings to British commerce.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 49 [7:2:49]
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ABYSSINIAN, in Ecclesiastical History, is the name of a sect in the Christian church, established in the empire of Abyssinia. The Abyssinians are a branch of the Copts or Jacobites, with whom they agree in admitting but one nature in Jesus Christ, and rejecting the council of Chalcedon: whence they are called Eutychians or Monophysites, and stand opposed to the Melchites. They are only distinguished from the Copts, and other sects of Jacobites, by some peculiar national usages. The Abyssinian sect or church is governed by a bishop or metropolitan styled Abuna, sent them by the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria residing at Cairo, who is the only person that ordains priests. The next dighity is that of Komos, or Hegumenos, who is a kind of archpresbyter. They have canons also, and monks: the former of whom marry; the latter, at their admission, vow celibacy, but with a reservation: these, it is said, make a promise aloud, before their superior, to keep chastity; but add in a low voice, as you keep it. The emperor has a kind of supremacy in ecclesiastical matters. He alone takes cognizance of all ecclesiastical causes, except some smaller ones reserved to the judges; and confers all benefices, except that of Abuna.
The Abyssinians have at different times expressed an inclination to be reconciled to the see of Rome; but rather out of interests of state than any other motive. The Emperor David, or the queen regent on his behalf, wrote a letter on this head to Pope Clement VII. full of submission, and demanding a patriarch from Rome to be instructed by; which being complied with, he publicly abjured the doctrine of Eutychius and Dioscorus in 1626, and allowed the supremacy of the pope. Under the emperor Sultan Seghed all was undone again; the Romish missionaries settled there had their churches taken from them, and their new converts banished or put to death. The congregation de propaganda have made several attempts to revive the mission, but to little purpose.—The doctrines and ritual of this sect form a strange compound of Judaism, Christianity, and superstition. They practise circumcision, and are said to extend the practice to the females as well as males; th¾y observe both Saturday and Sunday as Sabbaths; they eat no meats prohibited by the law of Moses; women are obliged to the legal purifications; and brothers marry their brothers’ wives, &c. On the other hand, they celebrate the Epiphany with peculiar festivity, in memory of Christ’s baptism; when they plunge and sport in ponds and rivers; which has occasioned some to affirm that they were baptized anew every year. They have four Lents: the great one commences ten days earlier than ours, and is observed with much severity, many abstaining therein even from fish, because St Paul says there is one kind of flesh of men, and another of fishes. They allow of divorce, which is easily granted among them, and by the civil judge; nor do their civil laws prohibit polygamy itself. They have at least as many miracles and legends of saints as the Romish church; which proved no small embarrassment to the Jesuit missionaries, to whom they produced so many miracles, wrought by their saints, in proof of their religion, and those so well circumstantiated and attested, that the Jesuits were obliged to deny miracles to be any evidence of a true religion; and in proof hereof, to allege the same arguments against the Abyssinians which Protestants in Europe allege against Papists. They pray for the dead, and invoke saints and angels; have so great a veneration for the virgin, that they charge the Jesuits with not rendering her honour enough. They venerate images in painting; but abhor all those in relievo, except the cross. They hold that the soul of man is not created; because, say they, God finished all his works on the sixth day. They admit the apocryphal books, and the canons of the apostles, as well as the apostolical constitutions, for genuine. Their liturgy is given by Alvarez, and in English by Pagit; and their calendar by Lüdolph.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 64 [7:2:64]
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ACA, Ace, or Acon, in Ancient Geography, a town of Phoenicia, on the Mediterranean; afterwards called Ptolemais ; now Acre.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 64 [7:2:64]
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ACACALOTI, the Brazilian name of a bird called by some corvus aquaticus, or the water raven: properly, the pelicanus carbo, or corvorant.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 64 [7:2:64]
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ACACIA, Egyptian Thorn, or Binding Bean-tree, in Botany, a species of mimosa, according to Linnaeus; though other botanists make it a distinct genus.
The flowers of a species of the acacia are used by the Chinese in making that yellow which we see bears washing in their silks and stuffs, and appears with so much elegance in their painting on paper. The method is this: They gather the flowers before they are fully open; these they put in a clean earthen vessel over a gentle heat, and stir them continually about as they do the tea-leaves, till they become dryish and of a yellow colour; then to half a pound of the flowers, they add three spoonfuls of fair water, and after that a little more, till there is just enough to hold the flowers incorporated together; they boil this for some time, and the juice of the flowers mixing with the water, it becomes thick and yellow; they then take it from the fire, and strain it through a piece of coarse silk. To the liquor they add half an ounce of common alum, and an ounce of calcined oyster-shells reduced to a fine powder. All is then well mixed together; and this is the fine lasting yellow' they have so long used.
The dyers of large pieces use the flowers and seeds of the acacia for dyeing three different sorts of yellow. They roast the flowers, as before observed; and then mix the seeds with them, which must be gathered for this purpose when fully ripe: by different admixtures of these they give the different shades of colour, only for the deepest of all they add a small quantity of Brazil wood.
Mr Geoffroy attributes the origin of bezoar to the seeds of this plant; which being browsed by certain animals, and vellicating the stomach by their great sourness and astringency, cause a condensation of the juices, till at length they become coated over with a stony matter, which we call Bezoar. Acacia, in the Materia Medica, the inspissated juice of the unripe fruit of the Μiμosa Nilotica.
The juice is brought to us from Egypt, in roundish masses wrapt up in thin bladders. It is outwardly of a deep brown colour, inclining to black; inwardly of a reddish or yellowish brown; of a firm consistence, but not very dry. It soon softens in the mouth, and discovers a rough, not disagreeable taste, which is followed by a sweetish relish. This inspissated juice entirely dissolves in watery liquors, but is scarce sensibly acted on by rectified spirit.
Acacia is a mild astringent medicine. The Egyptians give it in spitting of blood, in the quantity of a drachm, dissolved in any convenient liquor; and repeat this dose occasionally: they likewise employ it in collyria for strengthening the eyes, and in gargarisms for quinsy. Among us, it is little otherwise used than as an ingredient in mithridate and theriaca, and is rarely met with in the shops. What is usually sold for the Egyptian acacia, is the inspissated juice of unripe sloes; this is harder, heavier, of a darker colour, and somewhat sharper taste, than the true sort. See the next article.
German ACACIA, the juice of unripe sloes inspissated nearly to dryness over a gentle fire, care being taken to [7:2:65]prevent its burning. It is moderately astringent, similar to the Egyptian acacia, for which it has been commonly substituted in the shops. It is given in fluxes, and other disorders where styptic medicines are indicated, from a scruple to a drachm.
Acacia, among antiquaries, something resembling a roll or bag, seen on models, as in the hands of several consuls and emperors. Some take it to represent a handkerchief rolled up, wherewith they made signals at the games; others, a roll of petitions or memorials; and some, a purple bag full of earth, to remind them of their mortality.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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ACACIANS, in ecclesiastical history, the name of several sects of heretics; some of which maintained, that the Son was only a similar, not the same, substance with the Father; and others, that he was not only a distinct but a dissimilar substance. Two of these sects had their denominations from Acacius, bishop of Caesarea, who lived in the fourth century, and changed his opinions so as, at different times, to be head of both. Another was named from Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, who lived in the close of the fifth century.
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 65 [7:2:65]
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ACACIUS, surnamed Luscus, because he was blind of one eye, was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, and succeeded the famous Eusebius: he had a great share in the banishment of Pope Liberius, and bringing Felix to the see of Rome. He gave name to a sect, and died about the year 365. He wrote the life of Eusebius, which is lost, and several other works.
Acacius, Saint, bishop of Amida in Mesopotamia, in 420, was distinguished by his piety and charity. He sold the plate belonging to his church, to redeem seven thousand Persian slaves who were perishing with hunger. He gave each of them some money and sent them home. Veranius, their king, was so affected with this noble instance of benevolence, that he desired to see the bishop; and this interview procured a peace between that prince and Theodosius I.
There have been several other eminent persons of the same name; particularly, a martyr under the Emperor Decius; a patriarch of Antioch, who succeeded Basil in 458, and died in 459; a bishop of Miletum in the fifth century; a famous rhetorician in the reign of the Emperor Julian; and a patriarch of Constantinople in the fifth century, who was ambitious to draw the whole power and authority of Rome by degrees to Constantinople, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Felix II. He in his turn passed sentence of excommunication against the pope. Still, however, he held his patriarchate till his death in 488.
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 65 [7:2:65]
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ACAD, or Achad, in Ancient Geography, the town in which Nimrod reigned, called Archad by the Seventy; situated in Babylonia, to the eastward of the Tigris.
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 65 [7:2:65]
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ACADEMICS, or Academists, a denomination given to the cultivators of a species of philosophy originally derived from Socrates, and afterwards illustrated and enforced by Plato, who taught in a grove near Athens, consecrated to the memory of Academus, an Athenian hero; from which circumstance this philosophy received the name of Academical. Before the days of Plato, philosophy had in a great measure fallen into contempt. The contradictory systems and hypotheses which had successively been advanced were become so numerous, that, from a view of this inconstancy and uncertainty of human opinions, many were led to conclude, that truth lay beyond the reach of our comprehension. Absolute and universal scepticism was the natural consequence of this conclusion. In order to remedy this abuse of philosophy and of the human faculties, Plato laid hold of the principles of the academical philosophy; and, in his Phaedo, reasons in the following manner: “If we are unable to discover truth,” says he, “it must be owing to two circumstances: either there is no truth in the nature of things; or the mind, from a defect in its powers, is not able to apprehend it. Upon the latter supposition, all the uncertainty and fluctuation in the opinions and judgments of mankind admit of an easy solution: Let us therefore be modest, and ascribe our errors to the real weakness of our own minds, and not to the nature of things themselves. Truth is often difficult of access: in order to come at it, we must proceed with caution and diffidence, carefully examining every step; and, after all our labour, we will frequently find our greatest efforts disappointed, and be obliged to confess our ignorance and weakness.”
Labour and caution in the researches, in opposition to rash and hasty decisions, were the distinguishing characteristics of the disciples of the ancient academy. A philosopher possessed of these principles will be slow in his progress, but will seldom fall into errors, or have occasion to alter his opinion after it is once formed. In his essay on the academical or sceptical philosophy, Mr Hume has confounded two very opposite species of philosophy. After the days of Plato,’ the principles of the first academy were grossly corrupted by Arcesilaus, Carneades, &c. This might lead Mr Hume into the notion, that the academical and sceptical philosophy were synonymous terms. But no principles can be of a more opposite nature than those which were inculcated by the old academy of Socrates and Plato, and the sceptical notions which were propagated by Arcesilaus, Carneades, and the other disciples of the new academical school.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 65 [7:2:65]
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ACADEMY, ακαδημι α, ακαδημεια , or εκαδημεια, (the first two forms being probably derived from ακος, medela, and δημος, populus, and the last from εκας, procul or scorsim, and δημος, populus'), a garden, villa, or grove, situated in the Ceramicus, one of the suburbs of Athens, about six stadia, or nearly a Roman mile to the north-west of the city. The common tradition is, that it took its name from one Academus or Ecademus, the original owner, who was contemporary with Theseus, and made it a kind of gymnasium; and that after his death it retained his name, and was consecrated to his memory. When Castor and Pollux came to Athens to reclaim by force of arms the person of their sister Helena, who, according to the legend, had been carried off by Theseus, and concealed in some obscure retreat by the ravisher, the Athenians declared that they knew not where the lady was to be found; but as this answer was not deemed satisfactory by the warlike brothers, Academus, cognisant with the secret, and anxious to avert a contest about so frivolous a subject of dispute, apprized them that she was concealed in the town of Aphidna; which was immediately attacked, taken by assualt, and razed to the ground. Grateful for this traditionary service, the Lacedemonians, who worshipped the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), spared the house and gardens known by the name of the Academy, when they ravaged the suburbs of Athens; and, in consideration of the disclosure just mentioned, they honoured the memory of the original owner, from whom the place took its [7:2:66]name.^[1. From certain expressions of Eupolis, and this among others, ιν ιυσκ∣oii ∖υμo∣<nν Α,χaS>∣μoυ 9ιoυ, “in the umbrageous groves of the god Academus,” it would appear that this person was accounted not merely a hero, but a sort of divinity. Hence the Academy was consecrated to Bacchus Academus, or to the beneficent sun of the ascending signs; as the Lyceum with its temenos or ∕ιιeus was dedicated to Apollo Lycaeus (so called from λυχ<>ι, a wolf), or to the destroying sun of the descending signs of the zodiac: and hence also these schools were the astronomical symbols or representatives of the celestial houses of the two solstices; the Academy, of the higher, and the Lyceum, of the lower solstice. ] Such is the legend which the Greek writers have transmitted to us. With regard to the spot itself, which afterwards became so famous, in connection with the name of Plato and his philosophical disciples, it appears to have remained almost in a state of nature, covered with stagnant water, and exceedingly insalubrious, until the time of Cimon, when it was drained, planted with alleys of trees, and embellished with groves and with fountains: after which it became the promenade of the most distinguished Athenians, and particularly of the Platonic philosophers, thence called the Academics ; just as the Lyceum, another gymnasium, situated to the south-east of Athens, became the promenade. of the Aristotelian sect of philosophers, called also Peripatetics (« πεζιτrατεω, obambulo), from the locomotive fashion in which they communicated or discoursed concerning their peculiar doctrines. The Academy formed part of the Ceramicus (a word derived from ×εζαμος, signifying potters earth or earthen vase, from its being filled with cinerary urns), and was therefore devoted to purposes of sepulture; it being then the practice to inter in a public garden or grove, as in a sort of clysian field, those who had signalized themselves by rendering important services to their country. Cicero, desirous to revive or preserve the name of the Academy, bestowed it on his villa or country-seat near Puzzuoli, where he loved to converse with his friends on philosophical subjects, and where, also, he composed his Academical Questions, his treatise on the Nature of the Gods, and his celebrated work on the Commomvealth, a considerable portion of which was, several years ago, recovered from rescribed or palimpsest manuscripts, by Signor Angelo Maio, librarian of the Vatican.
