to an impalpable powder, by turning into rhst with urine, levigating, washing, and drying it it was formerly used as a remedy in the gout. ALCOHOLIZATION, the rectification of a vinous spirit. It is otherwise called alcolization; and is sometimes used for pulverization. ALCOLA, among alchemists, the tartar of urine, is found in three different forms; 1. Resolved, or reduced into an inpalpable substance; 2. Sandy; 3. Mucilaginous, or viscus. ALCOR, the Arabian name for the small star very near allioth in ursa major. The Arabians apply a proverb to those who pretend to sce small things while they overlook much greater. Thou canst see alcor, and yet not see the full moon.

found mysteries; but they have been explained by writers in many different ways.

The Alkoran is universally allowed to be writ ten with the utmost elegance and purity of language, and is confessedly the standard of the Arabic tongue. Indeed the more orthodox believe, and are taught by the book itself to consider it inimitable by any human pen: a permanent miracle; greater than that of raising the dead, and alone sufficient to convince the world of its divine original. To this miracle, in fact, did Mahomet himself chiefly appeal for the confirmation of his mission, publicly challenging the most learned men in Arabia to produce even a single chapter that might be compared with it.

ALCORAN, or AL-KORAN, the scripture, The general design of the Alkoran was to or bible of the Mahometans. The word is unite the professors of the three different recompounded of the Arabic al, a noun signify- ligions, then followed in the populous country ing God, or a particle signifying coran or koran, of Arabia, in the knowledge and worship of derived from the verb caraa or karaa, to read; one God, under the sanction of certain laws, and may hence mean either "God's book," and the outward signs of ceremonies partly of "the book of God;" or emphatically the ancient and partly of novel institution, enforced book" the first is the best interpretation. by the consideration of rewards and punishThe Alkoran is divided into 114 larger por- ments both temporal and eternal; and to tions of very unequal length, which we call bring them all to the obedience of Mahomet, chapters; but the Arabians sowar. These as the prophet and ambassador of the deity. chapters are not, in the manuscript copies, distinguished by their numerical order, but by particular titles, which are taken sometimes from a particular matter treated of, or person mentioned therein; and some chapters have two or more titles, occasioned by the difference of the copies. Every chapter is subdivided into smaller portions of very unequal length, with us called verses, but in Arabic ayat; the same with the Hebrew ototh, signifying signs or wonders; such as are the secrets of God, his attributes, &c. Many of these have their particular titles also.

Besides these unequal divisions of chapter and verse, the Mahometans have also divided their Alkoran into 60 equal portions, which they call Ahzab, in the singular Hizb, each subdivided into four equal parts; which is an imitation of the Jews, who have an ancient division of their Mishma into 60 portions called Massictoth.

Next after the title, at the head of every chapter, except only the 9th, is prefixed the following solemn form, by the Mahometans called the Bismallah, In the name of the most merciful God; which form they constantly place at the beginning of all their books and writings in general, as a peculiar mark or distinguishing characteristic of their religion, it being counted a sort of impiety to omit it. Mahomet probably took this form, as he did many other things, from the Persian Magi, who used to begin their books in these words, Benam Yezdan hakshaishgher dadar; that is, In the name of the most merciful just God. There are 29 chapters of the Alkoran, which have this peculiarity, that they begin with certain letters of the alphabet, some with a single one, others with more. These letters the Mahometans believe to be the peculiar marks of the Alkoran, and to conceal several pro

The great doctrine then of the Alkoran is the unity of God; to restore which point Mahomet pretended was the chief end of his mission; it being laid down by him as a fundamental truth, that there never was, nor ever can be, more than one true orthodox religion. Whenever this religion became neglected, or corrupted in essentials, God, he asserted, had the goodness to re-inform and re-admonish mankind thereof, by several prophets, of whom Moses and Jesus were the most distinguished, till the appearance of Mahomet, who is their seal, and no other to be expected after him. The more effectually to enforce this idea, great part of the Alkoran is employed in relating examples of dreadful punishments formerly inflicted by God on those who rejected and abused his messengers; several of which stories, or some circumstances of them, are taken from the Old and New Testaments, but many more from the apocryphal books and traditions of the Jews and Christians of those ages. Indeed, few or none of the relations or circumstances in the Alkoran were invented by Mahomet, as is generally supposed, it being easy to trace the greatest part of them much higher, as the rest might be, were more of those books extant, and were it worth while to make the enquiry.

