Part 27

AL'MANAC, a calendar, in which are set down the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, the most remarkable positions and phenomena of the heavenly bodies, for every month and day of the year; also the several fasts and feasts to be observed in the Church and State, &c., and often much miscellaneous information likely to be useful to the public. The term is of Arabic origin, but the Arabs were not the first to use almanacs, which indeed existed from remote ages. In England they are known from the fourteenth century, there being several English almanacs of this century existing in MS. They became generally used in Europe within a short time after the invention of printing; and they were very early remarkable, as some are still, for the mixture of truth and falsehood which they contained. Their effects in France were found so mischievous, from the pretended prophecies which they published, that an edict was promulgated by Henry III in 1579 forbidding any predictions to be inserted in them relating to civil affairs, whether those of the State or of private persons. In the reign of James I of England letters-patent were granted to the two universities and the Stationers' Company for an exclusive right of printing almanacs, but in 1775 this monopoly was abolished. During the civil war of Charles I, and thence onward, English almanacs were conspicuous for the unblushing boldness of their astrological predictions, and their determined perpetuation of popular errors. The most famous English almanac was _Poor Robin's Almanack_, which was published from 1663 to 1775. Gradually, however, a better taste began to prevail, and in 1828 the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, by publishing the _British Almanac_, had the merit of taking the lead in the production of an unexceptionable almanac in Great Britain. The example thus set has been almost universally adopted. The circulation of almanacs continued to be much cramped by the very heavy duty of one shilling and threepence per copy till 1834, when this duty was abolished. About 200 new almanacs were started immediately on the repeal. Almanacs, from their periodical character, and the frequency with which they are referred to, are now more and more used as vehicles for conveying statistical and other useful information, some being intended for the inhabitants of a particular country or district, others for a particular class or party. Some of the almanacs that are regularly published every year are extremely useful, and are indeed almost indispensable to men engaged in official, mercantile, literary, or professional business. Such in Great Britain are _Thom's Official Directory of the United Kingdom_, _The British Almanac_, _Oliver and Boyd's New Edinburgh Almanac_, and _Whitaker's Almanac_, started in 1868. In the United States is published _The American Almanac_, a useful compilation. The _Almanach de Gotha_, which has appeared at Gotha since 1764, contains in small bulk a wonderful quantity of information regarding the reigning families and Governments, the finances, commerce, population, &c., of the different States throughout the world. Since 1871 it is published both in a French and in a German edition. Among French almanacs the most famous was the _Almanach Liegeois_, whilst the _Almanach National_, first published in 1679 as _Almanach Royal_, is the most important of modern almanacs in France. Almanacs that pretend to foretell the weather and occurrences of various kinds are still popular in Britain, France, and elsewhere.--_The Nautical Almanac_ is an important work published annually by the British Government, two or three years in advance, in which is contained much useful astronomical matter, more especially the distances of the moon from the sun, and from certain fixed stars, for every three hours of apparent time, adapted to the meridian of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. By comparing these with the distances carefully observed at sea the mariner may, with comparative ease, infer his longitude to a degree of accuracy unattainable in any other way, and sufficient for most nautical purposes. This almanac was commenced in 1767 by Dr. Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal. The French _Connaissance des Temps_ is published for the same purpose as the English _Nautical Almanac_, and nearly on the same plan. It commenced in 1679. Of a similar character is the _Astronomisches Jahrbuch_ published at Berlin.

ALMAN'DINE, a mineral of a reddish or violet colour, a variety of precious or noble garnet.

ALMAN'SA, a town of south-eastern Spain (Murcia), near which was fought (25th April, 1707) a decisive battle in the War of the Spanish Succession, when the French, under the Duke of Berwick, defeated the Anglo-Spanish army under the Earl of Galway. Pop. 11,887.

ALMAN'ZUR, or ALMANSUR, a caliph of the Abasside dynasty, reigned 754-75. He was cruel and treacherous and a persecutor of the Christians, but a patron of learning.

ALMA-TAD'EMA, Sir Lawrence, Dutch painter, born in 1836, resided since 1870 in England, where he became a naturalized subject. He was made A.R.A. in 1876, R.A. in 1879, knighted in 1899, and awarded the Order of Merit in 1905. He died at Wiesbaden, 25th June, 1912. He is especially celebrated for his pictures of ancient Roman, Greek, and Egyptian life, which are painted with great realism and archaeological correctness.

