hand, Diocletian ordered all books to be burned that taught to manufacture gold and silver by alchemy. At that time, many books on alchemy were written, and falsely inscribed with the names of renowned men of antiquity. Thus a number of writings were ascribed to Democritus, and more to Hermes, which were written by Egyptian monks and hermits, and which, as the Fabula Smaragdina, taught, in allegories, with mystical and symbolical figures, the way to discover the philosopher's stone. At a later period, chemistry and alchemy were cultivated among the Arabians. In the 8th century, the first chemist, commonly called Geber, flourished among them, in whose works rules are given for preparing quicksilver and other metals. In

the middle ages, the monks devoted them selves to alchemy, although they were afterwards prohibited from studying it by the popes. But there was one, even among these, John XXII, who was fond of alchemy. Raymond Lully, or Lullius, was one of the most famous alchemists in the 13th and 14th centuries. A story is told of him, that, during his stay in London, he changed for king Edward I a mass of 50,000 pounds of quicksilver into gold, of which the first rose-nobles were coined. The study of alchemy was prohibited at Venice in 1488. Paracelsus, who was highly celebrated about 1525, belongs to the renowned alchemists, as do Roger Bacon, Basilius, Valentinus and many others. When, however, more rational principles of chemistry and philosophy began to be diffused, and to shed light on chemical phenomena, the rage for alchemy gradually decreased, though many persons, including some nobles, still remained devoted to it. Alchemy has, how ever, afforded some service to chemistry, and even medicine. Chemistry was first carefully studied by the alchemists, to whose labor and patience we are indebted for several useful discoveries; e. g. various preparations of quicksilver, mineral kermes, of porcelain, &c.-Nothing can be asserted with certainty about the transmutation of metals. Modern chemistry, indeed, places metals in the class of elements, and denies the possibility of changing an inferior metal into gold. Most of the accounts of such transmutation rest on fraud or delusion, although some of them are accompanied with circumstances and testimony which render them probable. By means of the galvanic battery, even the alkalies have been discovered to have a metallic base. The

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possibility of obtaining metal from other substances which contain the ingredients composing it, and of changing one metal into another, or rather of refining it, must, therefore, be left undecided. Nor are all alchemists to be considered impostors. Many have labored, under the conviction of the possibility of obtaining their object, with indefatigable patience and purity of heart (which is earnestly recommended by sound alchemists as the principal requisite for the success of their labors). Designing men have often used alchemy as a mask for their covetousness, and as a means of defrauding silly people of their money. Many persons, even in our days, destitute of sound chemical knowledge, have been led by old books on alchemy, which they did not understand, into long, expensive and fruitless labors. Hitherto chemistry has not succeeded in unfolding the principles by which metals are formed, the laws of their production, their growth and refinement, and in aiding or imitating this process of nature; consequently the labor of the alchemists, in search of the philosopher's stone, is but a groping in the dark.

ALCIBIADES. This famous Greek, son of Clinias and Dinomache, was born at Athens, in the 82d Olympiad, about 450 B. C. He lost his father in the battle of Charonea, and was afterwards educated in the house of Pericles, his grandfather by his mother's side. Pericles was too much engaged in affairs of state to bestow that care upon him, which the impetuosity of his disposition required. In his childhood, A. showed the germ of his future character. One day, when he was playing at dice with some companions in the street, a wagon came up; he requested the driver to stop, and, the latter refusing, A. threw himself before the wheel, exclaiming, “Drive on, if thou darest." He excelled alike in mental and bodily exercises. His beauty and birth, and the high station of Pericles, procured him a multitude of friends and admirers, and his reputation was affected by the dissipation in which he became involved. He was fortunate in acquiring the friendship of Socrates, who endeavored to lead him to virtue, and undoubtedly obtained a great ascendency over him, so that A. oflen quitted his gay associates for the company of the philosopher. He bore arms, for the first time, in the expedition against Potidea, and was wounded. Socrates, who fought at his side, defended him, and led him out of danger. In the battle of Delium, he was among the cavalry who

