See V. Bindi, Monumenti storici ed artistici degli Abruzzi (Naples, 1889); A. de Nino, Ulsi e costumi Abruzzesi (Florence, 1879-1883).
ABSALOM (Hebrew for ``father of [or is] peace''), in the Bible, the third son of David, king of Israel. He was deemed the handsomest man in the kingdom. His sister Tamar having been violated by David's eldest son Amnon, Absalom, after waiting two years, caused his servants to murder Amnon at a feast to which he had invited all the king's sons (2 Sam. xiii.). After this deed he fled to Talmai, ``king'' of Geshur (see Josh. xii. 5 or xiii. 2), his maternal grandfather, and it was not until five years later that he was fully reinstated in his father's favour (see JOAB.) Four years after this he raised a revolt at Hebron, the former capital. Absalom was now the eldest surviving son of David, and the present position of the narratives (xv.-xx.)—after the birth of Solomon and before the struggle between Solomon and Adonijah—-may represent the view that the suspicion that he was not the destined heir of his father's throne excited the impulsive youth to rebellion. All Israel and Judah flocked to his side, and David, attended only by the Cherethites and Pelethites and some recent recruits from Gath, found it expedient to flee. The priests remained behind in Jerusalem, and their sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz served as his spies. Absalom reached the capital and took counsel with the renowned Ahithophel. The pursuit was continued and David took refuge beyond the Jordan. A battle was fought in the ``wood of Ephraim'' (the name suggests a locality west of the Jordan) and Absalom's army was completely routed. He himself was caught in the boughs of an oak-tree, and as David had strictly charged his men to deal gently with the young man, Joab was informed. What a common soldier refused to do even for a thousand shekels of silver, the king's general at once undertook. Joab thrust three spears through the heart of Absalom as he struggled in the branches, and as though this were not enough, his ten armour-bearers came around and slew him. The king's overwhelming grief is well known. A great heap of stones was erected where he fell, whilst another monument near Jerusalem (not the modern ``Absalom's Tomb,'' which is of later origin) he himself had erected in his lifetime to perpetuate his name (2 Sam. xviii. 17 seq.). But the latter notice does not seem to agree with xiv. 27 (cf. 1 Kings xv. 2). On the narratives in 2 Sam. xiii.-xix., see further DAVID; SAMUEL, BOOKS OF.
ABSALON (c. 1128-1201), Danish archbishop and statesman, was born about 1128, the son of Asser Rig of Fjenneslev, at whose castle he and his brother Esbjorn were brought up along with the young prince Valdemar, afterwards Valdemar I. The Rigs were as pious and enlightened as they were rich. They founded the monastery of Soro as a civilizing centre, and after giving Absalon the rudiments of a sound education at home, which included not only book-lore but every manly and martial exercise, they sent him to the university of Paris. Absalon first appears in Saxo's Chronicle as a fellow-guest at Roskilde, at the banquet given, in 1157, by King Sweyn to his rivals Canute and Valdemar. Both Absalon and Valdemar narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of their treacherous host on this occasion, but at length escaped to Jutland, whither Sweyn followed them, but was defeated and slain at the battle of Grathe Heath. The same year (1158) which saw Valdemar ascend the Danish throne saw Absalon elected bishop of Roskilde. Henceforth Absalon was the chief counsellor of Valdemar, and the promoter of that imperial policy which, for three generations, was to give Denmark the dominion of the Baltic. Briefly, it was Absalon's intention to Clear the northern sea of the Wendish pirates, who inhabited that portion of the Baltic littoral which we now call Pomerania, and ravaged the Danish coasts so unmercifully that at the accession of Valdemar one-third of the realm of Denmark lay wasted and depopulated. The very existence of Denmark demanded the suppression and conversion of these stiff-necked pagan freebooters, and to this double task Absalon devoted the best part of his life. The first expedition against the Wends, conducted by Absalon in person, set out in 1160, but it was not till 1168 that the chief Wendish fortress, at Arkona in Rugen, containing the sanctuary of their god Svantovit, was surrendered, the Wends agreeing to accept Danish suzerainty and the Christian religion at the same time. From Arkona Absalon proceeded by sea to Garz, in south Rugen, the political capital of the Wends, and an all but impregnable stronghold. But the unexpected fall of Arkona had terrified the garrison, which surrendered unconditionally at the first appearance of the Danish ships. Absalon, with only Sweyn, bishop of Aarhus, and twelve ``house carls,'' thereupon disembarked, passed between a double row of Wendish warriors, 6000 strong, along the narrow path winding among the morasses, to the gates of the fortress, and, proceeding to the temple of the seven-headed god Rugievit, caused the idol to be hewn down, dragged forth and burnt. The whole population of Garz was then baptized, and Absalon laid the foundations of twelve churches in the isle of Rugen. The destruction of this chief sally-port of the Wendish pirates enabled Absalon considerably to reduce the Danish fleet. But he continued to keep a watchful eye over the Baltic, and in 1170 destroyed another pirate stronghold, farther eastward, at Dievenow on the isle of Wollin. Absalon's last military exploit was the annihilation, off Strela (Stralsund), on Whit-Sunday 1184, of a Pomeranian fleet which had attacked Denmark's vassal, Jaromir of Rugen. He was now but fifty-seven, but his strenuous life had aged him, and he was content to resign the command of fleets and armies to younger men, like Duke Valdemar, afterwards Valdemar II., and to confine himself to the administration of the empire which his genius had created. In this sphere Absalon proved himself equally great. The aim of his policy was to free Denmark from the German yoke. It was contrary to his advice and warnings that Valdemar I. rendered fealty to the emperor Frederick Barbarossa at Dole in 1162; and when, on the accession of Canute V. in 1182, an imperial ambassador arrived at Roskilde to receive the homage of the new king, Absalon resolutely withstood him. ``Return to the emperor,'' cried he, ``and tell him that the king of Denmark will in no wise show him obedience or do him homage.'' As the archpastor of Denmark Absalon also rendered his country inestimable services, building churches and monasteries, introducing the religious orders, founding schools and doing his utmost to promote civilization and enlightenment. It was he who held the first Danish Synod at Lund in 1167. In 1178 he became archbishop of Lund, but very unwillingly, only the threat of excommunication from the holy see finally inducing him to accept the pallium. Absalon died on the 21st of March 1201, at the family monastery of Soro, which he himself had richly embellished and endowed.
Absalon remains one of the most striking and picturesque figures of the Middle Ages, and was equally great as churchman, statesman and warrior. That he enjoyed warfare there can be no doubt; and his splendid physique and early training had well fitted him for martial exercises. He was the best rider in the army and the best swimmer in the fleet. Yet he was not like the ordinary fighting bishops of the Middle Ages, whose sole concession to their sacred calling was to avoid the ``shedding of blood'' by using a mace in battle instead of a sword. Absalon never neglected his ecclesiastical duties, and even his wars were of the nature of Crusades. Moreover, all his martial energy notwithstanding, his personality must have been singularly winning; for it is said of him that he left behind not a single enemy, all his opponents having long since been converted by him into friends.
See Saxo, Gesta Danorum, ed. Holder (Strassburg, 1886), books xvi.; Steinstrup, Danmark's Riges Historic. Oldtiden og den (eldre Middelalder, pp. 570-735 (Copenhagen, 1897-1905). (R. N. B.)
