Côte-d'Or

Auxonne (ō-son'). A town in the department of Côte-d'Or, France, on the Saône 20 miles southeast of Dijon, strongly fortified by Vauban. Population (1891), commune, 6,695. Auxonnois (ō-son-wä'). A former small district of France, whose capital was Auxonne. Auzout (ō-zö'), Adrien. Died 1691. A French mathematician, astronomer, and maker of tel escopes, inventor of the filar micrometer. Auzoux, Théodore Louis. Born at Saint Aubin d'Escroville in 1797: died at Paris, May 7, 1880. A French physician, inventor of a method of making paste models of anatomical prepara tions. Ava (ä' vä). The former capital of Burma, situated on the Irawadi in lat. 21° 52′ N., long. 96°1′E.: now largely in ruins. Avallenau, The. [Poem 'of the apple-trees.' allenau, See quotation under Avalon .] A poem ascribed to the ancient Merlin. "The poem is considered by Mr. Stephens to be founded on a tradition of seven score chiefs who were changed to sprites in the Wood of Celyddon, to have been written in the latter part of the reign of Owain Gwynedd, and to contain distinct historical allusion to affairs of the years 1165-1170. It includes also a notion of the return of Cad wall a der, which was one of the inventions of Geoffrey of Mon mouth, set afloat by the wide popularity of his fictitious history. Apple-trees were chosen by the poet because, after Geoffrey's history appeared, Fairy-land was known among the bards as Ynys yr Avallon, the Island of the Apple-trees, which English roman cists, not knowing the meaning of Avallon, or not being so much impre ed as the Welsh by the beauty of a blo oming apple-orchard, called 'the woody isle of Avalon.'" Morley , Eng. Writers, III. 256. and sometimes Ynysvitrin or Ynysgutrin , Gla Island, a name which identifies it with the Teutonic Glasberg . When these names pa ed into other languages untranslated, so that their meaning became obscured or forgotten, the kingdom of the dead was localized at Glastonbury, the Anglo-Saxon Glaestinga burh . There, according to legend, Arthur lies buried; but another popular tradition has it that he was carried away to the island of Avallon by his sister the fairy Morgan a, the Morgue la Fae of French Romance. In the romance of Ogier le Danois, when Ogier, who Morgue la Fae determines shall be her lover, arrives at the palace of Avallon, he finds there besides Morgan a her brother King Arthur, and her brother Auberon, the Oberon of fairy romance, and Mallabron, a sprite of the sea. Encyc. Brit ., V. 325. Avalon Peninsula (av'a-lon pē-nin' sū - lã). The peninsula at the southeastern extremity of Newfoundland, on which St. John's is situated, connected with the rest of the island by a narrow isthmus. Avalos, Ferdinando Francesco d'. See Pes car a , Marquis of. Avalos, Gil Ramirez de. See Davalos . Avare, L'. [F., 'the miser.'] A comedy by Molière, produced in 1668. The plot was borrowed from the "Aulularia" of Plautus. Fielding founded his "Miser" upon it. Avaricum (a-var'i-kum). The Roman name of the chief city of the Bituriges, a Gallic tribe: the modern Bourges, capital of the department of Cher. Avars (ä'värz). 1. A people of Ural-Altaic stock, allied to the Huns, who appeared on the Danube about 555 A. D., and settled in Dacia. They aided Just in i an, and later a isted the Lombards against the Gepide; occupied Pannonia, and later Dalma tia, and invaded Germany, Italy, the Balkan Peninsula. Their power was broken by Charles the Great about 796, and they disappeared with the establishment of the Moravians and Magyars. 