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The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg - Pages 2471-2960
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The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28
Among Phaeophyceae it is well known that the oospore of Fucaceae germinates directly into the sexual plant, and there is thus only one generation. Moreover, it is known that the reduction in the number of chromosomes which occurs at the initiation of the gametophyte generation in Pteridophyta occurs in the culminating stage of Fucus, where the oogonium is separated from the stalk-cell, so that unless it be contended that the Fucus is really a sporophyte which does not produce spores, and that the gametophyte is represented merely by the oogonium and antheridium, there is no semblance of alternation of generation in this case. The only case among Phaeophyceae which has been considered to point to the existence of such a phenomenon is Cutleria. Here the asexual cells are borne upon the so-called Aglaozonia reptans and the sexual cells upon the plants known as Cutleria. The spores of the Aglaozonia form are known to give rise to sexual plants, and the oospore of Cutleria has been observed to grow into rudimentary Aglaozonia. Latterly, however, as the result of the cytological investigations of Mottler and Lloyd Williams, great advance has been made in our knowledge of the conditions existing in Dictyota. Mottler first observed that a reduction in the number takes place in the mother-cells of the tetraspore. It will be remembered that, as in most Florideae, the male, female and asexual plants are distinct in this genus. Mottler’s observation has been confirmed by Lloyd Williams, who has shown, moreover, that the single number occurs in germlings from the tetraspore, and also in the adult stages of all sexual plants, while the double number occurs in germlings from the oospore, and in adult stages of all asexual plants. It is probable, therefore, that we have here a sharp alternation of generations, both generations being, however, precisely similar to the eye up to point of reproduction. Among Chlorophyceae it is often the case that the oospore on germination divides up directly to form a brood of zoospores. In Coleochaete this seems to be preceded by the formation of a minute parenchymatous mass, in each cell of which a zoospore is produced. In Sphaeroplea it is only at this stage that zoospores are formed at all; but in most cases, such as Oedogogonium, Ulothrix, Coleochaete, similar zoospores are produced again and again upon the thallus, and the product of the oospore may be regarded as merely a first brood of a series. It has been held by some, however, that the first brood corresponds to the sporophyte generation of the higher plants, and that the rest of the cycle is the gametophyte generation. Were the case of Sphaeroplea to stand alone, the phenomenon might perhaps be regarded as an alternation of generations, but still only comparable with the case of Bangia, and not the case of the Florideae. But it is difficult to apply such a term at all to those cases in which there intervene between the oospore and the next sexual stage a series of generations, the zoospores of which are all precisely similar.
Polymorphism.
The difficulty of tracing the relationships of algae is largely due to the inadequacy of our knowledge of the conditions under which they pass through the crucial stages of their life-cycle. Of the thousands of species which have been distinguished, relatively few have been traced from spore to spore, as the flowering plants have been observed from seed to seed. The aquatic habit of most of the species and the minute size of many of them are difficulties which do not exist in the case of most seed-plants. From the analogy of the higher plants observers have justly argued that when they have seen and marked the characters of the reproductive organs they have found the plant at the stage when it exhibits its most noteworthy features, and they have named and classified the species in accordance with these observations. While even in such cases it is obvious that interesting stages in the life of the plant may escape notice altogether, in the cases of those plants the reproduction of which is unknown, and which have been named and placed on the analogy of the vegetative parts alone, there is considerable danger that a plant may be named as a distinct species which is only a stage in the life of another distinct and perhaps already known species. To take an example, Lemanea and Batrachospermum are Florideae which bear densely-whorled branches, but which, on the germination of the carpospore, give rise to a laxly-filamentous, somewhat irregularly-branched plant, from which the ordinary sexual plants arise at a later stage. This filamentous structure has been attributed to the genus Chantransia, which it greatly resembles, especially when, as is said to be the case in Batrachospermum, it bears similar monospores. The true Chantransia, however, bears its own sexual organs as well as monospores. To the specific identity of Haplospora globosa and Scaphospora speciosa, and of Cutleria muitifida and Aglaozonia reptans, reference has already been made. Again, many Green Algae–some unicellular, like Sphaerella and Chlamydomonas; some colonial forms, like Volvox and Hormotila; some even filamentous forms, like Ulothrix and Stigeoclonium– are known to pass into a condition resembling that of a Palmella, and might escape identification on this account.
It is, on the other hand, a danger in the opposite sense to conclude that all Chantransia species are stages in the life-cycle of other plants, and, similarly, that all irregular colonial forms, like Palmella, represent phases in the life of other Green Algae. Long ago Kutzing went so far as to express the belief that the lower algae were all capable of transformations into higher forms, even into moss-protonemata. Later writers have also thought that in all four groups of algae transformations of a most far-reaching character occur. Thus Borzi finds that Protoderma viride passes through a series of changes so varied that at different times it presents the characters of twelve different genera. Chodat does not find so general a polymorphism, but nevertheless holds that Raphidium passes through stages represented by Protococcus, Characium, Dactylococcus and Sciadium. Klebs has, however, recently canvassed the conclusions of both these investigators; and as the result of his own observations declares that algae, so far from being as polymorphic as they have been described, vary only within relatively narrow limits, and present on the whole as great fixity as the higher plants. It certainly supports his view to discover, on subjecting to a careful investigation Botrydium granulatum, a siphonaceous alga whose varied forms had been described by J. Rostafinski and M. Woronin, that these authors had included in the life-cycle stages of a second alga described previously by Kutzing, and now described afresh by Klebs as Protosiphon bolryoides. In Botrydium the chromatophores are small, without pyrenoids, and oil-drops are present; in Protosiphon the chromatophores form a net-work with pyrenoids, and the contents include starch. Klebs insists that the only solution of such problems is the subjection of the algae in question to a rigorous method of pure culture. It is interesting to learn that G. Senn, pursuing the methods described by Klebs, has confirmed Chodat’s observation of the passage of Raphidium into a Dactylococcus-stage, although he was unable to observe further metamorphosis. He has also seen Pleurococcus viridis dividing so as to form a filament, but has not succeeded in seeing the formation of zoospores as described by Chodat. While, therefore, there is much evidence of a negative character against the existence of an extensive polymorphism among algae, some amount of metamorphosis is known to occur. But until the conditions under which a particular transformation takes place have been ascertained and described, so that the observation may be repeated by other investigators, scant credence is likely to be given to the more extreme polymorphistic views.
Physiology.
In comparison with the higher plants, algae exhibit so much simplicity of structure, while the conditions under which they grow are so much more readily controlled, that they have frequently been the subject of physiological investigation with a view chiefly to the application of the results to the study of the higher plants. (See PLANTS: Physiology of.) In the literature of vegetable physiology there has thus accumulated a great body of facts relating not only to the phenomena of reproduction, but also to the nutrition of algae. With reference to their chemical physiology, the gelatinization of the cell-wall, which is so marked a feature, is doubtless attributable to the occurrence along with cellulose of pectic compounds. There is, however, considerable variation in the nature of the membrane in different species; thus the cell-wall of Gedogonium, treated with sulphuric acid and iodine, turns a bright blue, while the colour is very faint in the case of Spirogyra, the wall of which is said to consist for the most part of pectose. While starch occurs commonly as a cell-content in the majority of the Green Algae no trace of it occurs in Vaucheria and some of its allies, nor is it known in the whole of the Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae. In certain Euphaeophyceae bodies built up of concentric layers, and attached to the chromatophores, were described by Schmitz as phaeophycean-starch; they do not, however, give the ordinary starch reaction. Other granules, easily mistaken for the “starch” granules, are also found in the cells of Phaeophyceae; these possess a power of movement apart from the protoplasm, and are considered to be vesicles and to contain phloroglucin. The colourless granules of Florideae, which are supposed to constitute the carbohydrate reserve material, have been called floridean-starch. A white efflorescence which appears on certain Brown Algae (Saccorhiza bulbosa, Laminaria saccharina), when they are dried in the air, is found to consist of mannite. Mucin is known in the cell-sap of Acetabularia. Some Siphonales (Codium) give rise to proteid crystalloids, and they are of constant occurrence among Florideae. The presence of tannin has been established in the case of a great number of freshwater algae.
Colouring matters.
By virtue of the possession of chlorophyll all algae are capable of utilizing carbonic acid gas as a source of carbon in the presence of sunlight. The presence of phycocyanin, phycophaein and phycoerythrin considerably modifies the absorption spectra for the plants in which they occur. Thus in the case of phycoerythrin the maximum absorption, apart from the great absorption at the blue end of the spectrum, is not, as in the case where chlorophyll occurs alone, near the Fraunhofer line B, but farther to the right beyond the line D. By an ingenious method devised by Engelmann, it may be shown that the greatest liberation of oxygen, and consequently the greatest assimilation of carbon, occurs in that region of the spectrum represented by the absorption bands. In this connexion Pfeffer points out that the penetrating power of light into a clear sea varies for light of different colours. Thus red light is reduced to such an extent as to be insufficient for growth at a depth of 34 metres, yellow light at a depth of 177 metres and green light at 322 metres. It is thus an obvious advantage to Red Algae, which flourish at considerable depths, to be able to utilize yellow light rather than the red, which is extinguished so much sooner. The experiment of Engelmann referred to deserves to be mentioned here, if only in illustration of the use to which algae have been put in the study of physiological problems. Engelmann observed that certain bacteria were motile only in the presence of oxygen, and that they retained their motility in a microscopic preparation in the neighbourhood of an algal filament when they had come to rest elsewhere on account of the exhaustion of oxygen. After the bacteria had all been brought to rest by being placed in the dark, he threw a spectrum upon the filament, and observed in what region the bacteria first regained their motility, owing to the liberation of oxygen in the process of carbon-assimilation. He found that these places corresponded closely with the region of the absorption band for the algae under experiment.
Although algae generally are able to use carbonic acid gas as a source of carbon, some algae, like certain of the higher plants, are capable of utilizing organic compounds for this purpose. Thus Spirogyra filaments, which have been denuded of starch by being placed in the dark, form starch in one day if they are placed in a 10 to 20% solution of dextrose. According to T. Bokorny, moreover, it appears that such filaments will yield starch from formaldehyde when they are supplied with sodium oxymethyl sulphonate, a salt which readily decomposes into formaldehyde and hydrogen sodium sulphite, an observation which has been taken to mean that formaldehyde is always a stage in the synthesis of starch. With reference to the assimilation of nitrogen, it would seem that algae, like other green plants, can best use it when it is presented to them in the form of a nitrate. Some algae, however, seem to flourish better in the presence of organic compounds. In the case of Scenedesmus acutus it is said that the alga is unable to take up nitrogen in the form of a nitrate or ammoniacal salt, and requires some such substance as an amide or a peptone. On the other hand, it has been held by Bernhard Frank and other observers that atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by the agency of Green Algae in the soil: (For the remarkable symbiotism between algae and fungi see FUNGI and LICHENS.)
Habitat.
Most algae, particularly Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae, spend the whole of the life-cycle immersed in water. In the case of the freshwater algae, however, belonging to the Chlorophyceae and Cyanophyceae, although they required to be immersed during the vegetative period, the reproductive cells are often capable of resisting a considerable degree of desiccation, and in this condition are dispersed through great distances by various agencies. Again, as is well known, many species of marine algae growing in the region between the limits of high and low water are so constituted that they are exposed to the air twice a day without injury. The occurrence of characteristic algae at different levels constituting the zones to which reference has already been made, is probably in part an expression of the fact that different species vary in the capacity to resist desiccation from exposure. Thus Laminaria digitata, which characterizes the lowest zone, is only occasionally exposed at all, and then only for short periods of time. On the other hand, Pelvetia canaliculata, which marks the upper belt, is exposed for longer periods, and during neap tides may not be reached by the water for many days. Algae of more delicate texture than either Fucaceae or Laminariaceae also occur in the region exposed by the ebb of the tide, but these secure their exemption from desiccation either by retaining water in their meshes by capillary attraction, as in the case of Pilayella, or by growing among the tangles of the larger Fucaceae, as in the case of Polysiphonia fastigiata, or by growing in dense masses on rocks, as in the case of Laurencia pinnatifida. Such a species as Delesseria sanguinea or Callophyllis laciniata would on the contrary run great risk by exposure for even a short period. A few algae approach the ordinary terrestrial plants in their capacity to live in a sub-aerial habitat subject only to such occasional supphes of water as is afforded by the rainfall. Of this nature are some of the species of Vaucheria. A very few species, like Chroolepus, which grows on rock surfaces, are comparable with the land plants which have been termed xerophilous.
Plankton.
The great majority of the aquatic algae, both freshwater and marine, are attached plants. Some, however, are wanderers, either swimming actively with the aid of cilia, or floating inertly as the result of a specific weight closely approaching that of the medium. To the aggregate of such forms, both animal and vegetable, the term plankton has been applied, and the investigation of the vegetable plankton, both freshwater and marine, has been pursued in recent times with energy and success. The German Plankton Expedition of 1889 added greatly to our knowledge of the floating vegetable life of the North Atlantic Ocean, while many laboratories established on the shores of inland seas and lakes have rendered a similar service in the case of our freshwater phyto-plankton. The quantitative estimate of the amount of this flora has revealed its enormous aggregate amount and therefore its great importance in the economy of oceanic and lacustrine animal life. The organisms constituting this plankton are mostly unicellular, often aggregated together in colonies, and the remarkable structure which they exhibit has added a new chapter to the story of adaptation to environment. The families Diatomaceae, Peridiniaceae and Protococcaceae are best represented in the pelagic plankton, while in addition the Volvocaceae are an important element in freshwater plankton.
Benthos.
The great majority of algae, however, grow like land-plants attached to a substratum, and to these the term benthos is now generally applied. While the root of land-plants serves for the double purpose of attachment and the supply of water, it is attachment only that is usually sought in the case of algae. Immersed as they usually are in a medium containing in solution the inorganic substances which they require for their nutrition, the absorption of these takes place throughout their whole extent. The elaborate provision for the conduct of water from part to part which has played so important a role in the morphological development of land plants is entirely wanting in algae, such conducting tissues as do exist in the larger Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae serving rather for the convection of elaborated organic substance, and being thus comparable with the phloem of the higher plants. The attachment organ of algae is thus more properly called a holdfast, and is found to be of very varied structure. It generally takes the form of a single flattened disc as in the Fucaceae, or a group of finger- like processes as in Laminariaceae, or a tuft of filaments as in many instances. When the attachment is in sand or mud, it often simulates the appearance of a true root as in Chara or Caulerpa. It is clear that where the bottom of a lake or sea consists of oozy mud or shifting sand, it is impossible for algae to secure a foothold. Thus a rock emerging from a sandy beach may often be observed to stand covered with vegetation like an oasis in a desert. The rapidity with which walls, piles and pontoons–stone, wood and iron–become covered with marine plants is well known, while the discovery of some effective means of preventing the fouling of the bottoms of ships by the growth of algae would be hailed as a boon by shipowners. While rocks and boulders are the favoured situation for the growth of marine algae, those which readily disintegrate, like the coarser sandstones, are naturally less favoured than the hard and resistant. A large number of algae again live as epiphytes or endophytes. In the case of the freshwater species the host-plants are mostly species of aquatic Graminaceae, Naiadaceae or Nymphaeaceae. In the case of marine algae, the hosts are chiefly the larger Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae. A bed of Zostera near the level of low water is, however, on the British coast a favourite collecting ground for the smaller red and brown epiphytes. Of endophytes a distinction must be made between those which occupy the cell-wall only and those which perforate the cells, bringing about their destruction. There can be little doubt that in some cases the epiphytism approaches parasitism. In one case described by Kuckuck the chromaphores of the infesting algae are absent, a circumstance which points to a complete parasitism. Allusion has already been made to the peculiar habit of the shell-boring algae.
