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.] ABEAHKE UTAH, 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 Benin, 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 upwards of 50,000, and are composed of the natives of Egba, a 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 upon the town, when it was explained to him that the town was in alliance with Great Britain, and that there were great numbers of free negroes and several missionaries there. Nevertheless, he invaded their territory at the head of a large slave-hunting force, a great part consisting of Amazons, and met with a severe defeat under its walls, on March 3rd, 1851, which is said to have greatly crippled his power. The name 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, from Quotta to the westward of Abeahkeutah, have been introduced 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 solicitor, and was educated at Westminster School. He very early displayed great talent as a humourist. As early as 1825 eight of his dramatic productions, in prose and verse, but all of a burlesque character, were published in Duncombe's 'British Theatre;' in 1828-29 nine more appeared in Cum

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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.

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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

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