were victorious, but, the infantry being beaten, he was obliged to flee, as well as the rest. He overtook Socrates, who was retreating on foot, accompanied him, and protected him. As long as the demagogue Cleon lived, A. was principally distinguished for luxury and prodigality, and did not mingle in the affairs of state. On the death of Cleon, 422 B. C., Nicias succeeded in making a peace for 50 years between the Athenians and Lacedæmonians. A., jealous of the influence of Nicias, and offended because the Lacedæmonians, with whom he was connected by the ties of hospitality, had not applied to him, fomented some disagreement between the two nations into an occasion for breaking the peace. The Lacedæmonians sent ambassadors to Athens; A. received them with apparent good will, and advised them to conceal their credentials, lest the Athenians should prescribe conditions to them. They suffered themselves to be duped, and, when called into the assembly, declared that they were without credentials. A. rose immediately, accused them of ill faith, and induIced the Athenians to form an alliance with the Argives. A breach with the Lacedæmonians was the consequence. A. commanded several times the Athenian fleets, which devastated the Peloponnesus; but even then he did not refrain from luxury and dissipation, to which he gave himself up entirely after his return. On one occasion, after leaving a nocturnal revel, in the company of some friends, he laid a wager that he would give the rich Hipponicus a box on the ear, and so he did. This act made a great noise in the city, but A. went to the injured party, threw off his garment, and called upon him to revenge himself by whipping him with rods. This open repentance reconciled Hipponicus; he not only pardoned him, but gave him afterwards his daughter, Hipparete, in marriage, with a portion of 10 talents ($10,500). A., however, still continued his levity and prodigality. His extravagance was conspicuous at the Olympic games, where he entered the stadium, not like other rich men, with one chariot, but with 7 at a time, and gained the 3 first prizes. He seems to have been victor, also, in the Pythian and Nemean games. All this together drew upon him the hatred of many of his fellow-citizens, and he would have fallen a sacrifice to the ostracism (q. v.), if he had not, in connexion with Nicias and Phæax, who feared a similar fate, artfully contrived to procure the banishment of his most formidable

enemy. Soon afterwards, the Athenians, at the instance of A., resolved on an expedition against Sicily, and elected him commander-in-chief, together with Nicias and Lamachus. But, during the preparations, it happened, one night, that all the statues of Mercury were broken. The enemies of A. charged him with the act, but postponed a public accusation till he had set sail, when they stirred up the people against him to such a degree, that he was recalled, in order to be tried. A. had been very successful in Sicily, when he received the order to return. He obeyed, and embarked, but, on reaching Thurium, disembarked, and concealed himself. Some one asking him, "How is this, Alcibiades? have you no confidence in your country ?" he answered, "I would not trust my mother, when my life is concerned; for she might, by mistake, take a black stone instead of a white one." He was condemned to death in Athens, and said, when the news reached him, "I shall show the Athenians that I am yet alive." He now went to Argos, thence to Sparta, where he made himself a favorite, by conforming closely to the prevailing strictness of manners. Here he succeeded in inducing the Lacedæmonians to form an alliance with the Persian king, and, after the unfortunate issue of the Athenian expedition against Sicily, he prevailed on them to assist the inhabitants of Chios in throwing off the yoke of Athens. He went himself thither, and, on his arrival in Asia Minor, roused the whole of Ionia to insurrection against the Athenians, and did them considerable injury. But Agis and the principal leaders of the Spartans became jealous of him, on account of his success, and ordered their commanders in Asia to cause him to be assassinated. A. suspected their plan, and went to Tissaphernes, a Persian satrap, who was ordered to act in concert with the Lacedæmonians. Here he changed his manners once more, adopted the luxurious habits of Asia, and understood how to make himself indispensable to the satrap. As he could no longer trust the Lacedæmonians, he undertook to serve his country, and showed Tissaphernes that it was against the interest of the Persian king to weaken the Athenians entirely. On the contrary, Sparta and Athens ought to be preserved for their mutual injury. Tissaphernes followed this advice, and afforded the Athenians some relief. The latter had, at that time, considerable forces at Samos. A. sent word to their commanders, that, if the licen