Habit.
In many algae certain branches of limited growth bear a remarkable resemblance to leaves. The Characeae among freshwater algae and the Sargassaceae among marine algae might be cited as examples. Surveying the whole range of algae life, Oltmanns distinguishes bush-forms, whip- forms, net-forms, leaf-forms, sack-forms, dorsi-ventral forms, and cushions, plates and crusts. The similarity of outline in many species to that of trees and shrubs will strike any one who examines algae mounted for the herbarium. Cladophora and Bryopsis among monosiphonous forms, Chara, Polysiphonia, Ceramium and Cystoseira among larger algae, are illustrations of this. The whip-forms are represented by Spirogyra, Chaetomorpha, Scytosiphon, Nemalion, Himanthalia and Chorda. Net-forms are found in Hydrodictyon and Microdictyon. The leaf-forms are very varied and owe their existence to the advantage accruing from the exposure of a large surface to the influence of the light. In some cases such as Delesseria, Neurymenia, Fucus, Alaria, the leaf-like structure is provided with a strengthening mid-rib, and when as in Delesseria it is also richly veined the resemblance to the leaf of a flowering plant is striking. Laminaria, Padina, Cutleria, Punctaria, Iridaea, Ulva, Porphyra, are leaf-like with a rigidity varying from a fleshy lamina to the thin and pliable. Agarum, Claudea and Struvea are leaf-forms which are perforated like Aldrovanda among flowering plants. Enteromorpha, Asperococcus and Adenocystis are sack-forms. Dorsi-ventral algae are rare. Leveillea jungermanneoides bears a remarkable resemblance to a leafy liverwort. In the next group of forms the simplest are crusts attached to the substratum throughout their extent, and growing at the margin. Such are Myrionema, Ralfsia, Melobesia and Hildebrandtia. Others are attached throughout their extent, but also grow vertical filaments so as to form a velvety pile. Such are Coleochaete, Ochlochaete, Elachistea, Ascocyclus and Rhododermis. Peysonellia squamaria, Melobesia lichenoides, Leathesia difformis are forms which are not attached throughout but grow in plates like the foliaceous lichens.
Ecology.
When it is sought to consider algae with a view to the correlation of the external form to the conditions of life, a subject the study of which under the name of ecology has been latterly pursued with great success among land plants, it is difficult as yet to arrive at generalizations which are trustworthy. Among land plants, as is well known, similarity of environment has often called forth similar adaptations among plants of widely separated families. The similarity of certain xerophilous Euphorbiaceae to Cactaceae is a ready illustration of this phenomenon. From what has been already said it is evident that among algae also strikingly similar forms exist in widely different groups. Instances might be multiplied. Compare, for example, the blue-green Gloeocapsa with the green Gloeocystis, the red Batrachospermum with the green Draparnaldia, the red Corallina with the green Cymopolia, the green Enteromorpha with the brown Asperococcus, the green Ulva with the red Porphyra, the red Nemalion with the brown Castagnea, and so on. But on the one hand similar forms seem to grow often under different conditions, while on the other hand different forms flourish under the same conditions. The conceivable variations in the conditions which would count in algal life are variations in the chemical character of the water–whether fresh, brackish or salt; or in the rate of movement of the water, whether relatively quiet, or a stream or a surf; or in the degree of illumination with the depth and transparency of the water. But the laws which determine the associations of various algae under one environment are as yet little understood. The occurrence of a plentiful mucilage in many freshwater forms is, however, doubtless a provision against desiccation on exposure. The fine subdivision of filamentous and net-forms is similarly a provision for easy access of water and light to all parts. The calcareous deposits in Characeae, Corallinaceae and Siphonaceae are at once a protection against attack and a means of support. The whip-forms would seem to be designed to resist injury from surf or current. The vesicles of Fucaceae and Laminariaceae prevent the sinking of the bulkier forms. But why certain Fucaceae favour certain zones in the littoral region, why certain epiphytes are confined to certain hosts, why Red and Brown Algae are not better represented in fresh water Or Green Algae in salt,–these are problems to which it is difficult to find a ready answer.
Uses.
Algae cannot be regarded as directly important in the industries. On the coasts of Europe marine algae detached by the autumnal gales are commonly carted on to the land as a convenient manure. Porphyra laciniata and Rhodymenia palmata are locally used as food, the latter being known as dulse. Agar-agar is a gelatinous substance derived from an eastern species of Gracilaria. The ash of seaweeds, known in Scotland as kelp, and in Brittany as varec, was formerly used as a source of iodine to a greater extent than is at present the case.
Occurence in the rocks.
Excepting where the thallus is impregnated with silica, as in Diatomaceae, or carbonate of lime, as in Corallinaceae, Characeae and some Siphonales, it is perhaps not surprising that algae should not have been extensively preserved in the fossil form. Considering, however, that it is generally believed that Bryophyta and vascular plants are descended from an algal ancestry, it is natural to suppose that, prior to the luxuriant vegetable growths of the Carboniferous period, there must have existed an age of algae. It was doubtless this expectation that has led to the description of a number of Silurian and Devonian remains as algae upon what is now regarded as inadequate evidence. The geologic record is, as perhaps is to be expected, exceedingly poor, except as regards the calcareous Siphonales, which are well represented at various horizons, from the Silurian to the Tertiary; even the Diatomaceae, which are found in great quantities in the Tertiary deposits, do not occur at all earlier than the chalk. It is believed, however, that the Devonian fossil, Nematophycus, is a Laminarian alga, but it is not until the late Secondary and the Tertiary formations that fossil remains of algae become frequent. (See PALAEOBOTANY.)
The subjoined list includes the larger standard works on algae, together with a number of papers to which reference is made in this article. For a detailed catalogue of Algological literature, see the “Bibliotheca Phycologica” in de Tonii’s Syllope Algarum, vo1. i. (1889), with the addendum thereto in vol. iv. (1897) of the same work. GENERAL.–J. G. Agardh, Species, genera et ordines Algarum (vols. i-iii., Algernes Systematik (Lund, 1872-1899); J. E. Areschoug, “Observationes Phycologicae,” Nova Acta reg. soc. sci. Upsaliensis (Upsala, 1866-1875); F. F. Blackman, “The Primitive Algae and the Flagellata,” Ann. of Botany (vol. xiv., Oxford, 1900); E. Bornet and G. Thuret, Notes agologiques (fasc. i.-ii., Paris, 1876-1880); P. A. Dangeard, “Recherches sur les algues inferieures,” Ann. des sci. naturelles, Bot. (vol. vii., Paris, 1888); A. Derbes and A. J. J. Solier, Momoire de la physiologie des algues (Paris, 1856); J. B. de Toni, Sylloge Algarum—vol. i. Chlorophyceae, vol. ii. Bacillariaceae, vol. iii. Fucoideae, vol. iv. Florideae (Padua, 1889-1900); P. Falkenberg, “Die Algen im weitesten Sinne,” Schenk’s Handbuch der Botanik (vol. ii., 1882); W. G. Farlow, Morine Algae of New England (Washington, 1881); W. H. Harvey, Phycologia Britannica (4 vols., London, 1846-1855); Nereis Boreali-Americana (3 pts., Washington, 1851-1858); Phycologia Australica (5 vols., London, 1858-1863); F. Hauck, “Die Meeresalgen Deutschlands und Osterrichs,” Rabenhort’s Kryptogamen-Flora (Leipzig, 1885); F. R. Kjellman, The Algae of the Arctic Sea (Stockholm, 1883); F. T. Kutzing, Tabulae Phycologicae (19 vols., Nordhausen, 1845-1869); P. Kuckuck, Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Meercsalgen (Kiel and Leipzig, 1897-1899); G. Murray, Phycological Memoirs (London, 1892-1895) Naegeli, Die neueren Algensysteme (Zurich, 1847); F. Oltmanns, Morphologie und Biologie der Algen (Jena, Band i. 1904, Band ii. 1905); N. Pringsheim, “Beitrage zur Morphologie der Meeresalgen,” Abhand. Konigl. Akad. der Wissensch. (Berlin, 1862); J. Reinke, Atlas deutscher Meeresalgen (Berlin, 1889-1892); F. Schutt, Das Pflanzenleben der Hochsee (Leipzig, 1893); J. Stackhouse, Nereis britannica (ed. i., Bath, 1801; ed. ii., Oxford, 1816); G. Thuret and E. Bornet, Etudes phycologiques (Paris, 1878); D. Turner, Historia Fucorum (4 vols., London, 1808-1819); G. Zanardini, Iconographia Phycologia Adriatica (Venice, 1860-1876).
1. CYANOPHYCEAE.–E. Bornet and Ch. Flahault, “Revision des Nostocacees heterocystees,” Ann. des sc. naturelles, Bot.(vols. iii.-vii., Paris, 1887-1888); M. Gomont, “Monographic des Oscillariees,” Ann. des sc. naturelles, Bot. (vols. xv.-xvi., Paris, 1893); Hegler, “Uber Kerntheilungserscheinungen,” Ref. Botan. Centralbl. (vol. lxiv., Cassel, 1895); O. Kirchner, “Schizophyceae”, in Engler and Prantl’s Pflanzenfamilien (Leipzig, 1900).
2. CHLOROPHYCEAE.–A. Borzi, “Studi anamorfici di alcune alghe verdi,” Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital. in N. Giorn. Bot. Ital. (vol. xxii., Pisa, 1890); F. F. Blackman and A. G. Tansley, A Revision of the Classification of the Green Algae, reprinted from the New Phytologist (vol. i., London, 1903); K. Bohlin, “Studier ofver nagra slagten af alggruppen confervales Borzi,” Bihang till K. Svenska vel. akad. Handlinger (Bd. xxiii. afd. 3, 1897);–Ufkasttill, De grona algernas och arkegomiaternas bylogeni (Upsala, 1901); R. Chodat, “On the Polymorphism of the Green Algae,” Ann. of Botany (vol. xi., Oxford, 1897); M. C. Cooke, British Freshwater Algae (2 vols., London, 1884), British Desmids (London, 1887); G. Klebs, Die Bedingungen der Fortpflanzung bei einigen Algen und Pilzen (Jena, 1896); A. Luther, “Uber Chlorosaccus, n.g.” Bihang till K. Svenska vel. akad. Handlinger (Bd. xxiv. afd. 3, 1899); H. Grat zu Solms-Laubach, “Monograph of the Acetabulariaceae,” Trans. Linn. Soc. (Lond.) Bot. (London, 1895); N. Wille, “Chlorophyceae”, in Engler and Prantl’s Pflanzenfamilien (Leipzig, 1897).
3. PHAEOPHYCEAE.–E. A. L. Batters, “On Ectocarpus secundus,” Grevillea (vol. xxi., London, 1893); G. Berthold, “Die geschlechliche Fortpflanzung der eigentlichen Phaeosooreen,” Mitth. Zool. Stat. Neapel (vol. ii., Leipzig, 1881); G. Brebner, “On the Classification of the Tilopteridaceae,” Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc. (vol. viii., Bristol, 1896-1897); A. H. Church, “On the Polymorphy of Cutleria multiflda,” Ann. of Botany (vol. xii., Oxford, 1898); J. B. Farmer esnd J. Ll. Williams, “Contributions to our Knowledge of the Life- history and Cytology of Fucaceae,” Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (vol. cxc., London, 1898); E. Janczewski, “Observations sur l’accroissement du thalle des Phaeosporees,” Mem. soc. nat. de sc. (Cherbourg, 1895); F. R. Kjellmann, “Phaeophyceae,” in Engler and Prantl’s Pflanzenfamilian (Leipzig, 1897); F. Oltmanns, “Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Fucaceen,” Bibliotheca botanica, xiv. (Cassel, 1889); C. Sauvageau, “Observations relatives a la sexualite des Phaeosporees,” Journal de botanique (vol. x., Paris, 1896); E. Strasburger, “Kerntheilung und Befruchtung bei Fucus,” Cytologische Studien (Berlin, 1897); F. Schutt, Die Peridinien der Plankton-Expedition (Kiel and Leipzig, 1895); R. Valiante, Le Cystoseirae del Golfo di Napoli (Leipzig, 1883); J. Ll. Williams, “On the Antherozoids of Dictyota and Taonia,” Ann. of Botany (vol. xi., Oxford, 1897).
4. RHODOPHYCEAE.–G. Berthold, “Die Bangiacen des Golfes von Neapel,” Mitth. Zool. Stat. Neapel (Naples, 1882); F. Oltmanns, “Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Florideen,” Botanische Zeitung (1898); R. W. Philligs, “The Development of the Cystocarp in Rhodymeniales,” i. and ii., Annals of Botany (vols. xi. xii., Oxford. 1897-1898); F. Schmitz, “Untersuchungen uber die Befruchtung der Florideen,” Sitzungsber. der konigl. Akad.der Wissensch. (Berlin, 1883); “Kleinere Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Florideen,” La Nuova Notarisia, 1892-1894; F. Schmitz, P. Falkenberg, P. Hauptfleisch, “Rhodophyceae,” in Engler and Prantl’s Pflanzenfamilien (1897); W. Schmidle, “Die Befruchtung, Keimung und Haarinsertion von Batrachospermum,” Bot. Zeitung.. (1899); Sirodot, Les Batrachospermes (Paris, 1884); N. Wille, “Uber die Befruchtung bei Nemalion multifidum,” Ber. d. deutschen bot. Gesellsc. Band xii. (Berlin, 1894); J. J. Wolfe, “Cytological Studies on Nemalion,” Annals of Botany (vol. xviii., Oxford, 1904); S. Yamanouchi, “The Life- History of Polysiphonia violacea,” Botanical Gazette (vol. xli., Chicago, 1906). (R. W. P.)
ALGARDI, ALESSANDRO (1602-1654), Italian sculptor, was born at Bologna in 1602. While he was attending the school of the Caracci his preference for the plastic art became evident, and he placed himself under the instruction of the sculptor Conventi. At the age of twenty he was brought under the notice of Duke Ferdinand of Mantua, who gave him several commissions. He was also much employed about the same period by jewellers and others in modelling in gold, silver and ivory. After a short residence in Venice he went to Rome in 1625 with an introduction from the duke of Mantua to the pope’s nephew, Cardinal Ludovisi, who employed him for a time in the restoration of ancient statues. The death of the duke of Mantua left him to his own resources, and for several years he earned a precarious maintenance from these restorations and the commissions of goldsmiths and jewellers. In 1640 he executed for Pietro Buoncompagni his first work in marble, a colossal statue of San Filippo Neri, with kneeling angels. Immediately after, he produced a similar group, representing the execution of St Paul, for the church of the Barnabite Fathers in Bologna. These works, displaying great technical skill, though with considerable exaggeration of expression and attitude, at once established Algardi’s reputation, and other commissions followed in rapid succession. The turning point in Algardi’s fortune was the accession of Innocent X., of the Bolognese house of Panfili, to the papal throne in 1644. He was employed by Camino Panfili, nephew of the pontiff, to design the Villa Doria Panfili outside the San Pancrazio gate. The most important of Algardi’s other works were the monument of Leo XI., a bronze statue of Innocent X. for the capitol, and, above all, La Fuega d’Attila, the largest alto-relievo in the world, the two principal figures being about 10 ft. high. In 1650 Algardi met Velasquez, who obtained some interesting orders for his Italian companion in Spain. Thus there are four chimneys by Algardi in the palace of Aranjuez, where also the figures on the fountain of Neptune were executed by him. The Augustine monastery at Salamanca contains the tomb of the count and countess de Monterey, which was also the work of Algardi. From an artistic point of view, he was most successful in his portrait-statues and groups of children, where he was obliged to follow nature most closely. In his later years he became very avaricious and amassed a great fortune. He died in Rome on the 10th of June 1654.
