Absolute, in natural philosophy, is generally opposed to relative. As this relativity may be of many kinds, various shades of meaning arise, thus:
1. Absolute or real expansion of a liquid, as opposed to its apparent expansion, the expansion which would arise when the liquid is heated, if the vessel containing it did not itself expand. (See Atkinson's "Ganot's Physics," bk. vi, ch. iii.)
2. Absolute gravity is the gravity of a body viewed apart from all modifying influences, as, for instance, of the atmosphere. To ascertain its amount, therefore, the body must be weighed in vacuo.
3. Absolute motion is the change of place on a body produced by the motion so designated viewed apart from the modifying influence arising from disturbing elements of another kind.
4. Absolute space is space considered apart from the material bodies in it.
5. Absolute time is time viewed apart from events or any other subjects of mental conception with which it may be associated.
6. Absolute force of a center: Strength of a center.
Absolute zero, an imaginary temperature so low that there would be no heat left.
ABSOLUTION, in ecclesiastical usage, the freeing from sin or its penalties.
ABSORPTION, the act, operation, or process of absorbing, sucking in, or swallowing anything, or otherwise causing it to disappear in another body. Absorption by organized bodies is the taking up or imbibing, by means of their tissues, of material suitable for their nourishment.
In chemistry, absorption is the taking up of a gas by a liquid, or by a porous solid; and in natural philosophy it is the taking up rays of light and heat by certain bodies through which they are passing.
Absorption of heat is the retention and consequent disappearance of rays of heat in passing into or through a body colder than themselves.
Absorption of the earth is a term used by Kircher and others for the subsidence of tracts of land produced by earthquakes or other natural agencies.
ABSTINENCE, the act or habit of refraining from something to which we have a propensity, or in which we find pleasure; but it is more particularly applied to the privation or sparing use of food. Abstinence has been enjoined and practiced for various ends, as sanitary, moral, or religious. Abstinence of flesh on certain days is obligatory in the Roman Catholic Church.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE, an evidence of ownership in the conveyance of property. It aims in abbreviated form to trace as far back as possible or desirable the history of the property, the names of its successive owners and the dates of various transfers. In England, it is customary for the vendor to furnish abstract together with the deed, and this is frequently done in the United States. The practice in this country, however, is becoming less and less common, because of the work done by title companies, who, having assured themselves of the validity and marketability of the title, guarantee the buyer against loss up to the amount of his purchase.
ABSTRACTION, the act of dragging or drawing away or separating. In distillation, it is the operation of separating the volatile parts in distillation from those which do not pass into vapor at the temperature to which the vessel has been raised.
In mental philosophy, it is the act of withdrawing the consciousness from a number of objects with a view to concentrate it on some particular one.
ABT, FRANZ, (äpt), a German song writer; born in Saxony, Dec. 22, 1819. He studied theology at Leipsig, but abandoned it for music. In 1841 he became kapellmeister at the court theater at Bernburg; shortly afterward relinquishing the post for a similar one in Zurich, where he remained till 1852. In 1882 he retired to Wiesbaden. Many of his songs (for example, "When the Swallows Homeward Fly," "Good Night, Thou Child of My Heart," "O Ye Tears," etc.), have endeared themselves to the heart of the people all over the world. He died March 31, 1885.
ABU, a mountain, 5,650 feet, in the territory of Serohee, Rajputana, India, a detached granite mass rising like an island from the plain of Marwar, near the Aravalli ridge. It is a celebrated place of pilgrimage.
ABU-BEKR, the father of Ayesha, wife of Mohammed, was a man of great influence in the Koreish tribe; and in 632, when Mohammed died, was made the first caliph or successor of the Prophet. After defeating his enemies in Arabia, and warring successfully against Babylonia, Syria, and the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, Abu-Bekr died 634 A. D., aged 63. He was surnamed "The Just."
