extreme avidity for all the sciences, he did not neglect the study Iof medicine. "Persuaded that this divine art consists as much in 'practice as in theory, he sought all opportunities of seeing the sick ; |and afterwards confessed, that lie had learned more irom expe-rience than from all the books he had read. He was now in his1 t>th vear, and already was celebrated for being the light of hisage. "lie resolved tat this age to resume his philosophical studies,which medicine had made him neglect ; and he spent a year anda half without oversleeping a whole night together. If he felt him-self oppressed by sleep, or exhausted by study, a glass of wine re-freshed his wasted spirits, and gave him new vigour. At the ageof 21, he conceived the bold design of incorporating, in one work,all the objects of human knowledge: and carried it into executionin an Encyclopaedia of 20 volumes, to which lie gave the title ofthe Utility of Utilitiesan immense labour for one man at sucha period, lie died at Hamadan , aged 58, A. D. 1036, and inthe year of the Hegira 42S. The reputation of Avicenna , after hisdeath, was so great, that till the 12th century he was preferred forphilosophy and medicine to all his predecessor's. His works werethe only writings in vogue, even in Europe . The following aretheir titles: 1. Of the Utility and Advantage of Science, XXbooks. 2. Of Innocence and Criminality , Ilbooks. 3. Of Healthand Remedies, XVIII books. 4. On"the Means of preservingHealth, III books. 5. Canons of Physic , XIV books. C. OnAstronomical Observations, I book. 7. On Mathematical Sci-ences. 8. Of Theorems, or Mathematical and Theological De-monstrations, I book. 9. On the Arabic Language , and its Pro-prieties, X books. 10. On the Last Judgment. 11. On the Ori-gin of the Soul, and the Resurrection of Bodies. 12. Of the lendwe should propose to ourselves in Harangues and PhilosophicalArgumentations. 13. Demonstration of collateral Lines in theSphere. 14. Abridgment of Euclid. 15. On Finity andlnfinity.16. On Physics and Metaphysics. 17. On Animals and Vege-tables, fkc. 18. Encyclopaedia , 20 volumes. Some charge himwith having stolen wfiat he published from a celebrated physicianwho had been his master, and that his fame rests more on the num-ber than (iie quality of his writings.
AVfCENNIA, or AVICENIA, Eastern Anacardium,a genus of the angiospermia order, and didynaniia class oflauts; natural order, Per sonata:. Calyx quinqueparlite; corollailabiated, upper lip squared ; capsule leathery, romb-like, andmonosnermous; seed one. There are three species.
AVIGNON, a citv of France, in the department of Venaissin ,and seated on the banks of the Rhone , 20 miles S. of Orange.Lon. 4. 53. E. Lat. 43. 57. N. Also a territory of France .
AVIGNON Berry, the fruit of a species oflycium, whichgrows plentifully near Avignon and in other parts of Erancfe.
AVILA, a city of Spain in Old Castile. Lon. 4. 35. W, Lat.40. 40. N.
AY IO, a town of Germany in the bishopric of Trent, a little\Y. of the Adige . Lon. 28. 25. E. Lat. 45 40. N.
AVIS, a river of Portugal, in Alentejo . Also, a small town ofPortugal in Alentejo, 65 miles E. of Lisbon .
AVlS, Knights of, an order of knighthood in Portugal established about A. D. 1162.
AYES, Birds , the second class of animals, according to the Lin-na-an system. They have a body covered with feathers and down;two wings, formed for flight, and two feet. They are aereal, vo-cal, swift, and light, and destitute of external ears, lips, teeth, scro-tum, womb, bladder, epiglottis, corpus callosum and its arch, anddiaphragm. The orders are six, viz. 1. Accipites, or rapaciouskind; 2. Pica-, or pye kind; 3. Anseres, or duck kind ; 4.tGrallx,or crane kind; 5. Galling', or poultry kind ; 6. Passeres, or sparrowkind. See Ornithology .
AVITES, a'tribe of Samaritans , who came from Avah, in Chal-dea, an<l were settled by Sennacherib in Samaria . They worship-ped the idols Nibhaz and Tartak. II Kings, xvii. 24—31.
AUKLAND, Bishop’s, a town in the bishopric of Durham.It is a sanctuary for debtors. Lon. 0. 57. W. Lat. 54. 44. N.
AULA, Is used for a court baron, by Spelman ; by some oldecclesiastical writers, for the nave of a efiurch, and sometimes fora court-yard.
