ABE (5) ABE
It is cover'd and desended with five Pair of Muscles ; which not only defend the Viscera, but by their alternate Relaxations, and Contractions in Respiration, promote the Action of Digestion, and the Extrusion of the Fæces and Urine. By their Contraction, the Cavity of the Abdomen is straighten'd, and promotes the descent of the Contents of the Viscera thro' the Intestines. They are the proper Antagonists to the Sphincters or the Anus and Bladder, and forcibly expel the Excrements of thole Parts, as also the Fætus in Parturition. See RESPIRATION, DIGESTION, EXCRETION, DELIVERY, &c.
These Muscles are the Obliqui Descendentes, and Ascendentes, Linea alba, Recti, and Pyramidales ; see each under its proper Article, OBLIQUUS, RECTUS, PYRAMIDADIS, &c.
The Abdomen is subdivided into three lesser Regions, or Cavities : the uppermost, call'd the Epigastric, commences from the Diaphragm and Cartilago Ensiformis, and terminates two Fingers breadth above the Navel : The second, call'd the Umbilical, begins where the former ends, and terminates two Fingers breadth below the Navel : The third, call'd the Hypogastric, desends as low as the Os Pubis. See EPIGASTRIC, UMBILICAL, and HYPOGASTRIC.
Each of these Subdivisions, the more accurate Writers divide further into three Parts ; a middle, and two lateral ones, the Hypochondriums. The middle part of the Umbilical, is call'd the Umbilicus, or Navel; and its lateral Parts the Lumbi, Loins : The Middle of the Hypogastric, is call'd the Hypogastrium ; and its Sides the Ilia, or Flanks. See each under its proper Place, EPIGASTRIUM, HVPOCHONDRIUM, UMBILICUS, LUMBI, &c.
ABDUCTION, in Logick, a kind of Argumentation, by the Greeks call'd Apogoge ; wherein, the greater Extreme is evidently contain'd in the Medium, but the Medium not so evidently in the lesser Extreme as not to require some further Medium, or Proof to make it appear.
Thus, in the Syllogism, All whom God absolves are free of Sin ; bus God absolves all who are in Christ : Therefore, all who are in Christ are free of Sin. The Major is evident ; but the Minor, or Assumption is not so, without some other Proposition to prove it ; as, God took Satisfaction for Sin in the Sussering of Jesus Christ.
It is call'd Abduction ; because, from the Conclusion, it draws us on to prove the Proposition assumed.
ABDUCTOR, or ABDUCENT, in Anatomy, a Name common to several Muscles, whose Action is the withdrawing, opening, or pulling back the Parts they are fix'd to. See MUSCLE.
The Name is Latin, compounded of ab, from, and duco, I draw : Their Antagonists are call'd Adductores. See ADDUCTOR.
ABDUCTOR Auricularis, or of the little Finger, arises from the Annular Ligament, and the third and fourth Bones of the Carpus in the second Rank ; and is inserted externally into the first Bone of the little Finger : it serves to draw that Finger from the rest. See FINGER.
In some Subjects it appears divided into two or three Muscles, consisting of so many different Series of Fibres.
ABDUCTOR Indicts, or of the fore Finger, arises from the inside of the Bone of the Thumb, and is inserted into the first Bone of the sore Finger, which it draws from the rest towards the Thumb.
ABDUCTOR minimi digiti manus. See ABDUCTOR Auricularis.
ABDUCTOR minimi digiti pedis, or of the little Toe, arises from the outside of the Os Calcis, near the exterior Bone of the Metatarsus, and is inserted laterally into the outside of the second Bone of that Toe, which it pulls from the rest.
ABDUCTOR Pollicis, call'd also Thenar, springs from the Annular Ligament, and first Bone of the Carpus ; from whence passing to the Thumb, it makes that fleshy Body called Mons Lunæ : It draws the Thumb from the Fingers.
ABDUCTOR Pollicis pedis, or of the great Toe, springs from the inside of the Os Calcis, and the greater Os Cuneiforme ; and is inserted into the outside of the exterior Os Sesamoideum pollicis : It serves to draw the great Toe from the rest. See TOE.
ABDUCTOR Oculi, or of the Eye, is one of the four Recti, or strait Muscles, arising from the bottom of the Orbit, and spread over the first proper Tunic ; serving to draw the Eye towards the outer Canthus. See EYE, and RECTI.
ABECEDARY, ABCEDARY, or ABECEDARIAN, some thing Alphabetical, or belonging to the Alphabet. See ALPHABET.
Among the Antients, the Term Abecedarius was peculiarly applied to those Compositions wherein the initial Letters of each Strophe, or some times even of each Verse, follow'd the Order of the Alphabet.
