AUTOCRACY(Gr.αὐτοκράτεια, absolute power), a term applied to that form of government which is absolute or irresponsible, and vested in one single person. It is a type of government usually found amongst eastern peoples; amongst more civilized nations the only example is that of Russia, where the sovereign assumes as a title "the autocrat of all the Russias."
AUTO-DA-FÉ,more correctlyAuto-de-fé(act of faith), the name of the ceremony during the course of which the sentences of the Spanish inquisition were read and executed. The auto-da-fe was almost identical with thesermo generalisof the medieval inquisition. It never took place on a feast day of the church, but on some famous anniversary: the accession of a Spanish monarch, his marriage, the birth of an infant, &c. It was public: the king, the royal family, the grand councils of the kingdom, the court and the people being present. The ceremony comprised a procession in which the members of the Holy Office, with its familiars and agents, the condemned persons and the penitents took part; a solemn mass; an oath of obedience to the inquisition, taken by the king and all the lay functionaries; a sermon by the Grand Inquisitor; and the reading of the sentences, either of condemnation or acquittal, delivered by the Holy Office. The handing over of impenitent persons, and those who had relapsed, to the secular power, and their punishment, did not usually take place on the occasion of an auto-da-fé, properly so called. Sometimes those who were condemned to the flames were burned on the night following the ceremony. The first great auto-da-fés were celebrated when Thomas de Torquemada, was at the head of the Spanish inquisition (Seville 1482, Toledo 1486, &c.). The last, subsequent to the time of Charles III., were held in secret; moreover, they dealt with only a very small number of sentences, of which hardly any were capital. The isolated cases of the torturing of a revolutionary priest in Mexico in 1816, and of a relapsed Jew and of a Quaker in Spain during 1826, cannot really be considered as auto-da-fés.
(P. A.)
AUTOGAMY(from Gr.αὐτός, self, andγαμία, marriage), a botanical term for self-fertilization. (SeeAngiosperms.)
AUTOGENY, AUTOGENOUS(Gr.αὐτογενής), spontaneous generation, self-produced. Haeckel distinguishedautogenyandplasmogeny, applying the former term when the formative fluid in which the first living matter was supposed to arise was inorganic and the latter when it was organic,i.e.contained the requisite fundamental substances dissolved in the form of complicated and fluid combinations of carbon. In "autogenous soldering" two pieces of metal are united by the melting of the opposing surfaces, without the use of a separate fusible alloy or solder as a cementing material.
AUTOGRAPHS. Autograph (Gr.αὐτός, self,γράφειν, to write) is a term applied by common usage either to a document signed by the person from whom it emanates, or to one written entirely by the hand of such person (which, however, is also more technically described asholograph, fromὅλος, entire,γράφειν, to write), or simply to an independent signature.
The existence of autographs must necessarily have been coeval with the invention of letters. Documents in the handwriting of their composers may possibly exist among the early papyri of Egypt and the clay tablets of Babylonia and Assyria, and among the early examples of writing in the East. But the oriental practice of employing professional scribes in writing the body of documents and of using seals for the purpose of "signing" (the "signum" originally meaning the impression of the seal) almost precludes the idea. When we are told (1 Kings xxi. 8) that Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, we are, of course, to understand that the letters were written by the professional scribes and that the impression of the king's seal was the authentication, equivalent to the signature of western nations; and again, when King Darius "signed" the writing and the decree (Dan. vi. 9), he did so with his seal. To find documents which we canrecognize with certainty to be autographs, we must descend to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian history, which are represented by an abundance of papyrus documents of all kinds, chiefly in Greek. Among them are not a few original letters and personal documents, in which we may see the handwriting of many lettered and unlettered individuals who lived during the 3rd centuryB.C.and in succeeding times, and which prove how very widespread was the practice of writing in those days. We owe it to the dry and even atmosphere of Egypt that these written documents have been preserved in such numbers. On the other hand, in Italy and Greece ancient writings have perished, save the few charred papyrus rolls and waxen tablets which have been recovered from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. These tablets, however, have a special value, for many of them contain autograph signatures of principals and witnesses to legal deeds to which they were attached, together with impressions of seals, in compliance with the Roman law which required the actual subscriptions, or attested marks, of the persons concerned.
But, when we now speak of autographs and autograph collections, we use such terms in a restricted sense and imply documents or signatures written by persons of some degree of eminence or notoriety in the various ranks and professions of life; and naturally the only early autographs in this sense which could be expected to survive are the subscriptions and signatures of royal personages and great officials attached to important public deeds, which from their nature have been more jealously cared for than mere private documents.
Following the Roman practice, subscriptions and signatures were required in legal documents in the early centuries of our era. Hence we find them in the few Latin deeds on papyrus which have come to light in Egypt; we find them on the well-known Dacian waxen tablets of the 2nd century; and we find them in the series of papyrus deeds from Ravenna and other places in Italy between the 5th and 10th centuries. The same practice obtained in the Frankish empire. The Merovingian kings, or at least those of them who knew how to write, subscribed their diplomas and great charters with their own hands; and their great officers of state, chancellors and others, countersigned in autograph. The unlettered Merovingian kings made use of monograms composed of the letters of their names; and, curiously, the illiterate monogram was destined to supersede the literate subscriptions. For the monogram was adopted by Charlemagne and his successors as a recognized symbol of their subscription. It was theirsignum manuale, their sign manual. In courtly imitation of the royal practice, monograms and other marks were adopted by official personages, even though they could write. The notarial marks of modern times are a survival of the practice. By the illiterate other signs, besides the monogram, came to be employed, such as the cross, &c., as signs manual. The monogram was used by French monarchs from the reign of Charlemagne to that of Philip the Fair, who died in 1314. It is very doubtful, however, whether in any instance this sign manual was actually traced by the monarch's own hand. At the most, the earlier sovereigns appear to have drawn one or two strokes in their monograms, which, so far, may be called their autographs. But in the later period not even this was done; the monogram was entirely the work of the scribe. (SeeDiplomatic.)
The employment of marks or signs manual went out of general use after the 12th century, in the course of which the affixing or appending of seals became the common method of executing deeds. But, as education became more general and the practice of writing more widely diffused, the usage grew up in the course of the 14th century of signing the name-signature as well as of affixing the seal; and by the 15th century it had become established, and it remains to the present time. Thus thesignum manualehad disappeared, except among notaries; but the term survived, and by a natural process it was transferred to the signature. In the present day it is used to designate the "sign manual" or autograph signature of the sovereign.
The Anglo-Saxon kings of England did not sign their charters, their names being invariably written by the official scribes. After the Norman conquest, the sign manual, usually a cross, which sometimes accompanied the name of the sovereign, may in some instances be autograph; but no royal signature is to be found earlier than the reign of Richard II. Of the signatures of this king there are two examples, of the years 1386 and 1389, in the Public Record Office; and there is one, of 1397, in the British Museum. Of his father, the Black Prince, there is in the Record Office a motto-signature,De par Homont(high courage),Ich dene, subscribed to a writ of privy seal of 1370. The kings of the Lancastrian line were apparently ready writers. Of the handwriting of both Henry IV. and Henry V. there are specimens both in the Record Office and in the British Museum. But by their time writing had become an ordinary accomplishment.
