Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/53

ABDOMEN. body. The trunk of the human body is divided by the diaphragm into two cavities — the upper being the thorax or chest, and the lower the abdomen or belly. Both the cavity and the viscera it contains are included in the term abdomen. It contains the liver, pancreas, spleen, and kidneys, as well as the stomach, small and large intestine. The lower bowel, the bladder, and internal organs of generation lie in the lowest part of the cavity, which is called the pelvis. The abdomen is lined by a serous membrane, the peritoneum, which is folded over the viscera, allowing them a certain freedom of motion, but keeping them in their proper relations to each other. The abdomen is divided by two imaginary horizontal lines into three principal zones — the upper or epigastric, the middle or umbilical, and the lower or hypogastric. Those are again subdivided by two vertical lines — the side-divisions being called the hypochondriac, lumbar, and iliac regions respectively; the names epigastric and umbilical are then applied in a restricted sense to the middle divisions of the two upper zones, while the middle division of the lower is called the hypogastric region. The abdominal viscera are subject to many important acute and chronic affections, to which reference is made under their respective headings.

ABDOMEN.

. In entomology, the last of the three parts into which the body of an insect is divided. It is composed of a number of rings or segments, frequently nine, more or less distinct from each other. It contains a portion of the intestines and the sexual organs. In the perfect insect, its segments bear no legs or wings: but the hind legs of larvæ or caterpillars, which afterward disappear, are attached lo them. In many insects, its last segments bear appendages of various uses and forms, as pincers, stings, borers or ovipositors, etc. See and authorities there referred to.

ABDUCTION. The English common law treated the abduction or unlawful taking away of a wife, or of a child, or of a ward, as a tort or private wrong to the husband, the parent, and the guardian respectively, and gave to the injured party an action for damages. The term is generally used, however, to denote the criminal offense of forcibly taking away a woman for the purpose of marriage or of prostitution. As distinguished from kidnapping (q.v.) the crime has been defined by statute in England for more than five hundred years. It is also a matter of statutory definition and regulation in this country. The tendency of our legislation is to extend the scope of the term far beyond its common law limits. For example, many statutes declare that a person receiving or harboring a female under the age of sixteen years for the purpose of prostitution is guilty of abduction. Nor is his ignorance of the girl's age any defense to the abduction. He acts at his peril in so harboring or receiving her. Under early English statutes, abduction, as therein defined, was a felony without benefit of clergy (q.v.). In this country it is a crime, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years or by a heavy fine or by both. See the authorities referred to under. Consult: Wharton, Criminal Law (Philadelphia, 1896); Harris, Principles of the Criminal Law (London, 1899).

ABD-UL-AZIZ, iibd'yl-a-zez' (1830-76). Thir- ty-second sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He was the second son of Mahmud II., and succeeded his brother Abd-ul-Medjid, June 25, 1861. He placed the government in the hands of two ministers, Fuad and Ali, both of reforming tendencies, largely reduced his own civil list, and aroused hopes of an improvement in the condition of his empire. Hut he soon lapsed into reckless extravagance, and the projected reforms proved meaningless and ineffective. In 1867 he made a tour of Europe, visiting the Paris Exposition and several capitals, in which he spent a vast amount of money to little purpose. In 1868 he reorganized the council of state, and promised more reforms in response to the demand of the Powers; but the revolt in Crete took his attention, war with Greece was probable, and the state of the treasury precluded efficient reform. The Greek difficulty was arranged by a conference at Paris. Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, took advantage of the Sultan's financial embarrassment to obtain important concessions, among them a new law of succession for his house, and nearly all the prerogatives of an independent sovereign. The Sultan's affairs grew desperate. The friendship of France had been Turkey's main reliance during the Second Empire. When that fell in 1870, the rival Russian influence became powerful at Constantinople. When the revenues were so low as barely to pay interest on the public debt, a revolt began in Herzegovina (1875), and soon extended to Bosnia. A renewed and more imperative demand of the Powers for radical reforms was embodied in the "Andrássy note" (December 30, 1875), and the progressive constitutional party (Young Turkey) demanded the Sultan's abdication. He was deposed by the council of ministers May 30, 1876, and on June 4 was found dead in his apartments, whether by assassination or suicide is not known.

ABD-UL-HAMID (-ibd'ul-ha-med') I. (1725-89). Sultan of Turkey and son of Ahmed III.