tiousness of the people was suppressed, and the government put into the hands of the nobles, he would procure for them the friendship of Tissaphernes, and prevent the junction of the Phoenician and Lacedæmonian fleets. This demand was granted, and Pisander sent to Athens; by whose means the government of the city was put into the hands of a council consisting of 400 persons. As, however, the council showed no intention to recall A., the army of Samos chose him their commander, and exhorted him to go directly to Athens, and overthrow the power of the tyrants. He wished, however, not to return to his country before he had done it some services, and therefore attacked and totally defeated the fleet of the Lacedæmonians. When he returned to Tissaphernes, the latter, in order not to appear a participator in the act, caused him to be arrested in Sardis. But A. found means to escape; placed himself at the head of the Athenian army; conquered the Lacedæmonians and Persians, at Cyzicus, by sea and land; took Cyzicus, Chalcedon and Byzantium; restored the sovereignty of the sea to the Athenians, and returned to his country, whither he had been recalled, on the motion of Critias. He was received with general enthusiasm ; for the Athenians considered his exile the cause of all their misfortunes. But this triumph was of short duration. He was sent with 100 ships to Asia; but, not being supplied with money to pay his soldiers, he saw himself under the necessity of seeking help in Caria, and committed the command to Antiochus, who was drawn into a snare by Lysander, and lost his life, and a part of his ships. The enemies of A. improved this opportunity to accuse him, and procure his removal from office. A. went to Pactyæ in Thrace, collected troops, and waged war against the Thracians. He obtained considerable booty, and secured the quiet of the neighboring Greek cities. The Athenian fleet was, at that time, lying at Egos Potamos. He pointed out to the generals the danger which threatened them, advised them to go to Sestos, and offered his assistance to force the Lacedæmonian general, Lysander, either to fight, or to make peace. But they did not listen to him, and soon after were totally defeated. A., fearing the power of the Lacedæmonians, betook himself to Bithynia, and was about to go to Artaxerxes to procure his assistance for his country. In the meantime, the 30 tyrants, whom Lysander, after the capture of Athens, had set up there, requested the

latter to cause A. to be assassinated. But Lysander declined, until he received an order to the same effect from his own government. He then charged Pharnabazes with the execution of it. A. was at that time with Timandra, his mistress, in a castle in Phrygia. The assistants of Pharnabazes set fire to his house, and killed him with their arrows, when he had already escaped the conflagration. Timandra buried the body with due honor. Thus A. ended his life, 404 B. C., about 45 years old. He was endowed by nature with distinguished qualities, a rare talent to captivate and rule men, and uncommon eloquence, although he could not pronounce r, and stuttered; but he had no fixed principles, and was governed only by external circumstances. He was without that elevation of soul, which steadily pursues the path of virtue; on the other hand, he possessed that boldness which arises from consciousness of superiority, and which shrinks from no difficulty, because always confident of success. Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos, among the ancients, have written his life.

ALCIDES; a surname of Hercules, usually derived from the name of his grandfather, Alcæus, the father of Amphitryon.

ALCINOUS; said to have been a king of the Phæacians, in the island now called Corfu. His gardens have immortalized his memory. The passages in which Homer describes his hospitality toward Ulysses, and the ardent desire of the latter to reach his home, are most beautiful. He was a grandson of Neptune.

ALCIPHRON; the most distinguished of the Grecian epistolary writers. Nothing is known of his life, and even his age is uncertain. It is probable that he belongs to the second century after Christ. We have 116 fictitious letters by him; the object of which seems to be, to represent the manners, thoughts and feelings of certain strongly-marked classes in the free communication of epistolary intercourse. These letters are distinguished by purity, clearness and simplicity of language and style. Principal editions, Geneva, 1606; Leipsic, 1715, and one in 1798, at the same place, by T. A. Wagner.

ALCMEON; the son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle (q. v.) of Argos; chosen chief of the seven Epigoni, in which capacity he took and destroyed Thebes. His father, going to war, charged A. to put to death Eriphyle, who had betrayed him. He did so, and was pursued by the furies. An oracle informed him, that, to escape their

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vengeance, he must reside in a land which was not in existence when he was cursed by his mother. He at last found rest, for a short time, on an island in the river Achelous, where he married Callirrhoë, the daughter of the god of the river, after repudiating his former wife, Arsinoë. But he did not long enjoy peace. At the request of his wife, he attempted to recover the fatal necklace of Hermione from his former father-in-law, the priest Phlegeus, who caused him to be murdered by his sons.