See Le arti di Bologna disegnate da A. Caracci ed intagliati da S. Giulini, con’ assistenza d’ Alessandro A. Algardi (1740).
ALGAROTH, POWDER OF, a basic chloride of antimony. It was known to Basil Valentine, and was used medicinally by the Veronese physician Victor Algarotus about the end of the 16th century. Its composition is probably Sb4O5Cl2, and it may be prepared by the addition of much water to a solution of antimony chloride; a bulky amorphous precipitate being formed, which, on standing, gradually becomes crystalline. It is soluble in hydrochloric acid and tartaric acid, but insoluble in alcohol.
On its composition and preparation see E. Peligot, Annalen, 1847, lxiv. 280; L. Schaffer, Annalen, 1869, clii. 314; and R. W. E. MacIvor, Chem. News, 1875, xxxii. 229.
ALGAROTTI, FRANCESCO, COUNT (1712-1764), Italian philosopher and writer on art, was born on the 11th of December 1712 at Venice, and died at Pisa in 1764. He studied at Rome and Bologna, and at the age of twenty went to Paris, where he enjoyed the friendship of Voltaire and produced his great work Neutonianismo per le dame, a work on optics. Voltaire called him his cher cygne de Padoue. Returning from a journey to Russia, he met Frederick the Great who made him a count of Prussia (1740) and court chamberlain (1747). Augustus III. of Poland honoured him with the title of councillor. In 1754, after seven years’ residence partly in Berlin and partly in Dresden, he returned to Italy, living at Venice and then at Pisa, where he died on the 3rd of May 1764. Frederick the Great erected to his memory a monument on the Campo Santo at Pisa. He was a man of wide knowledge, a connoisseur in art and music, and the friend of most of the leading authors of his time. His chief work on art is the Saggi sopra le belle arti (“Essays on the Fine Arts”). Among his other works may be mentioned Poems, Travels in Russia, Essay on Painting, Correspondence.
The best complete edition with biography was published by D. Michelessi (1791-1794).
ALGARVE, or ALGARVES, an ancient kingdom and province in the extreme S. of Portugal, corresponding with the modern administrative district of Faro, and bounded on the N. by Alemtejo, E. by the Spanish province of Huelva, and S. and W. by the Atlantic Ocean. Pop. (1900) 255,191; area, 1937 sq. m. The greatest length of the province is about 85 m. from E. to W.; its average breadth is about 22 m. from N. to S. The Serra de Malhao and the Serra de Monchique extend in the form of a crescent across the northern part of the province, and, sweeping to the south-west, terminate in the lofty promontory of Cape St Vincent, the south-west extremity of Europe. This headland is famous as the scene of many sea-fights, notably the defeat inflicted on the Spanish fleet in February 1797 by the British under Admiral Jervis, afterwards Earl St Vincent. Between the mountainous tracts in the north and the southern coast stretches a narrow plain, watered by numerous rivers flowing southward from the hills. The coast is fringed for 30 m. from Quarteira to Tavira, with long sandy islands, through which there are six passages, the most important being the Barra Nova, between Faro and Olinao. The navigable estuary of the Guadiana divides Algarve from Huelva, and its tributaries water the western districts. From the Serra de Malhao flow two streams, the Silves and Odelouca, which unite and enter the Atlantic below the town of Silves. In the hilly districts the roads are bad, the soil unsuited for cultivation, and the inhabitants few. Flocks of goats are reared on the mountain-sides. The level country along the southern coast is more fertile, and produces in abundance grapes, figs, oranges, lemons, olives, almonds, aloes, and even plantains and dates. The land is, however, not well suited for the production of cereals, which are mostly imported from Spain. On the coast the people gain their living in great measure from the fisheries, tunny and sardines being caught in considerable quantities. Salt is also made from sea-water. There is no manufacturing or mining industry of any importance. The harbours are bad, and almost the whole foreign trade is carried on by ships of other nations, although the inhabitants of Algarve are reputed to be the best seamen and fishermen of Portugal. The chief exports are dried fruit, wine, salt, tunny, sardines and anchovies. The only railway is the Lisbon-Faro main line, which passes north-eastward from Faro, between the Monchique and Malhao ranges. Faro (11,789), Lagos (8291), Loule (22,478), Monchique (7345), Olhao (10,009), Silves (9687) and Tavira (12,175), the chief towns, are described in separate articles.
The name of Algarve is derived from the Arabic, and signifies a land lying to the west. The title “king of Algarve,” held by the kings of Portugal, was first assumed by Alphonso III., who captured Algarve from the Moors in 1253.
ALGAU, or ALLGAU, the name now given to a comparatively small district forming the south-western corner of Bavaria, and belonging to the province of Swabia and Neuburg, but formerly applied to a much larger territory, which extended as far as the Danube on the N., the Inn on the S. and the Lech on the W. The Algau Alps contain several lofty peaks, the highest of which is Madelegabel (8681 ft.). The district is celebrated for its cattle, milk, butter and cheese.
ALGEBRA (from the Arab. af-jebr wa’l-muqabala, transposition and removal [of terms of an equation], the name of a treatise by Mahommed ben Musa al-Khwarizmi), a branch of mathematics which may be defined as the generalization and extension of arithmetic.
The subject-matter of algebra will be treated in the following article under three divisions:—A. Principles of ordinary algebra; B. Special kinds of algebra; C. History. Special phases of the subject are treated under their own headings, e.g. ALGEBRAIC FORMS; BINOMIAL; COMBINATORIAL ANALYSIS; DETERMINANTS; EQUATION; CONTINUED FRACTION; FUNCTION; GROUPS, THEORY OF; LOGARITHM; NUMBER; PROBABILITY; SERIES.
A. PRINCIPLES OF ORDINARY ALGEBRA
1. The above definition gives only a partial view of the scope of algebra. It may be regarded as based on arithmetic, or as dealing in the first instance with formal results of the laws of arithmetical number; and in this sense Sir Isaac Newton gave the title Universal Arithmetic to a work on algebra. Any definition, however, must have reference to the state of development of the subject at the time when the definition is given.
2. The earliest algebra consists in the solution of equations. The distinction between algebraical and arithmetical reasoning then lies mainly in the fact that the former is in a more condensed form than the latter; an unknown quantity being represented by a special symbol, and other symbols being used as a kind of shorthand for verbal expressions. This form of algebra was extensively studied in ancient Egypt; but, in accordance with the practical tendency of the Egyptian mind, the study consisted largely in the treatment of particular cases, very few general rules being obtained.
3. For many centuries algebra was confined almost entirely to the solution of equations; one of the most important steps being the enunciation by Diophantus of Alexandria of the laws governing the use of the minus sign. The knowledge of these laws, however, does not imply the existence of a conception of negative quantities. The development of symbolic algebra by the use of general symbols to denote numbers is due to Franciscus Vieta (Francois Viete, 1540-1603).This led to the idea of algebra as generalized arithmetic.
4. The principal step in the modern development of algebra was the recognition of the meaning of negative quantities. This appears to have been due in the first instance to Albert Girard (1595-1632), who extended Vieta’s results in various branches of mathematics. His work, however, was little known at the time, and later was overshadowed by the greater work of Descartes (1596-1650).
5. The main work of Descartes, so far as algebra was concerned, was the establishment of a relation between arithmetical and geometrical measurement. This involved not only the geometrical interpretation of negative quantities, but also the idea of continuity; this latter, which is the basis of modern analysis, leading to two separate but allied developments, viz. the theory of the function and the theory of limits.
6. The great development of all branches of mathematics in the two centuries following Descartes has led to the term algebra being used to cover a great variety of subjects, many of which are really only ramifications of arithmetic, dealt with by algebraical methods, while others, such as the theory of numbers and the general theory of series, are outgrowths of the application of algebra to arithmetic, which involve such special ideas that they must properly be regarded as distinct subjects. Some writers have attempted unification by treating algebra as concerned with functions, and Comte accordingly defined algebra as the calculus of functions, arithmetic being regarded as the calculus of values.
7. These attempts at the unification of algebra, and its separation from other branches of mathematics, have usually been accompanied by an attempt to base it, as a deductive science, on certain fundamental laws or general rules; and this has tended to increase its difficulty. In reality, the variety of algebra corresponds to the variety of phenomena. Neither mathematics itself, nor any branch or set of branches of mathematics, can be regarded as an isolated science. While, therefore, the logical development of algebraic reasoning must depend on certain fundamental relations, it is important that in the early study of the subject these relations should be introduced gradually, and not until there is some empirical acquaintance with the phenomena with which they are concerned.
8. The extension of the range of subjects to which mathematical methods can be applied, accompanied as it is by an extension of the range of study which is useful to the ordinary worker, has led in the latter part of the 19th century to an important reaction against the specialization mentioned in the preceding paragraph. This reaction has taken the form of a return to the alliance between algebra and geometry (\S 5), on which modern analytical geometry is based; the alliance, however, being concerned with the application of graphical methods to particular cases rather than to general expressions. These applications are sometimes treated under arithmetic, sometimes under algebra; but it is more convenient to regard graphics as a separate subject, closely allied to arithmetic, algebra, mensuration and analytical geometry.
9. The association of algebra with arithmetic on the one hand, and with geometry on the other, presents difficulties, in that geometrical measurement is based essentially on the idea of continuity, while arithmetical measurement is based essentially on the idea of discontinuity; both ideas being equally matters of intuition. The difficulty first arises in elementary mensuration, where it is partly met by associating arithmetical and geometrical measurement with the cardinal and the ordinal aspects of number respectively (see ARITHMETIC.) Later, the difficulty recurs in an acute form in reference to the continuous variation of a function. Reference to a geometrical interpretation seems at first sight to throw light on the meaning of a differential coefficient; but closer analysis reveals new difficulties, due to the geometrical interpretation itself. One of the most recent developments of algebra is the algebraic theory at number, which is devised with the view of removing these difficulties. The harmony between arithmetical and geometrical measurement, which was disturbed by the Greek geometers on the discovery of irrational numbers, is restored by an unlimited supply of the causes of disturbance.
10. Two other developments of algebra are of special importance. The theory of sequences and series is sometimes treated as a part of elementary algebra; but it is more convenient to regard the simpler cases as isolated examples, leading up to the general theory. The treatment of equations of the second and higher degrees introduces imaginary and complex numbers, the theory of which is a special subject.
11. One of the most difficult questions for the teacher of algebra is the stage at which, and the extent to which, the ideas of a negative number and of continuity may be introduced. On the one hand, the modern developments of algebra began with these ideas, and particularly with the idea of a negative number. On the other hand, the lateness of occurrence of any particular mathematical idea is usually closely correlated with its intrinsic difficulty. Moreover, the ideas which are usually formed on these points at an early stage are incomplete; and, if the incompleteness of an idea is not realized, operations in which it is implied are apt to be purely formal and mechanical. What are called negative numbers in arithmetic, for instance, are not really negative numbers but negative quantities (\S 27 (i.)); and the difficulties incident to the ideas of continuity have already been pointed out.
12. In the present article, therefore, the main portions of elementary algebra are treated in one section, without reference to these ideas, which are considered generally in two separate sections. These three sections may therefore be regarded as to a certain extent concurrent. They are preceded by two sections dealing with the introduction to algebra from the arithmetical and the graphical sides, and are followed by a section dealing briefly with the developments mentioned in \S \S 9 and 10 above.
[The intermediate portion of this article is typeset in TeX and is available elsewhere.]
C. HISTORY Various derivations of the word “algebra,” which is of Arabian origin, have been given by different writers. The first mention of the word is to be found in the title of a work by Mahommed ben Musa al-Khwarizmi (Hovarezmi), who flourished about the beginning of the 9th century. The full title is ilm al-jebr wa’l-muqabala, which contains the ideas of restitution and comparison, or opposition and comparison, or resolution and equation, jebr being derived from the verb jabara, to reunite, and muqabala, from gabala, to make equal. (The root jabara is also met with in the word algebrista, which means a “bone-setter,” and is still in common use in Spain.) The same derivation is given by Lucas Paciolus (Luca Pacioli), who reproduces the phrase in the transliterated form alghebra e almucabala, and ascribes the invention of the art to the Arabians.
Other writers have derived the word from the Arabic particle al (the definite article), and gerber, meaning “man.” Since, however, Geber happened to be the name of a celebrated Moorish philosopher who flourished in about the 11th or 12th century, it has been supposed that he was the founder of algebra, which has since perpetuated his name. The evidence of Peter Ramus (1515-1572) on this point is interesting, but he gives no authority for his singular statements. In the preface to his Arithmeticae libri duo et totidem Algebrae (1560) he says: “The name Algebra is Syriac, signifying the art or doctrine of an excellent man. For Geber, in Syriac, is a name applied to men, and is sometimes a term of honour, as master or doctor among us. There was a certain learned mathematician who sent his algebra, written in the Syriac language, to Alexander the Great, and he named it almucabala, that is, the book of dark or mysterious things, which others would rather call the doctrine of algebra. To this day the same book is in great estimation among the learned in the oriental nations, and by the Indians, who cultivate this art, it is called aljabra and alboret; though the name of the author himself is not known.,’ The uncertain authority of these statements, and the plausibility of the preceding explanation, have caused philologists to accept the derivation from al and jabara. Robert Recorde in his Whetstone of Witte (1557) uses the variant algeber, while John Dee (1527-1608) affirms that algiebar, and not algebra, is the correct form, and appeals to the authority of the Arabian Avicenna.
Although the term “algebra” is now in universal use, various other appellations were used by the Italian mathematicians during the Renaissance. Thus we find Paciolus calling it l’Arte Magiore; ditta dal vulgo la Regula de la Cosa over Alghebra e Almucabala. The name l’arte magiore, the greater art, is designed to distinguish it from l’arte minore, the lesser art, a term which he applied to the modern arithmetic. His second variant, la regula de la cosa, the rule of the thing or unknown quantity, appears to have been in common use in Italy, and the word cosa was preserved for several centuries in the forms coss or algebra, cossic or algebraic, cossist or algebraist, &c. Other Italian writers termed it the Regula rei et census, the rule of the thing and the product, or the root and the square. The principle underlying this expression is probably to be found in the fact that it measured the limits of their attainments in algebra, for they were unable to solve equations of a higher degree than the quadratic or square.
Franciscus Vieta (Francois Viete) named it Specious Arithmetic, on account of the species of the quantities involved, which he represented symbolically by the various letters of the alphabet. Sir Isaac Newton introduced the term Universal Arithmetic, since it is concerned with the doctrine of operations, not affected on numbers, but on general symbols.
Notwithstanding these and other idiosyncratic appellations, European mathematicians have adhered to the older name, by which the subject is now universally known.