Such, in Holy Scripture, are the CXVIIIth Psalm, and the Lamentations of Jeremy : from which it should seem, as is the Hebrews had been the Inventors of this Kind of Poetry ; contrived, no doubt, to assist the Memory.
ABELIANS, ABELONIANS, ABELOITES, a Sect of Hereticks in Africa, not far from Hippo, cotemporary with S. Augustin. See HERETICS.
What distinguish'd 'em, was, that they made it a Duty to marry, and yet liv'd with their Wives in a prosess'd Continence, without having any commerce together.
These Hereticks, inconsiderable in themselves, (for they were confin'd to a little compass, and lasted not long ;) are become considerable, by the great Pains the Learned have taken to ascertain the Principle they went upon, and the Reason of the Denomination.
Some will have 'em. to have built on that Text of St. Paul, 1 Cor. vii. 29. Let they that have Wives be as though they had none. A late Writer concludes, that they regulated their Marriage on the Foot of the terrestrial Paradise ; alledging, that there was no other Union between Adam and Eve, but that of Hearts. He adds, they had likewise an Eye to the Practice of Abel, whom they held to have been married, but never to have known his Wise : and from, him they deriv'd their Name.
Another Author observes, that it was a Tradition current throughout the East, That Adam conceiv'd so much Sorrow for the Death of Abel, that he was 130 Years without having to do with Eve. This, he shews, was the Sentiment of the Jewisb Doctors ; from whom the Fable was transmitted to the Arabs : And hence it was, according to Gigeus, that HEBREW Thabala, in Arabic, came to signify, to abstain from one's Wife. He concludes, that he is the most mistaken Person in the World, or the Story had reach'd Africa, and given occasion both to the Sect, and the Name.
'Tis true, the Rabbins do hold, that Adam, after the Death of Abel, remain'd a long time without any use of Marriage ; and till the Time when he begot Seth : but to say that this was 130 Years is a manifest Error, and contrary to their own Chronologies, which place Seth's Birth in the 130th Year of the World, or of Adam's Life ; as may be seen in their two Seder Olams.
Abarbanel says, it was 130 Years after Adam's Fall ; as believing, with the other Rabbins, that Cain and Abel were conceiv'd immediately after Adam's Transgression. But, say others, be this as it will, whether a Continence on occasion of the Fall, or of Abel's Death ; 'twas the Continence of Adam, not of Abel, that these Hereticks imitated ; who, on this footing, should have been call'd Adamites, rather than Abelians.
In effect, 'tis more than probable, they took their Name from Abel, for no other Reason, but because they had no Issue more than Abel: Not that he lived in Continence after Marriage ; but because he was kill'd before he had married.
ABETTER, or ABETTOR, in Law, one who incites, incourages, or sets another on to perform something criminal ; or some way seconds and assists him in the Performance it self.
Thus, they who procure others to sue out false Appeals of Felony, or Murder against Men, to render 'em infamous, are particularly denominated Abettors.
So, Abettors in Murder, are such as advise or procure a Murder to be committed, or are accessory thereto. See MURDER.
There are Abettors in Felony, but not in Treason : the Law looking on all those concern'd in Treason as Principals. See TREASON.
ABEYANCE, or ABBAYANCE, an obsolete Law-Term,
whose precise Signification is not easily gather'd ;
having been out of date as long ago as Littleton's Days.
That Author gives it, as his Sense of the Word, that to be in Abeyance is to be in the Entendement, Remembrance, & Consideration de la Loy : In which Sense, says he, the Right of Fee-simple is said to be in Abeyance.
He adds, Tiel Chose & Tiel Droit qui est dit en divers Livres etre en Abeyance est a tant a dire en latine,Talis res vel tale rectum quæ vel quod non est in homine ad tunc superstite, Sed tantummodo est, & constitit in Consideratione & Intelligentia Legis ; H$ quod alii dixerunt, talem rem, aut tale rectum sore in Nubibus.
Sir Edward Coke observes, that among the antient Lawyers, things that are <latin>in posse</latin> only, and not <latin>in esse</latin, are said to be in Abeyance ; q. d. yet undetermin'd, and only in Expectation.--- Quæ nondum sunt desfinitæ, aut sententia comprobatæ sed sunt adhuc in expectatione. This he confirms from the Etymology of the Word, from the French or Flemish Bayer, or Beer, to gape or wait for any thing with a longing Desire.
Dr. Harris, improving somewhat on his Authorities, says, Abeyance signifies a Thing's being only in posse, and not in attu. Thus, adds he, when the Parson of a Church dies, and the Church becomes void, the Fee is in Abeyance ; because it is not determin'd who shall succeed him.