AL'MEH, the name given in Egypt to a class of girls whose profession is to sing for the amusement of the upper classes, as distinguished from the _gawasi_, who perform before the lower classes. They perform at feasts and other entertainments (including funerals), and many of them are skilful improvisatrici. One of their most famous dances is called 'The Bee'.

ALMEIDA ([.a]l-m[=a]'i-d[.a]), one of the strongest fortresses in Portugal, in the province of Beira, near the Spanish border, on the Coa. Pop. 2350. Taken by Massena from the English in 1810, retaken by Wellington in 1811.

ALMEIDA (d[.a]l-m[=a]'i-d[.a]), Francisco d', first Portuguese viceroy of India, son of the Conde de Abrantes, born about the middle of the fifteenth century. He fought with renown against the Moors, and being appointed governor of the new Portuguese settlements on the African and Indian coasts, he sailed for India in 1505, accompanied by his son Lorenzo and other eminent men. In Africa he took possession of Quiloa and Mombas, and in the East he conquered Cananor, Cochin, Calicut, &c., and established forts and factories. His son Lorenzo discovered the Maldives and Madagascar, but perished in an attack made on him by a fleet sent by the Sultan of Egypt, with the aid of the Porte and the Republic of Venice. Having signally defeated the Mussulmans (1508), and avenged his son, and being superseded by Albuquerque, he sailed for Portugal, but was killed in a skirmish on the African coast in 1510.

ALMELO', a town of Holland, province of Overyssel, on the Vechte; with manufactures of linen. Pop. 7360.

ALMENDRALEJO (-[=a]'h[=o]), a town of Spain, province of Badajoz, in a district rich in grain, wine, and fruits, with many brandy distilleries. Pop. 12,587.

ALMERIA ([.a]l-m[=a]-r[=e]'[.a]), a fortified seaport of Southern Spain, capital of province of Almeria, near the mouth of a river and on the gulf of same name, with no building of consequence except a Gothic cathedral, but with a large trade, exporting grapes, iron ore, lead, esparto, &c. The province, which has an area of 3360 sq. miles, is generally mountainous, and rich in minerals. Pop. of town, 48,614; of province, 393,689.

ALMODO'VAR, a town of Spain, province of Ciudad-Real (New Castile), near the Sierra Morena. Pop. 12,640.

ALMOHADES (al'mo-h[=a]dz), a Moorish dynasty that ruled in Africa and Spain in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, founded by Mohammed Ibn Tumart, a religious enthusiast, who assumed the title of _Mahdi_. They overthrew the Almoravides in Spain, but themselves received a defeat in 1212 from which they did not recover, and in 1269 were overthrown in Africa, when Idris El-Wathik, their last emir, was murdered by a slave.

AL-MOKANNA. See _Mokanna_.

ALMOND ([.a]'mund), the fruit of the almond tree (_Amygd[)a]lus comm[=u]nis_), a tree which grows usually to the height of 20 feet, and is akin to the peach, nectarine, &c. (ord. Rosaceae). It has beautiful pinkish flowers that appear before the leaves, which are oval, pointed, and delicately serrated. It is a native of Africa and Asia, naturalized in Southern Europe, and cultivated in England for its beauty, as it seldom produces edible fruit even in the warmer portions of Southern England. The fruit is a drupe, ovoid, and with downy outer surface; the fleshy covering is tough and fibrous; it covers the compressed wrinkled stone enclosing the seed or almond within it. There are two varieties, one sweet and the other bitter; both are produced from _A. communis_, though from different varieties. Most of the sweet almonds imported into Britain come from Southern Europe, the Levant, and California, the finest being the Valencian, Jordan, and Malaga. They contain a bland fixed oil, consisting chiefly of olein. Bitter almonds come from Mogador, and besides a fixed oil they contain a substance called _emulsin_, and also a bitter crystalline substance called _amygdalin_, which, acting on the emulsin, produces prussic acid, whence the aroma of bitter almonds when mixed with water. _Almond-oil_, a bland fixed oil, is expressed from the kernels of either sweet or bitter almonds, and is used by perfumers and in medicine. A poisonous essential oil is obtained from bitter almonds, which is used for flavouring by cooks and confectioners, also by perfumers and in medicine. The name _almond_, with a qualifying word prefixed, is also given to the seeds of other species of plants; thus _Java almonds_ are the kernels of _Canarium commune_.