ALCMAN; a Grecian poet, son of a Spartan slave, born at Sardis, in Lydia, about 670 years B. C. He seems to have lived, for the most part, in Sparta, where he obtained the rights of citizenship. He sang hymns, pæans and other lyrical poems, in the Doric dialect, and gave their polished form to these higher kinds of poetry. His remaining works were collected by F. Th. Welcker (Giessen, 1815, 4to).

ALCMENA; the daughter of Electryon, and wife of Amphitryon. Jupiter loved her, and deceived her by assuming the form of her husband. From this connexion, which continued for 3 nights, sprang Hercules.

ALCOHOL; the purely spirituous part of all liquors that have undergone the vinous fermentation, and derived from none but such as are susceptible of it. As a chemical agent, it is of the highest importance, involving in its various combinations all the grand principles of chemistry. It has been found that spirit of wine, of sp. gr. ,867, when enclosed in a bladder, and exposed for some time in the air, is converted into alcohol of sp. gr. 817, the water only escaping through the coats of the bladder.-Alcohol, obtained by slow and careful distillation, is a limpid, colorless liquid, of an agreeable smell, and a strong, pungent flavor. Its specific gravity varies with its purity, the purest obtained by rectification over chloride of calcium being ,791; as it usually occurs, it is,820 at 60°. If rendered as pure as possible by simple distillation, it can scarcely be obtained of a lower specific gravity than ,825 at 60°.-Mr. Hutton is said to have succeeded in freezing alcohol, but the fact is regarded as doubtful, as the means by which he effected its congelation were never disclosed. Mr. Walker exposed it to a temperature of -91°, but no congelation took place; it has, therefore, been much used in the construction of thermometers. Even when diluted with an equal weight of water, it requires a cold of 6° below 0 to congeal

it. When of a specific gravity of,825, it boils at the temperature of 176°, the barometrical pressure being 30 inches. In the vacuum of an air-pump it boils at common temperatures. The specific gravity of the vapor of alcohol, compared with atmospheric air, is 4,613.-Alcohol may be mixed in all proportions with water, and the specific gravity of the mixture is greater than the mean of the two liquids, in consequence of a diminution of bulk that occurs on mixture.-The strength of such spirituous liquors as consist of little else than water and alcohol, is of course ascertained by their specific gravity; and, for the purpose of levying duties upon them, this is ascertained by the hydrometer. But the only correct mode of ascertaining the specific gravity of liquids, is by weighing them in a delicate balance against an equal volume of pure water, of a similar temperature.-Alcohol is extremely inflammable, and burns with a pale-blue flame, scarcely visible in bright day-light. It occasions no fuliginous deposition upon substances held over it, and the products of its combustion are carbonic acid and water, the weight of the water considerably exceeding that of the alcohol consumed. According to Saussure, jun. 100 parts of alcohol afford, when burned, 136 parts of water. The steady and uniform heat, which it gives during combustion, makes it a valuable material for lamps.-The action between alcohol and some of the metals, particularly platinum, is remarkable. When a small piece of thin platinum leaf, suspended by a wire, is heated by a spirit lamp, and then quickly put into a glass, in which there is a little alcohol, so that it shall remain just over the surface, and of course in the vapor arising from the alcohol, it continues red-hot, as long as there is any fluid in the jar; which is owing to the vapor undergoing a sort of combustion, and generating heat sufficient to keep the metal in that state. This action affords the means of making a lamp without flame.-There are some substances which communicate color to the flame of alcohol; from boracic acid, it acquires a greenish-yellow tint ; nitre and the soluble salts of baryta cause it to burn yellow, and those of strontia give it a beautiful rose color; cupreous salts impart a fine green tinge.-Alcohol dissolves pure soda and potassa, but it does not act upon their carbonates; consequently, if the latter be mixed with alcohol containing water, the liquor separates into two portions, the upper being alcohol deprived, to a consider

