Abraham-man

the name given to that cla of sturdy beggar in Shakespeare’s days up to the Civil Wars who roamed through England begging and stealing. An Abraham man is described in a work (published 1575) as “one that walketh bare armed and bare-legged and fayneth himself mad... and nameth himself ‘ poor Tom.’ ” Abranchiate animals, those destitute of branchia or gills. Abrantes, 2 town in the provinc2 of Estremadura, Portugal, situated in a beautiful and fruitful district on the Tagus, about 70 miles N.E. of Lisbon. It is fortified, and commands one of the approaches to the capital. Junot, Napoleon’s general, was created Duke of Abrantes. Abrus, © genus of plants belonging to the pea and bean tribe, the most important of which is the tropical A. pre cat or i us. The root of this plant vields Indian liquorice, an inferior substitute for the true liquorice of Europe, the product of an allied plant. Its well-known scarlet seeds with a black ‘hilum’ or scar at one end are known as crab's eyes or jequirity seeds. They are strung into rosaries by Buddhists, whence its name pre cat or i us, “relating to prayer,” and are stated to have been used as carat weights in weighing diamonds. They contain an alkaloid, jequiritine, stated to be antagonistic to atropine, and are consequently employed in ophthalmia, etc. Abruzzi and Molise, a district of Italy, extending along the coast of the Adriatic, and constituting formerly one provinoe of the kingdom of the two Sicilies. It was later subdivided into three—Abruzzo Ulteriore 1., Abruzzo Ulteriore IL, _and Abruzzo Citeriore, but now forms one compart i men to, comprising the provinces of Chieti, Teramo, Aquila, and Campo ba o, and having an area of 6,380 aq. miles. The country, being traversed by the A pennines, is rugged and wild, but the valleys are productive, and the uplands provide pasture for large numbers of sheep. Absalom (Heb. father of peace), the handsome and beloved son of David, by Mascah, daughter of Talmai. His ambition led him to form a party, and to organise an armed rebellion against his father, who fled beyond Jordan. A battle ensued in the forest of Ephraim, the conspirators were utterly defeated, and Joab, finding Absalom caught in a tree near Mahanaim, killed him (2 Sam, xviii.).