ment

Abroga

tion.

Abridge for literature, imagined they should gratify the public by introducing a mode of reading works in a few hours, which otherwise could not be done in many months; and, observing that the bulky volumes of the ancients lay buried in dust, without any one condescending to examine them, the disagreeable necessity inspired them with an invention that might bring those works and themselves into public notice, by the care they took of renovating them. This they imagined to effect by forming abridgements of these ponderous volumes.

All these Abridgers, however, did not follow the same mode. Some contented themselves with making a mere abridgement of their authors, by employing their own expressions, or by inconsiderable alterations. Others composed those abridgements in drawing them from various authors, but from whose works they only took what appeared to them most worthy of observation, and dressed them in their own style. Others, again, having before them several authors who wrote on the same subject, took passages from each, united them, and thus formed a new work. They executed their design by digesting in common places, and under various titles, the most valuable parts they could collect, from the best authors they read. To these last ingenious scholars, we owe the rescue of many valuable fragments of antiquity. They happily preserved the best maxims, the characters of persons, descriptions, and any other subjects which they found interesting in their studies.

There have been learned men who have censured these Abridgers, as the cause of our having lost so many excellent entire works of the ancients; for posterity becoming less studious, was satisfied with these extracts, and neglected to preserve the originals, whose voluminous size was less attractive. Others on the contrary say, that these Abridgers have not been so prejudicial to literature, as some have imagined; and that had it not been for their care, which snatched many a perishable fragment from that shipwreck of letters, which the barbarians occasioned, we should perhaps have had no works of the ancients remaining.

Abridgers, Compilers, and even Translators, in the present fastidious age, are alike regarded with contempt; yet to form their works with skill requires an exertion of judgment, and frequently of taste, of which their contemners appear to have no conception. It is the great misfortune of such literary labours, that even when performed with ability, the learned will not be found to want them, and the unlearned have not discernment to appreciate them."

ABRINCATARUM OPPIDUM, in Ancient Geography, the town of the Abrincates or Abrincatui; now Avranches, in France, situated on an eminence in the south-west of Normandy, near the borders of Brittany, on the English channel. W. Long. 1. 10. N. Lat. 48. 40.

ABROGATION, the act of abolishing a law, by authority of the maker; in which sense the word is synonymous with abolition, repealing, and revocation.

Abrogation stands opposed to rogation: it is distinguished from derogation, which implies the taking away only some part of a law; from subrogation, which denotes the adding a clause to it; from obrogation, which implies the limiting or restraining it; from dispensation, which only sets it aside in a particular inVOL. I. Part I.

tion

Abruzzo,

stance; and from antiquation, which is the refusing to Abrogapass a law. ABROKANI, or MALLEMOLLI, a kind of muslin, " or clear, white, fine cotton cloth, brought from the East Indies, particularly from Bengal; being in length 16 French ells and 3 quarters, and in breadth 5 eighths.

ABROLHOS, in Geography, dangerous shoals or banks of sand, about 20 leagues from the coast of Brazil. S. Lat. 18. 22. W. Long. 38. 45.

ABROMA, in Botany. See BOTANY Index. ABROTANUM, in Botany. See ARTEMISIA, BOTANY Index.

ABROTONUM, in Ancient Geography, a town and harbour on the Mediterranean, in the district of Syrtis Parva in Africa; one of the three cities that formed Tripoly.

ABRUG-BANYA, in Geography, a populous town of Transylvania, in the district of Weissenburg. It is situated in a country which abounds with mines of gold and silver, and is the residence of the mine office, and chief of the metal towns. E. Long. 23. 24. N. Lat. 46. 50.

ABRUS, in Botany, the trivial name of the GLY

CINE.