Academy, in its generalized acceptation, is employed to signify a society of learned men, established for the improvement of science, literature, or the arts. This term, as we have seen, is one of very high antiquity. It was amidst the umbrageous recesses of the gardens of Academus, so favourable to philosophical meditation, that the divine Plato, surnamed the swan of the Academy, established his school, collected his disciples, and taught his sublime morality; wherefore the sect of this illustrious philosopher was called the Academic, and the philosophers who adopted his doctrines Academics. For a long period, accordingly, this title marked out the disciples of Plato alone; but it came afterwards to be applied to all those who belonged to the different learned or literary societies instituted, under the name of Academies, in imitation of the school of Athens, and in order to extend the boundaries of human knowledge. Of these institutions several were established in Athens itself, but none ever equalled the renown of that founded by Plato; and, in point of fact, they were merely schools where Arcesilaus, Carneades, Philo, Antiochus, and other philosophers of less note, explained the different systems with which each in his turn sought to supersede those of his predecessors, but which have since fallen into the most profound neglect and oblivion.
Ptolemy Soter, having by his victories secured undisturbed possession of the throne of Egypt, and wishing to unite to the title of conqueror the more glorious appellation of patron of learning, founded, under the name of Musaeon, the celebrated Academy of Alexandria, and provided it with a collection of books, which formed the nucleus of the Alexandrian library. Here he assembled the most distinguished philosophers and scholars of his time, charging them with the investigation of philosophical truth and the improvement of art; and it was to the care and researches of these eminent men and their successors that the famous library, commenced by Ptolemy, and afterwards so barbarously given up to the flames by the Caliph Omar, was enlarged and improved, until it became the pride of Egypt and the glory of the world. This academy, distinguished alike for its useful labours and its improvements in science, has served as a model to modern academies, both as regards the principles on which it was founded, and the object and end of its institution. It admitted into the number of its associates the poets and philosophers of all countries: persons came from every part of the earth to seek instruction, or to deposit new information in its bosom: and all parties were enriched by the continual interchange of ideas and discoveries. For a long period it was the great centre of knowledge. All· the literary treasures, scattered throughout the different countries which the tide of barbarism had overflowed, were there collected together: towards the period when Greece began to decline, the spirit and the genius which once presided in her schools of philosophy were in some degree revived in that of Alexandria; and it shone forth like a resplendent beacon-light in the midst of the surrounding darkness, shooting forth rays which have traversed the long course of ages, and guided the academies of modern times in their researches and investigations.
Rome had no academies. In the eyes of the conquerors and masters of the world, the sciences appeared only a secondary object, and of comparatively little importance. This Virgil has admitted in his Aeneid, where he says, that in art and in science the Romans must yield the palm to other nations, and content themselves with the glory of conquest, and a knowledge of the means by which it might be secured and maintained.^[2. Excudent alii spirantia mollius aera, Credo equidem; vivos ducent de marmore voltus; Orabunt caussas melius, ccelique meatus Describent radio, et surgentia sidera dicent: Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; Hae tibi erunt artes; pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos. Aeneid. lib. vi. 1. 848. ] The Latin poets and writers, indeed, were formed by the study of Greek models. But no national establishment fostered their genius and favoured their progress, either under the republic, which despised letters, or under the imperial tyrants, who dreaded them. Augustus himself only patronised and rewarded the poets who flattered him; while Maecenas, in surrounding himself with assemblages of celebrated writers, thought less of extending the boundaries of learning, than of tasting the pleasures of learned society, and wearing off the fatigues of business amidst the sweets of an intercourse[7:2:67] entirely Epicurean, or of enjoyments such as literature alone can afford to men of refined and cultivated minds.
When the darkness which had settled down upon Europe after the fall of the Western Empire began at length to disperse, and when a faint glimmering of light, symptomatic of slowly approaching day, began to flicker and tremble on the dusky brow of the long night of ignorance and barbarism, a passion for instruction became in some measure the mode, and gave birth simultaneously to a multitude of learned associations; and these proceeded at once to the study and improvement of the sciences and arts, long neglected, and almost lost in those very countries where they had formerly been cultivated with the greatest success. The Gauls, however, although partially civilized by the Romans and by Julian the philosopher (vulgarly called the Apostate), had relapsed, under the indolent and imbecile monarchs of the first race, into the most profound ignorance; while the monks, who passed for learned men when they could read, were from policy opposed to the instruction of the people. The spirit of monopoly and exclusion was then, as afterwards, a prominent characteristic of the ecclesiastical system; and the danger of educating the people was as vehemently exaggerated as by certain alarmists of our own day. “The clergy,” said Charlemagne, “wish to monopolize all learning, and to continue the sole expounders of the sciences and the laws.” Nevertheless this prince, who would have done honour to an age far less barbarous, attempted to resuscitate letters, with which he had some acquaintance; and with this view he, encouraged by the celebrated Alcuin, founded in his palace an academy for promoting the study of grammar, orthography, rhetoric, poetry, history, and the mathematics. This academy was composed of the principal wits of the court, Charlemagne himself being a member. In their academical conferences, every member was to give an account of the ancient authors which he had read; and in order to efface all distinctions of rank among the academicians, he required each of them to choose a name purely literary (as, for example, that of some ancient author or celebrated person of antiquity), which should in no degree serve to recall the birth, station, or dignity of the person assuming it. Accordingly, Egilbert, a young lord, and one of the grandees about the court, modestly took the name of Homer; the archbishop of Mayence called himself Damoetas; Alcuin became Flaccus Albinus; Eginhard, Calliopus; Adelard, abbot of Corbie, Augustin; Theodulph, Pindar; and Charlemagne himself, somewhat forgetful of his own rule, David.^[3. Some modern writers have supposed that this assumption of ancient or classical names originated in an ardent admiration of antiquity, blended with the genius of an age essentially pedantic; and thus they have endeavoured to account for Alcuin taking the surname of Horace as a praenomen, and calling himself Flaccus Albinus. But from what is stated in the text, this appears to be a mistake. With regard to the circumstance of Charlemagne taking the name of David, which, as a royal one, appears to have been a contravention of his own rule, it is evident that his choice was determined by his passion for the composition of canticles or psalms, in which he believed himself to be eminently skilful, and also by his decided preference of sacred to profane literature. The emperor, in fact, had great pretensions as a theologian; and on one occasion, when reproaching Reibode, archbishop of Treves, with his admiration of Virgil’s poetry, he remarked of himself, that he would much rather possess the spirit of the four evangelists than that of the twelve books of the Aeneid. ] Fantastical as all this may appear to us, it was nevertheless productive of good. The nobles, who had been accustomed to value themselves solely on their birth and ancestry, began to acquire a relish for more substantial distinctions, and to feel the force of Charlemagne’s remark, that the state was likely to be better served by men who had improved their minds and cultivated their talents, than by those who had no other recommendation than overweening pride and a long pedigree. Hence the academy of Charlemagne soon obtained great celebrity; and although few monuments of its labours remain, yet it unquestionably gave an impulse to learning, diffused a taste for knowledge, and probably laid the first foundations of the French language, which was then a rude idiom, composed of a barbarous mixture of the language of the Goths, of Latin, and of the dialect of Celtic spoken by the ancient Gauls. This idiom the academy subjected to principles, forming it into a regular language, which afterwards became the provençal, or language of romance: and when it had thus, as it were, been licked into shape, Charlemagne proposed to have the hymns, the prayers, and the laws translated into it, for the benefit of the people; a proposal which reflects the greatest honour on his memory. But the clergy resolutely set their faces against an innovation which would have deprived them of part of their influence as the sole expounders both of the civil and the divine laws, and thus in a great measure frustrated the principal object which Charlemagne had in view in founding his academy. Still its labours, though in some respects neutralized by the personal interest of the monks, were not altogether useless, but, on the contrary, were instrumental in diffusing the first gleams of light throughout France, and in preparing it to emerge from a state of barbarism.
In the following century, Alfred, a man worthy of being classed with the first French legislator, founded an academy at Oxford, which formed the basis of the University afterwards established there; but this being a school for instruction rather than an institution for exciting emulation among the instructed, it does not, for that reason, fall within the scope of the present article. About the same period the Moors of Spain, celebrated for their gallantry, their chivalrous manners, and their taste for poetry, music, and letters, had also their academies at Granada and Cordoba; but of the precise nature and object of these institutions little or nothing is known. In the year 1325, the Academy of the Floral Games was established at Toulouse. This academy is still in existence, and is of course the most ancient establishment of the kind in Europe. The members assumed the somewhat fantastical name of Maintainers of the Gay Science ; and the prizes which it awarded, consisting of flowers of gold and silver, excited a strong spirit of emulation among the Troubadours of Languedoc and Provence. This society, to which Clemens Isaurus bequeathed the whole of his property, still enjoys a considerable reputation; and many of the young poets of France, who aspire to be one day crowned with the genuine laurels of Parnassus, repair to it, at the commencement of their career, to dispute for the violet, the marigold, the amaranth, and the eglantine.
A whole host of academies sprung up in different countries immediately after the revival of letters in the fifteenth century; but it was in Italy that they were most numerous, every city in fact having its own; and they were frequently distinguished by appellations remarkable either for their oddity or extravagance. Thus, Rome had its Lincei; Naples, its Ardenti; Parma, its Insensati; and Genoa, its Addormentati ;— names which some modern academicians might adopt without the slightest impropriety. Many flourishing academies existed in France [7:2:68]before the Revolution, most of them having been established and endowed by the munificence of Louis XIV. In Britain we have but few, and those of the greatest note fall to be classed under a different appellation, namely, Society, to which the reader is referred.
In giving an account of the principal academies, which is all that this article professes to do, we shall, for the sake of clearness, arrange them under different heads, according to the subjects for the cultivation and improvement of which they were instituted. And we shall commence with
I. Medical Academies. Of this description are, the Academy of the Naturae Curiosi of Germany; that founded at Palermo in 1645; that established at Venice in 1701, which used to meet weekly in a hall near the grand hospital; and an institution which took its rise at Geneva in 1715. The Royal Colleges of Physicians at London and Edinburgh have also been ranked by some in the number of academies, but, in our opinion, erroneously; for they are rather of the nature of corporations, organized with a view to guard the privileges and promote the interests of a particular profession, than academies instituted for facilitating the advancement of medical science. This is the exclusive object of the Royal Medical Society, and other institutions of the same sort; which, however, fall to be treated of under a different head, viz. that of Society.
