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AACHEN. [AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.] ABACO. [BAHAMAS.] ABATEMENT. Pleas in abatement for misnomer have been abolished (3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 42), and an objection thus taken to the nonjoinder or misjoinder of parties is no longer of any avail in a civil action, the courts having now ample powers of amendment. (Common Law Procedure Act, 1852.) A similar observation applies to pleas in abatement to an indictment or information. (14 & 15 Vict. c. 100.)

ABBEY-HOLME. [CUMBERLAND.] ABBEYLEIX. [QUEEN'S COUNTY.] ABBOT'S BROMLEY. [STAFFORDSHIRE.] ABEAHKEUTAH, a large walled town, on the west bank of the river Agonee, which separates it from the kingdom of Dahomey, about 60 miles inland from Lagos, in the Bight of Berin, and about 150 miles from Abomey, the capital of Dahomey. It is in the petty kingdom of Egba, which is tributary to Yorribah, but the town itself, which has sprung up within the last forty years, is independent, and is governed by a chief who is not a king. The inhabitants amount to apwards of 50,000, and are composed of the natives of Egba, great number of liberated blacks, many of them from Sierra Leone, and several missionaries, who report that their labours have been highly successful. The King of Dahomey has more than once attacked the town in vain. In 1848 one of his Amazonian regiments was almost entirely destroyed by the Abeahkeutahns in one of these attempts. In June, 1850, when Captain F. E. Forbes and Mr. Becroft were at Abomey, Mr. Becroft was told by the King himself to warn the missionaries to withdraw, as he was going to make war apon the town, when it was explained to him that the town was in alliance with Great Britain, and that there were great ambers of free negroes and several missionaries there. Nevertheless, he invaded their territory at the head of a arge slave hunting force, a great part consisting of Amazons, and met with a severe defeat under its walls, on March 3rd, 1551, which is said to have greatly crippled his power. The zame of Abeahkeutah, which means under the stone,' has reference to a large natural cave within the town walls, wherein the market is held. A new species of silk from Houssa in the interior, aud a peculiar description of wool, fom Quotta to the westward of Abeahkeutah, have been troduced as articles of trade into England, and are likely to prove valuable.

A BECKET, GILBERT ABBOTT, born in Goldensquare, London, in the year 1810, was the son of a respectable olicitor, and was educated at Westminster School. He very arly displayed great talent as a humourist. As early as 1825 ht of his dramatic productions, in prose and verse, but all a burlesque character, were published in Duncombe's 'British Theatre;' in 1828-29 nine more appeared in Cum

ABO

berland's British Theatre;' and in 1837 four others were printed in Webster's Acting Drama;' most of which had attained some success on the stage. In 1843 he produced The Mirror, or Hall of Statues,' a musical burlesque. In connection with the drama, also, he published in 1844 Scenes from the Rejected Comedies by some of the Competitors for the Prize offered by Mr. Webster:' these 'Scenes' were a series of parodies upon living dramatists (including one of himself), which had appeared in Punch ' previous to their publication in a separate form. In 1846 he published The Quizziology of the British Drama.' In conjunction with his schoolfellow, Mr. Henry Mayhew, he started several comic periodical works, of which 'Figaro in London,' begun about 1830, was undoubtedly the precursor of 'Punch.' When that work had swallowed up its rivals, Mr. A'Becket became a constant contributor to it, and the adventures, the epistles, and anecdotes of Mr. Dunup were among the most laughable morceaux of that publication. He took a pride in the work, and it was his boast that, till the period of his death, no number appeared without something, however small, from his pen. His humour was without malice, and displayed a varied reading, with considerable knowledge of the law. In the midst of his ebullitions of fancy he had not neglected the more serious studies of his profession. He was trained as a lawyer; and in March 1846 his reputation induced Mr. Charles Buller to intrust to him the investigation of the iniquities practised in the Andover Union workhouse. This he conducted in a satisfactory manner, and in his report he displayed a clear and solid judgment in sober and wellchosen language. Some leaders in The Times' on the same subject have been also attributed to him. He had previously been an occasional contributor to that journal. His conduct of the Andover inquiry led to his appointment in 1849 as magistrate of the police-court of Greenwich and Woolwich, whence he was removed in 1850 to that of Southwark-positions which he held in an irreproachable manner. Besides an edition of The Small Debts Act, with Annotations and Explanations,' published in 1845, he produced the 'Comic Blackstone,' which was published in 1844-46; a Comic History of England,' published in monthly parts, forming a volume completed in 1848; and a ' Comic History of Rome,' also in monthly parts, completed in 1852. He likewise, in 1845, edited George Cruikshank's Table Book.' After a very short illness he died at Boulogne, on the 28th of April 1856.

