a post in court at the early age of seventeen. At his father's death, Avicenna went to Nasa, Tos, Dahistan, Gurgan, Rai, and Hamadan. At this latter place he gained the favor of Shems Addaula and was made vizier; but the opposition of the soldiery compelled him to relinquish this posi- tion. Under the successor of Shems Addaula, Taga Addaula, Avicenna was imprisioned in a fortress, but he managed to escape and fled to Ispahan. Here he spent the remainder of his days as court physician to Ala Addaula, whom he accompanied even on his military campaigns. Avicenna led a very arduous life. Although he traveled a great deal, he still found time to write. He died about 1037.
Avicenna is of importance, not only in the his- tory of Arabic medicine and philosophy, but also in that of European philosophy. His great work, Kanun fi'l Tihb, a system of medicine, based on the Arabic translations of the Greek medical works, long held first place both in the Orient and Occident as a text-book in medicine. In the Orient it is still very highly regarded. The work is characterized by systematic classification, sometimes even running to excess. The Arabic text was published in 1593, at Rome, and again at Bulak. A Latin translation by Cremonensis appeared in Venice in 1595. In philosophy Avi- cenna teaches Aristotelianism, tinged, however, with Neo-Platonic ideas. He tries to reconcile philosophy and religion, a practice which is often met with in the later Arabic and Jewish philosophers. His metaphysics appeared in a Latin translation in 1493; his logic in 1495, Venice; 1556, Basle. For an extended bibliography consult Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Ltteratur (Weimar, 1899); Carra de Vaux, Avicenne (Paris, 1900).
AVICU'LIDÆ. A family of large, thin,
pseudolamellibranchiate bivalve mollusks. typi-
fied by the genus Avicula, the wing-shells, so
called because of their expansive method of
growth. The family is numerous in all warm
seas, and goes back to Devonian times. It in-
cludes the pearl-oysters (q.v.) and many queerly
shaped forms, both fossil and recent, such as the
hammer oysters and pinnas. See Wing-shell and plate of Abalone, etc.
AVIE'NUS, Rufus Festus. A Roman poet, who probably flourished about the close of the Fourth Century A.D. He is supposed to have been a native of Italy, and was probably a pagan. The works which have come down to us under his name are a Latin paraphrase, in hexameters, of the Periegesis of Dionysius, a translation of the Phænomena and Proqnostica of Aratus, and a portion, amounting to 702 lines, of a poem called Ora Maritima. His style is superior to that of contemporary writers. The best edition of Avienus is that of Holder (Innsbruck, 1887).
AVIGLIANO, ii've-ly"a'n6.
A city in Southern Italy, on the Foggia-Potenza Railway, 65 miles south of Foggia (Map: Italy, K 7). It stands on a mountain, is surrounded by fir forests, and has marble quarries and mineral springs. Population, in 1881, 13,000; in 1901, 18,313.
AVIGNON, ji'v^'nyoN'
(Lat. Avenio, either from avena, oats, or from Celt. avon, water, referring to the rivers surrounding it). A French town and the seat of an archbishopric in the
Department of Vaucluse, of which it is the capital. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhone, on a lofty plateau, at a distance of 30 miles from the Mediterranean (Map: France, L 8). It presents a most striking appearance upon this wall-girdled height, on the summit of which rises the cathedral, and the impressive mass of the old Papal palace; but the streets, as in most walled towns, are crooked, narrow, and often steep; the houses mean and dirty. There are, however, two fine promenades and some pleasant squares in the city. The famous old bridge of Avignon still exists in part. The prin- cipal buildings are the venerable cathedral, Notre Dame des Doms, a grand and gloomy Romanesque structure, dating mainly from the time of the Crusades; the Popes' palace, with its six towers, used at present as barracks, a Gothic pile of the Fourteenth Century: the conservatory of music; the ancient archbishop's palace, now used as a seminary; the Musée Calvet, which contains Roman and other antiquities; and a picture gallery which is one of the best in the provinces. The public library contains 125,000 printed volumes and 4000 MSS., and 25,000 autographs. Avignon has a lyceum, two theo- logical seminaries, the famous Académie de Vaucluse, and a botanical garden. The indus- tries of the town comprise cotton-spinning, pa- per-making, manufacture of agricultural imple- ments, tin, copper, and other hardware, hats and
bonnets, velvet, taffeta, etc., and there is considerable trade in silk, wine, brandy, olive-oil, truffles, grain, and flour: in fact, Avignon is the central wheat-market of Provence. Population, in 1896, 32,100. Avignon was a flourishing city under the Romans. Early in the Middle Ages it was part of the Burgundian kingdom, upon whose dissolution it became a republic or commune, ruled by consuls. The city was the seat of the Papal court, from 1309, when Clement V. took up his residence there, until 1376, when Gregory XI. left it to make Rome once more the Papal metropolis. In the period immediately following, the antipopes, Clement VII. and Benedict XIII., made Avignon their residence. The city was the property of the Papal see from 1348 to 1791, when it was seized by France. Avignon is connected with the name of Petrarch, who first saw Laura there in 1326. He lived there several years. Consult Müntz, "La cour pontificale d'Avignon," in Vol. XXII., Revue des questions historiques (Paris, 1899).
A'VILA, il've-la.
A town of Spain, capital of the Province of Avila and seat of a bishopric, in Old Castile, 53 miles northwest of Madrid (Map: Spain, C 2). It stands on the slope of the bleak Castilian hills, surrounded by gray granite walls and castellated towers in perfect preservation, and is one of the most remarkable inland fortress towns in Spain. The walls are 40 feet high and 13 feet thick. There are 86 towers and 9 gates. The city is built largely of granite. There is a cathedral, a military school, a seminary, a hospital, and royal woolen yarn factory. Population, in 1897, 11,700. In the Fourth Century, the city was called Abula. It is the birthplace of Saint Teresa, monastic reformer, and founder of the barefooted Carmelites. Consult: Mélida, "Avila: Iglesias ojivales," in Vol. CXXI., La España moderna (Madrid, 1899); Wilson, "Avila Cathedral," in Vol. LXXXIII., The Churchman (New York, 1901).
