Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 Part 10

See G. F. Stout, _a.n.a.l. Psych_, i. 258 foll.; Win. James, _Princ. of Psych._ i. chap. 5; also the articles PSYCHOLOGY, SUGGESTION, &c.

_Sensory Automatism_ is the term given by students of psychical research to a centrally initiated hallucination. Such hallucinations are commonly provoked by crystal-gazing (_q.v._), but auditory hallucinations may be caused by the use of a sh.e.l.l (sh.e.l.l-hearing), and the other senses are occasionally affected.

_Motor Automatism_, on the other hand, is a non-reflex movement of a voluntary muscle, executed in the waking state but not controlled by the ordinary waking consciousness. Phenomena of this kind play a large part in primitive ceremonies of divination (_q.v._) and in our own day furnish much of the material of Psychical Research. At the lowest level we have vague movements of large groups of muscles, as in "bier-divination," where the murderer or his residence is inferred from the actions of the bearers; of a similar character but combined with more specialized action are many kinds of witch seeking. These more specialized actions are most typically seen in the Divining Rod (_q.v._; see also TABLE-TURNING), which indicates the presence of water and is used among the uncivilized to trace criminals. At a higher stage still we have the delicate movements necessary for Automatic Writing (_q.v._) or Drawing. A parallel case to Automatic Writing is the action of the speech centres, resulting in the production of all kinds of utterances from trance speeches in the ordinary language of the speaker to mere unintelligible babblings. An interesting form of speech automatism is known as Glossolalia; in the typical case of Helene Smith, Th. Flournoy has shown that these utterances may reach a higher plane and form a real language, which is, however, based on one already known to the speaker.

See _Man_ (1904), No. 68; _Folklore_, xiii. 134; Myers in _Proc. S.P.R._ ix. 26, xii. 277, xv. 403; Flournoy, _Des Indes a la planete Mars_ and in _Arch. de Psychologie_; Myers, _Human Personality_.

(N. W. T.)

AUTOMATON (from [Greek: autos], self, and [Greek: mao], to seize), a self-moving machine, or one in which the principle of motion is contained within the mechanism itself. According to this description, clocks, watches and all machines of a similar kind, are automata, but the word is generally applied to contrivances which simulate for a time the motions of animal life. If the human figure and actions be represented, the automaton has sometimes been called specially an _androides_. We have very early notices of the construction of automata, _e.g._ the tripods of Vulcan, and the moving figures of Daedalus. In 400 B.C., Archytas of Tarentum is said to have made a wooden pigeon that could fly, and during the middle ages numerous instances of the construction of automata are recorded.

Regiomonta.n.u.s is said to have made of iron a fly, which would flutter round the room and return to his hand, and also an eagle, which flew before the emperor Maximilian when he was entering Nuremberg. Roger Bacon is said to have forged a brazen head which spoke, and Albertus Magnus to have had an androides, which acted as doorkeeper, and was broken to pieces by Aquinas.

Of these, as of some later instances, _e.g._ the figure constructed by Descartes and the automata exhibited by Dr Camus, not much is accurately known. But in the 18th century, Jacques de Vaucanson, the celebrated mechanician, exhibited three admirable figures,--the flute-player, the tambourine-player, and the duck, which was capable of eating, drinking, and imitating exactly the natural voice of that fowl. The means by which these results had been produced were clearly seen, and a great impulse was given to the construction of similar figures. Knauss exhibited at Vienna an automaton which wrote; a father and son named Droz constructed several ingenious mechanical figures which wrote and played music; Frederick Kaufmann and Leonard Maelzel made automatic trumpeters who could play several marches. The Swiss have always been celebrated for their mechanical ingenuity, and they construct most of the curious toys, such as flying and singing birds, which are frequently met with in industrial exhibitions. The greatest difficulty has generally been experienced in devising any mechanism which shall successfully simulate the human voice (not to be compared with the gramophone, which reproduces mechanically a real voice).

