AUCUBA 838 ATJGEREAU is reversed. The goods are put up at a price much above their value, and grad- ually lowered till a bid is given for them, and they are then forthwith knocked down to the one from "Whom it proceeded. AUCUBA, a genus of plants belong- ing to the order coriiaceas, or cornels, The only known species is A. japonica, a well known evergreen, with leaves like those of the laurel in form and mottled with yellow. AUDE (6d), a maritime department in the S. of France; area, 2,438 square miles; mainly covered by hills belong- ing to the Pyrenees or the Cevennes, and traversed W. to E. by a valley drained by the Aude. The loftier districts are bleak and unproductive; the others toler- ably fertile, yielding good crops of grain. The wines, especially white, bear com- parison with any. Pop. about 300,000. AUDIOMETER, or AUDIMETER, an instrument devised by Professor Hughes, the inventor of the microphone. Origi- nally its object was to measure with pre- cision the sense of hearing. Among^ its constituent parts are an induction coil, a microphone key and a telephone. The audiometer has been materially modified, and is now principally used for obtaining a balance of induction from two electric coils acting upon a third one. A scale is provided to show the extent of the movement. AUDIPHONE, an invention to assist the hearing of deaf persons, in whom the auditory nerve is not entirely dsetroyed. The instrument, made of a thin sheet of ebonite rubber or hard vulcanite, is about the size of a palm leaf fan,, with a handle and strings attached to bend it into a curving form, and a small clamp for fix- ing the string at the handles. The audi- phone is pressed by the deaf person using it against his upper front teeth, with the convex side outward; when so placed it communicates the vibrations caused by musical sounds or articulate speech to the organs of hearing. AUDIT, an examination into accounts or dealings with money or property, along with vouchers or other documents con- nected therewith, espeaially by proper officers, or persons appointed for the pur- pose. Also the occasion of receiving the rents from the tenants on an estate. AUDITORY, pertaining to the organs of hearing. AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES, an American naturalist of French extrac- tion, born near New Orleans, May 4, 1780; was educated in France, and stu- died painting under David. In 1798 he settled in Pennsylvania, but, having a great love for ornithology, he set out in 1810 with his wife and child, descended the Ohio, and for many years roamed the forests in every direction, drawing the birds which he shot. In 1826 he went to England, exhibited his drawings in Liver- pool, Manchester, and Edinburgh, and finally published them in an unrivalled work of double-folio size, with 435 colored plates of birds, the size of life ("The Birds of America," 4 vols., 1827-1839), with an accompanying text ("Ornitho- logical Biography"). On his final return to the United States he labored with Dr. Bachman on an illustrated work entitled "The Quadrupeds of America" (1843- 1850, 3 vols.). He died in New York City, June 27, 1851. AUERBACH, BERTHOLD (ou'er- bach), a German novelist, born at Nord- stetten, Wurttemberg, Feb. 28, 1812; be- gan to write while a student in Heidel- berg, and under the pseudonym "THEO- BALD Chauber" produced a "Biography of Frederick the Great" (1834-1836). A series of novels from the history of Judaism, under the collective title "The Ghetto," of which "Spinoza" (1837) and "Poet and Merchant" (1839) were print- ed in separate editions, was followed by a translation of Spinoza, with a critical biography (1841) ; and by "The Educated Citizen : a Book for the Thinking Human Mind" (1842). His next work, "Black Forest Village Stories" (1843), was translated into nearly all European lan- guages and established his fame. To this class of tales belong also "The Profes- sor's Lady" (1847) ; "Joseph in the Snow** (1860); "After Thirty Years" (1876). "On the Heights" (1865) constituted the crowning success of his literary career. It was followed by the "Villa on the Rhine" (1868) and "The Head Forester" (1879). He died at Cannes, France, Feb. 8, 1882. AUERSTADT (ou'er-stedt) , a village in the Prussian province of Saxony, 10 miles W. of Naumburg. It is famous for the great battle which took place there Oct. 14, 1806, between the French under Davoust, and the Prussian army under Duke Charles of Brunswick, which ended in a great victory for the former. Na- poleon, who had, on the same day, de- feated the main army of Frederick Wil- liam II. at Jena, made Davoust Duke of Auerstadt. AUGEREAU (6zh-r6'), PIERRE FRANCOIS CHARLES, DUKE OF CAS- TIGLIONE, a celebrated French general.
