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Chapter 4
Volume III (part 2)
Badeni after the election sent in his resignation, but the emperor refused to accept it, and he had, therefore, to do the best he could and turn for support to the other nationalities. The strongest of them were the fifty-nine Poles and sixty Young Czechs; he therefore attempted, as Taaffe had done, to come to some agreement with them. The Poles were always ready to support the government; among the Young Czechs the more moderate had already attempted to restrain the wilder spirits of the party, and they were quite prepared to enter into negotiations. They did not wish to lose the opportunity which now was open to them of winning influence over the administration. What they required was further concession as to the language in Bohemia. In May 1897 Badeni, therefore, published his celebrated ordinances. They determined (1) that all correspondence and documents regarding every matter brought before the government officials should be conducted in the language in which it was first introduced. This applied to the whole of Bohemia, and meant the introduction of Czech into the government offices throughout the whole of the kingdom; (2) after 1903 no one was to be appointed to a post under the government in Bohemia until he had passed an examination in Czech. These ordinances fulfilled the worst fears of the Germans. The German Nationalists and Radicals declared that no business should be done till they were repealed and Badeni dismissed. They resorted to obstruction. They brought in repeated motions to impeach the ministers, and parliament had to be prorogued in June, although no business of any kind had been transacted. Badeni had not anticipated the effect his ordinances would have; as a Pole he had little experience in the western part of the empire. During the recess he tried to open negotiations, but the Germans refused even to enter into a discussion until the ordinances had been withdrawn. The agitation spread throughout the country; great meetings were held at Eger and Aussig, which were attended by Germans from across the frontier, and led to serious disturbances; the cornflower, which had become the symbol of German nationality and union with Germany, was freely worn, and the language used was in many cases treasonable. The emperor insisted that the Reichsrath should again be summoned to pass the necessary measures for the agreement with Hungary; scenes then took place which have no parallel in parliamentary history. To meet the obstruction it was determined to sit at night, but this was unsuccessful. On one occasion Dr Lecher, one of the representatives of Moravia, spoke for twelve hours, from 9 P.M. till 9 A.M., against the Ausgleich. The opposition was not always limited to feats of endurance of this kind. On the 3rd of November there was a free fight in the House; it arose from a quarrel between Dr Lueger and the Christian Socialists on the one side (for the Christian Socialists had supported the government since the confirmation of Lueger as burgomaster) and the German Nationalists under Herr Wolf, a German from Bohemia, the violence of whose language had already caused Badeni to challenge him to a duel. The Nationalists refused to allow Lueger to speak, clapping their desks, hissing and making other noises, till at last the Young Czechs attempted to prevent the disorder by violence. On the 24th of November the scenes of disturbance were renewed. The president, Herr v. Abrahamovitch, an Armenian from Galicia, refused to call on Schönerer to speak. The Nationalists therefore stormed the platform, and the president and ministers had to fly into their private rooms to escape personal violence, until the Czechs came to their rescue, and by superiority in numbers and physical strength severely punished Herr Wolf and his friends. The rules of the House giving the president no authority for maintaining order, he determined, with the assent of the ministers, to propose alterations in procedure. The next day, when the sitting began, one of the ministers, Count Falkenhayn, a Clerical who was very unpopular, moved "That any member who continued to disturb a sitting after being twice called to order could be suspended—for three days by the president, and for thirty days by the House." The din and uproar was such that not a word could be heard, but at a pre-arranged signal from the president all the Right rose, and he then declared that the new order had been carried, although the procedure of the House required that it should be submitted to a committee. The next day, at the beginning of the sitting, the Socialists rushed on the platform, tore up and destroyed all the papers lying there, seized the president, and held him against the wall. After he had escaped, eighty police were introduced into the House and carried out the fourteen Socialists. The next day Herr Wolf was treated in the same manner. The excitement spread to the street. Serious disorders took place in Vienna and in Graz; the German opposition had the support of the people, and Lueger warned the ministers that as burgomaster he would be unable to maintain order in Vienna; even the Clerical Germans showed signs of deserting the government. The emperor, hastily summoned to Vienna, accepted Badeni's resignation, the Germans having thus by obstruction attained part of their wishes. The new minister, Gautsch, a man popular with all parties, held office for three months; he proclaimed the budget and the Ausgleich, and in February replaced the language ordinances by others, under which Bohemia was to be divided into three districts—one Czech, one German and one mixed. The Germans, however, were not satisfied with this; they demanded absolute repeal. The Czechs also were offended; they arranged riots at Prague; the professors in the university refused to lecture unless the German students were defended from violence; Gautsch resigned, and Thun, who had been governor of Bohemia, was appointed minister. Martial law was proclaimed in Bohemia, and strictly enforced. Thun then arranged with the Hungarian ministers a compromise about the Ausgleich.
The Reichsrath was again summoned, and the meetings were less disturbed than in the former year, but the Germans still prevented any business from being done. The Germans now had a new cause of complaint. Paragraph 14 of the Constitutional law of 1867 provided that, in cases of pressing necessity, orders for which the assent of the Reichsrath was required might, if the Reichsrath were not in session, be proclaimed by the emperor; they had to be signed by the whole ministry, and if they were not laid before the Reichsrath within four months of its meeting, or if they did not receive the approval of both Houses, they ceased to be valid. The Germans contended that the application of this clause to the Ausgleich was invalid, and demanded that it should be repealed. Thun had in consequence to retire, in September 1899. His successor, Count Clary, began by withdrawing the ordinances which had been the cause of so much trouble, but it was now too late to restore peace. The Germans were not sufficiently strong and united to keep in power a minister who had brought them the relief for which they had been clamouring for two years. The Czechs, of course, went into opposition, and used obstruction. The extreme German party, however, took the occasion to demand that paragraph 14 should be repealed. Clary explained that this was impossible, but he gave a formal pledge that he would not use it. The Czechs, however, prevented him passing a law on excise which was a necessary part of the agreements with Hungary; it was, therefore, impossible for him to carry on the government without breaking his word; there was nothing left for him to do but to resign, after holding office for less than three months. The emperor then appointed a ministry of officials, who were not bound by his pledge, and used paragraph 14 for the necessary purposes of state. They then made way for a ministry under Herr v. Körber. During the early months of 1900 matters were more peaceful, and Körber hoped to be able to arrange a compromise; but the Czechs now demanded the restoration of their language in the internal service of Bohemia, and on 8th June, by noise and disturbance, obliged the president to suspend the sitting. The Reichsrath was immediately dissolved, the emperor having determined to make a final attempt to get together a parliament with which it would be possible to govern. The new elections on which so much was to depend did not take place till January 1901. They resulted in a great increase of the extreme German Nationalist parties. Schönerer and the German Radicals—the fanatical German party who in their new programme advocated union of German Austria with the German empire—now numbered twenty-one, who chiefly came from Bohemia. They were able for the first time to procure the election of one of their party in the Austrian Delegation, and threatened to introduce into the Assembly scenes of disorder similar to those which they had made common in the Reichsrath. All those parties which did not primarily appeal to national feeling suffered loss; especially was this the case with the two sections of the Clericals, the Christian Socialists and the Ultramontanes; and the increasing enmity between the German Nationalists (who refused even the name German to a Roman Catholic) and the Church became one of the most conspicuous features in the political situation. The loss of seats by the Socialists showed that even among the working men the national agitation was gaining ground; the diminished influence of the anti-Semites was the most encouraging sign.
Notwithstanding the result of the elections, the first months of the new parliament passed in comparative peace. There was a truce between the nationalities. The Germans were more occupied with their opposition to the Clericals than with their feud with the Slavs. The Czechs refrained from obstruction, for they did not wish to forfeit the alliance with the Poles and Conservatives, on which their parliamentary strength depended, and the Germans used the opportunity to pass measures for promoting the material prosperity of the country, especially for an important system of canals which would bring additional prosperity to the coal-fields and manufactures of Bohemia.
(J. W. He.)
The history of Austria since the general election of 1901 is the history of franchise reform as a crowning attempt to restore parliament to normal working conditions. The premier, Dr von Körber, who had undertaken to overcome obstruction and who hoped to effect a compromise between Germans and Czechs, induced the Chamber to sanction the estimates, the contingent of recruits and other "necessities of state" for 1901 and 1902, by promising to undertake large public works in which Czechs and Germans were alike interested. These public works were chiefly a canal from the Danube to the Oder; a ship canal from the Danube to the Moldau near Budweis, and the canalization of the Moldau from Budweis to Prague; a ship canal running from the projected Danube-Oder canal near Prerau to the Elbe near Pardubitz, and the canalization of the Elbe from Pardubitz to Melnik; a navigable connexion between the Danube-Oder Canal and the Vistula and the Dniester. It was estimated that the construction of these four canals would require twenty years, the funds being furnished by a 4% loan amortizable in ninety years. In addition to the canals, the cabinet proposed and the Chamber sanctioned the construction of a "second railway route to Trieste" designed to shorten the distance between South Germany, Salzburg and the Adriatic, by means of a line passing under the Alpine ranges of central and southern Austria. The principal sections of this line were named after the ranges they pierced, the chief tunnels being bored through the Tauern, Karawanken and Wochein hills. Sections were to be thrown open to traffic as soon as completed and the whole work to be ended during 1909. The line forms one of the most interesting railway routes in Europe. The cost, however, greatly exceeded the estimate sanctioned by parliament; and the contention that the parliamentary adoption of the Budget in 1901-1902 cost the state £100,000,000 for public works, is not entirely unfounded. True, these works were in most cases desirable and in some cases necessary, but they were hastily promised and often hastily begun under pressure of political expediency. The Körber administration was for this reason subsequently exposed to severe censure.
Despite these public works Dr von Körber found himself unable to induce parliament to vote the Budgets for 1903, 1904 or 1905, and was obliged to revert to the expedient employed by his predecessors of sanctioning the estimates by imperial ordinance under paragraph 14 of the constitution. His attempts in December 1902 and January 1903 to promote a compromise between Czechs and Germans proved equally futile. Körber proposed that Bohemia be divided into 10 districts, of which 5 would be Czech, 3 German and 2 mixed. Of the 234 district tribunals, 133 were to be Czech, 94 German and 7 mixed. The Czechs demanded on the contrary that both their language and German should be placed on an equal footing throughout Bohemia, and be used for all official purposes in the same way. As this demand involved the recognition of Czech as a language of internal service in Bohemia it was refused by the Germans. Thenceforward, until his fall on the 31st of December 1904, Körber governed practically without parliament. The Chamber was summoned at intervals rather as a pretext for the subsequent employment of paragraph 14 than in the hope of securing its assent to legislative measures. The Czechs blocked business by a pile of "urgency motions" and occasionally indulged in noisy obstruction. On one occasion a sitting lasted 57 hours without interruption. In consequence of Czech aggressiveness, the German parties (the German Progressists, the German Populists, the Constitutional Landed Proprietors and the Christian Socialists) created a joint executive committee and a supreme committee of four members to watch over German racial interests.
By the end of 1904 it had become clear that the system of government by paragraph 14, which Dr von Körber had perfected was not effective in the long run. Loans were needed for military and other purposes, and paragraph 14 itself declares that it cannot be employed for the contraction of any lasting burden upon the exchequer, nor for any sale of state patrimony. As the person of the premier had become so obnoxious to the Czechs that his removal would be regarded by them as a concession, his resignation was suddenly accepted by the emperor, and, on the 1st of January 1905, a former premier, Baron von Gautsch, was appointed in his stead. Parliamentary activity was at once resumed; the Austro-Hungarian tariff contained in the Széll-Körber compact was adopted, the estimates were discussed and the commercial treaty with Germany ratified. In the early autumn, however, a radical change came over the spirit of Austrian politics. For nearly three years Austria had been watching with bitterness and depression the course of the crisis in Hungary. Parliament had repeatedly expressed its disapproval of the Magyar demands upon the crown, but had succeeded only in demonstrating its own impotence. The feeling that Austria could be compelled by imperial ordinance under paragraph 14 to acquiesce in whatever concessions the crown might make to Hungary galled Austrian public opinion and prepared it for coming changes. In August 1905 the crown took into consideration and in September sanctioned the proposal that universal suffrage be introduced into the official programme of the Fejérváry cabinet then engaged in combating the Coalition in Hungary. It is not to be supposed that the king of Hungary assented to this programme without reflecting that what he sought to further in Hungary, it would be impossible for him, as emperor of Austria, to oppose in Cisleithania. His subsequent action justifies, indeed, the belief that, when sanctioning the Fejérváry programme, the monarch had already decided that universal suffrage should be introduced in Austria; but even he can scarcely have been prepared for the rapidity with which the movement in Austria gained ground and accomplished its object.
On the 15th of September 1905 a huge socialist and working-class demonstration in favour of universal suffrage took place before the parliament at Budapest. The Austrian Socialist party, encouraged by this manifestation and influenced by the revolutionary movement in Russia, resolved to press for franchise reform in Austria also. An initial demonstration, resulting in some bloodshed, was organized in Vienna at the beginning of November. At Prague, Graz and other towns, demonstrations and collisions with the police were frequent. The premier, Baron Gautsch, who had previously discountenanced universal suffrage while admitting the desirability of a restricted reform, then changed attitude and permitted an enormous Socialist demonstration, in support of universal suffrage, to take place (November 28) in the Vienna Ringstrasse. Traffic was suspended for five hours while an orderly procession of workmen, ten abreast, marched silently along the Ringstrasse past the houses of parliament. The demonstration made a deep impression upon public opinion. On the same day the premier promised to introduce by February a large measure of franchise reform so framed as to protect racial minorities from being overwhelmed at the polls by majorities of other races. On the 23rd of February 1906 he indeed brought in a series of franchise reform measures. Their main principles were the abolition of the curia or electoral class system and the establishment of the franchise on the basis of universal suffrage; and the division of Austria electorally into racial compartments within which each race would be assured against molestation from other races. The Gautsch redistribution bill proposed to increase the number of constituencies from 425 to 455, to allot a fixed number of constituencies to each province and, within each province, to each race according to its numbers and tax-paying capacity. The reform bill proper proposed to enfranchise every male citizen above 24 years of age with one year's residential qualification.
At first the chances of the adoption of such a measure seemed small. It was warmly supported from outside by the Social Democrats, who held only 11 seats in the House; inside, the Christian Socialists or Lueger party were favourable on the whole as they hoped to gain seats at the expense of the German Progressives and German Populists and to extend their own organization throughout the empire. The Young Czechs, too, were favourable, while the Poles reserved their attitude. Hostile in principle and by instinct, they waited to ascertain the mind of the emperor, before actively opposing the reform. With the exception of the German Populists who felt that a German "Liberal" party could not well oppose an extension of popular rights, all the German Liberals were antagonistic, some bitterly, to the measure. The Constitutional Landed Proprietors who had played so large a part in Austrian politics since the 'sixties, and had for a generation held the leadership of the German element in parliament and in the country, saw themselves doomed and the leadership of the Germans given to the Christian Socialists. None of the representatives of the curia system fought so tenaciously for their privileges as did the German nominees of the curia of large landed proprietors. Their opposition proved unavailing. The emperor frowned repeatedly upon their efforts.
Baron Gautsch fell in April over a difference with the Poles, and his successor, Prince Konrad zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, who had taken over the reform bills, resigned also, six weeks later, as a protest against the action of the crown in consenting to the enactment of a customs tariff in Hungary distinct from, though identical with, the joint Austro-Hungarian tariff comprised in the Széll-Körber compact and enacted as a joint tariff by the Reichsrath. A new cabinet was formed (June 2) by Baron von Beck, permanent under secretary of state in the ministry for agriculture, an official of considerable ability who had first acquired prominence as an instructor of the heir apparent, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, in constitutional and administrative law. By dint of skilful negotiation with the various parties and races, and steadily supported by the emperor who, on one occasion, summoned the recalcitrant party leaders to the Hofburg ad audiendum verbum and told them the reform "must be accomplished," Baron Beck succeeded, in October 1906, in attaining a final agreement, and on the 1st of December in securing the adoption of the reform. During the negotiations the number of constituencies was raised to 516, divided, according to provinces, as follows:—
Bohemia
130
previously
110
Galicia
106
78
Lower Austria
64
46
Moravia
49
43
Styria
30
27
Tirol
25
21
Upper Austria
22
20
Austrian Silesia
15
12
Bukovina
14
11
Carniola
12
11
Dalmatia
11
11
Carinthia
10
10
Salzburg
7
7
Istria
6
5
Görz and Gradisca
6
5
Trieste and territory
5
5
Vorarlberg
4
4
In the allotment of the constituencies to the various races their tax-paying capacity was taken into consideration. In mixed districts separate constituencies and registers were established for the electors of each race, who could only vote on their own register for a candidate of their own race. Thus Germans were obliged to vote for Germans and Czechs for Czechs; and, though there might be victories of Clerical over Liberal Germans or of Czech Radicals over Young Czechs, there could be no victories of Czechs over Germans, Poles over Ruthenes, or Slovenes over Italians. The constituencies were divided according to race as follows:—
Germans of all parties
233
previously
205
Czechs of all parties
108
81
Poles
80
71
Southern Slavs (Slovenes, Croats, Serbs)
37
27
Ruthenes
34
11
Italians
19
18
Rumanians
5
5
These allotments were slightly modified at the polls by the victory of some Social Democratic candidates not susceptible of strict racial classification. The chief feature of the allotment was, however, the formal overthrow of the fiction that Austria is preponderatingly a German country and not a country preponderatingly Slav with a German dynasty and a German façade. The German constituencies, though allotted in a proportion unduly favourable, left the Germans, with 233 seats, in a permanent minority as compared with the 259 Slav seats. Even with the addition of the "Latin" (Rumanian and Italian) seats the "German-Latin block" amounted only to 257. This "block" no longer exists in practice, as the Italians now tend to co-operate rather with the Slavs than with the Germans. The greatest gainers by the redistribution were the Ruthenes, whose representation was trebled, though it is still far from being proportioned to their numbers. This and other anomalies will doubtless be corrected in future revisions of the allotment, although the German parties, foreseeing that any revision must work out to their disadvantage, stipulated that a two-thirds majority should be necessary for any alteration of the law.
After unsuccessful attempts by the Upper House to introduce plural voting, the bill became law in January 1907, the peers insisting only upon the establishment of a fixed maximum number or numerus clausus, of non-hereditary peers, so as to prevent the resistance of the Upper Chamber from being overwhelmed at any critical moment by an influx of crown nominees appointed ad hoc. The general election which took place amid considerable enthusiasm on the 14th of May resulted in a sweeping victory for the Social Democrats whose number rose from 11 to 87; in a less complete triumph for the Christian Socialists who increased from 27 to 67; and in the success of the extremer over the conservative elements in all races. A classification of the groups in the new Chamber presents many difficulties, but the following statement is approximately accurate. It must be premised that, in order to render the Christian Socialist or Lueger party the strongest group in parliament, an amalgamation was effected between them and the conservative Catholic party:—
German Conservatives—
Total.
Christian Socialists
96
German Agrarians
19
German Liberals—
Progressives
15
Populists
29
Pan-German radicals (Wolf group)
13
Unattached Pan-Germans
3
" Progressives
2
Czechs—
177
Czech Agrarians
28
Young Czechs
18
Czech Clericals
17
Old Czechs
7
Czech National Socialists
9
Realists
2
Unattached Czech
1
Social Democrats—
82
Of all races
87
87
Poles—
Democrats
26
Conservatives
15
Populists
18
Centre
12
Independent Socialist
1
Ruthenes—
72
National Democrats
25
Old or Russophil Ruthenes
5
Slovenes—
30
Clericals
17
Southern Slav Club—
Croats
20
37
Serbs
Slovene Liberals
Italians—
Clerical Populists
11
Liberals
4
15
Rumanians—
Rumanian Club
5
5
Jews—
Zionists
4
Democrats
1
5
Unclassified, vacancies, &c
6
6
516
The legislature elected by universal suffrage worked fairly smoothly during the first year of its existence. The estimates were voted with regularity, racial animosity was somewhat less prominent, and some large issues were debated. The desire not to disturb the emperor's Diamond Jubilee year by untoward scenes doubtless contributed to calm political passion, and it was celebrated in 1908 with complete success. But it was no sooner over than the crisis over the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is dealt with above, eclipsed all purely domestic affairs in the larger European question.
(H. W. S.)
Bibliography.—1. Sources. A collection of early authorities on Austrian history was published in 3 vols. folio by Hieronymus Pez (Leipzig, 1721-1725) under the title Scriptores rerum Austriacarum veteres et genuini, of which a new edition was printed at Regensburg in 1745, and again, under the title of Rerum Austriacarum scriptores, by A. Rauch at Vienna in 1793-1794. It was not, however, till the latter half of the 19th century that the vast store of public and private archives began to be systematically exploited. Apart from the material published in the Monumenta Germ. Hist. of Pertz and his collaborators, there are several collections devoted specially to the sources of Austrian history. Of these the most notable is the Fontes rerum Austriacarum, published under the auspices of the Historical Commission of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Vienna; the series, of which the first volume was published in 1855, is divided into two parts: (i.) Scriptores, of which the 9th vol. appeared in 1904; (ii.) Diplomataria et Acta, of which the 58th vol. appeared in 1906. It covers the whole range of Austrian history, medieval and modern. Another collection is the Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte, Literatur und Sprache Österreichs und seiner Kronländer, edited by J. Hirn and J. E. Wackernagel (Graz, 1895, &c.), of which vol. x. appeared in 1906. Besides these there are numerous accounts and inventories of public and private archives, for which see Dahlmann-Waitz, Quellenkunde (ed. 1906), pp. 14-15, 43, and suppl. vol. (1907), pp. 4-5. Of collections of treaties the most notable is that of L. Neumann, Recueil des traités conclus par l'Autriche avec les puissances étrangères depuis 1763 (6 vols., Leipzig, 1855: c.), continued by A. de Plason (18 vols., Vienna, 1877-1905). In 1907, however, the Imperial Commission for the Modern History of Austria issued the first volume of a new series, Österreichische Staatsverträge, which promises to be of the utmost value. Like the Recueil des traités conclus par la Russie of T. T. de Martens, it is compiled on the principle of devoting separate volumes to the treaties entered into with the several states; this is obviously convenient as enabling the student to obtain a clear review of the relations of Austria to any particular state throughout the whole period covered. For treaties see also J. Freiherr von Vasque von Püttlingen, Übersicht der österreichischen Staatsverträge seit Maria Theresa bis auf die neueste Zeit (Vienna, 1868); and L. Bittner, Chronologisches Verzeichnis der österreichischen Staatsverträge (Band G, 1526-1723, Vienna, 1903).
