162 AVEYRON ately after the battle of Waterloo, almost de- stroyed by the explosion of a magazine, and for some time occupied by the allies. AVEYRON, a S. department of France, form- ing a part of the old province of Guienne, bounded by Oantal, Lozere, Gard, Herault, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, and Lot; area, 3,375 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 402,474. It is named from an affluent of the Tarn, which rises in the department near its E. border, flows W. as far as Villefranche, and then S. to the confines of the department of Tarn. The Lot flows on the N. W. border. Aveyron is one of the most mountainous districts of France. It has mines of copper, lead, silver, zinc, iron, and coal ; those of coal are among the most valu- able in the country. Cattle are raised in great numbers. The famous Roquefort cheese is largely exported. The department is divided into the arrondissements of Kodez, Villefranche, Espalion, Millaud, and Saint-Affrique. Capi- tal, Eodez. AVEZAC. See D'AVEZAO. AVICEBRON, or ATeneebrol. See SOLOMON BEN GABIROL. AVICENNA (a corruption of IBN SINA), an Arabian physician and philosopher, born in a village of Bokhara in 980, died in 1036 or 1037. He was educa- ted at Bokhara, where he devoted himself to study with such extra- ordinary zeal that be- fore he reached man- hood he was already famous as a physician, and at 21 he had writ- ten an encyclopaedia of science to which he gave the name of "Book of the Sum To- tal." He afterward wrote a series of com- mentaries on this work. He delivered public lec- tures on logic and as- tronomy in the house of a rich patron of learning at Jorjan in Khorasan, and afterward became vizier to the emir of Hamadan, at whose court he taught philosophy and medicine, closing his lectures every evening with feasting and dancing. In- volved after the death of this prince in a secret correspondence with the ruler of Ispahan, he was thrown into prison, but made his escape to that city, and there spent the latter part of his life in prosperity. Before his death he reformed the excesses of his conduct, freed his slaves, and gave his fortune to the poor. . His medical writings, which number over 60 dis- tinct works, were long held in the highest es- teem, and the most important of them, the Kanun (" Canon "), was for many centuries the standard authority even in Europe. It gave AVIGNON an excellent synopsis of the views of the ancient Greek physicians. It was published in Latin as early as 1473 (Padua), in Hebrew in 1492 (fol., Naples), and in the original Ara- bic in 1593 (fol., Rome). There were about 30 Latin editions of the "Canon" during the loth and 16th centuries. Avicenna's principal philosophical work, the Ash-Shefa, or " Rem- edy," has never been printed. AVIGLIANO, a town of S. Italy, in the prov- ince of Basilicata, 11 m. N. W. of Potenza; pop. about 10,000. It has a handsome colle- giate church, a royal college, and several con- vents. A portion of the town was destroyed by a land slide in 1824. AVIGNON (anc. Avenio), a town of S. E. France, in Provence, department of Vaucluse, 365 m. S. S. E. of Paris, situated on the Rh6ne, which is here crossed by an elegant suspension bridge built in 1844; pop. in 1866, 36,407. It is an archiepiscopal see, and has a lyceum, a seminary, a public library, museums of anti- quities, paintings, and natural history, a bo- tanical garden, an agricultural society, and an association called the academy of Vaucluse. Its industry is active, especially in the cultiva- tion of madder, in the manufacture of silks, AvigDon, France. colored cloths, and taffetas, and in copper, lead, and iron works. It carries on an extensive trade in the various productions of Provence, particularly in grains and highly esteemed red wines. The town is generally well built, in the form of an almost regular oval, and its walls, rather beautiful than strong, are flanked with towers, adorned with battlements, and surrounded by handsome boulevards. The streets are narrow, but there are magnificent wharfs along the Rhone and numerous ancient and remarkable edifices. Among the latter is the palace of the popes, a sombre Gothic struc- ture of the 12th century, now transformed into a prison and barracks. This city was the capi- tal of the Gallic tribe of the Cavares prior to
