would result from calculation; the following alloys afford examples of useful character, such as the places of the sun, moon, and planets, the increased and diminished density. Not only are the properties of metals altered by combination, but different proportions of the same metals produce very different alloys. Thus, by combining ninety parts of copper with ten parts of tin, an alloy is obtained of greater density than the mean of the metals, and it is also harder and more fusible than the copper; it is slightly malleable when slowly cooled, but on the contrary when heated to redness, and plunged into cold water, it is very malleable: this compound is known by the name of bronze. If eighty parts of copper be combined with twenty parts of tin, the compound is the extremely sonorous one called bell-metal; an alloy consisting of two-thirds copper and one-third tin, is susceptible of a very fine polish, and is used as speculum metal. It is curious to observe in these alloys, that in bronze, the density and hardness of the denser and harder metal are increased by combining with a lighter and softer one; while, as might be expected, the fusibility of the more refractory metal is increased by uniting with a more fusible In bell-metal, the copper becomes more sonorous by combination with a metal which is less so: these changes are clear indications of chemical action. one. It has been already observed, that the natural alloys, considered as such, are not important bodies; the only one, if indeed that may be so reckoned, is the alloy of iron and nickel, constituting meteoric iron, and of which the knives of the Esquimaux appear to be made. The artificial metallic alloys are of the highest degree of utility: thus, gold is too soft a metal to be used either for the purposes of coin or ornament, it is therefore alloyed with copper; silver, though harder than gold, would also wear too quickly, unless mixed with copper; and copper is improved, both in hardness and colour, by combination with zinc, forming brass. The following, among other useful alloys, will be treated of under their specific names, viz., BELL-METAL, PEWTER, BRASS, BRONZE, GUN, PRINCE'S, SPECULUM, BRITANNIA, and TYPE METAL, GERMAN SILVER, NICKEL SILVER, TUTENAG, and SOLDERS. Other alloys will be described when the more important metal entering into their composition comes under consideration. ALLYL. [ALCOHOLS; ORGANIC RADICALS] ALMACANTER, an Arabic term now disused, but which, with many others, was formerly employed in astronomy. The name is given to all the small circles parallel to the horizon; so that two stars which have the same almacanter, have the same altitude. Almacanter would now be called a circle of altitude, in the same way as a small circle parallel to the equator, all whose points have therefore the same declination, is called a circle of declination. ALMAGEST, a name given by the Arabs to the uμeyáλn σúvragis, or great collection, the celebrated work of Ptolemy, the astronomer of Alexandria. It was translated into Arabic about the year A.D. 827, under the patronage of the Caliph Al Mamun, by the Jew Alhazen ben Joseph, and the Christian Sergius. The word is the Arabic article al prefixed to the Greek word megistus, greatest,' a name probably derived from the title of the work itself, or, as we may judge from the superlative adjective, partly from the estimation in which it was held. ALMANAC. The derivation of this word has given some trouble to grammarians. The most rational derivation appears to us to be from the two Arabic words al, the article, and mana or manah, to count.' An almanac, in the modern sense of the word, is an annual publication, giving the civil divisions of the year, the moveable and other feasts, and the times of the various astronomical phenomena, including in the latter term not only those which are remarkable, such as the eclipses of the moon or sun, but also those of a more ordinary and position of the principal fixed stars, the times of high and low water, and such information relative to the weather as observation has hitherto furnished. The agricultural, political, and statistical information which is usually contained in popular almanacs, though as valuable a part of the work as any, is comparatively of modern date. It is impossible that any country in which astronomy was at all cultivated could be long without an almanac of some species. Accordingly, we find the first astronomers of every age and country employed either in their construction or improvement. The belief in astrology, which has prevailed throughout the East from time immemorial, rendered almanacs absolutely necessary, as the very foundation of the pretended science consisted in an accurate knowledge of the state of the heavens. With the almanacs-if indeed they had them not before -the above-mentioned absurdities were introduced into the west, and strange to say, it is only within the last twenty years that astrological predictions have not been contained in nine almanacs out of ten. It is not known what were the first almanacs published in Europe. That the Alexandrian Greeks constructed them in or after the time of Ptolemæus, appears from an account of Theon, the celebrated commentator upon the Almagest, in a manuscript found by M. Delambre at Paris, in which the method of arranging them is explained, and the proper materials pointed out. It is impossible to suppose that at any period almanacs were uncommon; but in the dearth of books whose names have come down to us, the earliest of which Lalande, an inde fatigable bibliographer, could obtain any notice, are those of Solomon Jarchus, published in and about 1150, and of the celebrated Purbach, published 1450-61. The almanacs of Regiomontanus, said by Bailly, in his History of Astronomy,' to have been the first ever published, but which it might be more correct to say ever printed, appeared between 1475 and 1506, since which time we can trace a continued chain of such productions, of which our limits will not allow us to give even the names of the authors. They may be found in the Bibliographie Astronomique' of Lalande, and in Hutton's Mathematical Dictionary,' article Ephemeris.' The almanacs of Regiomontanus, which simply contained the eclipses and the places of the planets, were sold, it is said, for ten crowns of gold. An almanac for 1442, in manuscript we