It is difficult to assign the invention of any art or science definitely to any particular age or race. The few fragmentary records, which have come down to us from past civilizations, must not be regarded as representing the totality of their knowledge, and the omission of a science or art does not necessarily imply that the science or art was unknown. It was formerly the custom to assign the invention of algebra to the Greeks, but since the decipherment of the Rhind papyrus by Eisenlohr this view has changed, for in this work there are distinct signs of an algebraic analysis. The particular problem—a heap (hau) and its seventh makes 19—is solved as we should now solve a simple equation; but Ahmes varies his methods in other similar problems. This discovery carries the invention of algebra back to about 1700 B.C., if not earlier.
It is probable that the algebra of the Egyptians was of a most rudimentary nature, for otherwise we should expect to find traces of it in the works of the Greek aeometers. of whom Thales of Miletus (640-546 B.C.) was the first. Notwithstanding the prolixity of writers and the number of the writings, all attempts at extracting an algebraic analysis from their geometrical theorems and problems have been fruitless, and it is generally conceded that their analysis was geometrical and had little or no affinity to algebra. The first extant work which approaches to a treatise on algebra is by Diophantus (q.v.), an Alexandrian mathematician, who flourished about A.D. 350. The original, which consisted of a preface and thirteen books, is now lost, but we have a Latin translation of the first six books and a fragment of another on polygonal numbers by Xylander of Augsburg (1575), and Latin and Greek translations by Gaspar Bachet de Merizac (1621-1670). Other editions have been published, of which we may mention Pierre Fermat’s (1670), T. L. Heath’s (1885) and P. Tannery’s (1893-1895). In the preface to this work, which is dedicated to one Dionysius, Diophantus explains his notation, naming the square, cube and fourth powers, dynamis, cubus, dynamodinimus, and so on, according to the sum in the indices. The unknown he terms arithmos, the number, and in solutions he marks it by the final s; he explains the generation of powers, the rules for multiplication and division of simple quantities, but he does not treat of the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of compound quantities. He then proceeds to discuss various artifices for the simplification of equations, giving methods which are still in common use. In the body of the work he displays considerable ingenuity in reducing his problems to simple equations, which admit either of direct solution, or fall into the class known as indeterminate equations. This latter class he discussed so assiduously that they are often known as Diophantine problems, and the methods of resolving them as the Diophantine analysis (see EQUATION, Indeterminate.) It is difficult to believe that this work of Diophantus arose spontaneously in a period of general stagnation. It is more than likely that he was indebted to earlier writers, whom he omits to mention, and whose works are now lost; nevertheless, but for this work, we should be led to assume that algebra was almost, if not entirely, unknown to the Greeks.
The Romans, who succeeded the Greeks as the chief civilized power in Europe, failed to set store on their literary and scientific treasures; mathematics was all but neglected; and beyond a few improvements in arithmetical computations, there are no material advances to be recorded.
In the chronological development of our subject we have now to turn to the Orient. Investigation of the writings of Indian mathematicians has exhibited a fundamental distinction between the Greek and Indian mind, the former being pre-eminently geometrical and speculative, the latter arithmetical and mainly practical. We find that geometry was neglected except in so far as it was of service to astronomy; trigonometry was advanced, and algebra improved far beyond the attainments of Diophantus.
The earliest Indian mathematician of whom we have certain knowledge is Aryabhatta, who flourished about the beginning of the 6th century of our era. The fame of this astronomer and mathematician rests on his work, the Aryabhattiyam, the third chapter of which is devoted to mathematics. Ganessa, an eminent astronomer, mathematician and scholiast of Bhaskara, quotes this work and makes separate mention of the cuttaca (“pulveriser”), a device for effecting the solution of indeterminate equations. Henry Thomas Colebrooke, one of the earliest modern investigators of Hindu science, presumes that the treatise of Aryabhatta extended to determinate quadratic equations, indeterminate equations of the first degree, and probably of the second. An astronomical work, called the Surya-siddhanta (“knowledge of the Sun”), of uncertain authorship and probably belonging to the 4th or 5th century, was considered of great merit by the Hindus, who ranked it only second to the work of Brahmagupta, who flourished about a century later. It is of great interest to the historical student, for it exhibits the influence of Greek science upon Indian mathematics at a period prior to Aryabhatta. After an interval of about a century, during which mathematics attained its highest level, there flourished Brahmagupta (b. A.D. 598), whose work entitled Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta (“The revised system of Brahma”) contains several chapters devoted to mathematics. Of other Indian writers mention may be made of Cridhara, the author of a Ganita-sara (“Quintessence of Calculation”), and Padmanabha, the author of an algebra.
A period of mathematical stagnation then appears to have possessed the Indian mind for an interval of several centuries, for the works of the next author of any moment stand but little in advance of Brahmagupta. We refer to Bhaskara Acarya, whose work the Siddhanta-ciromani (“Diadem of anastronomical System”), written in 1150, contains two important chapters, the Lilavati (“the beautiful [science or art]”) and Viga-ganita (“root-extraction”), which are given up to arithmetic and algebra.
English translations of the mathematical chapters of the Brahma-siddhanta and Siddhanta-ciromani by H. T. Colebrooke (1817), and of the Surya-siddhanta by E. Burgess, with annotations by W. D. Whitney (1860), may be consulted for details.
The question as to whether the Greeks borrowed their algebra from the Hindus or vice versa has been the subject of much discussion. There is no doubt that there was a constant traffic between Greece and India, and it is more than probable that an exchange of produce would be accompanied by a transference of ideas. Moritz Cantor suspects the influence of Diophantine methods, more particularly in the Hindu solutions of indeterminate equations, where certain technical terms are, in all probability, of Greek origin. However this may be, it is certain that the Hindu algebraists were far in advance of Diophantus. The deficiencies of the Greek symbolism were partially remedied; subtraction was denoted by placing a dot over the subtrahend; multiplication, by placing bha (an abbreviation of bhavita, the “product”) after the factom; division, by placing the divisor under the dividend; and square root, by inserting ka (an abbreviation of karana, irrational) before the quantity. The unknown was called yavattavat, and if there were several, the first took this appellation, and the others were designated by the names of colours; for instance, x was denoted by ya and y by ka (from kalaka, black).
A notable improvement on the ideas of Diophantus is to be found in the fact that the Hindus recognized the existence of two roots of a quadratic equation, but the negative roots were considered to be inadequate, since no interpretation could be found for them. It is also supposed that they anticipated discoveries of the solutions of higher equations. Great advances were made in the study of indeterminate equations, a branch of analysis in which Diophantus excelled. But whereas Diophantus aimed at obtaining a single solution, the Hindus strove for a general method by which any indeterminate problem could be resolved. In this they were completely successful, for they obtained general solutions for the equations ax(+ or -)by=c, xy=ax+by+c (since rediscovered by Leonhard Euler) and cy2=ax2+b. A particular case of the last equation, namely, y2=ax2+1, sorely taxed the resources of modern algebraists. It was proposed by Pierre de Fermat to Bernhard Frenicle de Bessy, and in 1657 to all mathematicians. John Wallis and Lord Brounker jointly obtained a tedious solution which was published in 1658, and afterwards in 1668 by John Pell in his Algebra. A solution was also given by Fermat in his Relation. Although Pell had nothing to do with the solution, posterity has termed the equation Pell’s Equation, or Problem, when more rightly it should be the Hindu Problem, in recognition of the mathematical attainments of the Brahmans.
Hermann Hankel has pointed out the readiness with which the Hindus passed from number to magnitude and vice versa. Although this transition from the discontinuous to continuous is not truly scientific, yet it materially augmented the development of algebra, and Hankel affirms that if we define algebra as the application of arithmetical operations to both rational and irrational numbers or magnitudes, then the Brahmans are the real inventors of algebra.
The integration of the scattered tribes of Arabia in the 7th century by the stirring religious propaganda of Mahomet was accompanied by a meteoric rise in the intellectual powers of a hitherto obscure race. The Arabs became the custodians of Indian and Greek science, whilst Europe was rent by internal dissensions. Under the rule of the Abbasids, Bagdad became the centre of scientific thought; physicians and astronomers from India and Syria flocked to their court; Greek and Indian manuscripts were translated (a work commenced by the Caliph Mamun (813-833) and ably continued by his successors); and in about a century the Arabs were placed in possession of the vast stores of Greek and Indian learning. Euclid’s Elements were first translated in the reign of Harun-al-Rashid (786-809), and revised by the order of Mamun. But these translations Were regarded as imperfect, and it remained for Tobit ben Korra (836-901) to produce a satisfactory edition. Ptolemy’s Almagest, the works of Apollonius, Archimedes, Diophantus and portions of the Brahmasiddhanta, were also translated. The first notable Arabian mathematician was Mahommed ben Musa al-Khwarizmi, who flourished in the reign of Mamun. His treatise on algebra and arithmetic (the latter part of which is only extant in the form of a Latin translation, discovered in 1857) contains nothing that was unknown to the Greeks and Hindus; it exhibits methods allied to those of both races, with the Greek element predominating. The part devoted to algebra has the title al-jeur wa’lmuqabala, and the arithmetic begins with “Spoken has Algoritmi,” the name Khwarizmi or Hovarezmi having passed into the word Algoritmi, which has been further transformed into the more modern words algorism and algorithm, signifying a method of computing.
Tobit ben Korra (836-901), born at Harran in Mesopotamia, an accomplished linguist, mathematician and astronomer, rendered conspicuous Service by his translations of various Greek authors. His investigation of the properties of amicable numbers (q.v.) and of the problem of trisecting an angle, are of importance. The Arabians more closely resembled the Hindus than the Greeks in the choice of studies; their philosophers blended speculative dissertations with the more progressive study of medicine; their mathematicians neglected the subtleties of the conic sections and Diophantine analysis, and applied themselves more particularly to perfect the system of numerals (see NUMERAL), arithmetic and astronomy (q.v..) It thus came about that while some progress was made in algebra, the talents of the race were bestowed on astronomy and trigonometry (q.v..) Fahri des al Karbi, who flourished about the beginning of the 11th century, is the author of the most important Arabian work on algebra. He follows the methods of Diophantus; his work on indeterminate equations has no resemblance to the Indian methods, and contains nothing that cannot be gathered from Diophantus. He solved quadratic equations both geometrically and algebraically, and also equations of the form x2n+axn+b=0; he also proved certain relations between the sum of the first n natural numbers, and the sums of their squares and cubes.
Cubic equations were solved geometrically by determining the intersections of conic sections. Archimedes’ problem of dividing a sphere by a plane into two segments having a prescribed ratio, was first expressed as a cubic equation by Al Mahani, and the first solution was given by Abu Gafar al Hazin. The determination of the side of a regular heptagon which can be inscribed or circumscribed to a given circle was reduced to a more complicated equation which was first successfully resolved by Abul Gud. The method of solving equations geometrically was considerably developed by Omar Khayyam of Khorassan, who flourished in the 11th century. This author questioned the possibility of solving cubics by pure algebra, and biquadratics by geometry. His first contention was not disproved until the 15th century, but his second was disposed of by Abul Weta (940-908), who succeeded in solving the forms x4=a and x4+ax3=b.
Although the foundations of the geometrical resolution of cubic equations are to be ascribed to the Greeks (for Eutocius assigns to Menaechmus two methods of solving the equation x3=a and x3=2a3), yet the subsequent development by the Arabs must be regarded as one of their most important achievements. The Greeks had succeeded in solving an isolated example; the Arabs accomplished the general solution of numerical equations.
Considerable attention has been directed to the different styles in which the Arabian authors have treated their subject. Moritz Cantor has suggested that at one time there existed two schools, one in sympathy With the Greeks, the other with the Hindus; and that, although the writings of the latter were first studied, they were rapidly discarded for the more perspicuous Grecian methods, so that, among the later Arabian writers, the Indian methods were practically forgotten and their mathematics became essentially Greek in character.
Turning to the Arabs in the West we find the same enlightened spirit; Cordova, the capital of the Moorish empire in Spain, was as much a centre of learning as Bagdad. The earliest known Spanish mathematician is Al Madshritti (d. 1007), whose fame rests on a dissertation on amicable numbers, and on the schools which were founded by his pupils at Cordoya, Dama and Granada. Gabir ben Allah of Sevilla, commonly called Geber, was a celebrated astronomer and apparently skilled in algebra, for it has been supposed that the word “algebra’, is compounded from his name.
When the Moorish empire began to wane the brilliant intellectual gifts which they had so abundantly nourished during three or four centuries became enfeebled, and after that period they failed to produce an author comparable with those of the 7th to the 11th centuries.
In Europe the decline of Rome was succeeded by a period, lasting several centuries, during which the sciences and arts were all but neglected. Political and ecclesiastical dissensions occupied the greatest intellects, and the only progress to be mcorded is in the art of computing or arithmetic, and the translation of Arabic manuscripts. The first successful attempt to revive the study of algebra in Christendom was due to Leonardo of Pisa. an Italian merchant trading in the Mediterranean. His travels and mercantile experience had led him to conclude that the Hindu methods of computing, were in advance of those then in general use, and in 1202 he published his Liber Abaci, which treats of both algebra and arithmetic. In this work, which is of great historical interest, since it was published about two centuries before the art of printing was discovered, he adopts the Arabic notation for nulnbers, and solves many problems, both arithmetical and algebraical. But it contains little that is original, and although the work created a great sensation when it was first published, the effect soon passed away, and the book was practically forgotten. Mathematics was more or less ousted from the academic curricula by the philosophical inquiries of the schoolmen, and it was only after an interval of nearly three centuries that a worthy successor to Leonardo appeared. This was Lucas Paciolus (Lucas de Burgo), a Minorite friar, who, having previously written works on algebra, arithmetic and geometry, published, in 1494, his principal work, entitled Summa de Arithmetica, Giometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita. In it he mentions many earlier writers from whom he had learnt the science, and although it contains very little that cannot be found in Leonardo’s work, yet it is especially noteworthy for the systematic employment of symbols, and the manner in which it reflects the state of mathematics in Europe during this period. These works are the earliest printed books on mathematics. The renaissance of mathematics was thus effected in Italy, and it is to that country that the leading developments of the following century were due. The first difficulty to be overcome was the algebraical solution of cubic equations, the pons asinorum of the earlier mathematicians. The first step in this direction was made by Scipio Ferro (d. 1526), who solved the equation x3+ax=b. Of his discovery we know nothing except that he declared it to his pupil Antonio Marie Floridas. An imperfect solution of the equation x3+px2=q was discovered by Nicholas Tartalea (Tartaglia) in 1530, and his pride in this achievement led him into conflict with Floridas, who proclaimed his own knowledge of the form resolved by Ferro. Mutual recriminations led to a public discussion in 1535, when Tartalea completely vindicated the general applicability of his methods and exhibited the inefficiencies of that of Floridas. This contest over, Tartalea redoubled his attempts to generalize his methods, and by 1541 he possessed the means for solving any form of cubic equation. His discoveries had made him famous all over Italy, and he was earnestly solicited to publish his methods; but he abstained from doing so, saying that he intended to embody them in a treatise on algebra which he was preparing. At last he succumbed to the repeated requests of Girolamo or Geronimo Cardano, who swore that he would regard them as an inviolable secret. Cardan or Cardano, who was at that time writing his great work, the Ars Magna, could not restrain the temptation of crowning his treatise with such important discoveries, and in 1545 he broke his oath and gave to the world Tartalea’s rules for solving cubic equations. Tartalea, thus robbed of his most cherished possession, was in despair. Recriminations ensued until his death in 1557, and although he sustained his claim for priority, posterity has not conceded to him the honour of his discovery, for his solution is now known as Cardan’s Rule.