A

ABRUZZO, a province of Naples. The river Pescara divides it into two parts; one of which is called Ulterior, of which Aquila is the capital; and the other Citerior, whose capital is Chieti. Besides the Apennines, there are two considerable mountains, the one called Monte Cavallo, and the other Monte Majello; the top of which last is always covered with snow. bruzzo is a cold country; but the rigour of the climate is not so great as to prevent the country from produeing in abundance every thing requisite for the support of life. Vegetables, fruits, animals, and numberless other articles of sustenance, not only furnish ample provision for the use of the natives, but also allow of exportation. It produces so much wheat, that many thousands of quarters are annually shipped off. Much Turkey wheat is sent out, and the province of Teramo sells a great deal of rice little inferior in quality to that of Lombardy. Oil is a plentiful commodity, and wines are made for exportation on many parts of the coast; but wool has always been, and still is, their staple commodity: the flocks, after passing the whole summer in the fine pastures of the mountains, are driven for the winter into the warm plains of Puglia, and a few spots near their own coast, where the snow does not lie. There are no manufactures of woollens in the province, except two small ones of coarse cloth. The greatest part of the wool is exported unwrought. No silk is made here, though mulberry trees would grow well in the low grounds.

Formerly the territory of Aquila furnished Italy almost exclusively with saffron ; but since the culture of that plant has been so much followed in Lombardy, it has fallen to nothing in Abruzzo. In the maritime tracts of country the cultivation of liquorice has been increased of late years, but foreigners export the roots in their natural state: in the province of Teramo there is a manufactory of pottery ware, for which there is a great demand in Germany, by the way of Trieste, as it is remarkably hard and fine; but even this is going

F

te

Abruzzo, to decay, by being abandoned entirely to the ignorance of common workmen. It is not to be expected that improvements will be made in arts and manuany factures, where the encouragement and attention of superiors is wanting, and no pains taken to render the commodity more marketable, or to open better channels of sale for it. The only advantages these provinces enjoy, are the gift of benevolent nature; but she has still greater presents in store for them, and waits only for the helping hand of government to produce them. This whole coast, one hundred miles in length, is utterly destitute of sea ports; and the only spots where the produce can be embarked are dangerous inconvenient roads, at the mouths of rivers, and along a leeshore the difficulty of procuring shipping, and of loading the goods, frequently causes great quantities of them to rot on hand; which damps industry, and prevents all improvements in agriculture. The husbandman is a poor dispirited wretch, and wretchedness produces emigration: the uneven surface of the country occasions it to be inhabited by retail, if the expression may be used, rather than in large masses; for there is not a city that contains ten thousand people, and few of them exceed three thousand. Villages, castles, and feudatory estates are to be met with in abundance; but the numbers of their inhabitants are to be reckoned by hundreds, not thousands in a word, the political and social system of the province shows no signs of the vigour which nature so remarkably displays here in all her operations.

The antiquary and the naturalist may travel here with exquisite pleasure and profit; the former will find treasures of inscriptions, and inedited monuments, belonging to the warlike nations that once covered the face of the country; the natural philosopher will have a noble field for observation in the stupendous mountains that rise on all sides. Monte-corno and Majello are among the most interesting. The first is like an aged monument of nature, bald, and horribly broken on every aspect; from various appearances, it is evident that its bowels contain many valuable veins of metallic ore; but the great difficulty of access renders the search of them almost impracticable. Majello has other merits, and of a gayer kind :-nature has clothed its declivities and elevated fields with an infinite variety of plants.

The character of the inhabitants varies a little among themselves, according to situation and climate, but essentially from the disposition of the natives of the more southern provinces. This proceeds from a difference of origin: for the Lombards, who were barbarians, but not cruel; poor, but hospitable; endowed with plain honest sense, though possessed of little acuteness or subtlety; remained peaceable proprietors of these mountainous regions, till the Normans, who were accustomed to a similar climate, came and dispossessed them. The Greeks who retained almost every other part of the kingdom under their dominion, never had any sway here. For this reason the Abruzzesi still bear a great resemblance to their northern progenitors or masters: to this day one may trace in them the same goodness of heart, but great indolence and repugnance to lively exertions s; a fault that proceeds rather from a want of active virtue, than a disposition to wickedness. Hence it comes, that in these provinces, where the proximity of the frontier almost ensures im

Absimarus,

punity, fewer atrocious and inhuman deeds are heard Abrazze of than in other parts of the realm. Remnants of ancient northern customs existed here so late as the beginning of this century, and, among the mountaineers, very evident traces of the Frank and Teutonic languages may be discovered.