presume, is preserved in the 'Bibliothèque du Roi,' at Paris. The almanacs of Engel, of Vienna, were published from 1494 to 1500; and those of Bernard de Granolachs, of Barcelona, from about 1487. There are various manuscript almanacs of the 14th century in the libraries of the British Museum, and of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The first astronomical almanacs published in France were those of Duret de Montbrison, in 1637, which series continued till 1700. But there must have been previous publications of some similar description; for, in 1579, an ordonnance of Henry III. forbade all makers of almanacs to prophesy, directly or indirectly, concerning the affairs either of the state or of individuals. In England the royal authority was less rationally employed. James I. granted a monopoly of the trade in almanacs to the universities and the Stationers' Company. The universities however were only passive, having accepted an annuity from their colleagues, and resigned any active exercise of their privilege. In 1775 a blow was struck which demolished the legal monopoly. One Thomas Carnan, a bookseller, whose name deserves honourable remembrance, had some years before detected or presumed the illegality of the exclusive right, and invaded it accordingly. The cause came before the Court of Common Pleas in the year above mentioned, and was there decided against the Company. Lord North, in 1779, brought a bill into the House of Commons to renew and legalise the privilege, but, after an able argument by Erskine in favour of the public, the House rejected the ministerial project by a majority of forty-five. The defeated monopolists managed to regain the exclusive market, by purchasing the works of their competitors. The astrological and other predictions still continued; but it is some extenuation that the public, long used to predictions of the deaths of princes and falls of rain, refused to receive any almanacs which did not contain their favourite absurdities. It is said (Baily, Further Remarks on the Defective State of the Nautical Almanac,' &c., p. 9) that the Stationers' Company once tried the experiment of partially reconciling Francis Moore and common sense, by no greater step than omitting the column of the moon's influence on the parts of the human body, and that most of the copies were returned upon their hands. The British Almanac' was published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in 1828. Its success induced the Stationers' Company to believe that the public would no longer refuse a good almanac because it only predicted purely astronomical phenomena, and they accordingly published the Englishman's Almanac.' We may also add that other almanacs have diminished the quantity and tone of their objectionable parts. But astrology still puts forth a timid voice in the name of Francis Moore; and there are professedly astrological almanacs, which have their purchasers, and probably their believers. Of the professedly astronomical almanacs, the most important in England is the Nautical Almanac,' published by the Admiralty, for the use both of astronomers and seamen. This work was projected by Dr. Maskelyne, then Astronomer Royal, and first appeared in 1767. The employment of lunar distances in finding the longitude, of the efficacy of which method Maskelyne had satisfied himself in a voyage to St. Helena, required new tables, which should give the distances of the moon from the sun and principal fixed stars, for intervals of a few hours at most. By the zeal of Dr. Maskelyne, aided by the government, the project was carried into effect, and it continued under his superintendence for forty-eight years. During this time it received the highest encomiums from all foreign authorities, for which see the French Encyclopédie,' art. ' Almanach,' and the Histories of Montucla and Delambre. From 1774 to 1789 the French Connaissance des Tems' borrowed its lunar distances from the English almanac. On the death of Maskelyne it did not continue to improve, and, without absolutely falling off, was inadequate to the wants either of seamen or astronomers. In consequence of complaints of this work, which were almost universally allowed by astronomers to contain a great deal of truth, the government, in 1830, requested the opinion of the Astronomical Society upon the subject, and the Report of the Committee appointed by that body, which may be found in the fourth volume of their 'Transactions,' is a sufficient proof of the opinion of practical astronomers on the previous state of the work. The alterations proposed by the Society were entirely adopted by the government, and the first almanac containing them was that for 1834. It is now conducted under the superintendence of J. R. Hind, F.R.A.S. The 'Supplements' which it had been customary to publish have been discontinued. The 'Nautical Almanac' is brought out two or three years in advance. This country was forestalled in most of the important changes just mentioned by the Berlin Ephemeris,' published under the superintendence of Professor Encke. Its predecessor, the Astronomisches Jahrbuch,' was conducted for fifty years by the celebrated Bode; and was entirely remodelled by Encke in 1830. Of other works of the same kind, published on the Continent, those of Coimbra and Milan are among the most valuable; the latter was commenced in 1755, by M. de Cæsaris. The oldest national astronomical almanac is the French Connasisance des Tems, published under the superintendence of the Bureau des Longitudes at Paris. It was commenced in 1679 by Picard, and continued by him till 1684. It then passed through the hands of various astronomers till 1760, when the conduct of it was given to Lalande, who, besides other alterations, first introduced the lunar distances, which have been already alluded to. At present the plan is very similar to that of the new Nautical Almanac,' with the addition of very valuable original memoirs which appear yearly. In fact, we may say generally, that the original contributions to the various Continental almanacs are among their most valuable parts; and, as Professor Airy remarks (Reports of the British Association,' &c., p. 128), " In fact nearly all the astronomy of the present century is to be found in these works, that is, in certain periodicals which are mentioned, " or in the 'Ephemerides' of