ABSCESS (from Lat. abscedere, to separate), in pathology, a collection of pus among the tissues of the body, the result of bacterial inflammation. Without the presence of septic organisms abscess does not occur. At any rate, every acute abscess contains septic germs, and these may have reached the inflamed area by direct infection, or may have been carried thither by the blood-stream. Previous to the formation of abscess something has occurred to lower the vitality of the affected tissue—- some gross injury, perchance, or it may be that the power of resistance against bacillary invasion was lowered by reason of constitutional weakness. As the result, then, of lowered vitality, a certain area becomes congested and effusion takes place into the tissues. This effusion coagulates and a hard, brawny mass is formed which softens towards the centre. If nothing is done the softened area increases in size, the skin over it becomes thinned, loses its vitality (mortifies) and a small ``slough'' is formed. When the slough gives way the pus escapes and, tension being relieved, pain ceases. A local necrosis or death of tissue takes place at that part of the inflammatory swelling farthest from the healthy circulation. When the attack of septic inflammation is very acute, death of the tissue occurs en masse, as in the core of a boil or carbuncle. Sometimes, however, no such mass of dead tissue is to be observed, and all that escapes when the skin is lanced or gives way is the creamy pus. In the latter case the tissue has broken down in a molecular form. After the escape of the core or slough along with a certain amount of pus, a space, the abscess-cavily', is left, the walls of which are lined with new vascular tissue which has itself escaped destruction. This lowly organized material is called granulation tissue, and exactly resembles the growth which covers the floor of an ulcer. These granulations eventually fill the contracting cavity and obliterate it by forming interstitial scar-tissue. This is called healing by second intention. Pus may accumulate in a normal cavity, such as a joint or bursa, or in the cranial, thoracic or abdominal cavity. In all these situations, if the diagnosis is clear, the principle of treatment is evacuation and drainage. When evacuating an abscess it is often advisable to scrape away the lining of unhealthy granulations and to wash out the cavity with an antiseptic lotion. If the after-drainage of the cavity is thorough the formation of pus ceases and the watery discharge from the abscess wall subsides. As the cavity contracts the discharge becomes less, until at last the drainage tube can be removed and the external wound allowed to heal. The large collections of pus which form in connexion with disease of the spinal column in the cervical, dorsal and lumbar regions are now treated by free evacuation of the tuberculous pus, with careful antiseptic measures. The opening should be in as dependent a position as possible in order that the drainage may be thorough. If tension recurs after opening has been made, as by the blocking of the tube, or by its imperfect position, or by its being too short, there is likely to be a fresh formation of pus, and without delay the whole procedure must be gone through again. (E. O.*)
ABSCISSA (from the Lat. abscissus, cut off), in the Cartesian system of co-ordinates, the distance of a point from the axis of y measured parallel to the horizontal axis (axis of x.) Thus PS (or OR) is the abscissa of P. The word appears for the first time in a Latin work written by Stefano degli Angeli (1623-1697), a professor of mathematics in Rome. (See GEOMETRY, sec. Analytical.)
ABSCISSION (from Lat. abscinidere), a tearing away, or cutting off; a term used sometimes in prosody for the elision of a vowel before another, and in surgery especially for abscission of the cornea, or the removal of that portion of the eyeball situated in front of the attachments of the recti muscles; in botany, the separation of spores by elimination of the connexion.
ABSCOND (Lat. abscondcre, to hide, put away), to depart in a secret manner; in law, to remove from the jurisdiction of the courts or so to conceal oneself as to avoid their jurisdiction. A person may ``abscond'' either for the purpose of avoiding arrest for a crime (see ARREST), or for a fraudulent purpose, such as the defrauding of his creditors (see BANKRUPTCY.)
ABSENCE (Lat. absentia), the fact of being ``away,'' either in body or mind; ``absence of mind'' being a condition in which the mind is withdrawn from what is passing. The special occasion roll-call at Eton College is called ``Absence,'' which the boys attend in their tall hats. A soldier must get permission or ``leave of absence' before he can be away from his regiment. Seven years' absence with no sign of life either by letter or message is held presumptive evidence of death in the law courts.
ABSENTEEISM, a term used primarily of landed proprietors who absent themselves from their estates, and live and spend their incomes elsewhere; in its more extended meaning it includes all those (in addition to landlords) who live out of a country or locality but derive their income from some source within it. Absenteeism is a question which has been much debated, and from both the economic and moral point of view there is little doubt that it has a prejudicial effect. To it has been attributed in a great measure the unprosperous condition of the rural districts of France before the Revolution, when it was unusual for the great nobles to live on their estates unless compelled to do so by a sentence involving their ``exile'' from Paris. It has also been an especial evil in Ireland, and many attempts were made to combat it. As early as 1727 a tax of four shillings in the pound was imposed on all persons holding offices and employments in Ireland and residing in England. This tax was discontinued in 1753, but was re-imposed in 1769. In 1774 the tax was reduced to two shillings in the pound, but was dropped after some years. It was revived by the Independent Parliament in 1782 and for some ten years brought in a substantial amount to the revenue, yielding in 1790 as much as 63,089 pounds.
AUTHORITIES.—For a discussion of absenteeism from the economic point of view see N. W. Senior, Lectures on the Rate of Wages, Political Economy; J. S. Mill, Political Economy; J. R. Mcculloch, Treatises and Essays on Money, &c., article ``Absenteeism''; A. T. Hadley, Economics; on absenteeism in Ireland see A. Young, Tour in Ireland (1780); T. Prior, List of. Absentees (1729); E. Wakefield, Account of Iteland (1812); W. E. H. Lecky, Ireland in the 18th Century (1892): A. E. Murray, History of the Commercial and Financial Relations between England and Helanid (1903); Parliamentary Papers, Ireland, 1830, vii., ditto, 1845, xix.-xxii.; in France, A. de Monchretien, Traicte de l'oekonomie politique (1615); A. de Tocqueville, L'Ancien Regime (1857); H. Taine, Les Origines de la France contemporaine, l'ancien Regime (1876).
ABSINTHE a liqueur or aromatized spirit, the characteristic flavouring matter of which is derived from various species of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium.) Among the other substances generally employed in its manufacture are angelica root, sweet flag, dittany leaves, star-anise fruit, fennel and hyssop. A colourless ``alcoholate'' (see LIQUEURS) is first prepared, and to this the well-known green colour of the beverage is imparted by maceration with green leaves of wormwood, hyssop and mint. Inferior varieties are made by means of essences, the distillation process being omitted. There are two varieties of absinthe, the French and the Swiss, the latter of which is of a higher alcoholic strength than the former. The best absinthe contains 70 to 80% of alcohol. It is said to improve very materially by storage. There is a popular belief to the effect that absinthe is frequently adulterated with copper, indigo or other dye-stuffs (to impart the green colour), but, in fact, this is now very rarely the case. There is some reason to believe that excessive absinthe-drinking leads to effects which are specifically worse than those associated with over-indulgence in other forms of alcohol.
ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free), a term having the general signification of independent, self-existent, unconditioned. Thus we speak of ``absolute'' as opposed to ``limited'' or ``constitutional'' monarchy, or, in common parlance, of an ``absolute failure,'' i.e. unrelieved by any satisfactory circumstances. In philosophy the word has several technical uses. (1) In Logic, it has been applied to non-connotative terms which do not imply attributes (see CONNOTATION), but more commonly, in opposition to Relative, to terms which do not imply the existence of some other (correlative) term; e.g. ``father'' implies ``son,'' ``tutor'' ``pupil,'' and therefore each of these terms is relative. In fact, however, the distinction is formal, and, though convenient in the terminology of elementary logic, cannot be strictly maintained. The term ``man,'' for example, which, as compared with ``father,'' ``son,'' ``tutor,'' seems to be absolute, is obviously relative in other connexions; in various contexts it implies its various possible opposites, e.g. ``woman,'' ``boy,'' ``master'', ``brute.'' In other words, every term which is susceptible of definition is ipso facto relative, for definition is precisely the segregation of the thing defined from all other things which it is not, i.e. implies a relation. Every term which has a meaning is, therefore, relative, if only to its contradictory.
(2) The term is used in the phrase ``absolute knowledge'' to imply knowledge per se. It has been held, however, that, since all knowledge implies a knowing subject and a known object, absolute knowledge is a contradiction in terms (see RELATIVITY.) So also Herbert Spencer spoke of ``absolute ethics,'' as opposed to systems of conduct based on particular local or temporary laws and conventions (see ETHICS.)
(3) By far the most important use of the word is in the phrase ``the Absolute'' (see METAPHYSICS.) It is sufficient here to indicate the problems involved in their most elementary form. The process of knowledge in the sphere of intellect as in that of natural science is one of generalization, i.e. the co-ordination of particular facts under general statements, or in other words, the explanation of one fact by another, and that other by a third, and so on. In this way the particular facts or existences are left behind in the search for higher, more inclusive conceptions; as twigs are traced to one branch, and branches to one trunk, so, it is held, all the plurality of sense-given data is absorbed in a unity which is all-inclusive and self-existent, and has no ``beyond.'' By a metaphor this process has been described as the odos ano (as of tracing a river to its source). Other phrases from different points of view have been used to describe the idea, e.g. First Cause, Vital Principle (in connexion with the origin of life), God (as the author and sum of all being), Unity, Truth (i.e. the sum and culmination of all knowledge), Causa Causans, &c. The idea in different senses appears both in idealistic and realistic systems of thought.
