ABAE (rabai), a town in the N.E. corner of Phocis, in
Greece, famous in early times for its oracle of Apollo,
one of those consulted by Croesus (Herod. i. 46). It was
rich in treasures (Herod. viii. 33), but was sacked by the
Persians, and the temple remained in a ruined state. The
oracle was, however, still consulted, e.g. by the Thebans
before Leuctra (Paus. iv. 32. 5). The temple seems to have
been burnt again during the Sacred War, and was in a very
dilapidated state when seen by Pausanias (x. 35), though
some restoration, as well as the building of a new temple,
was undertaken by Hadrian. The sanctity of the shrine
ensured certain privileges to the people of Abac (Bull.
Corresp. Hell. vi. 171), and these were confirmed by the
Romans. The polygonal wabs of the acropolis may still be
seen in a fair state of preservation on a circular hill
standing about 500 ft. above the little plain of Exarcho;
one gateway remains, and there are also traces of town walls
below. The temple site was on a low spur of the hill, below the
town. An early terrace wall supports a precinct in which are
a stoa and some remains of temples; these were excavated by the
British School at Athens in 1894, but very little was found.
See also W. M. Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, ii. p. 163i Journal
of Hellenic Studies, xvi. pp. 291-312 (V. W. Yorke). . (E. GR.)
ABAKANSK, a fortified town of Siberia, in the Russian
government of Yeniseisk, on the river Yenisei, 144 m. S.S.W.
of Krasnoyarsk, in lat. 54 deg. 20' N., long. 91 deg. 40' E. This is
considered the mildest and most salubrious place in Siberia, and
is remarkable for certain tumuli (of the Li Kitai) and statues
of men from seven to nine feet high, covered with hieroglyphics.
Peter the Great had a fort built here in 1707. Pop. 2000.
ABALONE, the Spanish name used in California for various
species of the shell-fish of the Haliotidae family, with a
richly coloured shell yielding mother-of-pearl. This sort
of Haliotis is also commonly called ``ear-shell,'' and in
Guernsey ``ormer'' (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer).
The abalone shell is found especially at Santa Barbara and
other places on the southern Californian coast, and when
polished makes a beautiful ornament. The mollusc itself is
often eaten, and dried for consumption in China and Japan.
ABANA (or AMANAH, classical Chrysorrhoas) and PHARPAR,
the ``rivers of Damascus'' (2 Kings v. 12), now generally
identified with the Barada (i.e. ``cold'') and the A`waj
(i.e. ``crooked'') respectively, though if the reference
to Damascus be limited to the city, as in the Arabic
version of the Old Testament, Pharpar would be the modern
Taura. Both streams run from west to east across the plain of
Damascus, which owes to them much of its fertility, and lose
themselves in marshes, or lakes, as they are called, on the
borders of the great Arabian desert. John M'Gregor, who gives
an interesting description of them in his Rob Roy on the
Jordan, affirmed that as a work of hydraulic engineering,
the system and construction of the canals, by which the Abana
and Pharpar were used for irrigation, might be considered as
one of the most complete and extensive in the world. As the
Barada escapes from the mountains through a narrow gorge,
its waters spread out fan-like, in canals or ``rivers'', the
name of one of which, Nahr Banias, retains a trace of Abana.
ABANCOURT, CHARLES XAVIER JOSEPH DE FRANQUE VILLE D',
(1758-1792), French statesman, and nephew of Calonne. He was
Louis XVI.'s last minister of war (July 1792), and organized
the defence of the Tuileries for the 10th of August. Commanded
by the Legislative Assembly to send away the Swiss guards, he
refused, and was arrested for treason to the nation and sent
to Orleans to be tried. At the end of August the Assembly
ordered Abancourt and the other prisoners at Orleans to
be transferred to Paris with an escort commanded by Claude
Fournier, ``the American.'' At Versailles they learned of the
massacres at Paris, and Abancourt and his fellow-prisoners
were murdered in cold blood on the 8th of September 1792.
Fournier was unjustly charged with complicity in the crime.
ABANDONMENT (Fr. abandonnement, from abandonner, to
abandon, relinquish; abandonner was originally equivalent
to mettrea bandon, to leave to the jurisdiction, i.e. of
another, bandon being from Low Latin bandum, bannum, order,
decree, ``ban''), in law, the relinquishment of an interest,
claim, privilege or possession. Its signification varies
according to the branch of the law in which it is employed,
but the more important uses of the word are summarized below.
ABANDONMENT OF AN ACTION is the discontinuance of proceedings
commenced in the High Court of Justice either because the
plaintiff is convinced that he will not succeed in his action
or for other reasons. Previous to the Judicature Act of 1875,
considerable latitude was allowed as to the time when a suitor
might abandon his action, and yet preserve his right to bring
another action on the same suit (see NONSUIT); but since 1875
this right has been considerably curtailed, and a plaintiff who
has deilvered his reply (see PLEADING), and afterwards wishes
to abandon his action, can generally obtain leave so to do only
on condition of bringing no further proceedings in the matter.
ABANDONMENT IN MARINE INSURANCE is the surrender of the ship
or goods insured to the insurers, in the case of a constructive
total loss of the thing insured. For the requisites and
effects of abandonment in this sense See INSURANCE, MARINE.
ABANDONMENT OF WIFE AND CHILDREN is dealt with under
DESERTION, and the abandonment or exposure of a
young child under the age of two, which is an indictable
misdemeanour, is dealt with under CHILDREN, CRUELTY TO.
