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Genévre (about 6000 feet high), on the frontiers of France and Piedmont. There is a village on the level summit of the mountain, with a monastery, where travellers are received. The fourth road (la corniche) goes from Nice, by Monaco, to Genoa, through the rocky ground at the foot of the Maritime Alps.-Among the other roads over the Alps are to be mentioned, 1, that over Mt. St. Gothard (q. v.), from the canton Uri to the canton Tessino; but, as this is very toilsome, and, in some places, dangerous, particularly near the Devil's bridge, in the Urnerloch, and at the descent to Airolo, in the Val Livino, goods can be transported from Switzerland to Italy only on pack-horses. The road ascends to a height of 8264 feet, and at an elevation of 6367 feet there is a hospitium of the Capuchins. 2. The road over the Great St. Bernard (q. v.), from the lake of Geneva to Italy (the nearest of all to Turin and Genoa), is unfit for carriages, and can only be passed on foot and by pack-horses. In order to shorten the way, it has been proposed to make a passage, for the transport of wares, from the Valais to Genoa. 3. The main road from Innspruck to Italy, over the Brenner, a mountain of Tyrol, 6063 feet in height. At this place the road is about 10 miles long, and ascends to a height of 4367 feet. With this is connected, 4, the new road built by Austria since 1821, the highest in Europe, from Bormio, in Valtellina, over the Braglio and the yoke of Stilfs, 8400 feet high. 5 and 6. The road from Bellinzona to Coire, over the Bernardin, and that over the Splügen, passable for wheel-carriages since 1823; the former leading to the lake of Lugano, the latter to the lake of Como. The canton Tessino, in 1818, entered into a compact with the government of Lombardy, by which, on condition of being allowed the importation of salt and fruits from Lombardy, it promised to prevent the building of a new road from Bellinzona to Coire, over the Bernardin, and only to keep the old road in its present condition. The validity of this treaty, however, so contrary to the interest of the Grisons and the other cantons, was disputed, and the building was finally commenced. The roads over the yoke of Stilfs, and that over mount Simplon, are among the greatest productions of human energy and art in modern times.

ALPS, the Suabian. The northern continuation of the Schwarz-wald, or Black Forest, is a regular, calcareous mountain, 70 miles long, and from 9 to 20 broad, on

the southern frontier of Wirtemberg, of which the highest and most barren part is the Rough Alps (Rauhe Alp). The highest point is not quite 3000 feet above the level of the sea. In the village of Sirchingen, the eaves of a house shed the rain, on one side, into the Rhine, through the Neckar, and on the other, into the Danube. As the mountain abounds in lime, it is rich in caverns containing stalactites. The higher the quarries of limestone are situated, the finer is the grain of the stone, and the greater the mass of petrifactions; among which are particularly to be no ticed large specimens of the cornu ammonis. These Alps are poor in metals.

ALPUXARAS, los (ancient montes Soles); a range of mountains in Granada, about 51 miles in length, from E. to W., and 33 in breadth, from N. to S. They can be seen from Gibraltar, and even from the coast of Africa. Here the descendants of the Moors, Moriscoes (now Christians), live, and cultivate the land extremely well. No part of Spain is so well peopled.

ALSACE (Germ., Elsass; French, Alsace); before the French revolution, a province of France, on the Rhine, now constituting the departments of the Lower and the Upper Rhine (the former of which contains 1760 square miles, with 370,660 inhabitants; the latter, 2140 square miles, with 504,600 inhabitants); a fertile country, formerly divided into Lower and Upper Alsace. In ancient times, it was a German duchy, but, in 1268, the line of its dukes becoming extinct, it was parceled out to several members of the German empire. By the peace of Münster, in 1648, the part of A. belonging to Austria and to ten free cities of the empire, was ceded to France. The possessions of the other German states in A. still preserved their connexion with the German empire. By the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, the city of Strasburg, and all the territory occupied by the French troops on the left bank of the Rhine, were ceded to France. Several states of the empire had still important possessions in it, which, at the beginning of the revolution, the first national assembly declared to be a conquest pointed out by nature itself; because, they said, foreign powers could not be allowed to retain possessions within the territory of France without danger; compensation was promised for the losses sustained by the German owners; few of them, however, were willing to accept it, and this affair was one of the chief causes of the war which took place soon after between France and Germany.

