tarian, 202, as has been asserted, but this subject needs further investigation; the Turkish, 33; the Georgian, 36; the Bengalese, 21; the Baramese, 19; the Coptic, 32; the Persic, 32; the Arabic, 28; the Armenian, 38; the Sanscrit, 50; the Japanese, 50; the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac and Samaritan, 22 each; the ancient and modern Greek, 24; the Latin, 22; the Cherokee, 82 syllables. Almost all alphabets begin with A. (See article A.) -For further information, see the articles on the different languages and letters. ALPHEUS; one of the largest rivers of Greece, which rises near the source of the Eurotas, in Arcadia, flows by Olympia, and falls into the Ionian sea.-In mythology, a son of Oceanus and his sister Thetis. When a river-god, he fell in love with Diana, who, in order to escape him, disfigured with mire her own face, and the faces of her nymphs. He was enamored of and pursued the nymph Arethusa, but Diana concealed her in a cloud, and changed her into a fountain. Upon this, Alpheus resumed his own form of a river, and mingled his waters with hers. This fable probably arose from the circumstance, that the river Alpheus, at a certain place, is lost in the earth; the fable makes it come to light again in Sicily, where it unites with the fountain Arethusa.

ALPHONSO III, king of Leon and Asturias, called the Great, succeeded his father, Ordogno, in 866, at the age of 18 years; according to some, in 862, when 14 years old. After having subdued by force the powerful nobles of his kingdom, who saw with jealousy the royal dignity remain hereditary in a family, he turned his arms against his foreign enemies, and distinguished his reign by more than 30 campaigns, and numerous victories obtained over the Moors. He crossed the Duero, overthrew the walls of Coimbra, passed the Tajo into Estremadura, added to his dominions a part of Portugal and Old Castile, and peopled Burgos anew. But all these successes did not conciliate his subjects, and he had the grief of seeing his own son, don Garcia, at the head of the malcontents, endeavoring to tear the crown from his head. A. defeated the rebels, took his son prisoner, and kept him in close confinement at the castle of Gauson. The queen, donna Ximena, then formed a dangerous conspiracy in Garcia's favor, and armed both her other sons against the king. A bloody war desolated the kingdom, until A., defeated by his own son, abdicated the crown, and placed it on don Garcia's 17

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head. He afterwards commanded an army, as the general of his son, against the Moors, conquered them, and returned enriched with booty. After this expedition, he died at Zamora, 912, 64 years old.

ALPHONSO X, king of Leon and Castile, surnamed the Astronomer or the Philosopher, succeeded his father, Ferdinand the Holy, in 1252. His love of the sciences and of law, and his surname of Sabio (the wise) gave his subjects hopes of a happy reign; but the event did not answer their expectations. A. was neither loved by his family, his subjects, nor his neighbors; but his learning and eloquence had given him such a reputation in Europe, that many German princes favored his claim to the imperial throne. Instead of employing himself in expelling the Moors, and humbling his own nobility, he exhausted the strength of his kingdom by endeavoring to secure his election to the imperial throne (1257). But it was vain for him to aspire to this dignity in opposition to Rodolph of Hapsburg; and pope Gregory X not only refused to acknowledge him as emperor, but even to allow his right to Suabia, which he claimed through his mother, Beatrice, daughter of Philip I, archduke of Suabia. In the mean time, his throne was endangered at home by the conspiracies of the nobles and the attacks of the Moors. He finally conquered them, in a bloody battle, in 1263, took from them Xeres, Medina-Sidonia, San-Lucar and a part of Algarvia, and united Murcia with Castile. these victories were interrupted by new troubles, excited by his son, the infante Philip, which he succeeded in quieting only after 3 years' war. But the mildness with which he treated the rebels was considered only a proof of weakness, and, when he at last determined to act with rigor against his own family, his son Sancho again rebelled, and, in 1282, deprived him of his crown. A. sought support in an alliance with the Moors, and died in 1284, after unsuccessful efforts to regain the throne. A. was the most learned prince of his age, and has gained a lasting fame by his collection of laws, called Las Partidas. There is in this book a very remarkable sentiment, considering the age in which it was produced: "The despot roots up the tree; the wise master only prunes off the superfluities." Europe is indebted to A. for the astronomical tables which go under his name. Under his patronage, the first general history of Spain was composed, in the Castilian