ALMONDBURY ([.a]'mund-be-ri), a town of England, West Riding of Yorkshire, S.E. of Huddersfield, in which it is now included, with manufactures of woollens, cotton and silk goods.

AL'MONER, an officer of a religious establishment to whom belonged the distribution of alms. The grand almoner (_grand aumonier_) of France was the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in that kingdom before the revolution. The lord almoner, or lord high almoner of England, is generally a bishop, whose office is well-nigh a sinecure. He distributes the sovereign's doles to the poor on Maundy Thursday.

ALMO'RA, a town and fortress of India, in the United Provinces, capital of Kumaon, 170 miles E.N.E. of Delhi, a thriving little place. Pop. about 10,560.

ALMO'RAVIDES (-v[=i]dz), a Moorish dynasty which arose in North-Western Africa in the eleventh century, and reigned from 1055-1147. The town of Marrakesh, built in 1062, became the capital of this dynasty. Having crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, the family gained possession of all Arabic Spain, but was overthrown by the Almohades in the following century.

AL'MUG (or AL'GUM) TREE, names which occur in _1 Kings_, x, 11, 12, and _2 Chron_., ii, 8, and ix, 10, 11, as the names of trees of which the wood was used for pillars in the temple and the king's house, for harps and psalteries, &c. They are said in one passage to be hewn in Lebanon, in another to be brought from Ophir. They have been identified by critics with the red sandalwood of India. Some of them may possibly have been transplanted to Lebanon by the Phoenicians.

ALMUNECAR ([.a]l-m[u:]n-ye-k[:a]r'), a seaport of Spain, Granada, on the Mediterranean. Pop. 8000.

AL'NAGER, formerly, in England, an official whose duty it was to inspect, measure, and stamp woollen cloth.

AL'NUS. See _Alder_.

ALNWICK (an'ik), a town of England, county town of Northumberland, 34 miles north of Newcastle, near the Aln. It is well built, and carries on tanning, brewing, and a general trade. The town is famous for the curious ceremonies which take place there annually during the election of the common council (25th March). Alnwick Castle, residence of the Dukes of Northumberland, for many centuries a fortress of great strength, stands close to the town. Pop. (1921), 6991.

[Illustration: Socotrine Aloe (_Aloe socotr[=i]na_)]

ALOE (al'[=o]), the name of a number of plants belonging to the genus Aloe (ord. Liliaceae), some of which are not more than a few inches, whilst others are 30 feet and upwards in height; natives of South Africa and Socotra; leaves fleshy, thick, and more or less spinous at the edges or extremity; flowers with a tubular corolla. Some of the larger kinds are of great use, the fibrous parts of the leaves being made into cordage, fishing nets and lines, cloth, &c. The inspissated juice of several species is used in medicine, under the name of _aloes_, forming a bitter purgative. The medicinal value of bitter aloes was known to the Greeks in the fourth century B.C. According to the Arabian historian Edrisi, the occupation of Socotra by the Macedonians was due to Aristotle's persuading Alexander the Great to secure the monopoly of the supplies of the drug. The drug is said to have been commended to Alfred the Great by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, but a direct trade in it between Socotra and Britain was opened only in the seventeenth century. The principal drug-producing species are the Socotrine aloe (_A. Socotr[=i]na_); the Barbados aloe (_A. vulg[=a]ris_), first imported into Britain in 1693; the Cape aloe (_A. spic[=a]ta_), 1780; and Natal aloes, 1870; &c. A beautiful violet colour is yielded by the leaves of the Socotrine aloe. The American aloe (see _Agave_) is a different plant altogether; as are also the aloes or lign-aloes of Scripture, which are supposed to be the _Aquilaria Agall[)o]chum_, or aloes-wood (q. v.). _Aloe fibre_ is obtained from species of Aloe, Agave, Yucca, &c., and is made into coarse fabrics, ropes, &c.