He

ABSALOM, in Scripture History, the son of David by Maacah, was brother to Tamar, David's daughter, who was ravished by Amnon their eldest brother by another mother. Absalom waited two years for an opportunity of revenging the injury done to his sister: and at last procured the assassination of Amnon at a feast which he had prepared for the king's sons. took refuge with Talmai king of Geshur; and was no sooner restored to favour, but he engaged the Israelites to revolt from his father. Absalom was defeated in the wood of Ephraim: as he was flying, his hair caught hold of an oak, where he hung till Joab came and thrust him through with three darts: David had expressly ordered his life to be spared, and extremely lamented him. The weight of Absalom's hair, which is stated at "200 shekels after the king's weight," has occasioned much critical discussion. If, according to some, the Jewish shekel of silver was equal to half an ounce avoirdupois, 200 shekels would be 6 pounds; or, according to Josephus, if the 200 shekels be equal to 5 mine, and each mina 24 pounds, the weight of the hair would be 12 pounds, a supposition not very credible. It has been supposed by others, that the shekel here denotes a weight in gold equal to the value of the silver shekel, or half au ounce, which will reduce the weight of the hair to about 5 ounces; or that the 200 shekels are meant to express the value, not the weight.

ABSCESS, in Surgery; from abscedo, to separate; a cavity containing pus; or a collection of puriform matter in a part: So called, because the parts which were joined are now separated; one part recedes from another, to make way for the collected matter. See SURGERY.

ABSCISSE, in Comics, a part of the diameter or transverse axis of a conic section, intercepted between the vertex or some other fixed point and a semiordinate. See CONIC SECTIONS.

ABSCONSA, a dark lantern used by the monks at the ceremony of burying their dead.

ABSENCE, in Scots Law: When a person cited before a court does not appear, and judgment is pronounced, that judgment is said to be in absence. No person can be tried criminally in absence.

ABSENTEE, a person absent from his station, employment, or country. See SUPPLEMENT.

ABSIMARUS, in History, having dethroned Leontius, cut off his nose and ears, and shut him up in a monastery, was proclaimed by the soldiers emperor of the East, A. D. 698. Leontius himself was also an usurper. He had dethroned Justinian II. who, afterwards, with the assistance of the Bulgarians, surprised and took Constantinople and made Absimarus prisoner. Justinian, now settled on the throne, and having both Absimarus and Leontius in his power, loaded them with chains, ordered them to lie down on the ground, and with a barbarous pleasure, held a foot on the neck of each for the space of an hour in presence of the people, who with shouts and exclamations sung, Super aspi

Absimarus dem et basiliscum ambulabis, et conculcabis leonem et draconem. "Thou shalt walk on the asp and the baAbsolute. silisk, and tread on the lion and the dragon." By the orders of Justinian, Absimarus and Leontius were beheaded, A. D. 705.

ABSINTHIATED, any thing tinged or impregnated with absinthium or wormwood, Bartholin mentions a woman whose milk was become absinthiated, and rendered as bitter as gall, by the too liberal use of wormwood.

Vinum absinthites, or poculum absinthiatum, "wormwood wine," is much spoken of among the ancients as a wholesome drink, and even an antidote against drunkenness. Its medical virtues depend on its aromatic and bitter qualities. Infused in wine or spirits, it may prove beneficial in cases of indigestion or debility of the stomach.

ABSINTHIUM, in Botany, the trivial name of the common wormwood. See ARTEMISIA, BOTANY Index.