The theories of the Absolute may be summarized briefly as follows. (1) The Absolute does not exist, and is not even in any real sense thinkable. This view is held by the empiricists, who hold that nothing is knowable save phenomena. The Absolute could not be conceived, for all knowledge is susceptible of definition and, therefore, relative. The Absolute includes the idea of necessity, which the mind cannot cognize. (2) The Absolute exists for thought only. In this theory the absolute is the unknown x which the human mind is logically compelled to postulate a priori as the only coherent explanation and justification of its thought. (3) The Absolute exists but is unthinkable, because it is an aid to thought which comes into operation, as it were, as a final explanation beyond which thought cannot go. Its existence is shown by the fact that without it all demonstration would be a mere circulus in probando or verbal exercise, because the existence of separate things implies some one thing which includes and explains them. (4) The Absolute both exists and is conceivable. It is argued that we do in fact conceive it in as much as we do conceive Unity, Being, Truth. The conception is so clear that its inexplicability (admitted) is of no account. Further, since the unity of our thought implies the absolute, and since the existence of things is known only to thought, it appears absurd that the absolute itself should be regarded as non-existent. The Absolute is substance in itself, the ultimate basis and matter of existence. All things are merely manifestations of it, exist in virtue of it, but are not identical with it. (5) Metaphysical idealists pursue this line of argument in a different way. For them nothing exists save thought; the only existence 1hat can be predicated of any thing and, therefore, of the Absolute, is that it is thought. Thought creates God, things, the Absolute. (6) Finally, it has been held that we can conceive the Absolute, though our conception is only partial, just as our concepuon of all things is limited by the imperfect powers of human intellect. Thus the Absolute exists for us only in our thought of it (4 above). But thought itself comes from the Absolute which, being itself the pure thought of thoughts, separates from itself individual minds. It is, therefore, perfectly natural that human thought, being essentially homogeneous with the Absolute, should be able by.the consideration of the universe to arrive at some imperfect conception of the source from which all is derived.
The whole controversy is obscured by inevitable difficulties in terminology. The fundamental problem is whether a thing which is by hypothesis infinite can in any sense be defined, and if it is not defined, whether it can be said to be cognized or thought. It would appear to be almost an axiom that anything which by hypothesis transcends the intellect (i.e. by including subject and object, knowing and known) is ipso facto beyond the limits of the knower. Only an Absolute can cognize an absolute.
ABSOLUTION (Lat. absolutio from absolvo, loosen, acquit), a term used in civil and ecclesiastical law, denoting the act of setting free or acquitting. In a criminal process it signifies the acquittal of an accused person on the ground that the evidence has either disproved or failed to prove the charge brought against him. In this sense it is now little used, except in Scottish law in the forms assoilzie and absolvitor. The ecclesiastical use of the word is essentially different from the civil. It refers not to an accusation, but to sin actually committed (after baptism); and it denotes the setting of the sinner free from the guilt of the sin, or from its ecclesiastical penalty (excommunication), or from both. The authority of the church or minister to pronounce absolution is based on John xx. 23; Matt. xviii. 18; James v. 16, &c. In primitive times, when confession of sins was made before the congregation, the absolution was deferred till the penance was completed; and there is no record of the use of any special formula. Men were also encouraged, e.g. by Chrysostom, to confess their secret sins secretly to God. In course of time changes grew up. (1) From the 3rd century onwards, secret (auricular) confession before a bishop or priest was practised. For various reasons it became more and more common, until the fourth Lateran council (1215) ordered all Christians of the Roman obedience to make a confession once a year at least. In the Greek church also private confession has become obligatory. (2) In primitive times the penitent was reconciled by imposition of hands by the bishop with or without the clergy: gradually the office was left to be discharged by priests, and the outward action more and more disused. (3) It became the custom to give the absolution to penitents immediately after their confession and before the penance was performed. (4) Until the Middle Ages the form of absolution after private confession was of the nature of a prayer, such as ``May the Lord absolve thee''; and this is still the practice of the Greek church. But about the 13th century the Roman formula was altered, and the council of Trent (1551) declared that the ``form'' and power of the sacrament of penance lay in the words Ego te absolvo, &c., and that the accompanying prayers are not essential to it. Of the three forms of absolution in the Anglican Prayer Book, that in the Visitation of the Sick (disused in the church of Ireland by decision of the Synods of 1871 and 1877) runs ``I absolve thee,'' tracing the authority so to act through the church up to Christ: the form in the Communion Service is precative, while that in Morning and Evening Prayer is indicative indeed, but so general as not to imply anything like a judicial decree of absolution. In the Lutheran church also the practice of private confession survived the Reformation, together with both the exhibitive (I forgive, &c.) and declaratory (I declare and pronounce) forms of absolution. In granting absolution, even after general confession, it is in some places still the custom for the minister, where the numbers permit of it, to lay his hands on the head of each penitent. (W. O. B.)
ABSOLUTISM, in aesthetics, a term applied to the theory that beauty is an objective attribute of things, not merely a subjective feeling of pleasure in him who perceives. It follows that there is an absolute standard of the beautiful by which all objects can be judged. The fact that, in practice, the judgments even of connoisseurs are perpetually at variance, and that the so-called criteria of one place or period are more or less opposed to those of all others, is explained away by the hypothesis that individuals are differently gifted in respect of the capacity to appreciate. (See AESTHETICS.)
In political philosophy absolutism, as opposed to constitutional government, is the despotic rule of a sovereign unrestrained by laws and based directly upon force. In the strict sense such governments are rare. but it is customary to apply the term to a state at a relatively backward stage of constitutional development.
ABSORPTION OF LIGHT. The term ``absorption'' (from Lat. absorbere) means literally ``sucking up'' or ``swallowing,'' and thus a total incorporation in something, literally or figuratively; it is technically used in animal physiology for the function of certain vessels which suck up fluids; and in light and optics absorption spectrum and absorption band are terms used in the discussion of the transformation of rays in various media.
If a luminous body is surrounded by empty space, the light which it emits suffers no loss of energy as it travels outwards. The intensity of the light diminishes merely because the total energy, though unaltered, is distributed over a wider and wider surface as the rays diverge from the source. To prove this, it will be sufficient to mention that an exceedingly small deficiency in the transparency of the free aether would be sufficient to prevent the light of the fixed stars from reaching the earth, since their distances are so immense. But when light is transmitted through a material medium, it always suffers some loss, the light energy being absorbed by the medium, that is, converted partially or wholly into other forms of energy such as heat, a portion of which transformed energy may be re-emitted as radiant energy of a lower frequency. Even the most transparent bodies known absorb an appreciable portion of the light transmitted through them. Thus the atmosphere absorbs a part of the sun's rays, and the greater the distance which the rays have to traverse the greater is the proportion which is absorbed, so that on this account the sun appears less bright towards sunset. On the other hand, light can penetrate some distance into all substances, even the most opaque, the absorption being, however, extremely rapid in the latter case.
The nature of the surface of a body has considerable influence on its power of absorbing light. Platinum black, for instance, in which the metal is in a state of fine division, absorbs nearly all the light incident on it, while polished platinum reflects the greater part. In the former case the light penetrating between the particles is unable to escape by reflexion, and is finally absorbed.
The question of absorption may be considered from either of two points of view. We may treat it as a superficial effect, especially in the case of bodies which are opaque enough or thick enough to prevent all transmission of light, and we may investigate how much is reflected at the surface and how much is absorbed; or, on the other hand, we may confine our attention to the light which enters the body and inquire into the relation between the decay of intensity and the depth of penetration. We shall take these two cases separately.
Absorptive Power.—When none of the radiations which fall on a body penetrates through its substance, then the ratio of the amount of radiation of a given wave-length which is absorbed to the total amount received is called the ``absorptive power'' of the body for that wave-length. Thus if the body absorbed half the incident radiation its absorptive power would be 1/2, and if it absorbed all the incident radiation its absorptive power would be 1. A body which absorbs all radiations of all wavelengths would be called a ``perfectly black body.'' No such body actually exists, but such substances as lamp-black and platinum-black approximately fulfil the condition. The fraction of the incident radiation which is not absorbed by a body gives a measure of its reflecting power, with which we are not here concerned. Most bodies exhibit a selective action on light, that is to say, they readily absorb light of particular wave-lengths, light of other wave-lengths not being largely absorbed. All bodies when heated emit the same kind of radiations which they absorb—-an important principle known as the principle of the equality of radiating and absorbing powers. Thus black substances such as charcoal are very luminous when heated. A tile of white porcelain with a black pattern on it mill, if heated red-hot, show the pattern bright on a darker ground. On the other hand, those substances which either are good reflectors or good transmitters, are not so luminous at the same temperature; for instance, melted silver, which reflects well, is not so luminous as carbon at the same temperature, and common salt, which is very transparent for most kinds of radiation, when poured in a fused condition out of a bright red-hot crucible, looks almost like water, showing only a faint red glow for a moment or two. But all such bodies appear to lose their distinctive properties when heated in a vessel which nearly encloses them, for in that case those radiations which they do not emit are either transmitted through them from the walls of the vessel behind, or else reflected from their surface. This fact may be expressed by saying that the radiation within a heated enclosure is the same as that of a perfectly black body.