ALOES-WOOD, EAGLE-WOOD, or AGILAWOOD, the inner portion of the trunk of _Aquil[=a]ria ov[=a]ta_ and _A. Agall[)o]chum_, forest trees belonging to the ord. Aquilariaceae, found in tropical Asia, and yielding a fragrant resinous substance, which, as well as the wood, is burned for its perfume. Another tree, the _Aloex[)y]lon Agall[)o]chum_ (ord. Leguminosae), also produces aloes-wood. This wood is supposed to be the lign-aloes (a corruption of the Lat. _lignum aloe_) of the Bible.

ALOPE'CIA, a variety of baldness in which the hair falls off from the beard and eyebrows, as well as the scalp.

ALOPECU'RUS, a genus of grasses. See _Foxtail-grass_.

ALO'RA, a town of Southern Spain, province of Malaga. Pop. 6200.

ALOST, or AALST ([:a]'lost, [:a]lst), a town of Belgium, 15 miles W.N.W. of Brussels, on the Dender (here navigable), with a beautiful, though unfinished, church, and an ancient town hall (thirteenth century); manufactures of lace, thread, linen and cotton goods, &c., and a considerable trade. In the market-place stands a statue of Thierry Maartens, who introduced the art of typography into the Netherlands in 1473. The town was occupied by the Germans in 1914. Pop. 35,603.

[Illustration: Alpaca (_Auch[=e]nia Paco_)]

ALPAC'A, a ruminant mammal of the camel tribe, and genus Auch[=e]nia (_A. Paco_), a native of the Andes, especially of the mountains of Chile and Peru, and closely allied to the llama. Llamas and alpacas are mutually fertile when crossed, and this explains the existence of intermediate forms between the two breeds. It has been domesticated, and remains also in a wild state. In form and size it approaches the sheep, but has a longer neck. It is valued chiefly for its long, soft, and silky wool, which is straighter than that of the sheep, and very strong, and is woven into fabrics of great beauty, used for shawls, clothing for warm climates, coat-linings, and umbrellas, and known by the same name. Cloth made from imported alpaca wool is manufactured in England, principally in Yorkshire. Attempts have been made to introduce and acclimatize the alpaca in Europe and in Australia, but no measure of success has attended the experiments. Its flesh is pleasant and wholesome.

ALPE'NA, a town of the United States, Michigan, at the entrance of the Thunder into Lake Huron, with saw-mills, woollen factories, &c. Pop. 12,706.

ALPEN-HORN, or ALP-HORN (Ger.), a long, nearly-straight horn, curving slightly, and widening towards its extremity, used in the Alps to convey signals, or notice of something.

ALPEN-STOCK (Ger.), a strong, tall stick shod with iron, pointed at the end so as to take hold in, and give support on, ice and other dangerous places in climbing the Alps and other high mountains.

ALPES ([.a]lp), the name of three departments in the south-east of France, all more or less covered by the Alps or their offshoots:--_Basses-Alpes_ (b[:a]s-[.a]lp; Lower Alps) has mountains rising to a height of 8000 to 10,000 feet, is drained by the Durance and its tributaries, and is the most thinly-peopled department in France; area, 2697 sq. miles; capital, Digne. Pop. (1921), 91,882.--_Hautes-Alpes_ ([=o]t-[.a]lp; Upper Alps), mostly formed out of ancient Dauphine, traversed by the Cottian and Dauphine Alps (highest summits 12,000 feet), drained chiefly by the Durance and its tributaries. It is the lowest department in France in point of absolute population; area, 2178 sq. miles; capital, Gap. Pop. (1921), 89,275.--_Alpes-Maritimes_ ([.a]lp-m[.a]-ri-t[=e]m; Maritime Alps) has the Mediterranean on the south, and mainly consists of the territory of Nice, ceded to France by Italy in 1860. The greater part of the surface is covered by the Maritime Alps; the principal river is the Var. It produces in the south, cereals, vines, olives, oranges, citrons, and other fruits; and there are manufactories of perfumes, liqueurs, soap, &c., and valuable fisheries. It is a favourite resort for invalids; area, 1443 sq. miles; capital, Nice. Pop. 357,759.

