For a detailed description of the occurrence and preparation of abrasives, reference should be made to the Annual Reports of the United States Geological Survey, Mineral Resources of the United States, which also include statistics of production and importation.
ABRAVANEL, ilbrU'vA-n§I'. See Abrabanel.
ABRAX'AS. A term used by the Gnostic sect of Basilides to designate the multiform manifestation of the Supreme Deity in the universe, because when the word is written with Greek letters, these letters, computed numerically, have the value of 365, which equals the solar year and the number of eons or worlds that formed the total Gnostic universe. The word, in harmony with the magical tendencies of the East in the second century, was engraved on precious stones and used as an amulet. These gems often bore strange figures of Gnostic deities, sometimes part lion, or serpent, or cock, some connected with Jewish, some with Egyptian, and some with Græco-Roman worship. They are characteristic of the hybrid religious movement that fought for supremacy with Christianity. In many cases the figure represented has the head of a cock, the body of a man, and two serpents instead of legs, and is armed with a whip and shield, with the inscription ΙΑΩ (iao), derived from the Hebrew name for God. Other divine manifestations inscribed or represented on the gems are Sabaoth, Adonai, Eloï — Hebrew names for God — Astaphaios, Ialdabaoth, Chnouphis. Others have names or figures of Jewish angels (Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Onoel); others those of Egyptian gods (Isis, Osiris, Phtah, Neith, Hathor, etc.); others those of Greek gods and heroes (Zeus, Hecate, Aphrodite, Hercules). It is a fact that the Christian Church and the Christian emperors of the fourth and fifth centuries found it far more difficult to stamp out magical beliefs and practices than those of official paganism, and of this these stones are the clearest proofs. (See Abracadabra and Amulet.) For further information consult Martigny, Dictionnaire des antiquités chrétiennes (Paris, 1877), and Kraus, Real Encyklopädie der christlichen Alterhümer (Freiburg, 1882-86).
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ABRAXAS STONE.
ABREAST'. See Bearing.
ABRIDG'MENT (O. F. abrigier, Lat. abbreviare, to shorten). A condensation or abbreviation of a book or treatise. Tn the law of copyright an abridgment, when fairly made, is deemed a new work, and consequently its publication is not an infringement of the copyright. An abridgment is to be distinguished in the law of copyright from a compilation. The former is a condensation of the substance of the copyrighted article, while the latter is a reproduction in part, at least, of the language of the copyrighted article and is held to be an infringement. Abridgments of the rules of law by various writers have been of great importance in the development of the English common law. Before our modern methods of reporting decided cases, the abridgments of Comyn, Viner, Bacon, and others were highly valued as text-books, and were the chief repositories of legal learning. They are still valuable as authorities as to the rules of the early law.
ABROC'OMAS AND ANTHI'A. One of the oldest works of Greek prose fiction; also known as Ephesiaca, or the Loves of Anthia and Abrocomas. It was by an otherwise unknown writer named Xenophon of Ephesus, of uncertain date, supposed to have lived about the time of the Antonines. It is in simple narrative style, but abounds in improbable incidents. The story is the ultimate source of Romeo and Juliet.
AB'ROGA'TION (Lat. abrogatio, from ab, away + rogare, to ask, propose a law). In law, the annulling or repealing of a former law by an act of the legislative body. Abrogation may be accomplished by express provision of the later act, which in general terms abrogates all laws inconsistent with the new one, or names specifically the laws to be abrogated, in which case the abrogation is said to be express. Abrogation may also be implied, when the new law is necessarily inconsistent with earlier laws. Also, in England and Scotland, though not generally in the United States, when a statute by lapse of time becomes unsuited to the times and conditions, it is impliedly abrogated. Abrogation of statute law revives any provision of the common law which the earlier statutes had abrogated. See Repeal.
ABROLHOS, abro'lyijs. A group of islands
and shoals, oil miles off the east coast of Brazil
and 50 miles east of Caravellas, forming part of
the state of Bahia. The largest island of the
group, Santa Barbara, is the site of a lighthouse
(Map: South America).
A'BRUS (Gk. ἁβρός, habros, graceful, pretty). A genus of plants of the natural order Leguminosæ. The only known species, Abrus precatorius, is a shrub originally belonging to India, where it is chiefly found in clayey soils, but now not uncommon in the West Indies and other tropical regions. The roots possess properties similar to those of the common licorice. The seeds, often called crab's eyes, are nearly spherical, as large as small peas, of a scarlet color, with a black scar, and are familiar to most people in England and elsewhere, being used as beads. They are narcotic. In India and Australia they are believed to be poisonous, and a number of criminal cases of cattle poisoning by this means were reported by the Cattle Plague Commission in 1870.
ABRUZZI. A-broot's6, and MOLISE, m6-le'sa.
A division (compartimento) of central Italy, situated between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea, and comprising the provinces of Teramo (Abruzzo Ulteriore I.), Chieti (Abruzzo Citeriore), Aquila (Abruzzo Ulteriore II.), and Campobasso (Molise) (Map: Italy, H 5). The area is 6380 square miles. It comprises the wildest and loftiest portion of the Apennines. The rent and jagged mountain groups are very picturesque and reach in Il Gran Sasso d'ltalia, or "the great rock of Italy," the highest of the chain, the elevation of 9600 feet. The highlands are clothed with luxuriant forests and slope precipitously on all sides, but especially toward the northeast shore. The rivers are numerous, but mostly very short, and, with the sole exception of the Pescara, are of little importance. The climate of the Abruzzi is raw in the higher regions; snow rests on the mountains from