The Academy of Naturae Curiosi, called also the Leopoldine Academy, was founded in 1662, by J. L. Bauschius, a physician, who, imitating the example of the English, published a general invitation to medical men to communicate all extraordinary cases that occurred in the course of their practice: and, the scheme meeting with success, the institution was regularly organized, and Bauschius elected president. The works of the Naturae Curiosi were at first published separately; but this being attended with considerable inconvenience, a new arrangement was formed, in 1770, for publishing a volume of observations annually. From some cause, however, the first volume did not make its appearance until 1784, when it came forth under the title of Ephemerides ; and the work was afterwards continued, at irregular intervals, and with some variations in the title. In 1687, the Emperor Leopold took the society under his protection, and granted its members several privileges, the most remarkable of which was, that its presidents should be entitled to enjoy the style and rank of counts palatine of the holy Roman empire; and hence the title of Leopoldine which it in consequence assumed. But though it thus acquired a name, it had no local habitation or fixed place of meeting, and no regular assemblies; instead of which there was a kind of bureau or office, first established at Breslau, and afterwards removed to Nuremberg, where letters, observations, and communications from correspondents, were received, and persons properly qualified admitted as members. By its constitution, the Leopoldine Academy consists of a president, two adjuncts or secretaries, and colleagues or members, without any limitation as to numbers. At their admission, the last come under a twofold obligation; first, to choose some subject for discussion out of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, provided it has not been previously treated of by any colleague of the academy; and, secondly, to apply themselves to furnish materials for the annual Ephemerides. Each member also bears about with him the symbol of the academy, consisting of a gold ring, whereon is represented a book open, with an eye on one side, and on the other the academical motto of Nunquam otiosus.
II. Chirurgical Academies. An association of this sort was, not many years ago, instituted, by public authority, at Paris; the members of which were not only to publish their own observations and improvements, and' those of their correspondents, but also to give an account of the various publications on surgery, and to compose a complete history of the art from the works of all the authors, ancient and modern, who have treated of it. Besides, a question in surgery was to be annually proposed, as the subject of a prize essay, and a gold medal of the value of 200 livres given to the successful competitor.
The Academy of Surgery at Vienna was instituted by the present emperor, under the direction of the celebrated Brambella. In it there were at first only two professors; and to their charge the instruction of a hundred and thirty young men was committed, thirty of whom had formerly been surgeons in the army. But latterly the number both of teachers and pupils was considerably increased. Gabrielli was appointed to teach pathology and practice; Boecking, anatomy, physiology, and physics; Streit, medical and pharmaceutical surgery; Hunczowsky, surgical operations, midwifery, and the chirurgia forensis; and Plenk, chemistry and botany. To these was also added Beindel, as prosector and extraordinary professor of surgery and anatomy. Besides this, the emperor provided a large and splendid edifice in Vienna, which affords accommodation both for the teachers, the students, pregnant women, patients for clinical lectures, and servants. For the use of this academy the emperor also purchased a medical library, which is open every day; a complete set of chirurgical instruments; an apparatus for experiments in natural philosophy; a collection of natural history; a number of anatomical and pathological preparations; a collection of preparations in wax, brought from Florence; and a variety of other useful articles. Adjoining to the building, also, there is a good botanical garden. With a view to encourage emulation among the students of this institution, three prize medals, each of the value of 40 florins, are annually bestowed on those who return the best answers to questions proposed the year before. These prizes, however, are not entirely founded by the emperor, but are in part owing to the liberality of Brendellius, formerly protochirurgus at Vienna.
III. Ecclesiastical Academies. Under this head may be mentioned the academy at Bologna in Italy, instituted in 1687, for the purpose of investigating the doctrine, discipline, and history, of each age of the church.
IV. Cosmographical Academies ; as that at Venice, called the Argonauts. This was instituted at the solicitation of F. Coronelli, for the improvement of geographical knowledge. Its design was to publish exact maps, particular as well as general, both of the celestial and terrestrial sphere, together with geographical, historical, and astronomical descriptions. Each member, in order to defray the expense of such a publication, was to subscribe a proportional sum, for which he was to receive one or more copies of each piece published. To this end three societies were established; one under F. Moro, provincial of the Minorites in Hungary; another under the Abbot Laurence au Ruy Payenne au Marais; and the third under F. Baldigiani, Jesuit, professor of mathematics in the Roman College. The device of this academy is the terraqueous globe, with the motto Plus ultra ; and at its expense all the globes, maps, and geographical writings of F. Coronelli have been published.
In the year 1799, a Geographical Academy was established at Lisbon, principally for the purpose of elucidating the geography of Portugal. By the labours of the members of this academy, an accurate map of the country, which was much wanted, has been completed.
V. Academies of Science. These comprehend such [7:2:69]as have been erected for improving natural and mathematical knowledge, and are otherwise called Philosophical and Physical Academies.
The first of these was instituted at Naples, about the year 1560, in the house of Baptista Porta. It was called the Academy Secretorum Naturae; and was succeeded by the Academy of Lincei, founded at Rome by Prince Frederic Ceði, towards the end of the same century. This academy was afterwards rendered famous in consequence of the discoveries made by some of its members, among whom, the first place is due to the celebrated Galileo, one of the most illustrious names of which the history of science can boast. Several other academies, instituted about this time, also contributed to the advancement of the sciences; but none of them was in any respect comparable to that of the Lincei.
Some years after the death of Torricelli, the Accademia del Cimento made its appearance, under the protection of Prince Leopold, afterwards Cardinal de’ Medici. Redi was one of its chief members. In so far as regards the studies pursued by the other academicians, a very correct idea of them may be formed from the curious experiments published in 1667, by their secretary Count Laurence Magu-lotti, under the title of Saggi di Naturali Esperienze ; a copy of which was presented to the Royal Society, translated into English by Mr Waller, and published at London in 4to.
The Accademia degh' Inquieti, afterwards incorporated into that of Della Tracia, in the same city, followed the example of that of Del Cimento. Some excellent discourses on physical and mathematical subjects, by Gemi-niano Montenari, one of the chief members, were published in 1667, under the title of Pensieri FisicoMatematici
The Academy of Rossano, in the kingdom of Naples, was originally an academy of belles lettres, founded in 1540, and transformed into an academy of sciences in 1695, at the solicitation of the learned abbot Don Giacinto Gimma; who being made president, under the title of Promoter General of the institution, gave it a new set of regulations. He divided the academicians into the following classes: grammarians, rhetoricians, poets, historians, philosophers, physicians, mathematicians, lawyers, and divines; with a class apart for cardinals and persons af quality. To be admitted a member, it was requisite to have taken a degree in one or other of the faculties. The members were not allowed to take the title of Academicians in the title-pages of their works, without a written permission from their president, which was not granted till their works had been examined by the censors of the academy; and this permission was the greatest honour the academy could confer, as they thereby adopted the works thus examined, and became answerable for them against all criticisms that might be made upon them. To this law the president or promoter himself was subject; and no academician was allowed to publish anything against the writings of another without leave obtained from the society.
But Italy boasts of a number of scientific academies besides those above mentioned. The Royal Neapolitan Academy was established in 1779; and the published memoirs contain some valuable researches on mathematical subjects. The Royal Academy of Turin was established by the late king when duke of Savoy. Its memoirs were originally published in Latin, under the title of Miscellanea Philosophica Mathematica Societatis Privatae Taurinensis; and the first volume appeared in 1759. Among ' the original members of this institution the most celebrated was Lagrange, who burst on the scientific world quite unexpectedly, by the novelty and depth of his papers in the first volume of the transactions. An Academy of Sciences, Belles Lettres, and Arts, was established at Padua by the senate, near the close of the eighteenth' century. It is composed of twenty-four pensionaries, twelve free associates, twenty-four pupils, twelve associates belonging to the ci-devant Venetian States, and twenty-four foreigners, besides honorary members. It has published several volumes of memoirs in the Italian language. The Academy of Sciences and Belles Lettres of Genoa was established in 1783. It consists of thirty-two members; but their labours have been chiefly directed to poetry, nor are we aware that they have published any memoirs. The Academy of Milan was preceded, and perhaps introduced, by a literary assembly, consisting of ten persons, who published a sheet weekly, containing short remarks on subjects of science, belles lettres, and criticism. This society terminated in 1767. But soon afterwards another was established, the transactions of which, published under the title of Seelta d' Opuscoli Scientifici, contain several very interesting papers. The Academy of Sciences at Siena, instituted in 1691, published the first volume of its transactions in 1761, and has since continued them, at long intervals, under the title of Atti dellAccademia di Siena. Between the years 1770 and 1780, Μ. Lorgna established at Verona an academy of sciences of a novel description. The object of it was to form an association among the principal scientific men in all parts of Italy, for the purpose of publishing their memoirs. The first volume appeared in the year 1782, under the title of Memorie di Matematica e Fisica della Societa Italiana. The most celebrated names that appear in this volume are those of Boscovich, the two Fontanas, and Spallanzani. There are also scientific academies at Mantua, Pisa, Pavia, and Modena; but several of these do not publish their transactions.
Towards the beginning of the seventeenth century, F. Mersenne is said to have given the first idea of a philosophical academy in France, by the conferences of naturalists and mathematicians occasionally held at his lodgings. At these Gassendi, Descartes, Hobbes, Roberval, Pascal, Blondel, and other celebrated persons, assisted. F. Mer-senne proposed to each certain problems to be examined, or certain experiments to be made, and acted, to use a Gallic idiom, as the centre of re-union. By and by these private assemblies were succeeded by more public ones, formed by Μ. Montmort, and by Thevenot the celebrated traveller. Nor was this spirit confined to France. Animated by the example which had been set in that country, several Englishmen of learning and distinction instituted a kind of philosophical academy at Oxford towards the close of Cromwell’s government; and this, after the Restoration, was erected into a Royal Society. (See Society.) And the English example, in its turn, re-acted upon France; for, in 1666, Louis XIV., assisted by the counsels of Colbert, founded at Paris
The Royal Academy of Sciences. Being desirous of establishing the sciences, arts, and literature upon a solid foundation, Louis, immediately after the peace of the Pyrenees, directed Μ. Colbert to form a society of men of known abilities and experience in the different branches of knowledge, who should meet together under the king’s protection, in order to communicate freely their respective discoveries; and with the view of carrying his design the more effectually into execution, he appropriated a sufficient revenue, not only to defray the charge of experiments, but likewise to afford moderate salaries to the members. The commands of the Grand Monarque were executed with equal zeal and ability by his minister. For having conferred with those who were at that time most celebrated for their learning, Μ. Colbert resolved to form a society [7:2:70]of such persons as were conversant in natural philosophy and mathematics; to join to them persons skilled in history and other branches of erudition; and, lastly, to draw together those who were engaged in the cultivation of what was then called the belles lettres, as well as of grammar, eloquence, and poetry. The geometricians and natural philosophers were ordered to meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays, in a great hall of the king’s library, where the books of mathematics and natural philosophy were contained; the learned in history to assemble, on Mondays and Thursdays, in the hall where the books of history were arranged; and the class of belles lettres to meet on Wednesdays and Fridays; while all the different classes were directed to assemble together upon the first Thursday of every month, and by their respective secretaries to make a report of the proceedings of the previous month. In a short time, however, the classes of history and belles lettres were united to the French Academy, which was originally instituted for the improvement of the French language; in consequence of which the Royal Academy contained only two classes, viz. that of natural philosophy and that of mathematics.
In the year 1696, the king, by an ordonnance datecf the 26th of January, gave this academy a new form, and put it upon a footing still more respectable. By this decree it was provided, that henceforth it should consist of four descriptions of members, viz. honorary, pensionary, associates, and élèves; which last were a kind of pupils or scholars, one of whom was attached to each of the pensionaries. The first class was to contain ten persons, and each of the rest twenty. The honorary academicians were to be all inhabitants of France, the pensionaries were all to reside in Paris, and the élèves were also to live in the capital; but eight of the associates might be chosen from among foreigners. The officers were, a president, named by the king out of the class of honorary academicians, and a secretary and treasurer, who held their offices for life. Of the pensionaries, three were to be geometricians, three astronomers, three mechanicians, three anatomists, three botanists, and the remaining two perpetual secretary and treasurer. Of the twelve associates, two were to apply themselves to geometry, two to botany, and two to chemistry; while the élèves were to devote themselves to the particular branches of science cultivated by the pensionaries to whom they were respectively attached, and not to speak except when called to do so by the president. Clerical persons, whether regular or otherwise, were declared inadmissible, except into the class of honorary academicians; nor could any one be admitted an associate or pensionary unless known by some considerable printed work, some machine, or other discovery. The assemblies were held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, except when either chanced to be a holyday; in which case the meeting was held on the day immediately preceding. To encourage members to pursue their inquiries and researches, the king engaged to pay not only the ordinary pensions, but even to confer extraordinary gratifications according to the degree of merit displayed in their respective performances; and, furthermore, his Majesty became bound, as we have already stated, to defray the whole expense of experiments and other investigations which it might be judged necessary from time to time to institute. Hence, if any member gave in a bill of charges for experiments he had made, or desired the printing of any book, and tendered an account of the disbursements required to effect that object, the money was immediately paid by the king, upon the president’s allowing and signing the bill. In like manner, if an anatomist required, we shall say, live tortoises in order to make experiments on the action and functions of the heart, he had only to signify his intention through the president, and as many as he pleased were' brought him at the king’s charge. The motto of the academy was Invenit et perfecit.