ABSIS, in Astronomy, the same with apsis. See APSIS.

ABSOLUTE, in a general sense, something that stands free or independent.

ABSOLUTE is more particularly understood of a being or thing which does not proceed from any cause, or does not subsist by virtue of any other being, consider ed as its cause; in which sense, God alone is absolute. Absolute, in this sense, is synonymous with independent, and stands opposed to dependent.

ABSOLUTE also denotes a thing that is free from conditions or limitations; in which sense, the word is synonymous with unconditional. We say, an absolute decree, absolute promise, absolute obedience.

ABSOLUTE Government, that in which the prince is left solely to his own will, being not limited to the observance of any laws except those of his own discretion.

ABSOLUTE Equations, in Astronomy, is the aggregate of the optic and eccentric equations. The apparent inequality of a planet's motion, arising from its not being equally distant from the earth at all times, is called its optic equation, and would subsist even if the planet's real motion were uniform. The eccentric inequality is caused by the planet's motion being uniform. To illustrate which, conceive the sun to move, or to appear to move, in the circumference of a circle, in whose centre the earth is placed. It is manifest, that if the sun moves uniformly in this circle, it must appear to move uniformly to a spectator on the earth, and in this case there will be no optic nor eccentric equation; bnt suppose the earth to be placed out of the centre of the circle, and then, though the sun's motion should be really uniform, it would not appear to be so, when seen from the earth; and in this case there would be an optic equation, without an eccentric one. Imagine farther, the sun's orbit to be not circular but elliptic, and the earth in its focus; it will be as evident that the sun cannot appear to have an uniform motion in such ellipse so that his motion will then be subject to two equations, the optic and the eccentric.

ABSOLUTE Number, in Algebra, is any pure number standing in any equation without the conjunction of literal characters; as 2x +36=48; where 36 and 48

are absolute numbers, but 2 is not, as being joined with Absolute the letter x. A ABSOLUTION, in Civil Law, is a sentence where- Absorption. by the party accused is declared innocent of the crime laid to his charge.-Among the Romans, the ordinary method of pronouncing judgment was this: after the cause had been pleaded on both sides, the præco used the word dixerunt, q. d. they have said what they had to say; then three ballots were distributed to each judge, marked as mentioned under the article A; and as the majority fell of either mark, the accused was absolved or condemned, &c. If he were absolved, the prætor dismissed him with videtur non fecisse, or jure videtur fecisse.

ABSOLUTION, in the Canon Law, is a juridical act, whereby the priest declares the sins of such as are penitent remitted. The Romanists hold absolution a part of the sacrament of penance; the council of Trent, sess. xiv. cap. iii. and that of Florence, in the decree ad Armenos, declare the form or essence of the sacrament to lie in the words of absolution, I absolve thee of thy sins. The formula of absolution, in the Romish church, is absolute in the Greek church, it is deprecatory; and in the churches of the reformed, declarative.

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ABSOLUTION is chiefly used among Protestants for a sentence by which a person who stands excommunicated is released or freed from that punishment. ABSORBENT, in general, any thing possessing the faculty of absorbing, or swallowing up another.

ABSORBENT Medicines, testaceous powders, or substances into which calcareous earth enters, as chalk, crabs eyes, &c. which are taken inwardly, for drying up or absorbing any acid or redundant humours in the stomach or intestines. They are likewise applied externally to ulcers or sores with the same intention.

ABSORBENTS, or ABSORBING Vessels, in Anatomy, a name given promiscuously to the lacteal vessels, lymphatics, and inhalant arteries, a minute kind of vessels found in animal bodies, which imbibe fluids that come in contact with them. On account of their minuteness and transparency, they escape observation in ordinary dissection. They have, however, been detected in every tribe of animals, and, in the animals which have been examined, in every part of the body. Those which open into the stomach and intestines, and convey the chyle, which is a milky fluid, from these organs to the blood, have received the name of lacteals, or lacteal vessels; and those which open on the external surface, and the surface of all the cavities of the body, have been denominated lymphatics, from the lymph or colourless fluid which they contain. See ANATOMY.