But

height, and not belonging, in a geognostical respect, to the proper Alpine formation. This mass of steep mountains is formed by a central chain and two ridges of lime-rocks, which extend from S. S. W. to E. N. E., and near Turin and Geneva cease to accompany the central ridge. This consists of the oldest mountain formations. Gneiss and granite occupy the whole middle tract of the Alps, and form, in particular, the body of the upper range, which is covered with an infinite number of peaks and glaciers, and can be crossed with tolerable convenience only at a few points. This range forms the division of the Alpine streams, and here are situated the highest of the abovementioned mountains. This formation is particularly rich in beautiful minerals, of which lime-stone, gneiss, mica slate and granite are the chief. To this succeeds, as well upon the northern as upon the southern side, the slate formation, which rises also to a considerable height, without reaching, however, the highest points. It consists principally of table-slate, whetslate, silicious slate, graywacke, and contains, also, a kind of lime-stone. In it there are found, also, layers of ore, particularly the famous masses of sparry iron in Styria. The porphyry formation appears only on the south side of the Alps, particularly in Tyrol, where it forms a wide, low plateau. The latest formation of the central chain is the elder or red sand-stone, consisting of a coarse stone, often a conglomerate, or of a finer red or gray stone. The ridges of lime-stone Alps rise northwards and southwards, at the foot of the central chain, steep and highly picturesque, constituted by Alpine or elder Flatz lime-stone, marl, plaster, clay, fossil salt, trap, porphyry, also amygdaloid and conglomerate. It is distinguished by beds of calamine, galena and clay iron-stone. On the lime-stone chain lean the younger formations of the Jura (q. v.), of the Suabian Alps, &c. (See the article Alps, Suabian; also Ebel, über den Bau der Erde in dem Alpengebirge, On the Structure of the Alps, 2 vols., Zurich, 1808.)

ALPS, Roads over. One of the most lasting monuments of the power and policy of Napoleon are the artificial mountain-roads, which connect Savoy with France, and Valais with Italy. The first leads over mount Cenis (a mountain 5,879 feet high) by Lanslebourg to Susa, from Savoy to Piedmont. Formerly, travellers were obliged to pass over the steepest height on mules or in chairs; but, in

1805, Napoleon ordered a winding road for carriages to be laid out here, 30 miles long and 18 feet wide, which is passable even in winter. In 1815, 16,000 carriages and 34,900 mules passed this road.-The second leads over the Simplon (Sempione), which is 10,327 feet in height, from Valais to Piedmont, from the village Glüs to Domo d'Ossola. This road, constructed between 1801 and 1806, is the only one from Switzerland, over the Alps, passable by wheel carriages. It is about 36 miles long, and 25 feet wide throughout, and is nowhere too steep to be passed by the heaviest wagons. It is carried over steep precipices, and through 6 galleries hewn in the rocks. Some of these passages are several hundred paces in length, and are lighted by openings. From them you step into lovely valleys, adorned with cottages, and see above them dark forests of pine, glaciers, and peaks covered with snow shining in the blue sky. Bridges are thrown over tremendous precipices, from one mountain to the other. The Italian side offers a more beautiful spectacle than the Swiss, because the rocks are steeper. The grande galerie is 683 feet long, entirely excavated in granite, called the gallery of Frissinone, from the rivulet, which forms a splendid cascade near it. The road commences a mile westward from Brieg, and leads over the Saltina-bridge; above the village of Ried, it goes through a beautiful grove of larch-trees, to the first gallery, and then over the Canter-bridge, 80 paces in length, to Persal. Here begin precipices and avalanches, on which account the road has many windings. At the galerie des glaciers the growth of trees ceases, and the road rises 1,033 toises above the lago Maggiore, or almost 6,000 feet above the sea. At the top stands a hospitium for travellers, a turnpike, and, lower down on the right, the old hospital. Four miles farther on lies the village of Simplon, 4,548 feet above the sea. The road goes along the river Veriola, till near Domo d'Ossola. At Gunt is a tavern; a mile farther, the territory of Valais terminates near a chapel; the first Italian village is S. Marco. Avalanches and masses of earth, brought down by the rain, often damage this road, so that the annual repair requires a considerable expense, which, however, neither the Swiss nor the Sardinian government have, as yet, been willing to take upon themselves. Osterwald has given fine sketches of the picturesque views on the road over the Simplon. (q. v.)-A third road leads over mount

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

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

the southern frontier of Wirtemberg, of which the highest and most barren part is the Rough Alps (Rauhe Alp). The highest point is not quite 3000 feet above the level of the sea. In the village of Sirchingen, the eaves of a house shed the rain, on one side, into the Rhine, through the Neckar, and on the other, into the Danube. As the mountain abounds in lime, it is rich in caverns containing stalactites. The higher the quarries of limestone are situated, the finer is the grain of the stone, and the greater the mass of petrifactions; among which are particularly to be noticed large specimens of the cornu ammonis. These Alps are poor in metals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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