Coefficient of Absorption, and Law of Absorption.—-The law which governs the rate of decay of light intensity in passing through any medium may be readily obtained. If I0 represents the intensity of the light which enters the surface, I1 the intensity after passing through 1 centimetre, I2 the intensity after passing through 2 centimetres, and so on; then we should expect that whatever fraction of I0 is absorbed in the first centimetre, the same fraction of I1 will be absorbed in the second. That is, if an amount jI0 is absorbed in the first centimetre, JI1 is absorbed in the second, and so on. We have then I1 = I0(1—j) I2 = I1(1—j) = I0(1—j)2 I3 = I2(1—j) = I0(1—j)3 and so on, so that if I is the intensity after passing through a thickness t in centimetres I = I0(1—j)t (1). We might call j, which is the proportion absorbed in one centimetre, the ``coefficient of absorption'' of the medium. 1/2t would, however, not then apply to the case of a body for which the whole light is absorbed in less than one centimetre. It is better then to define the coefficient of absorption as a quantity k such that k/n of the light is absorbed in 1/nth part of a centimetre, where n may be taken to be a very large number. The formula (1) then becomes I=I0e-kt (2) where e is the base of Napierian logarithms, and k is a constant which is practically the same as for bodies which do not absorb very rapidly.
There is another coefficient of absorption (k) which occurs in Helmholtz's theory of dispersion (see DISPERSION.) It is closely related to the coefficient k which we have just defined, the equation connecting the two being k=4 pk/l, l being the wavelength of the incident light.
The law of absorption expressed by the formula (2) has been verified by experiments for various solids, liquids and gases. The method consists in comparing the intensity after transmission through a layer of known thickness of the absorbent with the intensity of light from the same source which has not passed through the medium, k being thus obtained for various thicknesses and found to be constant. In the case of solutions, if the absorption of the solvent is negligible, the eflect of increasing the concentration of the absorbing solute is the same as that of increasing the thickness in the same ratio. In a similar way the absorption of light in the coloured gas chlorine is found to be unaltered if the thickness is reduced by compression, because the density is increased in the same ratio that the thickness is reduced. This is not strictly the case, however, for such gases and vapours as exhibit well-defined bands of absorption in the spectrum, as these bands are altered in character by compression.
If white light is allowed to fall on some coloured solutions, the transmitted light is of one colour when the thickness of the solution is small, and of quite another colour if the thickness is great. This curious phenomenon is known as dichromatism (from di-, two, and chroma, colour). Thus, when a strong light is viewed through a solution of chlorophyll, the light seen is a brilliant green if the thickness is small, but a deep blood-red for thicker layers. This effect can be explained as follows. The solution is moderately transparent for a large number of rays in the neighborhoodood of the green part of the spectrum; it is, on the whole, much more opaque for red rays, but is readily penetrated by certain red rays belonging to a narrow region of the spectrum. The small amount of red transmitted is at first quite overpowered by the green, but having a smaller coefficient of absorption, it becomes finally predominant. The effect is complicated, in the case of chlorophyll and many other bodies, by selective reflexion and fluorescence.
For the molecular theory of absorption, see SPECTROSCOPY.REFERENCES.—-A. Schuster's Theory of Optics (1904); P. K. L.Drude's Theory of Optics (Eng. trans., 1902); F. H. Wullner'sLehrbuch der Experimentalphysik, Bd. iv. (1899). (J. R. C.)
ABSTEMII (a Latin word. from abs. away from. temetum. intoxicating liquor, from which is derived the English ``abstemious'' or temperate), a name formerly given to such persons as could not partake of the cup of the Eucharist on account of their natural aversion to wine. Calvinists allowed these to communicate in the species of bread only, touching the cup with their lip; a course which was deemed a profanation by the Lutherans. Among several Protestant sects, both in Great Britain and America, abstemii on a somewhat different principle have appeared in modern times. These are total abstainers, who maintain that the use of stimulants is essentially sinful, and allege that the wine used by Christ and his disciples at the supper was unfermented. They accordingly communicate in the unfermented ``juice of the grape.''
ABSTINENCE (from Lat. abstinere, to abstain), the fact or habit of refraining from anything, but usually from the indulgence of the appetite and especially from strong drink. ``Total abstinence'' and ``total abstainer'' are associated with taking the pledge to abstain from alcoholic liquor (see TEMPERANCE.) In the discipline of the Christian Church abstinence is the term for a less severe form of Fasting (q.v..)
ABSTRACTION (Lat. abs and trahere), the process or result of drawing away; that which is drawn away, separated or derived. Thus the noun is used for a summary, compendium or epitome of a larger work, the gist of which is given in a concentrated form. Similarly an absent-minded man is said to be ``abstracted,'' as paying no attention to the matter in hand. In philosophy the word has several closely related technical senses. (1) In formal logic it is applied to those terms which denote qualities, attributes, circumstances, as opposed to concrete terms, the names of things; thus ``friend'' is concrete, ``friendship'' abstract. The term which expresses the connotation of a word is therefore an abstract term, though it is probably not itself connotative; adjectives are concrete, not abstract, e.g. ``equal'' is concrete, ``equality'' abstract (cf. Aristotle's aphaeresis and prosthesis.) (2) The process of abstraction takes an important place both in psychological and metaphysical speculation. The psychologist finds among the earliest of his problems the question as to the process from the perception of things seen and heard to mental conceptions, which are ultimately distinct from immediate perception (see PSYCHOLOGY.) When the mind, beginning with isolated individuals, groups them together in virtue of perceived resemblances and arrives at a unity in plurality, the process by which attention is diverted from individuals and concentrated on a single inclusive concept (i.e. classification) is one of abstraction. All orderly thought and all increase of knowledge depend partly on establishing a clear and accurate connexion between particular things and general ideas, rules and principles. The nature of the resultant concepts belongs to the great controversy between Nominalism, Realism and Conceptualism. Metaphysics, again, is concerned with the ultimate problems of matter and spirit; it endeavours to go behind the phenomena of sense and focus its attention on the fundamental truths which are the only logical bases of natural science. This, again, is a process of abstraction, the attainment of abstract ideas which, apart from the concrete individuals, are conceived as having a substantive existence. The final step in the process is the conception of the Absolute (q.v.), which is abstract in the most complete sense.
Abstraction differs from Analysis, inasmuch as its object is to select a particular quality for consideration in itself as it is found in all the ob)ects to which it belongs, whereas analysis considers all the qualities which belong to a single object.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE, in English law, an epitome of the various instruments and events under and in consequence of which the vendor of an estate derives his title thereto. Such an abstract is, upon the sale or mortgage of an estate, prepared by some competent person for the purchaser or mortgagee, and verified by his solicitor by a comparison with the original deeds. (See CONVEYANCING.)
ABT, FRANZ (1819-1885), German composer, was born on the 22nd of December 1819 at Eilenburg, Saxony, and died at Wiesbaden on the 31st of March 1885. The best of his popular songs have become part of the recognized art-folk-music of Germany; his vocal works, solos, part-songs, &c., enjoyed an extraordinary vogue all over Europe in the middle of the 19th century, but in spite of their facile tunefulness have few qualities of lasting beauty. Abt was kapellmeister at Bernburg in 1841, at Zurich in the same year and at Brunswick from 1852 to 1882, when he retired to Wiesbaden.