AL'PHA and O'MEGA, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, sometimes used to signify the beginning and the end, or the first and the last of anything; also as a symbol of the Divine Being (_Rev._ i, 8; xxi, 6; xxii, 13). They were also formerly the symbol of Christianity, and engraved accordingly on the tombs of the ancient Christians. Some of these engravings are to be seen in the Louvre.

AL'PHABET (from _Alpha_ and _Beta_, the two first letters of the Greek alphabet), the series of characters used in writing a language, and intended to represent the sounds of which it consists. The English alphabet, like most of those of modern Europe, is derived directly from the Latin, the Latin from the ancient Greek, and that from the Phoenician, which again is believed to have had its origin in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, although Egyptologists are not unanimous on this point. There is little evidence in support of the theory that the Phoenician alphabet had developed from the Assyrian cuneiform. Some scholars, like Sir Arthur Evans, are of opinion that the Philistines established on the coast of Palestine had brought the alphabet over from Crete, and that from them it passed to the Phoenicians. The names of the letters in Phoenician and Hebrew must have been almost the same, for the Greek names, which, with the letters, were borrowed from the former, differ little from the Hebrew. By means of the names we may trace the process by which the Egyptian characters were transformed into letters by the Phoenicians. Some Egyptian character would, by its form, recall the idea of a house, for example, in Phoenician or Hebrew _beth_. This character would subsequently come to be used wherever the sound b occurred. Its form might be afterwards simplified, or even completely modified, but the name would still remain, as _beth_ still continues the Hebrew name for b, and _beta_ the Greek. Our letter m, which in Hebrew was called _mim_, water, has still a considerable resemblance to the zig-zag wavy line which had been chosen to represent water, as in the zodiacal symbol for _Aquarius_. The letter o, of which the Hebrew name means eye, no doubt was originally intended to represent that organ. While the ancient Greek alphabet gave rise to the ordinary Greek alphabet and the Latin, the Greek alphabet of later times furnished elements for the Coptic, the Gothic, and the old Slavic alphabets. The Latin characters are now employed by a great many nations, such as the Italian, the French, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the English, the Dutch, the German, the Hungarian, the Polish, &c., each nation having introduced such modifications or additions as are necessary to express the sound of the language peculiar to it. The Greek alphabet originally possessed only sixteen letters, though the Phoenician had twenty-two. The original Latin alphabet, as it is found in the oldest inscriptions, consisted of twenty-one letters; namely, the vowels a, e, i, o, and u (v), and the consonants b, c, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, x, z. The Anglo-Saxon alphabet had two characters for the digraph th, which were unfortunately not retained in later English; it had also the character ae. It wanted j, v, y (consonant), and z. The German alphabet consists of the same letters as the English, but the sounds of some of them are different. Anciently certain characters called _Runic_ were made use of by the Teutonic nations, to which some would attribute an origin independent of the Greek and Latin alphabets. Wimmer, the Danish scholar, is, however, of opinion that the _runes_ were developed from the Latin alphabet. While the alphabets of the west of Europe are derived from the Latin, the Russian, which is very complete, is based on the Greek, with some characters borrowed from the Armenian, &c; it is called _azbouka_, from the first two letters _az_, a, and _bouki_, b. Among Asiatic alphabets, the Arabian (ultimately of Phoenician origin) has played a part analogous to that of the Latin in Europe, the conquests of Mohammedanism having imposed it on the Persian, the Turkish, the Hindustani, &c. The Sanskrit or Devan[=a]gari alphabet is one of the most remarkable alphabets of the world. As now used it has fourteen characters for the vowels and diphthongs, and thirty-three for the consonants, besides two other symbols. Our alphabet is a very imperfect instrument for what it has to perform, being both defective and redundant. An alphabet is not essential to the writing of a language, since ideograms or symbols may be used instead, as in Chinese. See _Writing_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. Clodd, _The Alphabet_ (Useful Knowledge Series, Hodder & Stoughton); Canon J. Taylor, _The Alphabet_; Philippe Berger, _Histoire de l'Ecriture dans l'Antiquite_.

ALPH[=E]'US (now RUFIA), the largest river of Peloponnesus, flowing westwards into the Ionian Sea. In Greek mythology Alph[=e]us is supposed to have been the son of Oceanus and Tethys.