No attempt has been thoroughly successful, though many have been made. A figure exhibited by Fabermann of Vienna remains the best. Kempelen's famous chess-player for many years astonished and puzzled Europe. This figure, however, was no true automaton, although the mechanical contrivances for concealing the real performer and giving effect to his desired movements were exceedingly ingenious. J. N. Maskelyne, in more recent times (1875-1880), has been prominent in exhibiting his automata, Psycho (who played cards) and Zoe (who drew pictures), at the Egyptian Hall, London, but the secret of these contrivances was well kept. (See CONJURING.)

AUTOMORPHISM (from Gr. [Greek: autos], self, and [Greek: morphe], form), the conception and interpretation of other people's habits and ideas on the a.n.a.logy of one's own.

AUTONOMY (Gr. [Greek: autos], self, and [Greek: nomos], law), in general, freedom from external restraint, self-government. The term is usually coupled with a qualifying adjective. Thus, political autonomy is self-government in its widest sense, independence of all control from without. Local autonomy is a freedom of self-government within a sphere marked out by some superior authority; _e.g._ munic.i.p.al corporations in England have their administrative powers marked out for them by acts of parliament, and in so far as they govern themselves within these limits exercise local autonomy. Administrative or const.i.tutional autonomy, such as exists in the British colonies, implies an extent of self-government which falls short only of complete independence. The term is used loosely even in the case of _e.g._ religious bodies, individual churches and other communities [v.03 p.0049] which enjoy a measure of self-government in certain specified respects.

In philosophy, the term (with its ant.i.thesis "heteronomy") was applied by Kant to that aspect of the rational will in which, _qua_ rational, it is a law to itself, independently alike of any external authority, of the results of experience and of the impulses of pleasure and pain. In the sphere of morals, the ultimate and only authority which the mind can recognize is the law which emerges from the pure moral consciousness. This is the only sense in which moral freedom can be understood. (See ETHICS; KANT.) Though the term "autonomy" in its fullest sense implies entire freedom from causal necessity, it can also be used even in determinist theories for relative independence of particular conditions, theological or conventional.

AUTOPSY (Gr. [Greek: autos], self, and [Greek: opsis], sight, investigation), a personal examination, specifically a _post-mortem_ ("after death") examination of a dead body, to ascertain the cause of death, &c. The term "necropsy" (Gr. [Greek: nekros], corpse) is sometimes used in this sense. (See CORONER and MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE.)

AUTRAN, JOSEPH (1813-1877), French poet, was born at Ma.r.s.eilles on the 20th of June 1813. In 1832 he addressed an ode to Lamartine, who was then at Ma.r.s.eilles on his way to the East. The elder poet persuaded the young man's father to allow him to follow his poetic bent, and Autran remained from that time a faithful disciple of Lamartine. His best known work is _La Mer_ (1835), remodelled in 1852 as _Les Poemes de la mer. Ludibria ventis_ (1838) followed, and the success of these two volumes gained for Autran the librarians.h.i.+p of his native town. His other most important work is his _Vie rurale_ (1856), a series of pictures of peasant life. The Algerian campaigns inspired him with verses in honour of the common soldier.

_Milianah_ (1842) describes the heroic defence of that town, and in the same vein is his _Laboureurs et soldats_ (1854). Among his other works are the _Paroles de Salomon_ (1868), _epitres rustiques_ (1861), _Sonnets capricieux_, and a tragedy played with great success at the Odeon in 1848, _La Fille d'Eschyle_. A definitive edition of his works was brought out between 1875 and 1881. He became a member of the French Academy in 1868, and died at Ma.r.s.eilles on the 6th of March 1877.

