[Aveyron`], a mountainous dep. in the S. of France, with excellent pastures, where the Roquefort cheese is produced.
[Avicen`na], an illustrious Arabian physician, surnamed the prince of physicians, a man of immense learning and extensive practice in his art; of authority in philosophy as well as in medicine, his philosophy being of the school of Aristotle with a mixture of Neoplatonism, his "Canon of Medicine," being the supreme in medical science for centuries (980-1037).
[Avie`nus, Rufus Festus], a geographer and Latin poet, or versifier rather, of the 4th century.
[Avign`on] (37), capital of the dep. of Vaucluse, France; an ancient city beautifully situated on the left bank of the Rhône, near the confluence of the Durance, of various fortune from its foundation by the Phocæans in 539 B.C.; was the seat of the Papacy from 1305 to 1377, purchased by Pope Clement VI. at that period, and belonged to the Papacy from that time till 1797, when it was appropriated to France; it contains a number of interesting buildings, and carries on a large trade in wine, oil, and fruits; grows and manufactures silk in large quantities.
[A`vila] (10), a town in Spain, in a province of the name, in S. of Old Castile, 3000 ft. above the sea-level, with a Gothic cathedral and a Moorish castle; birthplace of St. Theresa.
[Avila, Juan d'], a Spanish priest, surnamed the Apostle of Andalusia, for his zeal in planting the Gospel in its mountains; d. 1569.
[Avila y Zinuga], a soldier, diplomatist, and historian under Charles V.
[Avlo`na] (6), or Valona, a port of Albania, on an inlet of the Adriatic.
[Av`ola] (12), a seaport on the E. coast of Sicily, ruined by an earthquake in 1693, rebuilt since; place of export of the Hybla honey.