Avebury
a village of England, in Wiltshire, occupying the site of a socalled Druidical temple, which originally consisted of a large outer circle of 100 stones, from 15 to 17 feet in height, and about 40 feet in circumference, surrounded by a broad ditch and lofty rampart, and inclosing two smaller circles. Few traces now remain of the structure. On the neighboring grounds are numerous barrows or tumuli, one of which, called Silbury Hill, rises to the height of 130 feet, with a circumference of 2,027 feet at the base, covering an area of more than five acres.
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Avellaneda Y Arteaga
GER- TRUDIS GOMEZ DE, a distinguished Spanish poet, dramatist and novelist, born in Puerto Principe, Cuba, March 23, 1814; under the pseudonym PER- EGRINA contributed to Andalusian journals many "Lyric Poems" (1851-1854), and afterward wrote a series of spirited novels: "Two Women," "The Baroness de Joux," and others. She gained still higher distinction with the tragedies "Alfonso Munio," the hero of which was her own ancestor, and "The Prince of Viana." Her latest compositions in clude the Biblical dramas "Saul" and "Balthasar." In the later years of her life she composed 16 plays which still have a place on the Spanish stage. She died in Madrid, Feb. 2, 1873.
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Avena
a genus of plants belonging to the order graminaceæ, or grasses. The A. fatua, or wild; the A. strigosa, or bristle pointed; the A. pratenis, or narrowed-leaved perennial; the A. planiculmus, or flat-stemmed; the A. pubescens, or downy; and the A. flavescens, or yellow oat, are species included in this genus. The first of this species is akin to the A. sativa, or cultivated oat. It is a cerea suitable for cold climates, not reaching proper maturity in the south. It attains perfection in Scotland, and is largely grown there. A. nuda is the naked or hill oat, or peel corn, formerly cultivated and used extensively by the poorer classes in the N. of England, Wales and Scotland.
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Avenar
An astrologer who promised to the Jews, on the testimony of the planets, that their Messiah should arrive without fail in 1444. or at the latest. in 1464. He gave, for his guarantors, Saturn, Jupiter, "the crab, and the fish." All the Jews kept their windows open to receive the messenger of God, who did not arrive.
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Averell
WILLIAM WOODS, an American military officer, born in Cameron, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1832; was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1855; served on the frontier and in several Indian campaigns till the beginning of the Civil War, when he was appointed Colonel of the 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry, and assigned to the command of the cavalry defenses of Washington. During the war he distinguished himself as a cavalry rider and commander, and at its close was brevetted Major-General of volunteers. He resigned from the regular army while holding the rank of captain, in 1865. He was United States Consul-General at Montreal in 1866-1869. He died at Bath, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1900.
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Avernus Lacus
A lake close to the promontory between Cumae and Puteoli, filling the crater of an extinct volcano. The lake was celebrated in mythology on account of its connection with the lower world. Near it was the cave of the Cumaean Sibyl , through which Aeneas descended to the lower world. 2026 Editor's Note: Lake Avernus is a volcanic crater lake in the Campania region of southern Italy. Its name, meaning 'birdless' in Greek, derives from the volcanic vapors that were once believed to make the air over the lake fatal to birds, reinforcing its mythological reputation as an entrance to the underworld. This tangible environmental feature provided a rational basis for the site's sacred and ominous status in antiquity. (Ed: BR 2026-06-13)
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Averrhoa
a genus of plants, order oxalidaceæ. It consists of two species, both of which form small trees in the East Indies. They are remarkable for their leaves, which are pinnated, possessing, in a slight degree, the kind of irritability found in the sensitive plant; and for their fleshy oval fruits with five thick longitudinal wings. In the carambola (A. aciambola), the leaves are smooth, the flowers of a violet purple, and the fruit about the size of a goose's egg; it is of a pale yellow color, and is said to be agreeably acid in the East Indies. The other species, called the blimbing (A. blimbi), has downy leaves and fruit resembling the small cucumber. The latter is intensely It is acid and cannot be eaten raw. pickled and candied, or a syrup is obtained from it by boiling with sugar, and its juice is found an excellent agent for removing iron mold or other spots from linen. To the Malays it answers the same purposes as the citron, the gooseberry, the caper and the cucumber of Europe. -
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Avery
SAMUEL, an American educator, born in Lamoille, Ill., in 1865. He graduated from Doane College in 1887. He took special courses in science at the University of Nebraska, and studied also at Heidelberg University, receiving the degree of Ph. D. in 1896. He was adjunct professor of chemistry at the University of Nebraska from 1896 to 1899, professor of chemistry and chemist at the Agricultural Experimental Station at the University of Idaho from 1899 to 1901, the then returned to the University of Nebraska, and in 1905 was appointed chief professor of chemistry at that institution. During 1908 to 1909 he was appointed acting chancellor, and in the latter year chancellor of the University of Nebraska. He was a member of many scientific societies, the author of several reports on chemical subjects, a popular lecturer on educational top topics, and was a member of the International Conciliation Commission with Sweden in 1914 and 1915. AVESTA. See ZEND AVESTA.
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Aveyron
a department occupying the S. extremity of the central plateau of France, traversed by mountains belonging to the Cevennes and the Cantal ranges; principal rivers: Aveyron, Lot and Tarn, the Lot alone being navigable. The climate is cold, and agriculture is in a backward state, but considerable attention is paid to sheep breeding. It is noted for its Roquefort cheese. It has coal, iron, and copper mines, besides other minerals. Area, 3,340 square miles; capital, Rhodez. Pop. about 370,000.
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