ABANDONMENT OF DOMICILE is the ceasing to reside permanently
in a former domicile coupled with the intention of choosing a new
domicile. The presumptions which will guide the court in deciding
whether a former domicile has been abandoned or not must be
inferred from the facts of each individual case. See DOMICILE.
ABANDONMENT OF AN EASEMENT is the relinquishment of some
accommodation or right in another's land, such as right of
way, free access of light and air, &c. See EASEMENT.
ABANDONMENT OF RAILWAYS has a legal signification in England
recognized by statute, by authority of which the Board of
Trade may, under certain circumstances, grant a warrant to a
railway authorizing the abandonment of its line or part of it.
ABANO, PIETRO D, (1250-1316), known also as PETRUS DE
APONO or APONENSIS, Italian physician and philosopher,
was born at the Italian town from which he takes his name
in 1250, or, according to others, in 1246. After studying
medicine and philosophy at Paris he settled at Padua, where
he speedily gained a great reputation as a physician, and
availed himself of it to gratify his avarice by refusing
to visit patients except for an exorbitant fee. Perhaps
this, as well as his meddling with astrology, caused him to
be charged with practising magic, the particular accusations
being that he brought back into his purse, by the aid of the
devil, all the money he paid away, and that he possessed the
philosopher's stone. He was twice brought to trial by the
Inquisition; on the first occasion he was acquitted, and he
died (1316) before the second trial was completed. He was
found guilty, however, and his body was ordered to be exhumed
and burned; but a friend had secretly removed it, and the
Inquisition had, therefore, to content itself with the public
proclamation of its sentence and the burning of Abano in
effigy. In his writings he expounds and advocates the medical
and philosophical systems of Averroes and other Arabian
writers. His best known works are the Conciliator differentiarum
quae inter philosophos et medicos versantur (Mantua, 1472;
V.enice, 1476), and De venenis eorumque remediis (1472),
of which a French translation was published at Lyons in 1593.
ABANO BAGNI, a town of Venetia, Italy, in the province of
Padua, on the E. slope of the Monti Euganei; it is 6 m. S.W.
by rail from Padua. Pop. (1901) 4556. Its hot springs and
mud baths are much resorted to, and were known to the Ronlans
as Aponi fons or Aquae Patavinae. Some remains of the
ancient baths have been discovered (S. Mandruzzato, Trattato
dei Bagni d' Abano, Padua, 1789). An oracle of Geryon lay
near, and the so-called sortes Praenestinae (C.I.L. i.,
Berlin, 1863; 1438-1454), small bronze cylinders inscribed, and
used as oracles, were perhaps found here in the 16th century.
ABARIS, a Scythian or Hyperborean, priest and prophet
of Apollo, who is said to have visited Greece about 770
B.C., or two or three centuries later. According to
the legend, he travelled throughout the country, living
without food and riding on a golden arrow, the gift of
the god; he healed the sick, foretold the future, worked
miracles, and delivered Sparta from a plague (Herod. iv. 36;
Iamblichus, De Fit. Pythag. xix. 28). Suidas credits him
with several works: Scythian oracles, the visit of Apollo to
the Hyperboreans, expiatory formulas and a prose theogony.
ABATED, an ancient technical term applied in masonry and
metal work to those portions which are sunk beneath the
surface, as in inscriptions where the ground is sunk round
the letters so as to leave the letters or ornament in relief.
ABATEMENT (derived through the French abattre, from the
Late Latin battere, to beat), a beating down or diminishing or
doing away with; a term used especially in various legal phrases.
ABATEMENT OF A NUISANCE is the remedy allowed by law to
a person or public authority injured by a public nuisance
of destroying or removing it, provided no breach of the
peace is committed in doing so. In the case of private
nuisances abatement is also allowed provided there be no
breach of the peace, and no damage be occasioned beyond
what the removal of the nuisance requires. (See NUISANCE.)
ABATEMENT OF FREEHOLD takes place where, after the death of
the person last seised, a stranger enters upon lands before
the entry of the heir or devisee, and keeps the latter out of
possession. It differs from intrusion, which is a similar
entry by a stranger on the death of a tenant for life, to
the prejudice of the reversioner, or remainder man; and from
disseisin, which is the forcible or fraudulent expulsion
of a person seised of the freehold. (See FREEHOLD.)
ABATEMENT OE DEBTS AND LEGACIES. When the equitable assets
(see ASSETS) of a deceased person are not sufficient to
satisfy fully all the creditors, their debts must abate
proportionately, and they must accept a dividend. Also, in
the case of legacies when the funds or assets out of which
they are payable are not sufficient to pay them in full, the
legacies abate in proportion, unless there is a priority given
specially to any particular legacy (see LEGACY). Annuities
are also subject to the same rule as general legacies.
ABATEMENT IN PLEADING, or plea in abatement, was the
defeating or quashing of a particular action by some matter of
fact, such as a defect in form or the personal incompetency
of the parties suing, pleaded by the defendant. It did not
involve the merits of the cause, but left the right of action
subsisting. In criminal proceedings a plea in abatement was at
one time a common practice in answer to an indictment, and was
set up for the purpose of defeating the indictment as framed,
by alleging misnomer or other misdescription of the defendant.
Its effect for this purpose was nullified by the Criminal Law