tiousness of the people was suppressed, and the government put into the hands of the nobles, he would procure for them the friendship of Tissaphernes, and prevent the junction of the Phoenician and Lacedæmonian fleets. This demand was granted, and Pisander sent to Athens; by whose means the government of the city was put into the hands of a council consisting of 400 persons. As, however, the council showed no intention to recall A., the army of Samos chose him their commander, and exhorted him to go directly to Athens, and overthrow the power of the tyrants. He wished, however, not to return to his country before he had done it some services, and therefore attacked and totally defeated the fleet of the Lacedæmonians. When he returned to Tissaphernes, the latter, in order not to appear a participator in the act, caused him to be arrested in Sardis. But A. found means to escape; placed himself at the head of the Athenian army; conquered the Lacedæmonians and Persians, at Cyzicus, by sea and land; took Cyzicus, Chalcedon and Byzantium; restored the sovereignty of the sea to the Athenians, and returned to his country, whither he had been recalled, on the motion of Critias. He was received with general enthusiasm; for the Athenians considered his exile the cause of all their misfortunes. But this triumph was of short duration. He was sent with 100 ships to Asia; but, not being supplied with money to pay his soldiers, he saw himself under the necessity of seeking help in Caria, and committed the command to Antiochus, who was drawn into a snare by Lysander, and lost his life, and a part of his ships. The enemies of A. improved this opportunity to accuse him, and procure his removal from office. A. went to Pactyæ in Thrace, collected troops, and waged war against the Thracians. He obtained considerable booty, and secured the quiet of the neighboring Greek cities. The Athenian fleet was, at that time, lying at Egos Potamos. He pointed out to the generals the danger which threatened them, advised them to go to Sestos, and offered his assistance to force the Lacedæmonian general, Lysander, either to fight, or to make peace. But they did not listen to him, and soon after were totally defeated. A., fearing the power of the Lacedæmonians, betook himself to Bithynia, and was about to go to Artaxerxes to procure his assistance for his country. In the meantime, the 30 tyrants, whom Lysander, after the capture of Athens, had set up there, requested the

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latter to cause A. to be assassinated. But Lysander declined, until he received an order to the same effect from his own government. He then charged Pharnabazes with the execution of it. A. was at that time with Timandra, his mistress, in a castle in Phrygia. The assistants of Pharnabazes set fire to his house, and killed him with their arrows, when he had already escaped the conflagration. Timandra buried the body with due honor. Thus A. ended his life, 404 B. C., about 45 years old. He was endowed by nature with distinguished qualities, a rare talent to captivate and rule men, and uncommon eloquence, although he could not pronounce r, and stuttered; but he had no fixed principles, and was governed only by external circumstances. He was without that elevation of soul, which steadily pursues the path of virtue; on the other hand, he possessed that boldness which arises from consciousness of superiority, and which shrinks from no difficulty, because always confident of success. Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos, among the ancients, have written his life.

ALCIDES; a surname of Hercules, usually derived from the name of his grandfather, Alcæus, the father of Amphitryon.

ALCINOUS; said to have been a king of the Phæacians, in the island now called Corfu. His gardens have immortalized his memory. The passages in which Homer describes his hospitality toward Ulysses, and the ardent desire of the latter to reach his home, are most beautiful. He was a grandson of Neptune.

ALCIPHRON; the most distinguished of the Grecian epistolary writers. Nothing is known of his life, and even his age is uncertain. It is probable that he belongs to the second century after Christ. We have 116 fictitious letters by him; the object of which seems to be, to represent the manners, thoughts and feelings of certain strongly-marked classes in the free communication of epistolary intercourse. These letters are distinguished by purity, clearness and simplicity of language and style. Principal editions, Geneva, 1606; Leipsic, 1715, and one in 1798, at the same place, by T. A. Wagner.

ALCMEON; the son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle (q. v.) of Argos; chosen chief of the seven Epigoni, in which capacity he took and destroyed Thebes. His father, going to war, charged A. to put to death Eriphyle, who had betrayed him. He did so, and was pursued by the furies. An oracle informed him, that, to escape their

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vengeance, he must reside in a land which was not in existence when he was cursed by his mother. He at last found rest, for a short time, on an island in the river Achelous, where he married Callirrhoë, the daughter of the god of the river, after repudiating his former wife, Arsinoë. But he did not long enjoy peace. At the request of his wife, he attempted to recover the fatal necklace of Hermione from his former father-in-law, the priest Phlegeus, who caused him to be murdered by his sons.