By the peace of Paris, Nov. 20, 1815, a part of A., viz. Landau, was again separated from France, and reunited with Germany.-(See Résumé de l'Histoire d' Alsace, par M. V., Paris, 1825; and Nouv. Descript. Histor. et Typogr. des deux Depart. du Rhin, par J. F. Aufschlager, 1 number, Strasburg, 1825.) The inhabitants of A. continue to speak German. Strasburg is the chief city. The two departments produce wine, copper, iron, hemp, flax, tobacco, madder, &c. Several of the most distinguished liberals in the French chamber have lately been sent from these departments, and, on the whole, they were much attached to the French emperor.

AL SEGNO (Italian; to the mark or sign). This expression is usually accompanied with this character, $ and signifies that the performer is to return to a similar mark in the composition, and end with the first part of the strain.

AL-SIRAT; the bridge, of breadth less than the thread of a famished spider, over which the Mussulmans must skate into paradise, to which it is the only entrance. But this is not the worst; the river beneath being hell itself, into which, as may be expected, the unskilful and tender of foot contrive to tumble, with a facilis descensus Averni, not very pleasing in prospect to the next passenger. There is a shorter cut downwards, for the Jews and Christians.-Lord Byron.

ALSOP, Richard, a man of letters, born in Middletown, Connecticut, published a number of fugitive pieces in verse and prose, which had considerable success, besides several translations from the Italian and French. The principal one is the Natural and Civil History of Chili, from the Italian of the abb. Molina, in 2 vols., 8vo., reprinted in London. In 1815, he prepared the Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of J. R. Jewett among the Savages of Nootka Sound. He died Aug. 20, 1815, in the 57th year of his age. ALT; a term applied to that part of the great scale of sounds which lies between F above the treble-cliff note, and G in altissimo.

ALTAI OF ALTAIC MOUNTAINS; a vast chain of mountains in Asia, extending from lon. 68° to 170° E., terminating at East Cape, and forming, for a great distance, the southern boundary of Siberia. Their length is about 5000 miles. They assume different names, and are supposed to be connected with the Uralian chain. A large part of the A. chain is sometimes called the Kolhyvan mountains, because

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situated in the government of that name. The highest summits are computed at 10,730 feet above the sea.

ALTAR; an elevated place intended for sacrifice. At first, altars were made of earth or ashes, but afterwards, when men began to build temples, they were made of stone or metal, and much adorned. They stood in the eastern part of the edifice, before the statue of the god, but lower. Very different from these are the altars in Christian churches. In these, the altar is not a place of sacrifice, but was, at first, a table at which the lovefeast (agape) was held. When this was changed into a church ceremony, the altar yet remained a table, placed in the choir of the church, used for the distribution of the Lord's supper, and for various other purposes. Altars of masonwork were, probably, first used among Christians in the reign of Constantine the Great. The regulation of placing them always towards the east originated with Sextus II. Since the time of Gregory VI, Roman Catholic churches frequently contain several altars. The high altar, the most important, is in the chancel of the church, somewhat elevated; the other smaller ones are near the pillars, or the side walls, or in the chapel. In the larger Protestant churches, also, there is usually a great and small altar.

ALTENBURG; a Saxon duchy, which is divided into 2 parts by the principality of Gera. At present, it belongs to the houses of Gotha and Saalfeld, The division belonging to the former house contains about 525 square miles, with 109,557 inhabitants, famous for their attention to agriculture and to the breeding of cattle. It is one of the most beautiful and best cultivated parts of Germany. The division of Saalfeld contains about 212 square miles, with 30,500 inhabitants (according to some, about 170 square miles and 21,400 inhabitants); has 4 cities, 1 market-town, and 100 villages. Each line possesses full sovereignty. The city of A., well built on the Pleisse, contains 1279 houses, 10,100 inhabitants, and, till 1308, was a free city of the empire.

ALTER EGO (Latin; the other I); a law term, used particularly in the official style of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, by which the king gives to a substitute, appointed to manage the affairs of the kingdom, the full exercise of royal power. This happened in Naples after the insurrection of Monteforte, where the present king, when crown-prince, July 6, 1820, was appointed by his father vicar-general

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.

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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.t

Alum-Ŝlate; 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, ad- . judged 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