The Nuttall Encyclopædia / Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge

Albert the Bear, markgrave of Brandenburg, called the Bear, "not from his looks or qualities, for he was a tall handsome man, but from the cognisance on his shield, an able man, had a quick eye as well as a strong hand, and could pick what way was straightest among crooked things, was the shining figure and the great man of the North in his day, got much in the North and kept it, got Brandenburg for one there, a conspicuous country ever since," says Carlyle, "and which grows more so in our late times" (1100-1175).

Albert Nyan`za, a lake in Equatorial Africa, in the Nile basin, discovered by Sir Samuel Baker in 1864, 150 m.long by 40 broad, and 2500 feet above sea-level.

Alber`ta (26), a fertile region with large forests in British America, on the E. slope of the Rocky Mountains, the south abounding in cattle ranches, and the mountainous districts in minerals.

Alberti, an illustrious Florentine family, rivals of the Medicis and the Albrizzi.

Alber`tus Magnus, one of the greatest of the scholastic philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages, teacher of Thomas Aquinas, supreme in knowledge of the arts and sciences of the time, and regarded by his contemporaries in consequence as a sorcerer (1190-1280).

Albi, a town of some antiquity and note in S.of France, 22 m.NE.of Toulouse.

Albigen`ses, a religious sect, odious, as heretical, to the Church, which sprung up about Albi, in the S.of France, in the 12th century, against which Pope Innocent III.proclaimed a crusade, which was carried on by Simon de Montfort in the 13th century, and by the Inquisition afterwards, to their utter annihilation.

Albinos, persons or animals with preternaturally pale skin and fair hair, also with pupils of a red or pink colour, and eyes too weak to bear full light.

Albinus, an able professor of anatomy and therapeutics at Leyden (1696-1770).

Albion, a white cliff, the ancient name of Great Britain.

Alboin, king of the Lombards in the 6th century, from 561 to 573; invaded Italy as far as the Tiber, and set up his capital in Pavia; incurred the resentment of his wife, who had him assassinated for forcing her to drink wine out of the skull of her father.

Alborak, a wonderful horse of Mahomet, an impersonation of the lightning as his steed.

Albor`noz, a Spanish statesman, archbishop of Toledo, a bold defender of the faith against the Moor and a plain-spoken man in the interest of Christianity (1310-1367).

Albrecht. See Albert

Albrizzi, a powerful Florentine family, rivals of the Medicis and the Alberti.

Albue`ra, a Spanish village 12 m.SE.of Badajoz, scene of a victory (May 16, 1811) of General Beresford over Marshal Soult.

Albufe`ra, a lake on the coast of Spain, 7 m.S.of Valencia, near which Marshal Suchet gained a victory over the English in 1811.

Al`bula, Swiss mountain pass in the canton of Grisons, 7595 ft.high.

Albumen, a glairy substance a constituent of plants and animals, and found nearly pure in the white of an egg or in the serum of the blood.

Albuquerque`, Alfonso d', a celebrated Portuguese patriot and navigator, the founder of the Portuguese power in India, who, after securing a footing in India for Portugal that he sought for, settled in Goa, where his recall at the instance of jealous rivals at home gave him such a shock that he died of a broken heart just as he was leaving.The Indians long remembered his benign rule, and used to visit his tomb to pray him to deliver them from the oppression of his successors (1453-1513).

Albyn, ancient Celtic name of Scotland.

Alcæ`us of Mitylene, a Greek lyric poet, an aristocrat by birth, a contemporary and an alleged lover of Sappho, and much admired by Horace; flourished about 600 B.C.

Alca`la de Hena`res (14), a town in Spain, the birthplace of Cervantes, 21 m. E. of Madrid, long the seat of a famous university founded by Cardinal Ximenes.

Alcan`tara, a town of Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal, with a bridge of six arches, 670 ft.long and 210 ft.high, built in honour of Trajan in 104.The Order of Alcantara, a religious and military order, was established in 1176 here, for defence against the Moors, and was suppressed in 1835.

Alceste, the chief character in Molière's Misanthrope

Alces`tis, the wife of Admetus, who gave herself up to death to save her husband.Hercules descended to the lower world and brought her back.She is the subject of one of the tragedies of Euripides.

Alchemy, the early analysis of substances which has in modern times developed into chemistry, and which aimed chiefly at the discovery of the philosopher's stone, of a universal solvent, and of the elixir of life; it has been defined to be "an art without art, which has its beginning in falsehood, its middle in toil, and its end in poverty."

Alcibi`ades, an Athenian of high birth, and related to Pericles, possessed of a handsome person, brilliant abilities, and great wealth, but was of a wayward temper and depraved, whom Socrates tried hard to win over to virtue, but failed.He involved his country in a rash expedition against Sicily, served and betrayed it by turns in the Peloponnesian war, and died by assassination in exile (450-404 B.C.)

Alci`des, the grandson of Alcæus, a patronymic of Hercules.

Alcin`ous, a king of the Phæacians, the father of Nausicaa, who figures in the Odyssey as the host of Ulysses, who had been shipwrecked on his shore.

Alci`ra (18), a walled town in Spain, on an island 22 m. SW. of Valencia.

Alcman, an early Greek lyric poet, born at Sardis.

Alcme`ne, the wife of Amphitryon and the mother of Hercules.

Alcmeonidæ, a powerful Athenian family, of which Pericles and Alcibiades were members, who professed to be descended from Alcmæon, the grandson of Nestor.

Alcock, John, an eminent ecclesiastic of the reign of Edward IV. , distinguished for his love of learning and learned men; d1500.

Alcohol, pure or highly rectified spirit obtained from fermented saccharine solutions by distillation, and the intoxicating principle of all spirituous liquors.

Alcoholism, the results, acute or chronic, of the deleterious action of alcohol on the human system.

Alcoran`. See Korân

Alcott, Louisa Mary, a popular American authoress, who acted as a nurse to the wounded during the Civil War; her works mostly addressed to the young (1832-1888).

Alcoy (30), a town in Spain, N. of Alicanti; staple manufacture, paper.

Al`cuin, a learned Englishman, a disciple of Bede; invited by Charlemagne to introduce scholarly culture into the empire and establish libraries and schools of learning; was one of those men whose work lies more in what they influence others to do than in what they do themselves (735-804).

Alcy`one, daughter of Æolus, who threw herself into the sea after her husband, who had perished in shipwreck, and was changed into the kingfisher.

Alde`baran, the bull's-eye, a star of the first magnitude in the eye of the constellation Taurus; it is the sun in the Arabian mythology.

Aldehyde, a limpid, very volatile liquid, of a suffocating odour, obtained from the oxidation of alcohol.

Al`derney (2), one of the Channel Islands, 3 or 4 m. long by 2 broad, celebrated for its breed of cows; separated from Cape de la Hogue by the dangerous Race of Alderney.

Al`dershot, a permanent camp, established in 1855, for instruction in military manoeuvres, on a moorland 35 m.SW.of London.

Aldine Editions, editions, chiefly of the classics, issued from the press of Aldus Manutius in Venice in the 16th century, and remarkable for the correctness of the text and the beauty and clearness of the printing.

Aldingar, Sir, legendary character, the steward of Eleanor, wife of Henry II., who accused her of infidelity, and offered to substantiate the charge by combat, when an angel in the form of a child appeared and certified her innocence.

Aldobrandini, a Florentine jurisconsult (1500-1558).

Al`dred, bishop of Worcester in the reign of Edward the Confessor, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, became archbishop of York, and crowned the last of the Saxon and the first of the Norman kings of England; d1063.

Al`drich, dean of Oxford, an accomplished ecclesiastic; was a skilful musician, and composed many services for the Church; wrote a system of logic, long in use in Oxford University (1647-1710).

Aldrovan`di, Ulysses, a famous Italian naturalist of Bologna, who collected an immense body of interesting facts in natural history, published partly in his lifetime and partly after his death (1522-1607).

Aldus Manutius, or Aldo Manuzio, an Italian printer, born at Bassano, established a printing-office in Venice in 1488, issued the celebrated Aldine Editions of the classics, and invented the italic type, for the exclusive use of which for many years he obtained a patent, though the honour of the invention is more probably due to his typefounder, Franciso de Bologna, than to him (1447-1515).

Alec`to, one of the three Eumenides or Furies.

Aleman`, a Spanish novelist, author of the celebrated romance Guzman de Alfarache, which in 6 years ran through 26 editions, was translated several times into French; died in Mexico in 1610.

Aleman`ni, a confederacy of tribes which appeared on the banks of the Rhine in the 3rd cent., and for long gave no small trouble to Rome, but whose incursions were arrested, first by Maximinus, and finally by Clovis in 496, who made them subject to the Franks, hence the modern names in French for Germany and the Germans.

Alemte`jo (369), a southern province of Portugal; soil fertile to the east.

Alençon (17), a town in the dep. of Orne, 105 m. W. of Paris, once famous for its lace.

Alençon, Counts and Dukes of, a title borne by several members of the house of Valois—e.g. Charles of Valois, who fell at Crécy (1346); Jean IV., who fell at Agincourt (1415).

Alep`po (130), a city in Northern Syria, one of the finest in the East, once one of the greatest trading centres in the world.

Ale`sia, a strong place in the E.of Gaul, which, as situated on a hill and garrisoned by 80,000 Gauls, cost Cæsar no small trouble to take.