Apart from the autographs of sovereigns, those of famous men of the early middle ages can hardly be said to exist, or, if they do exist, they are difficult to identify. For example, there is a charter at Canterbury bearing the statement that it was written by Dunstan; but, as there is a duplicate in the British Museum with the same statement, it is probable that both the one and the other are copies. The autograph MSS. of the chronicles of Ordericus Vitalis, of Robert de Monte, and of Sigebert of Gembloux are in existence; and among the Cottonian MSS. there are undoubtedly autograph writings of Matthew of Paris, the English chronicler of Henry III.'s reign. There are certain documents in the British Museum in the hand of William of Wykeham; and among French archives there are autograph writings of the historian Joinville. These are a few instances. When we come to such a collection as the famous Paston Letters, the correspondence of the Norfolk family of Paston of the 15th century, we find therein numerous autographs of historical personages of the time.
From the 16th century onward, we enter the period of modern history, and autograph documents of all kinds become plentiful. And yet in the midst of this plenty, by a perverse fate, there is in certain instances a remarkable dearth. The instance of Shakespeare is the most famous. But for three signatures to the three sheets of his will, and two signatures to the conveyances of property in Blackfriars, we should be without a vestige of his handwriting. For certain other signatures, professing to be his, inscribed in books, may be dismissed as imitations. Such forgeries come up from time to time, as might be expected, and are placed upon the market. The Shakespearean forgeries, however, of W. H. Ireland were perpetrated rather with a literary intent than as an autographic venture.
Had autograph collecting been the fashion in Shakespeare's days, we should not have had to deplore the loss of his and of other great writers' autographs. But the taste had not then come into vogue, at least not in England. The series of autograph documents which were gathered in such a library as that of Sir Robert Cotton, now in the British Museum, found their way thither on account of their literary or historic interest, and not merely as specimens of the handwriting of distinguished men. Such a series also as that formed by Philippe de Béthune, Comte de Selles et Charost, and his son, in the reign of Louis XIV., consisting for the most part of original letters and papers, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, might have been regarded as the result of autograph collecting did we not know that it was brought together for historical purposes. It was in Germany and the Low Countries that the practice appears to have originated, chiefly among students and other members of the universities, of collecting autograph inscriptions and signatures of one's friends in albums,alba amicorum, little oblong pocket volumes of which a considerable number have survived, a very fair collection being in the British Museum. The earliest album in the latter series is the Egerton MS. 1178, beginning with an entry of the year 1554. Once the taste was established, the collecting of autographs of living persons was naturally extended to those of former times; and many collections, famous in their day, have been formed, but in most instances only to be dispersed again as the owners tired of their fancy or as their heirs failed to inherit their tastes along with theirpossessions. The most celebrated collection formed in England in recent years is that of the late Mr Alfred Morrison, which still remains intact, and which is well known by means of the sumptuous catalogue, with its many facsimiles, compiled by the owner.
The rivalry of collectors and the high prices which rare or favourite autographs realize have naturally given encouragement to the forger. False letters of popular heroes and of popular authors, of Nelson, of Burns, of Thackeray, and of others, appear from time to time in the market: in some instances clever imitations, but more generally too palpably spurious to deceive any one with experience. Like the Shakespearean forgeries of Ireland, referred to above, the forgeries of Chatterton were literary inventions; and both were poor performances. One of the cleverest frauds of this nature in modern times was the fabrication, in the middle of the 19th century, of a series of letters of Byron and Shelley, with postmarks and seals complete, which were even published asbona fidedocuments (Brit. Mus., Add. MS. 19,377).
There are many published collections of facsimiles of autographs of different nations. Among those published in England the following may be named:—British Autography, by J. Thane (1788-1793, with supplement by Daniell, 1854);Autographs of Royal, Noble, Learned and Remarkable Personages in English History, by J. G. Nichols (1829);Facsimiles of Original Documents of Eminent Literary Characters, by C. J. Smith (1852);Autographs of the Kings and Queens and Eminent Men of Great Britain, by J. Netherclift (1835);One Hundred Characteristic Autograph Letters, by J. Netherclift and Son (1849);The Autograph Miscellany, by F. Netherclift (1855);The Autograph Souvenir, by F. G. Netherclift and R. Sims (1865);The Autographic Mirror(1864-1866);The Handbook of Autographs, by F. G. Netherclift (1862);The Autograph Album, by L. B. Phillips (1866);Facsimiles of Autographs(British Museum publication), five series (1896-1900). Facsimiles of autographs also appear in the official publications,Facsimiles of National MSS., from William the Conqueror to Queen Anne(Master of the Rolls), 1865-1868;Facsimiles of National MSS. of Scotland(Lord Clerk Register), 1867-1871; andFacsimiles of National MSS. of Ireland(Public Record Office, Ireland), 1874-1884.
(E. M. T.)
AUTOLYCUS,in Greek mythology, the son of Hermes and father of Anticleia, mother of Odysseus. He lived at the foot of Mount Parnassus, and was famous as a thief and swindler. On one occasion he met his match. Sisyphus, who had lost some cattle, suspected Autolycus of being the thief, but was unable to bring it home to him, since he possessed the power of changing everything that was touched by his hands. Sisyphus accordingly burnt his name into the hoofs of his cattle, and, during a visit to Autolycus, recognized his property. It is said that on this occasion Sisyphus seduced Autolycus's daughter Anticleia, and that Odysseus was really the son of Sisyphus, not of Laertes, whom Anticleia afterwards married. The object of the story is to establish the close connexion between Hermes, the god of theft and cunning, and the three persons—Sisyphus, Odysseus, Autolycus—who are the incarnate representations of these practices. Autolycus is also said to have instructed Heracles in the art of wrestling, and to have taken part in the Argonautic expedition.
Iliad, x. 267;Odyssey, xix. 395; Ovid,Metam.xi. 313; Apollodorus i. 9; Hyginus,Fab.201.
AUTOLYCUS OF PITANE,Greek mathematician and astronomer, probably flourished in the second half of the 4th centuryB.C., since he is said to have instructed Arcesilaus. His extant works consist of two treatises; the one,Περὶ κινουμένης σφαίρας, contains some simple propositions on the motion of the sphere, the other,Περὶ ἐπιτολῶν καὶ δύσεων, in two books, discusses the rising and setting of the fixed stars. The former treatise is historically interesting for the light it throws on the development which the geometry of the sphere had already reached even before Autolycus and Euclid (seeTheodosius of Tripolis).
There are several Latin versions of Autolycus, a French translation by Forcadel (1572), and an admirable edition of the Greek text with Latin translation by F. Hultsch (Leipzig, 1885).
AUTOMATIC WRITING,the name given by students of psychical research to writing performed without the volition of the agent. The writing may also take place without any consciousness of the words written; but some automatists are aware of the word which they are actually writing, and perhaps of two or three words on either side, though there is rarely any clear perception of the meaning of the whole. Automatic writing may take place when the agent is in a state of trance, spontaneous or induced, in hystero-epilepsy or other morbid states; or in a condition not distinguishable from normal wakefulness. Automatic writing has played an important part in the history of modern spiritualism. The phenomenon first appeared on a large scale in the early days (c.1850-1860) of the movement in America. Numerous writings are reported at that period, many of considerable length, which purported for the most part to have been produced under spirit guidance. Some of these were written in "unknown tongues." Of those which were published the most notable are Andrew J. Davis'sGreat Harmonia, Charles Linton'sThe Healing of the Nations, and J. Murray Spear'sMessages from the Spirit Life.
In England also the early spiritualist newspapers were filled with "inspirational" writing,—Pages of Ike Paraclete, &c. The most notable series of English automatic writings are theSpirit Teachingsof the Rev. W. Stainton Moses. The phenomenon, of course, lends itself to deception, but there seems no reason to doubt that in the great majority of the cases recorded the writing was in reality produced without deliberate volition. In the earlier years of the spiritualist movement, a "planchette," a little heart-shaped board running on wheels, was employed to facilitate the process of writing.