able extent, of water, and the lower the aqueous solution of the carbonate. The alcoholic solution of caustic potassa was known in old pharmacy under the name of Van Helmont's tincture of tartar. It is used for purifying potassa.-Alcohol dissolves the greater number of the acids. It absorbs many gaseous bodies. It dissolves the vegetable acids, the volatile oils, the resins, tan and extractive matter, and many of the soaps; the greater number of the fixed oils are taken up by it in small quantities only, but some are dissolved largely. The composition of alcohol was investigated by Saussure and Gay-Lussac. The result was, that 100 parts of pure alcohol consist of

=

51,98 100,00. 34,32

Hydrogen. 13,70) Carbon. Oxygen These numbers approach to 3 proportionals of hydrogen, =3; 2 of carbon, 12; and 1 of oxygen, 8. Or it may be regarded as composed of 1 vol. carbureted hydrogen, and 1 vol. of the vapor of water; the 2 volumes being condensed into 1, the specific gravity of the vapor of alcohol, compared with common air, will be 1,599, or, according to Gay-Lussac, 1,613. When alcohol is submitted to distillation with certain acids, a peculiar compound is formed, called ether (q. v.), the different ethers being distinguished by the names of the acids employed in their preparation.

ALCORAN. (See Koran.)
ALCUDIA. (See Godoy.)

ALCUINUS, or ALBINUS, Flaccus ; an Englishman, renowned, in his age, for learning; the confidant, instructer and adviser of Charlemagne. He was born in York (according to some, near London) in 732, was educated under the care of the venerable Bede and bishop Egbert, and was made abbot of Canterbury. Charlemagne became acquainted with him in Parma, on his return from Rome, whence he had brought the pallium for a friend; invited him, in 782, to his court, and made use of his services in his endeavors to civilize his subjects. In the royal academy, he was called Flaccus Albinus. To secure the benefit of his instructions, Charlemagne established at his court a school, called Palatina, and intrusted him with the superintendence of several monasteries, in which A. exerted himself to diffuse a knowledge of the sciences. Most of the schools in France were either founded or improved by him; thus he founded the school in the abbey of St. Martin of Tours, in 796, after the 13

VOL. I.

plan of the school in York. He himself instructed a large number of scholars in this school, who afterwards spread the light of learning through the empire of the Franks. A. took his leave of the court in 801, and retired to the abbey of St. Martin of Tours, but kept up a constant correspondence with Charles to the time of his death, in 804. He left, besides many theological writings, several elementary works in the branches of philosophy, rhetoric and philology; also poems, and a large number of letters, the style of which, however, is not pleasing, and plainly betrays the uncultivated character of the age; nevertheless, he is acknowledged as the most learned and polished man of his time. He understood Latin, Greek and Hebrew. His works appeared in Paris, 1617, fol., and, in a more complete form, in Ratisbon, 1777, 2 vols., fol.

ALDEBARAN, or the bull's eye, in astron.; a star of the first magnitude in the southern eye of the constellation Taurus.

ALDEGONDE, St. Philip, of Marnix, lord of mount St. Aldegonde, was born in Brussels, 1538, and studied in Geneva. He drew up, in the beginning of Dec. 1565, the act of compromise for the preservation of the privileges of the Netherlands, which was signed by count Louis of Nassau, Henry of Brederode and himself. The act was directed chiefly against the introduction of the inquisition into the Netherlands, and the members promised to assist each other with their persons and property. It was rejected, however, by the regent Margaret. In 1566, Alva arrived. St. A. fled, with the friends of the prince of Orange, to Germany, and returned with them as their leading counsellor. In 1573, he fell into the hands of the Spaniards, at Maesluys, was afterwards exchanged, and conducted many diplomatic negotiations of the young republic abroad. He defended Antwerp a long time, though not successfully. He assisted in establishing the university of Leyden, and died there, professor of theology, in 1598.