ABERAVON. [GLAMORGANSHIRE.]
ABERAYRON. [CARDIGANSHIRE.]
ABERDARE. [GLAMORGANSHIRE.
ABERNETHY. [PERTHSHIRE.]

ABORTION, a term used in Botany and Horticulture. In Botany, Abortion is employed to express the absence of an organ in relation to an ideal type. Thus the flowers of B

Scrophulariacea and Lamiaceae have their sepals and petals arranged with the number five. According to a very general law the stamens equal in number the petals and sepals, but in this case they do not. In the majority of instances the stamens are but four: hence it is said that one stamen is aborted, or there is an abortion of one stamen. The want of harmony between the parts of the flower generally is thus spoken of. In other instances, where the ovules are numerous and the seeds only one, two, or three, the remaining ovules are aborted.

In Horticulture, the premature development of the fruit, or any defect in it, is called Abortion.

ABRAMIS. [BREAM.]

ABRAXAS, a genus of Nocturnal Lepidoptera, to which belongs the common Magpie Moth, A. grossulariata. The caterpillar of this moth attacks the leaves of gooseberry and currant bushes at the beginning of the summer. It is of a yellowish-white colour, with an orange stripe on each side, and covered with black spots. The chrysalis is black, relieved at its pointed end with orange circles. The expanded forewings of the perfect insect measure about one inch and a half across. The wings are of a yellowish-white colour, variously spotted with black. The fore-wings have a band of pale orange. The body is orange, spotted with black. The eggs are deposited on currant or gooseberry leaves in July or August, and the caterpillars are hatched in September. To get rid of the attacks of these creatures, they may be picked off, or dusted with the powder of white hellebore, or the leaves of the plants attacked may be burned.

ABROMA (from a and Bpua, not fit for food,' in opposition to Theobroma, 'food for gods'), a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Byttneriacea. The species consist of small trees, with hairy lobed leaves and extra-axillary or terminal few-flowered peduncles at the tops of the branches. Abroma augusta is a handsome tree, with drooping purple flowers, seated on peduncles opposite the leaves. It is a native of the East Indies. The fibrous tissue of the bark of this plant is manufactured into cordage.

ABRUS (from ȧßpòs, soft), a genus of plants belonging to the papilionaceous division of the order Leguminosa. The calyx is bluntly 4-lobed, with the upper lobe broadest. The legume is oblong, compressed, and 4-6-seeded. There is but one species, A. precatorius, which is a delicate twining shrub, with abruptly pinnate leaves, bearing many pairs of leaflets. It is a native of the East Indies, but is also found in the tropical parts of Africa and America, where perhaps it has been introduced. The seeds of the commoner variety are red, with a black spot, whilst other varieties produce various coloured seeds. These seeds are in much request as ornaments amongst the inhabitants of the countries where they grow. They are strung as beads, with shells, and other hard seeds. They are brought to Europe from Guinea and the East and West Indies. They are used frequently as beads for rosaries; hence the name precatorius given to this species. The leaves and roots of this plant secrete the sweet substance which characterises the liquorice plant (Glycyrhiza glabra). In the West Indies it is called Wild Liquorice, and used for the same purposes as the common liquorice. The seeds have been accused of possessing narcotic properties, but this is an When swallowed they are very indigestible. ABSINTHINE. [CHEMISTRY, S. 2.] ABUTILON (ȧBúriλov, the Greek for mulberry-tree, which the species of this genus resemble), a genus of handsome plants, belonging to the natnral order Malvacea. The species of this genus, amounting to about 80, have been removed from Sida. They have a naked five-cleft calyx, with a multifid style, capsular one-celled carpels, 5-30 in a whorl. Several of the species are cultivated in this country. A. striatum blossoms freely nearly all the year round, when turned out under a wall in Hampshire. A. vitifolium, A. venosum, A. rufinerve, and A. pœoniflorum, are also tolerably hardy species. The plant known as Bencão de Deos, in the province of Rio Janeiro, in Brazil, is the A. esculentum. It has large purple solitary axillary flowers, which are dressed and eaten with their viands by the inhabitants of Rio. In cultivation the species require a light rich loam and peatsoil, and should be propagated by striking cuttings in sand in a close frame or under a glass in summer.

error.