Cubic equations having been solved, biquadratics soon followed suit. As early as 1539 Cardan had solved certain particular cases, but it remained for his pupil, Lewis (Ludovici) Ferrari, to devise a general method. His solution, which is sometimes erroneously ascribed to Rafael Bombelh, was published in the Ars Magna. In this work, which is one of the most valuable contributions to the literature of algebra, Cardan shows that he was familiar with both real positive and negative roots of equations whelher rational or irrational, but of imaginary roots he was quite ignorant, and he admits his inability to resolve the so-called “irreducible case” (see EQUATION.) Fundamental theorems in the theory of equations are to be found in the same work. Clearer ideas of imaginary quantities and the “irreducible case” were subsequently published by Bombelli, in a work of which the dedication is dated 1572, though the book was not published until 1579.
Contemporaneously with the remarkable discoveries of the Italian mathematicians, algebra was increasing in popularity in Germany, France and England. Michael Stifel and Johann Scheubelius (Scheybl) (1494-1570) flourished in Germany, and although unacquainted with the work of Cardan and Tartalea, their writings are noteworthy for their perspicuity and the introduction of a more complete symbolism for quantities and operations. Stifel introduced the sign (+) for addition or a positive quantity, which was previously denoted by plus, piu, or the letter p. Subtraction, previously written as minus, mone or the letter m, was symbolized by the sign (-) which is still in use. The square root he denoted by (sqrt. ), whereas Paciolus, Cardan and others used the letter R.
The first treatise on algebra written in English was by Robert Recorde, who published his arithmetic in 1552, and his algebra entitled The Whetstone of Witte, which is the second part of Arithmetik, in 1557. This work, which is written in the form of a dialogue, closely resembles the works of Stifel and Scheubelius, the latter of whom he often quotes. It includes the properties of numbers; extraction of roots of arithmetical and algebraical quantities, solutions of simple and quadratic equations, and a fairly complete account of surds. He introduced the sign (=) for equality, and the terms binomial and residual. Of other writers who published works about the end of the 16th century, we may mention Jacques Peletier, or Jacobus Peletarius (De occulta parto Numerorum, quare Algebram vocant, 1558); Petrus Ramus (Arithmeticae Libri duo et totidem Algebrae, 1560), and Christoph Clavius, who wrote on algebra in 1580, though it was not published until 1608. At this time also flourished Simon Stevinus (Stevin) of Bruges, who published an arithmetic in 1585 and an algebra shortly afterwards. These works possess considerable originality, and contain many new improvements in algebraic notation; the unknown (res) is denoted by a small circle, in which he places an integer corresponding to the power. He introduced the terms multinomial, trinomial, quadrinomial, &c., and considerably simplified the notation for decimals.
About the beginning of the 17th century various mathematical works by Franciscus Vieta were published, which were afterwards collected by Franz van Schooten and republished in 1646 at Leiden. These works exhibit great originality and mark an important epoch in the history of algebra. Vieta, who does not avail himself of the discoveries of his predecessors–the negative roots of Cardan, the revised notation of Stifel and Stevin, &c.–introduced or popularized many new terms and symbols, some of which are still in use. He denotes quantities by the letters of the alphabet, retaining the vowels for the unknown and the consonants for the knowns; he introduced the vinculum and among others the terms coefficient, affirmative, negative, pure and adjected equations. He improved the methods for solving equations, and devised geometrical constructions with the aid of the conic sections. His method for determining approximate values of the roots of equations is far in advance of the Hindu method as applied by Cardan, and is identical in principle with the methods of Sir Isaac Newton and W. G. Horner.
We have next to consider the works of Albert Girard, a Flemish mathematician. This writer, after having published an edition of Stevin’s works in 1625, published in 1629 at Amsterdam a small tract on algebra which shows a considerable advance on the work of Vieta. Girard is inconsistent in his notation, sometimes following Vieta, sometimes Stevin; he introduced the new symbols ff. for greater than and sec. for less than; he follows Vieta in using the plus (+) for addition, he denotes subtraction by Recorde’s symbol for equality (=), and he had no sign for equality but wrote the word out. He possessed clear ideas of indices and the generation of powers, of the negative roots of equations and their geometrical interpretation, and was the first to use the term imaginary roots. He also discovered how to sum the powers of the roots of an equation.
Passing over the invention of logarithms (q.v.) by John Napier, and their development by Henry Briggs and others, the next author of moment was an Englishman, Thomas Harriot, whose algebra (Artis analyticae praxis) was published posthumously by Walter Warner in 1631. Its great merit consists in the complete notation and symbolism, which avoided the cumbersome expressions of the earlier algebraists, and reduced the art to a form closely resembling that of to-day. He follows Vieta in assigning the vowels to the unknown quantities and the consonants to the knowns, but instead of using capitals, as with Vieta, he employed the small letters; equality he denoted by Recorde’s symbol, and he introduced the signs > and < for greater than and less than. His principal discovery is concerned with equations, which he showed to be derived from the continued multiplication of as many simple factors as the highest power of the unknown, and he was thus enabled to deduce relations between the coefficients and various functions of the roots. Mention may also be made of his chapter on inequalities, in which he proves that the arithmetic mean is always greater than the geometric mean.
William Oughtred, a contemporary of Harriot, published an algebra, Clavis mathematicae, simultaneously with Harriot’s treatise. His notation is based on that of Vieta, but he introduced the sign X for multiplication, @ for continued proportion, :: for proportion, and denoted ratio by one dot. This last character has since been entirely restricted to multiplication, and ratio is now denoted by two dots (:). His symbols for greater than and less than (@ and @) have been completely superseded by Harriot’s signs`
So far the development of algebra and geometry had been mutually independent, except for a few isolated applications of geometrical constructions to the solution of algebraical problems. Certain minds had long suspected the advairages which would accrue from the unrestricted application of algebra to geometry, but it was not until the advent of the philosopher Rene Descartes that the co-ordination was effected. In his famous Geometria (1637), which is really a treatise on the algebraic representation of geometric theorems, he founded the modern theory of analytical geometry (see GEOMETRY), and at the same time he rendered signal service to algebra, more especially in the theory of equations. His notation is based primarily on that of Harriot; but he differs from that writer in retaining the first letters of the alphabet for the known quantities and the final letters for the unknowns.
The 17th century is a famous epoch in the progress of science, and the mathematics in no way lagged behind. The discoveries of Johann Kepler and Bonaventura Cavalieri were the foundation upon which Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz erected that wonderful edifice, the Infinitesimal Calculus (q.v..) Many new fields were opened up, but there was still continual progress in pure algebra. Continued fractions, one of the earliest examples of which is Lord Brouncker’s expression for the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle (see CIRCLE), were elaborately discussed by John Wallis and Leonhard Euler; the convergency of series treated by Newton, Euler and the Bernoullis; the binomial theorem, due originally to Newton and subsequently expanded by Euler and others, was used by Joseph Louis Lagrange as the basis of his Calcul des Fonctions. Diophantine problems were revived by Gaspar Bachet, Pierre Fermat and Euler; the modern theory of numbers was founded by Fermat and developed by Euler, Lagrange and others; and the theory of probability was attacked by Blaise Pascal and Fermat, their work being subsequently expanded by James Bernoulli, Abraham de Moivre, Pierre Simon Laplace and others. The germs of the theory of determinants are to be found in the works of Leibnitz; Etienne Bezout utilized them in 1764 for expressing the result obtained by the process of elimination known by his name, and since restated by Arthur Cayley.
In recent times many mathematicians have formulated other kinds of algebras, in which the operators do not obey the laws of ordinary algebra. This study was inaugurated by George Peacock, who was one of the earliest mathematicians to recognize the symbolic character of the fundamental principles of algebra. About the same time, D. F. Gregory published a paper “on the real nature of symbolical algebra.” In Germany the work of Martin Ohm (System der Mathematik, 1822) marks a step forward. Notable service was also rendered by Augustus de Morgan, who applied logical analysis to the laws of mathematics.
The geometrical interpretation of imaginary quantities had a far-reaching influence on the development of symbolic algebras. The attempts to elucidate this question by H. Kuhn (1750-1751) and Jean Robert Argand (1806) were completed by Karl Friedrich Gauss, and the formulation of various systems of vector analysis by Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Hermann Grassmann and others, followed. These algebras were essentially geometrical, and it remained, more or less, for the American mathematician Benjamin Peirce to devise systems of pure symbolic algebras; in this work he was ably seconded by his son Charles S. Peirce. In England, multiple algebra was developed by James Joseph Sylvester, who, in company with Arthur Cayley, expanded the theory of matrices, the germs of which are to be found in the writings of Hamilton (see above, under (B); and QUATERNIONS.)
The preceding summary shows the specialized nature which algebra has assumed since the 17th century. To attempt a history of the development of the various topics in this article is inappropriate, and we refer the reader to the separate articles.
REFERENCES.—The history of algebra is treated in all historical works on mathematics in general (see MATHEMATICS: References.) Greek algebra can be specially studied in T. L. Heath’s Diophantus. See also John Wallis, Opera Mathematica (1693-1699), and Charles Sutton, Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary (1815), article “Algebra.” (C. E.*)
[The article on Algebraic Forms is typeset in TeX and is available elsewhere.]
ALGECIRAS, or ALGEZIRAS, a seaport of southern Spain in the province of Cadiz, 6 m. W. of Gibraltar, on the opposite side of the Bay of Algeciras. Pop. (1900) 13,302. Algeciras stands at the head of a railway from Granada, but its only means of access to Gibraltar is by water. Its name, which signifies in Arabic the island, is derived from a small islet on one side of the harbour. It is supplied with water by means of a beautiful aqueduct. The fine winter climate of Algeciras attracts many invalid visitors, on whom the town largely depends for its prosperity. The harbour is bad, but at the beginning of the 20th century it became important as a fishing-station. Whiting, soles, bream, bass and other fish are caught in great quantities by the Algeciras steam-trawlers, which visit the Moroccan coast, as well as Spanish and neutral waters. There is also some trade in farm produce and building materials which supplies a fleet of small coasters with cargo.
Algeciras was perhaps the Portus Albus of the Romans, but it was probably refounded in 713 by the Moors, who retained possession of it until 1344. It was then taken by Alphonso XI. of Castile after a celebrated siege of twenty months, which attracted Crusaders from all parts of Europe; among them being the English earl of Derby, grandson of Edward III. It is said that during this siege gunpowder was first used by the Moors in the wars of Europe. The Moorish city was destroyed by Alphonso; it was first reoccupied by Spanish colonists from Gibraltar in 1704; and the modern town was erected in 1760 by King Charles III. During the siege of Gibraltar in 1780- 1782, Algeciras was the station of the Spanish fleet and floating batteries. On the 6th of July 1801 the English admiral Sir James Saumarez attacked a Franco-Spanish fleet off Algeciras, and sustained a reverse; but on the 12th he again attacked the enemy, whose fleet was double his own strength, and inflicted on them a complete defeat. The important international conference on Moroccan affairs, which resulted in an agreement between France and Germany, was held at Algeciras from the 16th of January to the 7th of April 1906. (See MOROCCO.)
ALGER OF LIEGE (d c. 1131), known also as ALGER OF CLUNY and ALGERUS MAGISTER, a learned French priest who lived in the first half of the 12th century. He was first a deacon of the church of St Bartholomew at Liege, his native town, and was then appointed (c. 1100) to the cathedral church of St Lambert. He declined many offers from German bishops and finally retired to the monastery of Cluny, where he died about 1131 at a great age and leaving a good reputation for piety and intelligence. His History of the Church of Liege, and many of his other works, are lost. The most important of those still extant are: 1. De Misericordia et Justitia, a collection of biblical and patristic extracts with a commentary (an important work for the history of church law and discipline), which is to be found in the Anecdota of Martene, vol. v. 2. De Sacramentis Corporis et Sanguinis Domini; a treatise, in three books, against the Berengarian heresy, highly commended by Peter of Cluny and Erasmus. 3. De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio; given in B. Pez’s Anecdota, vol. iv. 4. De Sacrificio Missae; given in the Collectio Scriptor. Vet. of Angelo Mai, vol. ix. p. 371.
See Migne, Patrol Ser. Lat. vol. clxxx. pp. 739-.972; Herzog- Hauck, Realencyk.fur prot. Theol., art. by S. M. Deutsch.
ALGER, RUSSELL ALEXANDER (1836–1907), American soldier and politician, was born in Lafayette township, Medina county, Ohio, on the 27th of February 1836. Left an orphan at an early age, he worked on a farm to pay his expenses at Richfield (Ohio) Academy, was a schoolmaster for two winters, and, having studied law in the meantime, was admitted to the bar in 1859. He began practice at Cleveland, Ohio, but early in 1860 he removed to Michigan, where he abandoned his profession and engaged in the lumber business. Enlisting in a Michigan cavalry regiment in September 1861, he rose from captain to colonel, distinguished himself in the Gettysburg campaign and under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, and in 1864 and 1865 respectively received the brevets of brigadier-general and major-general of volunteers. After the war he invested extensively in pine lands in Michigan, and accumulated a large fortune in the lumber business. In 1884 he was elected governor of Michigan on the Republican ticket, serving from 1885 to 1887. In 1889–1890 he was commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. From 1897 to 1899 he was secretary of war in President McKinley’s cabinet. His administration of the war department during the Spanish-American War was severely criticized for extravagance in army contracts, for unpreparedness, and for genetal inefficiency, charges which he answered in his The Spanish-American War (1901). The extent of his personal responsibility is at least uncertain. In 1902 he was appointed by the governor of Michigan, and in 1903 was elected by the state legislature, as United States senator to complete the unexpired term of James Mcmillan (1838-1902). He died at Washington, D.C., on the 24th of January 1907.
ALGERIA (Algerie), a country of North Africa belonging to France, bounded N. by the Mediterranean, W. by Morocco, S. by the Sahara and E. by Tunisia. The boundaries, however, are in part not accurately determined. Algeria extends for about 650 m. along the coast, and stretches inland from 320 to 380 m., lying between 2 deg. 10′ W. and 8 deg. 50, E., and 32 deg. and 37 deg. N. It is divided, politically, into three departments– Oran in the west, Algiers in the centre and Constantine in the east. Its area is 184,474 sq. m., exclusive of the dependent Saharan regions, which have an area of some 750,000 sq. m. (see SAHARA, TUAT, &c.).
Physical Features.–The character of the Algerian coast is severe and inhospitable. The western half is bordered by a hilly rampart, broken only here and there, in the bays where the larger streams find their outlet, by flat and sandy plains. Between Dellys and Philippeville high mountains rise almost sheer from the sea, leaving only a narrow strip of beach. East of Philippeville the mountains recede from the coast, and the rampart of hills reappears. Only between Bona and La Calle is the general character of the sea-board low and sandy. Save near the towns and in the cultivated district of Kabylia, the coast is bare and uninhabited; and in spite of numerous indentations, of which the most important going from west to east are the Gulf of Oran, the Gulf of Arzeu, the Bay of Algiers, and the gulfs of Bougie, Stora and Bona, there are few good harbours. From time immemorial, indeed, this coast has had an evil reputation among mariners, quite apart from the pirates who for centuries made it the base of their depredations. A violent current, starting from the Straits of Gibraltar, rushes eastward along the shore, and, hurled back from the headlands, is deflected to the West. In summer the east wind brings dense and sudden fogs; while in winter the northerly gales blow straight into the mouths of the harbours. In these circumstances navigation is especially perilous for sailing craft. The terrors of this “savage sea and inhospitable shore,” once described by Sallust, have, however, been greatly mitigated by the introduction of steam, the improvement of the harbours, and the establishment by the French government of an excellent system of lighthouses.