2. A people, probably allied to the Lesghians, who dwell in Daghestan. Avasaxa (ä-vä-säk'sä). A mountain in Finland, near Torneå, resorted to by tourists in summer on account of the view obtained there of the midnight sun. Avatcha (ä-väʼchä), or A vat chins kay a (ä-vächen'skä-vä). A volcano in Kamtchatka, in lat. 53° 15′ N., long. 158° 50′ E., about 8,000 feet high. Avatcha Bay. A bay on the eastern coast of Kamtchatka, on which Petropaulovsk is situ ated. Avebury (a'ber-i), or Abury (a'ber-i). A small village in Wilts hire, England, 6 miles west of Marl borough, noted for its megalithic antiquities. Near by is the barrow called Silbury Hill. Avedik (av'e-dik). Lived about 1700. A patriarch of Armenia who, at the instance of the French amba ador, was deposed by the Porte Avedik and exiled to Chios. See the extract. Hammer mentions the banishment of the Armenian patriarch to Chios, for opposing the influence of France, and a erts that he was kidnapped by order of the French amba ador, and carried to the isle of St. Marguerite, near Antibes, where he died. But it appears that this patriarch, whose name was Avedik, was not in reality taken to St. Marguerite, but was secretly transported from Marseilles to the abbey of Mont St. Michel, where he was intrusted to the safe keeping and zealous teaching of the monks, in whose custody he remained completely secluded from the world for three years. He was then removed to the Bastille. The terror of imprisonment for life in that celebrated place overcame fortitude, and he declared himself a convert to Catholicism, yet he was detained in France until his death. The complaints of the sultan against this outrage on the law of nations caused the French amba ador at Constantinople to deny the transaction, and he even attempted to persuade the Porte that the Spaniards were the man-stealers who had kidnapped the unfortunate Avedik. At last, to avoid a rupture with Turkey, XIV. formally announced that Avedik was dead, though he was still languishing in a French prison. Finlay , Hist. Greece, V. 239, note. Aveiro (ä-vā'rộ). A district in the northwestern part of the province of Beira, Portugal. Aveiro. A seaport, capital of the district of Aveiro, situated at the mouth of the Vouga 35 miles south of Oporto: the seat of a bishopric. Population, about 7,000. Aveiro, Duke of (José Mascarenhas). Born 1708: executed Jan. 13, 1759. A Portuguese nobleman, condemned to death for alleged participation in the attempted murder of the king in 1758. Avé-Lallemant (ä-va'läl-mon'), Robert Christian Berth old. Born at Lübeck, July 25, 1812: died there, Oct. 10, 1884. A German traveler in South America. Aveline (äv-len'), Le sieur. A pseudonym of Voltaire. Avellaneda (ä-va-lyä-nā'riä), Alonso Fernandes de. The name a umed by the writer of a spurious "second volume of the Ingenious Knight Don Quixote de la Mancha," which appeared in 1614 before the genuine "second part" by Cervantes was published. Its authorship has been a igned to Luis de Aliaga, the king's con fe or, and also to Juan Blanco de Paz, a Dominican friar. The book contains vulgar abuse of Cervantes, and is in turn ridiculed by him in the later chapters of "Don Quixote." Avellaneda y Arteaga (ä-va-lyä-nā'тнае ärtä-ä'gä), Gertrudis Gomez de. Bornin Puerto Principe, Cuba, March 23, 1814: died in Madrid, Feb. 2, 1873. A Cuban authore . Most of her life was pa ed in Spain, where she was twice married. Her lyrics are greatly admired. She wrote several suc ce ful dramas. Of her novels the best-known are "Dos Mujeres," "Espatolino," and "El Mulato Sab," a kind of Cuban "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Some of her works are published over the pseudonym "La Peregrin a." Avellaneda, Nicolas. Born in Tucuman, Oct. 1, 1836: died Dec. 26, 1885. An Argentine statesman, journalist, and author of several historical and economical works. He was profes sor of political economy in the University of Buenos Ayres, minister of public instruction during the administration of Sarmiento, 1868-74, and succeeded that statesman as president of Argentina, 1874-80. Avellino (ä-vel-lē'nō), formerly Principato Ulteriore (prin-che-pä'to öl-ta-re-ō're). A province in Camp an i a, Italy. Area, 1,172 square miles. Population (1891), 410,457. Avellino. The capital of the province of Avellino, 29 miles northeast of Naples, celebrated for its hazel-nuts and chestnuts: the seat of a bishopric. It retains the name, but is not on the exact site, of the ancient Abellinum, a city of the Hirpini destroyed in the wars of the Greeks and Lombards. It has several times been damaged by earthquakes. Population (1891), 26,000. Avellino, Francesco Maria. Born at Naples, Aug. 14, 1788: died Jan. 10, 1850. An Italian archæologist and numismatist. He became profe or of Greek in the University of Naples in 1815, director of the Museo Borbonico in 1839, and was editor of "Bollettino archeologico Napolitano 1843-48. Avenare. See Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra . Avenbrugger. See Auenbrugger . Avenches (a-vonsh'), G. Wiflisburg (vif'lisbörg). A town in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, 7 miles northwest of Fribourg: the Roman Aventicum, the ancient capital of the Helvetii. It has remains of an amphitheater, various other Roman relics (including a Corinthian column), and a castle. Avenel (av'nel), Mary. One of the principal characters in Sir Walter Scott's novel "The Monastery," the wife of Halbert Glen dinning. She reappears in "The Abbot." Aventine (av'en-tin). [L. Mons A vent in us , It. Monte Aventino .] The farthest south of the seven hills of ancient Rome, rising on the left bank of the Tiber, south of the Palatine. Below it to the northeast lay the Circus Maximus, and to the east the thermæ of Car a call a. A vent in us (av-en-ti'nus) (originally Thur- mayr, Johannes). Born at Abensberg, Ba- varia, 1477 (?): died at Ratisbon, Bavaria, Jan. 9, 1534. A Bavarian historian, author of "An- nalium Boiorum libri VII.," etc. Averell (a've-rel), William Woods. Born at Cameron, Steuben County, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1832. An American general and inventor. ances. during the Civil War as a leader of cavalry raids in Virginia 1863 and 1864;; and resigned May 18, 1865, with the brevet rank of major-general. Among his inventions are a proce of manufacturing cast-steel directly from the ore, an asphalt pavement, and various electrical appliAverno (ä-ver'no), L. lac us Avernus (a-ver'nus). [Gr. Ἄορνος λίμνη, lit. 'the bird le lake': it being said that its exhalations killed the birds flying over it. But this is prob. a popular etym. due to the accidental resemblance of the name to the Gr. άορνος , bird le .) A small lake in Camp an i a, Italy, 9 miles west of Naples, anciently believed to be the entrance to the infernal regions. Its circumference is nearly 2 miles, and it is about 200 feet deep. Averroes (a-ver'ō-ez), or Averrhoës (Abul Walid Mohammed ben Ahmed ibn Roshd). Born at Cordova about 1126 (1120?): died at Morocco, Dec. 12,1198. A distinguished Spanish Arab i an philosopher, physician, and commentator on Aristotle. He belonged to a noted family of jurists, and himself held judicial positions. His works are numerous, and cover the fields of medicine, philosophy, natural history, astronomy, ethics, mathematics, and jurisprudence. Many of them were translated into Latin and Hebrew. Avers (ä'vers), or A verser Thal (ä'ver-sertäl). An alpine valley in the southern part of the canton of Grisons, Switzerland, west of the Upper Engadine: a tributary to the valley of the Hinter-Rhein. Aversa (ä-ver'sä). A town in the province of Caserta, Italy, 9 miles north of Naples, noted for its white wine and fruits. It was founded by the Normans, about 1029, near the site of the ancient Atella. Population, about 20,000. Averulino, Antonio. See Filarete. Averysboro, Averysborough (a'ver-iz or Avila ern France, bounded by Cantal on the north, Lozère and Gard on the east, Hérault and Tarn on the south, and Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, and Tarn on the west, formed from the ancient Rouergue (in Guienne). Its capital is Rodez. Area, 3,376 square miles. Population (1891), 400,467. Aveyron. A river in southern France which joins the Tarn 9 miles northwest of Montauban. Length, about 150 miles. On it are Rodez and Villefranche. Avezac (äv-zäk'), Auguste Geneviève Valen- tin d'. Born in Santo Domingo, 1777: died Feb. 15, 1851. An American lawyer and diplomatist of French descent. He was chargé d'affaires at The Hague 1831 and 1845-49, and member of the New York legislature 1841-45; author of "Reminiscences of Edward Living stone." Avezzano (ä-vet-sä'no). A town in the prov- ince of Aquila, Italy, on the border of Lago di Fucino (now nearly drained) 53 miles east of