Berlin, Paris, or Milan." The 'British Almanac,' from its commencement, endeavoured to attain somewhat of a similar character, by the issue of a ' Companion to the Almanac,' not confining the subjects to astronomy only, but embracing a variety of scientific and statistical information. The Book of Almanacs,' by A. de Morgan, published in 1851, is furnished "with an Index of Reference by which the almanac may be found for every year up to A.D. 2000, with the means of finding the day of any new or full moon from B.c. 2000 to A.D. 2000;" a useful and valuable work for reference. Next to the 'Nautical Almanac,' ranks, as an astronomical almanac, White's' Ephemeris,' a work nearly as old as the monopoly previously described. For many years past this publication has given astronomical data sufficient to enable the seaman to find his latitude and time. The 'Gentleman's Diary,' commenced in 1741, and the 'Ladies' Diary,' in 1705, powerfully aided in keeping up a mathematical taste, to a certain extent, throughout the country, by annually proposing problems for competition. Several persons who afterwards became celebrated in mathematics, have commenced their career by the solution of these problems. The stamp duty on Almanacs, which, at fifteen-pence per copy, produced on an average about 31,000l. a-year, was repealed by the 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 57, August 13th, 1834. Since that period many important improvements have been effected in almanacs of older standing, and numerous excellent new publications of this class have appeared, many of them at a very low price, which have commanded an extensive sale; but many others of a low and worthless character are also continually springing into existence. A great number of local almanacs, were also called into existence, which in many cases are excellent supplements to the general almanacs of London. ALME, or AL-MAI, that is, the learned,' the name given by the modern Egyptians and Arabs to the singing girls of Egypt. The word alma seems to be corrupted from the Arabic alimeth, the feminine form of the active participle alim, sciens, sapiens. The professional male singers, who are also frequently dancers, are called Alewayeeh. These Almai live together in bands, which are distributed in the various towns, or travel about the country in quest of employment. They are present at festivals and marriages, and other ceremonies. Those who are admitted into the society have generally a fine voice; they learn by heart the best songs on romance and love; and some are able to sing extempore verses, after the manner of the Italian improvisatori. They are admitted into the harems of the great, where they instruct the women in dancing and singing, or amuse them by reciting poems. ARTS AND SCI DIV. VOL. I. They excel in singing pathetic ballads: dwelling upon plaintive tones, they inspire a feeling of melancholy, which, insensibly increasing, draws tears from the eyes. The Turks, enemies as they are to the arts, pass whole nights in listening to them. The Almai also accompany funerals, at which they sing dirges, and utter groans and lamentations, like the Præfice of Sardinia, Corsica, and other European countries. The higher and more accomplished class of the Almai attend none but wealthy people, and their price is high. The common people however have also their Almai, who try to imitate the superior class, but have neither their elegance, grace, nor knowledge. They are seen everywhere; the public squares and the walks round Cairo abound with them. Their morals are as licentious as their songs. Although there are Almai in Syria and other parts of the Ottoman empire, yet Egypt seems to have been at all times their favourite and, as it were, their native country. The Almai have been not unfrequently confounded with the Ghawazee, or dancing girls of Egypt; but though some of the lower class of Almai may sometimes dance, the professions are distinct. The Ghawazee are accustomed to perform in the public streets; they are never admitted into a respectable harem, but are not unfrequently hired to entertain parties of dissolute men. They dance unveiled, with little grace; but the suppleness of their bodies is very great, as well as the flexibility and expression of their features, and the indecency of their attitudes is excessive. They, as a class, are among the most abandoned of the courtesans of Egypt; but in 1834 the government interfered, and public female dancing was prohibited; the punishment for infringing the regulation was, for the first offence, fifty stripes, and for subsequent offences, imprisonment with hard labour. Men committing a similar offence were to be punished by the bastinado. It is feared however, that this law, though well intended, may be, and is, too frequently and too easily evaded. The Bayaderes of India combine, to some extent, the characteristics of the Almai and Ghawazee. (Savary, Letters on Egypt; Lane's Modern Egyptians; Mrs. Poole's Englishwoman in Egypt.) ALMONER, anciently written Amner, was an officer in a king's, prince's, prelate's, or other great man's household, whose business it was to distribute alms to the poor. Previous to the Dissolution, every great monastery in England had its almoner. The almoner of the king of France was styled his Grand Aumonier, and there was a similar office at a very early period attached to the household of the popes. 'Fleta,' a juridical treatise of the time of Edward I., describes the duties of the high almoner as they then stood in England. He was to collect the fragments of the royal table, and distribute them daily to the poor; to visit the sick, poor widows, prisoners, and other persons in distress; he reminded the king about the bestowal of his alms, especially on saints'-days; and was careful that the cast-off robes, which were often of high price, should not be bestowed on players, minstrels, or flatterers, but their value given to increase the king's charity. In modern times, the office of lord high almoner has been long held by the archbishops of York. There is also a sub-almoner. The hereditary grand-almoner is the Marquis of Exeter. An account of the lord almoner's annual distribution in the sovereign's name, on the Thursday before Easter, will be found under MAUNDY THURSDAY. There is an office at Westminster appropriated to the business of the almonry. Ducange