Southward from the sea the country falls naturally into three divisions, clearly distinguished by their broad physical characteristics. The healthy, and on the whole fertile coast region, from 50 to 100 m. in width, is known, as in Morocco and Tunisia. as the Tell (Arabic for “hill”). It is a mountainous country intersected with rocky canons and fertile valleys, which occasionally broaden out into alluvial plains like that of the Shelif, or the Metija near Algiers, or those in the neighbourhood of Oran and Bona. Behind the Tell is a lofty table-land with an average elevation of 3000 ft., consisting of vast plains, for the most part arid or covered with esparto grass, in the depressions of which are great salt lakes and swamps (Arabic, shats) fed by streams which can find no outlet to the sea through the encircling hills. To the south this region is divided by the Great Atlas from the deserts of the Sahara, with its oases, in which the boundary of Algeria is lost.
The country is traversed by lofty ranges of the Atlas system, which run nearly parallel to the coast, and rise in places over 7000 ft. These are commonly divided into two leading chains, distinguished as the Great1 and Little Atlas. The Great, or Saharan Atlas contains some of the highest points in the country. The chief ranges are Ksur and Amur in the west and the Aures in the east. The peak of Shellia, the highest point in Algeria, in the Aures range, has a height of 7611 ft. In the Amur are Jebel Ksel (6594 ft.) and Tuila Makna (6561 ft.). The Little Atlas, otherwise the Tell or Maritime Atlas, lies between the sea and the Saharan Atlas, and is composed of many distinct ranges, generally of no great elevation and connected by numerous transverse chains forming extensive table-lands and elevated valleys. The principal ranges of the Little Atlas–from west to east–are the Tlemcen (5500 ft.); the Warsenis (with Kef Sidi Omar, 6500 ft.); the Titeri (4900 ft.); the Jurjura, with the peak of Lalla Kedija (7542 ft.) and Mount Babor (6447 ft.); and the Mejerda (3700 ft.), which extends into Tunisia. The Jurjura range, forming the background of the plains between Algiers and Bougie, extends through the district of Kabylia, with which for grandeur of scenery no other part of Algeria can compare. South of the Jurjura and separated from it by the valley of the Sahel, is the Biban range with a famous double pass of the same name, through which alone access is gained to the highlands beyond. The Bibans or Portes de fer (Iron Gates) consist of two defiles with stupendous walls of rock, which by erosion have assumed the most fantastic shapes. In the case of the Petite porte the walls in some places are not more than twelve feet apart. The Dahra range (see MOSTAGANEM) overlooks the sea, and is separated from the Warsenis by the valley of the Shelif (see ATLAS MOUNTAINS, SAHARA and TUAT.)
The rivers are numerous but the majority are short. Most of them rise in the mountains near the coast, and rush down through deep and rocky channels. During the rainy season they render communication between different parts of the country extremely difficult. The most important river, both from its length and volume, is the Shelif. It rises on the northern slopes of the Amur mountains and flows N.E. across the high plateau, piercing the little Atlas between the Warsenis and Titeri ranges. It then turns W. and reaches the Mediterranean at the eastern end of the Gulf of Arzeu. The Shelif, which has many tributaries, is about 430 m. long. The Seybuse (about 150 m. long), formed by the union of several small streams in the department of Constantine, runs through a fertile valley and reaches the Mediterranean near Bona. The Sahel (about 100 m. long), which contains the greatest body of water after the Shelif, rises in the department of Algiers near Aumale, and flows for the most part N.E. to its mouth near Bougie. The Kebir or Rummel–the river is known by both names–is formed by the union of several small streams south of Constantine, and flows past that town N.W. 140 m. to the sea. Among the less important rivers which empty into the Mediterranean are the Macta, the Tafna, the Harrach and the Mazafran. The Macta, but 3 m. long, enters the sea in the Gulf of Arzeu, some 25 m. W. of the mouth of the Shelif. It is formed by the Habra (140 m.) and the Sig (130 m.), which rise in the Amur mountains and flowing north unite in a marshy plain, whence issues the Macta. On the lower courses of the Habra and the Sig, barrages have been built for irrigation purposes. The Habra barrage holds 38,000,000 cubic metres; that on the Sig 18,000,000. The Tafna (about 100 m.) rises in a large cavern in the mountains south of Tlemcen and flows N.E. to the sea at Rachgun. It has many affluents; the largest, the Isser (70 m.), joins it on the east bank about 30 m. above its mouth. The Harrach (40 m.), a picturesque stream, enters the Mediterranean in the Bay of Algiers. The Mazafran (50 m.) crosses the plains S.W of Algiers, reaching the sea N. of Kolea. The Mejerda and its affluent the Mellegue, rivers of Tunisia (q.v.), have their rise in Algeria, in the mountainous country east of Constantine. None of these rivers is navigable. Besides these there are a number of streams in the interior, but they are usually dry except in the rainy season.
Algeria abounds in extensive salt lakes and marshes. Of the lakes in the northern part of the country near the coast the principal are,–the Fezara, 14 m. S.W. of Bona; Sebkha and El Melah, south of Oran; and three small lakes in the immediate vicinity of La Calle. In the high plateaus are the Shat-el-Gharbi or Western Shat, the Shat-el-Shergui or Eastern Shat, the Zarhez- Gharbi and the Zarhez-Shergui, the Shat-el-Hodna and a number of others. South of the Jebel Aures is another series of salt lakes closely connected with the Shat-el-Jerid (of Tunisia). The chief of these is the Shat Melrir. There are a number of warm mineral springs, containing principally salts of lime, used with success by both Arabs and Europeans in several kinds of disease.
One of the most remarkable groups of springs is near Guelma, in the department of Constantine. There are two principal sources. Their waters unite in one stream whose course is marked by gigantic limestone cones, some of which are 36 ft. high. The water, which is at boiling point, falls into natural basins of a creamy white colour, formed by the deposit of carbonate of lime. The springs are known to the Arabs as Hammam Meskutin (the “accursed baths”). The name and the cones are accounted for by a legend which represents that at this spot lived a sheikh who, finding his sister too beautiful to be married to anyone else, determined to espouse her himself. Whilst the marriage festivities were being celebrated the judgment of Heaven descended on the guilty pair; fire came from below; the water became hot and the sheikh and his sister were turned into stone. Within a mile of Hammam Meskutin are ferruginous and sulphureous springs.
[Geology.–The geology of Algeria has been worked out in considerable detail by French geologists. Rocks of Archean and Palaeozoic ages contribute only a small share, but there is a very complete sequence of formations from the Lias to those of recent date. An interesting and orderly petrological sequence of Tertiary igneous rocks has been determined.
Archean rocks form the cores of the ancient crystalline masses within the littoral zone from Algiers to Bona. They consist of gneiss, mica-schist, quartzites, crystalline limestones and conglomerates. Primary deposits are doubtfully represented by the detached fragments of unfossiliferous strata of Traras, Blida and east of Orleansville. Carboniferous and Permian strata are possibly represented by some black and grey micaceous shales with beds of coal in the Jurjura. At Jebel-kahar and west of Traras, Pomel attributes certain conglomerates, red sandstones and purple and green shales to the Permian. The rocks of Secondary and Tertiary ages have been profoundly affected by the Alpine movements, and are thrown into a series of complex folds, so that in numerous instances their stratigraphy is imperfectly understood. The gypsiferous and saliferous marls of Shellata, Suk Ahras and Ain Nussi have yielded Triassic fossils. Triassic rocks are considered to be present in Constantine and in the Jurjura. Rhaetic beds (Infra Lias), consisting of dolomites and siliceous limestones, have been recognized at Saida. The lower and middle divisions of the Jurassic, composed of massive limestones more or less siliceous and overlain by the marls and highly fossiliferous limestones of the Upper Lias, play an important part in the constitution of the chief mountains of the Tell. In south Oran they determine the principal axes of the mountain ranges. The Inferior Cretaceous rocks include the Neocomian and Gault (Albian and Aptian) subdivisions, and form the flanks of the mountains in the Tell. In the south the Albian subdivision of the Gault is alone represented. Rocks of Upper Cretaceous age are represented in all their stages. The Cenomanian presents two distinct facies. North of the Atlas it belongs to the European type, in the south it contains a fauna of oysters and sea-urchins belonging to the facies “africano-syrian” of Zittel. There is a continuous transition between the Senonian and Danian, proving that the Algerian region did not participate in the immersion which occurred in Provence and in the Corbieres of southern France during the Danian epoch. The Lower Eocene rocks contain the chief phosphatic deposits of Algeria, those of the Tebessa region being the best known. Certain species of nummulites, which are very common, distinguish the various subdivisions of the Eocene. The highest beds, consisting of quartzites, shales, marls and sandstones with the remains of fucoids, are found in the Jurjura and Shellata. The Oligocene period consists of a marine phase confined to the littoral zone of Kahylia, and of a continental phase occupying vast areas composed of lacustrine, alluvial, gypsiferous marls, sandstones and conglomerates. The Miocene formation obtains its greatest development in Oran and is much expanded in the Tell. At the close of the Lower Miocene period (beds with Ostrea crassissima) great modifications in the relief and limits of the Algerian formations took place. Hitherto marine conditions were confined to the littoral; in Middle Miocene times (Helvetian) the sea broke in and spread in a south-east direction in the form of long ramified fjords but did not extend as far as the Sahara. To the Pliocene period the marine deposits of the Sahel of Algiers and of the Sahel Jijelli must be attributed; also the lacustrine marls and limestone of the basin of Constantine, and the ancient alluviums of the basins and depressions which bear no relation to the existing valleys. Among the Tertiary volcanic rocks those of acid types (granites, granulites) were the first to appear and are developed latitudinally; rocks of intermediate type (dacites, andesites) characterize the Miocene and early Pliocene periods; while the basic rocks (ophites, elaeolite syenites and basalts) attained their maximum in later Pliocene and Quaternary times. Their development, feeble as compared with the acid rocks, is meridional. The Quaternary period includes an older stage containing fragments of fossils from the underlying formations; a later stage containing the bones of Hippopotamus, Elephas, Rhinoceros, Camelus, Equus; and finally the vast accumulations of sand which began to be formed in prehistoric times. The broad platforms of the hamada are covered with Quaternary deposits. (W. G.*)]
CIimate.–Although Algeria enjoys a warm climate, the temperature varies considerably in different parts, according to the elevation and configuration of the country. Along the coast the weather is very mild, the thermometer rarely falling to freezing-point even in winter. The coldest month is January, the hottest August. The mean annual temperature in the coast plains is 66 deg. F. Heavy rains prevail from December to March, and rain is not uncommon during other months also, excepting June, July, August and September, which are very hot and rainless. The average annual fall is 29 in. On the mountains and the high plateaus the winter is often very severe; snow lies for six months on the higher peaks of the Kabyle mountains. On the plateaus the temperature passes from one extreme to the other, and rain seldom falls. (For the climate of the Saharan region see SAHARA.) Throughout Algeria, especially in the summer, there is a great difference between day and night temperature, notably in the inland districts. Between May and September the sirocco, or hot wind of the desert, sweeps at intervals over the country, impregnating the air with fine sand; but in general, with the exception of the vicinity of the marshes, the climate is healthy. Its salubrity has been increased by the draining of many marshes in the neighbourhood of the larger towns.
Fauna and Flora.–The fauna of Algeria resembles that of the Mediterranean system generally, though many animals once common to South Europe and North Africa–such as the lion, panther, hyena and jackal–are now extinct in Europe. Lions, formerly plentiful, have disappeared, and leopards and panthers are rare; but jackals, hyenas and Algerian apes are not uncommon. Wild boars are found in the oak forests, and brown bears in the uplands. In the south are various species of antelope and wild goat. Red deer (Cervus elaphus barbarus), which differ from the typical European species only in the fact that the second tine is absent from their antlers, a peculiarity which they share with the red deer of Spain and Corsica, are still found in the forest of Beni Saleh in the department of Constantine, but are being exterminated by forest fires and poaching Arabs. Of domestic animals the camel and sheep are the most important. The chief wealth of the Arab tribes of the plateaus consists in their immense flocks of sheep. The horses and mules of Algeria are noted; and the native cattle are an excellent stock on which to graft the better European varieties. Of birds, eagles, vultures, hawks, owls and quails are common; snipe, curlews, plovers, storks and herons frequent the marshy parts; and the ostrich the desert. Partridges and woodcocks are fairly common. Among the reptiles are various species of serpents, tortoises, turtles, lizards, &c. Locusts are common and sometimes do great damage. Scorpions are numerous in the acid regions. Algerian prawns, especially those of Bona, are large and of a delicate flavour. Of the twenty-one species of freshwater fish, five are peculiar to the country, but none is of much economic value save the barbel and eel. A species of trout is found in the streams near Collo, but in none of the other rivers.
The flora of Algeria consists of about 3000 species, of which some 450 are indigenous to the country, 100 being peculiar to the Sahara. The flora of the Tell is South European in character. The agave and prickly pear, the myrtle, the olive and the dwarf palm grow luxuriantly; and the fields are covered with narcissus, iris and other flowers of every hue. Roses, geraniums, and the like, bloom throughout the winter. The flora of the high plateaus consists chiefly of grasses, notably various kinds of alfa or esparto, and aromatic herbs. In the Saharan oases the characteristic tree is the date palm–“the king of the desert.” Over 11,000 sq. m. of the mountainous country near the coast are covered with forests of various species of oak, pine, fir, cedar, elm, ash, maple, olive, many of them of gigantic size, and other trees; and on the slopes of the mountains up to 3800 ft. above the sea the fig is common. Its fruit forms one of the staple articles of food among the Kabyles. Cork and carob trees are also very common. A magnificent conifer, the Atlantic pinsapo (Abies Pinsapo), is found on the heights round Bougie. The forests suffer great damage from fires, occasioned in part by the custom of burning up the grass every autumn, and in part by incendiarism. In 1902 alone, according to the British consular report, “at a moderate estimate the number of trees damaged or destroyed might be put down at 6,000,000.” Forestry is a state-protected industry, the government owning over 500,000 acres of forest. The chief tree which has commercial value is the cork, and the stripping of the bark is under official supervision. The first cork harvest was gathered in 1890, when 1474 cwt. were sold for L. 1361. Since that date the yield has been very great. Another tree of great commercial value is the soap tree (Sapindus utilis), introduced into the country in 1845 and grown extensively in low-lying lands near the coast.
Inhabitants.–Algeria had in 1906 a population of 5,231,850, consisting of a medley of European, Eastern and African races. The census showed that in addition to French settlers and their descendants (278,976) there were 117,475 Spaniards (most of whom are found in the department of Oran), 33,153 Italians (chiefly in the department of Constantine), 64,645 Jews, 6217 Maltese, and smaller communities of British, Germans, Levantines and Greeks. There were, moreover, 170,444 naturalized French citizens, mainly of Spanish and Italian origin. (These figures are exclusive of 73,790 persons counted apart, as not enjoying municipal rights. In the 73,799 the troops, French and native, are included). The total European population, in which category are reckoned the Jews, other than those of Mzab, was 680,263. Compared with the census of 1901 the figures of 1906 showed a decrease of 14,000 French, 36,000 Spaniards and 5000 Italians, but an increase of nearly 100,000 in the foreigners naturalized. Of other races: (1) The Berbers (q.v.) constitute 75% of the entire population. The Kabyles (q.v.), a division of the Berbers, occupy chiefly the more mountainous parts of the Tell, but some live in the plains and valleys. (2) Arabs, a numerous class, are found principally in the south. (3) The so-called “Moors,” generally of mixed blood, inhabit the towns and villages near the sea-coast. (4) Negroes, originally brought from the interior and sold as slaves, are now found chiefly in the towns, where they serve as labourers and domestic servants. (5) Mzabites (q.v.) or Beni-Mzab, a distinct branch of the Berber race, are for the most part engaged in petty trade, and are distinguished by their sleeveless coats of many colours. (6) A few Tuareg (q.v.), another division of the Berbers, are among the nomads found in the Algerian Sahara. The Kabyles, Mzabites, Tuareg, Arabs and Moors all profess Mahommedanism, though it is only among the Arabs that its tenets are held in any purity. The census of 1906 gave the number of the native population at 4,447,149. There were also 28,639 non-European foreigners in the country.