ALCMAN; a Grecian poet, son of a Spartan slave, born at Sardis, in Lydia, about 670 years B. C. He seems to have lived, for the most part, in Sparta, where he obtained the rights of citizenship. He sang hymns, pæans and other lyrical poems, in the Doric dialect, and gave their polished form to these higher kinds of poetry. His remaining works were collected by F. Th. Welcker (Giessen, 1815, 4to).

ALCMENA; the daughter of Electryon, and wife of Amphitryon. Jupiter loved her, and deceived her by assuming the form of her husband. From this connexion, which continued for 3 nights, sprang Hercules.

ALCOHOL; the purely spirituous part of all liquors that have undergone the vinous fermentation, and derived from none but such as are susceptible of it. As a chemical agent, it is of the highest importance, involving in its various combinations all the grand principles of chemistry. It has been found that spirit of wine, of sp. gr.,867, when enclosed in a bladder, and exposed for some time in the air, is converted into alcohol of sp. gr. ,817, the water only escaping through the coats of the bladder.-Alcohol, obtained by slow and careful distillation, is a limpid, colorless liquid, of an agreeable smell, and a strong, pungent flavor. Its specific gravity varies with its purity, the purest obtained by rectification over chloride of calcium being ,791; as it usually occurs, it is ,820 at 60°. If rendered as pure as possible by simple distillation, it can scarcely be obtained of a lower specific gravity than ,825 at 60°.-Mr. Hutton is said to have succeeded in freezing alcohol, but the fact is regarded as doubtful, as the means by which he effected its congelation were never disclosed. Mr. Walker exposed it to a temperature of -910, but no congelation took place; it has, therefore, been much used in the construction of thermometers. Even when diluted with an equal weight of water, it requires a cold of 6° below 0 to congeal

it. When of a specific gravity of,825, it boils at the temperature of 176°, the barometrical pressure being 30 inches. In the vacuum of an air-pump it boils at common temperatures. The specific gravity of the vapor of alcohol, compared with atmospheric air, is 4,613.-Alcohol may be mixed in all proportions with water, and the specific gravity of the mixture is greater than the mean of the two liquids, in consequence of a diminution of bulk that occurs on mixture.-The strength of such spirituous liquors as consist of little else than water and alcohol, is of course ascertained by their specific gravity; and, for the purpose of levying duties upon them, this is ascertained by the hydrometer. But the only correct mode of ascertaining the specific gravity of liquids, is by weighing them in a delicate balance against an equal volume of pure water, of a similar temperature.-Alcohol is extremely inflammable, and burns with a pale-blue flame, scarcely visible in bright day-light. It occasions no fuliginous deposition upon substances held over it, and the products of its combustion are carbonic acid and water, the weight of the water considerably exceeding that of the alcohol consumed. According to Saussure, jun. 100 parts of alcohol afford, when burned, 136 parts of water. The steady and uniform heat, which it gives during combustion, makes it a valuable material for lamps.-The action between alcohol and some of the metals, particularly platinum, is remarkable. When a small piece of thin platinum leaf, suspended by a wire, is heated by a spirit lamp, and then quickly put into a glass, in which there is a little alcohol, so that it shall remain just over the surface, and of course in the vapor arising from the alcohol, it continues red-hot, as long as there is any fluid in the jar; which is owing to the vapor undergoing a sort of combustion, and generating heat sufficient to keep the metal in that state. This action affords the means of making a lamp without flame.-There are some substances which communicate color to the flame of alcohol; from boracic acid, it acquires a greenish-yellow tint; nitre and the soluble salts of baryta cause it to burn yellow, and those of strontia give it a beautiful rose color; cupreous salts impart a fine green tinge.-Alcohol dissolves pure soda and potassa, but it does not act upon their carbonates; consequently, if the latter be mixed with alcohol containing water, the liquor separates into two portions, the upper being alcohol deprived, to a consider