AUTUN, a town of east-central France, capital of an arrondiss.e.m.e.nt in the department of Saone-et-Loire, 62 m. S.W. of Dijon on the Paris-Lyon railway to Nevers. Pop. (1906) 11,927. Autun is pleasantly situated on the slope of a hill at the foot of which runs the Arroux. Its former greatness is attested by many Roman remains, the chief of which are two well-preserved stone gateways, the Porte d' Arroux and the Porte St Andre, both pierced with four archways and surmounted by arcades. There are also remains of the old ramparts and aqueducts, of a square tower called the Temple of Ja.n.u.s, of a theatre and of an amphitheatre. A pyramid in the neighbouring village of Couhard was probably a sepulchral monument. The chapel of St Nicolas (12th century) contains many of the remains discovered at Autun. The cathedral of St Lazare, once the chapel attached to the residence of the dukes of Burgundy, is in the highest part of the town. It belongs mainly to the 12th century, but the Gothic central tower and the chapels were added in the 15th century by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, born at Autun. The chief artistic features of the church are the group of the Last Judgment sculptured on the tympanum above the west door, and the painting by Ingres representing the martyrdom of St Symphorien, which took place at Autun in 179. In the cathedral square stands the fountain of St Lazare, a work of the Renaissance. The hotel Rolin, a house of the 15th century, contains the collections of the "Aeduan literary and scientific society."

The hotel de ville, containing a museum of paintings, the law-court and the theatre are modern buildings. Autun is the seat of a bishopric, of tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and has an ecclesiastical seminary, a communal college and a cavalry school. Among the industries of the town are the extraction of oil from the bituminous schist obtained in the neighbourhood, leather manufacture, metal-founding, marble-working, and the manufacture of machinery and furniture. Autun is the commercial centre for a large part of the Morvan, and has considerable trade in timber and cattle.

Autun (_Augustodunum_) succeeded Bibracte as capital of the Aedui when Gaul was reorganized by Augustus. Under the Romans, it was a flouris.h.i.+ng town, covering double its present extent and renowned for its schools of rhetoric. In the succeeding centuries its prosperity drew upon it the attacks of the barbarians, the Saracens and the Normans. The counts of Autun in 880 became dukes of Burgundy, and the town was the residence of the latter till 1276. It was ravaged by the English in 1379, and, in 1591, owing to its support of the League, had to sustain a siege conducted by Marshal Jean d'Aumont, general of Henry IV.

See H. de Fontenay, _Autun et ses monuments_ (Autun, 1889).

AUTUNITE, or CALCO-URANITE, a mineral which is one of the "uranium micas,"

differing from the more commonly occurring torbernite (_q.v._) or cupro-uranite in containing calcium in place of copper. It is a hydrous uranium and calcium phosphate, Ca(UO_2)_2(PO_4)_2 + 8(or 12)H_2O. Though closely resembling the tetragonal torbernite in form, it crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and is optically biaxial. The crystals have the shape of thin plates with very nearly square outline (89 17' instead of 90). An important character is the perfect micaceous cleavage parallel to the basal plane, on which plane the l.u.s.tre is pearly. The colour is sulphur-yellow, and this enables the mineral to be distinguished at a glance from the emerald-green torbernite. Hardness 2-2; specific gravity 3.05-3.19. Autunite is usually found with pitchblende and other uranium minerals, or with ores of silver, tin and iron; it sometimes coats joint-planes in gneiss and pegmat.i.te. Falkenstein in Saxony, St Symphorien near Autun (hence the name of the species), and St Day in Cornwall are well-known localities for this mineral.

(L. J. S.)