Of late years, whilst the theory of external inspiration as the cause of the phenomenon has been generally discredited, automatic writing has been largely employed as a method of experimentally investigating subconscious mental processes. Knowledge which had lapsed from the primary consciousness is frequently revealed by this means;e.g.forgotten fragments of poetry or foreign languages are occasionally given. An experimental parallel to this reproduction of forgotten knowledge was devised by Edmund Gurney. He showed that information communicated to a subject in the hypnotic trance could be subsequently reproduced through the handwriting, whilst the attention of the subject was fully employed in conversing or reading aloud; or an arithmetical problem which had been set during the trance could be worked out under similar conditions without the apparent consciousness of the subject.
Automatic writing for the most part, no doubt, brings to the surface only the debris of lapsed memories and half-formed impressions which have never reached the focus of consciousness—the stuff that dreams are made of. But there are indications in some cases of something more than this. In some spontaneous instances the writing produces anagrams, puns, nonsense verses and occasional blasphemies or obscenities; and otherwise exhibits characteristics markedly divergent from those of the normal consciousness. In the well-known case recorded by Th. Flournoy (Des Indes à la planète Mars) the automatist produced writing in an unknown character, which purported to be the Martian language. The writing generally resembles the ordinary handwriting of the agent, but there are sometimes marked differences, and the same automatist may employ two or three distinct handwritings. Occasionally imitations are produced of the handwriting of other persons, living or dead. Not infrequently the writing is reversed, so that it can be read only in a looking-glass (Spiegelschrift); the ability to produce such writing is often associated with the liability to spontaneous somnambulism. The hand and arm are often insensible in the act of writing. There are some cases on record in which the automatist has seemed to guide his hand not by sight, but by some special extension of the muscular sense (Carpenter,Mental Physiology, § 128; W. James,Proceedings American S.P.R. p. 554).
Automatic writing frequently exhibits indications of telepathy. The most remarkable series of automatic writings recorded in this connexion are those executed by the American medium, Mrs Piper, in a state of trance (Proceedings S.P.R.). These writings appear to exhibit remarkable telepathic powers, and are thought by some to indicate communication with the spirits of the dead.
The opportunities afforded by automatic writing for communicating with subconscious strata of the personality have been made use of by Pierre Janet and others in cases of hystero-epilepsy, and other forms of dissociation of consciousness. A patient in an attack of hysterical convulsions, to whom oral appeals are made in vain, can sometimes be induced to answer in writing questions addressed to the hand, and thus to reveal the secret of the malady or to accept therapeutic suggestions.
See Edmonds and Dexter,Spiritualism(New York, 1853); Epes Sargent,Planchette, the Despair of Science(Boston, U.S.A., 1869); Mrs de Morgan,From Matter to Spirit(London, 1863); W. Stainton Moses,Spirit Teachings(London, 1883);Proceedings S.P R. passim; Th. Flournoy,Des Indes à la planète Mars(Geneva, 1900); F. Podmore,Modern Spiritualism(London, 1902); F. W. H. Myers,Human Personality(London, 1903); Pierre Janet,L'Automatisme psychologique(2nd ed., Paris, 1894); Morton Prince,The Dissociation of a Personality(London, 1906).
(F. P.)
AUTOMATISM. In philosophical terminology this word is used in two main senses: (1) in ethics, for the view that man is not responsible for his actions, which have, therefore, no moral value; (2) in psychology, for all actions which are not the result of conation or conscious endeavour. Certain actions being admittedly automatic, Descartes maintained that, in regard of the lower animals, all action is purely mechanical. The same theory has since been applied to man, with this difference that, accompanying the mechanical phenomena of action, and entirely disconnected with it, are the phenomena of consciousness. Thus certain physical changes in the brain result in a given action; the concomitant mental desire or volition is in no sense causally connected with, or prior to, the physical change. This theory, which has been maintained by T. Huxley (Science and Culture) and Shadworth Hodgson (Metaphysic of Experience and Theory of Practice), must be distinguished from that of the psychophysical parallelism, or the "double aspect theory" according to which both the mental state and the physical phenomena result from a so-called "mind stuff," or single substance, the material or cause of both.
Automatic acts are of two main kinds. Where the action goes on while the attention is focused on entirely different subjects (e.g.in cycling), it is purely automatic. On the other hand, if the attention is fixed on the end or on any particular part of a given action, and the other component parts of the action are performed unconsciously, the automatism may be called relative.
See G. F. Stout,Anal. Psych, i. 258 foll.; Win. James,Princ. of Psych.i. chap. 5; also the articlesPsychology,Suggestion, &c.
Sensory Automatismis the term given by students of psychical research to a centrally initiated hallucination. Such hallucinations are commonly provoked by crystal-gazing (q.v.), but auditory hallucinations may be caused by the use of a shell (shell-hearing), and the other senses are occasionally affected.
Motor Automatism, on the other hand, is a non-reflex movement of a voluntary muscle, executed in the waking state but not controlled by the ordinary waking consciousness. Phenomena of this kind play a large part in primitive ceremonies of divination (q.v.) and in our own day furnish much of the material of Psychical Research. At the lowest level we have vague movements of large groups of muscles, as in "bier-divination," where the murderer or his residence is inferred from the actions of the bearers; of a similar character but combined with more specialized action are many kinds of witch seeking. These more specialized actions are most typically seen in the Divining Rod (q.v.; see alsoTable-Turning), which indicates the presence of water and is used among the uncivilized to trace criminals. At a higher stage still we have the delicate movements necessary for Automatic Writing (q.v.) or Drawing. A parallel case to Automatic Writing is the action of the speech centres, resulting in the production of all kinds of utterances from trance speeches in the ordinary language of the speaker to mere unintelligible babblings. An interesting form of speech automatism is known as Glossolalia; in the typical case of Helène Smith, Th. Flournoy has shown that these utterances may reach a higher plane and form a real language, which is, however, based on one already known to the speaker.
SeeMan(1904), No. 68;Folklore, xiii. 134; Myers inProc. S.P.R.ix. 26, xii. 277, xv. 403; Flournoy,Des Indes à la planète Marsand inArch. de Psychologie; Myers,Human Personality.
(N. W. T.)
AUTOMATON(fromαὐτός, self, andμάω, to seize), a self-moving machine, or one in which the principle of motion is contained within the mechanism itself. According to this description, clocks, watches and all machines of a similar kind, are automata, but the word is generally applied to contrivances which simulate for a time the motions of animal life. If the human figure and actions be represented, the automaton has sometimes been called specially anandroides. We have very early notices of the construction of automata,e.g.the tripods of Vulcan, and the moving figures of Daedalus. In 400B.C., Archytas of Tarentum is said to have made a wooden pigeon that could fly, and during the middle ages numerous instances of the construction of automata are recorded. Regiomontanus is said to have made of iron a fly, which would flutter round the room and return to his hand, and also an eagle, which flew before the emperor Maximilian when he was entering Nuremberg. Roger Bacon is said to have forged a brazen head which spoke, and Albertus Magnus to have had an androides, which acted as doorkeeper, and was broken to pieces by Aquinas. Of these, as of some later instances,e.g.the figure constructed by Descartes and the automata exhibited by Dr Camus, not much is accurately known. But in the 18th century, Jacques de Vaucanson, the celebrated mechanician, exhibited three admirable figures,—the flute-player, the tambourine-player, and the duck, which was capable of eating, drinking, and imitating exactly the natural voice of that fowl. The means by which these results had been produced were clearly seen, and a great impulse was given to the construction of similar figures. Knauss exhibited at Vienna an automaton which wrote; a father and son named Droz constructed several ingenious mechanical figures which wrote and played music; Frederick Kaufmann and Leonard Maelzel made automatic trumpeters who could play several marches. The Swiss have always been celebrated for their mechanical ingenuity, and they construct most of the curious toys, such as flying and singing birds, which are frequently met with in industrial exhibitions. The greatest difficulty has generally been experienced in devising any mechanism which shall successfully simulate the human voice (not to be compared with the gramophone, which reproduces mechanically a real voice). No attempt has been thoroughly successful, though many have been made. A figure exhibited by Fabermann of Vienna remains the best. Kempelen's famous chess-player for many years astonished and puzzled Europe. This figure, however, was no true automaton, although the mechanical contrivances for concealing the real performer and giving effect to his desired movements were exceedingly ingenious. J. N. Maskelyne, in more recent times (1875-1880), has been prominent in exhibiting his automata, Psycho (who played cards) and Zoe (who drew pictures), at the Egyptian Hall, London, but the secret of these contrivances was well kept. (SeeConjuring.)
