Adams

Adams, a township of Massachusetts, adjoining North Adams, with busy manufactories, and embracing Mount Greylock (3505 feet), the highest point in the state. Pop. 12,000.

Adams Bridge

Adam's Bridge, a chain of sand shoals 30 miles long, extending from a small island off the Indian coast to one just off Ceylon. It greatly obstructs the navigation of the channel.

Adams Peak

Adam's Peak, the name given by Mohammedans, and after them by Europeans, to a mountain summit in the south of Ceylon, 7420 feet high (not, however, the highest of the group). The native name is Samanella. The cone forming the summit is a naked mass of granite, terminating in a narrow platform, in the middle of which is a hollow, five feet long, having a resemblance (increased by human agency) to a human footstep. Mohammedan tradition makes this the scene of Adam's penitence, after his expulsion from Paradise; he stood 1000 years on one foot, and hence the mark. To the Buddhists, the impression is the Sri-pada, or sacred footmark, left by Buddha on his departure from Ceylon; and the Hindus recognise Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu. Multitudes of devotees visit the mountain.

Adana

Adana (A'dana), a province in the SE. of Asia Minor, is named from its chief city Adana, containing 50,000 inhabitants. The city, on the Sihun, 30 miles from the sea, commands the pass of the Taurus Mountains.

Adare

Adare, a market-town on the Maig, in the county, and 11 miles SW. of the town, of Limerick. Pop. 516.

Adda

Adda, a river of Lombardy, rising in the Alps, flowing through Lake Como, and falling into the Po after a course of 180 miles.

Addiewell

Addiewell, a mineral village of Midlothian, 1 1/2 mile WSW. of West Calder. Pop. 2000.

Addis Abeba

Addis Abeba (Adis Ababa), capital of Abyssinia, lies in the south of the province of Shoa, 8000 feet above the sea. Pop. 50,000.

Addiscombe

Addiscombe, a place in Surrey, near Croydon. A mansion here was, in 1812, converted by the East India Company into a college for their cadets, but sold in 1861.

Adelsberg

Adelsberg, a market-town in Carniola, 22 miles NE. of Trieste, with a pop. of 1800. Near it are numerous caves, the most famous being a large stalactite cavern, the Adelsberg Grotto. This cavern, the largest in Europe, between 2 and 3 miles long, is divided into the old and the new grotto, the latter discovered in 1816; a third very fine one came to light in 1889. The various chambers, called by names such as the Dome, the Dancing-hall, the Belvedere, contain stalactites and stalagmites of great size and grotesque forms. The river Poik runs through a part of the grotto, and then disappears below the ground.

Aderbijan

Aderbijan. See Azerbijan.

Aderno

Aderno (anc. Adranum), a town of Sicily, at the base of Mount Etna, 17 miles NW. of Catania. Pop. 19,180.

Adiahene

Adiahe'ne, a district of Assyria, E. of the Upper Tigris, between the greater and the lesser Zab rivers.