AUVERGNE, formerly a province of France, corresponding to the departments of Cantal and Puy-de-Dome, with the arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Brioude in Haute-Loire. It contains many mountains volcanic in origin (Plomb du Cantal, Puy de Dome, Mont Dore), fertile valleys such as that of Limagne, vast pasture-lands, and numerous medicinal springs. Up to the present day the population retains strongly-marked Celtic characteristics. In the time of Caesar the _Arverni_ were a powerful confederation, the Arvernian Vercingetorix being the most famous of the Gallic chieftains who fought against the Romans. Under the empire _Arvernia_ formed part of _Prima Aquitania_, and the district shared in the fortunes of Aquitaine during the Merovingian and Carolingian periods. Auvergne was the seat of a separate counts.h.i.+p before the end of the 8th century; the first hereditary count was William the Pious (886). By the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry Plantagenet, the counts.h.i.+p pa.s.sed under the suzerainty of the kings of England, but at the same time it was divided, William VII., called the Young (1145-1168), having been despoiled of a portion of his domain by his uncle William VIII., called the Old, who was supported by Henry II. of England, so that he only retained the region bounded by the Allier and the Coux. It is this district that from the end of the 13th century was called the _Dauphine d'Auvergne_. This family quarrel occasioned the intervention of Philip Augustus, king of France, who succeeded in possessing himself of a large part of the country, which was annexed to the royal domains under the name of _Terre d'Auvergne_. As the price of his concurrence with the king in this matter, the bishop of Clermont, Robert I. (1195-1227), was granted the lords.h.i.+p of the town of Clermont, which subsequently became a counts.h.i.+p. Such was the origin of the four great historic lords.h.i.+ps of Auvergne. The _Terre d'Auvergne_ was first an appanage of Count Alphonse of Poitiers (1241-1271), and in 1360 was erected into a duchy in the peerage of France (d.u.c.h.e-pairie) by King John II. in favour of his son John, through whose daughter the new t.i.tle pa.s.sed in 1416 to the house of Bourbon. The last duke, the celebrated constable Charles of Bourbon, united the domains of the _Dauphine_ to those of the [v.03 p.0050] duchy, but all were confiscated by the crown in consequence of the sentence which punished the constable's treason in 1527. The counts.h.i.+p, however, had pa.s.sed in 1422 to the house of La Tour, and was not annexed to the domain until 1615. The administration of the royal province of Auvergne was organized under Louis XIV. At the time of the revolution it formed what was called a "government," with two divisions: Upper Auvergne (Aurillac), and Lower Auvergne (Clermont).

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Baluze, _Histoire genealogique de la maison d'Auvergne_ (1708); Andre Imberdis, _Histoire generale de l'Auvergne_ (1867); J. B. M.

Bielawski, _Histoire de la comte d'Auvergne et de sa capitale Vic-le-Comte_ (1868); B. Gonot, _Catalogue des ouvrages imprimes et ma.n.u.scrits concernant l'Auvergne_ (1849). See further Chevalier, _Repertoire des sources hist., Topobibliographie_, s.v.

AUXANOMETER (Gr. [Greek: auxanein], to increase, [Greek: metron], measure), an apparatus for measuring increase or rate of growth in plants.

AUXENTIUS (fl. _c._ 370), of Cappadocia, an Arian theologian of some eminence (see ARIUS). When Constantine deposed the orthodox bishops who resisted, Auxentius was installed into the seat of Dionysius, bishop of Milan, and came to be regarded as the great opponent of the Nicene doctrine in the West. So prominent did he become, that he was specially mentioned by name in the condemnatory decree of the synod which Damasus, bishop of Rome, urged by Athanasius, convened in defence of the Nicene doctrine (A.D. 369).

When the orthodox emperor Valentinian ascended the throne, Auxentius was left undisturbed in his diocese, but his theological doctrines were publicly attacked by Hilary of Poitiers.

The chief source of information about him is the _Liber contra Auxentium_ in the Benedictine edition of the works of Hilary.

AUXERRE, a town of central France, capital of the department of Yonne, 38 m. S.S.E. of Sens on the Paris-Lyon railway, between Laroche and Nevers.

Pop. (1906) 16,971. It is situated on the slopes and the summit of an eminence on the left bank of the Yonne, which is crossed by two bridges leading to suburbs on the right bank. The town is irregularly built and its streets are steep and narrow, but it is surrounded by wide tree-lined boulevards, which have replaced the ancient fortifications, and has some fine churches. That of St etienne, formerly the cathedral, is a majestic Gothic building of the 13th to the 16th centuries. It is entered by three richly sculptured portals, over the middle and largest of which is a rose window; over the north portal rises a ma.s.sive tower, but that which should surmount the south portal is unfinished. The lateral entrances are sheltered by tympana and arches profusely decorated with statuettes. The plan consists of a nave, with aisles and lateral chapels, transept and choir, with a deambulatory at a slightly lower level. Beneath the choir, which is a fine example of early Gothic architecture, extends a crypt of the 11th century with mural paintings of the 12th century. The church has some fine stained gla.s.s and many pictures and other works of art. The ancient episcopal palace, now used as prefecture, stands behind the cathedral; it preserves a Romanesque gallery of the 12th century. The church of St Eusebe belongs to the 12th, 13th and 16th centuries. Of the abbey church of St Germain, built in the 13th and 14th centuries, most of the nave has disappeared, so that its imposing Romanesque tower stands apart from it; crypts of the 9th century contain the tombs of bishops of Auxerre. The abbey was once fortified and a high wall and cylindrical tower remain. The buildings (18th century) are partly occupied by a hospital and a training college. The church of St Pierre, in the Renaissance style of the 16th and 17th centuries, is conspicuous for the elaborate ornamentation of its west facade. The old law-court contains the museum, with a collection of antiquities and paintings, and a library. In the middle of the town is a gateway surmounted by a belfry, dating from the 15th century.

