of the kingdom. In France, the phrase used to express this is, lieutenant-général du royaume.

ALTITUDE denotes the perpendicular height of the vertex of any plane, or solid body, above the line or plane of its base; thus the altitude of a triangle is measured by a perpendicular let fall from any one of its angles upon the base, or upon the base produced; therefore the same triangle may have different altitudes, accordingly as we assume one side or another for its base. Again, the altitude of a cone or pyramid, whether right or oblique, is measured by a perpendicular let fall from the vertex to the plane of its base. Similar remarks apply to other solids. In astronomy, altitudes are measured or estimated by the angles subtended between the object and the plane of the horizon; and this altitude may be either true or apparent. The apparent altitude is that which is obtained immediately from observation; and the true altitude that which results from correcting the apparent altitude, by making allowance for parallax, refraction, &c. The altitude of a terrestrial object is the height of its vertex above some horizontal plane assumed as a base. The altitude of mountains is measured, generally, from the level of the ocean; that is, the altitude of a mountain is the difference between the mean terrestrial radius, and the distance of the vertex of the mountain from the centre of the earth. If the altitude of a mountain is given without any explanation, the altitude above the ocean is always understood. This altitude can be measured trigonometrically, by barometrical observations, or by actually measuring the level between the base and vertex of an object; and, if very great accuracy is not required, by optical reflection, by the length of shadows, movable staves, the geometrical square, &c.; and, generally, by any method in which the calculation depends upon the similarity of plane rectilinear triangles.

ALTO, or ALTO TENORE. Alto is the term applied to that part of the great vocal scale which lies between the mezzo soprano and the tenor, and which is assigned to the highest natural adult male voice. In scores it always signifies the counter-tenor part.

ALTONA; the largest city of Denmark, after Copenhagen, in the duchy of Holstein; 53° 54′ 25′′ N. lat.; 9° 55′ E. lon.; two miles from Hamburg on the Elbe. The city contains upwards of 23,000 inhabitants; among whom are 2400 Ger

man and Portuguese Jews, under the direction of a rabbin. The remainder are Lutherans, Calvinists, Catholics and Anabaptists. The number of houses is about 2230. There are also 520 habitable cellars. The city is built on the side of a steep hill, which gives it the appearance of an amphitheatre, when viewed from the side of the Elbe. The commerce of A., both inland and foreign, is considerable. The Danish government has conferred many privileges on the city. Here is a board of commerce, a mint, an exchange, a royal bank, and, since 1739, a royal school. In 1713, A. was almost totally burnt by the Swedish general Steenbock. It has been since beautifully rebuilt.

ALTRANSTADT; a town in Saxony, famous for the treaty concluded between Charles XII, king of Sweden, and Augustus, elector of Saxony, Sept. 24, 1706, by which the latter resigned the crown of Poland. After the defeat of Charles, at Pultawa, Augustus, Aug. 8, 1709, declared the peace of Altranstadt void, because his commissioners, von Imhof and Pfingsten, had exceeded their powers in signing the conditions. The former was condemned to be imprisoned for life, the latter to be put to death. Augustus, at the invitation of some Polish nobles, returned to Poland, took possession of the throne, and renewed his alliance with the czar.

ALUM, artificial. Common alum is a triple salt, consisting of sulphuric acid, alumine, potash and water, or of sulphate of alumine and sulphate of potash, united together, with a certain quantity of water of crystallization. It crystallizes in regular octahedrons, which are generally truncated on their edges and solid angles. Alum may also be formed by substituting either soda, ammonia or magnesia for the potash, without at all altering its crystalline form or its taste. It dissolves in 5 parts of water, at 60°, and the solution reddens vegetable blues, indicating the excess of acid which this salt contains. Exposed to heat, it undergoes a watery fusion, and becomes light and spongy, in which condition it possesses slightly corrosive properties, and is used as a caustic, under the name of alumen exsiccatum.The simplest process by which alum is prepared is, perhaps, that adopted at the Solfatara near Naples, which is covered with a white clayey soil, through which sulphureous vapors are constantly emitted. This soil is always hot, and nothing more is requisite than to immerse into it cisterns, and subject the earthy matter to lixiviation; after which, the saline solu