in his 'Glossary,' gives other meanings of the word almoner. It was sometimes used for those who distributed the legacies of others, and who have been since called executors; sometimes for a person who had left alms to the poor; and sometimes for the poor upon whom the alms were bestowed. The 'eleemosynarii regis,' or persons who were supported by the king's bounty, occasionally noticed in the Domesday Survey, were of this last description. Almoner is a name also given in ecclesiastical writers to the deacons of churches. ALMS-HOUSE, an edifice, or collection of tenements, endowed, generally, by private benevolence, with a revenue for the maintenance of a certain number of poor, aged, or disabled people. England is the only country which possesses alms-houses in abundance, though many such exist in Italy. In England they appear to have succeeded the incorporated hospitals for the relief of poor and impotent people, which were dissolved by King Henry VIII. ALOES.-Medical Properties of.-Though known to the ancients and largely used in modern times, the sources of this drug are not accurately determined. It seems better to follow the plan of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia,' and assign it to an undetermined species of the genus Aloe. Barbadoes aloes would appear to be procured from the A. vulgaris, a plant native of Greece, and which furnished the aloes of the ancients, and which is now cultivated in the West Indies, as well as Spain, Italy, and Sicily, from which latter countries France and other Continental nations, but not Britain, are often supplied. This plan seems the more judicious, as the commercial varieties, however designated, or whencesoever derived, are to be found of nearly every degree of excellence or worthlessness, if care be not taken in the mode of obtaining the article. Sir W. O'Shaughnessy, whose position in the East gives him good opportunities of observing, states, in his‘Bengal Dispensatory,' that "the quality of the product is apparently more dependent on soil, climate, and preparation, than on specific differences in the plant." Not only has Barbadoes aloes become less valuable from changes in the mode of collection, but even the real Socotorine aloes has become deteriorated, from any person in the island of Socotra being at liberty to cut as many leaves of the now neglected plant as he pleases, and prepare it in any way he likes, instead of the care formerly bestowed on it. Formerly every part of the island produced the aloe; and the whole was farmed out to different individuals, the produce being monopolised at a fixed price by the Sultan. The boundaries, however, thus set up, which consisted of loose stone walls, and were carried with immense labour over hill and dale, though they still remain, under the present unsettled government no longer distinguish property. The descendants of the owners to whom the several fields were formerly allotted, have either withdrawn their claims, or these are forgotten. At present, any one who chooses to take the trouble, collects the aloe-leaves, and nothing is levied on account of the Sultan." (Lieut. Wellsted, ' Memoir on the Island of Socotra,' in 'Journal of Royal Geogr. Society,' vol. v. p. 197.) In the language of the island the aloe is called Tayef; by the Arabs, Soobah. Though this island possesses plants sufficient to yield nearly all the aloes required in commerce, very little is now obtained from it; and what passes under the name of Socotorine aloes is almost entirely the best East Indian sort, as is rendered further evident by its being exported from Bombay. When one source of any article of commerce is dried up, it is the custom of the dealers to bestow the name of the sort in greatest repute on the best they possess; meaning, not that it is the produce of the place the name of which it bears, but that it possesses the qualities of the kind originally obtained from that part. Alterations in commerce, dependent on a variety of causes, are constantly rendering implicit reliance on names a very unsafe guide. Attention to the mode of extracting the juice might render aloes, whencesoever procured, of excellent quality; but it will be seen presently how little the ordinary methods are calculated to ensure this end, quantity rather than quality being aimed at by the preparers. The aloe, like the hyacinth and many other liliaceous plants, contains a vast quantity of a mucilaginous matter (vegetable albumen ?), more abundant towards the centre of the thick fleshy leaves than near the surface. The medicinal juice is altogether different from this, and is contained in a distinct set of vessels (Opangia, Link; Opophora, vasa lactifera), which are distributed chiefly under the thick cuticle of the leaves. Out of these vessels the juice sometimes exudes, either from turgescence or from the punctures of insects, and concretes into tears, forming that variety of aloes called Aloe lucida, seen occasionally as a curiosity, but not met with as a commercial article. (The term A. lucida is applied by Geiger and Theod. Martius to fine Cape aloes, but it is quite distinct from that now spoken of.) If transverse but not deep incisions were made at various points and at proper distances in the course of the leaves while yet attached to the stem, much fine aloes could be procured by scraping off the juice from time to time as it flows, or allowing it to become concrete and then picking it off. The general practice, however, is to cut off the leaves near the base, and put their open ends into a skin, into which the juice flows. This is afterwards inspissated, either by spontaneous evaporation in the sun, or promoted by a gentle heat. Pressure of the leaves is sometimes made to assist the flow, but by this means "large quantities of viscid mucilage are forced out, and mix with the proper bitter juice, which is proportionately deteriorated." (O'Shaughnessy.) Dipping the leaves into hot water, by which their vitality is lessened or destroyed, and their hygroscopicity diminished, is equally objectionable, as the viscid mucilage then flows out more freely. Worst of all is the plan now, but not formerly, pursued in Barbadoes. Barbadoes aloes of the present day is the extract of a decoction. "It is made by immersing for ten minutes in boiling water the chopped leaves previously enclosed in cloths or wicker