The Turks, though for a considerable period the dominant race, were never very numerous in Algeria. The majority of them were repatriated by the French. The Kuluglis, descendants of Turks by native women–once a distinct race noted for their energy, bravery and pride–have almost ceased to exist as a separate people, being merged in the Moors. Jews have long been settled in Algeria. Some are supposed to have fled thither when expelled from Cyrenaica in the reign of the emperor Hadrian, and others on their banishment from Italy in 1342. The purely “African” Jew is now found only in the oases in the extreme south of the country. In the towns the “native” Jews have intermarried with later arrivals from Europe. A remarkable feast is kept annually by the Algerian Jews to commemorate the defeat by the Turks of the emperor Charles V.’s attempt to capture Algiers (1541). The Jews, who enjoyed religious freedom under the Mahommedans, believed that the success of the Spaniards would but lead to their own persecution.
Chief Towns.–The chief towns are Algiers, the capital and principal seaport, with a population (1906), including Mustapha and other suburbs, of 154,049; Oran (100,499),2 a western seaport and capital of the department of the same name, and Constantine (46,806), an inland town, capital of the department of Constantine. Besides Algiers and Oran the principal seaports are Bona (36,004), Mostaganem (19,528), Philippeville (16,539), Bougie (10,419), Cherchel (4733) and La Calle (2774). Inland, besides Constantine, are the important towns of Tlemcen ( 24,060), Sidi-bel-Abbes (24,494), Mascara (18,989) and Blida (16,866). In the Sahara are Biskra (4218), El Wad (7586), Tuggurt (2073) and Wargla (3579). All these places are separately noticed.
Nemours (1229) is a seaport near the Moroccan frontier, which formerly bore an Arabic name pregnant with its history –Jamaa-el-Ghazuat (“rendezvous of the pirates”). The surrounding country is rich in mineral wealth. Arzeu (3085) occupies a site on the western side of the gulf of the same name. It has a good harbour, is the outlet for the produce of several fertile valleys, and the starting-point of a railway which penetrates into the Sahara. This railway passes Saida (6256), 106 m. south of Arzeu, one of the capitals of Abd-el-Kader, and serves to bring down from the high plateaus their rich crops of esparto grass. Four miles S.E. of Arzeu is a Berber village, where are interesting ruins of a Roman settlement, identified by some authorities as the Portus Magnus of Pliny; other authorities claim Oran as occupying the site of Portus Magnus. In the vicinity are the famous quarries of Numidian marbles. Tenes (3176) is a seaport situated about 100 m. east of Arzeu on the site of the Phoenician town, afterwards the Roman colony, of Cartenna. Outside the town to the west is a public garden in which are several Roman tombs with inscriptions. Between Tenes and Algiers are Tipasa (q.v.) and Castiglione (1634), formerly called Bu-Ismail, both pleasant watering-places. Five miles inland west of Castiglione is Kolea (2932), a town dating from 1550 and originally peopled by Moslem refugees from Spain. It was destroyed by earthquake in 1825 and has been rebuilt largely in European style. It contains the kubba of a celebrated marabout, Sidi Embarek, who lived in the 17th century. Dellys (3275), 50 m. by sea E. of Algiers, has a small harbour sheltered from the W. and N.W. winds only. It is a walled town regularly laid out, built by the French on the site of the Roman Ruscurium, the western ramparts of which may still be seen. Jijelli (4878), on the eastern side of the Gulf of Bougie, occupies the site of the Roman colony of Igilgilis. The old town, built on a rocky peninsula, was completely destroyed by earthquake in 1856. A new town arose eastward of the former site, which is now restored as a citadel. Twenty miles by sea west of Philippeville is Collo (2258), a city of considerable importance during the Roman occupation. It was the Kollops Magnus of Ptolemy.
Twenty-three miles S.W. by rail from Algiers is Bufarik (the “hanging well”); pop. 5980. A thoroughly French town, it dates from 1835, when General Drouet d’Erlon established there an entrenched camp on a hillock in the midst of a pestilential swamp. Soon afterwards Marshal Clausel began to build a regular city, which was at first called Medina Clausel in his honour. The draining of the site and neighbourhood was a costly undertaking, and was only accomplished by the sacrifice of many lives. The town, surrounded by vast orchards and farms, is now one of the most flourishing in the country; and the most important market in the colony for the sale of cattle and agricultural produce is held there. Sixty-three miles S.W. of Algiers is Medea (4030)–supposed to stand on the site of a Roman town–finely situated on a plateau 3000 ft. above the sea. It is surrounded by a wall pierced by five gates. An ancient aqueduct is built into the eastern side of the wall. The town, which was chosen by the Turks as capital of the beylik of Titeri, is now French in character. Miliana (3991), which occupies the site of the Roman Milliana, lies about midway between Blida and Orleansville, is 2400 ft. above the sea, and is built on a plateau of the Zakkar mountains, commanding magnificent views of the valley of the Shelif. It possesses few remains of antiquity. An old Moorish minaret has been turned into a clock tower. The town, which is walled, has been rebuilt by the French. The chief streets are bordered by trees and have streams of water running down either side. Hammam R’Irha to the N.E. of Miliana, noted from the time of the Romans for its thermal springs, occupies a picturesque position 1800 ft. above the sea. Being the only place within easy distance of western Europe where patients can take with safety a course of baths during the winter months, it has become a resort of invalids. Orleansville (3510), on the extensive plain of the Shelif, 130 m. S.W. by rail from Algiers. and 132 m. N.E. from Oran, is an important military station. The basilica of St Reparatus, discovered in 1843, was allowed to be used as a public stable and has been completely destroyed. There was in it a beautiful mosaic of which, fortunately, drawings exist. From this it appears that the church was built in A.D. 324, and that St Reparatus, bishop of the diocese, was buried in it in 475. Orleansville occupies the site of the Roman Castellum Tingitanum.
Ninety miles S.W. of Bougie is Aumale (2350), a town and military post established by the French in 1846 on the site of the ancient Auzia. The Roman town was founded in the reign of Augustus, and it flourished for two centuries before it disappeared from history. Out of the materials of the ancient city the Turks built a fort, which at the time of the French occupation was itself a heap of ruins. Setif (12,261), the Sitifis Colonia of the Romans, is 50 m. S.E. of Bougie and 97 m. by rail W. of Constantine. It stands 3573 ft. above the sea, and is the junction of several great lines of communication. Its market is attended by Kabyles, Arabs of the plateaus and people from the Sahara. The town has been entirely rebuilt in the French style. Most of the Roman ruins, even those existing at the time of the French occupation (1839), have disappeared. The walls of the Roman city, restored probably by the Byzantines, have been incorporated in the French walls, which are pierced by four gates. Batna (5279), a walled town 3350 ft. above the sea, 50 m. S. of Constantine by the railway to Biskra, commands the passage of the Aures mountains by which the nomads of the Sahara were wont to enter the Tell. Its importance rests on its strategic position. On the railway between Constantine and Bona and 76 m. from the latter, is Guelma (6584), the Roman Kalama, finely situated on the right bank of the Seybuse. The French occupied the place in 1836 and built their town out of the Roman ruins. Thirty miles S.E. of Guelma is Suk Ahras (7602), a station on the railway to Tunis, identified with the Roman city Tagaste, the birthplace of St Augustine.
Towns in the Sahara.–On the southern slopes of the Great Atlas, 2437 ft. above the sea, looking out on the Saharan desert, and 200 m. in a straight line S.W. of Algiers, is the ancient town of El Aghuat (erroneously written Laghouat); pop. 5660. It formerly belonged to Morocco, by whom it was ceded to the Turks towards the close of the 17th century. It was stormed on the 4th of December 1852 by the French, who almost entirely destroyed the Arab town. The modern town contains little of interest, but is an important military station. One hundred and twelve miles S. of El Aghuat, and 36 m. W.N.W. of Wargla, is Ghardaia (pop. 7868), the capital of the Mzab country, annexed by France in 1882. This country consists of seven oases, five in close proximity and two isolated. The town of Ghardaia (in the local documents Taghardeit) is situated on a mosque-crowned hill in the middle of the Wadi Mzab, 1755 ft. above the sea. Ghardaia, which is divided by walls into three quarters, is built of limestone and the houses are in terraces one above the other. The central quarter is the home of the ruling tribe, the Beni-Mzab. The eastern quarter belongs to the Jews, of whom there are about 300 families; the western is occupied by the Medabia, Arabs from the Jebel Amur. The gardens belong exclusively to the Beni-Mzab. According to native accounts the town was founded about the middle of the 16th century. Aghrem Baba Saad, a small ruined town to the west of Ghardaia, is the fortified post in which the Beni-Mzab took refuge when the Turks under Salah Rais (about 1555) attempted unsuccessfully to subjugate the country. Next to Ghardaia the most important Mzabite town is Beni-Isguen (pop. 4916), an active trading centre. Guerrara, one of the two isolated oases, 37 m. N.E. of Ghardaia, contains a flourishing commercial town with 1912 inhabitants. The caravan route south from Ghardaia brings the traveller, after a journey of 130 m., to the oasis and town of El Golea (pop. about 2500). The town consists of three portions–the citadel on a limestone hill, the upper and the lower town–separated by irregular plantations of date trees. The place is an important station for the caravan trade between Algeria and the countries to the south. It was occupied by the French under General Gallifet in 1873. El Golea was originally a settlement of the Zenata Berbers, by whom it was known as Taorert, and there is still a considerable Berber element in its population. The full Arab name is El Golea’a el Menia’a, or the “little fortress well defended.”
Archaeology.–Algeria is rich in prehistoric memorials of man, especially in megalithic remains, of which nearly every known kind has been found in the country. Numerous flints of palaeolithic type have been discovered, notably at Tlemcen and Kolea. Near Jelfa, in the Great Atlas, and at Mechera-Sfa (“ford of the flat stones”), a peninsula in the valley of the river Mina not far from Tiaret in the department of Oran, are vast numbers of megalithic monuments. In the Kubr-er-Rumia–“grave of the Roman lady” (Roman being used by the Arabs to designate strangers of Christian origin)–the Medrassen and the Jedars, Algeria possesses a remarkable series of sepulchral monuments. The Kubr-er-Rumia–best known by its French name, Tombeau de la Chretienne, tradition making it the burial-place of the beautiful and unfortunate daughter of Count Julian–is near Kolea, and is known to be the tomb of the Mauretanian king Juba II. and of his wife Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, and Mark Antony. It is built on a hill 756 ft. above the sea. Resting on a lower platform, 209 ft. square, is a circular stone building surmounted by a pyramid. Originally the monument was about 130 ft. in height, but it has been wantonly damaged. Its height is now 100 ft. 8 in.: the cylindrical portion 36 ft. 6 in., the pyramid 64 ft. 2 in. The base, 198 ft. in diameter, is ornamented with 60 engaged Ionic columns. The capitals of the columns have disappeared, but their design is preserved among the drawings of James Bruce, the African traveller. In the centre of the tomb are two vaulted chambers, reached by a spiral passage or gallery 6 1/2 ft. broad, about the same height and 489 ft. long. The sepulchral chambers are separated by a short passage, and are cut off from the gallery by stone doors made of a single slab which can be moved up and down by levers, like a portcullis. The larger of the two chambers is 142 ft. long by 11 ft. broad and 11 ft. high. The other chamber is somewhat smaller. The tomb was early violated, probably in search of treasure. In 1555 Salah Rais, pasha of Algiers, set men to work to pull it down, but the records say that the attempt was given up because big black wasps came from under the stones and stung them to death. At the end of the 18th century Baba Mahommed tried in vain to batter down the tomb with artillery. In 1866 it was explored by order of the emperor Napoleon III., the work being carried out by Adrian Berbrugger and Oscar Maccarthy.
The Medrassen is a monument similar to the Kubr-er-Rumia, but older. It was built about 150 B.C. as the burial-place of the Numidian kings, and is situated 35 m. S.W. of Constantine. The form is that of a truncated cone, placed on a cylindrical base, 196 ft. in diameter. It is 60 ft. high. The columns encircling the cylindrical portion are stunted and much broader at the base than the top; the capitals are Doric. Many of the columns, 60 in number, have been much damaged. When the sepulchral chamber was opened in 1873 by Bauchetet, a French engineer officer, clear evidence was found that at some remote period the tomb had been rifled and an attempt made to destroy it by fire.
The Jedars (Arab. “walls” or “buildings”) are in the department of Oran. The name is given to a number of sepulchral monuments placed on hill-tops. A rectangular or square podium is in each case surmounted by a pyramid. The tombs date from the 5th to the 7th century of the Christian era, and lie in two distinct groups between Tiaret and Frenda, a distance of 35 m. Tiaret (pop. 5778), an ancient town modernized by the French, can be reached by railway from Mostaganem. Near Frenda (2063), which has largely preserved its old Berber character, are numerous dolmens and prehistoric rock sculptures.
Algeria contains many Roman remains besides those mentioned and is also rich in monuments of Saracenic art. For a description of the chief antiquities see the separate town articles, including, besides those already cited, Lambessa, Tebessa, Tipasa and Timgad.
Agriculture.–Ever since the time of the Romans Algeria has been noted for the fertility of its soil. Over two-thirds of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural pursuits. More than 7,500,000 acres are devoted to the cultivation of cereals. The Tell is the grain-growing land. Under French rule its productiveness has been largely increased by the sinking of artesian wells in districts which only required water to make them fertile. Of the crops raised, wheat, barley and oats are the principal cereals. A great variety of vegetables and of fruits, especially the orange, is exported. A considerable amount of cotton was grown during the American Civil War, but the industry afterwards declined. In the early years of the 20th century efforts to extend the cultivation of the plant were renewed. A small amount of cotton is also grown in the southern oases. Large quantities of crin vegetal (vegetable horse-hair) an excellent fibre, are made from the leaves of the dwarf palm. The olive (both for its fruit and oil) and tobacco are cultivated with great success. The soil of Algeria everywhere favours the growth of the vine. The country, in the words of an expert sent to report on the subject by the French government, “can produce an infinite variety of wines suitable to every constitution and to every caprice of taste.” The culture of the vine was early undertaken by the colonists, but it was not until vineyards in France were attacked by phylloxera that the export of wine from Algeria became considerable. Algerian vineyards were also attacked (1883) despite precautionary measures, but in the meantime the worth of their wines had been proved. In 1850 less than 2000 acres were devoted to the grape, but in 1878 this had increased to over 42,000 acres, which yielded 7,436,000 gallons of wine. Despite bad seasons and ravages of insects, cultivation extended, and in 1895 the vineyards covered 300,000 acres, the produce being 88,000,000 gallons. The area of cultivation in 1905 exceeded 400,000 acres, and in that year the amount of wine produced was 157,000,000 gallons. By that time the limits of profitable production had been reached in many parts of the country. Practically the only foreign market for Algerian wine is France, which in 1905 imported about 110,000,000 gallons.