2. Works.—(a) General. Archdeacon William Coxe's History of the House of Austria, 1218-1792 (3 vols., London, 1817), with its continuation by W. Kelly (London, 1853; new edition, 1873), remains the only general history of Austria in the English language. It has, of course, long been superseded as a result of the research indicated above. The amount of work that has been devoted to this subject since Coxe's time will be seen from the following list of books, which are given in the chronological order of their publication:—J. Majláth, Geschichte des österreichischen Kaiserstaates (5 vols., Hamburg, 1834-1850); Count F. von Hartig, Genesis der Revolution in Österreich im Jahre 1848 (Leipzig, 1851; 3rd edition, enlarged, ib., 1851; translated as appendix to Coxe's House of Austria, ed. 1853), a work which created a great sensation at the time and remains of much value; W. H. Stiles, Austria in 1848-1849 (2 vols., New York, 1852), by an eye-witness of events; M. Büdinger, Österreichische Gesch. bis zum Ausgange des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. i. to A.D. 1055 (Leipzig, 1858); A. Springer, Geschichte Österreichs seit dem Wiener Frieden, 1809 (2 vols. to 1849; Leipzig, 1863-1865); A. von Arneth, Geschichte Maria Theresias (10 vols., Vienna, 1863-1879); the series Österreichische Gesch. für das Volk, 17 vols., by various authors (Vienna, 1864, &c.), for which see Dahlmann-Waitz, p. 86; H. Bidermann, Gesch. der österreichischen Gesamtstaatsidee, 1526-1804, parts 1 and 2 to 1740 (Innsbruck, 1867, 1887); J. A. Freiherr von Helfert, Gesch. Österreichs vom Ausgange des Oktoberaufstandes, 1848, vols. i.-iv. (Leipzig and Prague, 1869-1889); W. Rogge, Österreich von Világos bis zur Gegenwart (3 vols., Leipzig and Vienna, 1872, 1873), and Österreich seit der Katastrophe Hohenwart-Beust (Leipzig, 1879), written from a somewhat violent German standpoint; Franz X. Krones (Ritter von Marchland), Handbuch der Gesch. Österreichs (5 vols., Berlin, 1876-1879), with copious references, Gesch. der Neuzeit Österreichs vom 18ten Jahrhundert bis auf die Gegenwart (Berlin, 1879), from the German-liberal point of view, and Grundriss der österreichischen Gesch. (Vienna, 1882); Baron Henry de Worms, The Austro-Hungarian Empire (London, 2nd ed., 1876); Louis Asseline, Histoire de l'Autriche depuis la mort de Marie Thérèse (Paris, 1877), sides with the Slavs against Germans and Magyars; Louis Leger, Hist. de l'Autriche-Hongrie (Paris, 1879), also strongly Slavophil; A. Wolf, Geschichtliche Bilder aus Österreich (2 vols., Vienna, 1878-1880), and Österreich unter Maria Theresia, Joseph II. und Leopold I. (Berlin, 1882); E. Wertheimer, Gesch. Österreichs und Ungarns im ersten Jahrzehnt des 19ten Jahrhunderts (2 vols., Leipzig, 1884-1890); A. Huber, Gesch. Österreichs, vols. i. to v. up to 1648 (in Heeren's Gesch. der europ. Staaten, Gotha, 1885-1895); J. Emmer, Kaiser Franz Joseph I., fünfzig Jahre österreichischer Gesch. (2 vols., Vienna, 1898); F. M. Mayer, Gesch. Österreichs mit besonderer Rücksicht auf das Kulturleben (2 vols. 2nd ed., Vienna, 1900-1901); A. Dopsch, Forschungen zur inneren Gesch. Österreichs, vol. i. 1 (Innsbruck, 1903); Louis Eisenmann, Le Compromis austro-hongrois de 1867 (Paris, 1904); H. Friedjung, Österreich von 1848 bis 1860 (Stuttgart, 1908 seq.); Geoffrey Drage, Austria-Hungary (London, 1909).
(b) Constitutional.—E. Werunsky, Österreichische Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte (Vienna, 1894, &c.); A. Bechmann, Lehrbuch der österreichischen Reichsgesch. (Prague, 1895-1896); A. Huber, Österreichische Reichsgesch. (Leipzig and Vienna, 1895, 2nd ed. by A. Dopsch, ib., 1901); A. Luschin von Ebengreuth, Österreichische Reichsgesch. (2 vols., Bamberg, 1895, 1896), a work of first-class importance; and Grundriss der österreichischen Reichsgesch. (Bamberg, 1899); G. Kolmer, Parlament und Verfassung in Österreich, vols. i. to iii. from 1848 to 1885 (Vienna, 1902-1905). For relations with Hungary see J. Andrássy, Ungarns Ausgleich mit Österreich, 1867 (Leipzig, 1897); L. Eisenmann, Le Compromis austro-hongrois de 1867 (Paris, 1904).
(c) Diplomatic.—A. Beer, Zehn Jahre österreichischer Politik, 1801-1810 (Leipzig, 1877), and Die orientalische Politik Österreichs seit 1774 (Prague and Leipzig, 1883); A. Fournier, Gentz und Cobenzl: Gesch. der öst. Politik in den Jahren 1801-1805 (Vienna, 1880); F. von Demelitsch, Metternich und seine auswärtige Politik, vol. i. (1809-1812, Stuttgart, 1898); H. Übersberger, Österreich und Russland seit dem Ende des 15ten Jahrhunderts, vol. i. 1488 to 1605 (Kommission für die neuere Gesch. Österreichs, Vienna, 1905). See further the bibliographies to the articles on Metternich, Gentz, &c. For the latest developments of the "Austrian question" see André Chéradame, L'Europe et la question d'Autriche au seuil du XXe siècle (Paris, 1901), and L'Allemagne, la France et la question d'Autriche (76, 1902); René Henry, Questions d'Autriche-Hongrie et question d'orient (Paris, 1903), with preface by Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu; "Scotus Viator," The Future of Austria-Hungary (London, 1907).
(d) Racial Question.—There is a very extensive literature on the question of languages and race in Austria. The best statement of the legal questions involved is in Josef Ulbrith and Ernst Mischler's Österr. Staatswörterbuch (3 vols., Vienna, 1894-1897; 2nd ed. 1904, &c.). See also Dummreicher, Südostdeutsche Betrachtungen (Leipzig, 1893); Hainisch, Die Zukunft der Deutsch-Österreicher (Vienna, 1892); Herkner, Die Zukunft der Deutsch-Österreicher (ib. 1893); L. Leger, La Save, le Danube et le Balkan (Paris, 1884); Bressnitz von Sydacoff, Die panslavistische Agitation (Berlin, 1899); Bertrand Auerbach, Les Races et les nationalités en Autriche-Hongrie (Paris, 1898).
(e) Biographical.—C. von Wurzbach, Biographisches Lexikon des Kaisertums Österreich (60 vols., Vienna, 1856-1891); also the Allgemeine deutsche Biographie.
Many further authorities, whether works, memoirs or collections of documents, are referred to in the lists appended to the articles in this book on the various Austrian sovereigns and statesmen. For full bibliography see Dahlmann-Waitz, Quellenkunde (ed. 1906, and subsequent supplements); many works, covering particular periods, are also enumerated in the bibliographies in the several volumes of the Cambridge Modern History.
(W. A. P.)
Rudolph V. as archduke of Austria, II. as emperor.
Thus, while the number of recruits, though varying from year to year, could be settled by the war department, the question of the claim of a single conscript for exemption, on grounds not recognized by precedent, could only be settled by imperial decree.
Forbidden books were the only ones read, and forbidden newspapers the only ones believed.
In Hungary the diet was not summoned at all between 1811 and 1825, nor in Transylvania between 1811 and 1834.
For the separate political histories of Austria and Hungary see the section on II. Austria Proper, below, and Hungary; the present section deals with the history of the whole monarchy as such.
Baron H. de Worms, The Austro-Hungarian Empire (London, 1876), and Beust's Memoirs.
See General Le Brun, Souvenirs militaires (1866-1870, Paris, 1895); also, Baron de Worms, op. cit., and the article on Beust.
Josef, Freiherr Philippović von Philippsberg (1818-1889), belonged to an old Christian noble family of Bosnia.
Sir Charles Dilke, The Present Position of European Politics (London, 1887).
Matlekovits, Die Zollpolitik der österreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie (Leipzig, 1891), gives the Hungarian point of view; Bazant, Die Handelspolitik Österreich-Ungarns (1875-1892, Leipzig, 1894).
The only change was that as the military frontier had been given over to Hungary, Hungary in consequence of this addition of territory had to pay 2%, the remaining 98% being divided as before, so that the real proportion was 31.4 and 68.6.
Alois, Count Lexa von Aerenthal, was born on the 27th of September 1854 at Gross-Skal in Bohemia, studied at Bonn and Prague, was attaché at Paris (1877) and afterwards at St Petersburg, envoy extraordinary at Bucharest (1895) and ambassador at St Petersburg (1896). He was created a count on the emperor's 79th birthday in 1909.
It is impossible to avoid using the word "Austria" to designate these territories, though it is probably incorrect. Officially the word "Austria" is not found, and though the sovereign is emperor of Austria, an Austrian empire appears not to exist; the territories are spoken of in official documents as "the kingdoms and lands represented in the Reichsrath." The Hungarians and the German party in Austria have expressed their desire that the word Austria should be used, but it has not been gratified. On the other hand, expressions such as "Austrian citizens," "Austrian law" are found. The reason of this peculiar use is probably twofold. On the one hand, a reluctance to confess that Hungary is no longer in any sense a part of Austria; on the other hand, the refusal of the Czechs to recognize that their country is part of Austria. Sometimes the word Erbländer, which properly is applied only to the older ancestral dominions of the house of Habsburg, is used for want of a better word.
The documents are printed in Baron de Worms, op. cit.
It is printed in the Europaischer Geschichtskalender (1868).
See Wirth, Geschichte der Handelskrisen (Frankfort, 1885); and an interesting article by Schäffle in the Zeitschrift f. Staatswissenschaft (Stuttgart, 1874).
For Dalmatia, see T. G. Jackson, Dalmatia &c., (Oxford, 1889).
On this see Menger, Der Ausgleich mit Böhmen (Vienna, 1891), where the documents are printed.
AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, WAR OF THE (1740-1748). This war began with the invasion of Silesia by Frederick II. of Prussia in 1740, and was ended by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) in 1748. After 1741 nearly all the powers of Europe were involved in the struggle, but the most enduring interest of the war lies in the struggle of Prussia and Austria for Silesia. Southwest Germany, the Low Countries and Italy were, as usual, the battle-grounds of France and Austria. The constant allies of France and Prussia were Spain and Bavaria; various other powers at intervals joined them. The cause of Austria was supported almost as a matter of course by England and Holland, the traditional enemies of France. Of Austria's allies from time to time Sardinia and Saxony were the most important.
1. Frederick's Invasion of Silesia, 1740.—Prussia in 1740 was a small, compact and thoroughly organized power, with an army 100,000 strong. The only recent war service of this army had been in the desultory Rhine campaign of 1733-35. It was therefore regarded as one of the minor armies of Europe, and few thought that it could rival the forces of Austria and France. But it was drilled to a perfection not hitherto attained, and the Prussian infantry soldier was so well trained and equipped that he could fire five shots to the Austrian's three, though the cavalry and artillery were less efficient. But the initial advantage of Frederick's army was that it had, undisturbed by wars, developed the standing army theory to full effect. While the Austrians had to wait for drafts to complete the field forces, Prussian regiments could take the field at once, and thus Frederick was able to overrun Silesia almost unopposed. His army was concentrated quietly upon the Oder, and without declaration of war, on the 16th of December 1740, it crossed the frontier into Silesia. The Austrian generals could do no more than garrison a few fortresses, and with the small remnant of their available forces fell back to the mountain frontier of Bohemia and Moravia. The Prussian army was soon able to go into winter quarters, holding all Silesia and investing the strong places of Glogau, Brieg and Neisse.
2. Silesian Campaign of 1741.—In February 1741, the Austrians collected a field army under Count Neipperg (1684-1774) and made preparations to reconquer Silesia. The Austrians in Neisse and Brieg still held out. Glogau, however, was stormed on the night of the 9th of March, the Prussians, under Prince Leopold (the younger) of Anhalt-Dessau, executing their task in one hour with a mathematical precision which excited universal admiration. But the Austrian army in Moravia was now in the field, and Frederick's cantonments were dispersed over all Upper Silesia. It was a work of the greatest difficulty to collect the army, for the ground was deep in snow, and before it was completed Neisse was relieved and the Prussians cut off from their own country by the march of Neipperg from Neisse on Brieg; a few days of slow manœuvring between these places ended in the battle of Mollwitz (10th April 1741), the first pitched battle fought by Frederick and his army. The Prussian right wing of cavalry was speedily routed, but the day was retrieved by the magnificent discipline and tenacity of the infantry. The Austrian cavalry was shattered in repeated attempts to ride them down, and before the Prussian volleys the Austrian infantry, in spite of all that Neipperg and his officers could do, gradually melted away. After a stubborn contest the Prussians remained masters of the field. Frederick himself was far away. He had fought in the cavalry mêlée, but after this, when the battle seemed lost, he had been persuaded by Field Marshal Schwerin to ride away. Schwerin thus, like Marshal Saxe at Fontenoy, remained behind to win the victory, and the king narrowly escaped being captured by wandering Austrian hussars. The immediate result of the battle was that the king secured Brieg, and Neipperg fell back to Neisse, where he maintained himself and engaged in a war of manœuvre during the summer. But Europe realized suddenly that a new military power had arisen, and France sent Marshal Belleisle to Frederick's camp to negotiate an alliance. Thenceforward the "Silesian adventure" became the War of the Austrian Succession. The elector of Bavaria's candidature for the imperial dignity was to be supported by a French "auxiliary" army, and other French forces were sent to observe Hanover. Saxony was already watched by a Prussian army under Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, the "old Dessauer," who had trained the Prussian army to its present perfection. The task of Sweden was to prevent Russia from attacking Prussia, but her troops were defeated, on the 3rd of September 1741, at Wilmanstrand by a greatly superior Russian army, and in 1742 another great reverse was sustained in the capitulation of Helsingfors. In central Italy an army of Neapolitans and Spaniards was collected for the conquest of the Milanese.
3. The Allies in Bohemia.—The French duly joined the elector's forces on the Danube and advanced on Vienna; but the objective was suddenly changed, and after many countermarches the allies advanced, in three widely-separated corps, on Prague. A French corps moved via Amberg and Pilsen. The elector marched on Budweis, and the Saxons (who had now joined the allies) invaded Bohemia by the Elbe valley. The Austrians could at first offer little resistance, but before long a considerable force intervened at Tabor between the Danube and the allies, and Neipperg was now on the march from Neisse to join in the campaign. He had made with Frederick the curious agreement of Klein Schnellendorf (9th October 1741), by which Neisse was surrendered after a mock siege, and the Austrians undertook to leave Frederick unmolested in return for his releasing Neipperg's army for service elsewhere. At the same time the Hungarians, moved to enthusiasm by the personal appeal of Maria Theresa, had put into the field a levée en masse, or "insurrection," which furnished the regular army with an invaluable force of light troops. A fresh army was collected under Field Marshal Khevenhüller at Vienna, and the Austrians planned an offensive winter campaign against the Franco-Bavarian forces in Bohemia and the small Bavarian army that remained on the Danube to defend the electorate. The French in the meantime had stormed Prague on the 26th of November, the grand-duke Francis, consort of Maria Theresa, who commanded the Austrians in Bohemia, moving too slowly to save the fortress. The elector of Bavaria, who now styled himself archduke of Austria, was crowned king of Bohemia (19th December 1741) and elected to the imperial throne as Charles VII. (24th January 1742), but no active measures were undertaken. In Bohemia the month of December was occupied in mere skirmishes. On the Danube, Khevenhüller, the best general in the Austrian service, advanced on the 27th of December, swiftly drove back the allies, shut them up in Linz, and pressed on into Bavaria. Munich itself surrendered to the Austrians on the coronation day of Charles VII. At the close of this first act of the campaign the French, under the old Marshal de Broglie, maintained a precarious foothold in central Bohemia, menaced by the main army of the Austrians, and Khevenhüller was ranging unopposed in Bavaria, while Frederick, in pursuance of his secret obligations, lay inactive in Silesia. In Italy the allied Neapolitans and Spaniards had advanced towards Modena, the duke of which state had allied himself with them, but the vigilant Austrian commander Count Traun had outmarched them, captured Modena, and forced the duke to make a separate peace.
4. Campaign of 1742.—Frederick had hoped by the truce to secure Silesia, for which alone he was fighting. But with the successes of Khevenhüller and the enthusiastic "insurrection" of Hungary, Maria Theresa's opposition became firmer, and she divulged the provisions of the truce, in order to compromise Frederick with his allies. The war recommenced. Frederick had not rested on his laurels; in the uneventful summer campaign of 1741 he had found time to begin that reorganization of his cavalry which was before long to make it even more efficient than his infantry. Charles VII., whose territories were overrun by the Austrians, asked him to create a diversion by invading Moravia. In December 1741, therefore, Schwerin had crossed the border and captured Olmütz. Glatz also was invested, and the Prussian army was concentrated about Olmütz in January 1742. A combined plan of operations was made by the French, Saxons and Prussians for the rescue of Linz. But Linz soon fell; Broglie on the Moldau, weakened by the departure of the Bavarians to oppose Khevenhüller, and of the Saxons to join forces with Frederick, was in no condition to take the offensive, and large forces under Prince Charles of Lorraine lay in his front from Budweis to Iglau. Frederick's march was made towards Iglau in the first place. Brünn was invested about the same time (February), but the direction of the march was changed, and instead of moving against Prince Charles, Frederick pushed on southwards by Znaim and Nikolsburg. The extreme outposts of the Prussians appeared before Vienna. But Frederick's advance was a mere foray, and Prince Charles, leaving a screen of troops in front of Broglie, marched to cut off the Prussians from Silesia, while the Hungarian levies poured into Upper Silesia by the Jablunka Pass. The Saxons, discontented and demoralized, soon marched off to their own country, and Frederick with his Prussians fell back by Zwittau and Leutomischl to Kuttenberg in Bohemia, where he was in touch with Broglie on the one hand and (Glatz having now surrendered) with Silesia on the other. No defence of Olmütz was attempted, and the small Prussian corps remaining in Moravia fell back towards Upper Silesia. Prince Charles, in pursuit of the king marched by Iglau and Teutsch (Deutsch) Brod on Kuttenberg, and on the 17th of May was fought the battle of Chotusitz or Czaslau, in which after a severe struggle the king was victorious. His cavalry on this occasion retrieved its previous failure, and its conduct gave an earnest of its future glory not only by its charges on the battlefield, but its vigorous pursuit of the defeated Austrians. Almost at the same time Broglie fell upon a part of the Austrians left on the Moldau and won a small, but morally and politically important, success in the action of Sahay, near Budweis (May 24, 1742). Frederick did not propose another combined movement. His victory and that of Broglie disposed Maria Theresa to cede Silesia in order to make good her position elsewhere, and the separate peace between Prussia and Austria, signed at Breslau on the 11th of June, closed the First Silesian War. The War of the Austrian Succession continued.
5. The French at Prague.—The return of Prince Charles, released by the peace of Breslau, put an end to Broglie's offensive. The prince pushed back the French posts everywhere, and his army converged upon Prague, where, towards the end of June 1742, the French were to all intents and purposes surrounded. Broglie had made the best resistance possible with his inferior forces, and still displayed great activity, but his position was one of great peril. The French government realized at last that it had given its general inadequate forces. The French army on the lower Rhine, hitherto in observation of Hanover and other possibly hostile states, was hurried into Franconia. Prince Charles at once raised the siege of Prague (September 14), called up Khevenhüller with the greater part of the Austrian army on the Danube, and marched towards Amberg to meet the new opponent. Marshal Maillebois (1682-1762), its commander, then manœuvred from Amberg towards the Eger valley, to gain touch with Broglie. Marshal Belleisle, the political head of French affairs in Germany and a very capable general, had accompanied Broglie throughout, and it seems that Belleisle and Broglie believed that Maillebois' mission was to regain a permanent foothold for the army in Bohemia; Maillebois, on the contrary, conceived that his work was simply to disengage the army of Broglie from its dangerous position, and to cover its retreat. His operations were no more than a demonstration, and had so little effect that Broglie was sent for in haste to take over the command from him, Belleisle at the same time taking over charge of the army at Prague. Broglie's command was now on the Danube, east of Regensburg, and the imperial (chiefly Bavarian) army of Charles VII. under Seckendorf aided him to clear Bavaria of the Austrians. This was effected with ease, for Khevenhüller and most of his troops had gone to Bohemia. Prince Charles and Khevenhüller now took post between Linz and Passau, leaving a strong force to deal with Belleisle in Prague. This, under Prince Lobkowitz, was little superior in numbers or quality to the troops under Belleisle, under whom served Saxe and the best of the younger French generals, but its light cavalry swept the country clear of provisions. The French were quickly on the verge of starvation, winter had come, and the marshal resolved to retreat. On the night of the 16th of December 1742, the army left Prague to be defended by a small garrison under Chevert, and took the route of Eger. The retreat (December 16-26) was accounted a triumph of generalship, but the weather made it painful and costly. The brave Chevert displayed such confidence that the Austrians were glad to allow him freedom to join the main army. The cause of the new emperor was now sustained only in the valley of the Danube, where Broglie and Seckendorf opposed Prince Charles and Khevenhüller, who were soon joined by the force lately opposing Belleisle.
In Italy, Traun held his own with ease against the Spaniards and Neapolitans. Naples was forced by a British squadron to withdraw her troops for home defence, and Spain, now too weak to advance in the Po valley, sent a second army to Italy via France. Sardinia had allied herself with Austria, and at the same time neither state was at war with France, and this led to curious complications, combats being fought in the Isère valley between the troops of Sardinia and of Spain, in which the French took no part.
6. The Campaign of 1743 opened disastrously for the emperor. The French and Bavarian armies were not working well together, and Broglie and Seckendorf had actually quarrelled. No connected resistance was offered to the converging march of Prince Charles's army along the Danube, Khevenhüller from Salzburg towards southern Bavaria, and Prince Lobkowitz (1685-1755) from Bohemia towards the Naab. The Bavarians suffered a severe reverse near Braunau (May 9, 1743), and now an Anglo-allied army commanded by King George II., which had been formed on the lower Rhine on the withdrawal of Maillebois, was advancing southward to the Main and Neckar country. A French army, under Marshal Noailles, was being collected on the middle Rhine to deal with this new force. But Broglie was now in full retreat, and the strong places of Bavaria surrendered one after the other to Prince Charles. The French and Bavarians had been driven almost to the Rhine when Noailles and the king came to battle. George, completely outmanœuvred by his veteran antagonist, was in a position of the greatest danger between Aschaffenburg and Hanau in the defile formed by the Spessart Hills and the river Main. Noailles blocked the outlet and had posts all around, but the allied troops forced their way through and inflicted heavy losses on the French, and the battle of Dettingen is justly reckoned as a notable victory of the British arms (June 27). Both Broglie, who, worn out by age and exertions, was soon replaced by Marshal Coigny (1670-1759), and Noailles were now on the strict defensive behind the Rhine. Not a single French soldier remained in Germany, and Prince Charles prepared to force the passage of the great river in the Breisgau while the king of England moved forward via Mainz to co-operate by drawing upon himself the attention of both the French marshals. The Anglo-allied army took Worms, but after several unsuccessful attempts to cross, Prince Charles went into winter quarters. The king followed his example, drawing in his troops to the northward, to deal, if necessary, with the army which the French were collecting on the frontier of Flanders. Austria, England, Holland and Sardinia were now allied. Saxony changed sides, and Sweden and Russia neutralized each other (peace of Abo, August 1743). Frederick was still quiescent; France, Spain and Bavaria alone continued actively the struggle against Maria Theresa.