ABU, a mountain of Central India, situated in 24 deg. 36' N. lat. and 72 deg. 43' E. long., within the Rajputana state of Sirohi. It is an isolated spur of the Aravalli range, being completely detached from that chain by a narrow valley 7 miles across, in which flows the western Banas. It rises from the surrounding plains of Marwar like a precipitous granite island, its various peaks ranging from 4000 to 5653 feet. The elevations and platforms of the mountain are covered with elaborately sculptured shrines, temples and tombs. On the top of the hill is a small round platform containing a cavern, with a block of granite, bearing the impression of the feet of Data-Bhrigu, an incarnation of Vishnu. This is the chief place of pilgrimage for the Jains, Shrawaks and Banians. The two principal temples are situated at Deulwara, about the middle of the mountain, and five miles south-west of Guru Sikra, the highest summit. They are built of white marble, and are pre-eminent alike for their beauty and as typical specimens of Jain architecture in India. The more modern of the two was built by two brothers, rich merchants, between the years 1197 and 1247, and for delicacy of carving and minute beauty of detail stands almost unrivalled, even in this land of patient and lavish labour. The other was built by another merchant prince, Vimala Shah, apparently about A.D. 1032, and, although simpler and bolder in style, is as elaborate as good taste would allow in a purely architectural object. It is one of the oldest as well as one of the most complete examples of Jain architecture known. The principal object within the temple is a cell lighted only from the door, containing a cross-legged seated figure of the god Parswanath. The portico is composed of forty-eight pillars, the whole enclosed in an oblong courtyard about 140 feet by 90 feet, surrounded by a double colonnade of smaller pillars, forming porticos to a range of fifty-five cells, which enclose it on all sides, exactly as they do in a Buddhist monastery (vihara.) In this temple, however, each cell, instead of being the residence of R monk, is occupied by an image of Parswanath, and over the door, or on the jambs of each, are sculptured scenes from the life. of the deity. The whole interior is magnificently ornamented.
Abu is now the summer residence of the governor-general's agent for Rajputana, and a place of resort for Europeans in the hot weather. It is 16 miles from the Abu road station of the Rajputana railway. The annual mean temperature is about 70 deg. , rising to 90 deg. in April; but the heat is never oppressive. The annual rainfall is about 68 inches. The hills are laid out with driving-roads and bridle-paths, and there is a beautiful little lake. The chief buildings are a church, club, hospital and a Lawrence asylum school for the children of British soldiers.
ABU-BEKR (573-634), the name (``Father of the virgin'') of the first of the Mahommedan caliphs (see CALIPH.) He was originally called Abd-el-Ka'ba (``servant of the temple''), and received the name by which he is known historically in consequence of the marriage of his virgin daughter Ayesha to Mahomet. He was born at Mecca in the year A.D. 573, a Koreishite of the tribe of Beni-Taim. Possessed of immense wealth, which he had himself acquired in commerce, and held in high esteem as a judge, an interpreter of dreams and a depositary of the traditions of his race, his early accession to Islamism was a fact of great importance. On his conversion he assumed the name of Abd-Alla (servant of God). His own belief in Mahomet and his doctrines was so thorough as to procure for him the title El Siddik (the faithful), and his success in gaining converts was correspondingly great. In his personal relationship to the prophet he showed the deepest veneration and most unswerving devotion. When Mahomet fled from Mecca, Abu-Bekr was his sole companion, and shared both his hardships and his triumphs, remaining constantly with him until the day of his death. During his last illness the prophet indicated Abu-Bekr as his successor by desiring him to offer up prayer for the people. The choice was ratified by the chiefs of the army, and ultimately confirmed, though Ali, Mahomet's son-in-law, disputed it, asserting his own title to the dignity. After a time Ali submitted, but the difference of opinion as to his claims gave rise to the controversy which still divides the followers of the prophet into the rival factions of Sunnites and Shiites. Abu-Bekr had scarcely assumed his new position (632), under the title Califet-Resul-Allah (successor of the prophet of God), when he was called to suppress the revolt of the tribes Hejaz and Nejd, of which the former rejected Islamism and the latter refused to pay tribute. He encountered formidable opposition from different quarters, but in every case he was successful, the severest struggle being that with the impostor Mosailima, who was finally defeated by Khalid at the battle of Akraba. Abu-Bekr's zeal for the spread of the new faith was as conspicuous as that of its founder had been. When the internal disorders had been repressed and Arabia completely subdued, he directed his generals to foreign conquest. The Irak of Persia was overcome by Khalid in a single campaign, and there was also a successful expedition into Syria. After the hard-won victory over Mosailima, Omar, fearing that the sayings of the prophet would be entirely forgotten when those who had listened to them had all been removed by death, induced Abu-Bekr to see to their preservation in a written form. The record, when completed, was deposited with Hafsa, daughter of Omar, and one of the wives of Mahomet. It was held in great reverence by all Moslems, though it did not possess canonical authority, and furnished most of the materials out of which the Koran, as it now exists, was prepared. When the authoritative version was completed all copies of Hafsa's record were destroyed, in order to prevent possible disputes and divisions. Abu-Bekr died on the 23rd of August 634. Shortly before his death, which one tradition ascribes to poison, another to natural causes, he indicated Omar as his successor, after the manner Mahomet had observed in his own case.
ABU HAMED, a town of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan on the right bank of the Nile, 345 m. by rail N. of Khartum. It stands a4 the centre of the great S-shaped bend of the Nile, and from it the railway to Wadi Halfa strikes straight across the Nubian desert, a little west of the old caravan route to Korosko. A branch railway, 138 m. long, from Abu Hamed goes down the right bank of the Nile to Kareima in the Dongola mudiria. The town is named after a celebrated sheikh buried here, by whose tomb travellers crossing the desert used formerly to deposit all superfluous goods, the sanctity of the saint's tomb ensuring their safety.
ABU HANIFA AN-NU`MAN IBN THABIT, Mahommedan canon lawyer, was born at Kufa in A.H. 80 (A.D. 699) of non-Arab and probably Persian parentage. Few events of his life are known to us with any certainty. He was a silk-dealer and a man of considerable means, so that he was able to give his time to legal studies. He lectured at Kufa upon canon law (fiqh) and was a consulting lawyer (mufti), but refused steadily to take any public post. When al-Mansur, however, was building Bagdad (145—140) Abu Hanifa was one of the four overseers whom he appointed over the craftsmen (G. Le Strange, Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, p. 17). In A.H. 150 (A.D. 767) he died there under circumstances which are very differently reported. A persistent but apparently later tradition asserts that he died in prison after severe beating, because he refused to obey al-Mansur's command to act as a judge (cadi, qadi.) This was to avoid a responsibility for which he felt unfit —-a frequent attitude of more pious Moslems. Others say that al-Mahdi, son of al-Mansur, actually constrained him to be a judge and that he died a few days after. It seems certain that he did suffer imprisonment and beating for this reason, at the hands of an earlier governor of Kufa under the Omayyads (Ibn Qutaiba, Ma`arif, p. 248). Also that al-Mansur desired to make him judge, but compromised upon his inspectorship of buildings (so in Tabari). A late story is that the judgeship was only a pretext with al-Mansur, who considered him a partisan of the `Alids and a helper with his wealth of Ibrahim ibn'Abd Allah in his insurrection at Kufa in 145 (Weil, Geschichte, ii. 53 ff.).
For many personal anecdotes see de Slane's transl. of Ibn Khalhkan iii. 555 ff., iv. 272 ff. For his place as a speculative jurist in the history of canon law, see MAHOMMEDAN LAW. He was buried in eastern Bagdad, where his tomb still exists, one of the few surviving sites from the time of ahmansur, the founder. (Le Strange 191 ff.)
See C. Brockelmann, Geschichte, i. 169 ff.; Nawawi's Biogr.Dict. pp. 698-770: Ibn Hajar al-Haitami's Biography, publ. Cairo,A.H. 1304; legal bibliography under MAHOMMEDAN LAW) (D. B. MA.)
ABU KLEA, a halting-place for caravans in the Bayuda Desert, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It is on the road from Merawi to Metemma and 20 m. N. of the Nile at the last-mentioned place. Near this spot, on the 17th of January 1885, a British force marching to the relief of General Gordon at Khartum was attacked by the Mahdists, who were repulsed. On the 19th, when the British force was nearer Metemma, the Mahdists renewed the attack, again unsuccessfully. Sir Herbert Stewart, the commander of the British force, was mortally wounded on the 19th, and among the killed on the 17th was Col. F. G. Burnaby (see EGYPT, Military Operations.)