Alesius, or Alane, a noted Reformer, born in Edinburgh, converted to Protestantism by Patrick Hamilton; was driven first from Scotland and then from England, till he settled as a theological professor in Germany, and took an active part in the Reformation there (1500-1563).

Alessandria (78), a strongly fortified and stirring town on the Tenaro, in Northern Italy, the centre of 8 railways, 55 m. SE. of Turin.

Alessi, architect, born at Perugia, architect of the monastery and church of the Escurial, q.v(1500-1572).

Aletsch Glacier, The, the largest of the glaciers of the Alps, which descends round the south of the Jungfrau into the valley of the Upper Rhône.

Aleu`tian Islands (2) a chain of volcanic islands, 150 in number, stretching over the N. Pacific from Alaska in N. America, to Kamchatka, in Asia.

Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia, son of Philip by Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus; born at Pella, 356 B.C.; had the philosopher Aristotle for tutor, and being instructed by him in all kinds of serviceable knowledge, ascended the throne on the death of his father, at the age of 20; after subduing Greece, had himself proclaimed generalissimo of the Greeks against the Persians, and in 2 years after his accession crossed the Hellespont, followed by 30,000 foot and 5000 horse; with these conquered the army of Darius the Persian at Granicus in 334 and at Issus in 333; subdued the principal cities of Syria, overran Egypt, and crossing the Euphrates and Tigris, routed the Persians at Arbela; hurrying on farther, he swept everything before him, till the Macedonians refusing to advance, he returned to Babylon, when he suddenly fell ill of fever, and in eleven days died at the early age of 32.He is said to have slept every night with his Homer and his sword under his pillow, and the inspiring idea of his life, all unconsciously to himself belike, is defined to have been the right of Greek intelligence to override and rule the merely glittering barbarity of the East.

Alexander, St., patriarch of Alexandria from 311 to 326, contributed to bring about the condemnation of Arius at the Council of Nice; festival, Feb 26.

Alexander, Solomon, first Protestant bishop of Jerusalem, of Jewish birth, cut off during a journey to Cairo (1799-1845).

Alexander III., pope, successor to Adrian IV., an able man, whose election Barbarossa at first opposed, but finally assented to; took the part of Thomas à Becket against Henry II.and canonised him, as also St.Bernard.Pope from 1159 to 1181.

Alexander VI., called Borgia from his mother, a Spaniard by birth, obtained the popehood by bribery in 1492 in succession to Innocent VIII. , lived a licentious life and had several children, among others the celebrated Lucretia and the infamous Cæsar Borgia; din 1503, after a career of crime, not without suspicion of poison.In addition to Alexanders III.and VI., six of the name were popes: Alexander I., pope from 108 to 117; Alexander II., pope from 1061 to 1073; Alexander IV., pope from 1254 to 1261; Alexander V., pope from 1409 to 1410; Alexander VII., pope from 1653 to 1667, who was forced to kiss his hand to Louis XIV.; Alexander VIII., pope from 1689 to 1691.

Alexander I., king of Scotland, son of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling, a vigorous prince, surnamed on that account The Fierce; subdued a rising in the North, and stood stoutly in defence of the independent rights of both Crown and Church against the claim of supremacy over both on the part of England; d1124.

Alexander II., of Scotland, successor of William the Lion, his father, a just and wise ruler, aided the English barons against John, and married Joan, the sister of Henry III. ; d1249.

Alexander III., son of the preceding, married a daughter of Henry III., sided with him against the barons, successfully resisted the invasion of Haco, king of Norway, and on the conclusion of peace gave his daughter in marriage to Haco's successor Eric; accidentally killed by falling over a cliff near Kinghorn when hunting in 1285.

Alexander I., emperor of Russia, son and successor of Paul I., took part in the European strife against the encroachments of Napoleon, was present at the battle of Austerlitz, fought the French at Pultusk and Eylau, was defeated at Friedland, had an interview with Napoleon at Tilsit in 1813, entered into a coalition with the other Powers against France, which ended in the capture of Paris and the abdication of Napoleon in 1814.Under his reign Russia rose into political importance in Europe (1777-1825).

Alexander II., emperor of Russia, son and successor of Nicholas I., fell heir to the throne while the siege of Sebastopol was going on; on the conclusion of a peace applied himself to reforms in the state and the consolidation and extension of the empire.His reign is distinguished by a ukase decreeing in 1861 the emancipation of the serfs numbering 23 millions, by the extension of the empire in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and by the war with Turkey in the interest of the Slavs in 1877-78, which was ended by the peace of San Stephano, revised by the treaty of Berlin.His later years were clouded with great anxiety, owing to the spread of Nihilism, and he was killed by a bomb thrown at him by a Nihilist (1818-1881).

Alexander III., emperor of Russia, son of the preceding, followed in the footsteps of his father, and showed a marked disposition to live on terms of peace with the other Powers; his reign not distinguished by any very remarkable event.The present Czar is his son and successor (1845-1894).

Alexander I., king of Servia, b1876.

Alexander Nevsky, grand-duke of Russia, conquered the Swedes, the Danes, and the Teutonic Knights on the banks of the Neva, freed Russia from tribute to the Mongols, is one of the saints of the Russian Church.

Alexander of Hales, the Doctor irrefragabilis of the Schools, an English ecclesiastic, a member of the Franciscan order, who in his "Summa Universæ Theologiæ" formulated, by severe rigour of Aristotelian logic, the theological principles and ecclesiastical rites of the Romish Church; din 1222.

Alexander of Paris, a Norman poet of the 16th century, who wrote a poem on Alexander the Great in twelve-syllabled lines, called after him Alexandrines.

Alexander of the North, Charles XII.of Sweden.

Alexander Seve`rus, a Roman emperor, a wise, virtuous, and pious prince, conquered Artaxerxes, king of Persia, in an expedition against him, but setting out against the Germans, who were causing trouble on the frontiers of the empire, fell a victim, along with his mother, to an insurrection among his troops not far from Mainz (205-235).

Alexan`dria (230), a world-famous city, the chief port of Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B. C. , at one time a great centre of learning, and in possession of the largest library of antique literature in the world, which was burned by the Caliph Omar in 640; at one time a place of great commerce, but that has very materially decayed since the opening of the Suez Canal. Alexandria, from its intimate connection with both East and West, gave birth in early times to a speculative philosophy which drew its principles from eastern as well as western sources, which was at its height on the first encounter of these elements.

Alexandria (14), a town on the Potomac, 7 m. S. of Washington, accessible to vessels of the largest size; also a thriving town (7) on the river Leven, 3 m. N. of Dumbarton.

Alexandrian Codex, an MS. on parchment of the Septuagint Scriptures in Greek in uncial letters, which belonged to the library of the patriarchs of Alexandra.

Alexandrian Library, the library burned by the Caliph Omar in 642, said to have contained 700,000 volumes.

Alexandri`na Lake, a lake in Australia into which the river Murray flows.

Alexandrine Philosophy, a Gnostic philosophy, combining eastern with western forms of thought.

Alexandrines. See Alexander of Paris

Alexan`dropol (22), the largest town in the Erivan district of Russian Armenia, and a fortress of great strength.

Alexis, St., the patron saint of beggars and pilgrims, represented in art with a staff and in a pilgrim's habit; sometimes lying on a mat, with a letter in his hand, dying.

Alexis Michaelovitch, czar of Russia, the father of Peter the Great, the first czar who acted on the policy of cultivating friendly relations with other European states (1630-1677).

Alexis Petrovitch, son of Peter the Great, conspired against his father as he had broken the heart of his mother, was condemned to death; after his trial by secret judges he was found dead in prison (1695-1718).

Alexius Comne`nus, emperor of the East, began life as a soldier, was a great favourite with the soldiers, who, in a period of anarchy, raised him to the throne at the period of the first crusade, when the empire was infested by Turks on the one hand and Normans on the other, while the crusaders who passed through his territory proved more troublesome than either.He managed to hold the empire together in spite of these troubles, and to stave off the doom that impended all through his reign of thirty-seven years (1048-1118).

Alfa, an esparto grass valuable for making paper.

Al`fadur, the All-Father or uncreated supreme in the Norse mythology.

Alfara`bi, an Arabian philosopher of the 10th century, had Avicenna for a disciple, wrote on various subjects, and was the first to attempt an encyclopedic work.

Alfie`ri, an Italian dramatist, spent his youth in dissipation before he devoted himself to the dramatic art; on the success of his first drama "Cleopatra," met at Florence with the Countess of Albany, the wife of Charles Edward Stuart, on whose death he married her; was at Paris when the Revolution broke out, and returned to Florence, where he died and was buried. Tragedy was his forte as a dramatist (1749-1803).

Alfonsine Tables, astronomical tables drawn up at Toledo by order of Alfonso X.in 1252 to correct the anomalies in the Ptolemaic tables; they divided the year into 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 16 seconds.

Alfonso I., the "Conqueror," founder of the kingdom of Portugal, was the first king, originally only count, as his father before him; in that capacity took up arms against the Moors, and defeating them had himself proclaimed king on the field of battle, a title confirmed to him by the Pope and made good by his practically subjecting all Portugal to his sway (1110-1185).

Alfonso X., the Wise, or the Astronomer, king of Castile and Leon, celebrated as an astronomer and a philosopher; after various successes over the Moors, first one son and then another rose against him and drove him from the throne; died of chagrin at Seville two years later.His fame connects itself with the preparation of the Alfonsine Tables, and the remark that "the universe seemed a crank machine, and it was a pity the Creator had not taken advice."It was a saying of his, "old wood to burn, old books to read, old wine to drink, and old friends to converse with" (1226-1284).