In Italy, the Spaniards on the Panaro had achieved a Pyrrhic victory over Traun at Campo Santo (February 8, 1743), but the next six months were wasted in inaction, and Lobkowitz, joining Traun with reinforcements from Germany, drove back the enemy to Rimini. The Spanish-Piedmontese war in the Alps continued without much result, the only incident of note being a combat at Casteldelfino won by the king of Sardinia in person.
7. Campaign of 1744.—With 1744 began the Second Silesian War. Frederick, disquieted by the universal success of the Austrian cause, secretly concluded a fresh alliance with Louis XV. France had posed hitherto as an auxiliary, her officers in Germany had worn the Bavarian cockade, and only with England was she officially at war. She now declared war direct upon Austria and Sardinia (April 1744). A corps was assembled at Dunkirk to support the cause of the Pretender in Great Britain, and Louis in person, with 90,000 men, prepared to invade the Austrian Netherlands, and took Menin and Ypres. His presumed opponent was the allied army previously under King George and now composed of English, Dutch, Germans and Austrians. On the Rhine, Coigny was to make head against Prince Charles, and a fresh army under the prince de Conti was to assist the Spaniards in Piedmont and Lombardy. This plan was, however, at once dislocated by the advance of Charles, who, assisted by the veteran Traun, skilfully manœuvred his army over the Rhine near Philipsburg (July 1), captured the lines of Weissenburg, and cut off the French marshal from Alsace. Coigny, however, cut his way through the enemy at Weissenburg and posted himself near Strassburg. Louis XV. now abandoned the invasion of Flanders, and his army moved down to take a decisive part in the war in Alsace and Lorraine. At the same time Frederick crossed the Austrian frontier (August).
The attention and resources of Austria were fully occupied, and the Prussians were almost unopposed. One column passed through Saxony, another through Lusatia, while a third advanced from Silesia. Prague, the objective, was reached on the 2nd of September. Six days later the Austrian garrison was compelled to surrender, and the Prussians advanced to Budweis. Maria Theresa once again rose to the emergency, a new "insurrection" took the field in Hungary, and a corps of regulars was assembled to cover Vienna, while the diplomatists won over Saxony to the Austrian side. Prince Charles withdrew from Alsace, unmolested by the French, who had been thrown into confusion by the sudden and dangerous illness of Louis XV. at Metz. Only Seckendorf with the Bavarians pursued him. No move was made by the French, and Frederick thus found himself after all isolated and exposed to the combined attack of the Austrians and Saxons. Marshal Traun, summoned from the Rhine, held the king in check in Bohemia, the Hungarian irregulars inflicted numerous minor reverses on the Prussians, and finally Prince Charles arrived with the main army. The campaign resembled that of 1742; the Prussian retreat was closely watched, and the rearguard pressed hard. Prague fell, and Frederick, completely outmanœuvred by the united forces of Prince Charles and Traun, regained Silesia with heavy losses. At the same time, the Austrians gained no foothold in Silesia itself. On the Rhine, Louis, now recovered, had besieged and taken Freiburg, after which the forces left in the north were reinforced and besieged the strong places of Flanders. There was also a slight war of manœuvre on the middle Rhine.
In 1744 the Italian war became for the first time serious. A grandiose plan of campaign was formed, and as usual the French and Spanish generals at the front were hampered by the orders of their respective governments. The object was to unite the army in Dauphiné with that on the lower Po. The adhesion of Genoa was secured, and a road thereby obtained into central Italy. But Lobkowitz had already taken the offensive and driven back the Spanish army of Count de Gages towards the Neapolitan frontier. The king of Naples at this juncture was compelled to assist the Spaniards at all hazards. A combined army was formed at Velletri, and defeated Lobkowitz there on the 11th of August. The crisis past, Lobkowitz then went to Piedmont to assist the king against Conti, the king of Naples returned home, and de Gages followed the Austrians with a weak force. The war in the Alps and the Apennines was keenly contested. Villefranche and Montalban were stormed by Conti on the 20th of April, a desperate fight took place at Peyre-Longue on the 18th of July, and the king of Sardinia was defeated in a great battle at Madonna del Olmo (September 30) near Coni (Cuneo). Conti did not, however, succeed in taking this fortress, and had to retire into Dauphiné for his winter quarters. The two armies had, therefore, failed in their attempt to combine, and the Austro-Sardinians still lay between them.
8. Campaign of 1745.—The interest of the next campaign centres in the three greatest battles of the war—Hohenfriedberg, Kesselsdorf and Fontenoy. The first event of the year was the Quadruple Alliance of England, Austria, Holland and Saxony, concluded at Warsaw on the 8th of January. Twelve days previously, the death of Charles VII. submitted the imperial title to a new election, and his successor in Bavaria was not a candidate. The Bavarian army was again unfortunate; caught in its scattered winter quarters (action of Amberg, January 7), it was driven from point to point, and the young elector had to abandon Munich once more. The peace of Füssen followed on the 22nd of April, by which he secured his hereditary states on condition of supporting the candidature of the grand-duke Francis, consort of Maria Theresa. The "imperial" army ceased ipso facto to exist, and Frederick was again isolated. No help was to be expected from France, whose efforts this year were centred on the Flanders campaign. In effect, on the 10th of May, before Frederick took the field, Louis XV. and Saxe had besieged Tournay, and inflicted upon the relieving army of the duke of Cumberland the great defeat of Fontenoy (q.v.). In Silesia the customary small war had been going on for some time, and the concentration of the Prussian army was not effected without severe fighting. At the end of May, Frederick, with about 65,000 men, lay in the camp of Frankenstein, between Glatz and Neisse, while behind the Riesengebirge about Landshut Prince Charles had 85,000 Austrians and Saxons. On the 4th of June was fought the battle of Hohenfriedberg (q.v.) or Striegau, the greatest victory as yet of Frederick's career, and, of all his battles, excelled perhaps by Leuthen and Rossbach only. Prince Charles suffered a complete defeat and withdrew through the mountains as he had come. Frederick's pursuit was methodical, for the country was difficult and barren, and he did not know the extent to which the enemy was demoralized. The manœuvres of both leaders on the upper Elbe occupied all the summer, while the political questions of the imperial election and of an understanding between Prussia and England were pending. The chief efforts of Austria were directed towards the valleys of the Main and Lahn and Frankfort, where the French and Austrian armies manœuvred for a position from which to overawe the electoral body. Marshal Traun was successful, and the grand-duke became the emperor Francis I. on the 13th of September. Frederick agreed with England to recognize the election a few days later, but Maria Theresa would not conform to the treaty of Breslau without a further appeal to the fortune of war. Saxony joined in this last attempt. A new advance of Prince Charles quickly brought on the battle of Soor, fought on ground destined to be famous in the war of 1866. Frederick was at first in a position of great peril, but his army changed front in the face of the advancing enemy and by its boldness and tenacity won a remarkable victory (September 30). But the campaign was not ended. An Austrian contingent from the Main joined the Saxons under Marshal Rutowski, and a combined movement was made in the direction of Berlin by Rutowski from Saxony and Prince Charles from Bohemia. The danger was very great. Frederick hurried up his forces from Silesia and marched as rapidly as possible on Dresden, winning the actions of Katholisch-Hennersdorf (November 24) and Görlitz (November 25). Prince Charles was thereby forced back, and now a second Prussian army under the old Dessauer advanced up the Elbe from Magdeburg to meet Rutowski. The latter took up a strong position at Kesselsdorf between Meissen and Dresden, but the veteran Leopold attacked him directly and without hesitation (December 14). The Saxons and their allies were completely routed after a hard struggle, and Maria Theresa at last gave way. In the peace of Dresden (December 25) Frederick recognized the imperial election, and retained Silesia, as at the peace of Breslau.
9. Operations in Italy, 1745-1747.—The campaign in Italy this year was also no mere war of posts. In March 1745 a secret treaty allied the Genoese republic with France, Spain and Naples. A change in the command of the Austrians favoured the first move of the allies, De Gages moved from Modena towards Lucca, the French and Spaniards in the Alps under Marshal Maillebois advanced through the Riviera to the Tanaro, and in the middle of July the two armies were at last concentrated between the Scrivia and the Tanaro, to the unusually large number of 80,000. A swift march on Piacenza drew the Austrian commander thither, and in his absence the allies fell upon and completely defeated the Sardinians at Bassignano (September 27), a victory which was quickly followed by the capture of Alessandria, Valenza and Casale. Jomini calls the concentration of forces which effected the victory "le plus remarquable de toute la guerre." But the complicated politics of Italy brought it about that Maillebois was ultimately unable to turn his victory to account. Indeed, early in 1746, Austrian troops, freed by the peace with Frederick, passed through Tirol into Italy; the Franco-Spanish winter quarters were brusquely attacked, and a French garrison of 6000 men at Asti was forced to capitulate. At the same time Count Browne with an Austrian corps struck at the allies on the lower Po, and cut off their communication with the main body in Piedmont. A series of minor actions thus completely destroyed the great concentration. The allies separated, Maillebois covering Liguria, the Spaniards marching against Browne. The latter was promptly and heavily reinforced, and all that the Spaniards could do was to entrench themselves at Piacenza; the Spanish Infant as supreme commander calling up Maillebois to his aid. The French, skilfully conducted and marching rapidly, joined forces once more, but their situation was critical, for only two marches behind them the army of the king of Sardinia was in pursuit, and before them lay the principal army of the Austrians. The pitched battle of Piacenza (June 16) was hard fought, and Maillebois had nearly achieved a victory when orders from the Infant compelled him to retire. That the army escaped at all was in the highest degree creditable to Maillebois and to his son and chief of staff, under whose leadership it eluded both the Austrians and the Sardinians, defeated an Austrian corps in the battle of Rottofreddo (August 12), and made good its retreat on Genoa. It was, however, a mere remnant of the allied army which returned, and the Austrians were soon masters of north Italy, including Genoa (September). But they met with no success in their forays towards the Alps. Soon Genoa revolted from the oppressive rule of the victors, rose and drove out the Austrians (December 5-11), and the French, now commanded by Belleisle, took the offensive (1747). Genoa held out against a second Austrian siege, and after the plan of campaign had as usual been referred to Paris and Madrid, it was relieved, though a picked corps of the French army under the chevalier de Belleisle, brother of the marshal, was defeated in the almost impossible attempt (July 19) to storm the entrenched pass of Exiles (Col di Assietta), the chevalier, and with him the élite of the French nobility, being killed at the barricades. Before the steady advance of Marshal Belleisle the Austrians retired into Lombardy, and a desultory campaign was waged up to the conclusion of peace.
In North America the most remarkable incident of what has been called "King George's War" was the capture of the French Canadian fortress of Louisburg by a British expedition (April 20-June 16, 1745), of which the military portion was furnished by the colonial militia under Colonel (afterwards Lieutenant-General Sir William) Pepperell (1696-1759) of Maine. Louisburg was then regarded merely as a nest of privateers, and at the peace it was given up, but in the Seven Years' War it came within the domain of grand strategy, and its second capture was the preliminary step to the British conquest of Canada. For the war in India, see India: History.
10. Later Campaigns.—The last three campaigns of the war in the Netherlands were illustrated by the now fully developed genius of Marshal Saxe. After Fontenoy the French carried all before them. The withdrawal of most of the English to aid in suppressing the 'Forty-Five rebellion at home left their allies in a helpless position. In 1746 the Dutch and the Austrians were driven back towards the line of the Meuse, and most of the important fortresses were taken by the French. The battle of Roucoux (or Raucourt) near Liége, fought on the 11th of October between the allies under Prince Charles of Lorraine and the French under Saxe, resulted in a victory for the latter. Holland itself was now in danger, and when in April 1747 Saxe's army, which had now conquered the Austrian Netherlands up to the Meuse, turned its attention to the United Provinces, the old fortresses on the frontier offered but slight resistance. The prince of Orange and the duke of Cumberland underwent a severe defeat at Lauffeld (Lawfeld, &c., also called Val) on the 2nd of July 1747, and Saxe, after his victory, promptly and secretly despatched a corps under (Marshal) Löwendahl to besiege Bergen-op-Zoom. On the 18th of September Bergen-op-Zoom was stormed by the French, and in the last year of the war Maestricht, attacked by the entire forces of Saxe and Löwendahl, surrendered on the 7th of May 1748. A large Russian army arrived on the Meuse to join the allies, but too late to be of use. The quarrel of Russia and Sweden had been settled by the peace of Abo in 1743, and in 1746 Russia had allied herself with Austria. Eventually a large army marched from Moscow to the Rhine, an event which was not without military significance, and in a manner preluded the great invasions of 1813-1814 and 1815. The general peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) was signed on the 18th of October 1748.
11. General Character of the War.—Little need be said of the military features of the war. The intervention of Prussia as a military power was indeed a striking phenomenon, but her triumph was in a great measure due to her fuller application of principles of tactics and discipline universally recognized though less universally enforced. The other powers reorganized their forces after the war, not so much on the Prussian model as on the basis of a stricter application of known general principles. Prussia, moreover, was far ahead of all the other continental powers in administration, and over Austria, in particular, her advantage in this matter was almost decisive of the struggle. Added to this was the personal ascendancy of Frederick, not yet a great general, but energetic and resolute, and, further, opposed to generals who were responsible for their men to their individual sovereigns. These advantages have been decisive in many wars, almost in all. The special feature of the war of 1740 to 1748, and of other wars of the time, is the extraordinary disparity between the end and the means. The political schemes to be executed by the French and other armies were as grandiose as any of modern times; their execution, under the then conditions of time and space, invariably fell short of expectation, and the history of the war proves, as that of the Seven Years' War was to prove, that the small standing army of the 18th century could conquer by degrees, but could not deliver a decisive blow. Frederick alone, with a definite end and proportionate means wherewith to achieve it, succeeded completely. The French, in spite of their later victories, obtained so little of what they fought for that Parisians could say to each other, when they met in the streets, "You are as stupid as the Peace." And if, when fighting for their own hand, the governments of Europe could so fail of their purpose, even less was to be expected when the armies were composed of allied contingents, sent to the war each for a different object. The allied national armies of 1813 co-operated loyally, for they had much at stake and worked for a common object; those of 1741 represented the divergent private interests of the several dynasties, and achieved nothing.
Bibliography.—Besides general works on Frederick's life and reign, of which Carlyle, Preuss and v. Taysen are of particular importance, and Frederick's own works, see the Prussian official Die I. und II. schlesischen Kriege (Berlin, 1890-1895); Austrian official Kriege der Kaiserin Maria Theresia; Gesch. des österr. Erbfolgekrieges (Vienna, from 1895); Jomini, Traité des grandes opérations militaires, introduction to vol. i. (Paris, 4th edition, 1851); C. von B.-K., Geist und Stoff im Kriege (Vienna, 1895); v. Arneth, Maria Teresias ersten Regierungsjahre (1863); v. Schöning, Die 5 erste Jahre der Regierung Friedrichs des Grossen; Bernhardi, Friedrich der Grosse als Feldherr (Berlin, 1881); v. Canitz, Nachrichten, &c., über die Taten und Schicksale der Reiterei, &c. (Berlin, 1861); Grünhagen, Gesch. des I. schlesischen Krieges (Gotha, 1881-1882); Orlich, Gesch. der schlesischen Kriege; Deroy, Beiträge zur Gesch. des österr. Erbfolgekrieges (Munich, 1883); Crousse, La Guerre de la succession dans les provinces belgiques (Paris, 1885); Duncker, Militärische, &c., Aktenstücke zur Gesch. des I. schles. Krieges; Militär-Wochenblatt supplements 1875, 1877, 1878, 1883, 1891, 1901, &c. (Berlin); Mitteilungen des k.k. Kriegsarchivs, from 1887 (Vienna); Baumgart, Die Litteratur, &c., über Friedrich d. Gr. (Berlin, 1886); Fortescue, History of the British Army, vol. ii.; F. H. Skrine, Fontenoy and the War of the Austrian Succession (London, 1906); Francis Parkman, A Half-Century of Conflict (1892).
(C. F. A.)
Naval Operations.
The naval operations of this war were languid and confused. They are complicated by the fact that they were entangled with the Spanish war, which broke out in 1739 in consequence of the long disputes between England and Spain over their conflicting claims in America. Until the closing years they were conducted with small intelligence or spirit. The Spanish government was nerveless, and sacrificed its true interest to the family ambition of the king Philip V., who wished to establish his younger sons as ruling princes in Italy. French administration was corrupt, and the government was chiefly concerned in its political interests in Germany. The British navy was at its lowest point of energy and efficiency after the long administration of Sir Robert Walpole. Therefore, although the war contained passages of vigour, it was neither interesting nor decisive on the sea.
War on Spain was declared by Great Britain on the 23rd of October 1739. It was universally believed that the Spanish colonies would fall at once before attack. A plan was laid for combined operations against them from east and west. One force, military and naval, was to assault them from the West Indies under Admiral Edward Vernon. Another, to be commanded by Commodore George Anson, afterwards Lord Anson, was to round Cape Horn and to fall upon the Pacific coast. Delays, bad preparations, dockyard corruption, and the unpatriotic squabbles of the naval and military officers concerned caused the failure of a hopeful scheme. On the 21st of November 1739 Admiral Vernon did indeed succeed in capturing the ill-defended Spanish harbour of Porto Bello (in the present republic of Panama)—a trifling success to boast of. But he did nothing to prevent the Spanish convoys from reaching Europe. The Spanish privateers cruised with destructive effect against British trade, both in the West Indies and in European waters. When Vernon had been joined by Sir Chaloner Ogle with naval reinforcements and a strong body of troops, an attack was made on Cartagena in what is now Colombia (March 9-April 24, 1741). The delay had given the Spanish admiral, Don Bias de Leso, time to prepare, and the siege failed with a dreadful loss of life to the assailants. Want of success was largely due to the incompetence of the military officers and the brutal insolence of the admiral. The war in the West Indies, after two other unsuccessful attacks had been made on Spanish territory, died down and did not revive till 1748. The expedition under Anson sailed late, was very ill provided, and less strong than had been intended. It consisted of six ships and left England on the 18th of September 1740. Anson returned alone with his flagship the "Centurion" on the 15th of June 1744. The other vessels had either failed to round the Horn or had been lost. But Anson had harried the coast of Chile and Peru and had captured a Spanish galleon of immense value near the Philippines. His cruise was a great feat of resolution and endurance.
While Anson was pursuing his voyage round the world, Spain was mainly intent on the Italian policy of the king. A squadron was fitted out at Cadiz to convey troops to Italy. It was watched by the British admiral Nicholas Haddock. When the blockading squadron was forced off by want of provisions, the Spanish admiral Don José Navarro put to sea. He was followed, but when the British force came in sight of him Navarro had been joined by a French squadron under M. de Court (December 1741). The French admiral announced that he would support the Spaniards if they were attacked and Haddock retired. France and Great Britain were not yet openly at war, but both were engaged in the struggle in Germany—Great Britain as the ally of the queen of Hungary, Maria Theresa; France as the supporter of the Bavarian claimant of the empire. Navarro and M. de Court went on to Toulon, where they remained till February 1744. A British fleet watched them, under the command of admiral Richard Lestock, till Sir Thomas Mathews was sent out as commander-in-chief, and as minister to the court of Turin. Partial manifestations of hostility between the French and British took place in different seas, but avowed war did not begin till the French government issued its declaration of the 30th of March, to which Great Britain replied on the 31st. This formality had been preceded by French preparations for the invasion of England, and by a collision between the allies and Mathews in the Mediterranean (see Toulon, Battle of). On the 11th of February a most confused battle was fought, in which the van and centre of the British fleet was engaged with the rear and centre of the allies. Lestock, who was on the worst possible terms with his superior, took no part in the action. He endeavoured to excuse himself by alleging that the orders of Mathews were contradictory. Mathews, a puzzle-headed and hot-tempered man, fought with spirit but in a disorderly way, breaking the formation of his fleet, and showing no power of direction. The mismanagement of the British fleet in the battle, by arousing deep anger among the people, led to a drastic reform of the British navy which bore its first fruits before the war ended.
The French invasion scheme was arranged in combination with the Jacobite leaders, and soldiers were to be transported from Dunkirk. But though the British government showed itself wholly wanting in foresight, the plan broke down. In February 1744, a French fleet of twenty sail of the line entered the Channel under Jacques Aymar, comte de Roquefeuil, before the British force under admiral John Norris was ready to oppose him. But the French force was ill equipped, the admiral was nervous, his mind dwelt on all the misfortunes which might possibly happen, and the weather was bad. M. de Roquefeuil came up almost as far as the Downs, where he learnt that Sir John Norris was at hand with twenty-five sail of the line, and thereupon precipitately retreated. The military expedition prepared at Dunkirk to cross under cover of Roquefeuil's fleet naturally did not start. The utter weakness of the French at sea, due to long neglect of the fleet and the bankrupt state of the treasury, was shown during the Jacobite rising of 1745, when France made no attempt to profit by the distress of the British government. The Dutch having by this time joined Great Britain, made a serious addition to the naval power opposed to France, though Holland was compelled by the necessity for maintaining an army in Flanders to play a very subordinate part at sea. Not being stimulated by formidable attack, and having immediate interests both at home and in Germany, the British government was slow to make use of its latest naval strength. Spain, which could do nothing of an offensive character, was almost neglected. During 1745 the New England expedition which took Louisburg (April 30-June 16) was covered by a British naval force, but the operations were in a general way sporadic, subordinated to the supply of convoy, or to unimportant particular ends. In the East Indies, Mahé de la Bourdonnais made a vigorous use of a small squadron to which no effectual resistance was offered by the British naval forces. He captured Madras (July 24-September 9, 1746), a set-off for Louisburg, for which it was exchanged at the close of the war. In the same year a British combined naval and military expedition to the coast of France—the first of a long series of similar ventures which in the end were derided as "breaking windows with guineas"—was carried out during August and October. The aim was the capture of the French East India company's dockyard at L'Orient, but it was not attained.