Rome. Population, 6,000. Aviano (ä-ve-ä'nō). A small town in the prov- ince of Udine, Italy, 46 miles northeast of Venice. Avianus (a-vi-a'nus), or Avianius (-ni-us), Flavius. A Latin fabulist, probably of the 4th century A. D. He wrote forty-two fables in the manner of Æsop, in elegiac meter. The collection was used as a school-book, and was augmented, paraphrased, and imitated. Avicebron. See Salomon ibn Gebirol. Avicenna (av-i-sen'ä) (a corrupt form of Ibn Sina). Born at Afshena, Bokhara, Ang., 980: died at Hamadan, Persia, 1037. The most celebrated Arabian physician and philosopher, author of commentaries on the works of Aristotle, and of treatises on medicine based chiefly on Galen: surnamed the "Prince of Physicians.” His works, most of which are brief, number over 100. His writings upon Aristotle were held in great esteem, and his "Canon of Medicine" ( Canon Medic inæ, in Ar. Kitab el -qanuni fi - tibbi , 1593; L. trans, by Gerardus Crem on ens is, 1595) was long regarded in Europe as one of the highest authorities in medical science. Avicenna (Ebn Sina) was at once the Hippo crates and the Aristotle of the Arabians; and certainly the most ex- traordinary man that the nation produced. In the course of an unfortunate and stormy life, occupied by politics and by pleasures, he produced works which were long revered as a sort of code of science. In particular his writings on medicine, though they contain little besides a compilation of Hippo crates and Galen, took the place of both even in the universities of Europe; and were studied as models at Paris and Montpellier till the end of the 17th century, at which period they fell into an almost complete oblivion. Whewell, Ind. Sciences, L. 279. Avidius Ca ius. General under M. Aurelius. Avienus (a-vi-e'nus), Rufus Festus. Lived burō). A village in Harnett County, North probably about 370 A. D. A Roman poet. He Carolina, 32 miles south of Raleigh. Here, March 16, 1865, the Federals under Sherman repulsed the Confederates under Hardee. Lo of Federals, 554; of Confederates, 865. Aves (ä'ves). ('Bird' islands.] A group of small islands in the Caribbean Sea, belonging to Venezuela, southeast of Buen Ayre. Avesnes (ä-vān'). A town in the department of Nord, France, situated on the Helpe 26 miles southeast of Valenciennes. It was fortified by Vauban. Population (1891), 6,495. Avesta (a-ves'tä). The Bible of Zoroastrianism and the Parsis. The name comes from the Pahlavi avistak , which po ibly means 'knowledge.' The name "Zendavesta" arose by mistake from inverting the Pahlavi phrase Avistak va Zand, 'Avesta and Zend," or 'the Law and Commentary,' Zend, 'knowledge, explanation, referring to the later version and commentary in Pahlavi. The present Avesta is but a remnant of a great literature. It includes (1) the Yasna, a collection of liturgical fragments and of hymns or Gathas; (2) the Vispered, a liturgical collection; (3) the Vendidad, a collection of re ligious laws; (4) the Yashts, mythical fragments devoted to various Mazdayasnian divinities; and (5) different prayers known under the names Nyayish, Afringan, Gah, Sirozah, and six various other fragments. The Yasna, 'sacrifice, worship,' is the chief liturgical work. In it are inserted the Gathas, hymns,' verses from the sermons of Zoroaster. These are written in an older dialect. They form the oldest and most sacred part of the Avesta. The Vispered contains invocations to "all the lords" (vispe ratavo). The Yashts (from yashti, 'worship by praise) are twenty-one hymns to the divinities, "Yazatas or Izads." The Vendidad, or 'law against the daevas or demons' (vidaeva data), is a priestly code like the Pent a teuch. The present form of the Avesta belongs to the Sa an i an period. According to the record of Khusro A no shir van (A. D. 531-579), King Valkhash, one of the last of the Arsacidæ, ordered a search for all surviving writ ings, and required the priests to aid with their oral trad i tion. The texts were reedited under succe ive Sa an i an rulers, until under Shapur II. (A. D. 309-379) the final redaction was made by his prime minister Atur-pat Ma raspend.