AUTOMORPHISM(from Gr.αὐτός, self, andμορφή, form), the conception and interpretation of other people's habits and ideas on the analogy of one's own.
AUTONOMY(Gr.αὐτός, self, andνόμος, law), in general, freedom from external restraint, self-government. The term is usually coupled with a qualifying adjective. Thus, political autonomy is self-government in its widest sense, independence of all control from without. Local autonomy is a freedom of self-government within a sphere marked out by some superior authority;e.g.municipal corporations in England have their administrative powers marked out for them by acts of parliament, and in so far as they govern themselves within these limits exercise local autonomy. Administrative or constitutional autonomy, such as exists in the British colonies, implies an extent of self-government which falls short only of complete independence. The term is used loosely even in the case ofe.g.religious bodies, individual churches and other communitieswhich enjoy a measure of self-government in certain specified respects.
In philosophy, the term (with its antithesis "heteronomy") was applied by Kant to that aspect of the rational will in which,quarational, it is a law to itself, independently alike of any external authority, of the results of experience and of the impulses of pleasure and pain. In the sphere of morals, the ultimate and only authority which the mind can recognize is the law which emerges from the pure moral consciousness. This is the only sense in which moral freedom can be understood. (SeeEthics;Kant.) Though the term "autonomy" in its fullest sense implies entire freedom from causal necessity, it can also be used even in determinist theories for relative independence of particular conditions, theological or conventional.
AUTOPSY(Gr.αὐτός, self, andὄψις, sight, investigation), a personal examination, specifically apost-mortem("after death") examination of a dead body, to ascertain the cause of death, &c. The term "necropsy" (Gr.νεκρός, corpse) is sometimes used in this sense. (SeeCoronerandMedical Jurisprudence.)
AUTRAN, JOSEPH(1813-1877), French poet, was born at Marseilles on the 20th of June 1813. In 1832 he addressed an ode to Lamartine, who was then at Marseilles on his way to the East. The elder poet persuaded the young man's father to allow him to follow his poetic bent, and Autran remained from that time a faithful disciple of Lamartine. His best known work isLa Mer(1835), remodelled in 1852 asLes Poèmes de la mer. Ludibria ventis(1838) followed, and the success of these two volumes gained for Autran the librarianship of his native town. His other most important work is hisVie rurale(1856), a series of pictures of peasant life. The Algerian campaigns inspired him with verses in honour of the common soldier.Milianah(1842) describes the heroic defence of that town, and in the same vein is hisLaboureurs et soldats(1854). Among his other works are theParoles de Salomon(1868),Épîtres rustiques(1861),Sonnets capricieux, and a tragedy played with great success at the Odéon in 1848,La Fille d'Eschyle. A definitive edition of his works was brought out between 1875 and 1881. He became a member of the French Academy in 1868, and died at Marseilles on the 6th of March 1877.
AUTUN,a town of east-central France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Saône-et-Loire, 62 m. S.W. of Dijon on the Paris-Lyon railway to Nevers. Pop. (1906) 11,927. Autun is pleasantly situated on the slope of a hill at the foot of which runs the Arroux. Its former greatness is attested by many Roman remains, the chief of which are two well-preserved stone gateways, the Porte d' Arroux and the Porte St André, both pierced with four archways and surmounted by arcades. There are also remains of the old ramparts and aqueducts, of a square tower called the Temple of Janus, of a theatre and of an amphitheatre. A pyramid in the neighbouring village of Couhard was probably a sepulchral monument. The chapel of St Nicolas (12th century) contains many of the remains discovered at Autun. The cathedral of St Lazare, once the chapel attached to the residence of the dukes of Burgundy, is in the highest part of the town. It belongs mainly to the 12th century, but the Gothic central tower and the chapels were added in the 15th century by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, born at Autun. The chief artistic features of the church are the group of the Last Judgment sculptured on the tympanum above the west door, and the painting by Ingres representing the martyrdom of St Symphorien, which took place at Autun in 179. In the cathedral square stands the fountain of St Lazare, a work of the Renaissance. The hôtel Rolin, a house of the 15th century, contains the collections of the "Aeduan literary and scientific society." The hôtel de ville, containing a museum of paintings, the law-court and the theatre are modern buildings. Autun is the seat of a bishopric, of tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and has an ecclesiastical seminary, a communal college and a cavalry school. Among the industries of the town are the extraction of oil from the bituminous schist obtained in the neighbourhood, leather manufacture, metal-founding, marble-working, and the manufacture of machinery and furniture. Autun is the commercial centre for a large part of the Morvan, and has considerable trade in timber and cattle.
Autun (Augustodunum) succeeded Bibracte as capital of the Aedui when Gaul was reorganized by Augustus. Under the Romans, it was a flourishing town, covering double its present extent and renowned for its schools of rhetoric. In the succeeding centuries its prosperity drew upon it the attacks of the barbarians, the Saracens and the Normans. The counts of Autun in 880 became dukes of Burgundy, and the town was the residence of the latter till 1276. It was ravaged by the English in 1379, and, in 1591, owing to its support of the League, had to sustain a siege conducted by Marshal Jean d'Aumont, general of Henry IV.
See H. de Fontenay,Autun et ses monuments(Autun, 1889).
AUTUNITE,orCalco-uranite, a mineral which is one of the "uranium micas," differing from the more commonly occurring torbernite (q.v.) or cupro-uranite in containing calcium in place of copper. It is a hydrous uranium and calcium phosphate, Ca(UO2)2(PO4)2+ 8(or 12)H2O. Though closely resembling the tetragonal torbernite in form, it crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and is optically biaxial. The crystals have the shape of thin plates with very nearly square outline (89° 17′ instead of 90°). An important character is the perfect micaceous cleavage parallel to the basal plane, on which plane the lustre is pearly. The colour is sulphur-yellow, and this enables the mineral to be distinguished at a glance from the emerald-green torbernite. Hardness 2-2½; specific gravity 3.05-3.19. Autunite is usually found with pitchblende and other uranium minerals, or with ores of silver, tin and iron; it sometimes coats joint-planes in gneiss and pegmatite. Falkenstein in Saxony, St Symphorien near Autun (hence the name of the species), and St Day in Cornwall are well-known localities for this mineral.
(L. J. S.)
