Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/50

 30 ABORTION ABRACADABRA here selected represent fairly the present state of the statutory law, and especially the more recent legislation on the topic. In a late case in Massachusetts the court was inclined to hold that an indictment could not be maintained there if the foetus had lost its vitality at the time of the commission of the act, so that it could never mature into a living child. In a similar case in Vermont it was held not essen- tial that the foetus should be alive when the attempt was made. Where the language is general, as for example, " with intent to pro- cure the miscarriage of any woman," it is im- material whether the woman was or was not pregnant at the time. The " administering " or "causing to be taken," usually mentioned in the statutes, does not require an actual de- livery by the hand of the defendant. Thus it has been held that one administered poison to another by mixing it in her coffee and putting it in her way. And these words have been held to be answered by proof that one gave the drug to the woman with directions how to use it, and she did use it, though not in the de- fendant's presence. In New Jersey, under a statute which provided that if any person mali- ciously or without lawful justification, with in- tent to cause the miscarriage of a pregnant woman, should advise or direct her to take any drug, it was held that the actual taking or swallowing of the drug by the woman was no element of the crime ; the defendant was guilty within the statute if only he gave the advice with the intent there declared. In this case the court added that the design of the statute was not to prevent the procuring of abortions so much as to guard the health and life of the mother against the consequences of such at- tempts. The word " malicious " in these stat- utes does not require proof of cruelty or wan- tonness or revenge. It is enough that there is no legal justification ; and there is no such justification in the consent of the woman, nor though the real motive was to screen one or both of the parties from public exposure and dis- grace. The patient in cases of abortion is not technically an accomplice in the offence so as to be disqualified from testifying; but as she is in almost all cases, by virtue of her consent, implicated in the moral wrong, this circum- stance would fairly affect her credibility. Where the statute simply requires, as in Mas- sachusetts, that the act shall have been done "unlawfully," the indictment need not charge that it was malicious and without lawful justi- fication ; and the word unlawfully precludes any possibility of inference that the act was done for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, or under any other circumstance which would afford a legal justification. The present statute of Ohio (1867) makes it a misdemeanor to print or publish advertisements of drugs for the exclusive use of women, or of any means for preventing conception or producing miscar- riage, or to keep any such articles for sale or gratuitous distribution. A similar statute was passed in New York in 1869, and in Pennsyl- vania in 1870. ABOIRIK, an Egyptian port about 12 in. N. E. of Alexandria. In the bay of Abonkir was fought, Aug. 1, 1798, the famous battle of the Nile or of Aboukir, between the French fleet sent out from Toulon under Brueys with Bonaparte and an army on board, and the English fleet sent in pursuit under Admiral Nelson. Though the French fought desperately, the engagement, which was begun at dusk, ended at daybreak in a great victory for the English. Only four French vessels escaped ; the French lost more than 5,000 men; tin- English killed and wounded were but 895. Nelson was slightly, Brueys mortally wounded. The story of the battle is filled with examples of individual bravery on both sides. At Abou- kir, on July 28, 1799, Bonaparte, with a com- paratively small force, almost annihilated the Turkish army under Mustapha Pasha. ABOIT, Edmond, a French author, born at Dieuze, Meurthe, Feb. 14, 1828. He was edu- cated at Paris, and in the French school :it Athens. His literary talents had already be- come noted when in 1855 he published La Grece contemporaine, which made him cele- brated both at home and abroad. He next produced in the Revue des Deux-Alonde* a novel entitled Tolla, which became the occa- sion of a controversy, in which he was accused ! of publishing private papers. After this he brought out novels and plays very rapidly, and ! contributed much to the press. His Hoi den ! montagnes (1856) increased his reputation as u witty, pungent writer. Though not generally ] successful as a playwright, he made a hit by his play entitled Ritette, ou les million* de la manmrde (afterward called Gaetand), in which sharp political and religious allusions abound. His most popular novels are Ger- inaine (1857) and Madelon (1863). He has also published Rome contemporaine (1863), Le Frogres (1864), V Assurance (1866), UA B C du tratailleur (1868), and Le Fellah (1870). As a contributor to the Gavloi* newspaper (1867-'70) he criticised the ministers of Napo- leon III., while he paid court to the emperor himself, who made liim an officer of the legion of honor in 1867, and in February, 1870, ap- pointed him member of the council of state. On the outbreak of the war in July, 1870, he accompanied MacMahon's army to Alsace, as I correspondent of the Soir newspaper; but after the battle of Worth he barely escaped falling into the hands of the Germans. He continues (1872) his connection with the Soir. His marriage in 1864 with Mile, de Guillen-ilk', of Roncherolles, near Rouen, made him affluent. ABRACADABRA, a magical word with the I ancients, supposed to possess some talismanic properties when inscribed and partially re- peated in a triangular form, so as to be read in different directions, upon a square piece of paper or linen, folded and worn as an amulet or variously used in incantations.