ALDENHOVEN, battle at, March 1, 1793. The engagement near this town, situated between Juliers and Aix la Chapelle, opened the campaign of 1793. The year previous, the Austrians had been obliged, after the battle of Jemappe, to evacuate Belgium, and retire behind the Roer. Dumouriez, at the beginning of the year 1793, threatened Holland with an invasion. To prevent this, and to raise the siege of Maestricht, the prince of Coburg drew together his army, consisting of

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40,000 men, behind the Roer, and forded this river, March 1, in 2 columns, at Duren and Juliers. In the engagement which ensued, the French lost about 6000 men killed and wounded, and 4000 prisoners. On the following day, Aix la Chapelle and Liege were occupied, the siege of Maestricht raised, and the French actively pursued. At Neerwinden the French halted, and received a reënforcement, consisting of the corps destined to invade Holland, but were beaten here, March 18, a

second time.

ALDER. The alder or owler (betula alnus) is a tree which grows in wet situations, and is distinguished by its flowerstalks being branched, its leaves being roundish, waved, serrated and downy at the branching of the veins beneath. It is common in Europe and Asia, and the United States of America. There are few means of better employing swampy and morassy grounds, than by planting them with alders; for, although the growth of these trees is not rapid, the uses to which they are applicable are such as amply to compensate for the slowness with which they come to perfection. The wood of the alder, which is in great demand for machinery, is frequently wrought into cogs for mill-wheels, as it is peculiarly adapted for all kinds of work which are to be kept constantly in water. It is consequently used for pumps, sluices, pipes, drains and conduits of different descriptions, and for the foundation of buildings situated in swamps. For these purposes, it has been much cultivated in Flanders and Holland. It is commonly used for bobbins, women's shoe-heels, ploughmen's clogs, and numerous articles of turnery ware. This wood also serves for many domestic and rural uses, for spinning-wheels, troughs, the handles of tools, ladders, cartwheels, &c. The roots and knots furnish a beautifully-veined wood, nearly of the color of mahogany, and well adapted for cabinet-work. The bark may be advantageously used in the operations of tanning and leather-dressing, and by fishermen for staining their nets. This and the young twigs are sometimes employed in dyeing, and yield different shades of yellow and red. The Laplanders chew the bark of the alder, and dye their leather garments red with the saliva thus produced. With the addition of copperas, it yields a black dye, used to a considerable extent in coloring cotton. In the Highlands of Scotland, we are informed that young branches of the alder, cut down in the summer, spread over the fields, and

left during the winter to decay, are found to answer the purpose of manure. The fresh-gathered leaves, being covered with a glutinous moisture, are said to be sometimes strewed upon floors to destroy fleas, which become entangled in it, as birds are with bird-lime.

ALDERMAN (aldor, elder, and man); among the ancient Saxons, the second order of nobility. It was synonymous with the Latin comes, the eorla or jarl of the Danes (which after the Danish times superseded it), and the senior and major of the Franks. The aldermen were at first governors of counties, and were admitted into the wittenagemot, or great council of the nation; gave their consent to the public statutes; kept order among the freeholders at the county courts; in times of war, appeared at the head of the military forces of their shires, and were called dukes, or heretogen, (the Germ. herzog). They were at first appointed by the king, and were afterwards elected by the freeholders of the shire; at first the office was during good behavior, but finally became hereditary. Aldermen, at present, are officers associated with the mayor of a city, for the administration of the municipal government, both in England and the United States. In some places, they act as judges in certain civil and criminal cases. In London, there are 26 aldermen, who preside over the 26 wards of the city, and from whose number the mayor is elected annually.

ALDHELM. (See Adhelm.)

ALDERNEY; an island on the coast of Normandy, about 8 miles in circumference. Though within 7 miles of cape la Hogue, it is subject to the crown of Great Britain. With Guernsey, Jersey and Sark, it forms the only part of the possessions of William the Conqueror that now remain under the government of England. A. is about 30 miles from the nearest part of the English coast, and about 18 from Guernsey. The race of A. is a name given to the strait running between the coast of France and this island. The town of this name, about 2 miles from the harbor, is but poorly built, and contains about 1000 inhabitants. In stormy weather, the whole coast is dangerous, particularly from a ridge of rocks, called the Caskets, which form numerous eddies that have often proved fatal to mariners. The air is salubrious, the soil fertile and much cultivated; but the custom of gavelkind dividing the lands into small parts, keeps the people in a state of poverty. They send grain to England. În 1119,