AUVERGNE,formerly a province of France, corresponding to the departments of Cantal and Puy-de-Dôme, with the arrondissement of Brioude in Haute-Loire. It contains many mountains volcanic in origin (Plomb du Cantal, Puy de Dôme, Mont Dore), fertile valleys such as that of Limagne, vast pasture-lands, and numerous medicinal springs. Up to the present day the population retains strongly-marked Celtic characteristics. In the time of Caesar theArverniwere a powerful confederation, the Arvernian Vercingetorix being the most famous of the Gallic chieftains who fought against the Romans. Under the empireArverniaformed part ofPrima Aquitania, and the district shared in the fortunes of Aquitaine during the Merovingian and Carolingian periods. Auvergne was the seat of a separate countship before the end of the 8th century; the first hereditary count was William the Pious (886). By the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry Plantagenet, the countship passed under the suzerainty of the kings of England, but at the same time it was divided, William VII., called the Young (1145-1168), having been despoiled of a portion of his domain by his uncle William VIII., called the Old, who was supported by Henry II. of England, so that he only retained the region bounded by the Allier and the Coux. It is this district that from the end of the 13th century was called theDauphiné d'Auvergne. This family quarrel occasioned the intervention of Philip Augustus, king of France, who succeeded in possessing himself of a large part of the country, which was annexed to the royal domains under the name ofTerre d'Auvergne. As the price of his concurrence with the king in this matter, the bishop of Clermont, Robert I. (1195-1227), was granted the lordship of the town of Clermont, which subsequently became a countship. Such was the origin of the four great historic lordships of Auvergne. TheTerre d'Auvergnewas first an appanage of Count Alphonse of Poitiers (1241-1271), and in 1360 was erected into a duchy in the peerage of France (duché-pairie) by King John II. in favour of his son John, through whose daughter the new title passed in 1416 to the house of Bourbon. The last duke, the celebrated constable Charles of Bourbon, united the domains of theDauphinéto those of theduchy, but all were confiscated by the crown in consequence of the sentence which punished the constable's treason in 1527. The countship, however, had passed in 1422 to the house of La Tour, and was not annexed to the domain until 1615. The administration of the royal province of Auvergne was organized under Louis XIV. At the time of the revolution it formed what was called a "government," with two divisions: Upper Auvergne (Aurillac), and Lower Auvergne (Clermont).
Bibliography.—Baluze,Histoire généalogique de la maison d'Auvergne(1708); André Imberdis,Histoire générale de l'Auvergne(1867); J. B. M. Bielawski,Histoire de la comté d'Auvergne et de sa capitale Vic-le-Comte(1868); B. Gonot,Catalogue des ouvrages imprimés et manuscrits concernant l'Auvergne(1849). See further Chevalier,Répertoire des sources hist., Topobibliographie, s.v.
AUXANOMETER(Gr.αὐξάνειν, to increase,μέτρον, measure), an apparatus for measuring increase or rate of growth in plants.
AUXENTIUS(fl.c.370), of Cappadocia, an Arian theologian of some eminence (seeArius). When Constantine deposed the orthodox bishops who resisted, Auxentius was installed into the seat of Dionysius, bishop of Milan, and came to be regarded as the great opponent of the Nicene doctrine in the West. So prominent did he become, that he was specially mentioned by name in the condemnatory decree of the synod which Damasus, bishop of Rome, urged by Athanasius, convened in defence of the Nicene doctrine (A.D.369). When the orthodox emperor Valentinian ascended the throne, Auxentius was left undisturbed in his diocese, but his theological doctrines were publicly attacked by Hilary of Poitiers.
The chief source of information about him is theLiber contra Auxentiumin the Benedictine edition of the works of Hilary.
AUXERRE,a town of central France, capital of the department of Yonne, 38 m. S.S.E. of Sens on the Paris-Lyon railway, between Laroche and Nevers. Pop. (1906) 16,971. It is situated on the slopes and the summit of an eminence on the left bank of the Yonne, which is crossed by two bridges leading to suburbs on the right bank. The town is irregularly built and its streets are steep and narrow, but it is surrounded by wide tree-lined boulevards, which have replaced the ancient fortifications, and has some fine churches. That of St Étienne, formerly the cathedral, is a majestic Gothic building of the 13th to the 16th centuries. It is entered by three richly sculptured portals, over the middle and largest of which is a rose window; over the north portal rises a massive tower, but that which should surmount the south portal is unfinished. The lateral entrances are sheltered by tympana and arches profusely decorated with statuettes. The plan consists of a nave, with aisles and lateral chapels, transept and choir, with a deambulatory at a slightly lower level. Beneath the choir, which is a fine example of early Gothic architecture, extends a crypt of the 11th century with mural paintings of the 12th century. The church has some fine stained glass and many pictures and other works of art. The ancient episcopal palace, now used as prefecture, stands behind the cathedral; it preserves a Romanesque gallery of the 12th century. The church of St Eusèbe belongs to the 12th, 13th and 16th centuries. Of the abbey church of St Germain, built in the 13th and 14th centuries, most of the nave has disappeared, so that its imposing Romanesque tower stands apart from it; crypts of the 9th century contain the tombs of bishops of Auxerre. The abbey was once fortified and a high wall and cylindrical tower remain. The buildings (18th century) are partly occupied by a hospital and a training college. The church of St Pierre, in the Renaissance style of the 16th and 17th centuries, is conspicuous for the elaborate ornamentation of its west façade. The old law-court contains the museum, with a collection of antiquities and paintings, and a library. In the middle of the town is a gateway surmounted by a belfry, dating from the 15th century. Auxerre has statues of Marshal Davout, J. B. J. Fourier and Paul Bert, the two latter natives of the town. The town is the seat of a court of assizes and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and a branch of the Bank of France. A lycée for girls, a communal college and training colleges are among its educational establishments. Manufactures of ochre, of which there are quarries in the vicinity, and of iron goods are carried on. The canal of Nivernais reaches as far as Auxerre, which has a busy port and carries on boat-building. Trade is principally in the choice wine of the surrounding vineyards, and in timber and coal.
Auxerre (Autessiodurum) became the seat of a bishop and a civitas in the 3rd century. Under the Merovingian kings the abbey of St Germain, named after the 6th bishop, was founded, and in the 9th century its schools had made the town a seat of learning. The bishopric was suppressed in 1790.
The countship of Auxerre was granted by King Robert I. to his son-in-law Renaud, count of Nevers. It remained in the house of Nevers until 1184, when it passed by marriage to that of Courtenay. Other alliances transferred it successively to the families of Donzy, Châtillon, Bourbon and Burgundy. Alice of Burgundy, countess of Auxerre, married John of Châlons (d. 1309), and several counts of Auxerre belonging to the house of Châlons distinguished themselves in the wars against the English during the 14th century. John II., count of Auxerre, was killed at the battle of Crécy (1346), and his grandson, John IV., sold his countship to King Charles V. in 1370.
AUXILIARY(from Lat.auxilium, help), that which gives aid or support; the term is used in grammar of a verb which completes the tense, mood or voice of another verb; in engineering,e.g.of the low steam power used to supplement the sail-power in sailing ships, still occasionally used in yachts, sealers or whalers; and in military use, of foreign or allied troops, more properly of any troops not permanently maintained under arms. In the British army the term "Auxiliary Forces" was employed formerly to include the Militia, the Imperial Yeomanry and the Volunteers.