From 1747 till the close of the war in October 1748 the naval policy of the British government, without reaching a high level, was yet more energetic and coherent. A closer watch was kept on the French coast, and effectual means were taken to intercept communication between France and her American possessions. In the spring information was obtained that an important convoy for the East and West Indies was to sail from L'Orient. In the previous year the British government had allowed a French expedition under M. d'Anville to fail mainly by its own weakness. In 1747 a more creditable line was taken. An overwhelming force was employed under the command of Anson to intercept the convoy in the Channel. It was met, crushed and captured, or driven back, on the 3rd of May. On the 14th of October another French convoy, protected by a strong squadron, was intercepted by a well-appointed and well-directed squadron of superior numbers—the squadrons were respectively eight French and fourteen British—in the Bay of Biscay. The French admiral Desherbiers de l'Étenduère made a very gallant resistance, and the fine quality of his ships enabled him to counteract to some extent the superior numbers of Sir Edward Hawke, the British admiral. While the war-ships were engaged, the merchant vessels, with the small protection which Desherbiers could spare them, continued on their way to the West Indies. Most of them were, however, intercepted and captured in those waters. This disaster convinced the French government of its helplessness at sea, and it made no further effort.
The last naval operations took place in the West Indies, where the Spaniards, who had for a time been treated as a negligible quantity, were attacked on the coast of Cuba by a British squadron under Sir Charles Knowles. They had a naval force under Admiral Regio at Havana. Each side was at once anxious to cover its own trade, and to intercept that of the other. Capture was rendered particularly desirable to the British by the fact that the Spanish homeward-bound convoy would be laden with the bullion sent from the American mines. In the course of the movement of each to protect its trade, the two squadrons met on the 1st of October 1748 in the Bahama Channel. The action was indecisive when compared with the successes of British fleets in later days, but the advantage lay with Sir Charles Knowles. He was prevented from following it up by the speedy receipt of the news that peace had been made in Europe by the powers, who were all in various degrees exhausted. That it was arranged on the terms of a mutual restoration of conquests shows that none of the combatants could claim to have established a final superiority. The conquests of the French in the Bay of Bengal, and their military successes in Flanders, enabled them to treat on equal terms, and nothing had been taken from Spain.
The war was remarkable for the prominence of privateering on both sides. It was carried on by the Spaniards in the West Indies with great success, and actively at home. The French were no less active in all seas. Mahé de la Bourdonnais's attack on Madras partook largely of the nature of a privateering venture. The British retaliated with vigour. The total number of captures by French and Spanish corsairs was in all probability larger than the list of British—partly for the reason given by Voltaire, namely, that more British merchants were taken because there were many more British merchant ships to take, but partly also because the British government had not yet begun to enforce the use of convoy so strictly as it did in later times.
See Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs (London, 1804); La Marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XV, by G. Lacour-Gayet (Paris, 1902); The Royal Navy, by Sir W. L. Clowes and others (London, 1891, &c.).
(D. H.)
AUTHENTIC (from Gr. αὐθέντης, one who does a thing himself), genuine, as opposed to counterfeit, true or original. In music it is one of the terms used for the ecclesiastical modes. The title of Authentics was also used for Justinian's Novells.
AUTOCEPHALOUS (from Gr. αὐτός, self, and κεφαλή head), of independent headship, a term used of certain ecclesiastical functionaries and organizations.
AUTOCHTHONES (Gr. αὐτός, and χθών, earth, i.e. people sprung from earth itself; Lat. terrigenae; see also under Aborigines), the original inhabitants of a country as opposed to settlers, and those of their descendants who kept themselves free from an admixture of foreign peoples. The practice in ancient Greece of describing legendary heroes and men of ancient lineage as "earthborn" greatly strengthened the doctrine of autochthony; for instance, the Athenians wore golden grasshoppers in their hair in token that they were born from the soil and had always lived in Attica (Thucydides i. 6; Plato, Menexenus, 245). In Thebes, the race of Sparti were believed to have sprung from a field sown with dragons' teeth. The Phrygian Corybantes had been forced out of the hill-side like trees by Rhea, the great mother, and hence were called δενδροφυεῖς. It is clear from Aeschylus (Prometheus, 447) that primitive men were supposed to have at first lived like animals in caves and woods, till by the help of the gods and heroes they were raised to a stage of civilization.
AUTOCLAVE, a strong closed vessel of metal in which liquids can be heated above their boiling points under pressure. Etymologically the word indicates a self-closing vessel (αὐτός, self, and clavis, key, or clavus, nail), in which the tightness of the joints is maintained by the internal pressure, but this characteristic is frequently wanting in the actual apparatus to which the name is applied. The prototype of the autoclave was the digester of Denis Papin, invented in 1681, which is still used in cooking, but the appliance finds a much wider range of employment in chemical industry, where it is utilized in various forms in the manufacture of candles, coal-tar colours, &c. Frequently an agitator, passing through a stuffing-box, is fitted so that the contents may be stirred, and renewable linings are provided in cases where the substances under treatment exert a corrosive action on metal.
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 correctly Auto-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 the sermo generalis of 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, and γαμία, marriage), a botanical term for self-fertilization. (See Angiosperms.)
AUTOGENY, AUTOGENOUS (Gr. αὐτογενής), spontaneous generation, self-produced. Haeckel distinguished autogeny and plasmogeny, 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 as holograph, from ὅλος, 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 can recognize 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 century B.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 their signum 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. (See Diplomatic.)
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 the signum manuale had 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 their possessions. 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 as bona fide documents (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; and Facsimiles 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 century B.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 (see Theodosius 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's Great Harmonia, Charles Linton's The Healing of the Nations, and J. Murray Spear's Messages 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 the Spirit Teachings of 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 articles Psychology, Suggestion, &c.
Sensory Automatism is 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 also Table-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.
See Man (1904), No. 68; Folklore, xiii. 134; Myers in Proc. S.P.R. ix. 26, xii. 277, xv. 403; Flournoy, Des Indes à la planète Mars and in Arch. de Psychologie; Myers, Human Personality.
(N. W. T.)
AUTOMATON (from αὐτός, self, and μάω, 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 an androides. We have very early notices of the construction of automata, e.g. the tripods of Vulcan, and the moving figures of Daedalus. In 400 B.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. (See Conjuring.)
AUTOMORPHISM (from Gr. αὐτός, self, and μορφή, form), the conception and interpretation of other people's habits and ideas on the analogy of one's own.
AUTONOMY (Gr. αὐτός, self, and νόμος, 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 of e.g. religious bodies, individual churches and other communities which 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, qua rational, 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. (See Ethics; 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, and ὄψις, sight, investigation), a personal examination, specifically a post-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. (See Coroner and Medical 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 is La Mer (1835), remodelled in 1852 as Les 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 his Vie 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 his Laboureurs et soldats (1854). Among his other works are the Paroles 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, or Calco-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 the Arverni were a powerful confederation, the Arvernian Vercingetorix being the most famous of the Gallic chieftains who fought against the Romans. Under the empire Arvernia formed part of Prima 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 the Dauphiné 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 of Terre 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. The Terre d'Auvergne was 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 the Dauphiné to those of the duchy, 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 (see Arius). 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 the Liber contra Auxentium in 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 174 B.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 157 B.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 49 B.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 opposite bank 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 in A.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 subfamily Indrisinae, 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. (See Primates.)
(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 written Avallon, Avollon, Avilion and Avelion), 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 Welsh afal, 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.
See Studies in the Arthurian Legend, by J. Rhys (Oxford, 1891); also Arthur (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 a Declaration of the Duties of Man as a pendant to the Declaration 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, or Avari, an East Caucasian people, the most renowned of the Lesghian tribes, inhabiting central Daghestan (see Lesghians). 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 London on 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 as Prehistoric Times (1865) and The 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 a stationarius of 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, regarded by 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 century B.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 in opus 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 the Abellinates cognomine Protropi among the Hirpini, and the Abellinates cognominati Marsi among 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 or Ibn 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 (see Arabian Philosophy).
For his life see McG. de Slane's trans. of Ibn Khallikān's Biographical Dictionary (Paris and London, 1842), vol. iii. pp. 130 ff., and Ibn ‛Usaibi‛a's biography translated in P. de Gayangos' edition of the History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain, by al-Maqqari (London, 1840), vol. ii., appendix, p. xii. List of extant works in C. Brockelmann's Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, vol. i. p. 460. For his philosophy cf. T. J. de Boer's The 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 the Akademisch-philosophische Verein, and was the first editor of the Vierteljahrsschrift für wissenschaftliche Philosophie. In 1868 he published an essay on the Pantheism of Spinoza. His chief works are Philosophie als Denken der Welt gemäss dem Princip des kleinsten Kraftmasses (1876) and the Kritik 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 the Kritik endeavoured 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 in Zeitsch. f. wiss. Philos. xx. (1896), 361 ff.; xx. 57 ff.; xxii. 53 ff.; J. Petzoldt's Einführung 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, or Vendicatori, 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.
AVENTAIL, or Avantaille (O. Fr. esventail, presumably from a Latin word exventaculum, air-hole), the mouthpiece of an old-fashioned helmet, movable to admit the air.
AVENTINUS (1477-1534), the name taken by Johann Turmair, author of the Annales Boiorum, or Annals of Bavaria, from Aventinum, the Latin name of the town of Abensberg, where he was born on the 4th of July 1477. Having studied at Ingolstadt, Vienna, Cracow and Paris, he returned to Ingolstadt in 1507, and in 1509 was appointed tutor to Louis and Ernest, the two younger sons of Albert the Wise, the late duke of Bavaria-Munich. He retained this position until 1517, wrote a Latin grammar, and other manuals for the use of his pupils, and in 1515 travelled in Italy with Ernest. Encouraged by William IV., duke of Bavaria, he began to write the Annales Boiorum, about 1517, and finishing this book in 1521, undertook a German version of it, entitled Bayersche Chronik, which he completed some years later. He assisted to found the Sodalitas litteraria Angilostadensis, under the auspices of which several old manuscripts were brought to light. Although Aventinus did not definitely adopt the reformed faith, he sympathized with the reformers and their teaching, and showed a strong dislike for the monks. On this account he.was imprisoned in 1528, but his friends soon effected his release. The remainder of his life was somewhat unsettled, and he died at Regensburg on the 9th of January 1534. The Annales, which are in seven books, deal with the history of Bavaria in conjunction with general history from the earliest times to 1460, and the author shows a strong sympathy for the Empire in its struggle with the Papacy. He took immense pains with his work, and to some degree anticipated the modern scientific method of writing history. The Annales were first published in 1554, but many important passages were omitted in this edition, as they reflected on the Roman Catholics. A more complete edition was published at Basel in 1580 by Nicholas Cisner. Aventinus, who has been called the "Bavarian Herodotus," wrote other books of minor importance, and a complete edition of his works was published at Munich (1881-1886). More recently a new edition (six vols.) has appeared.
See T. Wiedemann, Johann Turmair gen. Aventinus (Freising, 1858); W. Dittmar, Aventin (Nördlingen, 1862); J. von Döllinger, Aventin und seine Zeit (Munich, 1877); S. Riezler, Zum Schutze der neuesten Edition von Aventins Annalen (Munich, 1886); F. X. von Wegele, Aventin (Bamberg, 1890).
AVENTURINE, or Avanturine, a variety of quartz containing spangles of mica or scales of iron-oxide, which confer brilliancy on the stone. It is found chiefly in the Ural Mountains, and is cut for ornamental purposes at Ekaterinburg. Some of the Siberian aventurine, like that of the vase given by Nicholas I. to Sir R. Murchison, in 1843, is a micaceous iron-stained quartz, of but little beauty. Most aventurine is of reddish brown or yellow colour, but a green variety, containing scales of fuchsite or chrome-mica, is also known. This green aventurine, highly valued by the Chinese, is said to occur in the Bellary district in India.
Aventurine felspar, known also as Sun-stone (q.v.) is found principally at Tvedestrand in south Norway, and is a variety of oligoclase enclosing micaceous scales of haematite. Other kinds of felspar, even orthoclase, may however also show the aventurine appearance. Both plagioclastic and orthoclastic aventurine occur at several localities in the United States.
The mineral aventurine takes its name from the well-known aventurine-glass of Venice. This is a reddish brown glass with gold-like spangles, more brilliant than most of the natural stone. The story runs that this kind of glass was originally made accidentally at Murano by a workman, who let some copper filings fall into the molten "metal," whence the product was called avventurino. From the Murano glass the name passed to the mineral, which displayed a rather similar appearance.
(F. W. R.*)
AVENUE (the past participle feminine of Fr. avenir, to come to), a way of approach; more particularly, the chief entrance-road to a country house, with rows of trees on each side; the trees themselves are said to form the avenue. In modern times the word has been much used as a name for streets in towns, whether with or without trees, such as Fifth Avenue in New York, or Shaftesbury Avenue in London.
AVENZOAR, or Abumeron [Abū Merwān ‛Abdal-Malik ibn Zuhr], Arabian physician, who flourished at the beginning of the 12th century, was born at Seville, where he exercised his profession with great reputation. His ancestors had been celebrated as physicians for several generations, and his son was afterwards held by the Arabians to be even more eminent in his profession than Avenzoar himself. He was a contemporary of Averroes, who, according to Leo Africanus, heard his lectures, and learned physic of him. He belonged, in many respects, to the Dogmatists or Rational School, rather than to the Empirics. He was a great admirer of Galen; and in his writings he protests emphatically against quackery and the superstitious remedies of the astrologers. He shows no inconsiderable knowledge of anatomy in his remarkable description of inflammation and abscess of the mediastinum in his own person, and its diagnosis from common pleuritis as well as from abscess and dropsy of the pericardium. In cases of obstruction or of palsy of the gullet, his three modes of treatment are ingenious. He proposes to support the strength by placing the patient in a tepid bath of nutritious liquids, that might enter by cutaneous imbibition, but does not recommend this. He speaks more favourably of the introduction of food into the stomach by a silver tube; and he strongly recommends the use of nutritive enemata. From his writings it would appear that the offices of physician, surgeon and apothecary were already considered as distinct professions. He wrote a book entitled The Method of Preparing Medicines and Diet, which was translated into Hebrew in the year 1280, and thence into Latin by Paravicius, whose version, first printed at Venice, 1490, has passed through several editions.
AVERAGE, a term found in two main senses. (1) The first, which occurs in old law, is from a Law-Latin averagium, and is connected with the Domesday Book avera, the "day's work which the king's tenants gave to the sheriff"; it is supposed to be a form of the O. Fr. ovre (œuvre), work, affected by aver, the O. Eng. word for cattle or property, but the etymology is uncertain. As meaning some form of feudal service rendered by tenants to their superiors, it survived for a long time in the Scottish phrase "arriage and carriage," this form of the word being due to a contraction into "arage." (2) The second word, which represents the modern usages, is also uncertain in its derivation, but corresponded with the Fr. avarie, and was early spelt "averays," recurring also as "avaria," "averia," and meaning a certain tax on goods, and then more precisely in maritime law any charge additional to "freight" (see Affreightment), payable by the owner of goods sent by ship. Hence the modern employment of the term for particular and general average (see below) in marine insurance. The essential of equitable distribution, involved in this sense, was transferred to give the word "average" its more colloquial meaning of an equalization of amount, or medium among various quantities, or nearest common rate or figure. (For a discussion of the etymology, see the New English Dictionary, especially the concluding note with reference to authorities.)
In Shipping.—Average, in modern law, is the term used in maritime commerce to signify damages or expenses resulting from the accidents of navigation. Average is either general or particular. General average arises when sacrifices have been made, or expenditures incurred, for the preservation of the ship, cargo and freight, from some peril of the sea or from its effects. It implies a subsequent contribution, from all the parties concerned, rateably to the values of their respective interests, to make good the loss thus occasioned. Particular average signifies the damage or partial loss happening to the ship, goods, or freight by some fortuitous or unavoidable accident. It is borne by the parties to whose property the misfortune happens or by their insurers. The term average originally meant what is now distinguished as general average; and the expression "particular average," although not strictly accurate, came to be afterwards used for the convenience of distinguishing those damages or partial losses for which no general contribution could be claimed.
Although nothing can be more simple than the fundamental principle of general average, that a loss incurred for the advantage of all the coadventurers should be made good by them all in equitable proportion to their stakes in the adventure, the application of this principle to the varied and complicated cases which occur in the course of maritime commerce has given rise to many diversities of usage at different periods and in different countries. It is soon discovered that the principle cannot be applied in any settled or consistent manner unless by the aid of rules of a technical and sometimes of a seemingly arbitrary character. The difficulty, which at one time seemed nearly insuperable, of bringing together the rules in force in the several maritime countries, has been to a large extent overcome—not by legislation but by framing a set of rules covering the principal points of difference in such a manner as to satisfy, on the whole, those who are practically concerned, and to lead them to adopt these rules in their contracts of affreightment and contracts of insurance (see Insurance: Marine). The honour of the achievement belongs to a small number of men who recognized the need of uniformity. The work began in May 1860 at the congress held at Glasgow, under the presidency of Lord Brougham, assisted by Lord Neaves. Further congresses were held in London (1862), and at York (1864), when a body of rules known as the "York Rules" was agreed to. There the matter stood, until it was taken up by the "Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations" at conferences held at the Hague (1875), Bremen (1876) and Antwerp (1877). Some changes were made in the "York Rules"; and so altered, the body of rules was adopted at the last-named conference, and was styled the "York and Antwerp (or York-Antwerp) Rules." The value of these rules was quickly perceived, and practical use of them followed. But they proved to be insufficient, or unsatisfactory, on some points; and again, in the autumn of 1890, a conference on the subject was held, this time at Liverpool, by the same Association, under the able presidency of Dr F. Sieveking, president of the Hanseatic High Court of Appeal at Hamburg. Important changes were then made, carrying further certain departures from English law, already apparent in the earlier rules, in favour of views prevailing upon the continent of Europe and in the United States. The new rules were styled the York-Antwerp Rules 1890. In practice they quickly displaced those of 1877; and in 1892, at a conference of the same Association held at Genoa, it was formally declared that the only international rules of general average having the sanction and authority of the association were the York-Antwerp Rules as revised in 1890, and that the original rules were rescinded. It is this later body of rules which is now known as the York-Antwerp Rules. Reference is now to be found in most English contracts of carriage and contracts of insurance, to these rules, as intended to govern the adjustment of G.A. between the parties; with the result that (so far as the rules cover the ground) adjustments do not depend upon the law of the place of destination, and so do not vary according to the destination, or the place at which the voyage may happen to be broken up, as used formerly to be the case.
The rules are as follows:—
Rule I.—Jettison of Deck Cargo
No jettison of deck cargo shall be made good as G.A.
Every structure not built in with the frame of the vessel shall be considered to be a part of the deck of the vessel.
Rule II.—Damage by Jettison and Sacrifice for the Common Safety
Damage done to a ship and cargo, or either of them, by or in consequence of a sacrifice made for the common safety, and by water which goes down a ship's hatches opened, or other opening made for the purpose of making a jettison for the common safety, shall be made good as G.A.
Rule III.—Extinguishing Fire on Shipboard
Damage done to a ship and cargo, or either of them, by water or otherwise, including damage by beaching or scuttling a burning ship, in extinguishing a fire on board the ship, shall be made good as G.A.; except that no compensation shall be made for damage to such portions of the ship and bulk cargo, or to such separate packages of cargo, as have been on fire.
Rule IV.—Cutting away Wreck
Loss or damage caused by cutting away the wreck or remains of spars, or of other things which have previously been carried away by sea-peril, shall not be made good as G.A.
Rule V.—Voluntary Stranding
When a ship is intentionally run on shore, and the circumstances are such that if that course were not adopted she would inevitably sink, or drive on shore or on rocks, no loss or damage caused to the ship, cargo and freight, or any of them, by such intentional running on shore, shall be made good as G.A. But in all other cases where a ship is intentionally run on shore for the common safety, the consequent loss or damage shall be allowed as G.A.
Rule VI.—Carrying Press of Sail—Damage to or Loss of Sails
Damage to or loss of sails and spars, or either of them, caused by forcing a ship off the ground or by driving her higher up the ground, for the common safety, shall be made good as G.A.; but where a ship is afloat, no loss or damage caused to the ship, cargo and freight, or any of them, by carrying a press of sail, shall be made good as G.A.
Rule VII.—Damage to Engines in Refloating a Ship
Damage caused to machinery and boilers of a ship which is ashore and in a position of peril, in endeavouring to refloat, shall be allowed in G.A., when shown to have arisen from an actual intention to float the ship for the common safety at the risk of such damage.
Rule VIII.—Expenses of Lightening a Ship when Ashore, and Consequent Damage
When a ship is ashore, and, in order to float her, cargo, bunker coals and ship's stores, or any of them, are discharged, the extra cost of lightening, lighter hire, and reshipping (if incurred), and the loss or damage sustained thereby, shall be admitted as G.A.
Rule IX.—Cargo, Ship's Materials, and Stores Burnt for Fuel
Cargo, ship's materials and stores, or any of them, necessarily burnt for fuel for the common safety at a time of peril, shall be admitted as G.A., when and only when an ample supply of fuel had been provided; but the estimated quantity of coals that would have been consumed, calculated at the price current at the ship's last port of departure at the date of her leaving, shall be charged to the shipowner and credited to the G.A.
Rule X.—Expenses at Port of Refuge, &c.
(a) When a ship shall have entered a port or place of refuge, or shall have returned to her port or place of loading, in consequence of accident, sacrifice, or other extraordinary circumstances, which render that necessary for the common safety, the expenses of entering such port or place shall be admitted as G.A.; and when she shall have sailed thence with her original cargo, or a part of it, the corresponding expenses of leaving such port or place, consequent upon such entry or return, shall likewise be admitted as G.A.
(b) The cost of discharging cargo from a ship, whether at a port or place of loading, call or refuge, shall be admitted as G.A., when the discharge was necessary for the common safety or to enable damage to the ship, caused by sacrifice or accident during the voyage, to be repaired, if the repairs were necessary for the safe prosecution of the voyage.
(c) Whenever the cost of discharging cargo from a ship is admissible as G.A., the cost of reloading and storing such cargo on board the said ship, together with all storage charges on such cargo, shall likewise be so admitted. But when the ship is condemned or does not proceed on her original voyage, no storage expenses incurred after the date of the ship's condemnation or of the abandonment of the voyage shall be admitted as G.A.
(d) If a ship under average be in a port or place at which it is practicable to repair her, so as to enable her to carry on the whole cargo, and if, in order to save expenses, either she is towed thence to some other port or place of repair or to her destination, or the cargo or a portion of it is transhipped by another ship, or otherwise forwarded, then the extra cost of such towage, transhipment and forwarding, or any of them (up to the amount of the extra expense saved), shall be payable by the several parties to the adventure in proportion to the extraordinary expense saved.
Rule XI.—Wages and Maintenance of Crew in Port of Refuge, &c.
When a ship shall have entered or shall have been detained in any port or place under the circumstances, or for the purposes of the repairs, mentioned in Rule X., the wages payable to the master, officers and crew, together with the cost of maintenance of the same, during the extra period of detention in such port or place until the ship shall or should have been made ready to proceed upon her voyage, shall be admitted as G.A. But when this ship is condemned or does not proceed on her original voyage, the wages and maintenance of the master, officers and crew, incurred after the date of the ship's condemnation or of the abandonment of the voyage, shall not be admitted as G.A.
