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ABINGDON. factures of less extent. The city was first settled in 1828, and is governed by the charter of 1859. The mayor's term is one year, and the city council is composed of five members. Pop., 1890, 1321; 1900, 2022.

ABINGDON. A town and county seat of Washington Co., Va., 140 miles west by south of Lynchburg, on the Norfolk and Western Rail- road (Map: Virginia, C 5). It is the seat of the Martha Washington College (Methodist Episcopal, South), established in 1858, and the Stonewall Jackson Institute (Presbyterian), opened in 1869 (both for young ladies), and con- tains Abingdon Academy. The industries are cigar and wagon factories and planing mills. Abingdon was settled about 1730 and was incor- porated in 1778. Pop., 1890, 1674; 1900, 1306.

AB'INGTON. A manufacturing town in Plymouth Co., Mass., 20 miles southeast of Boston, on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (Map: Massachusetts, F 3). It was settled about 1680, and incorporated as a colonial town 1712. The town's affairs are administered by the town meetings, at which all questions affecting the interests of the town are discussed and settled. The town owns and operates its waterworks. Pop., 1890, 4260; 1900, 4489. Consult: B. Hobart, History of the Town of Abingdon ( Boston, 1866).

ABINGTON, (1737-1815). A fa- mous English actress. She was the daughter of Barton, a common soldier. As an errand-girl, she acquired French from a milliner. She be- came a flower-girl at the theatres, and made her first appearance at the Haymarket in London (1775) as Miranda, in The Busybody. She was married to Abington, her music teacher, from whom she soon separated. The headdress she wore was adopted by the women of fashion, and the "Abington cap" became famous. Returning to England in 1765, at the invitation of Garrick, she played at Drury Lane for eighteen years, and later at Covent Garden. She was the orig- inal representative of Lady Teazle in 1777, and played many Shakespearean parts. After the re- tirement of Mrs. Pritchard and Kitty Clive, she had no rivals on the London stage, and became the first comic actress of the period. Her last appearance was on April 12, 1799.

AB'IOGEN'ESIS. See.

ABIPONE, ii'h.'.-i)r>'nA. A South American Indian tribe of Guaycuran stock, which formerly wandered over the Gran Chaco region, west of the Paraguay River. from the headwaters of the Rio Grande in Bolivia southward to the Ver- mejo in Argentina. Their traditions pointed to a more northern origin. They obtained horses about the year 1640, and soon developed into bold riders and implacable foes of the Spaniards. They were of splendid physique. and lived en- tirely by hunting. The women tattooed, and the men practiced the couvade. Their weapons were the bow, the lance, and the shield. The Jesuits established missions among them, but owing to constant wars with the Spaniards and with other tribes, and also to the custom among the women of killing all but two children born to a family, the tribe, which about 1780 was estimated at 5000, dwindled rapidly and is now supposed to be entirely extinct.

ABKHASIA, ab-Kii's.*-a. A district of Asiatic Russia on the Black Sea, included in the

government of Kutais. It is separated by the lofty ridge of the Caucasus from Circassia. and is hounded on the southeast by Mingrelia (Map: Russia, F 6). It derives its name from the Abkhasians. The country is mountainous, with well-watered valleys, and has rich woods of oak, walnut trees, etc. Area, about 2800 square miles. The northern part has a mild and healthful cli- mate, while in the south it is hot and unhcalth- ful. Its population, numbering about 50,000, mainly Mingrelians and Abkhasians, is engaged in agriculture, cattle-raising, and trade in lum- ber. This country was subdued by the Emperor Justinian, who introduced the Christian religion. Subsequently Persia, Georgia, and Turkey ruled in succession, the latter suppressing Christianity and establishing Moslemism. In 1810, the Khan of Abkhasia embraced Christianity and swore al- legiance to Russia, reserving to himself and his heirs the right of governing the district. The chief town in this region is Suklunnkale. The people speak a Circassian dialect, and are phys- ically akin to that stock, although typically ruder and less graceful. Their folk-life is also more primitive. As a result of the Russian oc- cupation, a great part of the tribe emigrated into Turkish territory. See.

AB'LATIVE CASE. See.

ABLAUT, .'ibHout ; Ger. pron. iip'lout, or Vowel Gradation. The name given by Ger- man scholars, and in common use in English, to a change in the root vowel in different forms of the sam<' word. While ablaut appears in other Indo-European languages and in otlier parts of speech in the Teutcmic languages, it has become the essential feature in the strong conjugation of the verbs. (See Cox.ll'GATION.) .4 ?)/((«« is, there- fore, not, like umlaut, a specifically Teutonic change. tlKnigh its ai)plication to the verbal con- jugation is such. Through various causes ablaut has been obscured in modern English, but in Old English six classes or grades of ablaut can be ob- served. Ablaut appears also in connection with the reduplicating verbs. For a complete list of the strong verbs arranged according to the classes of ablaut, see any Old English (Anglo-Saxon) grammar. See.

AB'LEGATE (Lat. ab, away, from, off + legare, to send with a commission). A papal envoy or emissary, a special commissioner, deputed by the papal court at Rome to carry the hat and red biretta to a newly appointed cardinal. His official duties are completed when the latter has received the insignia of his office. The so-called apostolic ablegates are of higher rank than those termed pontifical.

ABLU'TION. See.

ABNAKI, abna'ke ("Easterners"). A con- federacy of Algonquian tribes, including the Pas- samaquoddies, Penobscots, Norridgewocks, and others, formerly occupying what is now Maine and southern New Brunswick. On the northeast their territory adjoined that of the Micmacs, while on the southwest it merged into that of the Penn;cooks. In consequence of King Philip's War (see ), they attached themselves to the French side and maintained unceasing hos- tility against the encroachment of the English, until the destruction of their principal town at Norridgewock and the killing of their mission- ary Rasle in 1724, after which the greater por- tion removed to Saint Francis. Canada, whither other refugees from the New England tribes had