Auxerre has statues of Marshal Davout, J. B. J. Fourier and Paul Bert, the two latter natives of the town. The town is the seat of a court of a.s.sizes and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and a branch of the Bank of France. A lycee for girls, a communal college and training colleges are among its educational establishments. Manufactures of ochre, of which there are quarries in the vicinity, and of iron goods are carried on. The ca.n.a.l of Nivernais reaches as far as Auxerre, which has a busy port and carries on boat-building. Trade is princ.i.p.ally in the choice wine of the surrounding vineyards, and in timber and coal.

Auxerre (_Autessiodurum_) became the seat of a bishop and a civitas in the 3rd century. Under the Merovingian kings the abbey of St Germain, named after the 6th bishop, was founded, and in the 9th century its schools had made the town a seat of learning. The bishopric was suppressed in 1790.

The counts.h.i.+p of Auxerre was granted by King Robert I. to his son-in-law Renaud, count of Nevers. It remained in the house of Nevers until 1184, when it pa.s.sed by marriage to that of Courtenay. Other alliances transferred it successively to the families of Donzy, Chatillon, Bourbon and Burgundy. Alice of Burgundy, countess of Auxerre, married John of Chalons (d. 1309), and several counts of Auxerre belonging to the house of Chalons distinguished themselves in the wars against the English during the 14th century. John II., count of Auxerre, was killed at the battle of Crecy (1346), and his grandson, John IV., sold his counts.h.i.+p to King Charles V.

in 1370.

AUXILIARY (from Lat. _auxilium_, help), that which gives aid or support; the term is used in grammar of a verb which completes the tense, mood or voice of another verb; in engineering, _e.g._ of the low steam power used to supplement the sail-power in sailing s.h.i.+ps, still occasionally used in yachts, sealers or whalers; and in military use, of foreign or allied troops, more properly of any troops not permanently maintained under arms.

In the British army the term "Auxiliary Forces" was employed formerly to include the Militia, the Imperial Yeomanry and the Volunteers.

AUXIMUM (mod. _Osimo_), an ancient town in Picenum, situated on an isolated hill 8 m. from the Adriatic, on the road from Ancona to Nuceria. It was selected by the Romans as a fortress to protect their settlements in northern Picenum, and strongly fortified in 174 B.C. The walls erected at that period, of large rectangular blocks of stone, still exist in great part. Auximum became a colony at latest in 157 B.C. It often appears in the history of the civil wars, owing to its strong position. Pompey was its patron, and intended that Caesar should find resistance here in 49 B.C. It appears to have been a place of some importance in imperial times, as inscriptions and the monuments of its forum (the present piazza) show. In the 6th century it is called by Procopius the chief town of Picenum, Ancona being spoken of as its harbour.

(T. AS.)

AUXONNE, a town of eastern France, in the department of Cote d'Or, 19 m.

E.S.E. of Dijon on the Paris-Lyon railway to Belfort. Pop. (1906) 2766 (town); 6307 (commune). Auxonne is a quiet town situated in a wide plain on the left bank of the Saone. It preserves remains of ramparts, a stronghold of the 16th century flanked by cylindrical towers, and a sculptured gateway of the 15th century. Vauban restored these works in the latter half of the 17th century, and built the a.r.s.enal now used as a market. The church of Notre-Dame dates from the 14th century. Of the two towers surmounting its triple porch only that to the south is finished. A lofty spire rises above a third tower over the crossing. The hotel de ville (15th century) and some houses of the Renaissance period are also of architectural interest. A statue of Napoleon I. as a sub-lieutenant commemorates his sojourns in the town from 1788 to 1791. Auxonne has a tribunal of commerce and a communal college. Its industries are unimportant, but it has a large trade in the vegetables produced by the numerous market gardens in the vicinity.