ABU-L-`ALA UL-MA.ARRI [Abu-l-`Alaa Ahmad ibn `Abdallah ibn Sulaiman] (973-1057), Arabian poet and letter-writer, belonged to the South Arabian tribe Tanukh, a part of which had migrated to Syria before the time of Islam. He was born in 973 at Ma'arrat un-Nu`man, a Syrian town nineteen hours' journey south of Aleppo, to the governor of which it was subject at that time. He lost his father while he was still an infant, and at the age of four lost his eyesight owing to smallpox. This, however, did not prevent him from attending the lectures of the best teachers at Aleppo, Antioch and Tripoli. These teachers were men of the first rank, who had been attracted to the court of Saif-ud-Daula, and their teaching was well stored in the remarkable memory of the pupil. At the age of twenty-one Abu-l-'Ala returned to Ma`arra, where he received a pension of thirty dinars yearly. In 1007 he visited Bagdad, where he was admitted to the literary circles, recited in the salons, academies and mosques, and made the acquaintance of men to whom he addressed some of his letters later. In 1009 he returned to Ma`arra, where he spent the rest of his life in teaching and writing. During this period of scholarly quiet he developed his characteristic advanced views on vegetarianism, cremation of the dead and the desire for extinction after death.
Of his works the chief are two collections of his poetry and two of his letters. The earlier poems up to 1029 are of the kind usual at the time. Under the title of Saqt uz-Zand they have been published in Bulaq (1869), Beirut (1884) and Cairo (1886). The poems of the second collection, known as the Luzum ma lam ralzann, or the Luzumiy'yat, are written with the difficult rhyme in two consonants instead of one, and contain the more original, mature and somewhat pessimistic thoughts of the author on mutability, virtue, death, &c. They have been published in Bombay (1886) and Cairo (1889) . The letters on various literary and social subjects were published with commentary by Shain Effendi in Beirut (1894), and with English translation, &c., by prof. D. S. Margoliouth in Oxford (1898). A second collection of letters, known as the Risalat ul-Ghufran, was summarized and partially translated by R. A. Nicholson in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1900, pp. 637 ff.; 1902, pp. 75 ff., 337 ff., 813 ff.).
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—-C. Rieu, De Abu-l-`Alae Poetae Arabici vita et carminibus (Bonn, 1843); A. von Kremer, Uber die philosophischen Gedichte des Abu-l-.Ala (Vienna, 1888); cf. also the same writer's articles in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft (vols. xxix., xxx., xxxi. and xxxviii.). For his life see the introduction to D. S. Margoliouth's edition of the letters, supplemented by the same writer's articles ``Abu-l-`Ala al-Ma`arri's Correspondence on Vegetarianism'' in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1902, pp. 289 ff.). (G. W. T.)
ABU-L-`ATAHIYA [Abu Ishaq Isma`il ibn Qasim al-`Anazi] (748-828), Arabian poet, was born at Ain ut-Tamar in the Hijaz near Medina. His ancestors were of the tribe of Anaza. His youth was spent in Kufa, where he was engaged for some time in selling pottery. Removing to Bagdad, he continued his business there, but became famous for his verses, especially for those addressed to Utba, a slave of the caliph al-Mahdi. His affection was unrequited, although al-Mahdi, and after him Harun al-Rashid, interceded for him. Having offended the caliph, he was in prison for a short time. The latter part of his life was more ascetic. He died in 828 in the reign of al-Ma`mun. The poetry of Abu-l-'Atahiya is notable for its avoidance of the artificiality almost universal in his days. The older poetry of the desert had been constantly imitated up to this time, although it was not natural to town life. Abu-l-'Atahiya was one of the first to drop the old qasida (elegy) form. He was very fluent and used many metres. He is also regarded as one of the earliest philosophic poets of the Arabs. Much of his Poetry is concerned with the observation of common life and morality, and at times is pessimistic. Naturally, under the circumstances, he was strongly suspected of heresy.
His poems (Diwan) with life from Arabian sources have been published at the Jesuit Press in Beirut (1887, 2nd ed. 1888). On his position in Arabic literature see W. Ahlwardt, Diwan des Abu Nowas (Greifswald, 1861), pp. 21 ff.; A. von Kremer, Culturgeschichte des Orients (Wien, 1877), vol. ii. pp. 372 ff. (G. W. T.)
ABULPARAJ [Abu-l-Faraj,Ah ibn ul-Husain ul-Isbahani] (897—967), Arabian scholar, was a member of the tribe of the Quraish (Koreish) and a direct descendant of Marwan, the last of the Omayyad caliphs. He was thus connected with the Omayyad rulers in Spain, and seems to have kept up a correspondence with them and to have sent them some of his works. He was born in Ispahan, but spent his youth and made his early studies in Bagdad. He became famous for his knowledge of early Arabian antiquities. His later life was spent in various parts of the Moslem world, in Aleppo with Saif-ud-Daula (to whom he dedicated the Book of Songs), in Rai with the Buyid vizier Ibn'Abbad and elsewhere. In his last years he lost his reason. In religion he was a Shiite. Although he wrote poetry, also an anthology of verses on the monasteries of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and a genealogical work, his fame rests upon his Book of Songs (Kitab ul-Aghani), which gives an account of the chief Arabian songs, ancient and modern, with the stories of the composers and singers. It contains a mass of information as to the life and customs of the early Arabs, and is the most Valuable authority we have for their pre-Islamic and early Moslem days. A part of it was published by J. G. L. Rosegarten with Latin translation (Greifswald, 1840). The text was published in 20 vols. at Bulaq in 1868. Vol. xxi. was edited by R. E. Brunnow (Leyden, 1888). A volume of elaborate indices was edited by I. Guidi (Leyden, 1900), and a missing fragment of the text was published by J. Wellhausen in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, vol; 50, pp. 146 ff. Biographical Dictionary, vol. ii. pp. 249 ff. (G. W. T.)
ABUL PAZL, wazir and historiographer of the great Mogul emperor, Akbar, was born in the year A.D. 1551. His career as a minister of state, brilliant though it was, would probably have been by this time forgotten but for the record he himself has left of it in his celebrated history. The Akbar Nameh, or Book of Akbar, as Abul Fazl's chief literary work, written in Persian, is called, consists of two parts—the first being a complete history of Akbar's reign and the second, entitled Ain-i-Akbari, or Institutes of Akbar, being an account of the religious and political constitution and administration of the empire. The style is singularly elegant, and the contents of the second part possess a unique and lasting interest. An excellent translation of the Ain by Francis Gladwin was published in Calcutta, 1783-1786. It was reprinted in London very inaccurately, and copies of the original edition are now exceedingly rare and correspondingly valuable. It was also translated by Professor Blockmann in 1848. Abul Fazl died by the hand of an assassin, while returning from a mission to the Deccan in 1602. The murderer was instigated by Prince Sehm, afterwards Jahangir, who had become jealous of the minister's influence.
ABULFEDA [Abud-Fida' Isma'Il ibn'Ah,Imad-ud-Dni] (1273-1331), Arabian historian and geographer, was born at Damascus, whither his father Malik ul-Afdal, brother of the prince of Hamah, had fled from the Mongols. He was a descendant of Ayyub, the father of Saladin. In his boyhood he devoted himself to the study of the Koran and the sciences, hut from his twelfth year was almost constantly engaged in military expeditions, chiefly against the crusaders. In 1285 he was present at the assault of a stronghold of the knights of St John, and he took part in the sieges of Tripoli, Acre and Qal'at ar-Rum. In 1298 he entered the service of the Mameluke Sultan Malik al-Nasir and after twelve years was invested by him with the governorship of Hamah. In 1312 he became prince with the title Malik us-Salhn, and in 1320 received the hereditary rank of sultan with the title Malik ul-Mu'ayyad. For more than twenty years altogether he reigned in tranquillity and splendour, devoting himself to the duties of government and to the composition of the works to which he is chiefly indebted for his fame. He was a munificent patron of men of letters, who came in large numbers to his court. He died in 1331. His chief historical work in An Abridgment of the History at the Human Race, in the form of annals extending from the creation of the world to the year 1329 (Constantinople, 2 vols. 1869). Various translations of parts of it exist, the earliest being a Latin rendering of the section relating to the Arabian conquests in Sicily, by Dobelius, Arabic professor at Palermo, in 1610 (preserved in Muratori's Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, vol. i.). The section dealing with the pre-Islamitic period was edited with Latin translation by H. O. Fleischer under the title Abulfedae Historia Ante-Islamica (Leipzig, 1831). The part dealing with the Mahommedan period was edited, also with Latin translation, by J. J. Reiske as Annales Muslemici (5 vols., Copenhagen, 1789—1794) . His Geography is, like much of the history, founded on the works of his predecessors, and so ultimately on the work of Ptolemy. A long introduction on various geographical matters is followed by twenty-eight sections dealing in tabular form with the chief towns of the world. After each name are given the longitude, latitude, ``climate,'' spelling, and then observations generally taken from earlier authors. Parts of the work were published and translated as early as 1650 (cf. Carl Brockelmann's Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur, Berlin, 1902, vol. ii. pp. 44-46). The text of the whole was published by M`G. de Slane and M. Reinaud (Paris, 1840), and a French translation with introduction by M. Reinaud and Stanislas Guyard (Paris, 1848-1883). (G. W. T.)