baskets, increasing the strength of the decoction with repeated supplies of chopped leaves till the water is fully charged; then allowing the liquor to cool and the sediment to settle; and finally evaporating the clear liquor with caution till it is concentrated sufficiently to become solid on cooling. The hot liquor is allowed to concrete in large gourd-shells, in which it is always transported to Europe." (Christison.) From these different plans of collecting and inspissating the juice, results an article which differs considerably in appearance and greatly in value. Aloes is one of the few drugs in which adulteration is not extensively practised, further than by substituting the inferior and low-priced kinds for the superior. When carelessly prepared, sand and fragments of leaves and skins are frequently found in the samples. brown, the residuum greater, and consisting of more of the flocculent matter, as well as incidental impurities. In regard to the amount of insoluble matter, Barbadoes aloes contains the most, varying from 5 to 12 per cent.; and it is much more difficult to reduce to powder, as the mode of obtaining it explains. The chief varieties go by the name of-Socotorine; East Indian, called also frequently hepatic; and Cape aloes (Aloe lucida of Geiger and Theod. Martius), also called A. Cabo. Innumerable subvarieties of these are found. Caballine, or horse aloes, has nearly disappeared from commerce, refinement or fashion in veterinary medicine deeming it not fit for horses. Barbadoes aloes comes to this country in the gourds and calabashes into which it is poured when prepared. Each of these weighs from sixty to even eighty pounds. When broken, the fracture is sometimes conchoidal, seldom lustrous, and having a more liver-like aspect, better entitling it to the designation of hepatic, by which it is frequently called, than any of the others. The chief chemical constituents of aloes are aloesin (or the saponaceous principle); resin; vegetable albumen, absent from, the best kinds; gallic acid, a trace according to Trommsdorff; aloetic acid, according to Pereira. Aloes is however of rather a more complex nature than appears from this view. Aloesin, or aloe-bitter, is entirely soluble in cold water, but not in absolute alcohol. When hot water is used, something is taken up, which is deposited as the water cools: to this the name of resin has been given, perhaps not with perfect propriety. The aloesin is looked upon as the cathartic principle of aloes, the resin rather as an irritant and objectionable ingredient. Hence in some of the Pharmacopoeias' an extract is ordered to accomplish their separation; a proceeding altogether unnecessary, when aloes of the best quality can be obtained by giving a proper price for it. The formation of a decoction by heat is still more objectionable, as a much superior preparation is made by cold water alone, more grateful to the stomach and not less effective if given in rather larger dose. 6 Few more valuable drugs exist, as is proved by the numerous preparations made either of aloes alone, or with some other articles combined with it. These combinations have various objects in view, some to heighten its powers, others to modify, and some to get rid of certain well-founded objections to its effects. The chief of these are noticed here. In large doses it is decidedly aperient, but is unlike many other cathartics in so far that increasing the dose beyond a certain point by no means increases the effect. This can be accomplished however by associating it with other cathartics, and still more decidedly by uniting it with tonics, such as iron or quinia. Aloes and quinia with antimonial powder, and aromatic powder to cover the unpleasant taste, form a combination of great utility in many gastric derangements, especially where the head is implicated. Thus, when persons are so fortunate as to be rallying from the stage of collapse in Asiatic cholera, this combination given frequently improves the secretions and abates the fever. In some fevers with numerous liquid motions it may also be given with striking benefit, the motions diminishing in frequency and increasing in solidity, as well as becoming of a more healthy appearance. In the congested state of the bowels and brain which precedes water in the brain, aloes, either in this combination or in some other form, is of great utility. (Yeats On Water on the Brain.') Persons predisposed to apoplexy are more benefited by aloes than by most other purgatives, especially if they have been previously subject to a hæmorrhoidal flux which has been suppressed. The combination which increases the purgative power of aloes in the most remarkable degree is formed by adding one drop of strong (undiluted) sulphuric acid to four grains of the best aloes, and forming a pill, two of which, given every two, four, or six hours, will almost invariably relieve the most obstinate cases of constipation, such as occur in painters' cholic, ileus, and other diseases. It is even more efficacious than croton-oil, and not so apt to excite inflammation of the intestines. This augmentation of power seems to be in conformity with a general law, by which many vegetable principles have their properties heightened by adding an acid, either mineral or vegetable. Thus ammoniacum becomes a more powerful expectorant by adding dilute nitric acid to the mistura ammoniaci; and the fœtid gums, such as assafoetida, are rendered more potent by solution in vinegar. (Acetum Antihystericum,' formula No. 1, in Copland's 'Dictionary of Medicine.') Aloes, especially the compound decoction, is a most valuable emmenagogue, particularly when combined with tincture of ergot or preparations of iron. From its action on the lower part of the bowels is deemed an improper purgative in pregnancy or during the menstrual flux. It is also considered improper for persons subject to piles. This objection has been attempted to be obviated by various means; but the best way is to combine it with other agents, as stated pill, or compound extract of colocynth, who cannot take aloes alone. The best means of covering the unpleasant taste of aloes, when given in the liquid form, is the compound tincture of lavender. ALOETIC ACID (HO, Ĉ1H2(NO,),O, Aq. ?), a resinoid acid, found by Schunck in the products of the action of nitric acid upon extract of aloes. It forms red