Alfonso III., surnamed the Great, king of Asturias, ascended the throne in 866, fought against and gained numerous victories over the Moors; the members of his family rose against him and compelled him to abdicate, but on a fresh incursion of the Moors he came forth from his retreat and triumphantly beat them back; died in Zamora, 910.

Alford, Henry, vicar of Wymeswold and afterwards Dean of Canterbury; his works and writings were numerous, and included poems and hymns.His great work, however, was an edition of the Greek New Testament, with notes, various readings, and comments (1810-1871).

Alford, Michael, a learned English Jesuit, left two great works, "Britannia Illustrata" and "Annales Ecclesiastici et Civiles Britannorum."

Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, son of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria; b1844.

Alfred the Great, king of the West Saxons, and the most celebrated and greatest of all the Saxon kings.His troubles were with the Danes, who at the time of his accession infested the whole country north of the Thames; with these he fought nine battles with varied success, till after a lull of some years he was surprised by Gunthrum, then king, in 878, and driven to seek refuge on the island of Athelney.Not long after this he left his retreat and engaged Gunthrum at Edington, and after defeating him formed a treaty with him, which he never showed any disposition to break.After this Alfred devoted himself to legislation, the administration of government, and the encouragement of learning, being a man of letters himself.England owes much to him both as a man and a ruler, and it was he who in the creation of a fleet laid the first foundation of her greatness as monarch of the deep.His literary works were translations of the "General History" of Orosius, the "Ecclesiastical History" of Bede, Boëthius's "Consolations of Philosophy," and the "Cura Pastoralis" of Pope Gregory, all executed for the edification of his subjects (849-901).

Algæ, sea-weeds and plants of the same order under fresh water as well as salt; they are flowerless, stemless, and cellular throughout.

Algar`di, an Italian sculptor of note, born at Bologna; his greatest work is an alto-relievo, the largest existing, of Pope Leo restraining Attila from marching on Rome (1602-1654).

Algaro`tti, Francesco, a clever Italian author, born at Venice, whom, for his wit, Frederick the Great was attached to and patronised, "one of the first beaux esprits of the age," according to Wilhelmina, Frederick's sister. Except his wit, it does not appear Frederick got much good out of him, for the want of the due practical faculty, all the faculty he had having evaporated in talk (1712-1764).

Algar`ve (240), the southernmost province of Portugal, hilly, but traversed with rich valleys, which yield olives, vines, oranges, &c.

Algebra, a universal arithmetic of Arabian origin or Arabian transmission, in which symbols are employed to denote operations, and letters to represent number and quantity.

Alge`ria, in the N. of Africa, belongs to France, stretches between Morocco on the W. and Tripoli and Tunis on the E. , the country being divided into the Tell along the sea-coast, which is fertile, the Atlas Highlands overlooking it on the S., on the southern slopes of which are marshy lakes called "shotts," on which alfa grows wild, and the Sahara beyond, rendered habitable here and there by the creation of artesian wells; its extent nearly equal in area to that of France, and the population numbers about four millions, of which only a quarter of a million is French.The country is divided into Departments, of which Algiers, Oran, and Constantine are the respective capitals.It has been successively under the sway of the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Arabs, the Byzantines, and the Berbers, which last were in the 16th century supplanted by the Turks.At the end of this period it became a nest of pirates, against whom a succession of expeditions were sent from several countries of Europe, but it was only with the conquest of it by the French in 1830 that this state of things was brought to an end.

Algesi`ras (12), a town and port in Spain on the Bay of Gibraltar, 5 m. across the bay; for centuries a stronghold of the Moors, but taken from them by Alfonso IX. after a siege of twenty months.

Algiers` (75), the capital of Algeria, founded by the Arabs in 935, called the "silver city," from the glistening white of its buildings as seen sloping up from the sea, presenting a striking appearance, was for centuries under its Bey the head-quarters of piracy in the Mediterranean, which only began to cease when Lord Exmouth bombarded the town and destroyed the fleet in the harbour. Since it fell into the hands of the French the city has been greatly improved, the fortifications strengthened, and its neighbourhood has become a frequent resort of English people in winter.

Algine, a viscous gum obtained from certain sea-weeds, used as size for textile fabrics, and for thickening soups and jellies.

Algo`a Bay, an inlet at the E.of Cape Colony, 20 m.wide, on which Port Elizabeth stands, 425 m.E.of the Cape of Good Hope.

Al`gol, a double star in the constellation Perseus, of changing brightness.

Algonquins, one of the three aboriginal races of N.American Indians, originally occupying nearly the whole region from the Churchill and Hudson Bay southward to N.Carolina, and from the E.of the Rocky Mts.to Newfoundland; the language they speak has been divided into five dialects.

Alham`bra (Red Castle), an ancient palace and stronghold of the Moorish kings of Granada, founded by Muhammed II. in 1213, decorated with gorgeous arabesques by Usuf I. (1345), erected on the crest of a hill which overlooks Granada; has suffered from neglect, bad usage, and earthquake.

A`li, the cousin of Mahomet, and one of his first followers at the age of sixteen, "a noble-minded creature, full of affection and fiery daring. Something chivalrous in him; brave as a lion; yet with a grace, a truth and affection worthy of Christian knighthood." Became Caliph in 656, died by assassination in the Mosque at Bagdad; the Sheiks yearly commemorate his death. See Carlyle's "Heroes."

Ali Baba. See Baba, Ali

A`li Pasha, pasha of Janina, a bold and crafty Albanian, able man, and notorious for his cruelty as well as craft; alternately gained the favour of the Porte and lost it by the alliances he formed with hostile powers, until the Sultan sentenced him to deposition, and sent Hassan Pasha to demand his head; he offered violent resistance but being overpowered at length surrendered, when his head was severed from his body and sent to Constantinople (1741-1822).

Alican`te (40), the third seaport-town in Spain, with a spacious harbour and strongly fortified, in a province of the same name on the Mediterranean.

Aligarh` (61), a town with a fort between Agra and Delhi, the garrison of which mutinied in 1857.

Alighie`ri, the family name of Dante.

Al`ima, an affluent on the right bank of the Congo, in French territory.

Alimentary canal, a passage 5 or 6 times the length of the body, lined throughout with mucous membrane, extends from the mouth to the anus, and includes mouth, fauces, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines.

Alison, Archibald, an Episcopal clergyman in Edinburgh, of which he was a native, best known for his "Essay on the Nature and Principles of Taste" (1757-1839).

Alison, Sir Archibald, son of the preceding, a lawyer who held several prominent legal appointments, and a historian, his great work being a "Modern History of Europe from the French Revolution to the Fall of Napoleon," afterwards extended to the "Accession of Louis Napoleon" (1792-1867).

Alison, W.Pulteney, brother of the preceding, professor of medicine in Edinburgh University, and a philanthropist (1790-1859).

Aliwal`, a village in the Punjab, on the Sutlej, where Sir Harry Smith gained a brilliant victory over the Sikhs, who were provided with forces in superior numbers, in 1846.

Al`kahest, the presumed universal solvent of the alchemists.

Alkalies, bodies which, combining with acids form salts, are soluble in water, and properly four in number, viz., potash, soda, lithia, and ammonia.

Alkaline earths, earths not soluble in water, viz., lime, magnesia, strontia, and baryta.

Alkaloids, bodies of vegetable origin, similar in their properties, as well as toxicologically, to alkalies; contain as a rule carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; many of them are poisonous and invaluable in medicine.

Alkmaar` (14), the capital of N. Holland, 25 m. NW. of Amsterdam, with a large trade in cattle, grain, and cheese.

Alkmer, Henrik van, the reputed author of the first German version of "Reynard the Fox."

All the Talents, Administration of, a ministry formed by Lord Grenville on the death of Pitt in 1806.

Al`lah, the Adorable, the Arab name for God, adopted by the Mohammedans as the name of the one God.

Allahabad` (175), the City of God, a central city of British India, on the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna, 550 m. from Calcutta, and on the railway between that city and Bombay.

Allan, David, a Scottish portrait and historical painter, born at Alloa; illustrated Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd"; his greatest work is the "Origin of Painting," now in the National Gallery at Edinburgh (1744-1796).

Allan, Sir William, a distinguished Scottish historical painter, born at Edinburgh, many of his paintings being on national subjects; he was a friend of Scott, who patronised his work, and in succession to Wilkie, president of the Royal Scottish Academy; painted "Circassian Captives" and "Slave-Market at Constantinople" (1782-1850).

Allantois, a membrane enveloping the foetus in mammals, birds, and reptiles.

Allard`, a French general, entered the service of Runjeet Singh at Lahore, trained his troops in European war tactics, and served him against the Afghans; died at Peshawar (1785-1839).

Allegha`ny (105), a manufacturing city in Pennsylvania, on the Ohio, opposite Pittsburg, of which it is a kind of suburb.

Allegha`ny Mountains, a range in the Appalachian system in U.S., extending from Pennsylvania to N.Carolina; do not exceed 2400 ft.in height, run parallel with the Atlantic coast, and form the watershed between the Atlantic rivers and the Mississippi.

Allegorical interpretation, assigning a higher than a literal interpretation to the Scripture record of things, in particular the Old Testament story.