Auxonne, the name of which is derived from its position on the Saone (_ad Sonam_), was in the middle ages chief place of a counts.h.i.+p, which in the first half of the 13th century pa.s.sed to the dukes of Burgundy. The town received a charter in 1229 and derived some importance from the mint which the dukes of Burgundy founded in it. It was invested by the allies in 1814, and surrendered to an Austrian force in the following year.

AVA, the ancient capital of the Burman empire, now a subdivision of the Sagaing district in the Sagaing division of Upper Burma. It is situated on the Irrawaddy on the opposite [v.03 p.0051] bank to Sagaing, with which it was amalgamated in 1889. Amarapura, another ancient capital, lies 5 m. to the north-east of Ava, and Mandalay, the present capital, 6 m. to the north. The cla.s.sical name of Ava is Yadanapura, "the city of precious gems." It was founded by Thadomin Pay[=a] in A.D. 1364 as successor to Pagan, and the religious buildings of Pagan were to a certain extent reproduced here, although on nothing like the same scale as regards either size or splendour. It remained the seat of government for about four centuries with a succession of thirty kings. In 1782 a new capital, Amarapura, was founded by Bodaw Pay[=a], but was deserted again in favour of Ava by King Baggidaw in 1823. On his deposition by King Tharawaddi in 1837, the capital reverted to Amarapura; but finally in 1860 the last capital of Mandalay was occupied by King Mind[=o]n. For picturesque beauty Ava is unequalled in Burma, but it is now more like a park than the site of an old capital. Traces of the great council chamber and various portions of the royal palace are still visible, but otherwise the secular buildings are completely destroyed; and most of the religious edifices are also dilapidated.

AVAD[=A]NA, the name given to a type of Buddhist romance literature represented by a large number of Sanskrit (Nepalese) collections, of which the chief are the Avad[=a]nasataka (Century of Legends), and the Divy[=a]vad[=a]na (The Heavenly Legend). Though of later date than most of the canonical Buddhist books, they are held in veneration by the orthodox, and occupy much the same position with regard to Buddhism that the Pur[=a]nas do towards Brahminism.

AVAHI, the native name of a Malagasy lemur (_Avahis laniger_) nearly allied to the indri (_q.v._), and the smallest representative of the subfamily _Indrisinae_, characterized by its woolly coat, and measuring about 28 in.

in length, of which rather more than half is accounted for by the tail.

Unlike the other members of the group, the avahi is nocturnal, and does not a.s.sociate in small troops, but is met with either alone or in pairs. Very slow in its movements, it rarely descends to the ground, but, when it does, walks upright like the other members of the group. It is found throughout the forests which clothe the mountains on the east coast of Madagascar, and also in a limited district on the northwest coast, the specimens from the latter locality being of smaller size and rather different in colour. The eastern phase is generally rusty red above, with the inner sides of the limbs white; while the predominant hue in the western form is usually yellowish brown. (See PRIMATES.)

(R. L.*)

AVALANCHE (adopted from a French dialectic form, _avalance_, descent), a ma.s.s of snow and ice mingled with earth and stones, which rushes down a mountain side, carrying everything before it, and producing a strong wind which uproots trees on each side of its course. Where the supply of snow exceeds the loss by evaporation the surplus descends the mountain sides, slowly in the form of glaciers, or suddenly in ice-falls or in avalanches.

A ma.s.s of snow may acc.u.mulate upon a steep slope and become compacted into ice by pressure, or remain loosely aggregated. When the foundation gives way, owing to the loosening effect of spring rains or from any other cause, the whole ma.s.s slides downward. A very small cause will sometimes set a ma.s.s of overloaded snow in motion. Thunder or even a loud shout is said to produce this effect when the ma.s.s is just poised, and Swiss guides often enjoin absolute silence when crossing dangerous spots.