ALDINE EDITIONS; the name given to the works which proceeded from the press of the family of Aldus Manutius. (See Manutius.) Recommended by their intrinsic value, as well as by a splendid exterior, they have gained the respect of scholars, and the attention of book-collectors. Many of them are the first editions of Greek and Roman classics, and some have not been printed again; as Rhetores Græci, Alexander Aphrodisiensis. The text of the modern classical authors printed by them, as Petrarca, Dante, Boccaccio and others, was critically revised from manuscripts. Generally speaking, their editions are distinguished for correctness, though their Greek classics are inferior, in this respect, to their Latin and Italian. These editions, especially those of Aldus Manutius, the father, are of importance in the history of printing. Aldus deserves much credit for his beautiful types. He had nine kinds of Greek types, and no one before him printed so much and so beautifully in this language. Of the Latin character he procured 14 kinds of type. Among the latter is the antiqua, with which Bembus de Etna, 1495, 4to., is printed; a very beautiful character. The Italic characters, invented and cut by Francesco of Bologna, and brought into use by Aldus, who employed them for the collection of editions of ancient and modern classics, in 8vo. (the first of which, Virgil, appeared in 1501), are less handsome; they are too stiff and angular, and faulty in a technical respect, on account of the many letters connected together. He had even three kinds of Hebrew types. He was no friend to ornaments of the capitals, roses, vignettes and the like. The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, 1499, fol., is his only work furnished with ornaments of that kind and wood-cuts. His paper is invariably strong and white. He introduced the custom of striking off some copies of an edition on better, finer and whiter paper than the rest; first, in the Epistolæ Græca, 1499. He also first published single copies on large paper, in the edition of Philostratus, 1501. He printed also the first impressions on blue paper, beginning with some copies of the Libri de Re Rustica and Quinctilian, both in 1514. His impressions on parchment were em

inently beautiful. His ink is of excellent quality. At the same time, his prices were fair. His Aristotle, 5 vols. fol., cost only 11 ducats. The press sunk in reputation under the care of his son Paul, and his grandson Aldus. When it was broken up, in 1597, after a duration of 100 years, and after producing 908 editions, it was distinguished in nothing from other presses in the country. The Aldine editions, especially those of the father, were early sought for. The printers in Lyons, and the Giunti in Florence, in 1502, found it advantageous to publish inferior and spurious reprints. In modern times, they have been highly prized by scientific collectors. The Hora b. Mar. virg., of 1497 (lately sold for 100 ducats), the Virgil of 1501, and the Rhetores Græci, not to mention the very rare editions between 1494 and 1497, are particularly scarce and valuable. The bookseller and bibliographer Renouard, in Paris, and the grand duke of Tuscany, possess the most complete collections. Of the former's excellent work on the press of Aldus, a supplementary volume appeared in 1812. A list of all genuine Aldine editions is given in the appendix to the 1st vol. of Ebert's Bibliographical Lexicon.-See, also, Annales de l'Imprimerie des Aldes, ou Histoire des trois Manuce, et de leurs editions; par Ant. Aug. Renouard; second edit., Paris, 1825, 3 vols. 8vo.; and Repertorium Bibliographicum, in quo Libri omnes ab Arte Typographica inventa usque ad Annum MD. typis expressi, ordine Alphabetico enumerantur vel adcuratius recludentur; Opera L. Hain; Stuttgard. The second part of the first vol. of this work has been published quite recently.

ALDINI, Antony, was born in 1756, in Bologna; pursued there, and afterwards in Rome, the study of law; became professor of law in Bologna; was sent to Paris by his fellow-citizens, when his native town, in the days of the revolution, withdrew from the pope's dominion; and was afterwards a member of the council of elders who presided over the Cisalpine republic. In 1801, he became a member of the consulta of Lyons, and afterwards president of the council of state, from which he was excluded, at the instance of the vice-president, count Melzi. Napoleon appointed him, in 1805, secretary of state for the kingdom of Italy, with the title of count. He gained, in 1819, the confidence of the Austrian government, and now lives in Milan. He had built, with great expense, one of the most beautiful palaces in the park of Montmo