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 AUTOMATIC

COUPLINGS — AYEIRO

it is somewhat severe, but is mild in the Salzkammergut. The most populous and most important towns are Linz, the capital (58,788 inhabitants) and Steyr (17,592), both autonomous municipalities, Weis (12,187), Gmunden(7126), Isehl, and Hallstatt. The last two are important centres of the salt industry. The soil in the valleys and on the lower slopes of the hills is fertile, indeed 35‘08 of the whole area is arable. Woods occupy 34-02 {>er cent., while 4-93 per cent, is unproductive or consists of akes, ponds, and marshes. It has the largest proportion of meadows in all Austria, 18-54, 2'49 per cent, of lowland and Alpine pasturage, and 1’99 per cent, of gardens. Agriculture and cattle breeding are both in an advanced state ; relatively large quantities of the principal cereals are produced. Cattle breeding is equally advanced. In 1890 there were 553,074 head of horned cattle (the largest proportion of any Austrian province), 60,404 horses, 60,310 sheep, 31,592 goats, 247,902 pigs, and 38,125 beehives. Fish is artificially cultivated, and the wealth of game in the Salzkammergut (red deer, chamois, &c.) is a considerable resource of the province, as is also the important timber trade. Salt (a state monopoly) is the most valuable mineral. In 1897, Upper Austria produced 29-13 per cent, of the total Austrian product, its share being valued at £620,570. Other important products are lignite (£80,465), gypsum, and a variety of valuable stones and clays. The principal industries are the iron and metal manufactures, chiefly centred at Steyr, with its well-known small-arms factory. Next in importance are the machine, linen, cotton, and paper manufactures, the milling, brewing, and distilling industries and shipbuilding. The principal articles of export are salt, stone (including the granite pavements of Vienna), timber, live stock, wooden and iron wares, &c. In 1897 there were 864 kilometres of railway, 8499 kms. of roads, and 618 kms. of waterway, of which only 249 kms. is available for floating timber. There were 370 post and 153 telegraph offices, with 1887 kms. of line, and 5428 kms. of wire. Pop. in 1869, 731,579 ; in 1880, 759,620 ; in 1890, 785,831 ; which is equivalent to 169 "8 inhabitants per square mile, the greatest density of any of the Alpine provinces. It is almost exclusively German and Roman Catholic, the Czechs forming less than i per cent., the Protestants 2-2 per cent., and the Jews O'l per cent. Population (1900), 809,918. In 1896 the marriage-rate was 7-11, the birth-rate 32-21, or excluding stillbirths 30 "95, and the death-rate 23'31 per thousand. Of the births 18-71 per cent, were illegitimate, a declining ratio. The death - rate is also declining. The province sends 20 representatives to the Reichsrath, all German. Elementary education is practically on a level with that of Lower Austria, the proportion of illiterates (6-3 per cent.) being but TV per cent, less favourable. There are 534 elementary and 10 intermediate schools, 4 gymnasia, 2 real gymnasia, and 113 technical and special schools. See Pillwein. Geschichte, Geographic, uml Statistik des Erzherzogthums Oesterreich ob der Enns. Linz, 1827-39. Edlbachek. Landeskunde von Obcriisterreich. Linz, 1883. ^ ) Automatic Couplings. See Railways. Automobiles. See Motor Cars. Autun, chief town of arrondissement, department of Saone-et-Loire, France, 66 miles N.N.W. of Macon, on railway from Paris to Lyons. It is noted for its educational establishments. The Hotel de Ville, Palais de Justice, and theatre are modern buildings, and on the Promenade des Marhres is a bronze statue of Divitiacus (1893). The leading industry is now the extraction of mineral oil from bituminous schists; iron and bronze founding are also important. Population (1881), 10,695 • (1896), 11,873, (comm.) 13,512; (1901), 15,764. Auxerre, chief town of department Yonne, France, 105 miles S.E. of Paris, on railway from Laroche to Nevers.. It has a tribunal and chamber of commerce. The ancient fortifications are replaced by boulevards. On the bridge over the Yonne is a statue of Paul Bert (d. 1886). The principal manufactures now are heavy iron goods, machinery, tools, waggons, and carriages, and there are important ochre works. Population (1881), 13,752 • (1891), 14,553; (1896), 15,082; (1901), 18,901. Auxonne, a town in the arrondissement of Dijon, department of Cote d’Or, France, 19 miles E.S.E. of Dijon, on railway to Belfort. There is a tribunal of commerce. Ihe artillery school has been removed to Besangon.

29 Population (1881), 3002; (1891), 2938; (1896), 2873, (comm.) 4529; (1901), 7706. Ava, formerly the capital of Burma for nearly 400 years, from 1364 to 1733, with a succession of thirty kings, but now merely a subdivision of the Sagaing district in the northern division of Upper Burma. It formed a separate district from the date of its annexation by the British (1886) until 1889, and was then amalgamated with Sagaing on the opposite bank of the Irrawaddy. For picturesque beauty it is unequalled in Burma, but it is now more like a park than the site of an old capital. The township had a population of 39,477 in 1891, and it is likely to remain wiiat it was when the British first occupied it—a collection of cultivators’ hamlets scattered amidst the remains of former greatness. Some of the pagodas w-ere founded nearly a thousand years ago. Avebury, John Lubbock, 1st Baron (1834)> English banker, politician, and naturalist, wras born in London, 30th April 1834, being the son of Sir John William Lubbock, third baronet, himself a highly distinguished man of science. John Lubbock was sent to Eton in 1845; but three years later (w7hen only fourteen years of age) was taken into his father’s bank, and became a partner at twrenty-two. In 1865 he succeeded to the baronetcy. His love of science kept pace with his increasing participation in public affairs. He served on commissions upon coinage and other financial questions; and at the same time acted as president of the Entomological Society, and of the Anthropological Institute. Early in his career several banking reforms of great importance wrere due to his initiative, while such works, as Prehistoric (1865) and The Origin of Civilization (1870) were proceeding from his pen. In 1870, and again in 1874, he wras elected member of Parliament for Maidstone. He lost the seat at the election of 1880; but was at once elected member for London University, of w-hich he had been vice-chancellor since 1872. He held this seat until his elevation to the peerage in 1900. He carried numerous enactments in parliament, including the Bank Holidays Act (1871), and bills dealing with absconding debtors, shop hours regulations, public libraries, open spaces, and the preservation of ancient monuments. He wras elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers in 1879; in 1881 he was president of the British Association, and from 1881 to 1886 president of the Linnasan Society. He has received honorary degrees from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge (where he was Rede lecturer in 1886), Edinburgh, Dublin, and Wurzburg; and in 1878 was appointed a trustee of the British Museum. From 1888 to 1892 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce; from 1889 to 1890 vice-chairman, and from 1890 to 1892 chairman, of the London County Council. During the same period he served on royal commissions on education and on gold and silver. In 1890 he w-as appointed privy councillor; and was chairman of the committee of design on the new coinage in 1891. In January 1900 he was raised to the peerage, under the title of Baron Avebury. As a thoughtful popularizer of natural history and philosophy he has had few rivals in his day, as is evidenced by the number of editions issued of many of his wrritings, among w hich the most widely-read have been : The Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects (1873), British Wild Flowers (1875), Ants, Bees, and Wasps (1882), Flcnvers, Fruit, and Leaves (1886), The Pleasures of Life (1887), The Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence of Animals (1888), The Beauties of Nature (1892), The Uses of Life (1894). Aveiro, a seaport town and episcopal see of Portugal, capital of the district of Aveiro, on a lagoon of the same