AULA REGIA, or REGIS, a court established by Williamthe Conqueror , in his own hall, composed of the king’s great of-ficers of state, w ho resided in his palace, and were usually'attend-ant on his person. 'Phis court was regulated by the article which
vol. 1,—no. 23.
forms the Uth chapter of Magna Charts , and established in West-minster Hail, where it hath ever since continued.
AULCESTER, a town of Warwickshire, 7 miles W. of Strat-ford upon Avon. I,on. 1. 52. W, Lat. 52. 16 . N.
ATJLD YYULIN, a district in the county of Sutherland.
AULEN, an imperial city of Geimany, in the circle of Suabia ,30 miles N. of Ulm.
AULIC, an act, in the Sorbnnne and foreign universities,,which a young divine maintains upon being admitted a doctor indivinity.
Acne, an epithet given to certain officers of the late German empire, who compose a court which decides, w ithout appeal , inall processes entered in it.
Aulic Council was composed of a president, who is a catho-lic ; of a vice-chancellor, presented by the archbishop of Mentz ;and of 18 counsellors, nine of whom are protestants, and nine ca-tholics. They were divided into a bench of lawyers, and alwaysfollow the emperor’s court; for which reason they are called justi-tium imperatoris, the emperor’s justice, and aulic council.
AU.MR, a Dutch measure for Rhenish wine, containing 49English gallons.
AUMONE, Tenure in, lands given to a church, or monas-tery.
AUNCEL Weight, an ancient kind of balance now out ofuse, being prohibited by several statutes, on account of the manydeceits practised by it. It consisted of scales hanging on hooks,fastened at each end of a beam, which a man lifted up on his hand.In many parts of England, auncel weight signiiies meat sold bythe hand, without scales.
Aunk, a long measure used in France to measure cloths, stuffs,ribbons, &c. At Rouen, it is equal, to one English ell; at Calais ,to 1,52 ; at Lyons, to 1,06) ; and at Paris, to 0,95.
AVOIDANCE, in the Canon law, is when a benefice becomesvoid of an incumbent: which happens either in fact, as by thedeatli of the person ; or in law-, as by cession, deprivation, resig-nation, &c. In the lirst of these cases, the patron must take no-tice of the avoidance at his peril; but in avoidance by law theordinary is obliged to give notice to the patron, in order to pre-vent a lapse.
AVOIRDUPOIS, [avoir du poids, Fr.] a weight used forweighing all the larger and coarser sorts of goods. - The avoirdu-pois ounce is to the Troy ounce as 700 to 76S, and the avoirdu-pois pound is to the pound Troy as 700 to 576. For the Table seeArithmetic.
AVON, [Anon, i. e. a river, Gael,] the name of four riversin England ; viz. 1.'rising in Leicestershire , and falling into theSevern at Tewksbury: 2. in Monmouthshire: 3. in Wiltshire :and 4. the Lower Avon, which rises near Tedbury in Wiltshire ,and falls into the Severn N. W. of Bristol . Avon is likewise thename of two rivers in Wales ; viz. 1. in Merionethshire; and 2.in Glamorganshire .
AVOWEE, [avoue, Fr.] he to whom the right of advowso*of any church belongs.
AURA, among physiologists, an airy exhalation or vapour.
Aura, in chemistry, a certain tine and pure spirit, found inevery animal or vegetable body ; but so subtle, as only to be per-ceptible by its smell and taste, or other effects, not found in anyother body.
AURACII, a town of Germany in the south part of SuabiaLon. 9. 22. E. Lat. 48. 25. N.
AURA'., in mythology, a name given by the Romans to thenymphs of the air. They are mostly to he found in the ancientpaintings of ceilings; where they are represented as light andairy.
AVRANCHES, an ancient city of France in the departmentof the Channel, 30 miles E. of St. Malo . Lon. 1. 20. VV. Lat.48. 51. N.
AURELIA, in natural history, the same with chrysalis. SeeChrysalis and Pupa .
AURELIANUS , Ccei.ius, or as some have called him, Lu-cius Ccelius Arianus, an ancient physician, and the only one of thesect of the Methodists of whom we have any remains, was of Sicca,a town of Numidia, in Africa. This we learn from the elderPliny . His style, much resembles that of the African writers.It is half Greek, half Latin,liarsh , and difficult; yet strong, mae4 X culinqh