tion is evaporated by means of the subterranean heat, also, and placed in a situation to cool, when the alum is deposited in crystals. As nothing is added during the process, it is obvious that the alum must exist ready formed in the soil. From the presence of a small portion of iron, the Solfatara alum is not so valuable, for many purposes, as that produced elsewhere; and, accordingly, its use is mostly confined to the Neapolitan states.-The manufacture of alum directly from its component parts has, of late years, furnished a large proportion of this substance found in commerce. The process is conducted in the following manner: Sulphur and nitrate of potash (nitre) are mixed together, in the proportions for forming sulphuric acid, and brought into combustion in large leaden chambers, or rooms lined with a thick coating of plaster. The sulphur is thus acidified, and converted into vapor, and, the floor of the apartment being covered with clay of the purest kind, previously calcined, the acid gradually combines with it, and forms sulphate of alumine, which, after a few days, is dissolved out and considerably reduced by evaporation, when a solution of sulphate of potash (being the residue of the combustion of the nitre and sulphur) is poured in, and the perfect crystals of alum are deposited.* The importance of alum, in the arts, is very great, and its annual consumption is immense. It is employed to increase the hardness of tallow, to remove greasiness from printers' cushions and blocks in calico manufactories, and to render turbid waters limpid. In dyeing, it is used to cleanse and open the pores on the surface of the substance to be dyed, and, by the attraction of the coloring matter for the alumine it contains, to render it fit for receiving the coloring particles. Wood and paper are dipped into a solution of it to render them less combustible. Paper impregnated with alum is useful in whitening silver, and in silvering brass without heat. It is also largely used in the composition of crayons, in tannery and in medicine.

ALUM, native, is found in most countries, in the state of an efflorescence or mould upon the surface of certain slate clays and lavas, and, in the U. States, in mica-slate rocks; also, in delicate hairshaped fibres, occupying clefts in a bituminous shale, principally found in Italy. It may always be easily recognised by its sweetish, astringent taste, in which it re

*For other modes of manufacturing alum, see Alum-slate and Alum-stone.

sembles the artificial alum. It exists only in very limited quantities, and contains too many impurities to be of any practical use.-A native alum has of late been found near the foot of the Andes, in South America, in which soda is substituted for potash.†

ALUM-SLATE; a slaty rock, of different degrees of hardness; color grayish, bluish, or iron-black, and often possessed of a glossy or shining lustre. It is chiefly composed of silex and alumine, with variable proportions of sulphuret of iron (iron pyrites), lime, bitumen and magnesia. It is found abundantly in most European countries, and from it is obtained the largest part of the alum of commerce. As the alum-slate contains only the remote principles of this salt, the process for obtaining it is somewhat complicated. In the first place, it is requisite to acidify the sulphur of the pyrites, and combine it with the alumine. This is effected by roasting the ore in contact with the air, and then lixiviating it; after which, potash is added, and the crystallized alum obtained by evaporation.

ALUM-STONE; a mineral of a grayish or yellowish-white color, fine-grained, and approaching to earthy in its composition, and filled with numerous small cavities. It may be scratched with the knife, and easily reduced to fragments. When strongly heated, it emits a sulphureous gas. It is composed of alumine, 43.92; silex, 24.00; sulphuric acid, 25.00; potash, 3.08; water, 4.00. It is found at Tolfa, in Italy, in secondary rocks, and from it is obtained a very pure alum, by simply subjecting it to roasting and lixiviation.

ALUMINE, or ALUMINA; one of the earths entering most largely into the combination of all rocks, clays and loams. From its forming the plastic principle in clays, it was formerly called argil, or the argillaceous earth; but since it has been ascertained that it constitutes the base of the salt alum, it is styled alumine. Like the other earths, it was regarded as an elementary substance in chemistry, until the researches of sir H. Davy led to the belief that it was a compound of a peculiar metallic base with oxygen.-It exists in the state of a hydrate, or in combination with water, in the Gibbsite, a mineral found in Richmond, Mass., and nearly pure in the corundum gems. The porcelain clays and kaolins contain about half their weight of this earth, to which Am. Lyceum, Nat. Hist. New York, vol. 3

p. 19.

