one of the four provinces into which Old Castile in Spain is divided. It is the least of the four, and most thinly peopled. The extent is 215 square leagues, and the population 118,061 souls. The high ridge of the mountains of Guadarrama separates it from the province of Madrid. The principal river which waters it is the Adaja, on which the capital Avila, a small and insignificant city, though the see of a bishop, is built. This province, once flourishing, has gradually declined in wealth and population during the last two centuries, and the exertions of industry have not been directed of late to improvement. The principal production is the wool of the Merino sheep, a great number of which are shorn in this province; and the fleeces, after being washed and sorted, are sent to the northern ports to be shipped to the different countries where they are consumed. It contains one city, 82 towns, 292 villages, 299 parishes, 28 monasteries, and 19 nunneries. The inhabitants obtain of wine 150,000, of brandy 2000, and of oil 3000 arobas, and of silk 300 cwt. It is situated between long. 4° 14' and 5° 55' W. and lat. 30° 48' and 41° 18' N.

AVILA, a town of Spain, in the province of Old Castile. It is situated on the banks of the river Adaja, which running towards the north and joining the Arevalillo, empties itself into the Duero. The town is situated on a plain, and the fields around it are highly productive in fruits and grain. It is the seat of a bishop, and has one cathedral, eight parish churches, sixteen monasteries, five hospitals, 1000 houses, and 4300 inhabitants. Long. 4° 59' W. Lat. 40° 43' N.

AVIO, a market-town with 2045 inhabitants, employed chiefly in the silk manufactory. It is situated on the river Etsch, in the Italian confines of Roveredo, in the Austrian principality of Tyrol.

AVIS, a walled town of Portugal, situated on the river of the same name in Alentejo, and containing about 1500 inhabitants. It is nine miles north-west of Estremoz.

AVISON, CHARLES, organist of Newcastle, and a disciple of Geminiani, was the author of an essay on musical expression, published in the year 1752, in which are some judicious reflections on music in general. Throughout his book he celebrates Marcello and Geminiani; the latter frequently to the prejudice of Mr Handel. In the year 1753 came out Remarks on Mr Avison's Essay on Musical Expression, the author whereof first points out sundry errors against the rules of composition in the works of Avison. In the same year Avison republished his essay, with a reply to the author of the remarks; and a letter, containing a number of loose particulars relating to music, collected in a course of various reading, unquestionably written by Dr Jortin. Avison promoted and assisted in the publication of Marcello's music to the Psalms, adapted to English words. Of his own composition there are extant five collections of concertos for violins, forty-four in number, and two sets of sonatas for the harpsichord and two violins, a species of composition little known in England till his time. The music of Avison is light and elegant, but it wants originality; a necessary consequence of his too close attachment to the style of Geminiani, which in a few particulars only he was able to imitate.

AVLONA, a Turkish European paschalik, comprehending a part of the ancient Albania, and a province on the sea-coast. It is bounded on the north and north-east by the paschalik of Ibessan, on the south-east by Yanina, on the south by Delonia, and on the west by the Adriatic Sea. The climate and soil resemble that of the south of France, and the productions are similar. The woods abound with game, and the rivers and coasts with fish. The chief trade is the export of corn, salt, and pitch, with some live cattle. The inhabitants amount to about 250,000, of whom two thirds are Arnauts and Greeks of the Greek church, and one third Arnauts and Turks of the Mahommedan faith. The Kimariots are few in number, but lead a wild life among the mountains, in a kind of savage republican state of equality. Most of them are of the Greek faith, but some are Mahommedans. It extends from long. 19° 38' to 20° 25' E. and from lat. 39° 50' to 40° 51' N.

AVLONA, or VALONA, a city, the chief place of the province of the same name, deriving its name from the bay on which it is situated. The harbour is sheltered from all winds, and the anchorage is good, with never less than fifteen nor more than twenty-three fathoms in depth. It has about 5000 inhabitants, many of whom are employed in making arms of different kinds to supply the Arnauts. It is the seat of a Greek bishop.

AVORDUPOIS. This was formerly the weight used for the larger and coarser commodities, such as groceries, cheese, wool, lead, &c. The proportion of a pound avordupois to a pound troy is as 17 to 14.

AVOLA, a city of Sicily, in the intendency of Sambusa, on the sea-coast, with 6780 inhabitants. There are some sugar plantations near it, but from their unprofitableness they are nearly abandoned.

AVOSET. See ORNITHOLOGY.

AVRANCHES, an arrondissement in the department of Calvados, in France, the extent of which is 475 square miles, or 304,000 acres. It is divided into nine cantons, and these into 127 communes, containing 106,144 inhabitants. The capital of the arrondissement is of the same name. It stands on a hill, at the foot of which the river Seez flows, which at high tide is navigable from the sea, about three miles distant. It has some trade in corn, cider, and salt. The number of inhabitants is 6144. Long. 1° 25' E. Lat. 48° 41' N.

AVSTA, a mining village in the barony of Rasgard and province of Storakarpbarper (formerly Dalcarleia), in Sweden. It suffered by fire in 1803, but has since been rebuilt and increased. It contains 115 houses and 600 inhabitants, all employed in the various mineral products of the vicinity. There is a mint for coining copper money.