The rest of the Alcoran is taken up in prescribing necessary laws and directions, frequent admonitions to moral and divine virtues, the worship and reverence of the Supreme Being, and resignation to his will. One of their most learned commentators distinguishes the contents of the Alcoran into allegorical and literal; under the former are comprehended all the obscure, parabolical, and enigmatical passages, with such as are repealed, or abrogated, the latter, such as are clear, and in full force.

The most excellent moral in the whole Alcoran, interpreters say, is that in the chapter

ALCYONIUS (Peter,) a learned Italian, who flourished in the sixteenth century. He was well versed in the Greek and Latin tongues, and wrote some pieces of eloquence which met with great approbation. He was corrector of the press a considerable time for Aldus Manutius, and is entitled to a share in the praises given to the editions of that learned printer. He published a treatise concerning banishment. ALDBOROUGH, a borough and seaport in Suffolk, with a market on Wednesday and Saturday. It is pleasantly seated in a dale between a higli hill and the sea. The harbour is small, and the sea has, some years back, made great encroachments. This town sends two members to parliament. Lat. 52. 16 N. Lon. 1. 42 E.

ALDBOROUGH, is also the name of a borough town in Yorkshire, sending two members to parliament. Lat. 54. 8 N. Lon. 1. 12 W.

ALDEBARAN, in astronomy, a star of the first magnitude, often called the Bull's eye; and is marked by Bayer as a in Taurus.

ALDER. In botany. See BETULA. ALDER, black, or berry-bearing. RHAMNUS.

See

ALDERAIMIN, in astronomy, a star of the third magnitude, marked & in the right shoulder of Cepheus.

ALDERHOLM, an island of Sweden, at the mouth of the river Gefle, in the gulf of Bothnia.

ALDERLIEVEST. a. Most beloved

(Shakspeare).

ALDERMAN, among our ancient Saxon ancestors, was the second of the three orders, or degrees, of nobility. The word, in its original, is ealdorman; compounded of æld, old; or ældor, elder; and man, q. d. Elderman. Atheling was the first rank of nobility, alderman the second, and thane the lowest.

ALDERMAN, in the British policy, a magistrate subordinate to the mayor of a city or town-corporate. The number of these magistrates varies according to the magnitude or custom of the place. London has twenty-six; each having the care of one of the wards of the city. All the aldermen are justices of the peace, by a charter of 15 Geo. II. The aldermen of London, &c. are exempted from serving inferior offices; nor shall they be put upon assizes, or serve on juries, so long as they continue to be aldermen. An alderman ought to be an inhabitant of the place, and resident where he is chosen; if he remove he is incapable of doing his duty in the government of the place, and may be disfranchised.

ALDERMANLY, ad. (from alderman.) Like an alderman (Swift).

A'LDERN. a. (from alder.) Made of alder (May.). ALDERNEY,

an island in the British Channel, subject to Great Britain, about a league and a half from Cape Lattague in Normandy, and thirty leagues from the nearest part of England. It is separated from Normandy by a strait called the Race of Alderney, which

is a very dangerous passage, by reason of the rocks under water. It is a healthy island, and its pasture and corn are good. The inhabitants are poor, principally occasioned by the prevailing custom of gavel-kind, by which the lands are equally divided into parcels among the last proprietor's children. Lat. 49. 50 N. Lon. 2. 17 W.

ALDHAFERA, in astronomy, a star of the third magnitude, being y in Leo.

