ABYSS is more particularly used, in antiquity, to denote the temple of Proserpine. It was thus called on account
Abyssinia. account of the immense fund of gold and riches deposited there; some say, hid under ground.
Abyss is also used, in heraldry, to denote the centre of an escutcheon. In which sense, a thing is said to be bore in abyss, en abyssine, when placed in the middle of the shield, clear from any other bearing: He bears azure, a flower de lis, in abyss.