Rule XII.—Damage to Cargo in Discharging, &c.
Damage done to or loss of cargo necessarily caused in the act of discharging, storing, reloading and stowing shall be made good as G.A. when and only when the cost of those measures respectively is admitted as G.A.
Rule XIII.—Deductions from Cost of Repairs
In adjusting claims for G.A., repairs to be allowed in G.A. shall be subject to the following deductions in respect of "new for old," viz.:—
In the case of iron or steel ships, from date of original register to the date of accident:—
Up to 1 year old (A.)
All repairs to be allowed in full, except painting or coating of bottom, from which one-third is to be deducted.
Between 1 and 3 years (B.)
One-third to be deducted off repairs to and renewal of woodwork of hull, masts and spars, furniture, upholstery, crockery, metal and glassware, also sails, rigging, ropes, sheets and hawsers (other than wire and chain), awnings, covers and painting.
One-sixth to be deducted off wire rigging, wire ropes and wire hawsers, chain cables and chains, donkey engines, steam winches and connexions, steam cranes and connexions; other repairs in full.
Between 3 and 6 years (C.)
Deductions as above under clause B, except that one-sixth be deducted off ironwork of masts and spars, and machinery (inclusive of boilers and their mountings).
Between 6 and 10 years (D.)
Deductions as above under clause C, except that one-third be deducted off ironwork of masts and spars, repairs to and renewal of all machinery (inclusive of boilers and their mountings), and all hawsers, ropes, sheets and rigging.
Between 10 & 15 years (E.)
One-third to be deducted off all repairs and renewals, except ironwork of hull and cementing and chain cables, from which one-sixth to be deducted. Anchors to be allowed in full.
Over 15 years (F.)
One-third to be deducted off all repairs and renewals. Anchors to be allowed in full. One-sixth to be deducted off chain cables.
Generally (G.)
The deductions (except as to provisions and stores, machinery and boilers) to be regulated by the age of the ship, and not the age of the particular part of her to which they apply. No painting bottom to be allowed if the bottom has not been painted within six months previous to the date of accident. No deduction to be made in respect of old material which is repaired without being replaced by new, and provisions and stores which have not been in use.
In the case of wooden or composite ships:—
When a ship is under one year old from date of original register, at the time of accident, no deduction "new for old" shall be made. After that period a deduction of one-third shall be made, with the following exceptions:—
Anchors shall be allowed in full. Chain cables shall be subject to a deduction of one-sixth only.
No deduction shall be made in respect of provisions and stores which had not been in use.
Metal sheathing shall be dealt with, by allowing in full the cost of a weight equal to the gross weight of metal sheathing stripped off, minus the proceeds of the old metal. Nails, felt and labour metalling are subject to a deduction of one-third.
In the case of ships generally:—
In the case of all ships, the expense of straightening bent ironwork, including labour of taking out and replacing it, shall be allowed in full.
Graving dock dues, including expenses of removals, cartages, use of shears, stages and graving dock materials, shall be allowed in full.
Rule XIV.—Temporary Repairs
No deductions "new for old" shall be made from the cost of temporary repairs of damage allowable as G.A.
Rule XV.—Loss of Freight
Loss of freight arising from damage to or loss of cargo shall be made good as G.A., either when caused by a G.A. act or when the damage to or loss of cargo is so made good.
Rule XVI.—Amount to be made good for Cargo Lost or Damaged by Sacrifice
The amount to be made good as G.A. for damage or loss of goods sacrificed shall be the loss which the owner of the goods has sustained thereby, based on the market values at the date of the arrival of the vessel or at the termination of the adventure.
Rule XVII.—Contributory Values
The contribution to a G.A. shall be made upon the actual values of the property at the termination of the adventure, to which shall be added the amount made good as G.A. for property sacrificed; deduction being made from the shipowner's freight and passage-money at risk, of such port charges and crew's wages as would not have been incurred had the ship and cargo been totally lost at the date of the G.A. act or sacrifice, and have not been allowed as G.A.; deduction being also made from the value of the property of all charges incurred in respect thereof subsequently to the G.A. act, except such charges as are allowed in G.A.
Passengers' luggage and personal effects, not shipped under bill of lading, shall not contribute to G.A.
Rule XVIII.—Adjustment
Except as provided in the foregoing rules, the adjustment shall be drawn up in accordance with the law and practice that would have governed the adjustment had the contract of affreightment not contained a clause to pay G.A. according to these rules.
The above rules differ in some important respects from English common law, and from former English practice. They follow ideas upon the subject of G.A. which have prevailed in practice in foreign countries (though often in apparent opposition to the language of the codes), in preference to the more strict principle of the common law applied by English courts. That principle requires that, in order to have the character of G.A. a sacrifice or expenditure must be made for the common safety of the several interests in the adventure and under the pressure of a common risk. It is not enough that the sacrifice or expenditure is prudent, or even necessary to enable the common adventure to be completed. G.A., on the English view, only arises where the safety of the several interests is at stake. "The idea of a common commercial adventure, as distinguished from the common safety from the sea," is not recognized. It is not sufficient "that an expenditure should have been made to benefit both cargo owner and shipowner."
Thus expenses incurred after ship and cargo are in safety, say at a port of refuge, are not generally, by English law, to be treated as G.A.; although the putting into port may have been for safety, and therefore a G.A. act. If the putting into port has been necessitated by a G.A. sacrifice, as by cutting away the ship's masts, the case is different; the port expenses, the expenses of repairing the G.A. damage, and the incidental expenses of unloading, storing and reloading the cargo are, in such a case, treated as consequences of the original sacrifice, and therefore subjects for contribution. But where the reason for putting in is to avoid some danger, such as a storm or hostile cruiser, or to effect repairs necessitated by some accidental damage to the ship, the G.A. sacrifice is considered to be at an end when the port has been reached, if the ship and cargo are then in physical safety. The subsequent expenditure in the port is said not to flow from that sacrifice, but from the necessity of completing the voyage, and is incurred in performance of the shipowner's obligation under his contract. The practice of English average adjusters has indeed modified this strict view by treating the expense of unloading as G.A.; but it may well be doubted whether that practice can be legally supported. Moreover, expenditure in the port which is incurred in protecting the cargo as in warehousing it, is by English practice treated as a charge to be borne by the cargo for whose benefit it was incurred.
If we turn now to York-Antwerp Rule X., it will be seen that a much broader view is adopted. Whatever the reason for putting into the port of refuge, provided it was necessary for the common safety, the expenses of going in, and the consequent expenses of getting out (if she sails again with all or part of her original cargo), are allowed as G.A., Rule X. (a). Further, the cost of discharging the cargo to enable damage to the ship to be repaired, whether caused by sacrifice or by accident during the voyage, is to be allowed as G.A., "if the repairs were necessary for the safe prosecution of the voyage," Rule X. (b). And that is to be so even where such repairs are done at a port of call, as well as where done at a port of refuge. Again, when the cost of discharging is treated as G.A., so also are to be the expenses of storing the cargo on shore, and of reloading and stowing it on board, after the repairs have been done (Rule X. (c)), together with any damage or loss incidental to those operations (Rule XII.).
Further, by Rule XI. the wages of the master, officers and crew, and the cost of their maintenance, during the detention of a ship under the circumstances, or for the purpose of the repairs mentioned in Rule X., are to be allowed in G.A. It is questionable whether English law allows the wages and maintenance of the crew at a port of refuge in any case. Where the detention is to repair accidental damage it seems clear that they are not allowed. And in practice under common law, the allowance is never made; so that Rule XI. is an important concession to the shipowner. Like the changes introduced by Rule X., it is a change towards the practice in foreign countries.
It may be noted that the rules do not afford equal protection to a shipper in the comparatively infrequent case of his being put to expense by the delay at a port of refuge. Thus a shipper of cattle is not entitled to have the extra wages and provisions of his cattlemen on board, nor the extra fodder consumed by the cattle during the stay at a repairing port, made as good as G.A. under Rules XI. and X. (Anglo-Argentine &c. Agency v. Temperley Shipping Co., 1899, 2 Q.B. 403).
As to the acts which amount to G.A. sacrifices, as distinguished from expenditures, the York-Antwerp Rules do not much alter English common law. They do, however, make definite provisions upon some points on which authority was scanty or doubtful. (See Rules I.-IX.) And in Rule I., as to jettison of deck cargo, a change is made from the common law rule, for the jettison is not allowed as G.A. even though the cargo be carried on deck in accordance with an established custom of the particular trade.
Rule III. deals with damage done in extinguishing fire on board a ship. Modern decisions have cleared away the old doubts whether such damage to ship or cargo should, at law, be allowed in G.A. But recent cases in the United States have raised the question whether the allowance should be made where the fire occurs in port, and is extinguished, not by the master, but by a public authority acting in the interests of the public. The Supreme Court of the United States decided against the allowance in 1894 in a case of Ralli v. Troup (157 U.S. 386). The ship had there been scuttled to put out a fire on board, by the port authority, acting upon their own judgment, but with the assent of the master. It was held that the damage suffered by ship and cargo ought not to be made good by G.A. contributions; for the sacrifice had not been made "by some one specially charged with the control and safety of that adventure," but was the compulsory act of a public authority. On the other hand, in the English case of Papayanni v. Grampian S.S. Co. (I. Com. Ca. 448), Mathew, J., held that the scuttling of a ship at a port of refuge in Algeria, by orders of the captain of the port, was a G.A. act. It had been done in the interest of ship and cargo, and there was no evidence of any other motive.
Rule V. deals with the question whether, and under what conditions, a voluntary stranding of the ship is a G.A. act, in a manner which will probably be held to express the law in England when the matter comes up for decision.
Rules VI. and VII. deal with the damage sustained by the ship, or her appliances, in efforts to force her off the ground when she has stranded. Such efforts involve an abnormal use which is likely to cause damage to sails and spars, or to engines and boilers; and they are treated as acts of sacrifice. The case of "The Bona," 1895 (P. 125) shows that the rules are in accord with English law upon the point. The court of appeal held that both the damage sustained by the engines while worked to get the ship off, and the coal and stores consumed, were subjects for G.A. contribution at common law.
Rule VIII. allows as G.A. any damage sustained by cargo when discharged and, say, lightered for the purpose of getting the ship off a strand. And the corresponding damage in the case of cargo discharged at a port of refuge to enable repairs to be done to the ship is allowed by Rule XII. But in the latter case the allowance does not expressly extend to damage sustained while stored on land. Whether the law would require contribution to a loss of goods, say, by thieves or by fire, while landed for repairs, is not clear. Where the landing has been necessitated by a G.A. act, as cutting away masts, it would seem that the loss ought to be made good, as being a result of the special risks to which those goods have thereby been exposed. The risks which they would have run if they had remained on board throughout are taken into account, as will presently appear, in estimating how much of the damage is to be made good.
Where cattle were taken into a port of refuge in Brazil, owing to accidental damage to the ship, with the result that they could not legally be landed at their destination (Deptford), and had to be taken to another port (Antwerp), at which they were of much less value, this loss of value was allowed in G.A. (Anglo-Argentine &c. Agency v. Temperley Shipping Co., 1899, 2 Q.B. 403).
The case of a stranded ship and cargo often gives rise to difficulty as to whether the cost of operations to lighten the ship, and afterwards to get her floated, should be treated as G.A. expenditure, or as expenses separately incurred in saving the separate interests. The true conclusion seems to be that either the whole operation should be treated as one for the common safety, and the whole expense be contributed to by all the interests saved, or else the several parts of the operation should be kept distinct, debiting the cost of each to the interests thereby saved. Which of these two views should be adopted in any case seems to depend upon the motives with which the earlier operations (usually the discharge of the cargo) were presumably undertaken. It may, however, happen that this test cannot be applied once for all. Take the case of a stranded ship carrying a bulky cargo of hemp and grain, but carrying also some bullion. Suppose this last to be rescued and taken to a place of safety at small expense in comparison with its value. It may well be that that operation must be regarded as done in the interest simply of the bullion itself, but that the subsequent operations of lightening the ship and floating her can only be properly regarded as undertaken in the common interest of ship, hemp, grain and freight. In such a case there will be a G.A. contribution towards those later operations by those interests. But the bullion will not contribute; it will merely bear the expense of its own rescue (Royal Mail S. P. Co. v. English Bank of Rio de Janeiro, 1887, 19 Q.B.D. 362).
The York-Antwerp Rules have not only had the valuable result of introducing uniformity where there had been great variety, and corresponding certainty as to the principles which will be acted upon in adjusting any G.A. loss, but also they have introduced greater clearness and definiteness on points where there had been a want of definition. Thus Rule XIII. has laid down a careful and definite scale to regulate the deductions from the cost of repairs, in respect of "new for old," in place of the former somewhat uncertain customary rules which varied according to the place of adjustment; while at the same time the opportunity has been taken of adapting the scale of deductions to modern conditions of shipbuilding. And Rule XVII. lays down a rule as to contributory values in place of the widely varying rules of different countries as to the amounts upon which ship and freight shall contribute (cf. Gow, Marine Insurance, 305).
It may be of interest to refer briefly to one or two main principles which govern the adjustment (q.v.) of general average, i.e. the calculation of the amounts to be made good and paid by the several interests, which is a complicated matter. The fundamental idea is that the several interests at risk shall contribute in proportion to the benefits they have severally received by the completion of the adventure. Contributions are not made in proportion to the amounts at stake when the sacrifice was made, but in proportion to the results when the adventure has come to an end. An interest which has become lost after the sacrifice, during the subsequent course of the voyage, will pay nothing; an interest which has become depreciated will pay in proportion to the diminished value. The liability to contribute is inchoate only when the sacrifice has been made. It becomes complete when the adventure has come to an end, either by arrival at the destination, or by having been broken up at some intermediate point, while the interest in question still survives. To this there is one exception, in the case of G.A. expenditure. Where such expenditure has been incurred by the owner of one interest, generally by the shipowner, the repayment to him by the other interests ought not to be wholly dependent upon the subsequent safety of those interests at the ultimate destination. If those other interests or some of them arrive, or are realized, as by being landed at an intermediate port, the rule (as in the case of G.A. sacrifices) is that the contributions are to be in proportion to the arrived or realized values. But if all are lost the burden of the expenditure ought not to remain upon the interest which at first bore it; and the proper rule seems to be that contributions must be made by all the interests which were at stake when it was made, in proportion to their then values.
Again, the object of the law of G.A. is to put one whose property is sacrificed upon an equal footing with the rest, not upon a better footing. Thus, if goods to the value of £100 have been thrown overboard for the general safety, the owner of those goods must not receive the full £100 in contribution. He himself must bear a part of it, for those goods formed part of the adventure for whose safety the jettison was made; and it is owing to the partial safety of the adventure that any contribution at all is received by him. He, therefore, is made to contribute with the other saved interests towards his own loss, in respect of the amount "made good" to him for that. The full £100 is treated as the amount to be made good, but the owner of the goods is made to contribute towards that upon the sum of £100 thus saved to him.
The same principle has a further consequence. The amount to be made good will not necessarily be the value of the goods or other property in their condition at the time they were sacrificed; so to calculate it would in effect be to withdraw those goods from the subsequent risks of the voyage, and thus to put them in a better position than those which were not sacrificed. Hence, in estimating the amount to be made good, the value of the goods or property sacrificed must be estimated as on arrival, with reference to the condition in which they would probably have arrived had they remained on board throughout the voyage.
The liability to pay G.A. contributions falls primarily upon the owner of the contributing interest, ship, goods or freight. But in practice the contributions are paid by the insurers of the several interests. Merchants seldom have to concern themselves with the subject. And yet in an ordinary policy of insurance there is no express provision requiring the underwriter to indemnify the assured against this liability. The policy commonly contains clauses which recognize such an obligation, e.g. a warranty against average "unless general," or an agreement that G.A. shall be payable "as per foreign statement," or "according to York-Antwerp Rules"; but it does not directly state the obligation. It assumes that. The explanation seems to be that the practice of the underwriter to pay the contribution has been so uniform, and his liability has been so fully recognized, that express provisions were needless. But one result has been that very differing views of the ground of the obligation have been held. One view has been that it is covered by the sue and labour clause of an ordinary policy, by which the insurer agrees to bear his proportion of expenses voluntarily incurred "in and about the defence, safeguard and recovery" of the insured subject. But that has been held to be mistaken by the House of Lords (Aitchison v. Lohre, 1879, 4 A.C. 755). Another view is that the underwriter impliedly undertakes to repay sums which the law may require the assured to pay towards averting losses which would, by the contract, fall upon the underwriter. Expenses voluntarily incurred by the assured with that object are expressly made repayable by the sue and labour clause of the policy. It might well be implied that payments compulsorily required from the assured by law for contributions to G.A., or as salvage for services by salvors, will be undertaken or repaid by the underwriter, the service being for his benefit. But the decision in Aitchison v. Lohre negatives this ground also. The claim was against underwriters on a ship which had been so damaged that the cost of repairs had exceeded her insured value. A claim for the ship's contribution to certain salvage and G.A. expenses which had been incurred, over and above the cost of repairs, was disallowed. The view seems to have been that the insurer is liable for salvage and G.A. payments as losses of the subject insured, and therefore included in the sum insured, not as collateral payments made on his behalf. This bases the claim against the insurer upon a fiction, for there has been no loss of the subject insured; in fact, the payment has been for averting such a loss. And it suggests that the insurer is not liable for salvage where the policy is free of particular average, which does not accord with practice.
An important question as to an insurer's liability for G.A. arose in the case of the Brigella (1893, P. 189), where a shipowner had incurred expenses which would have been the subject of G.A. contributions, but that he alone was interested in the voyage. There were no contributories. He claimed from the insurers of the ship what would have been the ship's G.A. contribution had there been other persons to contribute in respect of freight or cargo. The claim was disallowed on the ground that there could be no G.A. in such circumstances, and therefore no basis for a claim against the insurer. The liability of the insurer was thus made to depend, not upon the character of the loss, but upon the fact or possibility of contribution. But this was not followed in Montgomery v. Indemnity Mutual M. I. Co. (1901, 1 K.B. 147). There ship, freight and cargo all belonged to the same person. He had insured the cargo but not the ship. The cargo underwriters were held liable to pay a contribution to damage done to the ship by cutting away masts for the general safety. The loss was in theory spread over all the interests at risk, and they had undertaken to bear the cargo's share of such losses. Their liability did not depend upon the accident of whether the interests all belonged to one person or not. This agrees with the view taken in the United States.
As to Particular Average, see under Insurance: Marine.
Authorities.—Lowndes on General Average (4th ed., London, 1888); Abbott's Merchant Ships and Seamen (14th ed., London, 1901); Arnould's Marine Insurance (7th ed., London, 1901); Carver's Carriage by Sea (4th ed., London, 1905).
(T. G. C.)
Per Bowen, L.J., in Svensden v. Wallace, 1883, 13 Q.B.D. at p. 84.
AVERNUS, a lake of Campania, Italy, about 1½ m. N. of Baiae. It is an old volcanic crater, nearly 2 m. in circumference, now, as in Roman times, filled with water. Its depth is 213 ft., and its height above sea-level 3½ ft.; it has no natural outlet. In ancient times it was surrounded by dense forests, and was the centre of many legends. It was represented as the entrance by which both Odysseus and Aeneas descended to the infernal regions, and as the abode of the Cimmerii. Its Greek name, Ἄορνος, was explained to mean that no bird could fly across it. Hannibal made a pilgrimage to it in 214 B.C. Agrippa in 37 B.C. converted it into a naval harbour, the Portus Iulius; joining it to the Lacus Lucrinus by a canal, and connecting the latter with the sea, he reduced the distance to Cumae by boring a tunnel over ½ m. in length, now called Grotta della Pace, through the hill on the north-west side of Lake Avernus. After Sextus Pompeius had been subdued, the chief naval harbour was transferred to Misenum. Nero's works for his proposed canal from Baiae to the Tiber (A.D. 64) seem to have begun near Lake Avernus; indeed, according to one theory, the Grotta della Pace would be a portion of this canal. On the east side of the lake are remains of baths, including a great octagonal hall known as the Temple of Apollo, built of brickwork, and belonging to the 1st century. The so-called Grotto of the Cumaean Sibyl, on the south side, is a rock-cut passage, ventilated by vertical apertures, possibly a part of the works connected with the naval harbour. To the south-east of the lake is the Monte Nuovo, a volcanic hill upheaved in 1538, with a deep extinct crater in the centre. To the south is the Lacus Lucrinus.
See J. Beloch, Campanien (2nd ed., Breslau, 1890), pp. 168 seq.
(T. As.)
AVERROES [Abūl-Walīd Muḥammad ibn-Aḥmad Ibn-Muḥammad ibn-Rushd] (1126-1198), Arabian philosopher, was born at Cordova. His early life was occupied in mastering the curriculum of theology, jurisprudence, mathematics, medicine and philosophy, under the approved teachers of the time. The years of his prime fell during the last period of Mahommedan rule in Spain under the Almohades (q.v.). It was Ibn-Tufail (Abubacer), the philosophic vizier of Yusef, who introduced Averroes to that prince, and Avenzoar (Ibn-Zuhr), the greatest of Moslem physicians, was his friend. Averroes, who was versed in the Malekite system of law, was made cadi of Seville (1169), and in similar appointments the next twenty-five years of his life were passed. We find him at different periods in Seville, Cordova and Morocco, probably as physician to Yusef al-Mansur, who took pleasure in engaging him in discussions on the theories of philosophy and their bearings on the faith of Islam. But science and free thought then, as now, in Islam, depended almost solely on the tastes of the wealthy and the favour of the monarch. The ignorant fanaticism of the multitude viewed speculative studies with deep dislike and distrust, and deemed any one a Zendik (infidel) who did not rest content with the natural science of the Koran. These smouldering hatreds burst into open flame about the year 1195. Averroes was accused of heretical opinions and pursuits, stripped of his honours, and banished to a place near Cordova, where his actions were closely watched. At the same time efforts were made to stamp out all liberal culture in Andalusia, so far as it went beyond the little medicine, arithmetic and astronomy required for practical life. But the storm soon passed. Averroes was recalled to Morocco when the transient passion of the people had been satisfied, and for a brief period survived his restoration to honour. He died in the year before his patron, al-Mansur, with whom (in 1199) the political power of the Moslems came to an end, as did the culture of liberal science with Averroes. The philosopher left several sons, some of whom became jurists like his own grandfather. One of them has left an essay, expounding his father's theory of the intellect. The personal character of Averroes is known to us only in a general way, and as we can gather it from his writings. His clear, exhaustive and dignified style of treatment evidences the rectitude and nobility of the man. In the histories of his own nation he has little place; the renown which spread in his lifetime to the East ceased with his death, and he left no school. Yet, from a note in a manuscript, we know that he had intelligent readers in Spain more than a century afterwards. His historic fame came from the Christian Schoolmen, whom he almost initiated into the system of Aristotle, and who, but vaguely discerning the expositors who preceded, admired in his commentaries the accumulated results of two centuries of labours.
