of Jacob Abbott. After graduating from the University of the City of New York he studied law, but entered the ministry and became pastor of a Congregational church in Terre Haute, Ind. Later he became editor of The Christian Union, New York, now The Outlook, and succeeded Henry Ward Beecher as pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. Here he became widely known both as preacher and editor, and as the author of several commentaries and other books. Among his works are The Evolution of Christianity; Christianity and Social Problems; An Evolutionist’s Theory; The Rights of Man; The Life and Literature of the Hebrews.
Ab′botsford, celebrated as the home of Sir Walter Scott, is situated on the Tweed river, near Melrose Abbey, Scotland. It was named from a ford where the abbots of Melrose Abbey crossed the Tweed. The house is an irregular, picturesque mansion, built by Sir Walter Scott in 1811, in the style of the old English manor houses. Carved stones taken from old castles and abbeys are placed at intervals in the walls of the house and garden. The lavish use of money in adorning Abbotsford was one of the chief causes of Scott’s financial failure.
Abattoir (ȧb′ȧt′twȧr′), originally merely a slaughter-house, but now inclusive of a number of industries connected with the disposal of the parts of animals unfit for food. The term is sometimes made to include also the market at which the products are sold.
What to do with the waste parts of slain animals has always been a problem where population was dense enough to necessitate much butchering. In the time of the Roman Empire the killing was restricted to one section of the city, and here there was a public market, and sometimes, as in Rome, a splendid market building. Previous to 1810 in Paris killing of animals was allowed even along the principal streets, and conditions had become so bad that a commission was appointed in that year to do away with the nuisance. Under the direction of this commission five great abattoirs were opened in September, 1818, and these have to a great extent been models for the world. London did not take up the matter in a serious way until 1852, and then in 1855 opened a great establishment at a suburb called Islington. But it has remained for America, in very recent times, to perfect the greatest of these institutions. Machinery has been so much brought into use that an almost marvelous speed and economy is attained. Perhaps an even more wonderful advance has been made in the matter of using the various parts of the animals which were once a nuisance. Such products as special foods, medicines, building materials, chemicals, manures, etc., utilize practically every particle of an animal and so solve the problem of their disposal.
Abbre′via′tions are used to save time in writing. In letter writing they should on the whole be avoided. Before printing was invented, however, the labor of copying and the cost and scarcity of parchment caused abbreviations to be used so freely that they are apt to be very difficult to follow. Signs, like $ or £ are not, properly speaking, abbreviations, but symbols. An abbreviation generally consists of the first part of a word, or else of the first letters of the words of a well-known phrase. Those which follow still occur frequently:
| A. B. | Bachelor of Arts. |
| A. C. | Ante Christum, before Christ. |
| A. D. | Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. |
| A. D. C. | Aide-de-camp. |
| A. H. | Anno Hegiræ, in the year of the Hegira, or since 622 A. D. |
| Ad lib. | Ad libitum, at pleasure. |
| æt. | ætatis, aged. |
| A. M. | Ante Meridiem, before noon. |
| A. M. | Master of Arts. |
| Anon. | Anonymous. |
| A. U. C. | Ab urbe condita, from the founding of the city of Rome. |
| A. V. | Authorized Version. |
| b. | Born. |
| B. A. | Bachelor of Arts. Same as A. B. |
| Bart. | Baronet. |
| B. C. | Before Christ. |
| B. C. L. | Bachelor of Civil Law. |
| B. D. | Bachelor of Divinity. |
| Bp. | Bishop. |
| B. S. or B.Sc. | Bachelor of Science. |
| C. | Centum, one hundred. |
| C. | Centigrade. |
| Cantab. | Cantabrigiensis, of Cambridge. |
| C. B. | Companion of the Order of the Bath. |
| c. c. | Cubic centimeter. |
| C. E. | Civil Engineer. |
| C. M. Cy. | Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. |
| Co. | Company. |
| Co. | County. |
| C/O | Care of. |
| C. O. D. | Cash on Delivery. |
| Cr. | Creditor. |
| Cresc. | Crescendo, growing louder. |
| Cwt. | Hundredweight. |
| d. | Died. |
| d. | penny. |
| D. C. | District of Columbia. |
| D. C. | Da capo, from the beginning. |
| D. C. L. | Doctor of Civil Law. |
| D. D. | Doctor of Divinity. |
| D. D. S. | Doctor of Dental Surgery. |
| D. G. | Dei gratia, by the grace of God. |
| Dim. | Diminuendo, less loudly. |
| D. Lit. | Doctor of Literature. |
| Do. | Ditto, the same. |
| Dr. | Debtor. |
| Dr. | Doctor. |
| D. Sc. | Doctor of Science. |
| D. S. O. | Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. |
| D. V. | Deo volente, God willing. |
| dwt. | Pennyweight. |
| e. g. | Exempli gratia, for example. |
| etc. | Et cetera, and so on. |
| et seq. | Et sequentia, and the following. |
| F. | Fahrenheit. |
| f. | Forte, loudly. |
| f. o. b. | Free on board. |
| ff. | Fortissimo, very loud. |
| F. R. C. P. | Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. |
| F. R. C. S. | Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. |
| F. R. G. S. | Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. |
| F. R. S. | Fellow of the Royal Society. |
| G. C. B. | Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. |