Allegory, a figurative mode of representation, in which a subject of a higher spiritual order is described in terms of that of a lower which resembles it in properties and circumstances, the principal subject being so kept out of view that we are left to construe the drift of it from the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.

Allegri, the family name of Correggio; the name of an Italian composer, born at Rome, the author of a still celebrated Miserere (1580-1652).

Al`leine, Joseph, a Puritan writer, author of a book once, and to some extent still, much in favour among religious people, entitled "Alarm to the Unconverted" (1632-1674).

Allen, Bog of, a dreary expanse of bogs of peat E. of the Shannon, in King's Co. and Kildare, Ireland; Lough of, an expansion of the waters of the Shannon.

Allen, Ethan, one of the early champions of American independence, taken prisoner in a raid into Canada; wrote a defence of deism and rational belief (1738-1789).

Allen, Grant, man of letters, born in Kingston, Canada, 1848, and a prolific writer; an able upholder of the evolution doctrine and an expounder of Darwinism.

Allen, John, an M.D. of Scotch birth, and a contributor to the Edinburgh Review (1771-1843).

Allen, Wm., a distinguished chemist and philanthropist, son of a Spitalfields weaver, a member of the Society of Friends, and a devoted promoter of its principles (1770-1843).

Allentown (34), a town on the Lehigh River, 50 m. NW. of Philadelphia, the great centre of the iron trade in the U. S.

Alle`rion, in heraldry, an eagle with expanded wings, the points turned downwards, and without beak or feet.

Alleyn, Edward, a celebrated actor in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., the founder of Dulwich College, and was voluntarily along with his wife one of its first beneficiaries and inmates; was a contemporary of Shakespeare (1566-1626).

Al`lia, a stream flowing into the Tiber 11 m.from Rome, where the Romans were defeated by the Gauls under Brennus, 387 B.C.

Alliance, the Triple, in 1668, between England, Holland, and Sweden against Louis XIV. ; the Quadruple, in 1718, between France, England, Holland, and the Empire to maintain the treaty of Utrecht; the Holy, in 1815, between Russia, Austria, and Prussia against Liberal ideas; the Triple, in 1872, between Germany, Austria, and Russia, at the instigation of Bismarck, from which Russia withdrew in 1886, when Italy stepped into her place.Under it the signatories in 1887 guarantee the integrity of their respective territories.

Allier, a confluent of the river Loire, in France, near Nevers; also the department through which it flows.

Allies, the name generally given to the confederate Powers who in 1814 and 1815 entered France and restored the Bourbons.

Allies, Thomas William, an English clergyman who turned Roman Catholic, and wrote, in defence of the step, among others, the "See of St.Peter, the Rock of the Church."

Alligator, a N.American fresh-water crocodile, numerous in the Mississippi and the lakes and rivers of Louisiana and Carolina; subsists on fish, and though timid, is dangerous when attacked; is slow in turning, however, and its attacks can be easily evaded.

Allingham, William, a poet and journalist, born in Ireland, of English origin; his most celebrated works are "Day and Night Songs" and "Lawerence Bloomfield in Ireland"; was for a time editor of Fraser's Magazine (1824-1889).

Allman, George J., M.D., Emeritus Professor of Natural History in Edinburgh, an eminent naturalist; born in Ireland (1812-1898).

Alloa (12), a thriving seaport on north bank of the Forth, in Clackmannan, 6 m. below Stirling, famous for its ale.

Allob`roges, a Celtic race troublesome to the Romans, who occupied the country between the Rhône and the Lake of Geneva, corresponding to Dauphiné and Savoy.

Allopathy, in opposition to homoeopathy, the treatment of disease by producing a condition of the system different from or opposite to the condition essential to the disease to be cured.

Allotropy, the capability which certain compounds show of assuming different properties and qualities, although composed of identical elements.

Alloway, the birthplace of Burns, on the Doon, 2 m.from Ayr, the assumed scene of Tam o' Shanter's adventure.

Alloway Kirk, a ruin S.of Ayr, celebrated as the scene of the witches' dance in "Tam o' Shanter."

All-Saints' Day, the 1st of November, a feast dedicated to all the Saints.

All-Souls' Day, a festival on the 2nd November to pray for the souls of the faithful deceased, such as may be presumed to be still suffering in Purgatory.

Allspice, the berry of the pimento, or Jamaica pepper.

Allston, Washington, an American painter and poet, whose genius was much admired by Coleridge (1779-1843).

Alma, a river in the Crimea, half-way between Eupatoria and Sebastopol, where the allied English, French, and Turkish armies defeated the Russians under Prince Menschikoff, Sept.20, 1854.

Almack's, a suite of assembly rooms, afterwards known as Willis's Rooms, where select balls used to be given, admission to which was a certificate of high social standing.

Almaden (9), a town on the northern slope of the Sierra Morena, in Spain, with rich mines of quicksilver.

Alma`gro, Diego d', a confederate of Pizzaro in the conquest of Peru, but a quarrel with the brothers of Pizzaro about the division of the spoil on the capture of Cuzco, the capital of Chile, led to his imprisonment and death (1475-1538).—Diego d', his son, who avenged his death by killing Pizzaro, but being conquered by Vaca de Castro, was himself put to death (1520-1542).

Al-mamoun, the son of Haroun-el-Raschid, the 7th Abbaside caliph, a great promoter of science and learning; b833.

Almanach de Gotha, a kind of European peerage, published annually by Perthes at Gotha; of late years extended so as to include statesmen and military people, as well as statistical information.

Almansur, Abu Giafar, the 2nd Abbaside caliph and the first of the caliphs to patronise learning; founded Bagdad, and made it the seat of the caliphate; d775.

Almansur, Abu Mohammed, a great Moorish general in the end of the 10th century, had overrun and nearly made himself master of all Spain, when he was repulsed and totally defeated by the kings of Leon and Navarre in 948.

Al`ma-Tad`ema, Laurence, a distinguished artist of Dutch descent, settled in London; famous for his highly-finished treatment of classic subjects; b1836.

Almaviva, a character in Beaumarchais' Marriage de Figaro, representative of one of the old noblesse of France, recalling all their manners and vices, who is duped by his valet Figaro, a personification of wit, talent, and intrigue.

Almeida, a strong fortress in the province of Beira, on the Spanish frontier of Portugal.

Almeida, Francesco, the first Portuguese viceroy of India, a firm and wise governor, superseded by Albuquerque, and killed on his way home by the Kaffirs at the Cape in 1510.—Lorenzo, his son, acting under him, distinguished himself in the Indian seas, and made Ceylon tributary to Portugal.

Almeria (37), a chief town and seaport in the S. of Spain, an important and flourishing place, next to Granada, under the Moors, and at one time a nest of pirates more formidable than those of Algiers.

Almighty dollar, the Almighty whom the Americans are charged with worshipping, first applied to them, it would seem, by Washington Irving.

Almohades, a Moslem dynasty which ruled in N.Africa and Spain from 1129 to 1273.

Almo`ra, a high-lying town at the foot of the Himalayas, 85 m.N.of Bareilly.

Almoravides, a Moslem dynasty which subdued first Fez and Morocco, and then S.Spain, from 1055 to 1147.

Alnwick, the county town of Northumberland, on the Aln; at the north entrance is Alnwick Castle, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, one of the most magnificent structures of the kind in England, and during the Border wars a place of great strength.

Aloe, a genus of succulent plants embracing 200 species, the majority natives of S.Africa, valuable in medicine, in particular a purgative from the juice of the leaves of several species.

Aloes wood, the heart of certain tropical trees, which yields a fragrant resinous substance and admits of high polish.

Alost (25), a Belgian town on the Dender, 19 m. NW. from Brussels, with a cathedral, one of the grandest in Belgium, which contains a famous painting by Rubens, "St. Roche beseeching Christ to arrest the Plague at Alost."

Aloysius, St., See Gonzaga.

Aloysius, St., an Italian nobleman, who joined the Society of Jesus; canonised for his devotion to the sick during the plague in Rome, to which he himself fell a victim, June 21, 1591.

Alpaca, a gregarious ruminant of the camel family, a native of the Andes, and particularly the tablelands of Chile and Peru; is covered with a long soft silky wool, of which textile fabrics are woven; in appearance resembles a sheep, but is larger in size, and has a long erect neck with a handsome head.

Alp-Arslan (Brave Lion), a sultan of the Seljuk dynasty in Persia, added Armenia and Georgia to his dominions (1030-1072).

Alpes, three departments in SE. France: the Basses-A, in NE. part of Provence, bounded by Hautes-Alpes on the N. and Var on the S. , sterile in the N. , fertile in the S. , cap. Digne; Hautes-A., forming part of Dauphiné, traversed by the Cottian Alps, climate severe, cap. Gap; A.Maritimes, E.of the Basses-A., bordering on Italy and the Mediterranean, made up of the territory of Nice, ceded by Italy, and of Monaco and Var; cap.Nice.

Alphe`us, a river in the Peloponnesus, flowing west, with its source in Arcadia; also the name of the river-god enamoured of the nymph Arethusa, and who pursued her under the sea as far as Sicily, where he overtook her and was wedded to her.

Alpine Club, a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which have successfully addressed themselves to attempts of the kind on loftier mountains.

Alpine plants, plants whose natural habitat approaches the line of perpetual snow.

