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Encyclopædia Britannica;

Or, A NEW and COMPLETE

DICTIONARY

OF

ARTS and SCIENCES.

 

A B

AA, the name of ſeveral rivers in different parts of the world, viz. 1. of one in Solagne, in France; 2. of one in French Flanders; 3. of three in Switzerland; 4. of five in the Low Countries; 5. of five in Weſtphalia; 6. of one in Livonia.

AABAM, a term, among alchemiſts, for lead.

AACH, the name of a town and river in Swabia. It is alſo a name ſometimes given to Aix-la-chapelle.

AADE, the name of two rivers, one in the country of the Grisons in Switzerland, and the other in Dutch Brabant.

AAHUS, a ſmall town and diſtrict in Weſtphalia.

AAM, a Dutch meaſure for liquids, containing about 63 ℔. avoirdupoiſe.

AAMA, a province in Barbary, very little known.

AAR, the name of two rivers, one in Weſtphalia, and one in Switzerland. It is likewiſe the name of a small iſland in the Baltic ſea.

AARSEO, a town in Africa, ſituated near the mouth of the river Mina.

AATTER, or Atter, a province of Arabia Felix, ſituated on the Red-sea.---N. B. All other places which begin with a double A, but more generally with a ſingle one, will be inſerted according to the laſt orthography.

AB, the eleventh month of the civil year of the Hebrews. It correſponds to part of our June and July, and conſistſ of 30 days. On the firſt of this month the Jews commemorate the death of Aaron by a faſt; they faſt alſo on the ninth, becauſe on that day both the temple of Solomon and that erected after the captivity were burnt. The ſame day is alſo remarkable for the publication of Adrian's edict, prohibiting the Jews to look back, even when at a diſtance, upon Jeruſalem, or to lament its deſolation. The lamp of the ſanctuary, in the time of Ahaz, was extinguished on the night of the 18th, for which reaſon the Jews faſt that day. See Astronomy, Of the diviſion of time.

AB, in the Syriac kalendar, is the name of the laſt ſummer-month.

A B A

ABACATUAIA, in ichthyology, a barbarous name of the zeus vomer, a fiſh belonging to the thoracic order of Linnæus. See Zeus.

ABACAY, a barbarous name of a ſpecies of the pſittacus, or parrot. See Psittacus.

ABACH, a town in Bavaria, ſituated on the Danube, a little above Ratiſbon.

ABACISCUS. See Abacus.

ABACO, a term, among ancient writers, for arithmetic.

ABACOA, the name of one of the Bahama iſlands. See Bahama.

ABACOT, the name of an ancient cap of ſtate worn by the kings of England, the upper part whereof was in the form of a double crown.

ABACTORES, or Abactors, a term for ſuch as carry off or drive away a whole herd of cattle by ſtealth.

ABACTUS, an obſolete term, among phyſicians, for a miſcarriage procured by art.

ABACUS, a table ſtrewed over with duſt or ſand, upon which the ancient mathematicians drew their figures. It alſo ſignified a cupboard, or buffet.

ABACUS, in architecture, ſignifies the ſuperior part or member of the capital of a column, and ſerves as a kind of crowning to both. It was originally intended to repreſent a ſquare tile covering a baſket. The form of the abacus is not the ſame in all orders: in the Tuſcan, Doric, and Ionic, it is generally ſquare; but in the Corinthian and Compoſite, its four ſides are arched inwards, and embelliſhed in the middle with