is assimilated to the following consonant, so that, e.g., el-shams (the sun) becomes esh-shams; and again, the initial vowel is frequently elided, when the word preceding the vowel ends in a vowel, eg., Abu-l-Feda for Abu-al-Fedu. The essential element of the article is the 1, which belongs to the category of natural sounds having a demonstrative force. The Arabic article appears in such English words as algebra, alchemy, alcove, and Alhambra, which are directly derived from the Arabic. ALABAMA. A river formed by the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, about 10 miles north of Montgomery, Ala. (Map: Alabama, B 4). Its general course is westward to Selma, thence south-westward to about 50 miles north of Mobile, where it meets the Tombigbee, and with that stream forms the Mobile River. It is 320 miles long, and navigable from its mouth to Montgomery, nearly its entire length. ALABAMA, àl'à-bäʼmå, known as the "COTTON STATE." One of the Gulf States of the American Union, situated between lat. 30° 10′ and 35° N., long. 84° 53′ and 88° 30′ W. It is bounded on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Georgia, on the south by Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, on the west by Mississippi; length, about 336 miles from north to south; average width, 175 miles; total area, 52,250 square miles, of which 710 square miles is water (Map: United States, J 4). Alabama, by the census of 1960, ranks as the eighteenth State in the Union in population, the twenty-seventh in size, and ninth in order of admission. TOPOGRAPHY. The southern extremity of the Appalachian mountain system extends into the State from northern Georgia in a series of low parallel ranges. Of these, Raccoon and Lookout mountains are the most prominent, but do not attain any great elevation. They are flat-topped ridges, about 1600 feet in elevation at the Georgia line, gradually lowering to the westward, the Raccoon Mountains extending in a very low range (called Sand Mountains) well across the State, while the Lookout Mountains terminate abruptly after reaching a distance of about 60 miles within the State. To the southeast of these ranges lies the comparatively level Piedmont region. To the southwest, at the very terminus of the mountain system, is the low-lying Cumberland plateau-the coal-fields of Alabama. On the north of all these are the lower lands of the Tennessee valley. The whole region just described includes the northeast two-fifths of the State. The remainder, the southwest three-fifths of the State, constitutes the coastal plain, which slopes gradually from an elevation of about 600 feet to sea level. CLIMATE AND SOIL. Excepting in the lowland along the rivers, the climate is very healthful, particularly in the north. Extremes of temperature are rare, the mean temperature for January being 42.9° and for July 83.9°. The summer heat is tempered by winds from the gulf. Snow falls occasionally in January and February, but rarely in the south; the frost limits at Montgomery are October 10 and April 25. The prevailing winds for the whole year are from the south and southwest. The average temperature and rainfall in the north are 59.70° and 54 inches respectively, gradually increasing to 66.60° and 63 inches in the south. The valley of the Tennessee has chiefly a deep VOL. 1.-18. red calcareous soil, utilized for the cultivation of cereals; that in the metamorphic region is a red or gray loam with clay subsoil; in the coal regions it is sandy, with sand or clay subsoil; the north or middle divisions are bordered by a wide belt of red or yellow loam over stratified rocks and pebbles, and are heavily wooded; the cotton belt has a heavy black calcareous soil from two to twenty feet deep, forming a portion of the so-called "black belt" of the Southern States. South of this, brown and red clay loams predominate. In the extreme southern counties the soil is light and sandy. Swamp land occupies considerable areas in various parts of the State. GEOLOGY. The stratified rocks represent every formation occurring in the Appalachian region. There are three geological divisions of Alabama, namely: The northern, containing most of the State north and west of a line from the northeast corner of the State through Birmingham nearly to Tuscaloosa, and including the great Tennessee valley, in which the rock masses belong to the Sub-carboniferous lime-stones and the Coal measures; their strata are approximately horizontal. Adjoining this on the east is the middle region, bounded by a line drawn from Tuscaloosa through Centreville, Clanton, and Wetumpka to Columbus, Ga. This includes (1) the metamorphic region, with altered and crystalline sediments of Silurian or preceding ages-quartzites, marbles, granites, and gneisses; the strata in many places disintegrated into masses of stratified clay and interlaminated with quartz seams. (2) The Coosa valley, with prevailing calcareous rocks. (3) The Coosa and Cahaba coal fields, their strata consisting of sandstones, conglomerates, shales, and coal beds, tilted and unequally de-graded. This division contains some of the highest land in the State. The southern division, south and west of these limits, including the cotton belts, consists largely of drift deposits irregularly stratified over the eroded surface of Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks. Clark County, between the Alabama and Tombigbee, is rich in fossil remains of Cretaceous and Tertiary age. MINERAL RESOURCES. The southern limit of the mineral region may be indicated by a line passing through Pikeville, Tuscaloosa, and Wetumpka to Columbus, Ga. Within this area are the comparatively insignificant gold deposits of Randolph County, and three fields of bituminous coal over 8660 square miles in extent, named from the rivers that drain them-the Warrior, the Cahaba, and the Coosa. Cannel, free-burning, lump, coking, gas, and other coals of superior quality are found. There are extensive beds of iron ore, including red hematite, limonite, black-band, drift, magnetic, and specular; and the Choccolocco, Anniston, Coosa, Cahaba, Birmingham, and other valleys are noted for the abundance of their iron ore. Among other mineral products are asbestos, asphalt, copper, corundum, emery, fire-clay, graphite, granite, lithographic stone, manganese, white and variegated