AVALLON, a town of central France, capital of an arrondiss.e.m.e.nt in the department of Yonne, 34 m. S.S.E. of Auxerre on a branch of the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) 5197. The town, with wide streets and picturesque promenades, is finely situated on a promontory, the base of which is washed on the south by the Cousin, on the east and west by small streams. Its chief building, the church of St Lazare, dates from the 12th century. The two western portals are adorned with sculpture in the ornate Romanesque style; the tower on the left of the facade was rebuilt in the 17th century.

The Tour de L'Horloge, pierced by a gateway through which pa.s.ses the Grande Rue, is a 15th century structure containing a museum on its second floor.

Remains of the ancient fortifications, including seven of the flanking towers, are still to be seen. Avallon has a statue of Vauban, the military engineer. The public inst.i.tutions include the subprefecture, a tribunal of first instance, and a communal college. The manufacture of biscuits and gingerbread, and of leather and farm implements is carried on, and there is considerable traffic in wood, wine, and the live-stock and agricultural produce of the surrounding country.

Avallon (_Aballo_) was in the middle ages the seat of a viscounty dependent on the duchy of Burgundy, and on the death of Charles the Bold pa.s.sed under the royal authority.

AVALON (also written AVALLON, AVOLLON, AVILION and AVELION), in Welsh mythology the kingdom of the dead, afterwards an earthly paradise in the western seas, and finally, in the Arthurian romances, the abode of heroes to which King Arthur was conveyed after his last battle. In Welsh the name is Ynys yr Afallon, usually interpreted "Isle of Apples," but possibly connected with the Celtic tradition of a king over the dead named Avalloc (in Welsh Afallach). If the traditional derivation is correct, the name is derived from the Welsh _afal_, an apple, and, as no other large fruit was well known to the races of northern Europe, is probably intended to symbolize the feasting and enjoyments of elysium. Other forms of the name are Ynysvitrin and Ynysgutrin, "Isle of Gla.s.s"--which appear to be identical with Glasberg, the Teutonic kingdom of the dead. Perhaps owing to a confusion between Glasberg or Ynysvitrin and the Anglo-Saxon Glaestinga-burh, Glas...o...b..ry, the name "Isle of Avalon" was given to the low ridge in central Somersets.h.i.+re which culminates in Glas...o...b..ry Tor, while Glas...o...b..ry itself came to be called Avalon. Attempts have also been made to identify Avalon with other places in England and Wales.

See _Studies in the Arthurian Legend_, by J. Rhys (Oxford, 1891); also ARTHUR (KING); ATLANTIS.

AVARAY, a French territorial t.i.tle belonging to a family some of whose members have been conspicuous in history. The Bearnaise family named Besiade moved into the province of Orleanais in the 17th century, and there acquired the estate of Avaray. In 1667 Theophile de Besiade, marquis d'Avaray, obtained the office of grand bailiff of Orleans, which was held by several of his descendants after him. Claude Antoine de Besiade, marquis d'Avaray, was deputy for the bailliage of Orleans in the states-general of 1789, and proposed a _Declaration of the Duties of Man_ as a pendant to the _Declaration of the Rights of Man_; he subsequently became a lieutenant-general in 1814, a peer of France in 1815, and duc d'Avaray in 1818. Antoine Louis Francois, comte d'Avaray, son of the above, distinguished himself during the Revolution by his devotion to the comte de Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII., whose emigration he a.s.sisted. Having nominally become king in 1799, that prince created the estate of Ile-Jourdain a duchy, under the t.i.tle of Avaray, in favour of the comte d'Avaray, whom he termed his "liberator."

(M. P.*)

AVARS, or AVARI, an East Caucasian people, the most renowned of the Lesghian tribes, inhabiting central Daghestan (see LESGHIANS). They are the only Lesghian tribe who possess a written language, for which they make use of the Arabic characters. They are often confused with the Avars whose empire on the Danube was broken by Charlemagne; but Komarov a.s.serts that they are of more recent origin as a tribe, their name being Lowland Turki for "vagrant" or "refugee."