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and, and his own into the Indies; but these ate more probablytrifling romances, written in the ages of ignorance.
ABI, ABIJAII, or AiilJAM, king of Judah, the son of Re-hoboam and Maacah.
AB|AL), a town of Africa , on the coast of Abex, remarkablefor its trade in ebony and aromatic plants.
ABIAGRASSO, a small tow n of Italy, near Milan .
ABI ANS, anciently a people of Thrace , or of Scythia.ABIATIlAR,["tn'2S, Hcb. i. e.exce’ilent|Father.] Thesonof A-htmelech, the IOthh.ghpriestof Israel , and the ithindescentfrom Eli.
ABIB, [3>2tt, TIeb. i. e. ripe ear of corn.] The first month ofthe ecclesiastical, and the 7th of the civil year among the Jews .It contains30 days, and answers to our moon that begins in Marchand ends in April. The paschal lamb was taken on the 1 Othof this month, eaten on the 14th, and from that to the 21st thefeast of unleavened bread was kept.
ABIES , in b. (anv, the lir tree. Sec Pixvs.
ABIGAIL, [Vl’tsN, Heb. the father’s jov.] The wife of Na-bal, whose prudent conduct prevented the execution of David’sbloody purpose, and the destruction of her family. After herhusbaiid’sdeath, David married her, and she brought him two sons.
A BIG EAT, abigeatus, the crime of stealing or driving offcattle in droves, otherwise called abactus. .It was more severelypunished than simple theft, viz. by condemnation to the mines,banishment, oreven death.
ABILENE, a small canton in Syria, between Lebanon andAntilibanus.
ABILITY, in a law sense, is the power of doing certain actions,principally with regard to the acquisition or transfer of property.Every person is supposed to have this power, w ho is not disabled byany specific law.
AB1MELECII, [-jSti’att, Ileb. i. e. my father is a king.] A kingof Gerar, in Palestine, anil cotemporary with Abraham .
Abimklech, another king of Gerar, supposed to be son andsuccessor to the former.
ABINGDON, or ABINGTON, a town of Berks, on theThames, 56 miles W. from London. Lon. 1.12. \Y. Lat . 51.42. N.
ABINTESTATE, a term of law, implying him that inheritsfrom a man, who, though he had pow er to make a will, yet didnot make it.
ABLPONIANS, a tribe of American Indians, who formerlyinhabited the district of Chaks in Paraguay ; but the hostilities ofthe Spaniards, har e now obliged them to remove southward, intothe territory lying betw een Santa Fe, and St. Jago.
ABI RAM," the son of Eliab the Ueubenite, who, with his bre-thren Dathan and On, and Korah the Levile, conspired againstMoses and Aaron .
Abiram , the eldest son of Iliel the Bethelite, who lost ids lifewhen his father began to rebuild Jericho.
ABISHERING, in our old law books, charters, &c. a liberty orfreedom from all amerciaments; also arighltolhe forfeituresof others.
ABIDE, a small town in Beira, Portugal . Lon. 7. 10. \V. Lat.40. 20. N.
ABJURATION, in law, is used for renouncing, disclaimingand denying thepretendertohaveany mannerofrighUo the throne ofthese kingdoms; and that upon oath, whirb is required to be takebupondivers pains and penalties by many statutes, particularly 1 W. andM. 13 W. I1L 1 Anne. 1 Geo. I.
Abjuration’, in our ancient customs,'an oath taken by a personguilty of felon v, and who had (led to a place of sanctuary, to leavethe world for ever. This is much the same with what in Scotland is called, signing an act of banishment.
Abjuration, of heresy, the solemn recantation of some doc-trine, as w irked and false.
ABKHAS, one of the seven nations in the countries comprehendedbetween the Black Sea , and the Caspian. They have very little reli-gion, though they pre.erve some traces of Christianity .
ABLACTATION, one of the methods of grafting, and, ac-cording to the signification of the word, as it were a weaning of acyon by degrees, from its mother stock, notcutting itoff wholly iromthe stock, till it is firmly united to that on which it is graded.
ABLAI, or ABLAY, a country in Great Tartai y subject tothe Russians , but w hose chief isaCalmuck. Ablai lies PI. of theriver litis, and extends 500 leagues above the southern frontiers ofSiberia . Lon. from 72. to83. L. Lat.il. to 54. N.
which is by some thought peculiar to that language. The ablative i*opposed to the dative; the latter expressing the action of giving, andthe former that of taking away: thus ablatumcst a me, it was takenfrom me. It is sometimes called the comparative case, as bein&much used in comparing firings together: thus, dulcior ?nctlc,sweeter than honey.
