frnni the vagina thiro or four days before the cx|)ulsion of the foetus. The tjeatnient for tliis disease, which has };iven satisfaetory results, is the applieation of tliorough antisepsis. In ease of an outbreak of abortion, the fietus and fa"tal membranes from aborting aninnils should he l)urned ov doe))ly buried, the posterior ])arts of the animals should be washed in some antiseptic solution, repeated antiseplie va;,'inal dciuihes should be j,'iven, and the stable should be thor- oughly disinfeeted. In order to prevent the pos- sible spread of the infection, the posterior parts of other cows or mares in the same stable should be carefully washed with a solution of creolin, potassium permanganate, or corrosive sublimate. Contagious or cpizoJitic aliortion lia^ liccn known in all |iarls of Kurope since the eighteenth ci'ii- tury. The disease also prevails in .Vustralia and in all parts of the United States, ilany extensive outbreaks are recorded in dillerent lo- calities. Consult: Turner's "Infectious Abor- tion in Mares," American Veterinariiiit Reiirir (H<)4): Report United fifates Department of Agriculture. IS'.irj, Division of .Animal Industry, Bulletin 3. D. K. Salmon; Special Itcport on Mix- cellaneoiis Inre.itigalions Concerning Infectioiia anit I'liriisitie Diseases of Domesticated Animals (Washington, 1S!).3). .Vi'.oiniDN IN Pi.ANT.s. That kind of arrest in development by which an organ appears in its early stages, but fails to develop to its normal form or size. For e.vample. in many flowers cer- tain stamens are aborted, their primordia having appeared, but having failed to develop into func- tioning stamens. The abortion may be of any degree beteen the first appearance of the organ and its complete maturity. A very closely re- lated term is "suppression," in which not even the beginning of an expected organ appears. The phenomenon is chiefly observable in connection with the flower (q.v. ) .
ABOU BEN ADHEM (iiljoTT ben iid'hem) AND THE ANGEL. A short narrative jiocm by Leigl: Hunt, the significance of which appears in the line.
'Writ.' itie as ont* that loves hia fellowiiieu."
ABOUKIR, ii'booker'. See Abukir.
ABOULIA, a-boo'li-a. See under IxsAMTY,
ABOUT'. See Tacking.
ABOUT, a'hoo', Kdmond (1S28-8.5). A bril- liant, witty, but uneven French journalist, nov- elist, and writer of social and political essays. He was horn at Dieuzc, completed his studies in Paris, won honcn'S; and was sent in IS5I to the French School at .Athens, where he studied lit- tle, but observed much in a desultory way. The literary result of his two years' stay in Greece is /,(/ (Irficc eonteniporaine (1S.54). and I,c roi iles moiitagnes (IS.iO), both full of Immor and irony. They were jjopular, often translated, and had inllueiiie on what passed for political thought. In IS.i.T he i)ublished Tollii, a story of Italy, bor- rowed in part, and without due acknowledg- ment, from an Italian novel, Villoria Sarnnlli (1841). In lS.'>n he essayed the stage without success, but won poptilarity by short stories col- lected undi'r the titles Les mariagcs de Paris (IS.'iti) and Les mariagcs de prorince (18(18). His most popular stories are L'homine A I'oreille ( (ix.si'r (ISfil) and f,e nez du notairr (18til), both often translated. He had a gift of facile narration, but be did not take his talent seriously, and ceased writing fiction with the fall of the Second Empire, of which he was a spoiled child. To politics during these years he had contributed //« (/utslion romaine (1850), Home contcmporuine (18tjl), La Prusse en 1S60, La nouvclle carte de I'lJurope (1860), and Lc progris (18G4). After the fall of the Empire he became editor of I.e XIX. Sirele. and published a hitter book on Alsace ( 1872) . He was ma<le an academician in 1885. The general character- istics of his work are a kindly humor, a keen irony, a cleanly taste, and a rather shallow skep- ticism.
ABOVILLE, ji'bo've'y' or a'bo'vel', Ffsax-
rois Marie (1730-1817). A French general
of artillery. He was born at Brest. During the
war of the .
icrican Revolution he commanded
Koehanibcau's artillery at Yorktown. In 1792 he
commanded the armies of the North and of Ar-
dennes, and in 180!) was appointed Governor of
Brest.
ABOX'. See Box Hauling.
A'BRA. ( 1 ) A character in Prior's poem f!olo-
mon un the Vaniti/ of the ll'ocW. She appears
in the second part of the poem as an obedient
concubine of the King, and finally captivates
him. (2) A character in the media>val romance of
Amarlis of (I recce. She is a sister of the Sultan
of Babylon, and secures his throne after he is
killed by her lover, Lisnarte.
ABRAB ANEL, a -brii'iia-ncl', AB ARBANEL,
a-njir'ba-nel', or ABRAVANEL, a-brii'va-nel',
Isaac ben Jeiiuiia (1437-150S). A .Tewish
scholar and statesman. He was born in Lisbon,
and claimed descent from King David. He
was treasurer of Alfonso V., but after that
king's death was banished from Portugal and
his property confiscated. In Spain he made
a fortune as a merchant, and was in high
favor with Ferdinand and Isabella in 1487,
but the decree of 1402 banished all Jews from
Spain, and .brabanel fled to Naples, where he
found royal favor, but was again obliged to fly
when Naples surrendered to the French in 1405,
He settled last at Venice. He was one of the
ablest men of his time, and was learned in bibli-
cal e.xcgesis and philosoi)hy. His most celebrated
work is his Herald of Sah-ation (1526), an elab-
orate presentation of the Jewish doctrine of the
Messiah.
AB'RACADAB'RA. A word probalily de-
rived from the same root as Abraxas, and used
by the (Jnostics of the sect of Basilides in the
Orient (second century and later) as a magical
formula by which the assistance of good spirits
was invokcil against all evils
or maladies. Inscribed upon ABR.AO.ADABR.A.
gems it formed a class of ABR.CADABR
the so-called Abraxas stones, ABR.ACADAB
and was concealed about the ABR.C.DA
I)erson. With the spread of ABRAC.D
magical practices it came ABRACA
into use outside the Gnostic ABRAC
sect. The Gnostic physician ABRA
Sammonicus describes how ABR
it can be made eOicacious AB
against fevers, especially A
agues. It should be written several times, each time on a separate line and each time dropping a letter, the letters arranged so as to form an inverted triangle and to read across the base and up the right side. This
