Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/39

an area of about 87!) square miles. Shipbuild- ing, wrecking, and turtlelishing arc the chief eniplovnicnts.

AB'ACUS (Lat., from Gk. afia^, ahax) . A cal- culaliii;.' nuuhine or table occasionally employed in moilcrn piiuuiry schools to make the elemen- tary operations of arithmetic palpalile. It con- sists of a frame with a number of parallel wires, on which beads or counters are strung. In ancient times it was used in practical reckoning, and is thus used still in China, Per- sia, and elsewhere. The ancient abacus consisted of a frame separated by ver- tical lines into col- umns denoting the several orders,

units, tens, etc. In these columns counters were set to denote the units of each order. Counters above a horizontal line denoted five units. In the Abacus Pyth(i</oririis each counter bore a number, so that only one was nceiled in each colunni, and more complicated op- erations could be performed. See Calcilatixo Macuinks.

ABACUS. In architecture, a square or oblong level tablet on the capital of a column. It sup- ports the entablature. In the Doric, Old Ionic, and Tuscan orders, the abacus is a regular oblong; but in the New Ionic, Corinthian, and

CHINESE ABACCS. A— Gcithir. B— Porlc. Eoman orders, the abacus has concave sides, with truncated angles. Square marble tablets let into walls, and fields with figures in them inserted in mosjiic floors, wei-e also included imder the term abacus in ancient architecture.

ABAD, iiljad' (Pers. and Hind., equivalent to Ijic Kngl. ahodr) . .An affix in the formation of nuiny Oriental geographical names, especially in British India and Persia, as Wyih'rnhnd (Hai- daraliad), the ilwclliiig" or city of Ilyder.

ABAD or ABBAD. Name of an .rab family of Emesa, from which descended three Jloorish princes of Seville known as .hadides. .iiAi) I. (Mohammed ilm Ismail .bu al-Kasim ibn .bad) founded the Abadide dynasty in Seville during the civil wars of the eleventli century. In 102:! the people of Seville revolted from the (^aliph of Cordova, and Abad. cadi of the city, was called to the head of affairs. He soon .seized absolute pow- er, maintained his position against the efforts of the Caliph to bring the rebel province to sub- mission, and added Cordova to his possessions. He died in 1042 and was succee<led by his son. Abad II. (.Abu .mr ibn .Mutadid) was a cruel ruler, and carried on petty wars against his Moorish neighbors to extend his dominions. He was. however, forced to pay tribute by Ferdinand 1., King of Castile and Leon. He died in lOGS. Abad 111., his son (.Mohammed ibn Abad, called Al-Mutamid), was a poet and patron of letters. He was tolerant, and peaceably added a ])art of Portugal to his kingdom. .Mt'onso 'l. of Castile married his daughter, and the alliance roused the jealousy of the small Moorish princes, who joined with the Almoravides of Morocco in a league by which Mohammed and .Mfonso were defeated. He died in a prison in Morocco in lO'.f.j. Mohannned's verses, written while in ca|itivity. are greatly admired by .Mohammedan readers. He was the last of the Abadides, whose reign ended in till' conquest of the Almoravides.

ABAD'DON (Heb., "ruin," "destruction"). In the Old Testament, one of the names given to Sheol. or rather to the place of the lost in Sheol; only once used in the New Testament (Rev. ix. 11), and then as the ])roper Hebrew name of tJie King of the Abyss, whose Greek name is Apoll- yon. See Apocalyptic Number.

ABAKA KHAN, ii-bjilca Hiln' or k-in'. See MON'COI. OVNASTIK.S.

ABAKANSK, ii'ba-kjuisk'. A fortified vil- lage in the ( loviTnment of Yeniseisk, Siberia, on the right bank of the Uiver Yenisei (Map: Asia, J 3). It was founded by Peter the Great in 170", and is situated in a very fertile region in the vicinity of coal mines that give employment to many of its inhabitants.

AB'ALO'NE (Sp., of unknown origin). A name in California for the several local species of marine gastropoils (family Haliotidic) other- wise known as ear-shells or sea-ears; reiiresen- tatives are numerous throughout the warmer seas of the world, except the western Atlantic. The shell, although having the shape of a shal- low oval saucer, is really a widely flattened spiral, the apex of which is near one end, while the turned-over margin is the cohnnella. _ (See illustrations on Plate of .balo.e, ktc.) The animal creeps about rocks near the shore, spread- ing a fringed mantle, and extending tentacles through the row of holes in its .shell ; it feeds upon seaweeds, and when qiiiet or alarmed with- draws all soft parts beneath the shield-like shell, and sits down with great tenacity, after the manner of its near relatives, the lim])ets. The lining of the shell is a layer of richly colored mother-of-pearl, much used for inlaying and for the manufacture of small ornaments, buttons, etc. The animals arc eaten, especially by Orientals, and great quantities of them are collected and dried on the coast of California, not only for consum|)tion by the local Chinese, but for export to China and .Japan. A species in the Channel Islands, F.ngland, is regularly ciillcctcd for food, and is called ormer.

ABANCAY, ii'iian-ki'. The chief city of the deparliiicnt of .Vpiirimac. Peru. I>."> miles west- southwest of Cuzeo, im the Abancay (Map: Peru. C fi). It posses.ses extensive sugar refiner- ies, and is the centre of the best sugar-growing district in Peru. There are also several silver mines in the ncigliborhood. Pop.. 1880, 3000.

ABAN'DONMENT. The varying and dissimilar significations of this term, in different blanches of tae law. render a single definition of it impracticable. For its most important meanings in private law. see E.SEMENT;' Insurance : Patent.s. and Pkoi-erty.

In criminal law. abandonment is the intentional eX])osure or desertion of a dependent per-