The literary works of Averroes include treatises on jurisprudence, grammar, astronomy, medicine and philosophy. In 1859 a work of Averroes was for the first time published in Arabic by the Bavarian Academy, and a German translation appeared in 1873 by the editor, J. Müller. It is a treatise entitled Philosophy and Theology, and, with the exception of a German version of the essay on the conjunction of the intellect with man, is the first translation which enables the non-Semitic scholar to form any adequate idea of Averroes. The Latin translations of most of his works are barbarous and obscure. A great part of his writings, particularly on jurisprudence and astronomy, as well as essays on special logical subjects, prolegomena to philosophy, criticisms on Avicenna and Alfarabius (Fārābī), remain in manuscript in the Escorial and other libraries. The Latin editions of his medical works include the Colliget (i.e. Kulliyyat, or summary), a résumé of medical science, and a commentary on Avicenna's poem on medicine; but Averroes, in medical renown, always stood far below Avicenna. The Latin editions of his philosophical works comprise the Commentaries on Aristotle, the Destructio Destructionis (against Ghazāli), the De Substantia Orbis and a double treatise De Animae Beatitudine. The Commentaries of Averroes fall under three heads:—the larger commentaries, in which a paragraph is quoted at large, and its clauses expounded one by one; the medium commentaries, which cite only the first words of a section; and the paraphrases or analyses, treatises on the subjects of the Aristotelian books. The larger commentary was an innovation of Averroes; for Avicenna, copied by Albertus Magnus, gave under the rubrics furnished by Aristotle works in which, though the materials were borrowed, the grouping was his own. The great commentaries exist only for the Posterior Analytics, Physics, De Caelo, De Anima and Metaphysics. On the History of Animals no commentary at all exists, and Plato's Republic is substituted for the then inaccessible Politics. The Latin editions of these works between 1480 and 1580 number about 100. The first appeared at Padua (1472); about fifty were published at Venice, the best-known being that by the Juntas (1552-1553) in ten volumes folio.
See E. Renan, Averroès et l'Averroïsme (2nd ed., Paris, 1861); S. Munk, Mélanges, 418-458; G. Stöckl, Phil. d. Mittelalters, ii. 67-124; Averroes (Vater und Sohn), Drei Abhandl. über d. Conjunction d. separaten Intellects mit d. Menschen, trans. into German from the Arabic version of Sam. Ben-Tibbon, by Dr J. Hercz (Berlin, 1869); T. J. de Boer, History of Philosophy in Islam (London, 1903), ch. vi.; A. F. M. Mehren in Muséon, vii. 613-627; viii. 1-20; Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (Weimar, 1898), vol. i. pp. 461 f. See also Arabian Philosophy.
(W. W.; G. W. T.)
AVERRUNCATOR, a form of long shears used in arboriculture for "averruncating" or pruning off the higher branches of trees, &c. The word "averruncate" (from Lat. averruncare, to ward off, remove mischief) glided into meaning to "weed the ground," "prune vines," &c., by a supposed derivation from the Lat. ab, off, and eruncare, to weed out, and it was spelt "aberuncate" to suit this; but the New English Dictionary regards such a derivation as impossible.
AVERSA, a town and episcopal see of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, 15½ m. S.S.W. by rail from Caserta, and 12½ m. N. by rail from Naples, from which there is also an electric tramway. Pop. (1901) 23,477. Aversa was the first place in which the Normans settled, it being granted to them in 1027 for the help which they had given to Duke Sergius of Naples against Pandulf IV. of Capua. The Benedictine abbey of S. Lorenzo preserves a portal of the 11th century. There is also a large lunatic asylum, founded by Joachim Murat in 1813.
AVESNES, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Nord, on the Helpe, 28 m. S.E. of Valenciennes by rail. Pop. (1906) 5076. The town is the seat of a sub-prefect, and has a tribunal of first instance, a chamber of commerce and a communal college. Its church of St Nicholas (16th century) has a tower 200 ft. high, with a fine chime of bells. The chief industry of the town is wool-spinning, and there is trade in wood. Avesnes was founded in the 11th century, and formed a countship which in the 15th century passed to the house of Burgundy and afterwards to that of Habsburg. In 1477 it was destroyed by Louis XI. By the treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) it came into the possession of the French, and was fortified by Vauban. It was captured by the Prussians in 1815.
AVEYRON, a department of southern France, bounded N. by Cantal, E. by Lozère and Card, S.W. by Tarn and W. by Tarn-et-Garonne and Lot. Area, 3386 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 377,299. It corresponds nearly to the old district of Rouergue, which gave its name to a countship established early in the 9th century, and united with that of Toulouse towards the end of the 11th century. The earliest known natives of this region were the Celtic Rutheni, to whom the numerous megalithic monuments found in the department are attributed. Aveyron lies on the southern border of the central plateau of France. Its chief rivers are the Lot in the north, the Aveyron in the centre and the Tarn in the south, all tributaries of the Garonne. They flow from east to west, following the general slope of the department, and divide it into four zones. In the north-east, between the Lot and its tributary the Truyère, lies the lonely pastoral plateau of the Viadène, dominated by the volcanic mountains of Aubrac, which form the north-eastern limit of the department and include its highest summit (4760 ft.). Entraygues, at the confluence of the Lot and the Truyère, is one of the many picturesque towns of the department. Between the Lot and the Aveyron is a belt of causses or monotonous limestone table-lands, broken here and there by profound and beautiful gorges—a type of scenery characteristic of Aveyron. This zone is also watered by the Dourdou du Nord, a tributary of the Lot. The salient feature of the region between the Tarn and the Aveyron is the plateau of the Ségala, bordered on the east by the heights of Lévezou and Palanges and traversed from east to west by the deep valley of the Viaur, a tributary of the Aveyron. The country south of the Tarn is occupied in great part by the huge plateau of Larzac, which lies between the Causse Noir and the Causse St Affrique, the three forming the south-western termination of the Cévennes. On the Causse Noir is found the fantastic chaos of rocks and precipices known as Montpellier-le-Vieux, resembling the ruins of a huge city. The climate of Aveyron varies from extreme rigour in the mountains to mildness in the sheltered valleys; the south wind is sometimes of great violence. Wheat, rye and oats are the chief cereals cultivated, the soil of Aveyron being naturally poor. Other crops are potatoes, colza, hemp and flax. The mainstay of the agriculture of the department is the raising of live-stock, especially of cattle of the Aubrac breed, for which Laguiole is an important market. The wines of Entraygues, St Georges, Bouillac and Najac have some reputation; in the Ségala chestnuts form an important element in the food of the peasants, and the walnut, cider-apple, mulberry (for the silk-worm industry), and plum are among the fruit trees grown. The production of Roquefort cheeses is prominent among the agricultural industries. They are made from the milk of the large flocks of the plateau of Larzac, and the choicest are ripened in the even temperature of the caves in the cliff which overhangs Roquefort. The minerals found in the department include the coal of the basins of Aubin and Rodez as well as iron, zinc and lead. Quarries of various kinds of stone are also worked. The chief industrial centres are Decazeville, which has metallurgical works, and Millau, where leather-dressing and the manufacture of gloves have attained considerable importance. Wool-weaving and the manufacture of woollen goods, machinery, chemicals and bricks are among the other industries.
There are five arrondissements, of which the chief towns are Rodez, capital of the department, Espalion, Millau, St Affrique and Villefranche, with 43 cantons and 304 communes. Rodez is the seat of a bishopric, the diocese of which comprises the department. Aveyron belongs to the 16th military region, and to the académie or educational circumscription of Toulouse. Its court of appeal is at Montpellier. The department is traversed by the lines both of the Orléans and Southern railways. The more important towns are Rodez, Millau, St Affrique, Villefranche-de-Rouergue and Decazeville. The following are also of interest:—Sauveterre, founded in 1281, a striking example of the bastide (q.v.) of that period; Conques, which has a remarkable abbey-church of the 11th century like St Sernin of Toulouse in plan and possessing a rich treasury of reliquaries, &c.; Espalion, where amongst other old buildings there are the remains of a feudal stronghold and a church of the Romanesque period; Najac, which has the ruins of a magnificent château of the 13th century; and Sylvanès, with a church of the 12th century, once attached to a Cistercian abbey.
AVEZZANO, a town of the Abruzzi, Italy, in the province of Aquila, 67 m. E. of Rome by rail and 38 m. S. of Aquila by road. Pop. (1901) 9442. It has a fine and well-preserved castle, built in 1490 by Gentile Virginio Orsini; it is square, with round towers at the angles. Avezzano is on the main line from Rome to Castellammare Adriatico; a branch railway diverges to Roccasecca, on the line from Naples to Rome. The Lago Fucino lies 1½ m. to the east.
AVIANUS, a Latin writer of fables, placed by some critics in the age of the Antonines, by others as late as the 6th century A.D. He appears to have lived at Rome and to have been a heathen. The 42 fables which bear his name are dedicated to a certain Theodosius, whose learning is spoken of in most flattering terms. He may possibly be Macrobius Theodosius, the author of the Saturnalia; some think he may be the emperor of that name. Nearly all the fables are to be found in Babrius, who was probably Avianus's source of inspiration, but as Babrius wrote in Greek, and Avianus speaks of having made an elegiac version from a rough Latin copy, probably a prose paraphrase, he was not indebted to the original. The language and metre are on the whole correct, in spite of deviations from classical usage, chiefly in the management of the pentameter. The fables soon became popular as a school-book. Promythia and epimythia (introductions and morals) and paraphrases, and imitations were frequent, such as the Novus Avianus of Alexander Neckam (12th century).
Editions.—Cannegieter (1731), Lachmann (1845), Fröhner (1862), Bahrens in Poetae Latini Minores, Ellis (1887). See Müller, De Phaedri et Aviani Fabulis (1875); Unrein, De Aviani Aetate (1885); Hervieux, Les Fabulistes latins (1894); The Fables of Avian translated into Englyshe ... by William Caxton at Westmynstre (1483).
AVIARY (from Lat. avis, a bird), called by older writers "volary," a structure in which birds are kept in a state of captivity. While the habit of keeping birds in cages dates from a very remote period, it is probable that structures worthy of being termed aviaries were first used by the ancient Romans, chiefly for the process of fattening birds for the table. In Varro's time, 116-127 B.C., aviaries or "ornithones" (from Gr. ὄρνις, ὄρνιθος, bird) were common. These consisted of two kinds, those constructed for pleasure, in which were kept nightingales and other song-birds, and those used entirely for keeping and fattening birds for market or for the tables of their owners. Varro himself had an aviary for song-birds exclusively, while Lucullus combined the two classes, keeping birds both for pleasure and as delicacies for his table. The keeping of birds for pleasure, however, was very rarely indulged in, while it was a common practice with poulterers and others to have large ornithones either in the city or at Sabinum for the fattening of thrushes and other birds for food.
Ornithones consisted merely of four high walls and a roof, and were lighted with a few very small windows, as the birds were considered to pine less if they could not see their free companions outside. Water was introduced by means of pipes, and conducted in narrow channels, and the birds were fed chiefly upon dried figs, carefully peeled, and chewed into a pulp by persons hired to perform this operation.
Turtle-doves were fattened in large numbers for the market on wheat and millet, the latter being moistened with sweet wine; but thrushes were chiefly in request, and Varro mentions one ornithon from which no less than five thousand of these birds were sold for the table in one season.
The habit of keeping birds in aviaries, as we understand the term, for the sake of the pleasure they afford their owners and for studying their habits is, however, of comparatively recent date. The beginning of geographical research in the 15th century brought with it the desire to keep and study at home some of the beautiful forms of bird-life which the explorers came across, and hence it became the custom to erect aviaries for the reception of these creatures. In the 16th century, in the early part of which the canary-bird was introduced into Europe, aviaries were not uncommon features of the gardens of the wealthy, and Bacon refers to them in his essay on gardening (1597). Elizabeth of Bohemia, the daughter of James I. of England, when a child, had an outdoor aviary at Coombe Abbey near Coventry, the back and roof of which were formed of natural rock, in which were kept birds of many species from many countries.
Within recent years the method of keeping birds in large aviaries has received considerable attention, and it is fully recognized that by so doing, not only do we derive great pleasure, but our knowledge of avian habits and mode of living can thereby be very considerably increased.
An aviary may be of almost any size, from the large cage known, on account of its shape, as the "Crystal Palace aviary," to a structure as large as a church; and the term is sometimes applied to the room of a house with the windows covered with wire-netting; but as a rule it is used for outdoor structures, composed principally of wire-netting supported on a framework of either iron or woodwork. For quite hardy birds little more than this is necessary, providing that protection is given in the form of growing trees and shrubs, rock-work or rough wooden shelters. For many of the delicate species, however, which hail from tropical countries, warmth must be provided during the inclement months of the year, and thus a part at least of an aviary designed for these birds must be in the form of a wooden or brick house which can be shut up in cold weather and artificially warmed.
The ideal aviary, probably, is that which is constructed in two parts, viz. a well-built house for the winter, opening out into a large wire enclosure for use in the summer months. The doors between the two portions may be of wood or glazed. The part intended as the winter home of the birds is best built in brick or stone, as these materials are practically vermin-proof and the temperature in such a building is less variable than that in a thin wooden structure. The floor should be of concrete or brick, and the house should be fitted with an efficient heating apparatus from which the heat is distributed by means of hot-water pipes. Any arrangement which would permit the escape into the aviary of smoke or noxious fumes is to be strongly condemned. Such a house must be well lighted, preferably by means of skylights; but it is a mistake to have the whole roof glazed, at least half of it should be of wood, covered with slates or tiles. Perches consisting of branches of trees with the bark adhering should be fixed up, and, if small birds are to be kept, bundles of bushy twigs should be securely fixed up in corners under the roofs.
The outer part, which will principally be used during the summer, though it will do most birds good to be let out for a few hours on mild winter days also, should be as large as possible, and constructed entirely of wire-netting stretched on a framework of wood or iron. If the latter material is selected, stout gas-piping is both stronger and more easily fitted together than solid iron rods.
If the framework be of wood, this should be creosoted, preferably under pressure, or painted with three coats of good lead paint, the latter preservative also being used if iron is the material selected.
The wire-netting used may be of almost any sized mesh, according to the sized birds to be kept, but as a general rule the smallest mesh, such as half or five-eighths of an inch, should be used, as it is practically vermin-proof, and allows of birds of any size being kept. Wire-netting for aviaries should be of the best quality, and well galvanized. The new interlinked type is less durable than the old mesh type, though perhaps it looks somewhat neater when fixed.
Provision must be made for the entire exclusion of such vermin as rats, stoats and weasels, which, if they were to gain access, would commit great havoc amongst the birds. The simplest and most effectual method of doing this is by sinking the wire-netting some 2 ft. into the ground all round the aviary, and then turning it outwards for a distance of another foot as shown in the annexed cut (fig. 1).
The outer part of the aviary should be turfed and planted with evergreen and deciduous shrubs, and be provided with some means of supplying an abundance of pure water for the birds to drink and bathe in; a gravel path should not be forgotten.
Perhaps the most useful type of aviary is that built as above described, but with several compartments, and a passage at the back by which any compartment may be visited without the necessity of passing through and disturbing the birds in other compartments. Fig. 2 represents a ground plan of an aviary of this type divided into four compartments, each with an inner house 10 ft. square, and an outer flight of double that area. The outer flights are intended to be turfed, and planted with shrubs, and the gravel path has a glazed roof above it by which it is kept dry in wet weather. Shallow water-basins are shown, which should be supplied by means of an underground pipe and a cock which can be turned on from outside the aviary; and they must be connected with a properly laid drain by means of a waste plug and an overflow pipe.
An aviary should always be built with a southern or southeastern aspect, and, where possible, should be sheltered from the north, north-east and north-west by a belt of fir-trees, high wall or bank, to protect the birds from the biting winds from these quarters.
When parrots of any kind are to be kept it is useless to try to grow any kind of vegetation except grass, and even this will be demolished unless the aviary is of considerable size. The larger parrots will, in fact, bite to pieces not only living trees but also the woodwork of their abode, and the only really suitable materials for the construction of an aviary for these birds are brick or stone and iron; and the wire-netting used must be of the stoutest gauge or it will be torn to pieces by their strong bills.
The feeding of birds in aviaries is, obviously, a matter of the utmost importance, and, in order that they may have what is most suitable, the aviculturist should find out as much as possible of the wild life of the species he wishes to keep, or if little or nothing is known about their mode of living, as is often the case with rare forms, of nearly related species whose habits and food are probably much the same, and he should endeavour to provide food as nearly as possible resembling that which would be obtained by the birds when wild. It is often, however, impossible to supply precisely the same food as would be obtained by the birds had they their liberty, but a substitute which suits them well can generally be obtained. The majority of the parrot tribe subsist principally upon various nuts, seed and fruit, while some of the smaller parrakeets or paroquets appear to feed almost exclusively upon the seeds of various grasses. Almost all of these are comparatively easy to treat in captivity, the larger ones being fed on maize, sunflower-seed, hemp, dari, oats, canary-seed, nuts and various ripe fruits, while the grass-parrakeets thrive remarkably well on little besides canary-seed and green food, the most suitable of which is grass in flower, chickweed, groundsel and various seed-bearing weeds. But there is another large group of parrots, the Loriidae or brush-tongued parrots, some of the most interesting and brightly coloured of the tribe, which, when wild, subsist principally upon the pollen and nectar of flowers, notably the various species of Eucalyptus, the filamented tongues of these parrots being peculiarly adapted for obtaining this. In captivity these birds have been found to live well upon sweetened milk-sop, which is made by pouring boiling milk upon crumbled bread or biscuit. They frequently learn to eat seed like other parrots, but, if fed exclusively upon this, are apt, especially if deprived of abundance of exercise, to suffer from fits which are usually fatal. Fruit is also readily eaten by the lories and lorikeets, and should always be supplied.
The foreign doves and pigeons form a numerous and beautiful group which are mostly hardy and easily kept and bred in captivity. They are for the most part grain-feeders and require only small corn and seeds, though a certain group, known as the fruit-pigeons, are fed in captivity upon soft fruits, berries, boiled potato and soaked grain.
The various finches and finch-like birds form an exceedingly large group and comprise perhaps the most popular of foreign aviary birds. The weaver-birds of Africa are mostly quite hardy and very easily kept, their food consisting, for the most part, of canary-seed. The males of these birds are, as a rule, gorgeously attired in brilliant colours, some having long flowing tail-feathers during the nuptial season, while in the winter their showy dress is replaced by one of sparrow-like sombreness. The grass-finches of Australasia contain some of the most brilliantly coloured birds, the beautiful grass-finch (Poëphila mirabilis) being resplendent in crimson, green, mauve, blue and yellow. Most of these birds build their nests, and many rear their young, successfully in outdoor aviaries, their food consisting of canary and millet seeds, while flowering grasses provide them with an endless source of pleasure and wholesome food. The same treatment suits the African waxbills, many of which are extremely beautiful, the crimson-eared waxbill or "cordon-bleu" being one of the most lovely and frequently imported. These little birds are somewhat delicate, especially when first imported, and during the winter months require artificial warmth.
There is a very large group of insectivorous and fruit-eating birds very suitable for aviculture, but their mode of living necessarily involves considerable care on the part of the aviculturist in the preparation of their food. Many birds are partially insectivorous, feeding upon insects when these are plentiful, and upon various seeds at other times. Numbers of species again which, when adult, feed almost entirely upon grain, feed their young, especially during the early stages of their existence, upon insects; while others are exclusively insect-eaters at all times of their lives. All of these points must be considered by those who would succeed in keeping and breeding birds in aviaries.
It would be almost an impossibility to keep the purely insectivorous species, were it not for the fact that they can be gradually accustomed to feed on what is known as "insectivorous" or "insectile" food, a composition of which the principal ingredients generally consist of dried ants' cocoons, dried flies, dried powdered meat, preserved yolk of egg, and crumb of bread or biscuit. This is moistened with water or mixed with mashed boiled potato, and forms a diet upon which most of the insectivorous birds thrive. The various ingredients, or the food ready made, can be obtained at almost any bird-fancier's shop. Although it is a good staple diet for these birds, the addition of mealworms, caterpillars, grubs, spiders and so forth is often a necessity, especially for purely insectivorous species.
The fruit-eating species, such as the tanagers and sugar-birds of the New World, require ripe fruit in abundance in addition to a staple diet such as that above described, while for such birds as feed largely upon earth-worms, shredded raw meat is added with advantage.
Many of the waders make very interesting aviary birds, and require a diet similar to that above recommended, with the addition of chopped raw meat, mealworms and any insects that can be obtained.
Birds of prey naturally require a meat diet, which is best given in the form of small, freshly killed mammals and birds, the fur or feathers of which should not be removed, as they aid digestion.
The majority of wild birds, from whatever part of the world they may come, will breed successfully in suitable aviaries providing proper nesting sites are available. Large bundles of brushwood, fixed up in sheltered spots, will afford accommodation for many kinds of birds, while some will readily build in evergreen shrubs if these are grown in their enclosure. Small boxes and baskets, securely fastened to the wall or roof of the sheltered part of an aviary, will be appropriated by such species as naturally build in holes and crevices. Parrots, when wild, lay their eggs in hollow trees, and occasionally in holes in rocks, making no nest, but merely scraping out a slight hollow in which to deposit the eggs. For these birds hollow logs, with small entrance holes near the top, or boxes, varying in size according to the size of the parrots which they are intended for, should be supplied. In providing nesting accommodation for his birds the aviculturist must endeavour to imitate their natural surroundings and supply sites as nearly as possible similar to those which the birds, to whatever order they may belong, would naturally select.
Aviculture is a delightful pastime, but it is also far more than this; it is of considerable scientific importance, for it admits of the living birds being studied in a way that would be quite impossible otherwise. There are hundreds of species of birds, from all parts of the world, the habits of which are almost unknown, but which may be kept without difficulty in suitable aviaries. Many of these birds cannot be studied satisfactorily in a wild state by reason of their shy nature and retiring habits, not to mention their rarity and the impossibility, so far as most people are concerned, of visiting their native haunts. In suitable large aviaries, however, their nesting habits, courtship, display, incubation, moult and so forth can be accurately observed and recorded. The keeping of birds in aviaries is therefore a practice worthy of every encouragement, so long as the aviaries are of sufficient size and suitable design to allow of the birds exhibiting their natural habits; for in a large aviary they will reveal the secrets of their nature as they never would do in a cage or small aviary.
(D. S.-S.)
It has recently been stated by certain medical men that egg-food in any form is an undesirable diet for birds, owing to its being peculiarly adapted to the multiplication of the bacillus of septicaemia, a disease which is responsible for the death of many newly imported birds. It is a significant fact, however, that insectivorous species, which are those principally fed upon this substance, are not nearly so susceptible to this disease as seed-eating birds which rarely taste egg; and in spite of what has been written concerning its harmfulness, the large majority of aviculturists use it, in both the fresh and the preserved state, with no apparent ill effects, but rather the reverse.
