Aby′dos, 1, an ancient city of Asia Minor, on the Hellespont, at the narrowest part of the strait, opposite Sestos. Leander, say ancient writers, swam nightly from Abydos to Sestos to see his loved Hero—a feat in swimming accomplished also by Lord Byron.—2, an ancient city of Upper Egypt (Egyptian Abotu), about 6 miles west of the Nile, now represented only by ruins of temples, tombs, &c. It was celebrated as the burial-place of the god Osiris, and its oldest temple was dedicated to him. Here, in 1818, was discovered the famous Abydos Tablet, now in the British Museum, and containing a list of the predecessors of Rameses the Great, which was supplemented by the discovery of a similar historical tablet in 1864. The tomb of Osiris was discovered in 1898 by Amélinau. Cf. Flinders Petrie, The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties (2 vols.), London, 1900-9.
Abyssin′ia (Ar. Habesha), a country of Eastern Africa, which, with dependencies, may be said to extend from lat. 5° to 15° N. and long. 35° to 42° E., having the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan on the W., British E. Africa on the S., and on the S.E. and E. Somali-land and Eritrea (Italian Red Sea coast); area, 350,000 sq. miles. Pop. over 8,000,000. The country is now divided into 9 provinces, the principal being Harrar, Tigré, Amhara or Gondar. Each province is governed by a ras, or prince, but Ras Michael, the governor of Wollo and father of the deposed negus, Lij Yasu, was crowned king on 1st June, 1914. Abyssinia proper is an elevated region, with a general slope to the north-west. The more marked physical features are a vast series of tablelands, of various and often of great elevations, and numerous masses or ranges of high and rugged mountains, dispersed over the surface in apparently the wildest confusion. Along the deep and tremendous ravines that divide the plateaux rush innumerable streams, which impart extraordinary fertility to the plains and valleys below. The mountains in various parts of the country rise to 12,000 and 13,000 feet, while some of the peaks are over 15,000 feet (Ras Dashan being 15,160), and are always covered with snow. The principal rivers belong to the Nile basin, the chief being the impetuous Tacazzé ('the Terrible') in the north, and the Abai in the south, the latter being really the upper portion of the Blue Nile. The principal lake is Lake Tzana or Dembea (from which issues the Abai), upwards of 6000 feet above the sea, having a length of about 45 and a breadth of 35 miles. Round this lake lies a fertile plain, deservedly called the granary of the country.—According to elevation there are several zones
of vegetation. Within the lowest belt, which reaches an elevation of 4800 feet, cotton, wild indigo, acacias, ebony, baobabs, sugar-canes, coffee trees, date palms, &c., flourish, while the larger animals are lions, panthers, elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, jackals, hyenas, bears, numerous antelopes, monkeys, and crocodiles. The middle zone, rising to 9000 feet, produces the grains, grasses, and fruits of southern Europe, the orange, vine, peach, apricot, the bamboo, sycamore tree, &c. The principal grains are millet, barley, wheat, maize, and teff, the latter a small seed, a favourite bread-stuff of the Abyssinians. Two, and in some places three, crops are obtained in one year. All the domestic animals of Europe, except swine, are known. There is a variety of ox with immense horns. The highest zone, reaching to 14,000 feet, has but little wood, and generally scanty vegetation, the hardier corn-plants only being grown; but oxen, goats, and long-woolled sheep find abundant pasture.—The climate is as various as the surface, but as a whole is temperate and agreeable; in some of the valleys the heat is often excessive, while on the mountains the weather is cold. In certain of the lower districts malaria prevails.