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 ABDERA, an ancient seaport town on the south coast of Spain, between Malaca and New Carthage, in the district inhabited by the Bastuli. It was founded by the Carthaginians as a trading station, and after a period of decline became under the Romans one of the more important towns in the province of Hispania Baetica. It was situated on a hill above the modern (q.v.). Of its coins the most ancient bear the Phoenician inscription abdrt with the head of Heracles (Melkarth) and a tunny-fish; those of Tiberius (who seems to have made the place a colony) show the chief temple of the town with two tunny-fish erect in the form of columns. For inscriptions relating to the Roman municipality see C.I.L. ii. 267. ABDERA, a town on the coast of Thrace near the mouth of the Nestos, and almost opposite Thasos. Its mythical foundation was attributed to Heracles, its historical to a colony from Clazomenae in the 7th century But its prosperity dates from 544, when the majority of the people of Teos migrated to Abdera after the Ionian revolt to escape the Persian yoke (Herod. i. 168); the chief coin type, a gryphon, is identical with that of Teos; the coinage is noted for the beauty and variety of its reverse types. The town seems to have declined in importance after the middle of the 4th century. The air of Abdera was proverbial as causing stupidity; but among its citizens was the philosopher Democritus. The ruins of the town may still be seen on Cape Balastra; they cover seven small hills, and extend from an eastern to a western harbour; on the S.W. hills are the remains of the medieval settlement of Polystylon.

ABDICATION (Lat. abdicatio, disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time for which it is held. In Roman law, the term is especially applied to the disowning of a member of a family, as the disinheriting of a son, but the word is seldom used except in the sense of surrendering the supreme power in a state. Despotic sovereigns are at liberty to divest themselves of their powers at any time, but it is otherwise with a limited monarchy. The throne of Great Britain cannot be lawfully abdicated unless with the consent of the two Houses of Parliament. When James II., after throwing the great seal into the Thames, fled to France in 1688, he did not formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed in parliament whether he had forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The latter designation was agreed on, for in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, met in convention, it was resolved, in spite of James’s protest, “that King James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant.” The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. Among the most memorable abdications of antiquity may be mentioned that of Sulla the dictator, 79, and that of the Emperor Diocletian, 305. The following is a list of the more important abdications of later times:—

ABDOMEN (a Latin word, either from abdere, to hide, or from a form adipomen, from adeps, fat), the belly, the region of the body containing most of the digestive organs. (See for anatomical details the articles, and , Superficial and Artistic.)

.—The diseases affecting this region are dealt with generally in the article, and under their own names (e.g. ). The term “abdominal surgery” covers generally the operations which involve opening the abdominal cavity, and in modern times this field of work has been greatly extended. In this Encyclopaedia the surgery of each abdominal organ is dealt with, for the most part, in connexion with the anatomical description of that organ (see, , , &c.); but here the general principles of abdominal surgery may be discussed.

Exploratory Laparotomy.—In many cases of serious intra-abdominal disease it is impossible for the surgeon to say exactly what is wrong without making an incision and introducing his finger, or, if need be, his hand among the intestines. With due care this is not a perilous or serious procedure, and the great advantage appertaining to it is daily being more fully recognized. It was Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes, the American physiologist and poet, who remarked that one cannot say of what wood a table is made without lifting up the cloth; so also it is often impossible to say what is wrong inside the abdomen without making an opening into it. When an opening is made in such circumstances—provided only it is done soon enough—the successful treatment of the case often becomes a simple matter. An exploratory operation, therefore, should be promptly resorted to as a means of diagnosis, and not left as a last resource till the outlook is well-nigh hopeless.

It is probable that if the question were put to any experienced hospital surgeon if he had often had cause to regret having advised recourse to an exploratory operation on the abdomen, his answer would be in the negative, but that, on the other hand, he had not infrequently had cause to regret that he had not resorted to it, post-mortem examination having shown that if only he had insisted on an exploration being made, some band, some adhesion, some tumour, some abscess might have been satisfactorily dealt with, which, left unsuspected in the dark cavity, was accountable for the death. A physician by himself is helpless in these cases.

Much of the rapid advance which has of late been made in the results of abdominal surgery is due to the improved relationship which exists between the public and the surgical profession. In former days it was not infrequently said, “If a surgeon is called in he is sure to operate.” Not only have the