ATTALIA

attalia, an ancient city of pamphylia, which derived its name from attalus ii., king of pergamum; the modern adalia (q.v.). it was important as the nearest seaport to the rich districts of south-west phrygia. a much-frequented "half-sea" route led through it to the lycus and maeander valleys, and so to ephesus and smyrna. this was the natural way from any part of central asia minor to syria and egypt, and accordingly we hear of paul and barnabas taking ship at attalia for antioch. originally the port of perga, attalia eclipsed the old pamphylian capital in early christian times and became the metropolis. there are extensive remains of the ancient walls, including some portions which go back to the foundation of the pergamenian city. the most conspicuous monument is the triple gate of hadrian, flanked by a tower built by the empress julia. this lies about half-way round the _enceinte_ and formerly admitted the road from perga. attar [or otto] of roses (pers. _'atar_, essence), a perfume consisting of essential oil of roses, prepared by distilling, or, in some districts, by macerating the flowers. the manufacture is chiefly carried out in india, persia and the balkans; the last named supplying the bulk of the european demand. it is used by perfumery manufacturers as an ingredient. the genuine attar of roses is costly and it is frequently adulterated. attempt (lat. _adtemptare, attentare_, to try), in law, an act done with intent to commit a crime, and forming one of a series of acts which would constitute its actual commission if it were not interrupted. an attempt must proceed beyond mere preparation, but at the same time it must fall short of the ultimate purpose in any part of it. the actual point, however, at which an act ceases to be an attempt, and becomes criminal, depends upon the circumstances of each particular case. a person may be guilty of an attempt to commit a crime, even if its commission in the manner proposed was impossible. every attempt to commit a treason, felony or indictable misdemeanour is in itself an indictable misdemeanour, punishable by fine or imprisonment, unless the attempt to commit is specifically punishable by statute as a felony, or in a defined manner as a misdemeanour; and a person who has been indicted for a felony or misdemeanour may, if the evidence so warrants, be found guilty only of the attempt, provided that it too is a misdemeanour. attention (from lat. _ad-tendo_, await, expect; the condition of being "stretched" or "tense"), in psychology, the concentration of consciousness upon a definite object or objects. the result is brought about, not by effecting any change in the perceptions themselves, but simply by isolating them from other objects. since all consciousness involves this isolation, attention may be defined generally as the necessary condition of consciousness. such a definition, however, throws no light upon the nature of the psychological process, which is partly explained by the general law that the greater the number of objects on which attention is concentrated the less will each receive ("pluribus intentus, minor est ad singula sensus"), and conversely. there are also special circumstances which determine the amount of attention, e.g. influences not subject to the will, such as the vividness of the impression (e.g. in the case of a shock), strong change in pleasurable or painful sensations. secondly, an exercise of volition is employed in fixing the mind upon a definite object. this is a purely voluntary act, which can be strengthened by habit and is variable in different individuals; to it the name "attention" is sometimes restricted. the distinction is expressed by the words "reflex" or "passive," and "volitional" or "active." it is important to notice that in every case of attention to an object, there must be in consciousness an implicit apprehension of surrounding objects from which the particular object is isolated. these objects are known as the "psychic fringe," and are essential to the systematic unity of the attention-process. attempts have been made to examine the attention-process from the physiological standpoint by investigating the muscular and neural changes which accompany it, and even to assign to it a specific local centre. it has, for example, been remarked that uniformity of environment, resulting in practically automatic activity, produces mental equilibrium and the comparative disappearance of attention-processes; whereas the necessity of adapting activity to abnormal conditions produces a comparatively high degree of attention. in other words, attention is absent where there is uniformity of activity in accordance with uniform, or uniformly changing, environment. in spite of the progress made in this branch of study, it has to be remembered that all psycho-physical experiments are to some extent vitiated by the fact that the phenomena can scarcely remain normal under inspection. see g.f. stout, _analytic psychology_ (london, 1896), especially part ii. chap. 2; also psychology, brain, &c.