—The chief mineral products are sulphur, copper, coal, and salt, the last-named serving to some extent as money. Iron is very abundant and is manufactured into knives, hatchets, and spears. There has been a great intermixture of races in Abyssinia. Those who may be considered the Abyssinians proper seem to have a blood-relationship with the Bedouin Arabs. Their complexion varies from very dark through different shades of brown and copper to olive, and they are usually well built. Other races are the black Gallas from the south; the Falashas, who claim descent from Abraham and retain many Jewish characteristics; the Agows, Gongas, &c. The great majority of the people profess Christianity, belonging, like the Copts, to the sect of the Monophysites. The head of the church is called the Abuna ('our father'), and is consecrated by the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria. Geez or Ethiopian is the language of their sacred books: it has long ago ceased to be spoken. The chief spoken language is the Amharic; in it some books have been published. Mohammedanism appears to be gaining ground in Abyssinia. A corrupt form of Judaism is professed by the Falashas.—The bulk of the people are devoted to agriculture and cattle-breeding. The trade and manufactures are of small importance. A good deal of common cotton cloth and some finer woven fabrics are produced. Leather is prepared to some extent, silver filagree-work is produced, and there are manufactures of common articles of iron and brass, pottery, &c. Trade is carried on through Zeila and Djibouti (French Ethiopian Railway was completed in 1915) on the Gulf of Aden, and Massowa on the Red Sea (Italian), exports being hides, coffee, wax, gum, ivory, &c., imports textile fabrics, &c. The Abyssinians were converted to Christianity in the fourth century, by some missionaries from Alexandria. In the sixth century the power of the sovereigns of their kingdom, which was generally known as Ethiopia, had attained its height; but before another had expired the Arabs had invaded the country, and obtained a footing. For several centuries subsequently the kingdom continued in a distracted state, being now torn by internal commotions and now invaded by external enemies (Mahommedans and Gallas). To protect himself from the latter the Emperor of Abyssinia applied, about the middle of the sixteenth century, to the King of Portugal for assistance, promising, at the same time, implicit submission to the Pope. The solicited aid was sent, and the empire saved. The Roman Catholic priests endeavoured to induce the emperor and his family to renounce the tenets and rites of the Coptic Church, and to adopt those of Rome. This attempt, however, was resisted by the ecclesiastics and the people, and ended, after a long struggle, in the expulsion of the Catholic priests about 1630. The kingdom gradually fell into a state of anarchy, and was broken up into several independent States. An attempt to revive the power of the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia was made by King Theodore about the middle of the last century. He introduced European artisans, and went to work wisely in many ways, but his cruelty and tyranny counteracted his politic measures. In consequence of a slight, real or fancied, which he had received at the hands of the British Government, he threw Consul Cameron and a number of other British subjects into prison, in 1863, and refused to give them up. To effect their release an army of nearly 12,000 men, under Sir Robert (afterwards Lord) Napier, was dispatched from Bombay in 1867. The force landed at Zoulla on the Red Sea, and marching up the country came within sight of the hill-fortress of Magdala in April, 1868. After being defeated in a battle, Theodore delivered up the captives and shut himself up in Magdala, which was taken by storm on the 13th April, Theodore being found among the slain. After the withdrawal of the British, fighting immediately began among the chiefs of the different provinces, but at last the country was divided between Kasa, who secured the northern and larger portion (Tigré and Amhara) and assumed the name of King Johannes, and Menelek, who gained possession of Shoa. Latterly Johannes made himself supreme and in 1881 assumed the title of emperor (negus
negusti—king of kings), having under him the Kings of Shoa and Gojam. Debra Tabor, about 30 miles east of Lake Dembea, was his chief residence. During the troubles in Abyssinia the Egyptians annexed Massowa and the region adjacent, Abyssinia being thus shut out from the sea. Afterwards the Italians gained and still hold Massowa and the Red Sea littoral (Eritrea). Johannes fell at Metemmeh in 1889, whilst fighting against the Mahdists, and was succeeded by Menelek II. In 1916 Lij Yasu, who succeeded Menelek II in 1913, was deposed and Waizeru Zauditu (born 1876) became empress.—Bibliography: R. P. Skinner, Abyssinia of Today. A. B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia.