ABU-L-QASIM [Khalaf ibn'Abbas uz-Zahrawi], Arabian physician and surgeon, generally known in Europe as ABULCASIS, flourished in the tenth century at Cordova as physician to the caliph 'Abdur-Rahman III. (912—961). No details of his life are known. A part of his compendium of medicine was published in Latin in the 16th century as Liber theoricae nec non practicae Alsaharavii (Augsburg, 1519). His manual of surgery was published at Venice in 1497, at Basel in 1541, and at Oxford Abulcasis de Chirurgia arabice et latine cura Johannis Channing (2 vols. 1778).
For his other works see Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischenLitteratur (Weimar, 1898), vol. i. pp. 239-240. (G. W. T.)
ABUNDANTIA (``Abundance''), a Roman goddess, the personification of prosperity and good fortune. Modelled after the Greek Demeter, she is practically identical with Copia, Annona and similar goddesses. On the coins of the later Roman emperors she is frequently represented holding a cornucopia, from which she shakes her gifts, thereby at the same time in- dicating the liberality of the emperor or empress. She may be compared with Domina Abundia (Old Fr. Dame Habonde, Notre Dame d'Abondance), whose name often occurs in poems of the Middle Ages, a beneficent fairy, who brought plenty to those whom she visited (Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, tr. 1880, i. 286-287).
ABU NUWAS [Abu,Ah Hal-asan ibn Hani'al-Hakami] (c. 756-810), known as Abu Nuwas, Arabian poet, was born in al Ahwaz, probably about 756. His mother was a Persian, his father a soldier, a native of Damascus. His studies were made in Basra under Abu Zaid and Abu'Ubaida (q.v.), and in Kufa under Khalaf al-Ahmar. He is also said to have spent a year with the Arabs in the desert to gain purity of language. Settling in Bagdad he enjoyed the favour of Harun al-Rashid and al-Amin, and died there probably about 810. The greater part of his life was characterized by great licentiousness and disregard of religion, but in his later days he became ascetic. Abu Nuwas is recognized as the greatest poet of his time. His mastery of language has led to extensive quotation of his verses by Arabian scholars. Genial, cynical, immoral, he drew on all the varied life of his time for the material of his poems. In his wine-songs especially the manners of the upper classes of Bagdad are revealed. He was one of the first to ridicule the set form of the qasida (elegy) as unnatural, and has satirized this form in several poems. See I. Goldziher, Abhandlungen zur Arabischen Philologie (Leyden, 1896), i. pp. 145 ff. His poems were collected by several Arabian editors. One such collection (the MS. of which is now in Vienna) contains nearly 5000 verses grouped under the ten headings: wine, hunting, praise, satire, love of youths, love of women, obscenities, blame, elegies, renunciation of the world. His collected poems (Diwan) have been published in Cairo (1860) and in Beirut (1884). The wine-songs were edited by W. Ahlwardt under the title Diwan des Abu Nowas. 1. Die lveinlieder (Greifswald, 1861). (G. W. T.)
ABU SIMBEL, or IPSAMBUL, the name of a group of temples of Rameses II. (c. 1250 B.C.) in Nubia, on the left bank of the Nile, 56 m. by river S. of Korosko. They are hewn in the cliffs at the riverside, at a point where the sandstone hills on the west reach the Nile and form the southern boundary of a wider portion of the generally barren valley. The temples are three in number. The principal temple, probably the greatest and most imposing of all rock-hewn monuments, was discovered by Burckhardt in 1812 and opened by Belzoni in 1817. (The front has been cleared several times, most recently in 1892, but the sand is always pressing forward from the north end.) The hillside was recessed to form the facade, backed against which four immense seated colossi of the king, in pairs on either side of the entrance, rise from a platform or forecourt reached from the river by a flight of steps. The colossi are no less than 65 ft. in height, of nobly placid design, and are accompanied by smaller figures of Rameses' queen and their sons and daughters; behind and over them is the cornice, with the dedication below in a line of huge hieroglyphs, and a long row of apes, standing in adoration of the rising sun above. The temple is dedicated primarily to the solar gods Amenre of Thebes and Raharakht of Heliopolis, the true sun god; it is oriented to the east so that the rays of the sun in the early morning penetrate the whole length of two great halls to the innermost sanctuary and fall upon the central figures of Amenre and Rameses, which are there enthroned with Ptah of Memphis and Raharakht on either side. The interior of the temple is decorated with coloured sculpture of fine workmanship and in good preservation; the scenes are more than usually interesting; some are of religious import (amongst them Rameses as king making offerings to himself as god), others illustrate war in Syria, Libya and Ethiopia: another series depicts the events of the famous battle with the Hittites and their allies at Kadesh, in which Rameses saved the Egyptian camp and army by his personal valour. Historical stelae of the same reign are engraved inside and outside the temple; the most interesting is that recording the marriage with a Hittite princess in the 34th year. Not the least important feature of the temple belongs to a later age, when some Greek, Carian and Phoenician soldiers of one of the kings named Psammetichus (apparently Psammetichus II., 594-589 B.C.) inscribed their names upon the two southern colossi, doubtless the only ones then clear of sand. These graffiti are of the highest value for the early history of the alphabet, and as proving the presence of Greek mercenaries in the Egyptian armies of the period. The upper part of the second colossus (from the south) has fallen; the third was repaired by Sethos II. not many years after the completion of the temple. This great temple was wholly rock-cut, and is now threatened by gradual ruin by sliding on the planes of stratification. A small temple, immediately to the south of the first, is believed to have had a built antechamber: it is the earliest known example of a ``birth chapel,'' such as was usually attached to Ptolemaic temples for the accommodation of the divine mother-consort and her son. The third and northernmost temple, separated from the others by a ravine, is on a large scale; the colossi of the facade are six in number and 53 ft. high, representing Rameses and his queen Nefrere, who dedicated the temple to the goddess Hathor. The whole group forms a singular monument of Rameses' unbounded pride and self-glorification.
See EGYPT; J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records, Egypt, vol. iii. pp. 124 et seq., esp. 212; ``The Temples of Lower Nubia,'' in the American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, October 1906. (F. LL. G.)
ABU TAMMAM [Habib ibn Aus] (807-846), Arabian poet, was, like Buhturi, of the tribe of Tai (though some say he was the son of a Christian apothecary named Thaddeus, and that his genealogy was forged). He was born in Jasim (Josem), a place to the north-east of the Sea of Tiberias or near Manbij (Hierapolis). He seems to have spent his youth in Homs, though, according to one story, he was employed during his boyhood in selling water in a mosque in Cairo. His first appearance as a poet was in Egypt, but as he failed to make a living there he went to Damascus and thence to Mosul. From this place he made a visit to the governor of Armenia, who awarded him richly. After 833 he lived mostly in Bagdad, at the court of the caliph Mo,tasim. From Bagdad he visited Khorassan, where he enjoyed the favour of Abdallah ibn Tahir. About 845 he was in Ma'arrat un Nu`man, where he met Buhturi. He died in Mosul. Abu Tammam is best known in literature as the compiler of the collection of early poems known as the Hamasa (q.v..) Two other h collections of a similar nature are ascribed to him. His own poems I have been somewhat neglected owing to the success of his compilations, but they enjoyed great repute in his lifetime, and were distinguished for the purity of their style, the merit of the verse and the excellent manner of treating subjects. His poems (Diwan) were published in Cairo (A.D. 1875).
See Life in Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, trans. by M`G. de Slane (Paris and London, 1842), vol. i. pp. 348 ff.; and in the Kitab ul-Aghani (Book of Songs) of Abulfaraj (Bulaq, 1869), vol. xv. pp. 100-108. (G.W. T.)