Ablative absolute, among Latin grammarians, is so called, be-cause governed b\ no other word.
ABLE, or ABEL, Thomas, chaplain to queen Catherine, oneof Henry Fill's unfortunate wives, lie distinguished himself byhis laudable zeal in opposing that tyrant’s measmes to obtain a di->voree, in a work entitled, Tractatus de non dissoivendo Ilenrieiet Catherine matrimonio; i. c. A Treatise against dissolving themarriage of Henry and Catherine.
ABLECTI, in Roman antiquity, a select body of soldiers,chosen Irom among those called extraordinarii.
ABLEGMINA, in Roman antiquity, those choice parts of the;entrails of victims, which were offered in sacrifice to the gods. They,were sprinkled with (lour, and burnt upon the altur; the priestspouring wine on them.
ABLET, or ALBLEN, the common bleak. SeeC yprinus,
ABL1S, a town of France , in Orleans.
A BEGS, a town of Little Tartary, lying between (he riverDnieper and the Black Sea . Lon. 33. 15. E. Lat. 40.20. N.
ABLUTION, in religion, a ceremony in use among the an-cients, and still practised in several parts of the world; it consistedin washing the body, which was always done before sacrificing, oreven entering their houses.
ABNAKIS, an Indian nation in North America, between NewEngland and Canada .
ABNOBA, or ABENOW, a long range of mountains in Ger-many. About the Maine , they are called Oden; between Hesseand Franconia, the Spessart; and about the duchy of Wirtemberg ,the Baar, &c.
ABO, a sea port, the capital of Swedish Finland , which liesupon the point where the gulphs of Bothnia anil Finland unite. Itis a good port, and is the see of a bishop, suffragan of Upsal, 120miles N. E. from Stockholm . Lon. 22. 18. E. Lat. 60. 27. N.
ABO-FLOT, or ABO-HUS, an ancient fort in Finland , on apeninsula, near the mouth of the river Aura.
ABOIM DE NO-BREVA A-COATA, a district of Portugal .
ABOLI TION, in law, denotes the repealing of any law or sta-tute, and prohibiting some custom, ceremony, Ac. Sometimesalso it signities leave granted by the king, or a judge, to a criminalaccuser, to forbear any farther prosecut ion.
Abolition is also used by ancient civilians anil lawyers, for de-sisting from, or annulling a legal prosecution; for remitting the pu-nishment of a crime; and for cancelling or discharginga public debt.
ABOLLA, [from the Lat. bulbc, Roman ornaments, o'r from theGr. re/A?ox,i of ox>i, (loathing,] a warm kind of garment, lined ordoubled, worn by the Greeks and Romans, chiefly out of the city,in following the camp.
ABOMASIUM, ABOMASUM , orABOMASUS, names ofthe fourth stomach of ruminating animals. It is in the abomasus ofcalves and lambs, that the runnel, or earning is formed, where-with the milk is curdled.
ABON, A BON A, or ABONIS, [from Abhon, or Avon, Celt ,a river,] the ancient name of a river in Britain , supposed to he the Avon.
Abon, or Abona, in ancient geography, a town in Albion, sup-posed by C'amden, to be Abingdon.
ABORIGINES, or ABOlUGENF.S, in geography, a namesometimes given to the primitive inhabitants of a country, in contra-distinction to colonies. The term Aborigines is famous in antiquity.Though now an appellative, it was originally a proper name, givenonly to a certain people in Italy ; and both the reason anil origin ofit are greatly disputed among the learned.
ABORTiEN T, in botany, a term applied to flowers havingno seeds.
ABORTION , in law, if pi ocureil by giving a potion to, or bystriking a pregnant w oman, w as murder, but now is only a greatmisprision, unless the child be born alive, and die thereof.
Abortion, in midwifery, the exclusion of a fu tus before it hasacquired a sufficient degree of perfection, to enable it to performrespiration and the other vital functions. SeeMimviFERV.
ABORTIVES, medicines capable of causing an abortion,,which effect, it is now generally believed, arises from their actionon the system, and not by any specific action on the w omb.
3 9 ABOUKIR