Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/377

AVEYRON. oats are grown; in the west grape culture is carried on. Coal is mined at Aubin and Milau, and slate and marble are quarried. Population, in 1890, 386,393; in 1901, 377,559. Capital, Rodez.

AVEYRON. A river in the south of France, rising near Séverac-le-Château and flowing west across the Department of Aveyron. It receives the Viaur, and enters the Tarn below Montauban, in the Department of Tarn-et-Garonne. Entire length, 150 miles; navigable for the last 30.

AVEZAC DE CASTERA MACAYA, a'v'-zak' de kas'tra' ma'ki'yfi', (1800-75). A French geographer. He was born at Bagnères de Bigorre, and studied law, but after the appearance of his Essais historiques sur le Bigorre (2 vols., Bagnères, 1823), devoted himself entirely to geography. He was secretary of the Geographical Society of Paris from 1833 to 1835, and afterwards became president of that body, being five times reëlected to the office. The following are his principal works: Etudes de géographie critique sur une partie de l'Afrique septentrionale (1836); Esquisse générale de l'Afrique (1837); Description et histoire de l'Afrique ancienne (1845); Les voyages d'Americ Vespuce (1860); Le livre de Fernand Colombe (1873).

AVEZZANA a'vet-sii'na, Giuseppe (1789- 1879). An Italian patriot and politician, born at Chieri, in Piedmont. He was an officer in the Piedmontese Army, and for participation in the rising of 1821, was condemned to death, but es- caped to Spain, where he fought for the Consti- tutional party. He was finally made prisoner by Die French and deported to Cayenne. He suc- ceeded in making his way to New Orleans and settled at Tampico, in Mexico, where he engaged in trade, and took part in the political strife of the times. He received from «anta Anna the com- mand in the three eastern States. Coming to the United States in 1834, he married, engaged in mercantile business with great success, but re- tiu-ncd to Italy at the outbreak of the Revolution, in 1848. He was minister of war of the short- lived Roman Republic, in 1849. After the taking of Rome he went to America. He joined Ciari- haldi in the Sicilian expedition, and was a radical deputy in tlic new Italian Parliament. At the time of his deatli he was the active leader of the Irredentists. He died at Rome, December 25, 1879.

AVEZZANO, ii'vet-sU'no. A city in Southern Italy, 67 miles east of Rome (Map: Italy, H 5). It has a castle belonging to the Barberini, built by the Colonnas, In the office of the estate of Prince Torlonia is a collection of objects found in the Lago di Fucino. the draining of which was attempted in ancient times, but accomplished only in 1875. When the Marsi complained of its fre- quent overflow, Cirsar elaborated ,1. plan for con- structing a channel, 3% miles long, through Mount Salviano to the Liris (or Garigliano), which, at Capistrello, is 80 feet below the bottom of the lake. At one point the channel was 300 feet underground. The plan was imperfectly executed luuler Claudius, and improvements were made under Trajan and Hadrian ; btit in the Middle Ages, Frederick II. tried in vain to re- open the blocked-up passage. Finally Prince Torlonia, after an expenditure of over $8,000,000,

succeeded where his imperial predeccssors had failed, and now a road 35 miles long runs around the 30,000 acres of reclaimed ground, which are cultivated in modern fashion. Population (commune), in 1881, 7380; in 1901, 9442.

A'VIA'NUS,. A Roman fabulist of the end of the Fourth Century A.D. He published a collection of forty-two Æsopic fables in rude elegiac verse. These were translated into English by Caxton, and published with his Subtyl Historyes and Fables of Esope (1483). There are editions by Lachmann (1845), and Ellis (1887). Consult L. Müller, De Phœdri et Aviani Fabulis (Leipzig, 1875).

A'VIARY. A suitable inclosure, within which living birds may be kept, usually out of doors, in a state of comparative freedom. An aviary is really only a large bird-cage, and is often seen in warm countries, especially in south- eastern Europe and Asia, and many exist in England. In the United States, however, the extremes of climate make an outdoor aviary im- practicable for most private owners, and very few exist. Indoor rooms devoted to birds are in effect simply large bird-cages, and the care of such an aviary is essentially like that of a bird- cage; but care should be taken not to put to- gether birds that are not inclined to dwell peace- ably with the others. The largest aviary known is that in the park of the Zoological Society of New York. It is a wire cage, supported by a steel-pipe frame, in the form of a Gothic arch, situated among trees, several of which are grow- ing within it; and it measures 153 feet long, 72 feet wide, and 55 feet high. It is the home of herons, game-birds, and similar large forms, to- gether with many smaller species in summer. Similar smaller aviaries exist for other classes of birds in this, and in the zoological gardens of Europe and India, and by the natural condi- tions and freedom for exercise they afford, have enabled many species to be kept in health and beauty, which otherwise would hardly survive continual captivity, and certainly would not breed there as they constantly do in these huge cages. See, and the books mentioned thereunder.

AVICEBRON, a-ve'tha-bron', (c. 1020-c. 1070). A Jewish poet and philosopher, born at Malaga and educated at Saragossa, where, in 1045, he published a treatise on the correction of customs. His Fons Vitæ, or Sapientiæ, written in Arabic, was known to the scholastics in the Latin translation of Gondisalvi, and affected the teaching of Erigena, Amaury de Bène, David de Dinan, Roger Bacon, and Giordano Bruno. Thomas Aquinas attacked him severely. Avicebron belonged to the Jewish school of Jehuda Halevi and Kalis la Sarde, and some of his poems are preserved in the Jewish liturgy. After an unhappy life of wandering, he died at Valencia, about 1070. Consult Guttmann, Die Philosophie des Salomon ibn Gabirol (Göttingen, 1889).

AV'ICEN'NA (980-c. 1037). A great Arabic physician and philosopher. He was born at Efsene, a village in the neighborhood of Bokhara, in the month of Safar, in 980, His father held office under the Samanid ruler, Nub ibn Manzur. Avicenna studied medicine and philosophy at Bokhara, and on account of a cure he received