Aca′cia, a genus of plants, nat. ord. Leguminosæ, sub-order Mimoseæ, consisting of trees or shrubs with compound pinnate leaves and small leaflets, growing in Africa, Arabia, the East Indies, Australia, &c. The flowers, usually small, are arranged in spikes or globular heads at the axils of the leaves near the extremity of the branches. The corolla is bell- or funnel-shaped; stamens are numerous; the fruit is a dry unjointed pod. Several of the species yield gum-arabic and other gums; some having astringent barks and pods, used in tanning. A. Catechu, an Indian species, yields the valuable astringent called catechu; A. dealbāta, the wattle tree of Australia, from 15 to 30 feet in height, is the most beautiful and useful of the species found there. Its bark contains a large percentage of tannin, and is exported in large quantities. Some species yield valuable timber; some are cultivated for the beauty of their flowers.
Acad′emy, an association for the promotion of literature, science, or art; established sometimes by Government, sometimes by the voluntary union of private individuals. The name Academy was first applied to the philosophical school of Plato, from the place where he used to teach, a grove or garden at Athens which was said to have belonged originally to the hero Acadēmus. The home of Academies as associations of learned men (not institutes for instruction), was Hellenized Egypt and afterwards Italy of the Renaissance. The flourishing Academies at Florence, Naples, and Rome became the models of academies in other countries. Academies devote themselves either to the cultivation of science generally or to the promotion of a particular branch of study, as antiquities, language, and the fine arts. The most celebrated institutions bearing the name of academies, and designed for the encouragement of science, antiquities, and language respectively, are the French Académie des Sciences (founded by Colbert in 1666), Académie des Inscriptions (founded by Colbert in 1663), and Académie Française (founded by Richelieu in 1635), all of which are now merged in the National Institute. The most celebrated of the academies instituted for the improvement of language is the Italian Accademia della Crusca, or Furfuratorum (now the Florentine Academy), formed in 1582, and chiefly celebrated for the compilation of an excellent dictionary of the Italian language (Vocabulario della Crusca, Venice, 1612), and for the publication of several carefully-prepared editions of ancient Italian poets. The (Imperial) Academy of Science of St. Petersburg was projected by Peter the Great and established by Catherine I in 1725. The Academy of Science in Berlin was founded by Frederick I in 1700. It was opened in 1711 and had Leibnitz as its first president. In Britain the name of academy, in the more dignified sense of the term, is confined almost exclusively to certain institutions for the promotion of the fine arts, such as the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy. The Royal Academy of Arts (usually called simply the Royal Academy) was founded in London in 1768, "for the purpose of cultivating and improving the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture". The number of academicians is now limited to forty-two, among whom are two engravers. There are also thirty associates, from whom the academicians are elected. Of the associates five are engravers. Any person who is possessed of
sufficient proficiency may be admitted as a student and receive instruction gratis, and prizes are annually bestowed on meritorious students. The annual exhibition of the Academy is open to all artists whose works show sufficient merit. The Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1838. It consists of thirty academicians and twenty associates. The Royal Hibernian Academy at Dublin was incorporated in 1823 and reorganized in 1861. It consists of thirty members and ten associates. A British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical, and Philological Studies was incorporated in 1902. (See British Academy.) In the United States, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Boston was founded in 1780, and since then various other societies of similar character and name have been instituted, as the New York Academy of Sciences, the Chicago Academy of Science, &c.
Aca′dia (Fr. Acadie), the name formerly given to Nova Scotia. It received its first colonists from France in 1604, being then a possession of that country, but it passed to Britain, by the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713. In 1756, 18,000 of the French inhabitants were forcibly removed from their homes on account of their hostility to the British, an incident on which is based Longfellow's Evangeline. Many Acadians afterwards wandered back to their old homes, and their descendants are at present supposed to number 270,000, 100,000 of them living in French Canada.
Acale′pha (Gr. akalēphē, a nettle, from their stinging properties), a term formerly used to denote the Medusæ, or jelly-fishes, and allied species.