salts. ALÖIN. (C, H,,O,.?) Stenhouse obtained this substance from A few of the most important sorts found in commerce may be noticed. The finest sort, to which the term Socotorine aloes is given, can scarcely be regarded as one of daily occurrence, and is noticed merely as a standard of excellence by which to judge of others accord-it ing to the degrees in which they approximate it. "It consists of small angular fragments, possessing a deep garnet-red colour, altered somewhat by exposure to the air; a conchoidal fracture, a resinous lustre, much translucency in thin layers, a beautiful garnet-red hue by trans-by Dr. Christison, as many persons can take the compound gamboge mitted light, and a peculiarly fragrant odour. It is brittle, easily pulverisable, and of a fine golden-yellow tint when in powder. It is almost entirely soluble in spirit of the density of 950°, a very scanty light flocculent matter being left." (Christison.) As specimens decline from this unusually high standard, the lustre diminishes, the fracture is rougher, the odour less pleasant, the solubility less, they are not so readily pulverisable, the powder is of a deeper colour, inclining to 18 14 the cold aqueous extract of Barbadoes aloes by evaporation in vacuo. It is deposited in coloured granular crystals, which after pressure between folds of bibulous paper, recrystallisation from water, drying at a temperature not exceeding 150°, and final recrystallisation from alcohol, present the appearance of groups of pale yellow needles. Alöin is the active purgative principle of aloes. It is neutral to test papers, possesses an intensely bitter taste, and is rapidly changed at 212°. Caustic and carbonated alkalies dissolve it, forming orangecoloured solutions. Cape and Socotrine aloes also yield alöin, but it is more difficult to purify when prepared from these varieties. ALONSINE, or ALPHONSINE, TABLES, an astronomical work, which appeared in the year 1252, under the patronage of Alonzo X., in the first year of his reign. They contain the places of the fixed stars, and all the methods and tables then in use for the computation of the places of the planets; but they are not made from original observations, nor is there any material difference between the astronomy contained in them and that of Ptolemy, except in two points. The length of the year is supposed to be 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds; which is a more correct value than had been given before, being only 26 seconds over the best modern determinations. The mean precession of the equinoxes is stated at half its real amount; being such as would carry the equinoctial points round the circumference of the globe in 49,000 years. An inequality, however, is supposed, having a period of 7000 years, by which the mean precession is alternately augmented and retarded 18 degrees. It is difficult to say whence a theory so utterly at variance with the phenomena could be derived. The general opinion is, that these tables were constructed by Isaac Ben Said, a Jew, but others suppose that Al Cabit and Aben Ragel, the preceptors of Alonzo, were the real superintendents. The numbers above cited, in speaking of the precession, have been supposed from their connection with the number 7, and the difficulty of accounting for them otherwise, to have been the ideas of a Jew. These tables are constructed for the meridian of Toledo, and the epoch 1256. They were not held in much esteem by succeeding astronomers. Regiomontanus says, "beware lest you trust too much to blind calculation and Alphonsine dreams." And Tycho Brahé, who reports that 400,000 ducats had been spent upon them, laments that this sum had not been employed in actual observation of the heavens. A full account of their contents may be seen in Delambre, 'Hist. de l'Ast. du Moyen Age,' p. 248. Till the time of Copernicus and Tycho Brahé they continued in general use, being in truth, with some modifications, a body of Ptolemæan astronomy. They were first printed in 1483 by the celebrated Ratdolt of Venice. A copy of this editio princeps is in the Royal Library at Paris. There have been several subsequent editions. ALPACA-WOOL. The natural history of the Alpaca, or Paco, has been treated under LLAMA, in the DIVISION of NATURAL HISTORY; we here notice only the application of the wool to manufactures. and tenderness. Mr. Walton asserts that they will live where our hardiest sheep would starve, and that the wildest parts of Great Britain are best suited to their habits. In the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society,' 1844, there is an account, by Mr. Stirling, of the attempt at that time being made to introduce the alpaca into Scotland. During the severe winter of 1843-4, when sheep required to be regularly fed with turnips and hay, the alpacas perseveringly sought their own food, and did not experience a single day's illness. Mr. Stirling says that they were kept within enclosures better than sheep, and never attempted to leap a fence. In 1841 the Highland and Agricultural Society offered their gold medal for 'a satisfactory account, founded on actual observation and experiment, of the attempt to naturalise the alpaca in Scotland;' and in 1844 a prize was offered by the Society for the best pair of alpacas born and bred in Scotland, and the best two, male and female, imported. If, as Mr. Walton states, the alpaca may be pastured on lands which are now waste and unprofitable, and where the hardiest sheep would starve, the naturalisation of the animal would undoubtedly prove a great national benefit;' but if this is not the case, it is a question whether a constant demand for the wool as an article of import would not be quite as beneficial. The Peruvians would be induced to bestow greater care on the management of their flocks, and the possession of so valuable an export would bring them under influences of a civilising nature, which would render them better customers for our commodities. The expense of importing the alpaca is very great, and the long voyage kills more than two-thirds of the number shipped. Some of the Australian sheep-farmers are now (1859) making renewed attempts to naturalise the alpaca in that country. Alpaca is now used to a remarkable extent in manufactures. Umbrellas, paletôts, and various articles and garments are made of it: as it presents a sort of compound