ing through cocoa-nut husk, and mixing with water or cocoa-nut milk, after which fermentation speedily ensues. The taste is unpleasant to those unaccustomed to it. The intoxication is not like that produced by ardent spirits, but rather a stupefaction like that caused by opium. It is succeeded by a copious perspiration. The habitual use of ava is said to cause a whitish scurf on the skin. The leaf of the ava plant is in some places used with the betel-nut, instead of that of the betel-pepper.
AVADHUTA, a'va-d'hoo'ta.
A member of the mendicant sect of self-torturing Saivites in the south of India. They abandon all worldly restraints and religiovis observances and have their passions under complete control.
AVALANCHE (Fr. avaler, to swallow; originally, let fall down, from Lat. ad, to + vallis, valley). A mass of snow or ice that slides or rolls down the declivities of high mountains, and often occasions great devastation. Avalanches are given various names, according to their nature. Drift or powder avalanches (Staublawinen) consist of snow, which, loose and dry from strong frost, once set in motion by the wind, accumulates in its descent and comes suddenly into the valley in an overwhelming dust-cloud. Avalanches of this kind occur chiefly in winter, and are dangerous on account of their suddenness, suffocating men and animals, and overturning trees and houses by the wind driven in front of them. Another kind of avalanche resembles a landslip. When the snow begins to melt in spring the soil beneath becomes loose and slippery, and the snow slides by its own weight down the declivity, carrying with it soil, trees, and rocks. This is also called a landslide, and is often the cause of great disasters in mountainous regions. The greatest danger is where elevated tracts of moderate declivity are separated from the valleys by precipitous walls of rock; the softened snow of spring, beginning to roll or slide on these slopes, is hurled over the precipice with fearful force into the valleys. Ice avalanches are those that are seen and heard in summer thundering down the steeps, as those of the Jungfrau. They consist of masses of ice that have become detached from the glaciers in the upper regions, and are most common in July, August, and September. See Landslip.
AVAL'LENAU, The (Welsh, of the apple-trees). A poem of uncertain authorship, though accredited to Merlin, notwithstanding reference to events of the Twelfth Century. Morley quotes Stephens to the effect that the foundation of the poem is the tradition of 140 knights being changed into spirits in the Wood of Celyddon. The significance of the name becomes apparent when it is known that the Celtic heaven is an 'island of apples.' See Avalon.
AVALLON, a'va'lox' (anciently Aballo) . The
capital of an arrondissement in the Department
of Yonne, France, 20 miles southeast of Auxerre
(Map: France. K 4). It is built on a steep hill
of red granite, nearly surrounded by the Cousin.
A broad terrace walk, shaded with lime-trees,
extends around the town, about 500 feet above
the bed of the river. The town is generally well
built, and has broad and clean streets. The
Church of Saint Lazare is remarkable for its
handsome Romanesque portals. Manufactures of
various kinds are actively carried on, particu-
larly of woolens and paper; and there are distilleries, tanneries, glassworks, etc. There is also a considerable trade in the produce of the neighborhood. Avallon is of Celtic origin. It was sacked by the Saracens in A.D. 731. and by the Normans in 843; taken by Charles VII. in 1433, retaken by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1455, and pillaged by the troops of the League in 1593. Population, in 1896, 5809.
AV'ALON, variously written Avallon, Avelion, and Avilion (Welsh Ynys yr Afallon; see below). The name of the legendary island to which King Arthur was supposed to have been conveyed after being wounded in his last battle. It has been identified with various places, notably with Glastonbury, in Somersetshire. But it seems clear that in the first instance Avalon was nothing but the Celtic Paradise, or Happy Other-World, the abode of the fairies, which was visited by a number of heroes of Welsh and Irish saga. From it Arthur was expected to return ultimately, healed of all his wounds. The origin of the name is doubtful. Ynys yr Afallon is commonly understood to mean the 'Island of Apples,' with reference to the fruit that was often described as growing in the land of the blessed. But it is not to be assumed that the name had this meaning from the beginning. Perhaps it was at first not a local name at all, but rather personal. There is evidence of the existence of Avalloc (Welsh, Afallach), a King of the Other-World. Consult: J. Rhys, Studies in the Arthurian Legend (Oxford, 1891); F. Lot, in Romania (Paris, 1899).
AV'ALON. A peninsula forming the eastern part of Newfoundland (q.v.), bounded by Trinity Bay on the north, and Placentia Bay on the south (Map: Newfoundland, G 5). Its coasts are highly indented, forming numerous bays and harbors. It contains the capital, Saint-John's (q.v.), and was the place of the first English settlement in Newfoundland.
AVALOS, ii'v,4-los', Fernando Francesco d', Marquis of Pescara. See Pescara.
'AVARE, L', la'var'
(Fr., 'The Miser'). One of Molière's comedies, based on the Aulularia of Plautus, first performed at Paris in 1668. In it the folly and shame of avarice are satirized in the ridiculous situations into which the leading character gets himself. The miser is Harpagon, who keeps his wealth in a casket of gold, and rivals his son, Cléante, in the affections of Mariane. Cléante gets possession of the casket and gives his father the choice of it or of Mariane. Harpagon prefers gold to wife, and thus the two young lovers are happily married.
AVA'RIS (Egyptian Hat-we'ret, 'Lake city'). A city of ancient Egypt, situated in the eastern part of the Delta; perhaps to be identified with Tanis, the modern San. Avaris was the stronghold of the Asiatic Hyksos, or Shepherd Princes, who invaded and subdued a portion of Lower Egypt. The princes of Thebes resisted their encroachments, and a prolonged war ensued. Finally, about B.C. 1600. Aahmes I., the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, forced the foreigners to take refuge in Avaris, which he closely invested by land and by water. After a long and brave resistance the city was captured, and the Hyksos were driven into Southern Palestine. Through this victory the independence of Egypt