ABSORBING, the swallowing up, sucking up, or imbibing any thing: thus black bodies are said to absorb the rays of light; luxuriant branches, to absorb, or waste the nutritious juices which should feed the fruit of trees, &c.

ABSORPTION, in the animal economy, is the function of the absorbent vessels, or that power by which they take up and propel substances. This power has been ascribed to the operation of different causes, according to the theories which physiologists have proposed. Some attribute it to capillary attraction, others to the pressure of the atmosphere, and others to F 2

an

ABSORPTIONS of the Earth, a term used by Kircher and others for the sinking in of large tracts of land by means of subterranean commotions, and many other accidents.

Pliny tells us, that in his time the mountain Cymbotus, with the town of Curites, which stood on its side, were wholly absorbed into the earth, so that not the least trace of either remained; and he records the like fate of the city of Tantalis in Magnesia, and after it of the mountain Sypilus, both thus absorbed by a violent opening of the earth. Galamis and Gamales, towns once famous in Phoenicia, are recorded to have met the same fate; and the vast promontory, called Phegium, in Ethiopia, after a violent earthquake in the night-time, was not to be seen in the morning, the whole having disappeared, and the earth closed over it. These and many other histories, attested by the authors of greatest credit among the ancients, abundantly prove the fact in the earlier ages; and there have not been wanting too many instances of more modern date. (Kircher's Mund. Subter. p. 77.)

Picus, a lofty mountain in one of the Molucca isles, which was seen at a great distance, and served as a land-mark to sailors, was entirely destroyed by an earthquake; and its place is now occupied by a lake, the shores of which correspond exactly to the base of the mountain. In 1556, a similar accident happened in China. A whole province of the mountainous part of the country, with all the inhabitants, sunk in a moment, and was totally swallowed up: The space which was formerly land was also covered with an extensive lake of water. And, during the earthquakes which prevailed in the kingdom of Chili, in the year 1646, several whole mountains of the Andes sunk and disappeared.

ABSORUS, APSORUS, ABSYRTIS, ABSYRTIDES, APSYRTIDES, APSYRTIS, and ABSYRTIUM, (Strabo, Mela, Ptolemy); islands in the Adriatic, in the gulf of Carnero; so called from Absyrtus, Medea's brother, there slain. They are either one island, or two separated by a narrow channel, and joined by a bridge; and are now called Cherso and Osero.

ABSTEINEN, in Geography, a district near the river Memel in Little Lithuania. It is a mountainous country, but is fertile in grain, and abounds with sheep and excellent horses.

ABSTEMII, in church history, a name given to such persons as could not partake of the cup of the eucharist on account of their natural aversion to wine. Calvinists allow these to communicate in the species or bread only, touching the cup with their lip; which, on the other hand, is by the Lutherans deemed a profanation.

ABSTEMIOUS, is properly understood of a person who refrains absolutely from all use of wine.

The history of Mr Wood, in the Medic. Trans. vol. ii. p. 261, art. 18. is a very remarkable exemplification of the very beneficial alterations which may be effected on the human body by a strict course of abstemiousness.

The Roman ladies, in the first ages of the republic, Abstemios were all enjoined to be abstemious; and that it might appear, by their breath, whether or no they kept up to Abstinence. the injunction, it was one of the laws of the Roman civility, that they should kiss their friends and relations whenever they accosted them.

ABSTEMIUS, LAURENTIUS, a native of Macerata, professor of belles lettres in Urbino, and librarian of Duke Guido Ubaldo, under the pontificate of Alexander VI. He wrote, 1. Notes on most difficult passages of ancient authors. 2. Hecatomythium, i. e.

A collection of an hundred fables, &c. which have been often printed with those of Æsop, Phædrus, Gabrias, Avienus, &c. and a preface to the edition of Aurelius Victor published at Venice in 1505.

