death, which took place on Mount Hor, when he was 123 years old.
AARSSENS, Francis Van (1572-1641), one of the greatest diplomatists of the United Provinces. He represented the States-General at the Court of France for many years, and was also engaged in embassies to Venice, Germany, and England. His great diplomatic ability appears from the memoirs he wrote of his negotiations in 1624 with Richelieu, who ranked him among the three greatest politicians of his time. A deep stain rests on the memory of Aarssens from the share he had in the death of Barneveldt, who was put to death by the States-General, after the semblance of a trial, in 1619.
ABABDE, an African tribe occupying the country between the Red Sea and the Nile, to the S. of Kosseir, nearly as far as the latitude of Derr. Many of the race have settled on the eastern bank of the Nile, but the greater part still live like Bedouins. They are a distinct race from the Arabs, and are treacherous and faithless in their dealings. They have few horses; when at war with other tribes, they fight from camels, their breed of which is famed. They possess considerable property, and trade in senna, and in charcoal made from acacia wood, which they send as far as Cairo.
ABACA or Abaka, a name given to the Musa textilis, the plant that produces the fibre called Manilla Hemp, and also to the fibre itself.
ABACUS, an architectural term (from the Gr. άβαξ, a tray or flat board) applied to the upper part of the capital of a column, pier, &c.
Forms of the Abacus.
The early form of an abacus is simply a square flat stone, probably derived from the Tuscan order. In Saxon work it is frequently simply chamfered, but sometimes grooved, as in the crypt at Repton (fig. 1), and in the arcade of the refectory at Westminster. The abacus in Norman work is square where the columns are small; but on larger piers it is sometimes octagonal, as at Waltham Abbey. The square of the abacus is often sculptured, as at the White Tower and at Alton (fig. 2). In early English work the abacus is generally circular, and in larger work a continuation of circles (fig. 4), sometimes octagonal, and occasionally square. The mouldings are generally rounds, which overhang deep hollows. The abacus in early French work is generally square, as at Blois (fig. 3). The term is applied in its diminutive form (Abaciscus) to the chequers or squares of a tessellated pavement.
Abacus also signifies an instrument employed by the ancients for arithmetical calculations; pebbles, bits of bone, or coins, being used as counters. The accompanying figure (5) of a Roman abacus is taken from an ancient monument.
Fig. 5. Roman Abacus.
It contains seven long and seven shorter rods or bars, the former having four perforated beads running on them, and the latter one. The bar marked I indicates units, X tens, and so on up to millions. The beads on the shorter bars denote fives,—five units, five tens, &c. The rod Ө and corresponding short rod are for marking ounces; and the short quarter rods for fractions of an ounce.
The Swan-Pan of the Chinese (fig. 6) closely resembles the Roman abacus in its construction and use.
Fig. 6. Chinese Swan-Pan.
Computations are made with it by means of balls of bone or ivory running on slender bamboo rods similar to the simpler board, fitted up with beads strung on wires, which is employed in teaching the rudiments of arithmetic in elementary schools.
ABÆ, a town of ancient Greece in the E. of Phocis, famous for a temple and oracle of Apollo. The temple was plundered and burned by the Persians (B.C. 480), and again by the Bœotians (B.C. 346), and was restored on a smaller scale by Hadrian. Remains of the temple and town may still be traced on a peaked hill near Exarkho. See Leake's Northern Greece.
ABAKANSK, a fortified town of Siberia, in the government of Yeniseisk, on the river Abakan, near its confluence with the Yenisei. Lat. 54° N.; long. 91° 14′ E. This is considered the mildest and most salubrious place in Siberia, and is remarkable for the tumuli in its neighbourhood, and for some statues of men from seven to nine feet high, covered with hieroglyphics. Population about 1000.
ABANA and Pharpar, "rivers of Damascus" (2 Kings v. 12), are now generally identified with the Barada and the Awaj respectively. The former flows through the city of Damascus; the Awaj, a smaller stream, passes eight miles to the south. Both 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. Mr Macgregor, who gives an interesting description of these rivers in his Rob Roy on the Jordan, affirms that "as a work of hydraulic engineering, the system and construction of the canals by which the Abana and Pharpar are used for irrigation, may be still considered as the most complete and extensive in the world."
ABANCAY, a town of Peru, in the department of Cuzco, 65 miles W.S.W. of the town of that name. It lies on the river Abancay, which is here spanned by one of the finest bridges in Peru. Rich crops of sugar-cane are produced in the district, and the town has extensive sugar refineries. Hemp is also cultivated, and silver is found in the mountains. Population, 1200.
ABANDONMENT, in Marine Assurance, is the surrendering of the ship or goods insured to the insurers, in the case of a constructive total loss of the thing insured. There is an absolute total loss entitling the assured to recover the full amount of his insurance wherever the thing insured has ceased to exist to any useful purpose,—and in such a case abandonment is not required. Where the thing assured continues to exist in specie, yet is so damaged that there is no reasonable hope of repair, or it is not worth the expense of bringing it, or what remains of it, to its destination, the insured may treat the case as one of a total loss (in this case called constructive total loss), and demand the full sum insured. But, as the contract of insurance is one of indemnity, the insured must, in such a case, make an express cession of all his right to the recovery of the subject insured to the underwriter by abandonment. The insured must intimate his intention to abandon, within a