of the qualities of silks and woollens. Mr. Titus Salt, of Bradford, has built one of the largest and most magnificent factories in the world, chiefly for the production of textile goods made wholly or partially of alpaca; nearly half a million sterling has been spent in the various buildings, dwellings, and machinery. The establishment almost constitutes a town in itself, and has been fancifully named Saltaire, by a combination of the name of the owner with that of the river, on the banks of which the factory stands. The late Earl of Derby's ménagerie at Knowsley, sold by auction in October, 1851, contained eleven alpacas, which were born and bred on the estate. ALPHABET is the name given to the series of letters used in different countries at different times. The term is borrowed from the Greek language, in which alpha, beta, are the first two letters; or if we go a step further back, we should derive the word from the Hebrew, which gives to the corresponding letters the names aleph, beth. Thus the formation of the word is precisely analogous to that of our familiar expression, the A, B, C; and some writers have found a similar origin for the Latin name given to the letters, namely, elementa, which it must be allowed, bears an extraordinary similarity in sound to the three liquids, l, m, n; but to make this derivation satisfactory, it should be proved that these letters were at one time the leaders of the alphabet, for otherwise it would be difficult to account for the selection of a name from them in preference to the rest. The introduction of this wool has attracted considerable attention; and the question of naturalising the alpaca in this country, in Germany, and in Australia, is also an object of much interest. The wool of the alpaca is superior to English wool in length, softness and pliability. The fleece averages from 10 to 12 lbs., while that of our sheep is seldom more than 8 lbs.; and while the staple of English wool does not often exceed six inches in length, that of the alpaca varies from eight to twelve inches. The lustrous appearance of the alpaca wool renders it applicable to many of the purposes for which silk is usually employed in textile fabrics; and it is found a useful substitute for Angora wool. The manufacture of plain and figured stuffs from the fleece of the alpaca was commenced at Bradford in Yorkshire, a number of years ago, and these fabrics have been much admired. The consumption of alpaca wool in this country in the seven years ending December, 1843, is estimated by Mr. Walton at 12,000,000 lbs. ; it has since largely increased. Towards the close of 1844 five different articles were manufactured at Bradford for her Majesty, from the wool of an alpaca which had been kept at Windsor. The fleece weighed 16 lbs., and when sorted and combed 10 lbs., including 1 lb. of white wool, the remainder being almost entirely jet black. One of the articles manu-presenting to our ears. By his powers of articulation man could factured was an apron, in which the wool of the alpaca, without the admixture of any other wool, was used for the first time in this country; for though very large quantities have been woven at Bradford, it has usually been in fabrics where the warp was of cotton or some other material, and the weft only of alpaca. Three of the other articles manufactured for her Majesty were a striped and figured dress; the warp consisting of rose-coloured silk, and the weft of black alpaca with figures on alternate grounds of alpaca and silk. This dress, which measured 12 yards, required 21 lbs. of alpaca. A plaid dress, measuring 15 yards, and containing 2 lbs. of alpaca, was woven with an intermixture of silk and worsted. Another article was a plain black alpaca lustre dress, the warp of fine cotton twist, and the weft of alpaca. This required 3 lbs. of alpaca, and when taken from the loom it resembled silk from its lustrous quality, and was of course much softer. The question of naturalising the alpaca has been taken up with great enthusiasm by a few persons; but very little progress has yet been made in convincing the country of its practicability. The alpaca inhabits the mountainous and inhospitable regions of Peru, and is remarkable for its abstemiousness. It thrives on coarse food. Those which have been brought to this country have been confined in parks and richly cultivated lands, and have been treated with too much care Among the different causes which have promoted the civilisation of man, there is none, we might almost say, which has been so fruitful as the invention of the alphabet; and the very circumstance of the invention being essential to this effect, and therefore preceding it, has made it a task of some difficulty to point out the mode in which the discovery was made, for historical evidence upon such a point must be very imperfect. The present age however has nearly surmounted this difficulty, and we begin to see pretty clearly at least how the discovery might have been made, perhaps how it actually was made. Oral language itself, we might almost infer a priori, originated in an attempt to imitate, by the organs of the human voice, those different sounds which nature, in her animate and inanimate forms, is constantly imitate those sounds at pleasure, and thus recall to the minds of those around him the notion of absent objects and past actions with which the sounds were connected. Thus, in its various forms and combination the single principle of sound would afford a vast number of symbols which might be made to represent, at first, the material objects of nature, or the action of those objects upon one another. The transference of these signs from particular objects, that make an impression on the ear, to the expression of abstract qualities, would be governed by the same principles of association. That such must have been the origin of spoken language, reason would seem to point out, and the historical investigation of the subject strongly confirms the theory. On the other hand, the language which takes the eye for its channel of communication with the mind, would in its first steps be more direct and more simple. The objects of nature and many of the external relations between them were easily represented to the eye with more or less rudeness, by a stick upon sand, and by many other means of graphic imitation which even the savage may