Alps, The, the vastest mountain system in Europe; form the boundary between France, Germany, and Switzerland on the N. and W. , and Italy on the S. , their peaks mostly covered with perpetual snow, the highest being Mont Blanc, within the frontiers of France. According to height, they have been distributed into Fore, Middle, and High: the Fore rising to the limit of trees; the Middle, to the line of perpetual snow; and the High, above the snow-line. In respect of range or extent, they have been distributed into Western, Middle, and Eastern: the Western, including the Maritime, the Cottian, the Dauphiné, and the Graian, extend from the Mediterranean to Mont Blanc; the Middle, including the Pennine and Bernese, extend from Mont Blanc to the Brenner Pass; and the Eastern, including the Dolomite, the Julian, and the Dinaric, extend from the Brenner and Hungarian plain to the Danube. These giant masses occupy an area of 90,000 sq. m. , and extend from the 44th to the 48th parallel of latitude.

Alpujar`ras, a rich and lovely valley which stretches S.from the Sierra Nevada in Spain.

Alruna-wife, the household goddess of a German family.

Alsace-Lorraine` (1,640), a territory originally of the German empire, ceded to Louis XIV. by the peace of Westphalia in 1648, but restored to Germany after the Franco-German war in 1870-71, by the peace of Frankfort; is under a governor general bearing the title of "Statthalter"; is a great wine-producing country, yields cereals and tobacco, its cotton manufacture the most important in Germany.

Alsa`tia, Whitefriars, London, which at one time enjoyed the privilege of a debtors' sanctuary, and had, till abolished in 1697, become a haunt of all kinds of nefarious characters.

Alsen (25), a Danish island adjacent to Sleswig, one of the finest in the Baltic, now ceded to Germany.

Al-Sirat, the hair-narrow hell-bridge of the Moslem, which every Mohammedan must pass to enter Paradise.

Alsten, an island off the coast of Northland, Norway, with seven snow-capped hills, called the Seven Sisters.

Altai` Mountains, in Central Asia, stretching W.from the Desert of Gobi, and forming the S.boundary of Asiatic Russia, abounding, to the profit of Russia, in silver and copper, as well as other metals.

Altdor`fer, Albrecht, a German painter and engraver, a distinguished pupil of Albert Dürer, and as a painter, inspired with his spirit; his "Battle of Arbela" adorns the Münich Picture Gallery (1488-1538).

Al`ten, Karl August, a distinguished officer, native of Hanover, who entered the British service, bore arms under Sir John Moore, was chief of a division, under Wellington, in the Peninsular war, and closed his military career at the battle of Waterloo (1763-1840).

Al`tenburg (33), capital of Saxe-Altenburg, and 4 m. S. of Leipsic; its castle is the scene of the famous "Prinzenraub" (q.v.), related by Carlyle in his "Miscellanies."

Althen, a Persian refugee, who introduced into France the cultivation of madder, which became one of the most important products of the S.of France.

Alton Locke, a novel, by Charles Kingsley, written in sympathy with the Chartist movement, in which Carlyle is introduced as one of the personages.

Alto`na (148), a town and seaport of Sleswig-Holstein, now belonging to Germany, close to Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe, and healthier, and as good as forming one city with it.

Alto-relievo, figures carved out of a tablet so as to project at least one half from its surface.

Al`torf, an old town in the canton Uri, at the S.end of the Lake of Lucerne; associated with the story of William Tell; a place of transit trade.

Altruism, a Comtist doctrine which inculcates sacrifice of self for the good of others as the rule of human action.

Alumbra`do, a member of a Spanish sect that laid claim to perfect enlightenment.

Alured of Beverley, an English chronicler of the 12th century; his annals comprise the history of the Britons, Saxons, and Normans up to his own time; d1129.

Alva, Duke of, a general of the armies of Charles V.and Philip of Spain; his career as a general was uniformly successful, but as a governor his cruelty was merciless, especially as the viceroy of Philip in the Low Countries, "very busy cutting off high heads in Brabant, and stirring up the Dutch to such fury as was needful for exploding Spain and him" (1508-1582).

Alvara`do, Pedro de, one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico, and comrade of Cortez; was appointed Governor of Guatemala by Charles V.as a reward for his valiant services in the interest of Spain; was a generous man as well as a brave.

Alvarez, Francesco, a Portuguese who, in the 15th century, visited Abyssinia and wrote an account of it.

Alvarez, Don José, the most distinguished of Spanish sculptors, born near Cordova, and patronised by Napoleon, who presented him with a gold medal, but to whom, for his treatment of his country, he conceived so great an aversion, that he would never model a bust of him (1768-1827).

Alviano, an eminent Venetian general, distinguished himself in the defence of the republic against the Emperor Maximilian (1455-1515).

Amadeus, Lake, a lake in the centre of Australia, subject to an almost total drying-up at times.

Amade`us V., count of Savoy, surnamed the Great from his wisdom and success as a ruler (1249-1323).

Amadeus VIII., 1st duke of Savoy, increased his dominions, and retired into a monastery on the death of his wife; he was elected Pope as Felix V., but was not acknowledged by the Church (1383-1451).

Amadeus I., of Spain, 2nd son of Victor Emmanuel of Italy, elected king of Spain in 1870, but abdicated in 1873 (1845-1890).

Am`adis de Gaul, a celebrated romance in prose, written partly in Spanish and partly in French by different romancers of the 15th century; the first four books were regarded by Cervantes as a masterpiece.The hero of the book, Amadis, surnamed the Knight of the Lion, stands for a type of a constant and deferential lover, as well as a model knight-errant, of whom Don Quixote is the caricature.

Amadou, a spongy substance, consisting of slices of certain fungi beaten together, used as a styptic, and, after being steeped in saltpetre, used as tinder.

Amaimon, a devil who could he restrained from working evil from the third hour till noon and from the ninth till evening.

Amalaric, king of the Visigoths, married a daughter of Clovis; d581.

Amalekites, a warlike race of the Sinaitic peninsula, which gave much trouble to the Israelites in the wilderness; were as good as annihilated by King David.

Amal`fi, a port on the N.of the Gulf of Salerno, 24 m.SE.of Naples; of great importance in the Middle Ages, and governed by Doges of its own.

Amalfian Laws, a code of maritime law compiled at Amalfi.

Ama`lia, Anna, the Duchess of Weimar, the mother of the grand-duke; collected about her court the most illustrious literary men of the time, headed by Goethe, who was much attached to her (1739-1807).

Amalric, one of the leaders in the crusade against the Albigenses, who, when his followers asked him how they were to distinguish heretics from Catholics, answered, "Kill them all; God will know His own;" d1225.

Amalthe`a, the goat that suckled Zeus, one of whose horns became the cornucopia—horn of plenty.

Ama`ra Sinha, a Hindu Buddhist, left a valuable thesaurus of Sanskrit words.

Ama`ri, Michele, an Italian patriot, born at Palermo, devoted a great part of his life to the history of Sicily, and took part in its emancipation; was an Orientalist as well; he is famous for throwing light on the true character of the Sicilian Vespers (1806-1889).

Amaryl`lis, a shepherdess in one of Virgil's pastorals; any young rustic maiden.

Ama`sia (25), a town in Asia Minor, once the capital of the kings of Pontus.

Ama`sis, king of Egypt, originally a simple soldier, took part in an insurrection, dethroned the reigning monarch and assumed the crown, proved an able ruler, and cultivated alliances with Greece; reigned from 570 to 546 B.C.

Ama`ti, a celebrated family of violin-makers; Andrea and Niccolo, brothers, at Cremona, in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Amatitlan (10), a town in Guatemala, the inhabitants of which are mainly engaged in the preparation of cochineal.

Amaurosis, a weakness or loss of vision, the cause of which was at one time unknown.

Amazon, a river in S.America and the largest on the globe, its basin nearly equal in extent to the whole of Europe; traverses the continent at its greatest breadth, rises in the Andes about 50 m.from the Pacific, and after a course of 4000 m.falls by a delta into the Atlantic, its waters increased by an immense number of tributaries, 20 of which are above 1000 m.in length, one 2000 m., its mouth 200 m.wide; its current affects the ocean 150 m.out; is navigable 3000 m.up, and by steamers as far as the foot of the Andes.

Amazons, a fabulous race of female warriors, who had a queen of their own, and excluded all men from their community; to perpetuate the race, they cohabited with men of the neighbouring nations; slew all the male children they gave birth to, or sent them to their fathers; burnt off the right breasts of the females, that they might be able to wield the bow in war.

Ambassador, "an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth" (Wotton).

Amber, a fossil resin, generally yellow and semi-transparent, derived, it is presumed, from certain extinct coniferous trees; becomes electric by friction, and gives name to electricity, the Greek word for it being electron; has been fished up for centuries in the Baltic, and is now used in varnishes and for tobacco pipes.

Amberger, a painter of Nürnberg in the 16th century, a disciple of Holbein, his principal work being the history of Joseph in twelve pictures.

Ambergris, an ashy-coloured odorous substance used in perfumery, presumed to be a morbid fragment of the intestines of the spermaceti whale, being often found floating on the ocean which it frequents.

Amberley, Lord, son of Lord John Russell, wrote an "Analysis of Religious Belief," which, as merely sceptical, his father took steps to secure the suppression of, without success.

Ambleside, a small market-town near the head of Lake Windermere, in the Wordsworth or so-called Lake District.

Amblyopsis, a small fish without eyes, found in the Mammoth Cave, U.S.