AUXIMUM(mod.Osimo), an ancient town in Picenum, situated on an isolated hill 8 m. from the Adriatic, on the road from Ancona to Nuceria. It was selected by the Romans as a fortress to protect their settlements in northern Picenum, and strongly fortified in 174B.C.The walls erected at that period, of large rectangular blocks of stone, still exist in great part. Auximum became a colony at latest in 157B.C.It often appears in the history of the civil wars, owing to its strong position. Pompey was its patron, and intended that Caesar should find resistance here in 49B.C.It appears to have been a place of some importance in imperial times, as inscriptions and the monuments of its forum (the present piazza) show. In the 6th century it is called by Procopius the chief town of Picenum, Ancona being spoken of as its harbour.
(T. As.)
AUXONNE,a town of eastern France, in the department of Côte d'Or, 19 m. E.S.E. of Dijon on the Paris-Lyon railway to Belfort. Pop. (1906) 2766 (town); 6307 (commune). Auxonne is a quiet town situated in a wide plain on the left bank of the Saône. It preserves remains of ramparts, a stronghold of the 16th century flanked by cylindrical towers, and a sculptured gateway of the 15th century. Vauban restored these works in the latter half of the 17th century, and built the arsenal now used as a market. The church of Notre-Dame dates from the 14th century. Of the two towers surmounting its triple porch only that to the south is finished. A lofty spire rises above a third tower over the crossing. The hôtel de ville (15th century) and some houses of the Renaissance period are also of architectural interest. A statue of Napoleon I. as a sub-lieutenant commemorates his sojourns in the town from 1788 to 1791. Auxonne has a tribunal of commerce and a communal college. Its industries are unimportant, but it has a large trade in the vegetables produced by the numerous market gardens in the vicinity.
Auxonne, the name of which is derived from its position on the Saône (ad Sonam), was in the middle ages chief place of a countship, which in the first half of the 13th century passed to the dukes of Burgundy. The town received a charter in 1229 and derived some importance from the mint which the dukes of Burgundy founded in it. It was invested by the allies in 1814, and surrendered to an Austrian force in the following year.
AVA,the ancient capital of the Burman empire, now a subdivision of the Sagaing district in the Sagaing division of Upper Burma. It is situated on the Irrawaddy on the oppositebank to Sagaing, with which it was amalgamated in 1889. Amarapura, another ancient capital, lies 5 m. to the north-east of Ava, and Mandalay, the present capital, 6 m. to the north. The classical name of Ava is Yadanapura, "the city of precious gems." It was founded by Thadomin Payā inA.D.1364 as successor to Pagan, and the religious buildings of Pagan were to a certain extent reproduced here, although on nothing like the same scale as regards either size or splendour. It remained the seat of government for about four centuries with a succession of thirty kings. In 1782 a new capital, Amarapura, was founded by Bodaw Payā, but was deserted again in favour of Ava by King Baggidaw in 1823. On his deposition by King Tharawaddi in 1837, the capital reverted to Amarapura; but finally in 1860 the last capital of Mandalay was occupied by King Mindōn. For picturesque beauty Ava is unequalled in Burma, but it is now more like a park than the site of an old capital. Traces of the great council chamber and various portions of the royal palace are still visible, but otherwise the secular buildings are completely destroyed; and most of the religious edifices are also dilapidated.
AVADĀNA,the name given to a type of Buddhist romance literature represented by a large number of Sanskrit (Nepalese) collections, of which the chief are the Avadānasataka (Century of Legends), and the Divyāvadāna (The Heavenly Legend). Though of later date than most of the canonical Buddhist books, they are held in veneration by the orthodox, and occupy much the same position with regard to Buddhism that the Purānas do towards Brahminism.
AVAHI,the native name of a Malagasy lemur (Avahis laniger) nearly allied to the indri (q.v.), and the smallest representative of the subfamilyIndrisinae, characterized by its woolly coat, and measuring about 28 in. in length, of which rather more than half is accounted for by the tail. Unlike the other members of the group, the avahi is nocturnal, and does not associate in small troops, but is met with either alone or in pairs. Very slow in its movements, it rarely descends to the ground, but, when it does, walks upright like the other members of the group. It is found throughout the forests which clothe the mountains on the east coast of Madagascar, and also in a limited district on the northwest coast, the specimens from the latter locality being of smaller size and rather different in colour. The eastern phase is generally rusty red above, with the inner sides of the limbs white; while the predominant hue in the western form is usually yellowish brown. (SeePrimates.)
(R. L.*)
AVALANCHE(adopted from a French dialectic form,avalance, descent), a mass of snow and ice mingled with earth and stones, which rushes down a mountain side, carrying everything before it, and producing a strong wind which uproots trees on each side of its course. Where the supply of snow exceeds the loss by evaporation the surplus descends the mountain sides, slowly in the form of glaciers, or suddenly in ice-falls or in avalanches. A mass of snow may accumulate upon a steep slope and become compacted into ice by pressure, or remain loosely aggregated. When the foundation gives way, owing to the loosening effect of spring rains or from any other cause, the whole mass slides downward. A very small cause will sometimes set a mass of overloaded snow in motion. Thunder or even a loud shout is said to produce this effect when the mass is just poised, and Swiss guides often enjoin absolute silence when crossing dangerous spots.
AVALLON,a town of central France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Yonne, 34 m. S.S.E. of Auxerre on a branch of the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) 5197. The town, with wide streets and picturesque promenades, is finely situated on a promontory, the base of which is washed on the south by the Cousin, on the east and west by small streams. Its chief building, the church of St Lazare, dates from the 12th century. The two western portals are adorned with sculpture in the ornate Romanesque style; the tower on the left of the façade was rebuilt in the 17th century. The Tour de L'Horloge, pierced by a gateway through which passes the Grande Rue, is a 15th century structure containing a museum on its second floor. Remains of the ancient fortifications, including seven of the flanking towers, are still to be seen. Avallon has a statue of Vauban, the military engineer. The public institutions include the subprefecture, a tribunal of first instance, and a communal college. The manufacture of biscuits and gingerbread, and of leather and farm implements is carried on, and there is considerable traffic in wood, wine, and the live-stock and agricultural produce of the surrounding country.
Avallon (Aballo) was in the middle ages the seat of a viscounty dependent on the duchy of Burgundy, and on the death of Charles the Bold passed under the royal authority.
AVALON(also writtenAvallon, Avollon, AvilionandAvelion), in Welsh mythology the kingdom of the dead, afterwards an earthly paradise in the western seas, and finally, in the Arthurian romances, the abode of heroes to which King Arthur was conveyed after his last battle. In Welsh the name is Ynys yr Afallon, usually interpreted "Isle of Apples," but possibly connected with the Celtic tradition of a king over the dead named Avalloc (in Welsh Afallach). If the traditional derivation is correct, the name is derived from the Welshafal, an apple, and, as no other large fruit was well known to the races of northern Europe, is probably intended to symbolize the feasting and enjoyments of elysium. Other forms of the name are Ynysvitrin and Ynysgutrin, "Isle of Glass"—which appear to be identical with Glasberg, the Teutonic kingdom of the dead. Perhaps owing to a confusion between Glasberg or Ynysvitrin and the Anglo-Saxon Glaestinga-burh, Glastonbury, the name "Isle of Avalon" was given to the low ridge in central Somersetshire which culminates in Glastonbury Tor, while Glastonbury itself came to be called Avalon. Attempts have also been made to identify Avalon with other places in England and Wales.
SeeStudies in the Arthurian Legend, by J. Rhys (Oxford, 1891); alsoArthur (King);Atlantis.