command. Yet when we compare these two modes of language with one another, we shall soca perceive that sound is a more convenient medium of ordinary communication, if it be only for the reason that the voice is ever with us, and that the ear is ready to receive impressions from 231 are, never cease. in aid. ALPHABET. A deaf and dumb every direction, above, below, and around us. savage who should wish to depict to a friend an object upon the sand must first catch the attention of his companion by the sense of touch, just as in modern manufactories where the speaking-pipe is used, a bell is attached to it, the ringing of which first directs the party who is to be addressed to apply his ear to the other extremity of the pipe. The result of a comparison then between these two forms of language may, perhaps, be fairly stated thus. The language of pictorial symbols is more easily invented and understood at first. The other, when once invented and understood, is better adapted for the ordinary uses of life. The difficulty of invention, however, is a difficulty that occurs but once; the difficulties in the after use of the language, such as they In the last place, sound travels without the aid of light. It is therefore natural to conceive that oral language would approach a comparatively perfect form with much greater rapidity than that which addresses itself to the eye. At the same time the two forms of language might well be used to some extent simultaneously, as indeed is even now not unfrequently the case-gesture being called But the time would soon come when it would be desirable to record for a shorter or longer time the acts and thoughts and commands and duties of man; and here the language of the voice would utterly fail, while the other might ensure a continuance of existence, depending upon the nature of the material on which the representation might be made. In less than a second the sound of the human voice dies away, but the picture even on the sea-sand lasts until the next tide washes it away; the waxen tablet would preserve its characters long enough for the purposes of epistolary communication; the papyrus, the cloth of linen and cotton, the bark of trees, the harder woods, the skins of animals, would retain the impressions upon them for centuries; and lastly, bricks, and stone, and metal, under favourable circumstances, might convey their records to a posterity of many thousand years. Now, to represent visible actions and visible objects would, as we have already stated, be an easy affair, and the signs for abstract qualities might be obtained, as in sounds, upon the principle of association. But instead of forming a new series of associations, which would not easily become generally intelligible, it would no doubt be found more convenient occasionally to turn to account the already existing language of sound. A few examples may perhaps explain our meaning. Visible objects, in the first place, may be directly represented. No pictorial symbol of an ox can so readily convey that notion to the mind as the representation of the animal itself, or, in order to save time, that part of the animal which is most characteristic of it might, and would, be selected; in the present case we should propose the head of the animal with its horns. To signify a visible action, such as fighting, we should, perhaps, avail ourselves of the fist, as the natural organ for that purpose belonging to man, following therein the same direct principle of association which has formed the Latin word pugnare, to fight, from the element pugnus, or rather pug, a fist. In this way we should form a series of symbols altogether independent of the language of sound; but we repeat, it would often be more convenient to make the language of visible signs in part dependent upon the oral symbols. This may be most simply effected by what is in fact a species of punning: If, for instance, a symbol were required of an Englishman for the abstract notion of friendship, he might employ the two separate signs for a friend and a ship; the first of which we will suppose to be two hands clasped, the other, of course, a hull with a mast and enough rigging to distinguish it from other objects. We should thus have two pictorial symbols, which would separately excite in the mind first the notions, and then the oral names of friend and ship, and the combinations of these sounds would recall that new notion, for which the articulate sounds of the word friendship are already the conventional symbol. Books of amusement for children, as is well known, have been formed upon this principle; for example, such a sentence as-I saw a boy swallow a gooseberry, might be representented by uniting the pictures of an eye, a saw, a boy, a swallow, a goose, and a berry. So far we have only considered what the origin of written language might have been. The records still existing of the Egyptians have enabled modern discoverers to deduce with an evidence closely The hieroglyphic approaching to certainty what it actually was. characters of Egypt bear upon the very face of them decided proof that they are in their origin pictorial emblems; and that they constitute a language, appears incontrovertibly from the triple Rosetta inscription, the Greek version of which expressly affirms, that the decree contained in the inscription was ordered to be written in three different characters; the sacred letters, the letters of the country, and the Greek. The second of these classes has been called the enchorial, from the Greek term (exwpios) signifying of the country, or else demotic (onμoTikos) that is, of the people. But although the hieroglyphic characters may be for the most part pictorial emblems used directly for the objects which they represent, or metaphorically for other associated ideas, it has been established by most satisfactory evidence, that they were also in some cases representatives of articulate sound, not, however, of the whole oral name belonging to their original object, but solely of the initial letter, or perhaps syllable. This use of the sacred pictorial characters as symbols of sound was perhaps origiSuch, for instance, nally confined to the expression of proper names. is their use in the hieroglyphic division of the Rosetta inscription for ALPHABET. mouse. the name of Ptolemy and in another inscription for that of Cleopatra. The |