There is, however, one true nest-building parrot, the grey-breasted parrakeet (Myopsittacus monachus), which constructs a huge nest of twigs. The true love-birds (Agapornis) may also be said to build nests, for they line their nest-hole with strips of pliant bark.
AVICENNA [Abū ‛Alī al-Husain ibn ‛Abdallāh ibn Sīnā] (980-1037), Arabian philosopher, was born at Afshena in the district of Bokhara. His mother was a native of the place; his father, a Persian from Balkh, filled the post of tax-collector in the neighbouring town of Harmaitin, under Nūh II. ibn Mansur, the Samanid amir of Bokhara. On the birth of Avicenna's younger brother the family migrated to Bokhara, then one of the chief cities of the Moslem world, and famous for a culture which was older than its conquest by the Saracens. Avicenna was put in charge of a tutor, and his precocity soon made him the marvel of his neighbours,—as a boy of ten who knew by rote the Koran and much Arabic poetry besides. From a greengrocer he learnt arithmetic; and higher branches were begun under one of those wandering scholars who gained a livelihood by cures for the sick and lessons for the young. Under him Avicenna read the Isagoge of Porphyry and the first propositions of Euclid. But the pupil soon found his teacher to be but a charlatan, and betook himself, aided by commentaries, to master logic, geometry and the Almagest. Before he was sixteen he not merely knew medical theory, but by gratuitous attendance on the sick had, according to his own account, discovered new methods of treatment. For the next year and a half he worked at the higher philosophy, in which he encountered greater obstacles. In such moments of baffled inquiry he would leave his books, perform the requisite ablutions, then hie to the mosque, and continue in prayer till light broke on his difficulties. Deep into the night he would continue his studies, stimulating his senses by occasional cups of wine, and even in his dreams problems would pursue him and work out their solution. Forty times, it is said, he read through the Metaphysics of Aristotle, till the words were imprinted on his memory; but their meaning was hopelessly obscure, until one day they found illumination from the little commentary by Fārābī (q.v.), which he bought at a bookstall for the small sum of three dirhems. So great was his joy at the discovery, thus made by help of a work from which he had expected only mystery, that he hastened to return thanks to God, and bestowed an alms upon the poor. Thus, by the end of his seventeenth year his apprenticeship of study was concluded, and he went forth to find a market for his accomplishments.
His first appointment was that of physician to the amir, who owed him his recovery from a dangerous illness (997). Avicenna's chief reward for this service was access to the royal library of the Samanids (q.v.), well-known patrons of scholarship and scholars. When the library was destroyed by fire not long after, the enemies of Avicenna accused him of burning it, in order for ever to conceal the sources of his knowledge. Meanwhile, he assisted his father in his financial labours, but still found time to write some of his earliest works.
At the age of twenty-two Avicenna lost his father. The Samanid dynasty came to its end in December 1004. Avicenna seems to have declined the offers of Mahmūd the Ghaznevid, and proceeded westwards to Urjensh in the modern Khiva, where the vizier, regarded as a friend of scholars, gave him a small monthly stipend. But the pay was small, and Avicenna wandered from place to place through the districts of Nishapur and Merv to the borders of Khorasan, seeking an opening for his talents. Shams al-Ma‛ālī Qābūs, the generous ruler of Dailam, himself a poet and a scholar, with whom he had expected to find an asylum, was about that date (1012) starved to death by his own revolted soldiery. Avicenna himself was at this season stricken down by a severe illness. Finally, at Jorjān, near the Caspian, he met with a friend, who bought near his own house a dwelling in which Avicenna lectured on logic and astronomy. For this patron several of his treatises were written; and the commencement of his Canon of Medicine also dates from his stay in Hyrcania.
He subsequently settled at Rai, in the vicinity of the modern Teheran, where a son of the last amir, Majd Addaula, was nominal ruler, under the regency of his mother. At Rai about thirty of his shorter works are said to have been composed. But the constant feuds which raged between the regent and her second son, Shams Addaula, compelled the scholar to quit the place, and after a brief sojourn at Kazwīn, he passed southwards to Hamadān, where that prince had established himself. At first he entered into the service of a high-born lady; but ere long the amir, hearing of his arrival, called him in as medical attendant, and sent him back with presents to his dwelling. Avicenna was even raised to the office of vizier; but the turbulent soldiery, composed of Kurds and Turks, mutinied against their nominal sovereign, and demanded that the new vizier should be put to death. Shams Addaula consented that he should be banished from the country. Avicenna, however, remained hidden for forty days in a sheik's house, till a fresh attack of illness induced the amir to restore him to his post. Even during this perturbed time he prosecuted his studies and teaching. Every evening extracts from his great works, the Canon and the Sanatio, were dictated and explained to his pupils; among whom, when the lesson was over, he spent the rest of the night in festive enjoyment with a band of singers and players. On the death of the amir Avicenna ceased to be vizier, and hid himself in the house of an apothecary, where, with intense assiduity, he continued the composition of his works. Meanwhile, he had written to Abu Ya‛far, the prefect of Isfahan, offering his services; but the new amir of Hamadān getting to hear of this correspondence, and discovering the place of Avicenna's concealment, incarcerated him in a fortress. War meanwhile continued between the rulers of Isfahan and Hamadān; in 1024 the former captured Hamadān and its towns, and expelled the Turkish mercenaries. When the storm had passed Avicenna returned with the amir to Hamadān, and carried on his literary labours; but at length, accompanied by his brother, a favourite pupil, and two slaves, made his escape out of the city in the dress of a Sufite ascetic. After a perilous journey they reached Isfahan, and received an honourable welcome from the prince. The remaining ten or twelve years of Avicenna's life were spent in the service of Abu Ya‛far ‛Alā Addaula, whom he accompanied as physician and general literary and scientific adviser, even in his numerous campaigns. During these years he began to study literary matters and philology, instigated, it is asserted, by criticisms on his style. But amid his restless study Avicenna never forgot his love of enjoyment. Unusual bodily vigour enabled him to combine severe devotion to work with facile indulgence in sensual pleasures. His passion for wine and women was almost as well known as his learning. Versatile, light-hearted, boastful and pleasure-loving, he contrasts with the nobler and more intellectual character of Averroes. His bouts of pleasure gradually weakened his constitution; a severe colic, which seized him on the march of the army against Hamadān, was checked by remedies so violent that Avicenna could scarcely stand. On a similar occasion the disease returned; with difficulty he reached Hamadān, where, finding the disease gaining ground, he refused to keep up the regimen imposed, and resigned himself to his fate. On his deathbed remorse seized him; he bestowed his goods on the poor, restored unjust gains, freed his slaves, and every third day till his death listened to the reading of the Koran. He died in June 1037, in his fifty-eighth year, and was buried in Hamadān.
It was mainly accident which determined that from the 12th to the 17th century Avicenna should be the guide of medical study in European universities, and eclipse the names of Rhazes, Ali ibn al-Abbas and Avenzoar. His work is not essentially different from that of his predecessors Rhazes and Ali; all present the doctrine of Galen, and through Galen the doctrine of Hippocrates, modified by the system of Aristotle. But the Canon of Avicenna is distinguished from the Al-Hawi (Continens) or Summary of Rhazes by its greater method, due perhaps to the logical studies of the former, and entitling him to his surname of Prince of the Physicians. The work has been variously appreciated in subsequent ages, some regarding it as a treasury of wisdom, and others, like Avenzoar, holding it useful only as waste paper. In modern times it has been more criticized than read. The vice of the book is excessive classification of bodily faculties, and over-subtlety in the discrimination of diseases. It includes five books; of which the first and second treat of physiology, pathology and hygiene, the third and fourth deal with the methods of treating disease, and the fifth describes the composition and preparation of remedies. This last part contains some contingent of personal observation. He is, like all his countrymen, ample in the enumeration of symptoms, and is said to be inferior to Ali in practical medicine and surgery. He introduced into medical theory the four causes of the Peripatetic system. Of natural history and botany he pretends to no special knowledge. Up to the year 1650, or thereabouts, the Canon was still used as a text-book in the universities of Louvain and Montpellier.
About 100 treatises are ascribed to Avicenna. Some of them are tracts of a few pages, others are works extending through several volumes. The best-known amongst them, and that to which Avicenna owed his European reputation, is the Canon of Medicine; an Arabic edition of it appeared at Rome in 1593, and a Hebrew version at Naples in 1491. Of the Latin version there were about thirty editions, founded on the original translation by Gerard of Cremona. The 15th century has the honour of composing the great commentary on the text of the Canon, grouping around it all that theory had imagined, and all that practice had observed. Other medical works translated into Latin are the Medicamenta Cordialia, Canticum de Medicina, Tractatus de Syrupo Acetoso. Scarcely any member of the Arabian circle of the sciences, including theology, philology, mathematics, astronomy, physics and music, was left untouched by the treatises of Avicenna, many of which probably varied little, except in being commissioned by a different patron and having a different form or extent. He wrote at least one treatise on alchemy, but several others have been falsely attributed to him. His book on animals was translated by Michael Scot. His Logic, Metaphysics, Physics, De Caelo, are treatises giving a synoptic view of Aristotelian doctrine. The Logic and Metaphysics have been printed more than once, the latter, e.g., at Venice in 1493, 1495 and 1546. Some of his shorter essays on medicine, logic, &c., take a poetical form (the poem on logic was published by Schmoelders in 1836). Two encyclopaedic treatises, dealing with philosophy, are often mentioned. The larger, Al-Shifā’ (Sanatio), exists nearly complete in manuscript in the Bodleian library and elsewhere; part of it on the De Anima appeared at Pavia (1490) as the Liber Sextus Naturalium, and the long account of Avicenna's philosophy given by Shahrastani seems to be mainly an analysis, and in many places a reproduction, of the Al-Shifā', A shorter form of the work is known as the An-najāt (Liberatio). The Latin editions of part of these works have been modified by the corrections which the monkish editors confess that they applied. There is also a Philosophia Orientalis, mentioned by Roger Bacon, and now lost, which according to Averroes was pantheistic in tone.
For Avicenna's life, see Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, translated by McG. de Slane (1842); F. Wüstenfeld's Geschichte der arabischen Aerzte und Naturforscher (Göttingen, 1840). For his medicine, see Sprengel, Histoire de la Médecine; and for his philosophy, see Shahrastani, German trans. vol. ii. 213-332; K. Prantl, Geschichte der Logik, ii. 318-361; A. Stöckl, Phil. d. Mittelalters, ii. 23-58; S. Munk, Mélanges, 352-366; B. Haneberg in the Abhandlungen der philos.-philolog. Class. der bayerischen Academie (1867); and Carra de Vaux, Avicenne (Paris, 1900). For list of extant works see C. Brockelmann's Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (Weimar, 1898), vol. i. pp. 452-458.
(W. W.; G. W. T.)
AVIENUS, RUFIUS FESTUS, a Roman aristocrat and poet, of Vulsinii in Etruria, who flourished during the second half of the 4th century A.D. He was probably proconsul of Africa (366) and of Achaia (372). Avienus was a pagan and a staunch supporter of the old religion. He translated the Φαινόμενα of Aratus and paraphrased the Περιήγησις of Dionysius under the title of Descriptio Orbis Terrarum, both in hexameters. He also compiled a description, in iambic trimeters, of the coasts of the Mediterranean, Caspian and Black Seas in several books, of which only a fragment of the first is extant. He also epitomized Livy and Virgil's Aeneid in the same metre, but these works are lost. Some minor poems are found under his name in anthologies, e.g. a humorous request to one Favianus for some pomegranates for medicinal purposes.
AVIGLIANA, a town of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Turin, 14 m. W. by rail from the town of Turin. Pop. (1901) 4629. It has medieval buildings of some interest, but is mainly remarkable for its large dynamite factory, employing over 500 workman.
AVIGNON, a city of south-eastern France, capital of the department of Vaucluse, 143 m. S. of Lyons on the railway between that city and Marseilles. Pop. (1906) 35,356. Avignon, which lies on the left bank of the Rhone, a few miles above its confluence with the Durance, occupies a large oval-shaped area not fully populated, and covered in great part by parks and gardens. A suspension bridge leads over the river to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (q.v.), and a little higher up, a picturesque ruined bridge of the 12th century, the Pont Saint-Bénézet, projects into the stream. Only four of the eighteen piles are left; on one of them stands the chapel of Saint-Bénézet, a small Romanesque building. Avignon is still encircled by the ramparts built by the popes in the 14th century, which offer one of the finest examples of medieval fortification in existence. The walls, which are of great strength, are surmounted by machicolated battlements, flanked at intervals by thirty-nine massive towers and pierced by several gateways, three of which date from the 14th century. The whole is surrounded by a line of pleasant boulevards. The life of the town is almost confined to the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville and the Cours de la République, which leads out of it and extends to the ramparts. Elsewhere the streets are narrow, quiet, and, for the most part, badly paved. At the northern extremity of the town a precipitous rock, the Rocher des Doms, rises from the river's edge and forms a plateau stretching southwards nearly to the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville. Its summit is occupied by a public garden and, to the south of this, by the cathedral of Notre-Dame des Doms and the Palace of the Popes. The cathedral is a Romanesque building, mainly of the 12th century, the most prominent feature of which is the gilded statue of the Virgin which surmounts the western tower. Among the many works of art in the interior, the most beautiful is the mausoleum of Pope John XXII., a masterpiece of Gothic carving of the 14th century. The cathedral is almost dwarfed by the Palace of the Popes, a sombre assemblage of buildings, which rises at its side and covers a space of more than 1¼ acres. Begun in 1316 by John XXII., it was continued by succeeding popes until 1370, and is in the Gothic style; in its construction everything has been sacrificed to strength, and though the effect is imposing, the place has the aspect rather of a fortress than of a palace. It was for long used as a barracks and prison, to the exigencies of which the fine apartments were ruthlessly adapted, but it is now municipal property. Among the minor churches of the town are St Pierre, which has a graceful façade and richly carved doors, St Didier and St Agricol, all three of Gothic architecture. The most notable of the civil buildings are the hôtel de ville, a modern building with a belfry of the 14th century, and the old Hôtel des Monnaies, the papal mint which was built in 1610 and is now used as a music-school. The Calvet Museum, so named after F. Calvet, physician, who in 1810 left his collections to the town, is rich in inscriptions, bronzes, glass and other antiquities, and in sculptures and paintings. The library has over 140,000 volumes. The town has a statue of a Persian, Jean Althen, who in 1765 introduced the culture of the madder plant, which long formed the staple and is still an important branch of local trade. In 1873 John Stuart Mill died at Avignon, and is buried in the cemetery. For the connexion of Petrarch with the town see Petrarch.
Avignon is subject to violent winds, of which the most disastrous is the mistral. The popular proverb is, however, somewhat exaggerated, Avenio ventosa, sine vento venenosa, cum vento fastidiosa (windy Avignon, pest-ridden when there is no wind, wind-pestered when there is).
Avignon is the seat of an archbishop and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a council of trade-arbitrators, a lycée, and training college, a chamber of commerce and a branch of the Bank of France. It is in the midst of a fertile district, in the products of which it has a large trade, and has flour-mills, distilleries, oil-works and leather-works, manufactures soap, chemicals and liquorice, and is well known for its sarsanet and other fabrics.
Avignon (Avenio) was an important town of the Gallic tribe of the Cavares, and under the Romans one of the leading cities of Gallia Narbonensis. Severely harassed during the barbarian invasions and by the Saracens, it was, in later times, attached successively to the kingdoms of Burgundy and of Arles and to the domains of the counts of Provence and of Toulouse and of Forcalquier. At the end of the 12th century it became a republic, but in 1226 was taken and dismantled by Louis VIII. as punishment for its support of the Albigenses, and in 1251 was forced to submit to the counts of Toulouse and Provence. In 1309 the city was chosen by Clement V. as his residence, and from that time till 1377 was the papal seat. In 1348 the city was sold by Joanna, countess of Provence, to Clement VI. After Gregory XI. had migrated to Rome, two antipopes, Clement VII. and Benedict XIII., resided at Avignon, from which the latter was expelled in 1408. The town remained in the possession of the popes, who governed it by means of legates, till its annexation by the National Assembly in 1791, though during this interval several kings of France made efforts to unite it with their dominions. In 1791 conflicts between the adherents of the Papacy and the Republicans led to much bloodshed. In 1815 Marshal Brune was assassinated in the town by the adherents of the royalist party. The bishopric, founded in the 3rd century, became an archbishopric in 1475.
See Fantoni Castrucci, Istoria della città d'Avignone e del Contado Venesino (Venice, 1678); J. B. Joudou, Histoire des souverains pontifes qui ont siégé à Avignon (Avignon, 1855); A. Canron, Guide de l'étranger dans la ville d'Avignon et ses environs (Avignon, 1858); J. F. André, Histoire de la Papauté à Avignon (Avignon, 1887).
ÁVILA, GIL GONZALEZ DE (c. 1577-1658), Spanish biographer and antiquary, was born and died at Ávila. He was made historiographer of Castile in 1612, and of the Indies in 1641. Of his numerous works, the most valuable are his Teatro de las Grandezas des Madrid (Madrid, 1623, sqq.), and his Teatro Eclesiastico, descriptive of the metropolitan churches and cathedrals of Castile, with lives of the prelates (Madrid, 1645-1653, 4 vols. 4to).
ÁVILA, a province of central Spain, one of the modern divisions of the kingdom of Old Castile; bounded on the N. by Valladolid, E. by Segovia and Madrid, S. by Toledo and Cáceres, and W. by Salamanca. Pop. (1900) 200,457; area, 2570 sq. m. Ávila is naturally divided into two sections, differing completely in soil, climate, productions and social economy. The northern portion is generally level; the soil is of indifferent quality, strong and marly in a few places, but rocky in all the valleys of the Sierra de Ávila; and the climate alternates from severe cold in winter to extreme heat in summer. The population of this part is mainly agricultural. The southern division is one mass of rugged granitic sierras, interspersed, however, with sheltered and well-watered valleys, abounding with rich vegetation. The winter here, especially in the elevated region of the Paramera and the waste lands of Ávila, is long and severe, but the climate is not unhealthy. In this region stock-breeding is an important industry. The principal mountain chains are the Guadarrama, separating this province from Madrid; the Paramera and Sierra de Ávila, west of the Guadarrama; and the vast wall of the Sierra de Gredos along the southern frontier, where its outstanding peaks rise to 6000 or even 8000 ft. The ridges which ramify from the Paramera are covered with valuable forests of beeches, oaks and firs, presenting a striking contrast to the bare peaks of the Sierra de Gredos. The principal rivers are the Alberche and Tietar, belonging to the basin of the Tagus, and the Tórmes, Trabáncos and Adaja, belonging to that of the Douro. The mountains contain silver, copper, iron, lead and coal, but their mineral wealth has been exaggerated, and at the beginning of the 20th century mining had practically been abandoned. Quarries of fine marble and jasper exist in the district of Arenas. The province declined in wealth and population during the 18th and 19th centuries, a result due less to the want of activity on the part of the inhabitants than to the oppressive manorial and feudal rights and the strict laws of entail and mortmain, which acted as barriers to progress.
Towards the close of this period many improvements were introduced, although the want of irrigation is still keenly felt. Wide tracts of waste land were planted with pinewoods by the ducal house of Medina Sidonia. The main roads are fairly good; and Ávila, the capital, is connected by rail with Salamanca, Valladolid and Madrid; but in many parts of the province the means of communication are defective. Except Ávila there are no important towns. The principal production is the wool of the merino sheep, which at one time yielded an immense revenue. Game is plentiful, and the rivers abound in fish, specially trout. Olives, chestnuts and grapes are grown, and silk-worms are kept. There is little trade, and the manufactures are few, consisting chiefly of copper utensils, lime, soap, cloth, paper and combs. The state of elementary education is comparatively good, rather more than two-thirds of the population being able to read and write, and the ratio of crime is proportionately low.
ÁVILA (anc. Abula or Avela), the capital of the province described above; on the right bank of the river Adaja, 54 m. W. by N. of Madrid, by the Madrid-Valladolid railway. Pop. (1900) 11,885. The city is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which rises abruptly in the midst of a veritable wilderness; a brown, arid, treeless table-land, strewn with immense grey boulders, and shut in by lofty mountains. The ancient walls of Ávila, constructed of brown granite, and surmounted by a breastwork, with eighty-six towers and nine gateways, are still in excellent repair; but a large part of the city lies beyond their circuit. Ávila is the seat of a bishop, and contains several ecclesiastical buildings of high interest. The Gothic cathedral, said by tradition to date from 1107, but probably of 13th or 14th century workmanship, has the appearance of a fortress, with embattled walls and two solid towers. It contains many interesting sculptures and paintings, besides one especially fine silver pyx, the work of Juan de Arphe, dating from 1571. The churches of San Vicente, San Pedro, Santo Tomás and San Segundo are, in their main features, Romanesque of the 15th century, although parts of the beautiful San Vicente, and of San Pedro, may be as old as the 12th century. Especially noteworthy is the marble monument in Santo Tomás, carved by the 15th-century Florentine sculptor Domenico Fancelli, over the tomb of Prince John (d. 1497), the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella. The convent and church of Santa Teresa mark the supposed birthplace of the saint whose name they bear (c. 1515-1582) Ávila also possesses an old Moorish castle (alcázar) used as barracks, a foundling hospital, infirmary, military academy, and training schools for teachers of both sexes. From 1482 to 1807 it was also the seat of a university. It has a considerable trade in agricultural products, leather, pottery, hats, linen and cotton goods.
For the local history see V. Picatoste, Tradiciones de Ávila (Madrid, 1888); and L. Ariz, Historia de las grandezas de ... Ávila (Alcalá de Henares, 1607).
AVILA Y ZUNIGA, LUIS DE (c. 1490-c. 1560), Spanish historian, was born at Placentia. He was probably of low origin, but married a wealthy heiress of the family of Zuniga, whose name he added to his own. He rose rapidly in the favour of the emperor Charles V., served as ambassador to Rome, and was made grand commander of the order of the Knights of Alcantara. He accompanied the emperor to Africa in 1541, and having served during the war of the league of Schmalkalden, wrote a history of this war entitled Commentarios de la guerra de Alemaña, hecha de Carlos V en el año de 1546 y 1547. This was first printed in 1548, and becoming very popular was translated into French, Dutch, German, Italian and Latin. As may be expected from the author's intimacy with Charles, the book is very partial to the emperor, and its misrepresentations have been severely criticized.