In the year 1716, the Duke of Orleans, then regent, made an alteration in the constitution of this body, augmenting the number of honorary members and of associates eligible from among foreigners, admitting regular clergy among such associates, and suppressing the class of élèves, the existence of which had been attended with some inconveniences, particularly that of producing too great an inequality among the academicians, and of giving rise to misunderstandings and animosities among the members. At the same time he created two other classes; the one consisting of twelve adjuncts, who, like the associates, were allowed a deliberative voice in matters relative to science; and the other of six free associates, who were not attached to any particular science, nor obliged to pursue any particular work.
From the period of its re-establishment in 1699, this academy was very exact in publishing annually a volume containing either the works of its own members, or such memoirs as had been composed and read to the academy during that year. To each volume was prefixed a history of the academy, or an extract of the memoirs and of the res gestae of the different sittings; and appended to the history were éloges pronounced on such academicians as had died in the course of the year. Μ. Rouille de Mes-lay, counsellor to the parliament of Paris, founded two prizes, one of 2500 and the other of 2000 livres; the former for the best work, essay, or treatise, on physical astronomy, and the latter for any treatise or improvement relating to navigation and commerce. But notwithstanding all the advantages which the members of this academy enjoyed, and the great facilities afforded them for the prosecution of their researches, the institution latterly degenerated; in consequence, doubtless, of the perpetual interference of the court in behalf of its favourites, or to effect the exclusion of men of unquestionable merit who had incurred its displeasure. The effect of all this was, that persons of inferior acquirements were frequently admitted, while those of the most distinguished talents and reputation were excluded; and hence it gradually sunk in public estimation, until admission not only ceased to be an honour but even became a subject of contempt and derision Hence the well-known lines—
Ci gît Pirot, qui ne fut rien,
Pas meme Académicien.
The Revolution swept away the academy amidst the wrecks of the monarchy. It was suppressed by the Convention in the year 1793; and being new-modelled and re-organized upon a better and more efficient plan, it received the name of Institute, an appellation which it still bears, notwithstanding the great political changes which have since taken place. See Institute.
The French had also considerable academies in most of their great cities. Montpellier, for example, had a royal academy of sciences on nearly the same footing as that at Paris, of which, indeed, it was in some measure the counterpart; Toulouse also had an academy under the; denomination of Lanternists; and there were analogous institutions at Nismes, Arles, Lyons, Dijon, Bordeaux and other places. Of these several, we believe, are still in existence, if not in activity.
The Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin was founded in 1700, by Frederic II. king of Prussia, on the model οf the Royal Society of England; excepting that, besides natural knowledge, it likewise comprehended the belles lettres. In 1710, it was ordained that the president should [7:2:71]be one of the counsellors of state, and nominated by the king. The members were divided into four classes: the first for prosecuting physics, medicine, and chemistry; the second for mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics; the third for the German language and the history of the country; and the fourth for oriental learning, particularly in so far as it concerns the propagation of the gospel among heathen nations. Each class was empowered to elect a director for itself, who should hold his post for life. The members of any of the classes were entitled to free admission into the assemblies of the other classes.
The great promoter of this institution was the celebrated Leibnitz, equally distinguished as a jurist, philologist, linguist, antiquary, mathematician, and philosopher, and who accordingly was chosen the first director. The first volume of their transactions was published in 1710, under the title of Miscellanea Berolinensia ; and although the institution received but few marks of the royal favour for some time, they continued to publish new volumes in 1723, 1727, 1734, and 1740. But Frederic HL, the late king of Prussia, at length imparted new vigour to this academy, by inviting to Berlin such foreigners as were most distinguished for their merit and literature, at the same time that he encouraged his own subjects to prosecute the study and cultivation of the sciences; and thinking that the academy, over which some minister or opulent nobleman had till that time presided, would derive advantage from having a man of letters at its head, he conferred that honour on Μ. Maupertuis. At the same time he gave a new set of regulations to the academy, and took upon himself the title of its protector.
The effect of these changes, however, it is not necessary to enlarge upon, as innovations still more recent have been introduced, with a view to direct the attention of the members to researches of real utility, to improve the arts, to stimulate national industry, and to purify the different systems of moral and literary education. To attain these ends a directory was chosen, consisting of a president and the four directors of the classes, and two men of business, not members of the academy, though at the same time persons of acknowledged learning; and to the body thus constituted was intrusted the management of the funds, and the conduct of the economical affairs of the institution. The power of choosing members was granted to the academy; but the king reserved to himself the privilege of confirming or annulling their choice, as he might think fit. The public library at Berlin, and the collection of natural curiosities, were united to the academy, and intrusted to its superintendence.
The academicians hold two public assemblies annually; at the latter of which is given, as a prize, a gold medal of fifty ducats value. The subject prescribed for this prize is successively taken from natural philosophy, mathematics, metaphysics, and general erudition.
The Imperial Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg was projected by the Czar Peter the Great. That despotic reformer, having in the course of his travels observed the advantage of public societies for the encouragement and promotion of literature, formed the design of founding an academy of sciences at St Petersburg. By the advice of Wolf and Leibnitz, whom he consulted on this occasion, the society was accordingly regulated, and several learned foreigners were invited to become members. Peter himself drew the plan, and signed it on the 10th of February 1724; but he was prevented, by the suddenness of his death, from carrying it into execution. His decease, however, did not prevent its completion; for on the 21st of December 1725, Catharine I. established it according to Peter’s plan, and on the 27th of the same month the society assembled for the first time. On the 1st of August 1726, Catharine honoured the meeting with her presence, when Professor Bulfinger, a German naturalist of great eminence, pronounced an oration upon the advances made in the theory of magnetic variations, and also on the progress of research in so far as regarded the discovery of the longitude. A short time afterwards the empress settled a fund of L.4982 per annum for the support of the academy; and fifteen members, all eminent for their learning and talents, were admitted and pensioned, under the title of Professors in the various branches of science and literature. The most distinguished of these professors were Nicholas and Daniel Bernoulli, the two De Lisles, Bulfinger, and Wolf.
During the short reign of Peter II. the salaries of the members were discontinued, and the academy utterly neglected by the court; but it was again patronised by the Empress Anne, who even added a seminary for the education of youth, under the superintendence of the professors. Both institutions flourished for some time under the direction of Baron Korf; but upon his death, towards the latter end of Anne’s reign, an ignorant person being appointed president, many of the most able members quitted Russia. At the accession of Elizabeth, however, new life and vigour were infused into the academy. The original plan was enlarged and improved; some of the most learned foreigners were again drawn to Petersburg; and, what was considered as a good omen for the literature of Russia, two natives, Lomonosof and Rumovsky, men of genius and abilities, who had prosecuted their studies in foreign universities, were enrolled among its members. Lastly, the annual income was increased to L.10,659, and sundry other advantages were conferred upon the institutioh.
The late Empress Catharine II., with her usual zeal for promoting the diffusion of knowledge, took this useful society under her immediate protection. She altered the court of directors greatly to the advantage of the whole body, corrected many of its abuses, and infused a new vigour and spirit into their researches. By her Majesty’s particular recommendation the most ingenious professors visited the various provinces of her vast dominions; and as the funds of the academy were not sufficient to defray the whole expense of these expeditions, the empress supplied the deficiency by a grant of L.2000, which was renewed as occasion required.
The purpose and object of these travels will appear from the instructions given by the academy to the several persons who engaged in them. They were ordered to institute inquiries respecting the different sorts of earths and waters; the best methods of cultivating barren and desert spots; the local disorders incident to men and animals, together with the most efficacious means of relieving them; the breeding of cattle, particularly of sheep; the rearing of bees and silk-worms; the different places and objects for fishing and hunting; minerals of all kinds; the arts and trades; and the formation of a Flora Russica, or collection of indigenous plants. They were particularly instructed to rectify the longitude and latitude of the principal towns; to make astronomical, geographical, and meteorological observations; to trace the courses of the rivers; to construct the most exact charts; and to be very distinct and accurate in remarking and describing the manners and customs of the different races of people, their dresses, languages, antiquities, traditions, history, religion; in a word, to gain every information which might tend to illustrate the real state of the whole Russian empire. More ample instructions cannot well be conceived; and they appear to have been [7:2:72] very zealously and faithfully executed. The consequence has been, that perhaps no country can boast, within the space of so few years, such a number of excellent publications on its internal state, its natural productions, its topography, geography, and history, and on the manners, customs, and languages of the different tribes who inhabit it, as have issued from the press of this academy.
The first transactions of this society were published in 1728, and entitled Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae ad annum 1726, with a dedication to Peter II. The publication was continued under this form until the year 1747, when the transactions were called Novi Commentarii Academiae, &c.; and in 1777, the academy again changed the title into Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, and likewise made some alteration in the arrangement and plan of the work. The papers, which had been hitherto published in the Latin language only, are now written indifferently either in that language or in French; and a preface is added, entitled Partie Historique, which contains an account of its proceedings, meetings, the admission of new members, and other remarkable occurrences. Of the Commentaries, fourteen volumes were published: the first of the New Commentaries made its appearance in 1750, and the twentieth in 1776. Under the new title of Acta Academiae, a number of volumes have been given to the public; and two are printed every year. These transactions abound with ingenious and elaborate disquisitions upon various parts of science and natural history; and it may not be an exaggeration to assert, that no society in Europe has more distinguished itself for the excellence of its publications, particularly in the more abstruse parts of the pure and mixed mathematics.
The academy is still composed, as at first, of fifteen professors, besides the president and director. Each of these professors has a house and an annual stipend from L.200 to L.600. Besides the professors, there are four adjuncts, with pensions, who are present at the sittings of the society, and succeed to the first vacancies. The direction of the academy is generally intrusted to a person of distinction.
The buildings and apparatus of this academy are extraordinary. There is a fine library, consisting of 36,000 curious books and manuscripts; together with an extensive museum, in which the various branches of natural history, &c. are distributed in different apartments. The latter is extremely rich in native productions, having been considerably augmented by the collections made by Pallas, Gmelin, Guldenstaedt, and other professors, during their expeditions through the various parts of the Russian empire. The stuffed animals and birds occupy one apartment. The chamber of rarities, the cabinet of coins, &c. contain innumerable articles of the highest curiosity and value. The motto of the society is exceedingly modest: it consists of only one word, Paulatim.
The Academy of Sciences at Bologna, called the Institute of Bologna, was founded by Count Marsigli in 1712, for the cultivation of physics, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and natural history. Its history is written by M. de Limiers, from memoirs furnished by the founder himself.
The Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, or the Royal Swedish Academy, owes its institution to six persons of distinguished learning, amongst whom was the celebrated Linnaeus. They originally met on the 2d of June 1739, when they formed a private society, in which some dissertations were read; and in the latter end of the same year their first publication made its appearance. As the meetings continued and the members increased, the society attracted the notice of the king; and, accordingly, on the 31st of March 1741, it was incorporated under the name of the Royal Swedish Academy. Not receiving any pension from the crown, it is merely under the protection of the king, being directed, like our Royal Society, by its own members. It has now, however, a large fund, which has chiefly arisen from legacies and other donations; but a professor of experimental philosophy, and two secretaries, are still the only persons who receive any salaries. Each of the members resident at Stockholm becomes president by rotation, and continues in office during three months. There are two kinds of members, native and foreign; the election of the former description takes place in April, that of the latter in July; and no money is paid at the time of admission. The dissertations read at each meeting are collected and published four times in the year: they are written in the Swedish language, and printed in octavo; and the annual publications make a volume. The first forty volumes, which were completed in 1779, are called the Old Transactions ; for in the following year the title was changed into that of New Transactions. The king is often present at the ordinary meetings, and regularly attends the annual assembly in April for the election of members. Any person who sends a treatise which is thought worthy of being printed, receives the Transactions for that quarter gratis ; together with a silver medal, which is not esteemed for its value, being worth only three shillings, but for its rarity and the honour conveyed by it. All the papers relating to agriculture are published separately under the title of Oeconomica Acta. Annual premiums, in money and gold medals, principally for the encouragement of agriculture and inland trade, are also distributed by the academy. The fund for these prizes is supplied by private donations.