Amboise (5), a town on the Loire, 14 m. E. of Tours, with a castle, once the residence of the French kings. The Conspiracy of A. , the conspiracy of Condé and the Huguenots in 1560 against Francis II. , Catharine de Medici, and the Guises. The Edict of A. (1563) conceded the free exercise of their worship to the Protestants.

Amboise, George de, Cardinal, the popular Prime Minister of Louis XII., who, as such, reduced the Public burdens, and as the Pope's legate in France effected a great reform among the religious orders; is said to have died immensely rich (1460-1510).

Amboyna (238), with a chief city of the name, the most important of the Moluccas, in the Malay Archipelago, and rich before all in spices; it belongs to the Dutch, who have diligently fostered its capabilities.

Am`brose, St., bishop of Milan, born at Trèves, one of the Fathers of the Latin Church, and a zealous opponent of the Arian heresy; as a stern puritan refused to allow Theodosius to enter his church, covered as his hands were with the blood of an infamous massacre, and only admitted him to Church privilege after a severe penance of eight months; he improved the Church service, wrote several hymns, which are reckoned his most valuable legacy to the Church; his writings fill two vols. folio. He is the Patron saint of Milan; his attributes are a scourge, from his severity; and a beehive, from the tradition that a swarm of bees settled on his mouth when an Infant without hurting him (340-397).Festival, Dec.7.

Ambro`sia, the fragrant food of the gods of Olympus, fabled to preserve in them and confer on others immortal youth and beauty.

Amelia, a character in one of Fielding's novels, distinguished for her conjugal affection.

Amende honorable, originally a mode of punishment in France which required the offender, stripped to his shirt, and led into court with a rope round his neck held by the public executioner, to beg pardon on his knees of his God, his king, and his country; now used to denote a satisfactory apology or reparation.

Amerbach, Johann, a celebrated printer in Basel in the 15th century, the first who used the Roman type instead of Gothic and Italian; spared no expense in his art, taking, like a true workman, a pride in it; d1515.

America, including both North and South, 9000 m.in length, varies from 3400 m.to 28 m.in breadth, contains 16½ millions of sq.m., is larger than Europe and Africa together, but is a good deal smaller than Asia; bounded throughout by the Atlantic on the E.and the Pacific on the W.

America, British N., is bounded on the N.by the Arctic Ocean, on the E.by the Atlantic, on the S.by the United States, and on the W.by the Pacific; occupies one-third of the continent, and comprises the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland.

America, Central, extends from Mexico on the north to Panama on the south, and is about six times as large as Ireland; is a plateau with terraces descending to the sea on each side, and rich in all kinds of tropical vegetation; consists of seven political divisions: Guatemala, San Salvador, British Honduras, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mosquitia, and Costa Rica.

America, North, is 4560 m.in length, contains over 8½ millions sq.m., is less than half the size of Asia, consists of a plain in the centre throughout its length, a high range of mountains, the Rocky, on the W., and a lower range, the Appalachian, on the E., parallel with the coast, which is largely indented with gulfs, bays, and seas; has a magnificent system of rivers, large lakes, the largest in the world, a rich fauna and flora, and an exhaustless wealth of minerals; was discovered by Columbus in 1492, and has now a population of 80 millions, of which a fourth are negroes, aborigines, and half-caste; the divisions are British North America, United States, Mexico, Central American Republics, British Honduras, the West Indian Republics, and the Spanish, British, French, and Dutch West Indies.

America, Russian, now called Alaska; belongs by purchase to the United States.

America, South, lies in great part within the Tropics, and consists of a high mountain range on the west, and a long plain with minor ranges extending therefrom eastward; the coast is but little indented, but the Amazon and the Plate Rivers make up for the defect of seaboard; abounds in extensive plains, which go under the names of Llanos, Selvas, and Pampas, while the river system is the vastest and most serviceable in the globe; the vegetable and mineral wealth of the continent is great, and it can match the world for the rich plumage of its birds and the number and splendour of its insect tribes.

America, Spanish, the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, till lately belonging to Spain, though the designation is often applied to all the countries in N.America where Spanish is the spoken language.

American Fabius, George Washington.

American Indians, a race with a red or copper-coloured skin, coarse black straight hair, high cheek-bones, black deep-set eyes, and tall erect figure, limited to America, and seems for most part fast dying out; to be found still as far south as Patagonia, the Patagonians being of the race.

Ameri`go-Vespuc`ci, a Florentine navigator, who, under the auspices first of Spain, and afterwards of Portugal, four times visited the New World, just discovered by Columbus, which the first cartographers called America, after his name; these visits were made between 1499 and 1505, while Columbus's discovery, as is known, was in 1492 (1451-1512).

Ames, Joseph, historian of early British typography, in a work which must have involved him in much labour (1689-1759).

Amha`ra, the central and largest division of Abyssinia.

Amherst, Lord, a British officer who distinguished himself both on the Continent and America, and particularly along with General Wolfe in securing for England the superiority in Canada (1717-1797).

Amice, a flowing cloak formerly worn by pilgrims, also a strip of linen cloth worn over the shoulder of a priest when officiating at mass.

Am`iel, a professor of æsthetics, and afterwards of ethics at Geneva, who is known to the outside world solely by the publication of selections from his Journal in 1882-84, which teems with suggestive thoughts bearing on the great vital issues of the day, and which has been translated into English by Mrs. Humphrey Ward.

Amiens` (88), the old capital of Picardy, on the Somme, with a cathedral begun in 1220, described as the "Parthenon of Gothic architecture," and by Ruskin as "Gothic, clear of Roman tradition and of Arabian taint, Gothic pure, authoritative, unsurpassable, and unaccusable"; possesses other buildings of interest; was the birthplace of Peter the Hermit, and is celebrated for a treaty of peace between France and England concluded in 1802.

Amiran`tes, a group of small coral islands NE.of Madagascar, belonging to Britain; are wooded, are 11 in number, and only a few feet above the sea-level.

Ammana`ti, Bartolomeo, a Florentine architect and sculptor of note, was an admirer of Michael Angelo, and executed several works in Rome, Venice, and Padua (1511-1592).

Ammia`nus Marcelli`nus, a Greek who served as a soldier in the Roman army, and wrote a history of the Roman Empire, specially valuable as a record of contemporary events; d390.

Ammirato, an Italian historian, author of a history of Florence (1531-1601).

Am`mon, an Egyptian deity, represented with the head of a ram, who had a temple at Thebes and in the Lybian Desert; was much resorted to as an oracle of fate; identified in Greece with Zeus, and in Rome with Jupiter.

Ammonia, a pungent volatile gas, of nitrogen and hydrogen, obtained from sal-ammonia.

Ammonio, Andrea, a Latin poet born in Lucca, held in high esteem by Erasmus; sent to England by the Pope, he became Latin secretary to Henry and a prebendary of Salisbury; d1517.

Ammonites, a Semitic race living E.of the Jordan; at continual feud with the Jews, and a continual trouble to them, till subdued by Judas Maccabæus.

Ammonites, a genus of fossil shells curved into a spiral form like the ram-horn on the head of the image of Ammon.

Ammo`nius Saccas, a philosopher of Alexandria, and founder of Neo-Platonism; Longinus, Origen, and Plotinus were among his pupils; d243, at a great age.

Amnion, name given to the innermost membrane investing the foetus in the womb.

Amoeba, a minute animalcule of the simplest structure, being a mere mass of protoplasm; absorbs its food at every point all over its body by means of processes protruded therefrom at will, with the effect that it is constantly changing its shape.

Amomum, a genus of plants, such as the cardamom and grains of paradise, remarkable for their pungency and aromatic properties.

Amorites, a powerful Canaanitish tribe, seemingly of tall stature, NE.of the Jordan; subdued by Joshua at Gibeon.

Amory, Thomas, an eccentric writer of Irish descent, author of the "Life of John Buncle, Esq.," and other semi-insane productions; he was a fanatical Unitarian (1691-1789).

Amos, a poor shepherd of Tekoa, near Bethlehem, in Judah, who in the 8th century B.C.raised his voice in solitary protest against the iniquity of the northern kingdom of Israel, and denounced the judgment of God as Lord of Hosts upon one and all for their idolatry, which nothing could avert.

Amoy` (96), one of the open ports of China, on a small island in the Strait of Fukien; has one of the finest harbours in the world, and a large export and import trade; the chief exports are tea, sugar, paper, gold-leaf, &c.

Ampère`, André Marie, a French mathematician and physicist, born at Lyons; distinguished for his discoveries in electro-dynamics and magnetism, and the influence of these on electro-telegraphy and the general extension of science (1775-1836).

Ampère, Jean Jacques, son of the preceding; eminent as a littérateur, and a historian and critic of literature; attained to the rank of a member of the French Academy (1800-1864).

Amphic`tyonic Council, a council consisting of representatives from several confederate States of ancient Greece, twelve in number at length, two from each, that met twice a year, sitting alternately at Thermopylæ and Delphi, to settle any differences that might arise between them, the decisions of which were several times enforced by arms, and gave rise to what were called sacred wars, of which there were three; it was originally instituted for the conservation of religious interests.

Amphi`on, a son of Zeus and Antiope, who is said to have invented the lyre, and built the walls of Thebes by the sound of it, a feat often alluded to as an instance of the miraculous power of music.

Amphisbæna, a genus of limbless lizards; a serpent fabled to have two heads and to be able to move backward or forward.

