Auckland, William Eden, Lord, an English statesman, born 1744; educated at Eton and Oxford, called to the bar 1768, Under-Secretary of State 1772, and in 1776 a lord of the Board of Trade. In 1778 he was nominated in conjunction with Lord Howe and others to act as mediator between Britain and the insurgent American colonies. He was afterwards Secretary of State for Ireland, Ambassador Extraordinary to France, Ambassador Extraordinary to the Netherlands, &c. He was raised to the peerage in 1788, and died in 1814.
Auckland Islands, a group of islands about 180 miles S. of New Zealand, discovered in 1806, and belonging to Britain. They are of volcanic origin and fertile; and the largest, which is 30 miles by 15, has two good harbours. There are no settled inhabitants.
Auction is a public sale to the party offering the best price where the buyers bid against each other, or to the bidder who first accepts the terms offered by the vendor where he sells by reducing his terms until someone accepts them. The latter form is known as a Dutch Auction. A sale by auction must be conducted in the most open and public manner possible; and there must be no collusion on the part of the buyers. Puffing, or mock bidding, to raise the value by apparent competition, is illegal.
Auctioneer´, a person who conducts sales by auction. It is his duty to state the conditions of sale, to declare the respective biddings, and to terminate the sale by knocking down the thing sold to the highest bidder. In Britain an auctioneer must have a licence (for which he pays £10), renewable annually. Verbal declarations by an auctioneer are not suffered to control the printed conditions of sale. The Auctioneers' Institute of the United Kingdom was founded in 1886.
Au´cuba, a genus of plants, ord. Cornaceæ, one species of which, A. japoníca, a laurel-like shrub with spotted leaves, a native of Japan and China, is now common in ornamental grounds in Europe. The flowers are diœcious and inconspicuous. For a long time only the female plant, introduced into Britain from Japan in 1783, was cultivated, but in 1850 the male was introduced, and the fruit, which consists of beautiful coral-red berries, is now frequently developed, and adds greatly to the attractiveness of the plant. A. himalaica, also brought to Europe, is less hardy.
Aude (ōd), a maritime department in the S. of France; area 2448 sq. miles, mainly covered by hills belonging to the Pyrenees or the Cevennes, and traversed W. to E. by a valley drained by the Aude. The loftier districts are bleak and unproductive; the others tolerably fertile, yielding good crops of grain. The wines, especially the white wines, are famous; olives and other fruits are also cultivated. The manufactures are varied; the trade is facilitated by the Canal du Midi. Carcassonne is the capital; other towns are Narbonne and Castelnaudary. Pop. 286,552. The River Aude rises in the Eastern Pyrenees, and, flowing nearly parallel to the Canal du Midi, falls into the Mediterranean after a course of 130 miles.
Audebert (ōd-bār), Jean Baptiste, French engraver and naturalist, born in 1759, died in 1800; published Histoire Naturelle des Singes, des Makis, et des Galéopithèques; Histoire des Colibris, &c.; and began Histoire des Grimpereaux et des Oiseaux de Paradis, finished by Desray—all finely-illustrated works.
Au´denshaw, a town of England, in Lancashire, 4 miles E. of Manchester, with cotton-mills, engineering-works, &c. Pop. (1921), 7878.
Audiometer, an instrument for the measurement of hearing, invented by Professor D. E. Hughes, of London, in 1879.
Au´diphone, an acoustic instrument by means of which deaf persons are enabled to hear. It consists essentially of a fan-shaped plate of hardened caoutchouc, which is bent to a greater or less degree by strings, and is very sensitive to sound-waves. When used, the up edge is pressed against the upper front teeth, with the convexity outward, and the sounds being collected are conveyed from the teeth to the auditory nerve without passing through the external ear.