The Royal Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen owes its institution to the zeal of six individuals, whom Christian VI., in 1742, ordered to arrange his cabinet of medals. These persons were, John Gram, Joachim Frederic Ramus, Christian Louis Scheid, Mark Woldickey, Eric Ponto-pidan, and Bernard Moelman, who, occasionally meeting for this purpose, extended their designs; associated with them others who were eminent in several branches of science; and forming a kind of literary society, employed themselves in searching into, and explaining the history and antiquities of their country. The Count of Holstein, the first president, warmly patronised this society, and recommended it so strongly to Christian VI. that, in 1743, his Danish majesty took it under his protection, called it the Royal Academy of Sciences, endowed it with a fund, and ordered the members to join to their former pursuits, natural history, physics, and mathematics. In consequence of the royal favour, the members engaged with fresh zeal in their pursuits; and the academy has published fifteen volumes in the Danish language, some of which have been translated into Latin.
The American Academy of Sciences was established in 1780, by the council and house of representatives in the province of Massachusetts Bay, for promoting a knowledge of the antiquities of America, and of the natural history of the country; for determining the uses to which its various natural productions might be applied; for encouraging medicinal discoveries, mathematical disquisitions, philosophical inquiries and experiments, astronomical, meteorological, and geographical observations, and improvements in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; and, in short, for cultivating every art and science which may tend to advance the interest and increase the happiness of the people. The members of this academy can never exceed 200, nor fall below forty.
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The Royal Irish Academy arose out of a society established at Dublin about the year 1782, and consisting of a number of gentlemen, most of whom belonged to the University. They held weekly meetings, and read essays in turn on various subjects. The members of this society afterwards formed a more extensive plan, and, admitting only such names as might add dignity to their new institution, became the founders of the Royal Irish Academy; which professed to unite the advancement of science with the history of mankind and polite literature. The first volume of their transactions for 1787 appeared in 1788, and seven volumes were afterwards published. A society was formed in Dublin, similar to the Royal Society in London, as early as the year 1683; but the distracted state of the country proved unpropitious to the cultivation of philosophy and literature.
The Academy of Sciences at Manheim was established by Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine, in the year 1755. The plan of this institution was furnished by Schaepflin, according to which it was divided into two classes, the historical and physical. In 1780, a sub-division of the latter took place, into the physical properly so called, and the meteorological. The meteorological observations are published separately, under the title of Ephemerides Societatis Meteorologicae Palatinae. The historical and physical memoirs are published under the title of Acta Academiae Thxodoro-Palatinae.
The Electoral Bavarian Academy of Sciences at Munich was established in 1759, and publishes its memoirs under the title of Abhandlungen der Baierischen Akademie. Soon after the Elector of Bavaria was raised to the rank of King, the Bavarian government, by his orders, directed its attention to a new organization of the Academy of Sciences of Munich. The design of the king was, to render its labours more extensive than those of any similar institution in Europe, by giving to it, under the direction of the ministry, the immediate superintendence over all the establishments for public instruction in the kingdom of Bavaria. The Privy-Councillor Jacobi, a man of most excellent character, and of considerable scientific attainments, was appointed president.
The Electoral Academy at Erfurt was established by the Elector of Mcntz, in the year 1754. It consists of a protector, president, director, assessors, adjuncts, and associates. Its object is to promote the useful sciences. Their memoirs were originally published in the Latin language, but afterwards in German. The Hessian Academy of Sciences at Giessen publish their transactions under the title of Acta Philosophieo-Medica Academiae Scientiarum Principalis Hessiacae. In the Netherlands there are scientific academies at Flushing and Brussels, both of which have published their transactions.
A branch of the royal family of Portugal established at Lisbon, a number of years ago, a Royal Academy of the sciences, agriculture, arts, commerce, and economy in general. It is divided into three classes; natural science, mathematics, and national literature. It is composed of honorary members, as ministers of state and persons of high rank in Lisbon; foreign members, called socios veteranos ; and acting members. The total number is sixty, of which twenty-four belong to the last class. They enjoy an allowance from government, which has enabled them to establish an observatory, a museum, a library, and a printing office. Their published transactions consist of Memorias de Litteratura Portugueza i and Memorias Economicas, besides Scientific Transactions. They have also published Collecçao de Livros ineditos de Historia Portugueza.
VI. Acadamies or Schools of Arts. Under this we may mention, first of all, the academy at Petersburg, established by the Empress Elizabeth, at the suggestion of Count Shuvalof, and annexed to the Academy of Sciences. The fund for its support was L.4000 per annum, and the foundation admitted forty scholars. The late empress formed it into a separate institution, augmented the annual revenue to L.12,000, and increased the number of scholars to three hundred: she also constructed, for the use and accommodation of the members, a large circular building, which fronts the Neva. The scholars are admitted at the age of six, and continue until they have attained that of eighteen. They are clothed, fed, and lodged, at the expense of the crown; and are all instructed in reading and writing, arithmetic, the French and German languages, and drawing. At the age of fourteen they are at liberty to choose any of the following arts, divided into four classes, viz. first, painting in all its branches, of history, portraits, battles, and landscapes, architecture, mosaic, enamelling, &c.; secondly, engraving on copperplates, seal-cutting, &c.; thirdly, carving on wood, ivory, and amber; fourthly, watch making, turning, instrument making, casting statues in bronze and other metals, imitating gems and medals in paste and other compositions, gilding, and varnishing. Prizes are annually distributed to those who excel in any particular art; and from those who have obtained four prizes, twelve are selected, who are sent abroad at the charge of the crown. A certain sum is paid to defray their travelling expenses; and when they are settled in any town, they receive an annual salary of L.60, which is continued during four years. There is a small assortment of paintings for the use of the scholars; and those who have made great progress are permitted to copy the pictures in the imperial collection. For the purpose of design, there are models in plaster, all done at Rome, of the best antique statues in Italy, and of the same size with the originals, which the artists of the academy were employed to cast in bronze.
The Royal Academy of Arts in London was instituted for the encouragement of designing, painting, sculpture, &c. &c. in the year 1768. This academy is under the immediate patronage of the king, and under the direction of forty artists of the first rank in their several professions. It furnishes, in winter, living models of different characters to draw after; and in summer, models of the same kind to paint after. Nine of the ablest academicians are annually elected out of the forty, whose business it is to attend by rotation, to set the figures, to examine the performance of the students, and to give them necessary instructions. There are likewise professors of painting, architecture, anatomy, and perspective, who annually read public lectures on the subjects of their several departments; besides a president, a council, and other officers. The admission to this academy is free to all students properly qualified to reap advantage from the studies cultivated in it; and there is an annual exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and designs, open to all artists of distinguished merit.
The Academy of Painting and Sculpture at Paris. This took its rise from the disputes that happened between the master painters and sculptors in the French capital; in consequence of which, MM. le Brun, Sarrazin, Corneille, and others of the king’s painters, formed a design of instituting a particular academy; and having presented a petition to the king, obtained an arrêt dated January 20. 1648. In the beginning of 1655, they obtained from Cardinal Mazarin, a brevet, and letters patent, which were registered in parliament; in gratitude for which favour, they chose the cardinal their protector, and made the chancellor their vice-protector. In 1663, they obtained, through Μ. Colbert, a pension of 4000 [7:2:74]livres. The academy consisted of a protector, a vice-protector, a director, a chancellor, four rectors, adjuncts to the rectors, a treasurer, four professors (one of whom was professor of anatomy, and another of geometry), several adjuncts and counsellors, an historiographer, a secretary, and two ushers.
Every day for two hours in the afternoon, the Academy of Painting held a public assembly, to which the painters resorted either to design or to paint, while the sculptors modelled after the naked figure. There were twelve professors, each of whom kept the school for a month; and there was an equal number of adjuncts to supply their places in case of need. The professor upon duty placed the naked figure as he thought proper, and set it in two different attitudes every week. This was what they called setting the model. In one week of the month he set two models together, which was called setting the group. The paintings and models made after this model, were called academics, or academical figures. They had likewise a woman who stood as a model in the public school. Three prizes for design were distributed among the élèves or disciples every quarter; and four others, two for painting, and two for sculpture, every year.
There was also an Academy of Painting, Sculpture, &c. at Rome, established by Louis XIV., wherein those who had gained the annual prize at Paris were entitled to be three years entertained at the king’s expense, for their further improvement.
In 1778, an Academy of Painting and Sculpture was established at Turin. Their meetings were held in the palace of the king, who distributed prizes among the most successful members. In Milan, an Academy of Architecture was established so early as the year 1380, by Galeas Visconti. About the middle of the last century, an Academy of the Arts was established there, after the example of those at Paris and Rome. The pupils were furnished with originals and models, and prizes were distributed annually. The prize for painting was a gold medal, and no prize was bestowed till all the competing pieces had been subjected to the examination and criticism of competent judges. Before the effects of the French revolution reached Italy, this was one of the best establishments of the kind in that kingdom. In the hall of the academy were some admirable pieces of Correggio, as well as several ancient paintings and statues of great merit; particularly a small bust of Vitellius, and a statue of Agrippina, of most exquisite beauty, though it wants the head and arms. The Academy of the Arts, which had been long established at Florence, but which had fallen into decay, was restored by the late Grand Duke. In it there are halls for naked and plaster figures, for the use of the sculptor and the painter. The hall for plaster figures had models of all the finest statues in Italy, arranged in two lines; but the treasures of this, as well as all the other institutions for the fine arts, were greatly diminished by the rapacity of the French. In the saloon of the Academy of the Arts at Modena, there are many casts of antique statues; but since it was plundered by the French it has dwindled into a petty school for drawings from living models: it contains the skull of Correggio. There is also an Academy of the Fine Arts in Mantua, and another at Venice.
In Madrid, an Academy for Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, was founded by Philip V. The minister for foreign affairs is president. Prizes are distributed every three years. In Cadiz, a few students are supplied by government with the means of drawing and modelling from figures; and such as are not able to purchase the requisite instruments-are provided with them.
An Academy of the Fine Arts was founded at Stockholm in the year 1733 by Count Tessin. In its hall are' the ancient figures of plaster presented by Louis XIV. to Charles XL The works of the students are publicly exhibited, and prizes are distributed annually. Such of them as display distinguished talents obtain pensions from government, to enable them to reside in Italy for some years, for the purposes of investigation and improvement. In this academy there are nine professors, and generally about four hundred students. In the year 1705, an Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture was established at Vienna, with the view of encouraging and promoting the fine arts.
The Royal Academy of Music is a name given in France to the grand opera, which is considered as in some sort a combination of all the liberal arts; painting, music, and the dance forming the principal part of that enchanting spectacle. The opera is of Venetian origin; and the Abbé Perrin, who officiated as master of the ceremonies to Gaston, Duke of Orleans, was the first who introduced it at Paris. He obtained letters patent from the king, dated the 28th June 1669, conferring upon him the privilege of establishing Operatic Academies in Music and in French Verse throughout the kingdom. Latterly, the theatre where operas are represented has been denominated the Theatre des Arts ; a name which has probably been suggested by the following verses of Voltaire, which convey, a just definition of this delightful entertainment :—
Il faut se rendre à ce palais magique,
Où les beaux vers, la danse, la musique,
L’art de tromper les yeux par les couleurs,
L’art plus heureux de séduire les coeurs,
De cent plaisirs font un plaisir unique.
The Academy of Ancient Music was established in London in 1710, by several persons of distinction, and other amateurs, in conjunction with the most eminent masters of the time, in the view of promoting the study and practice of vocal and instrumental harmony. This institution, which had the advantage of a library, consisting of the most celebrated compositions, both foreign and domestic, in manuscript and in print, and which was aided by the performances of the gentlemen of the chapel royal, and the choir of St Paul’s, with the boys belonging to each, continued to flourish for many years. In 1731, a charge of plagiarism brought against Bononcini, a member of the academy, for claiming a madrigal of Lotti of Venice as his own, threatened the existence of the institution. Dr Greene, who had introduced the madrigal into the academy, took part with Bononcini, and withdrew from the society, taking with him the boys of St Paul’s. In 1734, Mr Gates, another member of the society, and master of the children of the royal chapel, also retired in disgust; so that the institution was thus deprived of the assistance which the boys afforded it in singing the soprano parts. From this time the academy became a seminary for the instruction of youth in the principles of music and the laws of harmony.. Dr Pepusch, who was one of its founders, was active in accomplishing this measure; and by the expedients of educating boys for their purpose, and admitting auditor members, the subsistence of the academy was continued. The Royal Academy of Music was formed by the principal nobility and gentry of the kingdom, for the performance of operas, composed by Mr Handel, and conducted by him at the theatre in the Haymarket. The subscription amounted to L.50,000, and the king, besides subscribing L.1000, allowed the society to assume the title of Royal Academy. It consisted of a governor, deputy-governor, and twenty directors. A contest between Handel and Senesino, one of the performers, [7:2:75]in which the directors took the part of the latter, occasioned the dissolution of the academy, after it had subsisted with reputation for more than nine years.