they owe their most valuable properties. Alumine may be obtained pure by adding,.in the first place, to a solution of alum in 20 parts of water, a small quantity of a solution of carbonate of soda, to precipitate any iron that may be present, and afterwards a little water of ammonia (aqua ammonia) to the supernatant liquid, separated from its precipitate, which, uniting with the sulphuric acid of the alum, liberates the alumine. On being washed and thoroughly dried, it is of a white color, and without taste or smell. It is soluble in liquid soda and potash, from which it may be separated, unaltered, by the acids. It is infusible, except in the heat of the compound blow-pipe. Alumine is the basis of porcelain pottery, bricks and crucibles. It has a strong affinity for oil and coloring matter, which causes it to be employed, in the state of clays, as a cleansing powder, and, in a state of purity, in the preparation of lakes, in dyeing and calico-printing.-It combines with the acids and forms numerous salts; the most important of which are the sulphate of alumine and potash (see Alum), and the acetate of alumine. This salt is formed by digesting strong acetic acid (vinegar) upon the newly-precipitated earth; but, for the use of the manufacturer, by decomposing alum with acetate of lead (sugar of lead), or, more economically, with acetate of lime, a gallon of which, of the specific gravity 1.050, is employed for every 2 lb. of alum. The sulphate of lime formed falls to the bottom, and the acetate of alumine remains in solution with an excess of alum, which is necessary to prevent its decomposition. It is of extensive use in calicoprinting and dyeing, as a mordant, and is employed in the place of alum, to which it is generally preferred.

ALVA, Ferd. Alvarez, of Toledo, duke of, minister of state, and general of the imperial armies, was born in 1508, of one of the most illustrious families of Spain. He was educated under the eyes of his grandfather, Frederic of Toledo, who instructed him in military and political science. He carried arms, when very young, at the battle of Pavia; commanded under Charles V, in Hungary; also at the siege of Tunis, and in the expedition against Algiers. He defended Perpignan against the dauphin, and distinguished himself in Navarre and Catalonia. His cautious character, and his inclination for politics, at first, led men to believe that he had but little military talent; and Charles V himself, whom he advised, in Hungary,

to build a bridge of gold for the Turks, rather than risk a decisive battle, deemed him unqualified for high commands, and intrusted him with important offices rather from personal favor than respect for his ability. His pride was offended at the low estimation in which he was held, and his genius roused to the performance of exploits deserving of a permanent remembrance. His able generalship gained, in 1547, the battle of Mühlberg, against John Frederic, elector of Saxony. The elector was taken prisoner, and the duke, who presided in the council of war, adjudged him to death, and strongly urged the emperor to execute the sentence. In 1555, he was commissioned to attack the French in Italy, and pope Paul IV, the irreconcilable enemy of the emperor. He gained several victories, relieved Milan, advanced to Naples, where the intrigues of the pope had stirred up a rebellion, and confirmed there the Spanish influence. When Charles V resigned the government to his son, Philip II, A. received the supreme command of the army. He conquered the States of the Church, and frustrated the efforts of the French. Philip, however, compelled him to contract an honorable peace with the pope, whom A. wished to humble. Recalled from Italy, he appeared, in 1559, at the French court, in order to marry Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry II, by proxy, for his sovereign; she was, at first, destined for the crown-prince, don Carlos. About this time, the Netherlands revolted, and A. advised the king to suppress the insurrection by severity and force. The king intrusted him with a considerable army and unlimited power, to reduce the rebellious provinces. Scarcely had A. reached Flanders, when he established the council of blood, at the head of which stood his confidant, Juan de Vargas. This tribunal condemned, without discrimination, all whose opinions were suspected, and whose riches excited their avarice. The present and absent, the living and the dead, were subjected to trial, and their property confiscated. Many merchants and mechanics emigrated to England; more than 100,000 men abandoned their country; others resorted to the standard of the proscribed prince of Orange. The cruelty of A. was increased by the defeat of his lieutenant, the duke of Aremberg, and he caused the counts of Egmont and Horn to be executed on the scaffold. He afterwards defeated the count of Nassau, on the plains of Gemmingen. Soon after, the prince of Orange