AVARAY,a French territorial title belonging to a family some of whose members have been conspicuous in history. The Béarnaise family named Bésiade moved into the province of Orléanais in the 17th century, and there acquired the estate of Avaray. In 1667 Théophile de Bésiade, marquis d'Avaray, obtained the office of grand bailiff of Orleans, which was held by several of his descendants after him. Claude Antoine de Bésiade, marquis d'Avaray, was deputy for the bailliage of Orleans in the states-general of 1789, and proposed aDeclaration of the Duties of Manas a pendant to theDeclaration of the Rights of Man; he subsequently became a lieutenant-general in 1814, a peer of France in 1815, and duc d'Avaray in 1818. Antoine Louis François, comte d'Avaray, son of the above, distinguished himself during the Revolution by his devotion to the comte de Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII., whose emigration he assisted. Having nominally become king in 1799, that prince created the estate of Ile-Jourdain a duchy, under the title of Avaray, in favour of the comte d'Avaray, whom he termed his "liberator."
(M. P.*)
AVARS,orAvari, an East Caucasian people, the most renowned of the Lesghian tribes, inhabiting central Daghestan (seeLesghians). They are the only Lesghian tribe who possess a written language, for which they make use of the Arabic characters. They are often confused with the Avars whose empire on the Danube was broken by Charlemagne; but Komarov asserts that they are of more recent origin as a tribe, their name being Lowland Turki for "vagrant" or "refugee."
AVATAR,a Sanskrit word meaning "descent," specially used in Hindu mythology (and so in English) to express the incarnation of a deity visiting the earth for any purpose. The ten Avatars of Vishnu are the most famous. The Hindus believe he has appeared (1) as a fish, (2) as a tortoise, (3) as a hog, (4) as a monster, half man half lion, to destroy the giant Iranian, (5) as a dwarf, (6) as Rāma, (7) again as Rāma for the purpose of killing the thousand-armed giant Cartasuciriargunan, (8) as Krishna, (9) as Buddha. They allege that the tenth Avatar has yet to occur and will be in the form of a white-winged horse (Kalki) who will destroy the earth.
AVEBURY, JOHN LUBBOCK,1st Baron(1834- ), English banker, politician and naturalist, was born in Londonon the 30th of April 1834, the son of Sir John William Lubbock, 3rd baronet, himself a highly distinguished man of science. John Lubbock was sent to Eton in 1845; but three years later was taken into his father's bank, and became a partner at twenty-two. In 1865 he succeeded to the baronetcy. His love of science kept pace with his increasing participation in public affairs. He served on commissions upon coinage and other financial questions; and at the same time acted as president of the Entomological Society and of the Anthropological Institute. Early in his career several banking reforms of great importance were due to his initiative, while such works asPrehistoric Times(1865) andThe Origin of Civilization(1870) were proceeding from his pen. In 1870, and again in 1874, he was elected a member of parliament for Maidstone. He lost the seat at the election of 1880; but was at once elected member for London University, of which he had been vice-chancellor since 1872. He carried numerous enactments in parliament, including the Bank Holidays Act 1871, and bills dealing with absconding debtors, shop hours regulations, public libraries, open spaces, and the preservation of ancient monuments, and he proved himself an indefatigable and influential member of the Unionist party. A prominent supporter of the Statistical Society, he took an active part in criticizing the encroachment of municipal trading and the increase of the municipal debt. He was elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers in 1879; in 1881 he was president of the British Association, and from 1881 to 1886 president of the Linnaean Society. He received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge (where he was Rede lecturer in 1886), Edinburgh, Dublin and Würzburg; and in 1878 was appointed a trustee of the British Museum. From 1888 to 1892 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce; from 1889 to 1890 vice-chairman and from 1890 to 1892 chairman of the London County Council. During the same period he served on royal commissions on education and on gold and silver. In 1890 he was appointed a privy councillor; and was chairman of the committee of design on the new coinage in 1891. In 1900 he was raised to the peerage, under the title of Baron Avebury, and he continued to play a leading part in public life, not only by the weight of his authority on many subjects, but by the readiness with which he lent his support to movements for the public benefit. Among other matters he was a prominent advocate of proportional representation. As an original author and a thoughtful popularizer of natural history and philosophy he had few rivals in his day, as is evidenced by the number of editions issued of many of his writings, among which the most widely-read have been:The Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects(1873),British Wild Flowers(1875),Ants, Bees and Wasps(1882),Flowers, Fruit and Leaves(1886),The Pleasures of Life(1887),The Senses, Instincts and Intelligence of Animals(1888),The Beauties of Nature(1892),The Use of Life(1894).
AVEBURY,a village in the Devizes parliamentary division of Wiltshire, England, on the river Kennet, 8 m. by road from Marlborough. The fine church of St James contains an early font with Norman carving, a rich Norman doorway, a painted reredos, and a beautiful old roodstone in good preservation. Avebury House is Elizabethan, with a curious stone dovecot. The village has encroached upon the remains of a huge stone circle (not quite circular), surrounded by a ditch and rampart of earth, and once approached by two avenues of monoliths. Within the larger circle were two smaller ones, placed not in the axis of the great one but on its north-eastern side, each of which consisted of a double concentric ring of stones; the centre being in one case a menhir or pillar, in the other a dolmen or tablestone resting on two uprights. Few traces remain, as the monoliths have been largely broken up for building purposes. The circle is the largest specimen of primitive stone monuments in Britain, measuring on the average 1200 ft. in diameter. The stones are all the native Sarsens which occur everywhere in the district, and show no evidence of having been hewn. Those still remaining vary in size from 5 to 20 ft. in height above ground, and from 3 to 12 ft. in breadth. As in the case of Stonehenge, the purpose for which the Avebury monument was erected has been the source of much difference of opinion among antiquaries, Dr Stukely (Stonehenge a Temple restored to the British Druids, 1740) regarding it as a Druidical temple, while Fergusson (Rude Stone Monuments, 1872) believed that it, as well as Silbury Hill, marks the site of the graves of those who fell in the last Arthurian battle at Badon Hill (A.D.520). The majority of antiquaries, however, see no reason for dissociating its chronological horizon from that of the numerous other analogous monuments found in Great Britain, many of which have been shown to be burial places of the Bronze Age. Excavations were carried out here in 1908, but without throwing any important new light on the monument.
There are many barrows on the neighbouring downs, besides traces of a double oval of monoliths on Hackpen hill, and the huge mound of Silbury Hill. Waden Hill, to the south, has been, like Badbury, identified with Badon Hill, which was the traditional scene of the twelfth and last great battle of King Arthur in 520. The Roman road from Winchester to Bath skirts the south side of Silbury Hill.
At the time of the Domesday Survey, the church of Avebury (Avreberie, Abury), with two hides attached, was held in chief by Rainbold, a priest, and was bestowed by Henry III. on the abbot and monks of Cirencester, who continued to hold it until the reign of Henry VIII. The manor of Avebury was granted in the reign of Henry I. to the Benedictine monks of St George of Boucherville in Normandy, and a cell from that abbey was subsequently established here. In consequence of the war with France in the reign of Edward III., this manor was annexed by the crown, and was conferred on the newly founded college of New College, Oxford, together with all the possessions, spiritual and temporal, of the priory.
AVEIA,an ancient town of the Vestini, on the Via Claudia Nova, 6 m. S.E. of Aquila, N.E. of the modern village of Fossa. Some remains of ancient buildings still exist, and the name Aveia still clings to the place. The identification was first made by V. M. Giovenazzi,Della Città di Aveia ne' Vestini(Rome, 1773). Paintings in the church of S. Maria ad Cryptas, of the 12th to 15th centuries, are important in the history of art. An inscription of astationariusof the 3rd century, sent here on special duty (no doubt for the suppression of brigandage), was found here in 1902 (A. von Domaszewski,Röm. Mitt., 1902, 330).