The Academy of Architecture was founded, under Louis XIV., by his celebrated minister Colbert in 1671, and was composed of the most distinguished architects of the time. It was provided, however, that the professor of architecture, and the secretary to the academy, should always be chosen from those Architects intrusted with the superintendence of royal edifices; and the title of academician was conferred by brevet. The Academy of Architecture held its sittings every Monday at the Louvre, where it occupied the apartment called the Queens Saloon ; but at the commencement of the Revolution it was remodelled, like the Academy of Sciences, and transformed into a school for the cultivation and improvement of the fine arts. This school was divided into two sections, the first of which was devoted to painting and sculpture, and the second to architecture; and these two sections received, by a royal ordonnance of the 11th August 1819, the title of Royal Academy of the Fine Arts. The instruction in architecture at this institution consists of lessons given in special courses of lectures by four different professors; first, on the theory of the art; secondly, on its history; thirdly, on the mathematical principles of construction; and, fourthly, on perspective; which last branch is common to both sections. By the munificence of the government, this institution is amply provided with means for supporting the pupils admitted within its walls, as also for affording them every facility in the prosecution of their studies; and with the view of exciting emulation as well as rewarding excellence, a grand prize is annually given.
The Academy of Dancing was erected by Louis XIV., and had particular privileges conferred upon it.
VII. Academies of Law. Under this head we may mention the famous academy at Berytus, and that of the Sitientes at Bologna. We are not aware of any other.
VIII. Academies of History. The first of these to which we shall advert, is the Royal Academy of Portuguese History at Lisbon. This academy was instituted by King John V. in 1720. It consists of a director, four censors, a secretary, and fifty members, to each of whom is assigned some part of the ecclesiastical or civil history of the nation, which he is required to treat either in Latin or Portuguese. In the church history of each diocese, the prelates, synods, councils, churches, monasteries, academies, persons illustrious for sanctity or learning, and places famous for miracles or relics, must be distinctly related in twelve chapters. The civil history comprises the transactions of the kingdom, from the government of the Romans down to the present time. The members who reside in the country are obliged to make collections and extracts out of all the registers, &c. where they live. Their meetings take place once every fifteen days. A medal was struck by this academy in honour of their prince, on die obverse of which was his effigy, with the inscription Johannes V. Lusitanorum Rex, and on the reverse, the same prince represented standing, and raising History, almost prostrate before him, with the legend, Historia, Resurges. Underneath are the following words in abbreviature: REGia ACADemia HISToriae LUSITanae, INSTITuta VI. Idus Decembris MDCCXX.
An Academy of History was some time ago established by some learned men at Tubingen, for publishing the best historica! writings, the lives of the chief historians, and compiling new memoirs on any matter of importance connected with either.
About the year 1730, a few individuals in Madrid agreed to assemble at stated periods, for the purpose of preserving and illustrating the historical monuments of Spain. In the year 1738, the rules which they had drawn up were confirmed by a royal cedula of Philip V. This academy consists of twenty-four members. The device is a river at its source; the motto, In pαtriam populumque fluit. It has published editions of Mariana, Sepulveda, Solis, and the ancient Chronicles relative to the affairs of Castile, several of which were never before printed. All the diplomas, charters, &c. belonging to the principal cities in Spain, since the earliest period, are in its possession. It has long been employed in preparing a geographical dictionary of that country.
IX. Academies of Antiquities ; as that at Cortona in Italy, and that at Uspsal in Sweden. The first is designed for the study of Hetrurian antiquities; the other for illustrating the northern languages, and the antiquities of Sweden, in which valuable discoveries have been made by it. The head of the Hetrurian academy is called Lucomon, a name by which the ancient governors of the country were distinguished. One of their laws is, to give audience to poets only one day in the year; and another is, to fix their sessions, and impose a tax of a dissertation on each member in his turn.
The Academy of Medals and Inscriptions at Paris was set on foot by Μ. Colbert, under the patronage of Louis XIV. in 1663, for the study and explanation of ancient monuments, and for perpetuating great and memorable events, especially those of the French monarchy, by coins, relievos, inscriptions, &c. The number of members was at first confined to four or five, chosen out of those of the French academy; and they met in the library of Μ. Colbert, from whom they received his Majesty’s orders. Though the days of their meetings were not determined, they generally assembled on Wednesdays, especially in the winter season; but, in 1691, the king having given the inspection of this academy to Μ. de Pontchartrain, comptroller-general of the finances, he fixed their meetings on Tuesdays and Saturdays. By a new regulation, dated the 16th of July 1701, the academy was composed of ten honorary members; ten associates, each of whom had two declarative voices; ten pensioners; and ten élèves, or pupils. They then met every Tuesday and Wednesday, in one of the halls of the Louvre; and had two public meetings yearly, one the day after Martinmas, and the other the 16th after Easter. The class of élèves was suppressed, and united to the associates. The king nominated their president and vice-president yearly; but their secretary and treasurer were perpetual. The rest were chosen by the members themselves, agreeably to the constitutions on that head given to them. One of the first undertakings of this academy was to compose, by means of medals, a connected history of the principal events of Louis XIV.’s reign. In this design, however, they met with very great difficulties, and consequently it was interrupted for a number of years; but at length it was completed down to the advancement of the Duke of Anjou to the crown of Spain. In this celebrated work, the establishment of the academy itself was not forgotten. The medal on this subject represents Mercury sitting, and writing with an antique stylus on a table of brass; he leans with his left hand upon an urn full of medals, and at his feet are several others placed upon a card. The legend is, Rerum gestarum fides, and on the exergue, Academia Regia Inscriptionum et Numismatum, instituta MDCLXIII.; signifying, that the Royal Academy of Medals and Inscriptions, founded in 1663, ought to give to future ages a faithful testimony of all great actions. Besides this work, we have several volumes of their me[7:2:76]moirs; and their history, written and continued by their secretaries.
Under this class the Academy of Herculaneum properly ranks. It was established at Naples about 1755, at which period a museum was formed of the antiquities found at Herculaneum, Pompeii, and other places, by the Marquis Tanucci, who was then minister of state. Its object was to explain the paintings, &c. which were discovered at those places; and for this purpose the members met every fortnight, and at each meeting three paintings were submitted to three academicians, who made their report on them at their next sitting. The first volume of their labours appeared in 1775, and they have been continued under the title of Anticliità di Ercolano. They contain engravings of the principal paintings, statues, bronzes, marble figures, medals, utensils, &c. with explanations. In the year 1807, an Academy of History and Antiquities, on a new plan, was established at Naples, by Joseph Buonaparte. The number of members was limited to forty; twenty of whom were to be appointed by the king, and these twenty were to present to him, for his choice, three names for each of those wanted to complete the full number. Eight thousand ducats were to be annually allotted for the current expenses, and two thousand for prizes to the authors of four works, which should be deemed by the academy most deserving of such a reward. A grand meeting was to be held every year, when the prizes were to be distributed, and analyses of the works read. The first meeting took place on the 25th of April 1807; but the subsequent changes in the political state of Naples have prevented the full and permanent establishment of this institution. In the same year an academy was established at Florence, for the illustration of Tuscan antiquities, which has published some volumes of memoirs.
In consequence of the attention of several literary men in Paris having been directed to Celtic antiquities, a Celtic Academy was established in that city in the year 1807. Its objects were, first, the elucidation of the history, customs, antiquities, manners, and monuments of the Celts, particularly in France; secondly, the etymology of all the European languages, by the aid of the Celto-British, Welsh, and Erse; and, thirdly, researches relating to Druidism. The attention of the members was also particularly called to the history and settlements of the Galatae in Asia. Lenoir, the keeper of the museum of French monuments, was appointed president. A fasciculus, consisting of 150 or 160 pages, was to be published monthly; and the engravings illustrative of Celtic antiquities were to be under the inspection of Lenoir. The devices are, Gloriae Majorum, and Sermonem patriam moresque requiret.
X. Academies of Belles Lettres are those wherein eloquence and poetry are chiefly cultivated. These are very numerous in Italy, and were not uncommon in France.
The Academy of Umidi at Florence has contributed greatly to the progress of the sciences by the excellent Italian translations executed by some of its members, of the ancient Greek and Latin historians. But their chief attention was directed to Italian poetry, at the same time that they applied themselves to the polishing of their language, which produced the Academy della Crusea.
The Academy of Humourists, Umoristi, had its origin at Rome in the marriage of Lorenzo Marcini, a Roman gentleman, at which several persons of rank were guests; for it being carnival time, to give the ladies some diversion, they betook themselves to the reciting of verses, sonnets, speeches, first extempore, and afterwards premeditately; which gave them the denomination of Belli Hu mori. After sortie experience, and coming more and more into the taste of thèse exercises, they resolved to form an academy of belles lettres, and changed the title of Belli Humori for that of Humoristi ; choosing for their device a cloud, which, after being formed of exhalations from the salt waters of the ocean, returns in a gentle sweet shower; with this motto from Lucretius, Redit agmine duld.
In 1690, the Academy of Arcadi was established at Rome, for reviving the study of poetry and of the belles lettres. Besides most of the politer wits of both sexes in Italy, this academy comprehended many princes, cardinals, and other ecclesiastics; and, to avoid disputes about pre-eminence, all appeared masked after the manner of Arcadian shepherds. Within ten years from its first establishment, the number of Academicians amounted to six hundred. They held assemblies seven times a year in a meadow or grove, or in the gardens of some nobleman of distinction. Six of these meetings were employed in the recitation of poems and verses of the Arcadi residing at Rome, who read their own compositions; except ladies and cardinals, who were allowed to employ others. The seventh meeting was set apart for the compositions of foreign or absent members. This academy is governed by a custos, who represents the whole society^ and is chosen every four years, with a power of electing twelve others yearly for his assistance. Under these are two sub-custodes, one vicar or pro-custos, and four deputies or superintendents, annually chosen. The laws of the society are immutable, and bear a near resemblance to the ancient model. There are five modes of electing members^ The first is by acclamation. This is used when sovereign princes, cardinals, and ambassadors of kings desire to be admitted; and the votes are then given viva voce. The second is called annumeratum. This was introduced in favour of ladies and academical colonies, where the votes are taken privately. The third, representation, was established in favour of colonies and universities, where the young gentry are bred, who have each a privilege of recommending one or two members privately to be balloted for. The fourth, surrogation, whereby new members are substituted in the room of those dead or expelled. The last, destination, whereby, when there is no vacancy of members, persons of poetical merit have the title of Arcadi conferred upon them till such time as a vacancy shall happen. All the members of this body, at their admission, assume new pastoral names, in imitation of the shepherds of Arcadia. The academy has several colonies of Arcadi in different cities of Italy, who are all regulated after the same manner.
XI. Academies of Languages, called by some, Grammatical Academies ; as,
Th e Academy della Crusea at Florence, famous for i ts vocabulary of the Italian tongue, which was formed in 1582, but scarce heard of before the year 1584, when it became noted for a dispute between Tasso and several of its members. Many authors confound this with the Florentine academy. The discourses which Torricelli, the celebrated disciple of Galileo, delivered in the assemblies, concerning levity, the wind, the power of percussion, mathematics, and military architecture, are a proof that these academies applied themselves to things as well as words.
The Academy of Fructiferi had its rise in 1617, at an assembly of several princes and nobility of the country, who met with a design to refine and perfect the German tongue. It flourished long under the direction of princes of the empire, who were always chosen presidents. In 1668, the number of members arose to upwards of nine hundred. It was prior in time to the French academy, [7:2:77]which only appeared in 1629, and was not established into an academy before the year 1635. Its history is written in the German tongue, by George Neumarck.