ALDUELM, or ADELM (St.), an English divine, was bishop of Shireburn in the time of the Saxon heptarchy. William of Malmesbury says, that he was the son of Kenred, or Kenter, brother of Ina king of the West Saxons. He was born at Caer Bladon, now Malmesbury, in Wiltshire. He had part of his education abroad in France and Italy, and part at home under Maildulphus an Irish Scot, who had built a little monastery where Malmesbury now stands. Upon the death of Maildulphus, Aldhelm, by the help of Eleutherius bishop of Winchester, built a stately monastery there, and was himself the first abbot thereof. When Hedda bishop of the West Saxons died, the kingdom was divided into two dioceses, viz. Winchester and Shireburn, and King Ina promoted Aldhelm to the latter, comprehending Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall: he was consecrated at Rome by pope Sergius I. and Godwin tells us that he had the courage to reprove his holiness for having a bastard. Aldhelm, by the directions of a diocesan synod, wrote a book against the mistake of the Britons concerning the celebration of Easter, which brought over many of them to the catholic usage in that point. He likewise wrote a piece, partly in prose and partly in hexameter verse, in praise of virginity, dedicated to Ethelburga abbess of Barking, and published amongst Bede's Opuscula, besides several other treatises, which are mentioned by Bale and William of Malmesbury. He is said to have been the first Englishman who ever wrote in Latin, and as he himself tells us in one of his treatises on metre, the first who introduced poetry into England. The character of Aldhelm is thus depicted by an ancient chronicler: He was an excellent harper, a most elegant Saxon and Latin poet, a doctor egregius," and admirably versed in the Scriptures and liberal sciences." Indeed, Alfred the Great declared that Aldhelm was the best of all the Saxon poets, and that a favourite song which was universally sung in his time, nearly 200 years after the author's death, was of his composition. Aldhelm lived in great esteem till his death, which happened May the 25th, 700.

66

ALDII, in antiquity, servants who attended their masters to the wars.

ALDRICH (Henry), was the son of Henry Aldrich, of Westminster, where he was born . 1647. He was educated at Westminster, from whence he went to Christ church, Oxford, in 1662. He was elected student of that college, and, in 1669, took the degree of M.A. At the revolution he was made dean of Christ church. He was one of the persons entrusted

with the publication of lord Clarendon's history. Besides his literary acquirements, he had a great knowledge of architecture and music; as appears by Peckwater-square, in Oxford, the chapel of Trinity-college, and the church of All-Saints, which was designed by hum; and the numerous church services and anthems which he composed. The dean was also the composer of two catches, the famous one called Hark the bonny Christ Church Bells," and the other "A smoking Catch," being hunself a great smoker. He held with his deanery the rectory of Wem, in Shropshire, and in the convocation of 1702, he sat as prolocutor. He died at Christ-church, December 14, 1710. Besides the works already mentioned, he printed "Artis Logicæ Compendium," and the Elements of Architecture, in Latin. ALDROVANDA. In botany, a genus of the class and order pentandria, pentagynia. Its calyx is five-parted; petals five; capsule fivevalved, one-celled, ten-seeded. The only known species is indigenous both to Italy and India, bladdered like utricularia, but in bunches.

ALDROVANDUS (Ulysses), professor of philosophy and physic at Bologna, the place of his nativity, was a most curious enquirer into natural history, and travelled into the most distant countries on purpose to inform himself of their natural productions. He was at great expence in having figures drawn from the life. Aubert le Mire says, that he gave a certain painter, famous in that art, a yearly salary of two hundred crowns, for thirty years and upwards; and that he employed at his own expence Lorenzo Bennini and Cornelius Swintus, as well as the famous engraver Christopher Coriolanus. These expenses ruined his fortune, and at length reduced him to the utmost necessity; and it is said that he died blind in a hospital at Bologna, at a great age, in 1005. Mr. Bayle observes, that antiquity does not furnish us with an instance of a design so extensive and so laborious as that of Aldrovandus, with regard to natural history; that Pliny indeed has treated of more subjects, but only touches them lightly, whereas Aldrovandus has collected all he could meet with. His compilation, or what at least was compiled upon his plan, cou-ists of several volumes in folio, some of which were printed after his death. He himself published his Ornithology, or History of Birds, in three folio volumes, in 1599; and his seven books of Insects, which make another volume of the same size. The volume of Serpents, three of Quadrupeds, one of Fishes, that of exsanguineous Animals, the History of Monsters, with the supplement to that of Animals, the treatise of Metals, and the Dendrology or History of Trees, were published at several times after his death, by the care of different persons.