AVILÉS, PEDRO MENÉNDEZ DE (1519-1574), Spanish seaman, founder of St Augustine, Florida, was born at Avilés in Asturias on the 15th of February 1519. His family were gentry, and he was one of nineteen brothers and sisters. At the age of fourteen he ran away to sea, and was engaged till he was thirty in a life of adventure as a corsair. In 1549 during peace between France and Spain he was commissioned by the emperor Charles V. to clear the north coast of Spain and the Canaries of French pirates. In 1554 he was appointed captain-general of the "flota" or convoy which carried the trade between Spain and America. The appointment was made by the emperor over the head and against the will of the Casa de Contratacion, or governing board of the American trade. In this year, and before he sailed to America, Avilés accompanied the prince of Spain, afterwards Philip II., to England, where he had gone to marry Queen Mary. As commander of the flota he displayed a diligence, and achieved a degree of success in bringing back treasure, which earned him the hearty approval of the emperor. But his devotion to the imperial service, and his steady refusal to receive bribes as the reward for permitting breaches of the regulations, made him unpopular with the merchants, while his high-handed ways offended the Casa de Contratacion. Reappointed commander in 1557, and knowing the hostility of the Casa, he applied for service elsewhere. The war with France in which Spain and England were allies was then in progress, and until the close of 1559 ample occupation was found for Avilés in bringing money and recruits from Spain to Flanders. When peace was restored he commanded the fleet which brought Philip II. back from the Low Countries to Spain. In 1560 he was again appointed to command the flota, and he made a most successful voyage to America and back, in that and the following year. His relations with the Casa de Contratacion were, however, as strained as ever. On his return from another voyage in 1563 he was arrested by order of the Casa, and was detained in prison for twenty months. What the charges brought against him were is not known. Avilés in a letter to the king avows his innocence, and he was finally discharged by the judges, but not until they had received two peremptory orders from the king to come to a decision.
On his release he prepared to sail to the Bermudas to seek for his son Juan, who had been shipwrecked in the previous year. At that time the French Huguenots were engaged in endeavouring to plant a colony in Florida. As the country had been explored by the Spaniards they claimed it as theirs, and its position on the track of the home-coming trade of Mexico rendered its possession by any other power highly dangerous. Philip II. endeavoured to avert the peril by making an "asiento" or contract with Avilés, by which he advanced 15,000 ducats to the seaman, and constituted him proprietor of any colony which he could establish in Florida, on condition that the money was repaid. The contract was signed on the 20th of March 1565. Avilés sailed on the 28th of July of the same year with one vessel of 600 tons, ten sloops and 1500 men. On the 28th of August he entered and named the Bay of St Augustine, and began a fort there. He took the French post of Fort Caroline on the 20th of September 1565, and in October exterminated a body of Frenchmen who, under the Huguenot Jean Ribault, had arrived on the coast of Florida to relieve their colony. The Spanish commander, after slaying nearly all his prisoners, hung their bodies on trees, with the inscription, "Not as Frenchmen but as Lutherans." A French sea-captain named Dominique de Gourgues revenged the massacre by capturing in 1568 Fort San Mateo (as the Spanish had renamed Fort Caroline), and hanging the garrison, with the inscription, "Not as Spaniards but as murderers." Till 1567 Avilés remained in Florida, busy with his colony. In that year he returned to Spain. He made one more voyage to Florida, and died on the 17th of September 1574. Avilés married Maria de Solis, when very young, and left three daughters. His letters prove him to have been a pious and high-minded officer, who never imagined that he could be supposed by any honest man to have gone too far in massacring the Frenchmen, whom he regarded as pirates and heretics.
See The Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of the United States, Florida, 1562-1574, by Woodbury Lowery (New York, 1905).
(D. H.)
AVILÉS, or San Nicolás de Avilés (the Roman Flavionavia), a seaport of northern Spain, in the province of Oviedo; on the Bay of Avilés, a winding inlet of the Bay of Biscay, 24 m. by rail W. of Gijón. Pop. (1900) 12,763. Avilés is a picturesque and old-fashioned town, containing several ancient palaces and Gothic churches. The bay, which is crossed by a fine bridge at its narrow landward extremity, is the headquarters of a fishing fleet, and a port of call for many coasting vessels. Coal from the Oviedo mines is exported coastwise, and in 1904 the shipments from Avilés for the first time exceeded those from Gijón, reaching a total of more than 290,000 tons. Glass and coarse linen and woollen stuffs are manufactured; and there are valuable stone quarries in the neighbourhood.
AVIZANDUM (from Late Lat. avizare, to consider), a Scots law term; the judge "makes avizandum with a cause," i.e. takes time to consider his judgment.
AVLONA (anc. Aulon; Ital. Valona; Alb. Vliona), a town and seaport of Albania, Turkey, in the vilayet of Iannina. Pop. (1900) about 6000. Avlona occupies an eminence near the Gulf of Avlona, an inlet of the Adriatic, almost surrounded by mountains. The port is the best on the Albanian coast, and the nearest to Italy. It is protected by the island of Saseno, the ancient Saso, and by Cape Glossa, the northernmost headland of the Acroceraunian mountains. It is regularly visited by steamers from Trieste, Fiume, Brindisi, and other Austro-Hungarian and Italian ports, as well as by many small Greek and Turkish coasters. The cable and telegraph line from Otranto, in Italy, to Constantinople, has an important station here. The town is about 1½ m. from the sea, and has rather a pleasant appearance with its minarets and its palace, surrounded with gardens and olive-groves. Valonia, a material largely used by tanners, is the pericarp of an acorn obtained in the neighbouring oak-woods, and derives its name from Valona. The surrounding district is mainly agricultural and pastoral, producing oats, maize, cotton, olive oil, cattle, sheep, skins, hides and butter. All these commodities are exported in considerable quantities, besides bitumen, which is obtained from a mine worked by a French company. The imports are woollen and cotton piece-goods, metals and petroleum.
Avlona played an important part in the wars between the Normans and the Byzantines, during the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1464 it was taken by the Ottomans; and after being in Venetian possession in 1690, was restored to them in 1691. In 1851 it suffered severely from an earthquake.
AVOCA, or Ovoca, VALE OF, a mountain glen of county Wicklow, Ireland, in the south-eastern part of the county, formed by the junction of the small rivers Avonmore and Avonbeg, which, rising in the central highlands of the county, form with their united waters the Ovoca river, flowing south and south-east to the Irish Sea at Arklow. The vale would doubtless rank only as one among the many beautiful glens of the district, but that it has obtained a lasting celebrity through one of the Irish Melodies of the poet Thomas Moore, in which its praises are sung. It is through this song that the form "Avoca" is most familiar, although the name is locally spelt "Ovoca." The glen is narrow and densely wooded. Its beauty is somewhat marred by the presence of lead and copper mines, and by the main line of the Dublin & South Eastern railway, on which Ovoca station, midway in the vale, is 42¾ m. south of Dublin. Of the two "meetings of the waters" (the upper, of the Avonmore and Avonbeg, and the lower, of the Aughrim with the Ovoca) the upper, near the fine seat of Castle Howard, is that which inspired the poet. At Avondale, above the upper "meeting," by the Avonmore, Charles Stewart Parnell was born.
AVOCADO PEAR, the fruit of the tree Persea gratissima, which grows in the West Indies and elsewhere; the flesh is of a soft and buttery consistency and highly esteemed. The name avocado, the Spanish for "advocate," is a sound-substitute for the Aztec ahuacatl; it is also corrupted into "alligator-pear." Avocato, avigato, abbogada are variants.
AVOGADRO, AMEDEO, CONTE DI QUAREGNA (1776-1856), Italian physicist, was born at Turin on the 9th of June 1776, and died there on the 9th of July 1856. He was for many years professor of higher physics in Turin University. He published many physical memoirs on electricity, the dilatation of liquids by heat, specific heats, capillary attraction, atomic volumes &c. as well as a treatise in 4 volumes on Fisica di corpi ponderabili (1837-1841). But he is chiefly remembered for his "Essai d'une manière de déterminer les masses relatives des molécules élémentaires des corps, et les proportions selon lesquelles elles entrent dans les combinaisons" (Journ. de Phys., 1811), in which he enunciated the hypothesis known by his name (Avogadro's rule) that under the same conditions of temperature and pressure equal volumes of all gases contain the same number of smallest particles or molecules, whether those particles consist of single atoms or are composed of two or more atoms of the same or different kinds.
AVOIDANCE (from "avoid," properly to make empty or void, in current usage, to keep away from, to shun; the word "avoid" is adapted from the O. Fr. esvuidier or évider, to empty out, voide, modern vide, empty, connected with Lat. vacuus), the action of making empty, void or null, hence, in law, invalidation, annulment (see Confession and Avoidance); also the becoming void or vacant, hence in ecclesiastical law a term signifying the vacancy of a benefice—that it is void of an incumbent. In general use, the word means the action of keeping away from anything, shunning or avoiding.
AVOIRDUPOIS, or Averdupois (from the French avoir de pois, goods of weight), the name of a system of weights used in Great Britain and America for all commodities except the precious metals, gems and medicines. The foundation of the system is the grain. A cubic inch of water weighs 252.458 grains. Of this grain 7000 now (see Weights and Measures) make a pound avoirdupois. This pound is divided into 16 oz., and these ounces into 16 drachms.
Avoirdupois Weight.
Drachm,
16=ounce,
16=pound,
14=stone
2=quarter,
4=hundred,
20=ton.
27.3 grains
437.5
7000
98,000
196,000 grs
112 lb
2240 lb.
AVON, the name of several rivers in England and elsewhere. The word is Celtic, appearing in Welsh (very frequently) as afon, in Manx as aon, and in Gaelic as abhuinn (pronounced avain), and is radically identical with the Sanskrit ap, water, and the Lat. aqua and amnis. The root appears more or less disguised in a vast number of river names all over the Celtic area in Europe. Thus, besides such forms as Evan, Aune, Anne, Ive, Auney, Inney, &c., in the British Islands, Aff, Aven, Avon, Aune appear in Brittany and elsewhere in France, Avenza and Avens in Italy, Avia in Portugal, and Avono in Spain; while the terminal syllable of a large proportion of the Latinized names of French rivers, such as the Sequana, the Matrona and the Garumna, seems originally to have been the same word. The names Punjab, Doab, &c., show the root in a clearer shape.
In England the following are the principal rivers of this name.
1. The East or Hampshire Avon rises in Wiltshire south of Marlborough, and watering the Vale of Pewsey collects feeders from the high downs between Marlborough and Devizes. Breaching the high ground of Salisbury Plain, it passes Amesbury, and following a very sinuous course reaches Salisbury. Here it receives on the east bank the waters of the Bourne, and on the west those of the Wylye. With a more direct course, and in a widening, fertile valley it continues past Downton, Fordingbridge and Ringwood, skirting the New Forest on the west, to Christchurch, where it receives the Stour from the west, and 2½ m. lower enters the English Channel through the broad but narrow-mouthed Christchurch harbour. The length, excluding lesser sinuosities, is about 60 m., Salisbury being 35 m. above the mouth. The total fall is rather over 500 ft., and that from Salisbury about 140 ft. The river is of no commercial value for navigation. It abounds in loach, and there are valuable salmon fisheries. The drainage area is 1132 sq. m.
2. The Lower or Bristol Avon rises on the eastern slope of the Cotteswold Hills in Gloucestershire, collecting the waters of several streams south of Tetbury and east of Malmesbury. It flows east and south in a wide curve, through a broad upper valley past Chippenham and Melksham, after which it turns abruptly west to Bradford-on-Avon, receives the waters of the Frome from the south, and enters the beautiful narrow valley in which lie Bath and Bristol. Below Bristol the valley becomes the Clifton Gorge, famous for its wooded cliffs and for the Clifton (q.v.) suspension bridge which bestrides it. The cliffs and woods have been so far disfigured by quarries that public feeling was aroused, and in 1904 an "Avon Gorge Committee" was appointed to report to the corporation of Bristol on the possibility of preserving the beauties of the locality. The Avon finally enters the estuary of the Severn at Avonmouth, though it can hardly be reckoned as a tributary of that river. From Bristol downward the river is one of the most important commercial waterways in England, as giving access to that great port. The Kennet and Avon Canal, between Reading and the Avon, follows the river closely from Bradford down to Bath, where it enters it by a descent of seven locks. The length of the river, excluding minor sinuosities, is about 75 m., the distance from Bradford to Bath being 10 m., thence to Bristol 12 m., and thence to the mouth 8 m. The total fall is between 500 and 600 ft., but it is only 235 ft. from Malmesbury. The drainage area is 891 sq. miles.
3. The Upper Avon, also called the Warwickshire, and sometimes the "Shakespeare" Avon from its associations with the poet's town of Stratford on its banks, is an eastern tributary of the Severn. It rises near Naseby in Northamptonshire, and, with a course of about 100 m. joins the Severn immediately below Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. Its early course is south-westerly to Rugby, thereafter it runs west and south-west to Warwick, receiving the Leam on the east. Its general direction thereafter remains south-westerly, and it flows past Stratford-on-Avon, receives the Stour on the south and the Arrow on the north and thence past Evesham and Pershore to Tewkesbury. The valley is always broad, and especially from Warwick downward, through the Vale of Evesham, the scenery is very beautiful, the rich valley being flanked by the bold Cotteswold Hills on the south and by the wooded slopes of the Arden district of Warwickshire on the north. The view of Warwick Castle, rising from the wooded banks of the river, is unsurpassed, and the positions of Stratford and Evesham are admirable. The river is locked, and carries a small trade up to Evesham, 28 m. from Tewkesbury; the locks from Evesham upward to Stratford (17 m.) are decayed, but the weirs, and mill-dams still higher, afford many navigable reaches to pleasure boats. The total fall of the river is about 500 ft.; from Rugby about 230 ft., and from Warwick 120 ft. The river abounds in coarse fish.
Among other occurrences of the name of Avon in Great Britain there may be noted—in England, a stream flowing south-east from Dartmoor in Devonshire to the English Channel; in South Wales, the stream which has its mouth at Aberavon in Glamorganshire; in Scotland, tributaries of the Clyde, the Spey and the Forth.
AVONIAN, in geology, the name proposed by Dr A. Vaughan in 1905 (Q.J.G.S. vol. lxi. p. 264) for the rocks of Lower Carboniferous age in the Avon gorge at Bristol. The Avonian stage appears to embrace precisely the same rocks and fossil-zones as the earlier designation "Dinantien" (see Carboniferous System); but its substages, being founded upon different local conditions and a different interpretation of the zonal fossils, do not correspond exactly with those of the French and Belgian geologists.
Substages.
Zones.
Substages.
Avonian
Kidwellian
Dibunophyllum
Viséen
Dinantien
Seminula
Clevedonian
Syringothyris
Zaphrentis
Tournaisien
Cleistopora
The upper Avonian (Kidwellian) is well developed about Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire. The lower substage (Clevedonian) is well displayed near Clevedon in Somerset.
See A. Vaughan, "The Carboniferous Limestone Series (Avonian) of the Avon Gorge," Proc. Bristol Naturalists' Soc., 4th series, vol. i. pt. 2, 1906, pp. 74-168 (many plates); and T. F. Sibley, "On the Carboniferous Limestone (Avonian) of the Mendip area (Somerset)," Q.J.G.S. vol. lxii., 1906, pp. 324-380 (plates).
(J. A. H.)
AVONMORE, BARRY YELVERTON, 1st Viscount (1736-1805), Irish judge, was born in 1736. He was the eldest son of Frank Yelverton of Blackwater, Co. Cork. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he was for some years an assistant master under Andrew Buck in the Hibernian Academy. In 1761 he married Miss Mary Nugent, a lady of some fortune, and was then enabled to read for the bar. He was called in 1764, his success was rapid, and he took silk eight years afterwards. He sat in the Irish parliament as member successively for the boroughs of Donegal and Carrickfergus, becoming attorney-general in 1782, but was elevated to the bench as chief baron of the exchequer in 1783. He was created (Irish) Baron Avonmore in 1795, and in 1800 (Irish) viscount. Among his colleagues at the Irish bar Yelverton was a popular and charming companion. Of insignificant appearance, he owed his early successes to his remarkable eloquence, which made a great impression on his contemporaries; as a judge, he was inclined to take the view of the advocate rather than that of the impartial lawyer. He gave his support to Grattan and the Whigs during the greater part of his parliamentary career, but in his latter days became identified with the court party and voted for the union, for which his viscounty was a reward. He had three sons and one daughter, and the title has descended in the family.
AVRANCHES, a town of north-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Manche, 87 m. S. of Cherbourg on the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 7186. It stands on a wooded hill, its botanical gardens commanding a fine view westward of the bay and rock of St Michel. At the foot of the hill flows the river Sée, which at high tide is navigable from the sea. The town is surrounded by avenues, which occupy the site of the ancient ramparts, remains of which are to be seen on the north side. Avranches was from 511 to 1790 a bishop's see, held at the end of the 17th century by the scholar Daniel Huet; and its cathedral, destroyed as insecure in the time of the first French Revolution, was the finest in Normandy. Its site is now occupied by an open square, one stone remaining to mark the spot where Henry II. of England received absolution for the murder of Thomas Becket. The churches of Notre-Dame des Champs and St Saturnin are modern buildings in the Gothic style. The ancient episcopal palace is now used as a court of justice; a public library is kept in the hôtel de ville. In the public gardens there is a statue of General Jean Marie Valhubert, killed at Austerlitz. Avranches is seat of a sub-prefect and has a tribunal of first instance and a communal college. Leather-dressing is the chief industry; steam-sawing, brewing and dyeing are also carried on, and horticulture flourishes in the environs. Trade is in cider, cattle, butter, flowers and fruit, and there are salmon and other fisheries.
Avranches, an important military station of the Romans, was in the middle ages chief place of a county of the duchy of Normandy. It sustained several sieges, the most noteworthy of which, in 1591, was the result of its opposition to Henry IV. In 1639 Avranches was the focus of the peasant revolt against the salt-tax, known as the revolt of the Nu-pieds.
AWADIA and FADNIA, two small nomad tribes of pure Arab blood living in the Bayuda desert, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, between the wells of Jakdul and Metemma. They are often incorrectly classed as Ja’alin. They own numbers of horses and cattle, the former of the black Dongola breed. At the battle of Abu Klea (17th of January 1885) they were conspicuous for their courage in riding against the British square.
See Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, edited by Count Gleichen (London, 1905).
AWAJI, an island belonging to Japan, situated at the eastern entrance of the Inland Sea, having a length of 32 m., an extreme breadth of 16 m., and an area of 218 sq. m., with a population of about 190,000. It is separated on the south from the island of Shikoku by the Naruto channel, through which, in certain conditions of the tide, a remarkable torrential current is set up. The island is celebrated for its exquisite scenery, and also for the fact that it is traditionally reputed to have been the first of the Japanese islands created by the deities Izanagi and Izanami. The loftiest peak is Yuruuba-yama (1998 ft.), the most picturesque Sen-zan (1519 ft.). Awaji is noted for a peculiar manufacture of pottery.
AWARD (from O. Fr. ewart, or esguart, cf. "reward"), the decision of an arbitrator. (See Arbitration.)
AWE, LOCH, the longest freshwater lake in Scotland, situated in mid-Argyllshire, 116 ft. above the sea, with an area of nearly 16 sq. m. It has a N.E. to S.W. direction and is fully 23 m. long from Kilchurn Castle to Ford, its breadth varying from ⅓ of a mile to 3 m. at its upper end, where it takes the shape of a crescent, one arm of which runs towards Glen Orchy, the other to the point where the river Awe leaves the lake. The two ends of the loch are wholly dissimilar in character, the scenery of the upper extremity being majestic, while that of the lower half is pastoral and tame. Of its numerous islands the best-known is Inishail, containing ruins of a church and convent, which was suppressed at the Reformation. At the extreme north-eastern end of the lake, on an islet which, when the water is low, becomes part of the mainland, stand the imposing ruins of Kilchurn Castle. Its romantic surroundings have made this castle a favourite subject of the landscape painter. Dalmally, about 2 m. from the loch, is one of the pleasantest villages in the Highlands and has a great vogue in midsummer. The river Awe, issuing from the north-western horn of the loch, affords excellent trout and salmon fishing.
AWL (O. Eng. ael; at one time spelt nawl by a confusion with the indefinite article before it), a small hand-tool for piercing holes.
AXE (O. Eng. aex; a word common, in different forms, in the Teutonic languages, and akin to the Greek ἀξίνη; the New English Dictionary prefers the spelling "ax"), a tool or weapon, taking various shapes, but, when not compounded with some distinguishing word (e.g. in "pick-axe"), generally formed by an edged head fixed upon a handle for striking. A "hatchet" is a small sort of axe.
AXHOLME, an island in the north-west part of Lincolnshire, England, lying between the rivers Trent, Idle and Don, and isolated by drainage channels connected with these rivers. It consists mainly of a plateau of slight elevation, rarely exceeding 100 ft., and comprises the parishes of Althorpe, Belton, Epworth, Haxey, Luddington, Owston and Crowle; the total area being about 47,000 acres. At a very early period it would appear to have been covered with forest; but this having been in great measure destroyed, it became in great part a swamp. In 1627 King Charles I., who was lord of the island, entered into a contract with Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutchman, for reclaiming the meres and marshes, and rendering them fit for tillage. This undertaking led to the introduction of a large number of Flemish workmen, who settled in the district, and, in spite of the violent measures adopted by the English peasantry to expel them, retained their ground in sufficient numbers to affect the physical appearance and the accent of the inhabitants to this day. The principal towns in the isle are Crowle (pop. 2769) and Epworth. The Axholme joint light railway runs north and south through the isle, connecting Goole with Haxey junction; and the Great Northern, Great Eastern and Great Central lines also afford communications. The land is extremely fertile. The name, properly Axeyholm (cf. Haxey), is hybrid, Ax being the Celtic uisg, water; ey the Anglo-Saxon for island; and holm the Norse word with the same signification.
AXILE, or Axial, a term (= related to the axis) used technically in science; in botany an embryo is called axile when it has the same direction as the axis of the seed.
AXINITE, a mineral consisting of a complex aluminium and calcium boro-silicate with a small amount of basic hydrogen; the calcium is partly replaced in varying amounts by ferrous iron and manganese, and the aluminium by ferric iron: the formula is HCa3BAl2(SiO4)4. The mineral was named (from ἀξίνη, an axe) by R. J. Haüy in 1799, on account of the characteristic thin wedge-like form of its anorthic crystals. The colour is usually clove-brown, but rarely it has a violet tinge (on this account the mineral was named yanolite, meaning violet stone, by J. C. Delamétherie in 1792). The best specimens are afforded by the beautifully developed transparent glassy crystals, found with albite, prehnite and quartz, in a zone of amphibolite and chlorite-schists at Le Bourg d'Oisans in Dauphiné. It is found in the greenstone and hornblende-schists of Batallack Head near St Just in Cornwall, and in diabase in the Harz; and small ones in Maine and in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Large crystals have also been found in Japan. In its occurrence in basic rather than in acid eruptive rocks, axinite differs from the boro-silicate tourmaline, which is usually found in granite. The specific gravity is 3.28. The hardness of 6½-7, combined with the colour and transparency, renders axinite applicable for use as a gemstone, the Dauphiné crystals being occasionally cut for this purpose.
(L. J. S.)