AVEIRO,a seaport, episcopal see, and the capital of an administrative district, formerly included in the province of Beira, Portugal; on the river Vouga, and the Lisbon-Oporto railway. Pop. (1900) 9979. Aveiro is built on the southern shore of a marshy lagoon, containing many small islands, and measuring about 15 m. from north to south, with an average breadth of about 1 m. The Barra Nova, an artificial canal about 33 ft. deep, was constructed between 1801 and 1808, and gives access to the Atlantic ocean. The local industries include the preparation of sea-salt, the catching and curing of fish, especially sardines and oysters, and the gathering of aquatic plants (moliço). There is also a brisk trade in wine, oil and fruit; while the Aveiro district contains copper and lead mines, besides much good pasture-land.
Aveiro is probably the Roman Talabriga. In the 16th century it was the birthplace of João Affonso, one of the first navigators to visit the fishing-grounds of Newfoundland; and it soon became famous for its fleet of more than sixty vessels, which sailed yearly to that country, and returned laden with dried codfish. During the same century the cathedral was built, and the city was made a duchy. The title "duke of Aveiro" became extinct when its last holder, Dom José Mascarenhas e Lancaster, was burned alive for high treason, in 1759. The administrative district of Aveiro coincides with the north-western part of the province of Beira; pop. (1900) 303,169; area, 1065 sq. m.
AVELLA(anc.Abella), a city of Campania, Italy, in the province of Avellino, 23 m. N.E. of Naples by rail. Pop. (1901) 4107. It is finely situated in fertile territory and its nuts (nuces Abellanae) and fruit were renowned in Roman days. About 2 m. to the north-east lies Avella Vecchia, the ancient Abella, regardedby the ancients as a Chalcidian colony. An important Oscan inscription relates to a treaty with Nola, regarding a joint temple of Hercules, attributable to the 2nd centuryB.C.Under the early empire it had already become a colony and had perhaps been one since the time of Sulla. It has remains of the walls of the citadel and of an amphitheatre, and lay on the road from Nola to Abellinum, which was here perhaps joined by a branch from Suessula.
See J. Beloch,Campanien(2nd ed., Breslau, 1890), 411 seq.
(T. As.)
AVELLINO,a city and episcopal see of Campania, Italy, the capital of the province of Avellino, 1150 ft. above sea-level, 28 m. direct and 59 m. by rail E.N.E. of Naples, at the foot of Monte Vergine. Pop. (1901) 23,760. There are ruins of the castle constructed in the 9th or 10th century, in which the antipope Anacletus II. crowned Count Roger II. king of Sicily and Apulia. Avellino is the junction of lines to Benevento and Rocchetta S. Antonio. The name is derived from the ancient Abellinum, the ruins of which lie 2½ m. north-east, close to the village of Atripalda, and consist of remains of city walls and an amphitheatre inopus reticulatum,i.e.of the early imperial period, when Abellinum appears to have been the chief place of a tribe, to which belonged also the independent communities of theAbellinates cognomine Protropiamong the Hirpini, and theAbellinates cognominati Marsiamong the Apulians (Nissen,Italische Landeskunde, ii. 822). It lay on the boundary of Campania and the territory of the Hirpini, at the junction of the roads from Nola (and perhaps also from Suessula) and Salernum to Beneventum.
The Monte Vergine (4165 ft.) lies 4 m. to the N.W. of Avellino; upon the summit is a sanctuary of the Virgin, founded in 1119, which contains a miraculous picture attributed to S. Luke (the greatest festival is on the 8th of September). The present church is baroque in style, but contains some works of art of earlier periods. The important archives have been transported to Naples.
(T. As.)
AVEMPACE[Abu Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥya, known as Ibn Bājja orIbn Ṣa‛igh,i.e.son of the goldsmith, the name being corrupted by the Latins into Avempace, Avenpace or Aben Pace], the earliest and one of the most distinguished of the Arab philosophers of Spain. Little is known of the details of his life. He was born probably at Saragossa towards the close of the 11th century. According to Ibn Khāqān, a contemporary writer, he became a student of the exact sciences and was also a musician and a poet. But he was a philosopher as well, and apparently a sceptic. He is said to have rejected the Koran, to have denied the return to God, and to have regarded death as the end of existence. But even in that orthodox age he became vizier to the amir of Murcia. Afterwards he went to Valencia, then to Saragossa. After the fall of Saragossa (1119) he went to Seville, then to Xativa, where he is said to have returned to Islam to save his life. Finally he retired to the Almoravid court at Fez, where he was poisoned in 1138. Ibn ‛Usaibi‛a gives a list of twenty-five of his works, but few of these remain. He had a distinct influence upon Averroes (seeArabian Philosophy).
For his life see McG. de Slane's trans. of Ibn Khallikān'sBiographical Dictionary(Paris and London, 1842), vol. iii. pp. 130 ff., and Ibn ‛Usaibi‛a's biography translated in P. de Gayangos' edition of theHistory of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain, by al-Maqqari (London, 1840), vol. ii., appendix, p. xii. List of extant works in C. Brockelmann'sGeschichte der arabischen Litteratur, vol. i. p. 460. For his philosophy cf. T. J. de Boer'sThe History of Philosophy in Islām(London, 1903), ch. vi.
(G. W. T.)
AVENARIUS, RICHARD HEINRICH LUDWIG(1843-1896), German philosopher, was born in Paris on the 19th of November 1843. His education, begun in Zürich and Berlin, was completed at the university of Leipzig, where he graduated in 1876. In 1877 he became professor of philosophy in Zürich, where he died on the 18th of August 1896. At Leipzig he was one of the founders of theAkademisch-philosophische Verein, and was the first editor of theVierteljahrsschrift für wissenschaftliche Philosophie. In 1868 he published an essay on the Pantheism of Spinoza. His chief works arePhilosophie als Denken der Welt gemäss dem Princip des kleinsten Kraftmasses(1876) and theKritik der reinen Erfahrung(1888-1890). In these works he made an attempt to co-ordinate thought and action. Like Mach, he started from the principle of economy of thinking, and in theKritikendeavoured to explain pure experience in relation to knowledge and environment. He discovers that statements dependent upon environment constitute pure experience. This philosophy, called Empirio-criticism, is not, however, a realistic but an idealistic dualism, nor can it be called materialism.
See Wundt,Philos. Stud.xiii. (1897); Carstanjen and Willy inZeitsch. f. wiss. Philos. xx. (1896), 361 ff.; xx. 57 ff.; xxii. 53 ff.; J. Petzoldt'sEinführung in d. Philos. d. reinen Erfahrung(1900).
AVENGER OF BLOOD,the person, usually the nearest kinsman of the murdered man, whose duty it was to avenge his death by killing the murderer. In primitive societies, before the evolution of settled government, or the uprise of a systematized criminal law, crimes of violence were regarded as injuries of a personal character to be punished by the sufferer or his kinsfolk. This right of vengeance was common to most countries, and in many was the subject of strict regulations and limitations. It was prevented from running into excesses by the law of sanctuary (q.v.) and in many lands the institution of blood-money, and the wergild offered the wrong-doer a mode of escaping from his enemies' revenge. The Mosaic law recognized the right of vengeance, but not the money-compensation. The Koran, on the contrary, while sanctioning the vengeance, also permits pecuniary commutation for murder.
AVENGERS,orVendicatori, a secret society formed about 1186 in Sicily to avenge popular wrongs. The society was finally suppressed by King William II., the Norman, who hanged the grand master and branded the members with hot irons.