The Frerich Academy had its rise from a meeting of men of letters in the house of Μ. Conrart, in 1629. In 1635, it was erected into an academy by Cardinal Richelieu, for refining and ascertaining the French language and style. The number of its members was limited to forty, out of whom a director, chancellor, and secretary were to be chosen; the two former of whom were to hold their posts for two months; the latter was perpetual. The members of this academy enjoyed several privileges and immunities, among which was that of not being obliged to answer before any court but that of the king’s household. They met three times a week in the Louvre. At the breaking up of each meeting forty silver medals were distributed among the members, having on one side the king of France’s head, and on the reverse, Protecteur de l' Académie, with laurel, and this motto, A l' Immortalité. By this distribution, the attendance of the academicians was secured; for those who were present received the surplus intended for the absent. To elect or expel a member, the concurrence of at least eighteen was required; nor could any one be chosen unless he petitioned for it; by which expedient the affront of refusals on the part of persons elected was avoided. Religious persons were not admitted; nor could any nobleman or person of distinction be elected on any other footing than as a man of letters. None could be expelled, except for base and dishonest practices; and there were but two instances of such expulsions, the first of M. Grainer for refusing to return a deposit, the other of the Abbé Fure-tière for plagiarism. The design of this academy was to give not only rules, but examples, of good writing. They began with making speeches on subjects taken at pleasure, about twenty of which were printed. At their first institution they met with great opposition from the parliament; it being two years before the patents granted by the king could be registered. This institution has been severely satirized, and the style of its compositions has been ridiculed as enervating instead of refining the French language. They were also charged with having surfeited the world by flattery, and exhausted all the topics of panegyric in praise of their founder; it being a duty incumbent on every member, at his admission, to make a speech in praise of the king, the cardinal, the chancellor Seguier, and the person in whose room he is elected. The most remarkable work of this academy is a dictionary of the French tongue; which, after fifty years spent in settling the words and phrases to be used in writing, was at last published in 1694.
An academy similar to the above was founded at Petersburg under the auspices of the Princess Dashkof; and the plan having been approved by the crown, a fund was established for its support. It is attached to the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg.
The Royal Spanish Academy at Madrid held its first meeting in July 1713, in the palace of its founder, the Duke d’Escalona. It consisted at first of eight academicians, including the duke; to which number fourteen others were afterwards added, the founder being chosen president or director. In 1714, the king granted them the royal confirmation and protection. Their device is a crucible in the middle of the fire, with this motto, Limpia, Fixa, y da Esplendor ; “It purifies, fixes, and gives brightness.” The number of members was limited to twenty-four; the Duke d’Escalona was chosen director for life, but his successors were elected yearly, and the secretary for life. Their object, as marked out by the royal declaration, was to cultivate and improve the national language. They were to begin with choosing carefully such words and phrases as have been used by the best Spanish writers noting the low, barbarous, or obsolete ones; and composing a dictionary wherein these might be distinguished from the former.
The Royal Swedish Academy was founded in the year 1786, for the purpose of purifying and perfecting the Swedish language. A medal is struck by its direction every year in honour of some illustrious Swedc. This academy does not publish its transactions.
XII. Academies of Politics. Of this description was that at Paris, consisting of six persons, who met at the Louvre, in the chamber where the papers relating to foreign affairs were lodged. But this academy proved of little service, as the kings of France were unwilling to trust any but their ministers with the inspection of foreign affairs.
Academy is a term also applied to those royal collegiate seminaries in which young men are educated for the navy and army. In our country there are three seminaries of this description; the Naval Academy at Portsmouth, the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and the Royal Military College at Farnham and Sandhurst. Of these we shall give some account in their order.
I. The Naval Academy at Portsmouth was founded by George I. in 1722; but the official warrant for its establishment does not appear to have been issued till the 21st of February 1729. This warrant bears, that the academy was instituted for the education of forty young gentlemen, fifteen of whom were to be sons of commissioned officers in the navy. The commissioner of the navy at Portsmouth was, ex officio, to be governor; and there were to be two masters for the instruction of the students in navigation and the sciences introductory or auxiliary to it; besides a master for writing and drawing. The annual expense was about L.1169.
In the year 1773, George HL, during a visit he paid to Portsmouth, suggested the extension and improvement of the Naval Academy; but no steps were taken towards this object till the year 1806, when an order in council was issued for a new and enlarged establishment. By this order it was henceforward to be called the Royal Naval College, at Dock-yard, Portsmouth, and the following officers were appointed: first, a Governor, who was to be the First Lord of the Admiralty for the time being; and, second, a Lieutenant-Governor and inspector, who was to be a post-captain in the navy. As the course of education which the students were to follow necessarily embraced the mathematical sciences, the order directed that the University of Cambridge should recommend three of its graduates, who were able mathematicians; one of whom, the First Lord of the Admiralty, as governor, was to nominate professor. In order to incite him to the regular and faithful discharge of his duty, he was to receive no fixed salary, but to be paid L.8 annually by each student attending the academy. The next in rank and authority under the professor is the preceptor, or head master, who must be a graduate of one of the universities. He has the control of the students at all hours, and is to instruct them in the classics, moral philosophy, geography, history, and general literature.
The order in council also appointed a writing-master, who, besides giving instructions in his own immediate line, was to prepare the students for the lectures of the professor, by teaching them arithmetic, fractions, algebra, and geometry. There are, besides, masters for drawing, French, dancing, and fencing. The surgeon of the dockyard gives his professional advice and assistance. The domestic economy of the establishment is intrusted, by [7:2:78]the order in council, to a disabled and meritorious halfpay lieutenant.
The peculiar advantages of this academy, however, consist in the practical knowledge which it is intended and calculated to bestow on those who are admitted. For this purpose, the master attendant of the dock-yard gives weekly lessons on the management of ships afloat, in one of the cruising sloops; and likewise lessons in rigging and preparing ships for sea, on board such vessels as are preparing to sail from Portsmouth harbour. Forty-seven lessons are given in each of these branches annually, five weeks being allowed for holydays.
The master shipwright of the dock-yard instructs the students in the principles on which ships of war are built, and in the mode of putting the several parts to ether; making masts, and all other branches of naval architecture, by attending them one day in the week, during the six summer months, through the dock-yards. The gunner of marine artillery also instructs them in the practical knowledge of gunnery, and in the use of the firelock.
The number of scholars, by the order in council of February 1806, was increased from forty to seventy: of these, thirty might be indiscriminately sons of officers, noblemen, or gentlemen; but forty were invariably to be sons of commissioned officers in the naval service. None are admitted under thirteen, nor above sixteen years of age; and those are preferred to fill vacancies who have been previously at sea, provided they are of the proper age. No student can remain at the academy longer than three years; and the whole period of his residence is to be reckoned as two of the six years which it is necessary for a midshipman to serve before he can obtain a lieutenant’s commission. Each student, while actually at the academy, that is, during three hundred and thirty days in the year, receives four shillings daily; out of which he pays L.8 annually to the professor. The annual expense of the establishment, as fixed by the order in council of 1806, is about L.6363.
In order to secure to the country the services of the students in that line for which they have been educated, the parents of all of them, except such as have been previously at sea, grant a bond of L.200, which is forfeited in case they do not enter into the naval service. The first year they are at sea, they are rated as volunteers, on able seamans pay; the second year, they have the rank and pay of midshipmen. They arc directed to keep journals, to draw head-lands, &c.; and when the ship comes into port, they are to attend the professor, who is to inspect their journals, and examine them regarding their advancement in the theoretical and practical knowledge of this profession.
This academy, as established by the order in council already mentioned, was confined entirely to the education of young cadets for the navy: but in the third report of the commissioners, appointed to inquire into the civil affairs of the navy, laid before Parliament in June 1806, a regular system of education for shipwrights was also proposed; and the suggestion was accordingly carried into effect, though not till some years afterwards. The professor of the naval academy is also the instructor of the shipwright apprentices, but his instructions extend only to that class who are to serve on board his Majesty’s ships of war. No apprentice can be admitted to the academy under sixteen years of age; and he must be previously examined by the professor, before a committee of the navy board, in arithmetic, the first six books of Euclid, and in French. If the candidate is approved, he must be bound to the resident commissioner of the dockyard for seven years, six of which he spends at the academy, and one at sea. The salary of the apprentices increases yearly, from L.60 to L.140; out of which they' pay L.8 to the professor. The number of these apprentices was originally limited to twenty-five; but latterly, six more have been added. They spend half the day un- . der the professor; and the other half under the master shipwright, in the mould lofts, learning the management of timber, and manual labour in ship-building. Lectures are delivered three times a week, after working hours, on the branches of science connected with naval architecture; and annual examinations take place before the resident commissioner, the master shipwright, and the professor.
Out of the class of shipwright apprentices thus educated, are selected the master measurers, foremen of shipwrights, master boat-builders, master mast-makers, assistants to master ship-builders, mechanists in office of inspector-general of naval works, assistants to surveyors of the navy, master shipwrights, second surveyor of navy, inspector-general of navy works, and first surveyor of navy.
II. The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich was established by George II. by warrants dated 30th of April and 18th November 1741, for the purpose of instructing “raw and inexperienced people belonging to the military branch of the ordnance, in the several parts of the mathematics necessary for the service of the artillery, and the business of engineers.” We find no further notice respecting this institution till the year 1776, when the number of scholars, then called cadets, amounted to forty-eight. In the year 1786, they were increased to sixty; in 1796, to ninety; and in 1798, to one hundred, forty of whom were educated for the service of the East India Company. This number continued till the year 1806, when the establishment was improved and further extended, the number of masters being increased, and the cadets being divided into two bodies. This latter regulation took place in consequence principally of the unhealthy and confined situation of the old buildings in the royal arsenal; new buildings having been erected on Woolwich Common, on the side of Shooter’s Hill, in a more open and dry situation. As soon as these were finished, one hundred and twenty-eight cadets were lodged in them; sixty still continuing in the royal arsenal. At this period, there were nine masters of mathematics. In 1810, the cadets for the service of the East India Company were withdrawn from Woolwich; and the extra cadets, who, for want of room, had been sent to Marlow, or to private schools, were taken into the college, under the name of supernumeraries. The establishment at present consists of two hundred cadets, one hundred and twenty-eight of whom are in the new buildings, and seventy-two, including twelve supernumeraries, reside in the arsenal. The number of cadets is not fixed by warrant, but is at the discretion of the master-general of ordnance, who, with the board of ordnance, have the entire superintendence of the institution. The immediate direction, however, is vested in the lieutenant-governor and inspector, who are chosen generally from the artillery or engineers by the master-general of the ordnance. It is the duty of these officers, aided by the assistant inspector, to control the masters and professors, and to see that the cadets are taught the necessary branches of instruction. The professors and masters are appointed on the recommendation of the lieutenant-governor, who, assisted by men of science, previously examines them. One master is appointed for every sixteen cadets. At present there are a professor of fortification, with two assistants; a professor of mathematics, with six masters and assistants; two French masters; [7:2:79]a drawing-master for ground, and an assistant; a drawing-master for figures, and another for landscape; a dancing-master; a fencing-master; two modellers; and a lecturer on. chemistry. Lectures are also given on the different branches of natural philosophy. The inferior branches of education are taught at the lower institution in the arsenal, and the higher branches at the buildings on the common.
The young men educated at the Royal Military Academy of Woolwich are the sons of noblemen, gentlemen, or military officers. They are called gentlemen cadets, and cannot be admitted under fourteen, nor above sixteen years of age. They are nominated by the master-general of the ordnance, as governor of the academy; but they must be well grounded in English grammar, .arithmetic, and French; and they undergo a previous public examination before the masters of the academy. The cadets educated at Woolwich are considered as the first company of the royal regiment of artillery, of which the master-general of the ordnance is the captain. They are also divided into companies, each company having a captain and two subalterns, as military directors. Each cadet receives 2ş. 6d. a day, or L.45. 12s. 6d. a year, which covers all his regular expenses, except keeping up his linen. The annual vacations consist of twelve weeks.
Monthly returns of the studies of the cadets, showing the relative progress of each in every branch, with his particular character subjoined, are sent to the master-general of the ordnance: there are also public examinations before the general officers of the ordnance corps. Commissions. are given to the cadets according to the report of their merits and acquirements; they have their choice of entering either into the artillery or engineers. The whole expense to government, of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, is at the rate of about L.100 for each cadet.
III. The Royal Military College, which is at present established at Farnham, in Surrey, and at Sandhurst, near Bagshot, was originally settled at High Wycombe and Great Marlow. .The establishment at High Wycombe commenced in January 1799, at which time there was a superintendent, commandant, two or three professors, and thirty-four students. Next year four more professors were added; and in 1801 it took the name of the Royal Military College by warrant of George III. A supreme board of commissioners, to superintend and regulate its concerns, was appointed, consisting of the commander-in-chief, secretary of war, and the heads of the great military departments, with others of high rank in the army; three of whom, including the secretary of war, and the adjutant or quartermaster-general, were to form a board of management. By his Majesty’s warrant, dated the 4th of June 1802, another department, called the Junior Department of the Royal Military College, was formed; and the objects of this, as well as of the original, or Senior Department, were specifically pointed out. A collegiate board was also established, for the internal government of the college, consisting of the governor, lieutenant-governor, and the commandants of the two departments. The last warrant relating to this establishment is dated 27th May 1808. It places both the departments, forming one college, under the command of the governor and lieutenant-governor; it continues the collegiate board; and it vests the appointment of professors and masters, after public notice of vacancies, and the examination of the candidates in the presence of the collegiate board, in the supreme board.
