AVIENUS 362 AVON genus is named in memory of the Ara- bian physician Avicenna. AVIENUS, RUFUS FESTUS (av-e- en'us), a Latin descriptive poet, who flourished about the end of the 4th cen- tury after Christ, and wrote "Descriptio Orbis Terras," a general description of the earth; "Ora Maritima," an account of the Mediterranean coasts, etc. AVIGNON ( a v-en-yon' ) ( ancient Avenio), a city of France, capital of the department of Vaucluse, on the left bank of the Rhone, 76 miles N. N. W. of Mar- seilles, on the railway to Paris. Avignon was for a long time the residence of the Popes. It is situated in a fine plain, and is surrounded by high walls, flanked with numerous towers. The ancient palace of the Popes stands on the de- clivity of a rock. It is a Gothic build- ing of different periods, and of vast ex- tent, and now serves as a prison, mili- tary depot, and barracks. The Cathedral Church of Notre Dame des Dons is very ancient, as is also the spire of the Church of the Cordeliers. The latter church contained the tomb of Laura, im- mortalized by Petrarch. Avignon ex- isted before the Roman invasion, and afterward became a Roman colony. In 1309, Clement V. transferred thither the abode of the Popes, who continued to re- side here till 1377, when they returned to Rome; but two schismatical Popes, or Popes elected by the French cardinals, resided in Avignon till 1409. Avignon and its territory remained the property of the Holy See until 1797, when it was incorporated with France. Pop. about 50,000. AVILA (a've-la), a town of Spain, capital of the province of Avila, a mod- em division of Old Castile. It is the see of the bishop suffragan of Santiago, with a fine cathedral, and was once one of the richest towns of Spain. Principal employment in the town, spinning; in the province, breeding sheep and cattle. Pop. (province) about 200,000. AVITTJS, MARCUS MiECILIUS, an Emperor of the West. He was of a Gaulish family in Auvergne, and gained the favor of Constantius, the colleague of Honorius, and of Theodoric, King of the Visigoths. He served with distinc- tion under -^tius, became Prefect of Gaul, and concluded a favorable treaty with the Goths. He afterward retired into private life until the invasion of At- tila, when he induced the Goths to join the Romans against the common enemy. Avitus was proclaimed Emperor in 455, took for his colleague Marcianus, and died the year following. AVLONA, or VALONA, the chief sea- port in Albania, in the province of Janina, on an eminence near the Gulf of Avlona, an inlet of the Adriatic, protected by the island of Sasseno, the ancient Saso. The independence of Albania was proclaimed here in 1912. Pop. about 6,000. See Albania. AVOCA, or OVOCA, a beautiful valley and river of Ireland, near Glendalough, in the county of Wicklow, and celebrated as being the scene which gave rise to one of the finest of Moore's "Irish Melo- dies." AVOCADO, a West Indian fruit, called also avocado pear, alligator pear, subaltern's butter tree, avigato, and sa- bacca. It belongs to the order lauracese (laurels), and is the persea gratissima. It is found in tropical America. The fruit is about the size and shape of a large pear. A considerable part of it is be- lieved to consist of a fixed oil. It is highly esteemed. The fruit itself is very insipid, on which account it is generally eaten with the juice of lemons and sugar to give it poignancy. AVOCET, or AVOSET, the English name of a genus of birds, with their feet so webbed that they might seem to belong to the natatores (swimmers), but which, by the other parts of their structure, are placed in the family scolopacidss (snipes), and the sub-family totaninse (tattlers). Their great peculiarity is a long, feeble bill, curved upward, with which they explore the sand for prey. Recurvirostra avocetta is a British bird. It was formerly abundant in the fenny districts, but is now rare. R. americaiut differs from it by having a red cap; and there are a few other foreign species. AVOGADRO'S LAW, in physics, as- serts that equal volumes of different gases at the same pressure and temper- ature contain an equal number of mole- cules. AVOIRDUPOIS, a system of weights used for all goods except precious metals, gems, and medicines, and in which a pound contains 16 ounces, or 7,000 grains, while a pound troy contains 12 ounces, or 5,760 grains. A hundredweight con- tains 112 pounds avoirdupois. AVON, the name of several English and Scottish rivers, the best known of which is that Avon which rises in North- amptonshire, and flows into the Severn at Tewkesbury, after a course of 100 miles. On its banks is Stratford-on- Avon, the birthplace and abode of Shakespeare, who has hence been styled the Bard of Avon.