advanced with a powerful army. The young Frederic of Toledo sent to his father, asking permission to attack the prince. The duke, who demanded blind obedience from his inferiors, answered, that he pardoned him on account of his inexperience, but bade him beware of pressing him further, for it would cost the life of any one who should venture on a similar message. The prince of Orange was forced to withdraw to Germany. The duke stained his reputation, as a general, by new cruelties; his executioners shed more blood than his soldiers. The pope presented him with a consecrated hat and sword,-a distinction previously conferred only on princes. Holland and Zealand, however, resisted his arms. A fleet, which was fitted out at his command, was annihilated; and he was every where met with insuperable courage. This, and perhaps the fear of losing the favor of the king, induced him to request his recall. Philip willingly granted it, as he perceived that the resistance of the Netherlands was rendered more obstinate by these cruelties, and was desirous of trying milder measures. In Dec. 1573, A. proclaimed an amnesty, resigned the command of the troops to Louis de Requesens, and left the land, in which he had executed 18,000 men, as he himself boasted, and kindled a war, that burned for 68 years, cost Spain 800 millions of dollars, its finest troops, and 7 of its richest provinces in the Low Countries. Duke A. was received with distinction in Madrid, but did not long enjoy his former credit. One of his sons had seduced one of the queen's ladies of honor, under a promise of marriage, and was, for that reason, arrested; his father assisted him to escape, and married him to one of his relations, contrary to the will of the king. A. was banished, in consequence, from the court, to his castle Uzeda. Here he lived 2 years, when the troubles stirred up by don Antonio, prior of Crato, who had been crowned king of Portugal, forced Philip to have recourse to A., as one in whose talents and fidelity he placed great reliance. A. led an army to Portugal, gained two battles in three weeks, drove out don Antonio, and reduced all Portugal, in 1581, to subjection to his sovereign. He made himself master of the treasures of the capital, and permitted his soldiers to plunder the suburbs and surrounding country, with their usual rapacity and cruelty. Philip was displeased at this, and desirous of instituting an investigation into the conduct of his general, who

was, moreover, charged with having ap plied the wealth of the conquered to his own purposes. But a haughty answer from the duke, and the fear of rebellion, caused him to desist. The duke died, January 21, 1582, aged 74 years. A. had a proud mien, a noble aspect, and a strong frame; he slept little, labored and wrote much. It is said of him, that, during 60 years of warfare against different enemies, he never lost a battle, and was never taken by surprise. But pride, severity and cruelty tarnished his renown.

AMADEISTS. (See Franciscans.)

AMADEUS; the name of several counts of Savoy.-A. V, surnamed the Great, succeeded to the sovereignty in 1282. He gained distinguished honor in defending Rhodes against the Turks. He died, after a reign of 38 years, in 1323, at Avignon, where he was soliciting pope John II to publish a crusade in favor of Andronicus, . emperor of the East, who had married his daughter. He was much loved and honored by all the sovereigns of Europe, and was frequently the mediator in their differences.-A. VIII succeeded his father, A. VII, in 1391, and acquired the titles of the Pacific and the Solomon of his age. In 1416, Savoy was made a duchy; but, after this elevation, A. retired from his throne and family, into a religious house, at a place called Ripaille. In this retreat, he devoted himself to pleasure, so that faire ripailles became proverbial to signify a life of indulgence and exquisite gratification. Here he aspired to the papacy, and employed large sums of money, at the council of Basil, to secure his election. Accordingly, this council, in 1439, having deposed Eugenius IV, chose A. in his place, under the name of Felix V, though he had never taken holy orders. Eugenius excommunicated him. On the death of his rival, A. was persuaded to abdicate. He died at the age of 69, in 1451.—A. IX, surnamed the Happy, on account of his virtue and piety. Being once asked by a courtier whether he kept hounds, he pointed to a great number of poor people seated at tables, eating and drinking, and replied, "These are my hounds, with whom I go in chase of heaven." He died in 1742, aged 37 years.