ABUTILON (from the Arabic aubutilun, a name given by Avicenna to this or an allied genus), in botany, a genus of plants, natural order Malvaceae (Mallows), containing about eighty species, and widely distributed in the tropics. They are free-growing shrubs with showy bell-shaped flowers, and are favorite greenhouse plants. They may be grown outside in England during the summer months, but a few degrees of frost is fatal to them. They are readily propagated from cuttings taken in the spring or at the end of the summer. A large number of horticultural varieties have been developed by hybridization, some of which have a variegated foliage.
ABUTMENT, a construction in stone or brickwork designed to receive and resist the lateral pressure of an arch, vault or strut. When built outside a wall it is termed a buttress.
ABU UBAIDA [Ma,mar ibn ul-Muthanna] (728-825), Arabian scholar, was born a slave of Jewish Persian parents in Basra, and in his youth was a pupil of Abu,Amr ibn ul-,Ala. In 803 he was called to Bagdad by Harun al-Rashjd. He died in Basra. He was one of the most learned and authoritative scholars of his time in all matters pertaining to the Arabic language, antiquities and stories, and is constantly cited by later authors and compilers. Juhiz held him to be the most learned scholar in all branches of human knowledge, and Ibn Hisbam accepted his interpretation even of passages in the Koran. The titles of 105 of his works are mentioned in the Fihrist, and his Book of Days is the basis of parts of the history of Ibn al-Athir and of the Book of Songs (see ABULFARAJ), but nothing of his (except a song) seems to exist now in an independent form. He is often described as a Kharijite. This, however, is true only in so far as he denied the privileged position of the Arab people before God. He was, however, a strong supporter of the Shu'ubite movement, i.e. the movement which protested against the idea of the superiority of the Arab race over all others. This is especially seen in his satires on Arabs (which made him so hated that no man followed his bier when he died). He delighted in showing that words, fables, customs, &c., which the Arabs believed to be peculiarly their own, were derived from the Persians. In these matters he was the great rival of Asma'i (q.v..) M`G. de Slane (Paris and London, 1842), vol. iii. pp. 388-398; also I. Goldziher's Muhammedanische Studien (Halle, 1888), vol. i. pp. 194-206. (G. W. T.)
ABYDOS, an ancient city of Mysia, in Asia Minor, situated at Nagara Point on the Hellespont, which is here scarcely a mile broad. It probably was originally a Thracian town, but was afterwards colonized by Milesians. Here Xerxes crossed the strait on his bridge of boats when he invaded Greece. Abydos is celebrated for the vigorous resistance it made against Philip V. of Macedon (200 B.C.), and is famed in story for the loves of Hero and Leander. The town remained till late Byzantine times the toll station of the Hellespont, its importance being transferred to the Dardanelles (q.v.), after the building of the ``Old Castles'' by Sultan Mahommed II. (c. 1456).
See Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage dans l'empire ottoman (Paris, 1842).
ABYDOS, one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, about 7 m. W. of the Nile in lat. 26 deg. 10' N. The Egyptian name was Abdu, ``the hill of the symbol or reliquary,'' in which the sacred head of Osiris was preserved. Thence the Greeks named it Abydos, like the city on the Hellespont; the modern Arabic name is Arabet el Madfuneh. The history of the city begins in the late prehistoric age, it having been founded by the pre-Menite kings (Petrie, Abydos, ii. 64), whose town, temple and tombs have been found there. The kings of the Ist dynasty, and some of the IInd dynasty, were also buried here, and the temple was renewed and enlarged by them. Great forts were built on the desert behind the town by three kings of the IInd dynasty. The temple and town continued to be rebuilt at intervals down to the times of the XXXth dynasty, and the cemetery was used continuously. In the XIIth dynasty a gigantic tomb was cut in the rock by Senwosri (or Senusert) III. Seti I. in the XIXth dynasty founded a great new temple to the south of the town in honour of the ancestral kings of the early dynasties; this was finished by Rameses (or Ramessu) II., who also built a lesser temple of his own. Mineptah (Merenptah) added a great Hypogeum of Osiris to the temple of Seti. The latest building was a new temple of Nekhtnebf in the XXXth dynasty. From the Ptolemaic times the place continued to decay and no later works are known (Petrie, Abydos, i. and ii.).
The worship here was of the jackal god Upuaut (Ophols, Wepwoi), who ``opened the way'' to the realm of the dead, increasing from the Ist dynasty to the time of the XIIth dynasty and then disappearing after the XVIIIth. Anher appears in the XIth dynasty; and Khentamenti, the god of the western Hades, rises to importance in the middle kingdom and then vanishes in the XVIIIth. The worship here of Osiris in his various forms begins in the XIIth dynasty and becomes more important in later times, so that at last the whole place was considered as sacred to him (Abydos, ii. 47).
The temples successively built here on one site were nine or ten in number, from the Ist dynasty, 5500 B.C. to the XXVIth dynasty, 500 B.C.. The first was an enclosure, about 30X 50 ft., surrounded by a thin wall of unbaked bricks. Covering one wall of this came the second temple of about 40 ft. square in a wall about 10 ft. thick. An outer temenos (enclosure) wall surrounded the ground. This outer wall was thickened about the IInd or IIIrd dynasty. The old temple entirely vanished in the IVth dynasty, and a smaller building was erected behind it, enclosing a wide hearth of black ashes. Pottery models of offerings are found in the ashes, and these were probably the substitutes for sacrifices decreed by Cheops (Khufu) in his temple reforms. A great clearance of temple offerings was made now, or earlier, and a chamber full of them has yielded the fine ivory carvings and the glazed figures and tiles which show the splendid work of the Ist dynasty. A vase of Menes with purple inlaid hieroglyphs in green glaze and the tiles with relief figures are the most important pieces. The noble statuette of Cheops in ivory, found in the stone chamber of the temple, gives the only portrait of this greatest ruler. The temple was rebuilt entirely on a larger scale by Pepi I. in the VIth dynasty. He placed a great stone gateway to the temenos, an outer temenos wall and gateway, with a colonnade between the gates. His temple was about 40X50 ft. inside, with stone gateways front and back, showing that it was of the processional type. In the XIth dynasty Menthotp (Mentuhotep) III. added a colonnade and altars. Soon after, Sankhkere entirely rebuilt the temple, laying a stone pavement over the area, about 45 ft. square, besides subsidiary chambers. Soon after Senwosri (Senusert) I. in the XIIth dynasty laid massive foundations of stone over the pavement of his predecessor. A great temenos was laid out enclosing a much larger area, and the temple itself was about three times the earlier size. .
The XVIIIth dynasty began with a large chapel of Amasis (Ahmosi, Aahmes) I., and then Tethmosis (Thothmes, Tahutmes) III. built a far larger temple, about 130X200 ft. He made also a processional way past the side of the temple to the cemetery beyond, with a great gateway of granite. Rameses III. added a large building; and Amasis II. in the XXVIth dynasty rebuilt the temple again, and placed in it a large monolith shrine of red granite, finely wrought. The foundations of the successive temples were comprised within about 18 ft. depth of ruins; these needed the closest examination to discriminate the various buildings, and were recorded by over 4000 measurements and 1000 levellings (Petrie, Abydos, ii.).
The temple of Seti I. was built on entirely new ground half a mile to the south of the long series of temples just described. This is the building best known as the Great Temple of Abydos, being nearly complete and an impressive sight. A principal object of it was the adoration of the early kings, whose cemetery, to which it forms a great funerary chapel, lies behind it. The long list of the kings of the principal dynasties carved on a wall is known as the ``Table of Abydos.'' There were also seven chapels for the worship of the king and principal gods. At the back were large chambers connected with the Osiris worship (Caulfield, Temple of the Kings); and probably from these led out the great Hypogeum for the celebration of the Osiris mysteries, built by Mineptah (Murray, Osireion.) The temple was originally 550 ft. long, but the forecourts are scarcely recognizable, and the part in good state is about 250 ft. long and 350 ft. wide, including the wing at the side. Excepting the list of kings and a panegyric on Rameses II., the subjects are not historical but mythological. The work is celebrated for its delicacy and refinement, but lacks the life and character of that in earlier ages. The sculptures have been mostly published in hand copy, not facsimile, by Mariette in his Abydos, i. The adjacent temple of Rameses II. was much smaller and simpler in plan; but it had a fine historical series of scenes around the outside, of which the lower parts remain. A list of kings, similar to that of Seti, formerly stood here; but the fragments were removed by the French consul and sold to the British Museum.