ABSTERGENT MEDICINES, those employed for resolving obstructions, concretions, &c. such as soap, &c.

ABSTINENCE, in a general sense, the act or habit of refraining from something to which there is a strong propensity. Among the Jews, various kinds of abstinence were ordained by their law. The Pythagoreans, when initiated, were enjoined to abstain from animal food, except the remains of sacrifices; and to drink nothing but water, unless in the evening, when they were permitted to take a small portion of wine. Among the primitive Christians, some denied themselves the use of such meats as were prohibited by that law, others regarded this abstinence with contempt; of which St Paul gives his opinion, Rom. xiv. 1-3. The council of Jerusalem, which was held by the apostles, enjoined the Christian converts to abstain from meats strangled, from blood, from fornication, and from idolatry. Abstinence, as prescribed by the gospel, is intended to mortify and restrain the passions, to humble our vicious natures, and by that means raise our minds to a due sense of devotion. But there is another sort of abstinence, which may be called ritual, and consists in abstaining from particular meats at certain times and seasons. It was the spiritual monarchy of the western world which first introduced this ritual abstinence; the rules of which were called rogations; but grossly abused from the true nature and design of fasting. In England, abstinence from flesh has been enjoined by statute since the Reformation, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, on vigils, and on all commonly called fish days. The like injunctions were renewed under Queen Elizabeth: but at the same time it was declared, that this was done not out of motives of religion, as if there were any difference in meats; but in favour of the consumption of fish, and to multiply the number of fishermen and mariners, as well as to spare the stock of sheep. The great fast, says St Augustin, is to abstain from sin.

ABSTINENCE is more particularly used for a spare diet, or a slender parsimonious use of food. Physicians relate wonders of the effects of abstinence in the cure of many disorders, and protracting the term of life. The noble Venetian Cornaro, after all imaginable means had proved vain, so that his life was despaired of at 40, recovered, and lived to near 100, by the mere effect of abstinence; as he himself gives the account. It is indeed surprising to what a great age the primitive Christians of the east, who retired from the persecutions into the deserts of Arabia and Egypt, li

tion.

stances of all kinds, animal, vegetable, &c. floating Abstinence in the atmosphere, which must be continually taken in A by respiration; and that an animal body may be nourish- Abstraced thereby, is evident in the instance of vipers; which if taken when first brought forth, and kept from every thing but air, will yet grow very considerably in a few days. So the eggs of lizards are observed to increase in bulk, after they are produced, and in like manner the eggs or spawn of fishes grow and are nourished with the water. And hence, say some, it is that cooks, turnspit dogs, &c. though they eat but little, yet are usually fat. See FASTING. See also Dietetics,

Abstinence. ved, healthful and cheerful, on a very little food. Cassian assures us, that the common rate for 24 hours was 12 ounces of bread, and pure water: with such frugal fare St Anthony lived 105 years; James the Hermit, 104; Arsenius, tutor of the emperor Arcadius, 120; St Epiphanius, 115; Simeon the Stylite, 112; and Romauld, 120. Indeed, we can match these instances of longevity at home. Buchanan informs us, that one Laurence arrived at the great age of 140 by force of temperance and labour; and Spotswood mentions one Kentigern, afterwards called St Mongah or Mungo, who lived to 185 by the same means. Abstinence, however, is to be recommended only as it means a proper regimen; for in general it must have bad consequences when observed without a due regard to constitution, age, strength, &c. According to Dr Cheyne, most of the chronical diseases, the infirmities of old age, and the short lives of Englishmen, are owing to repletion; and may be either cured, prevented, or remedied by abstinence; but then the kinds of abstinence which ought to be observed, either in sickness or health, are to be deduced from the laws of diet and regimen.

* Phil.

Trans. N® 194.