ACCIPITER. [FALCONIDE.]

ACCRINGTON, Lancashire, a manufacturing town of recent growth, in the parish of Whalley and higher division of Blackburn hundred, is situated in a deep valley surrounded by hills on the banks of the Hindburn, or Accrington brook,

in 53° 45' N. lat., 2° 22′ W. long., distant 19 miles N. from Manchester, 207 miles N.W. by N. from London by road, and 210 miles by the North Western and East Lancashire Railways. The population of the town in 1851 was 7481. The livings are perpetual curacies in the archdeaconry and diocese of Manchester.

Accrington possesses two churches of the Establishment; one, the parochial chapel, is a plain building; the other, Christ Church, is a spacious gothic edifice erected in 1838, at an expense of about 80007. The Wesleyan Methodists, Independents, Baptists, Roman Catholics, and Swedenbor gians have places of worship. There are national schools, schools attached to some of the dissenting chapels, a subscription library, two news-rooms, and a savings bank. The town is paved, lighted with gas, and well supplied with water. The general aspect of the town is good, and the inhabitants claim for it the distinction of being the cleanest town in Lancashire. It requires, however, many sanitary improvements, especially in the smaller streets and lanes. The drainage is very defective. Accrington is considered to be the centre of the cotton-printing business. There are two large print works, employing upwards of 1000 hands, 10 cotton factories, employing about 1500 persons, and extensive bleaching works. The neighbouring coal-mines employ many of the inhabitants.

ACERAS, a genus of Orchidaceous Plants, of which one species, the A. anthropophora, is found growing in Great Britain. It is a small plant, from 8 to 12 inches in height. It has a long lax spike of greenish-yellow flowers, the parts of which are so arranged as to give them the appearance of the small figure of a man: hence this plant has been called the Man-Orchis.

ACETAL. [CHEMISTRY, S. 1.]
ACETONE. [CHEMISTRY, S. 1.]
ACETONITRYLE. [CHEMISTRY,
S. 2.]
ACETYLE. [CHEMISTRY, S. 2.]

ACHILL, an island off the west coast of the barony of Burrishoole in the county of Mayo, in Ireland. With the adjoining peninsula of Corraun Achill it constitutes the parish of Achill, and one electoral division of the Poor-Law Union of Newport. It is separated from the mainland by a narrow arm of the sea, called Achill Sound, connecting Clew Bay with Blacksod Harbour. The length from Achill Beg island at the extremity of the Sound, on the south, to Achill Head, at the Atlantic extremity of the island on the west, is 15 miles; breadth from Achill Beg on the south to Ridge Point in Blacksod Bay on the north, 12 miles. It lies between 53° 51' and 54° 5' N. lat., and 9° 55′ and 10° 15' W. long. The area is 35,283 acres. The population of Achill Island in 1841 was about 5000; in 1851 about 4000. The island, the name of which signifies ' Eagle,' is in form nearly a right-angled triangle, of which one side extends from south to north, facing the mainland, from Achill Beg to Ridge Point; another from east to west, from Ridge Point to Achill Head, constitutes the southern boundary of Blacksod Harbour; and the third side, forming a re-entrant irregular coast-line of about 35 miles, and having the Bay of Tramore about midway, is washed by the Atlantic. The surface, which is excessively wild, barren, and boggy, rises towards the north and west into mountains of 2000 feet and upwards; and at one point near the western extremity of the island, Tonacroghaun, the cliff towards Blacksod Bay descends precipitously from the highest point of the island, forming a shelving face of rock, of the extraordinary height of 2208 feet. Achill Head, at the extreme west, consists of a narrow ridge of rock, of about a mile in length, and from 300 to 400 feet in height, the summit of which is in some places but a few yards in width. The coast on the south-western side is also very precipitous: the cliff at Dooega Head, which forms the eastern boundary of Tramore Bay, rises 818 feet over the Atlantic, and is nearly perpendicular. The geological structure of the island is simple; the whole being a mass of mica slate.

Of the entire surface of Achill Island and Corraun Achill, comprising an area of 51,523 acres, and inhabited in 1841, by a population of 6392 persons, there were only 554 acres under cultivation in 1848, and in 1851 the population of the parish had fallen to 4950. The hamlets consist of the most wretched hovels huddled together without the least regularity. In the district between Tonacroghaun and Achill Head, at Boley, some of the huts still inhabited are built of drystone in the beehive form. There are three considerable villages; one at Keem, on the south-west, where there is a good boat