ALE, a fermented liquor obtained from an infusion of malt, differing from beer chiefly in having a less proportion of hops. See BREW

ING

This liquor, the natural substitute of wine In such countries as could not produce the

grape, was originally made in Egypt. The natives of Spain also, the inhabitants of France, and the aborigines of Britain, all used an infusion of barley for their ordinary liquor; and it was called by the various names of calia and cetia in the first country, cerevisia in the second, and curmi in the last, all literally importing only the strong water.

The method in which the ancient Britons, and other Celtic nations, made their ale, is thus described by Isidorus and Orosius: "The grain is steeped in water and made to gerini nate, by which its spirits are excited and set at liberty; it is then dried and ground; after which it is infused in a certain quantity of water, which being fermented, becomes a pleasant, warming, strengthening, and intoxicating liquor."

The consumption of ale in these kingdoms is incredible. It was computed thirty years ago at the value of 4,000,000 pounds yearly, including Great Britain and Ireland. The duties on ale and beer make a principal branch of the revenue in Britain. They were first imposed by the 12th of Car. II. and have been continued by several subsequent acts of parlia ment to first Geo. HII. which lays an additional duty of 3d. per barrel. In the whole, the brewer of ale and beer for sale shall pay 8s. for every barrel of either, above 6s. a barrel; and for every barrel of 6s. or under, the sum of Is. 4d. Additional duties were laid on in 1203.

ALE-HOUSES must be licensed by justices of the peace, who take recognizances of the persons licensed, and of their sureties, viz. 101. each, that they will not sutler unlawful gaming, or other disorderly practices in their houses. Every person, excepting those who sell ale in fairs, neglecting to procure a licence, is liable to a penalty of 40s. for the first offence, 41. for the second, and 61. for the third, with all costs. The licence is granted on the first of September, or within 20 days after, at a general meeting of the justices for the division to which he belongs, upon his producing a certificate to his character, unless, by living in a city or town corporate, this last circumstance is dispensed with, and continues in force for one year only. Ale-house keepers, selling ale in short measure, are liable to a penalty not exceeding 40s. and not less than 10%, and likewise to a fine of 10s. for permitting tippling, &c.

ALE-MEASURE. See MEASURE.

ALEA, in Roman antiquity, signifies, in general, games of chance. The place where these gaines were played was called Alcatorium.

ALEANDER (Jerome), cardinal and archbishop of Bendisi, was born in 1480; and distinguished himself at the beginning of the Reformation, by the opposition he made to Luther: for being sent into Germany as the pope's nuncio in 1519, he acted, as occasion served, in the character both of ambassador and doctor; and declaimed three hours toge ther against Luther's doctrine before the diet

The talents of D'Alembert as a mathematician and natural philosopher, are universally admitted: his scientific works exhibit a singu lar combination of genius, judgment, and liteALEMBERT (John le Rond d'), an emi-rary taste; he traversed almost every departnent French philosopher, was born at Paris in 1717. He derived the name of John le Rond from that of the church near which, after his birth, he was exposed as a foundling. He received his first education in the college of the Four Nations, among the Jansenists; but, on leaving it, found himself alone and unconnected in the world, and sought an asylum in the house of his nurse. Here, he applied himself to the study of geometry, and lived, during the