By these warrants it was declared, that the Junior Department of the Institution, which was then at Marlow, was principally intended for those who were destined for the military profession, in order to ground them in the necessary sciences by the time they could hold commissions; and also to afford provision for the orphan sons of meritorious officers, who had fallen or been disabled in the service of their country, or whose pecuniary circumstances rendered them unable to educate their sons properly for a military life. The warrant of 1808 fixed the number of students in the Junior Department at four hundred and twelve, divided into four companies of a hundred and three cadets each. They are admitted upon three different establishments :—1. Orphan sons of officers of the army or navy, who have fallen, died, or been disabled in the service: these are admitted free of expense, except that they are to bring the first suit of uniform on their admission, and to keep up their stock of linen, during their residence at the college. 2. The sons of officers actually serving in the army or navy, who pay a certain sum annually, from L.10 to L.60, according to the rank of their fathers. 3. The sons of noblemen and gentlemen, who pay L.100 per annum each.
The military branch of the establishment attached to the Junior Department, consists of a commandant, a major, three captains, an adjutant, and inferior officers.
The studies pursued in this department are, mathematics, natural philosophy, history, geography, fortification, military drawing, landscape drawing, arithmetic, classics, French, German, fencing, and writing. There are seven masters of mathematics, four of fortification, five of military drawing, three of landscape drawing, four of history, geography, and classics, six of French, one of German, and three of fencing. The course for this department lasts from three and a half to four years.
Applications for admission must be made to the commander-in-chief, through the governor of the college, and his Majesty’s approbation obtained. Every candidate, previously to admission into the Junior Department, must pass an examination in Latin and English grammar, and in the first four rules of arithmetic; and no candidate can be admitted under thirteen or above fifteen years of age.
Examinations are held monthly, which are conducted by the professors of the Senior Department, for the purpose of ascertaining the progress of each cadet, previously to his removal from one class to another. There are also half-yearly examinations, in presence of the collegiate board, on which occasion one or more members of the supreme board, not being members of the collegiate board, attend. These examinations are held previously to the cadets’ receiving commissions from the college; and if they acquit themselves well, they are furnished by the board of commissioners, in whose presence the examination takes place, with certificates of qualification to serve in the army as officers. The third class, or gentlemen cadets, are allowed to purchase commissions at any time during their continuance at the college; but no gentleman cadet can be recommended for a commission by private interest, until he has made a certain progress in his studies.
The Senior Department of the Royal Military College, which was originally established at High Wycombe, is intended for the purpose of instructing officers in the scientific parts of their profession, with a view of enabling them better to discharge their duty when acting in the command of regiments; and, at the same time, of qualifying them for being employed in the quartermaster’s and adjutant-general’s department. The military branch of the establishment of the Senior Department consists of a commandant and adjutant. The studies pursued are, mathematics in all their various branches, fortification, [7:2:80]gunnery, castrametation, military drawing and surveying, the reconnoitring of ground, the disposition and movement of troops under all the various circumstances of defensive and offensive war, rules for estimating the military resources of a country, and the German and French languages. There are six professors in this department; one for mathematics, one for fortification, two for military drawing, one for French, and one for German.
The full complement of the Senior Department consists of thirty students.'* Nd‘officer can be admitted till he has completed the twenty-first year of his age, and actually served with his regiment, áš a commissioned officer, three years abroad, or four years at home. Applications for admission must be made to the governor, through the commanding officer of the regiment to which the candidate belongs; and the governòr transmits the application to the commander-in-chief, for his Majesty’s approbation. Such examination as may be deemed requisite, is required previously to admission. Each student of this department pays into the funds of the college thirty guineas annually; and after a certain périod he is obliged to keep a horse, for the purpose of receiving such instruction as is given in the field. There are public examinations half-yearly, conducted on the same principle as the half-yearly examinations of the Junior Department. Such officers as have gone through the regular course of studies, and have passed this examination with credit, receive certificates that they are duly qualified for staff-appointments, signed, by the. board who examined them, and sealed with the seal of the college.
Officers or students of the first department, non-commissioned officers, and other military persons belonging to the college, as well as the gentlemen cadets of the junior department, are subject to the articles of war; for which reason the latter are placed on the establishment of the army, and receive 2s. 6d. per day. This money contributes towards the expense of their education. The gentlemen cadets wear military uniforms.
The general staff of the college consists of the governor, the lieutenant-governor, the inspector-general of instruction, and the chaplain, who, besides performing divine service, teaches the evidences and principles of Christianity. The rest of the staff are exclusively occupied with the finances of the college.
In 1801, five hundred acres of land were purchased at Sandhurst, near Bagshot; and on this space large and commodious buildings were erected, into which the Junior Department was removed from Great Marlow; but the Senior Department remained at Farnham, which is at no great distance from Sandhurst.
Academy Figure, a drawing of a naked man or woman, taken from the life; which" is usually done on paper with red or black chalk, and sometimes with pastils or crayons.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 65 [7:2:65]
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ACADIE, or AĆAny, in Geography, a name formerly given to Nova Scotia, or New Scotland, in America.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACAENA, in antiquity, a Grecian measure of length, being a ten feet rod, us⅛d’in measuring their lands.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACAMANTIS, the ancient name of the island of Cyprus, taken from one of its promontories situated to the west, and called Acamas. Teos in Ionia was also called thus from Acamas the founder.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACAMAS, son of Theseus, followed the rest of the Grecian princes to the siege of Troy; and was deputed, with Diomedes, to the Trojans, in order to get Helen restored. Laodice, Priam’s daughter, fell in love with, and had a son by him, called Munitus. He was one of the heroes who concealed themselves in the wooden horse. One of the tribes of Athens was called Acamantides from him, by the appointment of the oracle; and he founded a city in Phrygia Major, called Acamantium. Homer mentions two other heroes of this name: one a Thracian prince, who came to succour Priam; another a son of Antenor.
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACANGIS, that is, Ravti/jers or Adventurers ; a name which the Turks give their hussars or light troops, who are generally sent out in ‘detachments to procure intelligence, harass the enemy 1 ,‘ or ravage the country.
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACANTHA, in Rotany, the prickle of any plant: in Zoology, a term for the spine or prickly fins of fishes.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACANTHABOLUS, ¾ι Surgery, an instrument for pulling thorns, or the like, out of the skin.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACANTHINE, any thing resembling or belonging to the herb acanthus. Ac⅛Jithme garments, among the ancients, are said to be made^0f the down of thistles; others think they were garments embroidered in imitation of the acanthus.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACANTHROPTE ĭtYGIOUS Fishes, a term used by Linnaeus and others for those fishes whose back fins are hard, osseous, and prickly.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACANTHUS, in Architecture, an ornament representing the leaves of the Acanthus, used in the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACAPALA, or Acapula, a town in the province of Chiapa, in New Spain, which is situated on Tabasco river, about five leagues north-west from Chiapa.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACAPAM, a town of Asia, on the Euxine Sca.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACAPULCO, a considerable town and port in Mexico on a bay of the South Sea, distant from the city of Mexico south-east 210 miles. It has a remarkably fine harbour, from whence a ship annually sails to Manilla in the Philippine islands in Asia; and another returns annually from thence with all the treasures of the East Indies, such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones; the rich carpets of Persia; the camphire of Borneo; the benjamin and ivory of Pegu and Cambodia; the silks, muslins, and calicoes, of the Mogul’s country; the gold dust, tea, china ware, silk, and cabinets, of China and Japan; besides cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmegs, and pepper; insomuch that this single ship contains more riches than many whole fleets. The goods brought to Acapulco are carried to the city of Mexico by mules and pack-horses. Acapulco is but a small place, containing about 4000 inhabitants, mostly people of colour; who are increased to 9000 by the resort of strangers to the annual fair, held when the Manilla galleon arrives. A wretched fort, with 31 pieces of cannon, defends the harbour, which is equally extensive, safe, and commodious. The basin which constitutes this harbour is surrounded by lofty mountains, which are so dry that they are even destitute of water. The air here is hot, heavy, and unwholesome; to which none can habituate themselves except certain negroes that are born under a similar climate, or some mulattoes. Upon the arrival of the galleons, traders flock hither from all the provinces of Mexico The value of. the precious metals exported in the galleon amounts in general to about L.200,000 or L.250,000, the value of the goods to about L.300,000 or L.400,000, according to Humboldt. Long. 99. 46. W. Lat. 16. 50. N.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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16 50' N 99 46' W
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ACARAI, a town of Paraguay in South America, built by the Jesuits in 1624.
[7:2:81]
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 80 [7:2:80]
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ACARAUNA, a small American fish, called by our sailors the old wife.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACARNANIA, a country of Free Greece, or Greece Proper, bounded on the north by the Sinus Ambracius, and separated from Aetolia by the river Achelous on the east, and on the west by the Ionian Sea. This country was famous for an excellent breed of horses; so that Azasνανικjος 'ι<κπος is a proverbial saying for any thing excellent in its kind. It now forms the western part of Livadia.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACARON, or Accaron, a town of Palestine, called Ekron in Scripture. It was the boundary of the Philistines to the north; stood at some distance from the sea, near Bethshemesh; and was famous for the idol of Baal-zebub.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACASTUS, in classic history, the son of Pelias, king of Thessaly, and one of the most famous hunters of the time, married Hippolita, who falling desperately in love with Peleus her son-in-law, and he refusing to gratify her wishes, she accused him to her husband of a rape; on which he slew them both.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACATALECTIC, a term in ancient poetry for such verses as have all their feet or syllables, in contradistinction to those that have a syllable too few. The first verse of the two following from Horace is acatalectic or complete, the last catalectic or deficient.
Solvitur acris hiems grata vice veris et Favonî,
Trahuntque siccas machinae carinas.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACATALEPSY signifies the impossibility of comprehending something. The distinguishing tenet of the Pyrrhonists was their asserting an absolute acatalepsy in regard to every thing.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACATERY, or AcCatry, anciently an officer of the king’s household, designed for a check betwixt the clerks of the kitchen and the purveyors.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACATHARSIA, m’Medicine, an impurity of the blood or humours.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACATHISTUS, the name of a solemn hymn or vigil, anciently sung in the Greek church on the Saturday of the fifth week of Lent, in honour of the Virgin, for having thrice delivered Constantinople from the invasions of the barbarous nations. It was denominated ακα∂ιστος, i. e. without sitting, because, in the celebration of the praises of the Virgin, the people stood all night singing.
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and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACATIUM, in Ancient Navigation, a kind of boat or pinnace used for military purposes. The acatium was a species of those vessels called naves actuariae, i. e. such as were wrought with oars. It was sometimes made use of in battle. Strabo describes it as a privateer or pirate sloop, and Suidas as a fishing vessel.
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Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACAULIS, in Potany, a term applied to certain plants, the flowers of which have no pedicle or stalk to support them, but rest immediately on the ground, such as the carline thistle, &c.
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This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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ACCA, Saint, bishop of Hagustaldt, or Hexham, in Northumberland, succeeded Wilfrid in that see in 709. He ornamented his cathedral in a most magnificent manner; furnished it with plate and holy vestments; and erected a noble library, consisting chiefly of ecclesiastical learning, and a large collection of the lives of the saints, which he was at great pains to procure. He was accounted a very able divine, and was famous for his skill in church music. He wrote several books', particularly Passiones Sanctorum, and Pro illustrandis Scripturis, ad Pedam. He died in 740, having enjoyed the see of Hexham 31 years, under Egbert king of the Northumbrians.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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kp-eb0702-008113-0862
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ACCALIA, in Roman antiquity, solemn festivals held in honour of Acca Laurentia, Romulus’s nurse: they were otherwise called Lauf ent alia.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
| |
kp-eb0702-008114-0862
|
ACCAPITARE, in Law, the act of becoming vassal of a lord, or of yielding him homage and obedience. Hence,
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
| |
kp-eb0702-008115-0862
|
ACCAPITUM signifies the money paid by a vassal upon his admission to a feu.
Accapitum, in our Ancient Law, was used also to express the relief or fee payable on the entry of an heir to the chief lord.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, SEVENTH EDITION: A MACHINE-READABLE TEXT
TRANSCRIPTION (v3.1), The Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project, 2024
[email protected], https://tu-plogan.github.io/.
License: CC-BY-4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature. 7th ed., 21 vols. Edinburgh: Adam and
Charles Black, 1830-1842. Image scans: Natl. Library of Scotland.
This entry: 7th edition, volume 2, page 81 [7:2:81]
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