able extent, of water, and the lower the aqueous solution of the carbonate. The alcoholic solution of caustic potassa was known in old pharmacy under the name of Van Helmont's tincture of tartar. It is used for purifying potassa.-Alcohol dissolves the greater number of the acids. It absorbs many gaseous bodies. It dissolves the vegetable acids, the volatile oils, the resins, tan and extractive matter, and many of the soaps; the greater number of the fixed oils are taken up by it in small quantities only, but some are dissolved largely. The composition of alcohol was investigated by Saussure and Gay-Lussac. The result was, that 100 parts of pure alcohol consist of Hydrogen 13,70 Carbon 51,98 100,00. Oxygen 34,32 These numbers approach to 3 proportionals of hydrogen, 3; 2 of carbon, 12; and 1 of oxygen, 8. Or it may be regarded as composed of 1 vol. carbureted hydrogen, and 1 vol. of the vapor of water; the 2 volumes being condensed into 1, the specific gravity of the vapor of alcohol, compared with common air, will be 1,599, or, according to Gay-Lussac, 1,613. When alcohol is submitted to distillation with certain acids, a peculiar compound is formed, called ether (q. v.), the different ethers being distinguished by the names of the acids employed in their preparation.

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ALCORAN. (See Koran.)
ALCUDIA. (See Godoy.)

ALCUINUS, or ALBINUS, Flaccus; an Englishman, renowned, in his age, for learning; the confidant, instructer and adviser of Charlemagne. He was born in York (according to some, near London) in 732, was educated under the care of the venerable Bede and bishop Egbert, and was made abbot of Canterbury. Charlemagne became acquainted with him in Parma, on his return from Rome, whence he had brought the pallium for a friend; invited him, in 782, to his court, and made use of his services in his endeavors to civilize his subjects. In the royal academy, he was called Flaccus Albinus. To secure the benefit of his instructions, Charlemagne established at his court a school, called Palatina, and intrusted him with the superintendence of several monasteries, in which A. exerted himself to diffuse a knowledge of the sciences. Most of the schools in France were either founded or improved by him; thus he founded the school in the abbey of St. Martin of Tours, in 796, after the 13

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plan of the school in York. He himself instructed a large number of scholars in this school, who afterwards spread the light of learning through the empire of the Franks. A. took his leave of the court in 801, and retired to the abbey of St. Martin of Tours, but kept up a constant correspondence with Charles to the time of his death, in 804. He left, besides many theological writings, several elementary works in the branches of philosophy, rhetoric and philology; also poems, and a large number of letters, the style of which, however, is not pleasing, and plainly betrays the uncultivated character of the age; nevertheless, he is acknowledged as the most learned and polished man of his time. He understood Latin, Greek and Hebrew. His works appeared in Paris, 1617, fol., and, in a more complete form, in Ratisbon, 1777, 2 vols., fol.

ALDEBARAN, or the bull's eye, in astron.; a star of the first magnitude in the southern eye of the constellation Taurus.

ALDEGONDE, St. Philip, of Marnix, lord of mount St. Aldegonde, was born in Brussels, 1538, and studied in Geneva. He drew up, in the beginning of Dec. 1565, the act of compromise for the preservation of the privileges of the Netherlands, which was signed by count Louis of Nassau, Henry of Brederode and himself. The act was directed chiefly against the introduction of the inquisition into the Netherlands, and the members promised to assist each other with their persons and property. It was rejected, however, by the regent Margaret. In 1566, Alva arrived. St. A. fled, with the friends of the prince of Orange, to Germany, and returned with them as their leading counsellor. In 1573, he fell into the hands of the Spaniards, at Maesluys, was afterwards exchanged, and conducted many diplomatic negotiations of the young republic abroad. He defended Antwerp a long time, though not successfully. He assisted in establishing the university of Leyden, and died there, professor of theology, in 1598.

ALDENHOVEN, battle at, March 1, 1793. The engagement near this town, situated between Juliers and Aix la Chapelle, opened the campaign of 1793. The year previous, the Austrians had been obliged, after the battle of Jemappe, to evacuate Belgium, and retire behind the Roer. Dumouriez, at the beginning of the year 1793, threatened Holland with an invasion. To prevent this, and to raise the siege of Maestricht, the prince of Coburg drew together his army, consisting of