Among the inferior animals, we see extraordinary instances of long abstinence. The serpent kind, in par ticular, bear abstinence to a wonderful degree. We have seen rattle-snakes which had lived many months without any food, yet still retained their vigour and fierceness. Dr Shaw speaks of a couple of cerastes (a sort of Egyptian serpents), which had been kept five years in a bottle close corked, without any sort of food, unless a small quantity of sand in which they coiled themselves up in the bottom of the vessel may be reckoned as such: yet when he saw them, they had newly cast their skins, and were as brisk and lively as if just taken. But it is natural for divers species to pass four, five, or six months every year, without either eating or drinking. Accordingly, the tortoise, bear, dormouse, serpent, &c. are observed regularly to retire, at those seasons, to their respective cells, and hide themselves, some in the caverns of rocks or ruins; others dig holes under ground; others get into woods, and lay themselves up in the clefts of trees; others bury themselves under water, &c. And these animals are found as flat and fleshy, after some months abstinence, as before. Sir G. Ent* weighed his tortoise several years successively, at its going to earth in October, and coming out again in March; and found, that of four pounds four ounces, it only used to lose about one ounce. deed we have instances of men passing several months as strictly abstinent as other creatures. In particular, the records of the Tower mention a Scotchman imprisoned for felony, and strictly watched in that fortress for six weeks, during which time he did not take the least sustenance and on this account he obtained his pardon. Numberless instances of extraordinary abstinence, particularly from morbid causes, are to be found in the different periodical Memoirs, Transactions, Ephemerides, &c. It is to be added, that, in most instances of extraordinary human abstinence related by naturalists, there were said to have been apparent marks of a texture of blood and humours, much like that of the animals above mensioned. Though it is Do improbable opinion, that the air itself may furnish something for nutrition, it is certain, there are sub

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In

SUPPLEMENT.

ABSTINENTS, or ABSTINENTES, a set of heretics that appeared in France and Spain about the end of the third century. They are supposed to have borrowed part of their opinions from the Gnostics and Manicheans, because they opposed marriage, condemned the use of flesh meat, and placed the Holy Ghost inthe class of created beings. We have, however, no certain account of their peculiar tenets.

ABSTRACT, in a general sense, any thing separated from something else.

ABSTRACT Idea, in Metaphysics, is a partial idea of a complex object, limited to one or more of the component parts or properties, laying aside or abstracting from the rest. Thus, in viewing an object with the eye, or recollecting it in the mind, we can easily abstract from some of its parts or properties, and attach ourselves to others we can attend to the redness of a cherry, without regard to its figure, taste, or consistence. Šee AB

STRACTION.

ABSTRACT Mathematics, otherwise called Pure Mathematics, is that which treats of magnitude or quantity, absolutely and generally considered, without restriction to any species of particular magnitude; such are Arithmetic and Geometry. In this sense, abstract mathematics is opposed to mixed mathematics; wherein simple and abstract properties, and the relations of quantities primitively considered in pure mathematics, are applied to sensible objects, and by that means be come intermixed with physical considerations: such are Hydrostatics, Optics, Navigation, &c.

ABSTRACT Numbers, are assemblages of units, considered in themselves, without denoting any particular and determinate things. Thus six is an abstract number, when not applied to any thing; but if we say 6 feet, 6 becomes a concrete number. See the article NUMBER.

ABSTRACT Terms, words that are used to express abstract ideas. Thus beauty, ugliness, whiteness, roundness, life, death, are abstract terms.

ABSTRACT, in Literature, a compendious view of any large work; shorter and more superficial than an abridgement.

ABSTRACTION, in general, the art of abstracting, or the state of being abstracted.

ABSTRACTION, in Metaphysics, the operation of the mind when occupied by abstract ideas. A large oak fixes our attention, and abstracts us from the shrubs that surround it. In the same manner, a beautiful woman in a crowd, abstracts our thoughts, and engrosses our attention solely to herself. These are examples of real abstraction: when these, or any others of a similar kind, are recalled to the mind after the objects themselves