marble, marl, red ochre, phosphates, bauxite, pottery and porcelain clays, salt (in the southwest), slate, soapstone, and small amounts of silver and tin. Natural gas has also been discovered, but the supply is inconsiderable. Mining. It is not until recent years that the great mineral resources of the State have been extensively exploited. This recent growth of the mining industry has been largely responsible for the quickening of the general industrial life of the State, and the creation of a most optimistic spirit concerning her future industrial progress. Coal and iron are the leading minerals, and the immediate proximity of these constitutes an advantage not enjoyed in the more extensively developed iron mining districts of Lake Superior. The industry has attained its greatest development in the Birmingham region. The value of bituminous coal mined in the State rose from $2,500,000 in 1886 to $5,000,000 in 1898 and $10,000,000 in 1900. This gave the State fifth rank in the amount and sixth rank in the value of the output. A large portion of the coal is used in the manufacture of coke, the State taking third rank in the production of that article. The growth of iron mining has been no less striking. In 1880 there were 171,000 long tons mined; in 1889, 1,570,000 tons; and in 1899, 2,662,000 tons, the value for the latter year being $2,600,000, and ranking the State next to Michigan and Minnesota in importance. Seyenty-two per cent. of the product is red hematite and 28 per cent. brown hematite. Virginia alone produces a larger amount of the latter variety of ore. Limestone is quarried extensively, and most of it is burned into lime or used as a flux. The average annual value for the last decade was about $300,000. Bauxite is mined in Cherokee County, and graphite in Cleburne County. Building clays, sandstone, and mineral springs are each of some commercial value in the State. FISHERIES. Owing to the limited coast line of the State, its sea fisheries are of less importance than those of the other Gulf States. The industry gives employment to less than a thousand men, and the value of the product is only about $150,000. AGRICULTURE. Agriculture is the leading industry of the State, but it is not keeping pace with the other rapidly developing industries or with the increase of population. Agriculture received a decided setback from the Civil War, and has not yet completely adjusted itself to the new industrial régime. The acreage of farm land and the percentage of improved land (about 40 per cent.) are but little larger than they were in 1860, while the valuation of farm land and the amount and value of almost every kind of farm property and produce is less than it was in 1860. The old plantation system of large farms, whose cultivation was carried on under the direction of the owner, has given way to a system of small rented farms. The average size of farms, which was 347 acres in 1860, has decreased about 60 per cent., and the rented farms constitute almost half of the entire number-both methods of renting, that for a fixed money payment and that for a share of the product, being equally in vogue. The farm land is still held by a comparatively few individuals, a considerable proportion of whom are representative of the merchant class. The holdings are divided into convenient portions, and the negro renter receives a meagre supply of farm equipments, upon which, as also upon the prospective crop, the merchant holds a lien. The negro becomes the customer of the merchant and can seldom catch up with his obligations. The merchant finds his rent most certain and his sale of provisions greatest when the renter confines himself largely to the cultivation of cotton, which he willingly does, and thus cotton remains king. The continuous planting of this crop before the war, as well as since that time, has resulted in the ex haustion of a naturally fertile soil. While cotton is grown in most parts of the State, much the greater portion is raised in the "cotton belt," a narrow strip of black prairie land extending east and west across the State in the latitude of Montgomery. Alabama usually ranks fourth in the value of her cotton product. Corn is next in importance, and its acreage is almost equal to that of cotton, but the product is of much less value. Oats are the only crop that has experienced a remarkable increase in culti vation-an increase about commensurate with the decrease in the cultivation of wheat, which has become relatively unimportant, though the past decade has witnessed a revival. These and small quantities of other cereals are grown most extensively in the "cereal belt," or the valley of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the State. This valley is also very favorable for the raising of apples and other fruits, the mountains on either side giving protection from the heat of the south and the winds of the north. Peanuts are raised in the southeast. The State takes a high rank in the production of peaches as well as melons. Cowpease, sweet potatoes, and sugar cane are extensively grown throughout the State. of the sugar cane in recent years is manufactured into molasses. There is much barren waste land in the mountain regions of the north, while forests still cover the greater portion of the southern end of the State. Cotton being the predominant crop, the conditions are not favorable for the extensive raising of stock. Such as is raised goes to supply the local needs. The following tables indicate the trend of the agricultural industry: 1900 Horses. 133,500 132,300 1890 1900 Most 231,800 279,000 1,866,000 171,800 121,200 134,800 97,000 292,000 486,500 1,421,800 386,000 There is to-day evidence of a growing sentiment in favor of diversified farming and an increasing tendency toward the raising of pease, alfalfa, and other leguminous plants which are of special value to the soil, and there is in general a more hopeful view of the agricultural future, and a belief that it is sharing in the general industrial awakening of the South. MANUFACTURES. Recent years have clearly demonstrated that Alabama possesses a combination of advantages for manufacturing enterprise such as are scarcely found in any other part of the country, and which promise to place her in the front rank of manufacturing States. The raw material and the auxiliary |