AMADIS; a name very celebrated in the romances of chivalry.-1. A. of Gaul, called, from the bearings on his shield, the knight of the lion, but in the wilderness, Beltenebros; a son of king Perion of France, and Eilesena, daughter of king Gavinter of Bretagne.—2. A. of Greece, a

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great-grandson of the Gallic A., and son of Lisuarte, and Onoleria, daughter of the emperor of Trebisond.-3. A. of the Star, a great-grandson of the Grecian A., son of Agesilaus, king of Colchis, who was descended from Alastraxerea, a natural child of the Grecian A., by the queen Zahara of Caucasus. The mother of this 3d A. was Diana, a natural child of Sidonia, queen of Guindaga, by Florisel, the knight of the beautiful shepherdess, a lawful son of the Grecian A.-4. A. of Trebisond, descended from Roger of Greece, the Much-beloved, a son of Florisel and Hellen, princess of Apollonia. This A. was a great-grandson of Florisel, and son of Polixana and Liscaron, prince of Cathay. The history of this hero, who was nearly the same to Spain as Charlemagne with his 12 peers to France, and king Arthur with his knights of the round table to England, is continued through 9 generations; but the question concerning its origin, and mixture of truth with fable, is involved in so much darkness, that it is even doubtful whether it originated with the Spanish, the Portuguese or the French. In the Spanish original, this romance is contained in 13 books, of which Cervantes, in the well-known examination of the library of Don Quixote, caused the 4 first to be preserved, because they were not only the first, but also the best and only books of this kind which Spain had produced; but the others were committed to the flames. These 4 contain only the history of A. de Gaul. Some say, that Vasco Lobeira, a Portuguese, who lived at the beginning of the 14th century, was their author; some, that they were written by an unknown Portuguese lady; and others ascribe them to the infante don Pedro, son of John I of Portugal. On the contrary, the count Tressan has endeavored to render it probable, that the honor of their authorship belongs to a French troubadour of the school of Rusticien de Puice, the author of nearly all the romances of the round table till the time of Philip Augustus (1180-1223). We shall be ready to acknowledge this, if it is established by a critical comparison of the most ancient manuscripts. Garcias Ordonnez de Montalbo, the corrector of the old edition, is said to have been the author of the 5th book, which contains the history of Esplandian, the eldest son of A. The 6th book, by Pelag. de Ribera, contains the adventures of the knight Florisando; the 7th, those of an unknown knight; and the 8th, by J. Diaz, contains the deeds of Lisuarte; the 9th and 10th, those of Flo

risel, of A. of Greece, and of the knight Anaxante; the 11th and 12th, the adventures of Rogel and Agesilaus; and the 13th, those of Silvio de la Silva. The Spanish original goes no farther. Next follow the French translations, which have been increased to 24 books, since the translation of Nicholas d' Herberay, lord of Essars, in 1540. The books from the 14th to the 17th contain the exploits of Sphäramont and A. of the Star; those from the 17th to the 24th, the adventures of the remaining posterity of A. of Gaul, including the deeds of A. of Trebisond. The separate parts of this work, which are seldom found all together, are of very various merit. The additions are by no means equal to the 4 first books. There is not one of the new German modifications of this romance, or, rather, this string of romances, which deserves the name. The New A. of Wieland, a licentious book, has nothing in common with the old A., except its title and profusion of adventures. A late French poet, Creuzé de Lesser, has undertaken to give the adventures of Arthur and his knights of the round table, Charlemagne and his Paladins, and Amadis, in a new dress. His version of the first of these contains 20 cantos. A second edition of it appeared in 1812. His Amadis, containing, likewise, 20 cantos, appeared in 1813.

AMALGAM; a name applied to the combinations of mercury with the other metals. (See Mercury.)

AMALIA, Anna, duchess of SaxeWeimar, born October 24, 1739, daughter of Charles, duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, died 1806. During the latter half of the 18th century, this princess was the centre of a court, which, in more than one respect, resembled that of the duke of Ferrara, which was adorned by the presence of Tasso and Ariosto. She gave to learned men the support which they looked for in vain from the great princes of Germany, while she afforded them a point of union and an agreeable residence. She assembled round her Wieland, Göthe, Schiller, and many of the finest minds of Germany; and governed with wisdom after the death of her husband.

AMALTHEA; the name of a goat in Crete, which suckled Jupiter when his mother concealed him there through fear of Saturn. From this goat came the horn of plenty, which Jupiter gave to the daughters of Melissus, who assisted Rhea, with the power of obtaining from it every thing necessary for their subsistence; called cornu Amalthea (the same as