Am`phitrite, a daughter of Oceanus or Nereus, the wife of Neptune, mother of Triton, and goddess of the sea.

Amphit`ryon, the king of Tiryns, and husband of Alcmene, who became by him the mother of Iphicles, and by Zeus the mother of Hercules.

Amphitryon the True, the real host, the man who provides the feast, as Zeus proved himself to the household to be when he visited Alcmene.

Am`ran range, pronounced the "scientific frontier" of India towards Afghanistan.

Amrit`sar (136), a sacred city of the Sikhs in the Punjab, and a great centre of trade, 32 m. E. of Lahore; is second to Delhi in Northern India; manufactures cashmere shawls.

Am`ru, a Mohammedan general under the Caliph Omar, conquered Egypt among other military achievements; he is said to have executed the order of the Caliph Omar for burning the library of Alexandria; d663.

Amsterdam (456), the capital of Holland, a great trading city and port at the mouth of the Amsel, on the Zuyder Zee, resting on 90 islands connected by 300 bridges, the houses built on piles of wood driven into the marshy ground; is a largely manufacturing place, as well as an emporium of trade, one special industry being the cutting of diamonds and jewels; birthplace of Spinoza.

Amur`, a large eastward-flowing river, partly in Siberia and partly in China, which, after a course of 3060 m., falls into the Sea of Okhotsk.

Amurnath, a place of pilgrimage in Cashmere, on account of a cave believed to be the dwelling-place of Siva.

Amyot, Jacques, grand-almoner of France and bishop of Auxerre; was of humble birth; was tutor of Charles, who appointed him grand-almoner; he was the translator, among other works, of Plutarch into French, which remains to-day one of the finest monuments of the old literature of France, it was much esteemed by Montaigne (1513-1593).

Amyot, Joseph, a French Jesuit missionary to China, and a learned Orientalist (1713-1794).

Anabaptists, a fanatical sect which arose in Saxony at the time of the Reformation, and though it spread in various parts of Germany, came at length to grief by the excesses of its adherents in Münster. See Baptists

Anab`asis, an account by Xenophon of the ill-fated expedition of Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes, and of the retreat of the 10,000 Greeks under Xenophon who accompanied him, after the battle of Cunaxa in 401 B.C.

Anacharsis, a Scythian philosopher of the 6th century B.C., who, in his roamings in quest of wisdom, arrived at Athens, and became the friend and disciple of Solon, but was put to death on his return home by his brother; he stands for a Scythian savant living among a civilised people, as well as for a wise man living among fools.

Anacharsis Clootz. See Clootz

Anacon`da, a gigantic serpent of tropical America.

Anac`reon, a celebrated Greek lyric poet, a native of Teos, in Asia Minor; lived chiefly at Samos and Athens; his songs are in praise of love and wine, not many fragments of them are preserved (560-418 B.C.)

Anacreon of Painters, Francesco Albani; A.of Persia, Häfiz; A.of the Guillotine, Barère.

Anadyom`ene, Aphrodité, a name meaning "emerging," given to her in allusion to her arising out of the sea; the name of a famous painting of Apelles so representing her.

Anadyr, a river in Siberia, which flows into Behring Sea.

Anag`ni, a small town 40 m.SE.of Rome, the birthplace of several Popes.

Anahuac`, a plateau in Central Mexico, 7580 ft.of mean elevation; one of the names of Mexico prior to the conquest of it by the Spaniards.

An`akim, a race of giants that lived in the S.of Palestine, called also sons of Anak.

Anam`alah Mountains, a range of the W.Ghâts in Travancore.

Anamu`di, the highest point in the Anamalah Mts., 7000 ft.

Anarchism, a projected social revolution, the professed aim of which is that of the emancipation of the individual from the present system of government which makes him the slave of others, and of the training of the individual so as to become a law to himself, and in possession, therefore, of the right to the control of all his vital interests, the project definable as an insane attempt to realise a social system on the basis of absolute individual freedom.

Anasta`sius, the name of four popes: A.I., the most eminent, pope from 398 to 401; A.II., pope from 496 to 498; A.III., pope from 911 to 913; A.IV., pope from 1153 to 1154.

Anastasius, St., a martyr under Nero; festival, April 15.

Anastasius I., emperor of the East, excommunicated for his severities to the Christians, and the first sovereign to be so treated by the Pope (430-515).

Anato`lia, the Greek name for Asia Minor.

Anatomy of Melancholy, a "mosaic" work by Burton, described by Professor Saintsbury as "a wandering of the soul from Dan to Beersheba, through all employments, desires, pleasures, and finding them barren except for study, of which in turn the tædium is not obscurely hinted."

Anaxag`oras, a Greek philosopher of Clazomenæ, in Ionia, removed to Athens and took philosophy along with him, i.e. transplanted it there, but being banished thence for impiety to the gods, settled in Lampsacus, was the first to assign to the nous, conceived of "as a purely immaterial principle, a formative power in the origin and organisation of things"; d425 B.C.

Anaxar`chus, a Greek philosopher of the school of Democritus and friend of Alexander the Great.

Anaximander, a Greek philosopher of Miletus, derived the universe from a material basis, indeterminate and eternal (611-547 B.C.)

Anaxim`enes, also of Miletus, made air the first principle of things; d. 500 B. C. ; A., of Lampsacus, preceptor and biographer of Alexander the Great.

Ancæus, a son of Neptune, who, having left a flagon of wine to pursue a boar, was killed by it.

Ancelot, a French dramatic poet, distinguished both in tragedy and comedy; his wife also a distinguished writer (1792-1875).

Ancenis (4), a town on the Loire, 23 m. NE. of Nantes.

Ancestor-worship, the worship of ancestors that prevails in primitive nations, due to a belief in Animism (q.v.)

Anchieta, a Portuguese Jesuit, born at Teneriffe, called the Apostle of the New World (1538-1597).

Anchi`ses, the father of Æneas, whom his son bore out of the flames of Troy on his shoulders to the ships; was buried in Sicily.

Anchitherium, a fossil animal with three hoofs, the presumed original of the horse.

Anchovy, a small fish captured for the flavour of its flesh and made into sauce.

Anchovy pear, fruit of a W.Indian plant, of the taste of the mango.

Ancient Mariner, a mariner doomed to suffer dreadful penalties for having shot an albatross, and who, when he reaches land, is haunted by the recollection of them, and feels compelled to relate the tale of them as a warning to others; the hero of a poem by Coleridge.

Ancillon, Frederick, a Prussian statesman, philosophic man of letters, and of French descent (1766-1837).

Anco`na (56), a port of Italy in the Adriatic, second to that of Venice; founded by Syracusans.

Ancre, Marshal, a profligate minister of France during the minority of Louis XIII.

Ancus Marcius, 4th king of Rome, grandson of Numa, extended the city and founded Ostia.

Andalusia (3,370), a region in the S. of Spain watered by the Guadalquivir; fertile in grains, fruits, and vines, and rich in minerals.

Andamans, volcanic islands in the Bay of Bengal, surrounded by coral reefs; since 1858 used as a penal settlement.

Andelys, Les, a small town on the Seine, 20 m.NE.of Evreux, divided into Great and Little.

Andermatt, a central Swiss village in Uri, 18 m.S.of Altorf.

Andersen, Hans Christian, a world-famous story-teller of Danish birth, son of a poor shoemaker, born at Odense; was some time before he made his mark, was honoured at length by the esteem and friendship of the royal family, and by a national festival on his seventieth birthday (1805-1875).

Anderson, James, a Scotch lawyer, famous for his learning and his antiquarian knowledge (1662-1728).

Anderson, James, native of Hermiston, near Edinburgh, a writer on agriculture and promoter of it in Scotland (1739-1808).

Anderson, John, a native of Roseneath, professor of physics in Glasgow University, and the founder of the Andersonian College in Glasgow (1726-1796).

Anderson, Lawrence, one of the chief reformers of religion in Sweden (1480-1552).

Anderson, Mary, a celebrated actress, native of California; in 1890 married M. Navarro de Viano of New York; b1859.

Anderson, Sir Edmund, Lord Chief-Justice of Common Pleas under Elizabeth, sat as judge at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. Anderson's Reports is still a book of authority; d1605.

Andes, an unbroken range of high mountains, 150 of them actively volcanic, which extend, often in double and triple chains, along the west of South America from Cape Horn to Panama, a distance of 4500 m., divided into the Southern or Chilian as far as 23½° S., the Central as far as 10° S., and the Northern to their termination.

Andocides, an orator and leader of the oligarchical faction in Athens; was four times exiled, the first time for profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries (467-393 B.C.)

Andor`ra (6), a small republic in the E. Pyrenees, enclosed by mountains, under the protection of France and the Bishop of Urgel, in Catalonia; cattle-rearing is the chief occupation of the inhabitants, who are a primitive people and of simple habits.

Andover, an old municipal borough and market-town in Hampshire, 66 m.SW.of London; also a town 23 m.from Boston, U.S., famous for its theological seminary, founded in 1807.

Andral, Gabriel, a distinguished French pathologist, professor in Paris University (1797-1876).

An`drassy, Count, a Hungarian statesman, was exiled from 1848 to 1851, became Prime Minister in 1867, played a prominent part in diplomatic affairs on the Continent to the advantage of Austria (1823-1890).

Andre, John, a brave British officer, tried and hanged as a spy in the American war in 1780; a monument is erected to him in Westminster Abbey.

André II., king of Hungary from 1205 to 1235, took part in the fifth crusade.

Andrea del Sarto. See Sarto

Andrea Pisano, a sculptor and architect, born at Pisa, contributed greatly to free modern art from Byzantine influence (1270-1345).

Andreossy, Count, an eminent French general and statesman, served under Napoleon, ambassador at London, Vienna, and Constantinople, advocated the recall of the Bourbons on the fall of Napoleon.

Andreossy, François, an eminent French engineer and mathematician (1633-1688).

Andrew, St., one of the Apostles, suffered martyrdom by crucifixion, became patron saint of Scotland; represented in art as an old man with long white hair and a beard, holding the Gospel in his right hand, and leaning on a transverse cross.

Andrew, St., Russian Order of, the highest Order in Russia.

Andrew, St., the Cross of, cross like a X, such having, it is said, been the form of the cross on which St.Andrew suffered.

Andrewes, Lancelot, an English prelate, born in Essex, and zealous High Churchman in the reign of Elizabeth and James I.; eminent as a scholar, a theologian, and a preacher; in succession bishop of Ely, Chichester, and Winchester; was one of the Hampton Court Conference, and of the translators of the Authorised Version of the Bible; he was fervent in devotion, but of his sermons the criticism of a Scotch nobleman, when he preached at Holyrood once, was not inappropriate: "He rather plays with his subject than preaches on it" (1555-1626).

Andrews, Joseph, a novel by Fielding, and the name of the hero, who is a footman, and the brother of Richardson's Pamela.

Andrews, Thomas, an eminent physicist, born and professor in Belfast (1813-1885).

Andrieux, St., a French littérateur and dramatist, born at Strassburg, professor in the College of France, and permanent secretary to the Academy (1759-1822).

Andro`clus, a Roman slave condemned to the wild beasts, but saved by a lion, sent into the arena to attack him, out of whose foot he had long before sucked a thorn that pained him, and who recognised him as his benefactor.

Androm`ache, the wife of Hector and the mother of Astyanax, famous for her conjugal devotion; fell to Pyrrhus, Achilles' son, at the fall of Troy, but was given up by him to Hector's brother; is the subject of tragedies by Euripides and Racine respectively.

Androm`eda, a beautiful Ethiopian princess exposed to a sea monster, which Perseus slew, receiving as his reward the hand of the maiden; she had been demanded by Neptune as a sacrifice to appease the Nereids for an insult offered them by her mother.

Androni`cus, the name of four Byzantine emperors: A.I., Comnenus, killed his ward, Alexis II. , usurped the throne, and was put to death, 1183; A.II., lived to see the empire devastated by the Turks (1282-1328); A.III., grandson of the preceding, dethroned him, fought stoutly against the Turks without staying their advances (1328-1341); A.IV. dethroned his father, Soter V. , and was immediately stripped of his possessions himself (1377-1378).

Andronicus, Livius, the oldest dramatic poet in the Latin language (240 B.C.)

Andronicus of Rhodes, a disciple of Aristotle in the time of Cicero, and to whom we owe the preservation of many of Aristotle's works.

Andros (22), the most northern of the Cyclades, fertile soil and productive of wine and silk.

Androuet du Cerceau`, an eminent French architect who designed the Pont Neuf at Paris (1530-1600).

Andujar (11), a town of Andalusia, on the Guadalquivir, noted for the manufacture of porous clay water-cooling vessels.

Anemometer, an instrument for measuring the force, course, and velocity of the wind.

Aneroid, a barometer, consisting of a small watch-shaped, air-tight, air-exhausted metallic box, with internal spring-work and an index, affected by the pressure of the air on plates exposed to its action.

Aneu`rin, a British bard at the beginning of the 7th century, who took part in the battle of Cattraeth, and made it the subject of a poem.

Aneurism, a tumour, containing blood, on the coat of an artery.

Angara, a tributary of the Yenisei, which passes through Lake Baikal.

Angel, an old English coin, with the archangel Michael piercing the dragon on the obverse of it.

Angel-fish, a hideous, voracious fish of the shark family.

Angelic Doctor, Thomas Aquinas.

Angel`ica, a faithless lady of romance, for whose sake Orlando lost his heart and his senses.

Angelica draught, something which completely changes the affection.

Angelico, Fra, an Italian painter, born at Mugello, in Tuscany; became a Dominican monk at Fiesole, whence he removed to Florence, and finally to Rome, where he died; devoted his life to religious subjects, which he treated with great delicacy, beauty, and finish, and conceived in virgin purity and child-like simplicity of soul; his work in the form of fresco-painting is to be found all over Italy (1387-1455).

An`gelus, a devotional service in honour of the Incarnation.

Angers` (77), on the Maine, the ancient capital of Anjou, 160 m. SW. of Paris, with a fine cathedral, a theological seminary, and a medical school; birthplace of David the sculptor.

Angerstein, John, born in St.Petersburg, a distinguished patron of the fine arts, whose collection of paintings, bought by the British Government, formed the nucleus of the National Gallery (1735-1822).

Angi`na pec`toris, an affection of the heart of an intensely excruciating nature, the pain of which at times extends to the left shoulder and down the left arm.

Angler, a fish with a broad, big-mouthed head and a tapering body, both covered with appendages having glittering tips, by which, as it burrows in the sand, it allures other fishes into its maw.

Angles, a German tribe from Sleswig who invaded Britain in the 5th century and gave name to England.

An`glesea (50), i.eIsland of the Angles, an island forming a county in Wales, separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait, flat, fertile, and rich in minerals.

Anglesey, Marquis of, eldest son of the first Earl of Uxbridge, famous as a cavalry officer in Flanders, Holland, the Peninsula, and especially at Waterloo, at which he lost a leg, and for his services at which he received his title; was some time viceroy in Ireland, where he was very popular (1768-1854).

Anglia, East territory in England occupied in the 6th century by the Angles, corresponding to counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.

Ang`lican Church, the body of Episcopal churches all over the British Empire and Colonies, as well as America, sprung from the Church of England, though not subject to her jurisdiction, the term Anglo-Catholic being applied to the High Church section.

Anglo-Saxon, the name usually assigned to the early inflected form of the English language.

Ango`la (2,400), a district on the W. coast of Africa, between the Congo and Benguela, subject to Portugal, the capital of which is St. Paul de Loando.

Ango`ra (20), a city in the centre of Anatolia, in a district noted for its silky, long-haired animals, cats and dogs as well as goats.

Angostu`ra, capital of the province of Guayana, in Venezuela, 240 m.up the Orinoco; also a medicinal bark exported thence.

Angoulême` (31), an old French city on the Charente, 83 m. NE. of Bordeaux, with a fine cathedral, the birthplace of Marguerite de Valois and Balzac.

Angoulême, Charles de Valois, Duc d', natural son of Charles IX., gained great reputation as a military commander, left Memoirs of his life (1575-1650).

Angoulême, Duc d', the eldest son of Charles X., after the Revolution of 1830 gave up his rights to the throne and retired to Goritz (1778-1844).

Angoulême, Duchesse d', daughter of Louis XVI.and wife of the preceding (1778-1851).

An`gra, the capital of the Azores, on the island of Terceira, a fortified place.

An`gra Peque`na, a port in SW.Africa, N.of the Orange River, and the nucleus of the territory belonging to Germany.

Ang`strom, a Swedish physicist and professor at Upsala, distinguished for his studies on the solar spectrum; b1814.

Anguil`la (2), or Snake Island, one of the Lesser Antilles, E. of Porto Rico, belonging to Britain.

Anguier, the name of two famous French sculptors in the 17th century.

An`halt (293), a duchy of Central Germany, surrounded and split up by Prussian Saxony, and watered by the Elbe and Saale; rich in minerals.

Anhalt-Dessau, Leopold, Prince of, a Prussian field-marshal, served and distinguished himself in the war of the Spanish Succession and in Italy, was wounded at Cassano; defeated Charles XII.at the Isle of Rügen, and the Saxons and Austrians at Kesseldorf (1676-1747).

Anichini, an Italian medallist of the 16th century; executed a medal representing the interview of Alexander the Great with the High Priest of the Jews, which Michael Angelo pronounced the perfection of the art.

Aniline, a colourless transparent oily liquid, obtained chiefly from coal-tar, and extensively used in the production of dyes.

Animal heat, the heat produced by the chemical changes which go on in the animal system, the intensity depending on the activity of the process.

Animal magnetism, a name given to the alleged effects on the animal system, in certain passive states, of certain presumed magnetic influences acting upon it.

Animism, a belief that there is a psychical body within the physical body of a living being, correspondent with it in attributes, and that when the connection between them is dissolved by death the former lives on in a ghostly form; in other words, a belief of a ghost-soul existing conjointly with and subsisting apart from the body, its physical counterpart.

An`io, an affluent of the Tiber, 4 m.above Rome; ancient Rome was supplied with water from it by means of aqueducts.

Anise, an umbelliferous plant, the seed of which is used as a carminative and in the preparation of liqueurs.

Anjou`, an ancient province in the N.of France, annexed to the crown of France under Louis XI.in 1480; belonged to England till wrested from King John by Philip Augustus in 1203.

Ankarström, the assassin of Gustavus III.of Sweden, at a masked ball, March 15, 1792, for which he was executed after being publicly flogged on three successive days.