Fishery is a flourishing but not a large industry. The fish caught are principally sardines, bonito, smelts and sprats. Fresh fish are exported to France, dried and preserved fish to Spain and Italy. Coral fisheries exist along the coast from Bona to Tunis.
Minerals.–Algeria is rich in minerals, found chiefly in the department of Constantine, where iron, lead and zinc, copper, calamine, antimony and mercury mines are worked. The most productive are those of iron and zinc. Lignite is found in the department of Algiers and petroleum in that of Oran. Immense phosphate beds were discovered near Tebessa in 1891. They yielded 313,500 tons in 1905. Phosphate beds are also worked near Setif, Guelma and Ain Beida. There are more than 300 quarries which produce, amongst other stones, onyx and beautiful white and red marbles. Algerian onyx from Ain Tekbalet was used by the Romans, and many ancient quarries have been found near Kleber in the department of Oran, some being certainly those from which the long-lost Numidian marbles were taken. Salt is collected on the margins of the shats.
Shipping and Commerce.–The carrying trade between Algeria and France is confined, by a law passed in 1889, to French bottoms. The largest port is Algiers, after which follow Oran, Philippeville and Bona. There is a considerable coasting trade. The average number of vessels entering and clearing Algerian ports each year has been, since 1900, about 4000, with a total tonnage of some 6,500,000. In the coasting trade some 12,000 small vessels are engaged.
Under French administration the commerce of Algeria has greatly developed: The total imports and exports at the time of the French occupation (1830) did not exceed L. 175,000. In 1850 the figures had reached L. 5,000,000; in 1868, L. 12,000,000; in 1880, L. 17,000,000; and in 1890, L. 20,000,000. From this point progress was slower and the figures varied considerably year by year. In 1905 the total value of the foreign trade was L. 24,500,000. About five-sixths of the trade is with or via France, into which country several Algerian goods have been admitted duty-free since 1851, and all since 1867. French goods, except sugar, have been admitted into Algeria without payment of duty since 1835. After the increase, in 1892, of the French minimum tariff, which applied to Algeria also, foreign trade greatly diminished.
The chief exports are sheep and oxen, most of which are raised in Morocco and Tunisia, and horses; animal products, such as wool and skins; wine, cereals (rye, barley, oats), vegetables, fruits (chiefly figs and grapes for the table) and seeds, esparto grass, oils and vegetable extracts (chiefly olive oil), iron ore, zinc, natural phosphates, timber, cork, crin vegetal and tobacco. Of these France takes fully three-quarters. The import of wool, exceeds the export. Sugar, coffee, machinery, metal work of all kinds, clothing and pottery are largely imported. Of these by far the greater part comes from France. The British imports consist chiefly of coal, cotton fabrics and machinery.
Communications.–Algeria possesses a railway system covering over 2000 m. A decree of 1857 granted to the Paris-Lyons Company the right to construct a line linking Algiers with Oran (266 m.) and Constantine (290 m.) and shorter lines joining the seaports to the trunk line, notably Philippeville to Constantine (54 m.). These lines were opened between 1862 and 1871, but it was not until 1879 that a general scheme for railway construction was adopted. A trunk line runs from the frontier of Morocco at Lalla Maghnia, 44 m. W. of Tlemcen, across the Tell to the Tunisian frontier, whence it is continued to the city of Tunis; while traverse railways connect the seaports with the trunk line and with towns to the south, the Philippeville line being continued to Biskra. From Arzeu a line goes south across the plateaus and crossing the Ksur range at a height of 4211 ft. enters the Sahara. Passing Ain Sefra and Figig (372 m. from Arzeu) the line is continued towards Tuat. The normal gauge of the railways is 4 ft. 8 1/2 in.; a few “light lines” have a gauge of 3 ft. 3 in. Algeria is also traversed by a network of roads constructed by the French, of which the routes nationales alone are 2000 m. in length. There are complete postal and telegraphic facilities in all parts of the colony save the Saharan Territories, and cable communication with France.
Central Government.–By the Turks the country was divided into four provinces–Algiers and Titeri in the centre and south, Constantine in the east and Mascara or Oran in the west.3 The last three were governed by beys dependent upon the representative of the Porte resident at Algiers. The Turkish governors were in the 17th century replaced by deys (see below, History.) The French rule was at first (1830) purely military. In 1834 the post of governor-general was created. Under the direction of the ministry of war that official exercised nearly all the executive power. At the same time a civil administration and consultative council were formed. The principle of unity of authority was set aside by the second republic in 1848, when many of the public services were attached to the corresponding ministries in Paris, and the departments organized on the metropolitan model by division into arrondissements and communes and by placing a prefect at their head. Under Napoleon III. the governor- generalship was abolished, a minister of Algeria and the colonies created (24th of June 1858), and the whole administration conducted from Paris. At the same time the powers of the prefects were augmented and each department given a general council. This arrangement was not of long duration. By decree of the 24th of November 1860, the ministry of Algeria and the colonies was abolished and the office of governor-general re-established with increased powers. This regime, strongly military in its type, ended with the fall of the second empire. After a brief transitional period, a decree of the 29th of March 1871 placed at the head of Algeria a civil governor-general and gave the control in Paris to the ministry of the interior. In 1876, on the initiative of General Chanzy, then governor-general, that official was accorded the right to correspond direct with all the ministers in Paris. This concession led, however, to the diminution of the authority of the governor-general, whose powers were, step by step, absorbed by the various ministries in France. It had its logical end in the system adopted in 1881 and known as the rattachement. Under this system the plan of 1848 was carried out more completely, every department of state being placed under one or other of the ministries in Paris, whilst the governor- general became little more than an ornamental personage. After lasting fifteen years the rattachement was, with the approval of the legislature, abrogated by decree dated the 31st of December 1896. The opposing principle, that of concentrating power in the hands of the governor-general, was re-affirmed, but in practice was modified by the retention of the direction from Paris of a few of the public services. The decree of 1896, which was of a provisional character, was replaced by another, dated the 23rd of August 1898, defining the powers of the governor-general under the new scheme. By a law of the 19th of December 1900, Algeria was constituted a legal personality, with power to own goods, contract loans, &c., and a decree of 1901 placed the customs department, until then directed from Paris, under the control of the governor-general, whose hands were also strengthened in various minor matters.
It will be seen that the form of government is entirely dependent on the will of France. The French chambers alone possess the legislative power, though in the absence of express legislation decrees of the head of the state have the force of law. To the legislature in Paris Algeria elects three senators and six deputies (one senator and two deputies for each department). The franchise is confined to “citizens,” in which category the native Jews are included by decree of the 24th of October 1870. The Mahommedans, who number nearly eight-ninths of the population, are not, however, “citizens” but “subjects,” and consequently have not the vote. They can, however, acquire “citizenship” at their own request, by placing themselves absolutely under the civil and political laws of France (decree of 1865, confirmed in 1870). The number of Mahommedans who avail themselves of this rule is very small; naturalizations do not exceed an average of thirty persons a year. For certain specified objects, financial and municipal, Mahommedans are, however, permitted to exercise the franchise.
The actual form of government may be summarized thus:– At the head of the administration in Algeria is a governor- general, who exercises control over all branches, civil and military, of the administration, except the services of justice, public instruction and worship (as far as concerns Europeans) and the treasury. He corresponds directly with thn other Barbary states; draws up the budget, and contracts loans on behalf of the colony. The governor-general is assisted by:–
(1) The Council of Government, a purely advisory body, composed entirely of high officials; (2) A Superior Council, composed partly of elected and partly of nominated members, including representatives of the Mahommedans. Its duty is to deliberate upon all administrative matters, including the budget, and it possesses certain powers over the finances; (3) The Financial Delegations (created by decree in 1898), an elective body whose duty is to investigate all matters affecting taxation and to vote the budget. The delegations consist of representatives of (a) “colonists,” i.e. the rural community; (b) taxpayers, being citizens other than “colonists,” i.e. the urban community; (c) the Mahommedan population. The last section is partly elective and partly nominated. A proportion of the members of the delegations are elected to the superior council. Local Government.–The departments, presided over by prefects, are divided into territoires civils and territoires du commandant. In the regions under civil administration the local organization closely resembles that of France. The country is divided into arrondissements and communes, with most of the apparatus of self-government enjoyed by the corresponding units in France. The canton (in France a judicial area) has, however, no existence in Algeria. In the territoires du commandant, which are the districts farthest from the coast, and in which the European population is small, the prefect is replaced by a high military officer, who exercises all the functions of a prefect.
The prefect of each department is assisted by a general council, consisting of members elected by the citizens and of nominated representatives of the Mahommedan population. The powers of the council correspond to those of the councils in France. Communes are of three kinds: (1) those with full powers, (2) mixed, (3) native. In those of the first kind, modelled on the French communes, the Mahommedans possess the municipal franchise. The “mixed” communes are under an administrator nominated by the governor-general and assisted by a municipal council composed of Europeans and natives. These communes are large areas, each containing several towns or villages. In the territoires du commandant the mixed commune is presided over by a military officer who fulfils the duties of mayor. Native communes are organized on the same plan as those last mentioned. It will be seen that communes do not correspond with any natural unit. The unit among the Mahommedans is the douar, a tribal division administered by a cadi. The communes with full powers have each for centre a town with a considerable European population.
By decree of the 14th of August 1905, the frontier between Saharan territory dependent on Algeria and that attached to French West Africa was laid down. The Algerian Sahara was divided into four territories, officially named Tuggurt, Ghardaia, Ain Sefra and the Saharan Oases (Tuat, Gurara and Tidikelt). The governor-general represents the territories in civil affairs; the budget is distinct from that of Algeria and an annual subvention is provided by France.
Finance.–Revenue is derived chiefly from direct taxation, customs and monopolies. The heaviest item of expenditure chargeable on the Algerian budget is on public works, posts and telegraphs and agriculture. Algeria has had a budget distinct from that of France since 1901. This budget includes all the expenses of Algeria save the cost of the army (estimated at L. 2,000,000 yearly) and the guarantee of interest on the railways open before 1901. Both these items are borne by France. The Algerian budget for 1906 showed revenue and expenditure balancing at L. 3,820,000. The country has a debt (1905), including capital, annuities and interest, of some
Defence.–The military force constitutes the XIX. army corps of the French army. There are in addition a territorial army reserve and a special body of troops, largely Arab, for the defence of the Saharan territory. The troops quartered in Algeria exceed 50,000. The defence of the coast is provided by the French navy.
Land Tenure.–The colonization of Algeria by the French has been greatly hampered by the system of land tenure which they found in force. Except among the Kabyles, private property in land was unknown. Amongst the Arabs, lands were either held in common by a whole tribe, under a tenure known as the arch or sabegha, or sometimes, especially in the, towns, under a modified form of freehold (melk) by the family. At the same time the boundaries of property were ill defined and difficult to determine. This system made it impossible for French immigrants to obtain land by lawful transfer. The only lands at the outset available for settlement were, in fact, the confiscated domains of the dey. The obvious solution of the difficulty was to encourage the free movement of real estate by substituting private ownership for the traditional system. Before doing this, however, it was necessary to define the limits of tribal properties already existing–a work of great difficulty–with a view to their ultimate division, and at the same time to guard against any premature traffic in the rights of Arabs in the lands about to be divided. A senatus-consulte of 1863 laid the basis for the change in the land system by providing (1) for the delimitation of the territory of each tribe, (2) for the repartition of the territory thus delimited among newly formed tribal divisions (douars or communes), and (3) for the recognition of private ownership by the issue of title deeds for such individual or family property (melk) as already existed. The purpose of this excellent law, which would have laid firmly the basis for gradual change, was defeated by the impatience of the French colonists. At the instance of their representatives in the chambers it was abandoned in 1870, and was not revived till seventeen years later. A law was passed in 1873, and amended in 1887, legalizing the immediate conversion of tribal and family property into private freehold. The result has been disappointing. For the most part, the Arab tribes have been reluctant to avail themselves of their new powers, and where they have done so the hasty reversal of the traditions of centuries has proved demoralizing to the natives, without any sufficient equivalent in the way of healthy French colonization. The main profit has been reaped by Jewish usurers.
The state domains were exhausted by 1870, but were again replenished by the large confiscations which followed the Arab revolt of 1871. Government lands were originally given free to applicants, but with a provisional and insecure title, which made it impossible for poor colonists to borrow money on their land. This was modified by a law of 1851. But ultimately, the results not being satisfactory, the precedent of Australia was followed, and by a law of 1860 domain lands were sold publicly at a fixed price. This had the effect of attracting more and a better class of immigrants, but was none the less reversed in 1881.
In September 1904, a new scheme, intended to attract more European settlers, was adopted. The lands of the state–other than woods and forests–but especially the barren lands and brushwoods situated in the plains, were offered for colonization, to be disposed of (1) by sale at a fixed price, (2) by auction, and (3), in certain cases, by agreement. Purchasers were to be Frenchmen, or Europeans naturalized as French citizens, who had never held “colonization lands”; and they were obliged, under pain of forfeiture, either to take up residence themselves on their property within six months and to live on it and exploit it for a period of ten years, or else to place on the land another family fulfilling the same conditions. If the purchaser farmed the land himself and made satisfactory progress, the period of obligatory residence was reduced to five years. When the interests of colonization required it, free gifts of land might be made; in which case the grantee must himself exploit his concession. In no case might land acquired under this scheme be let to natives until after the expiration of ten years.
For the purpose of creating villages, land was put at the disposition of societies or individuals, who undertook to people them with immigrants fulfilling the same conditions as independent settlers. Two-thirds of the villagers were to be French immigrants, the other third Frenchmen or naturalized Frenchmen already settled in Algeria. To favour the establishment of special industries, the governor-general was given power to authorize the introduction of foreign instead of French immigrants. The societies or individuals undertaking village settlements must do so from philanthropic motives, inasmuch as within two years of the founding of a village, the land, under pain of forfeiture to the state, must be transferred gratuitously to the villagers. As will be seen, settlement on the land by Europeans is hampered by official restrictions, especially by the stringent regulations as to residence.
Justice.–Two judicial systems exist in Algeria–native and French. Native courts decide suits between Mahommedans. From the decision of the cadis appeal lies to the French courts. The French system provides, for civil cases, a court of first instance in each of the sixteen arrondissements into which the country is divided. A court of appeal sits at Algiers. There are also tribunals of commerce and justices of the peace with extensive jurisdiction. The criminal courts are organized as in France. Trial by jury has been introduced; but as natives are not allowed to act as jurymen this has often led to serious miscarriages of justice and to excessive severities.
Whilst modifications of the law require special legislation or decree, it has been legally decided that all laws in force in France before the conquest of the country (i.e. those anterior to the 22nd of July 1834) are in force in Algeria. In practice the courts allow themselves wide latitude in applying this principle.
Education.–The system of education is complicated by the co-existence of Mahommedan and Christian communities. Before the arrival of the French two kinds of instruction were given, reading and writing being taught in the ordinary schools and higher education–largely theological–in medressas (colleges), usually attached to the chief mosques. Attempts by the French to improve the education of the natives were at first marked by hesitation and long periods in which little or nothing was done. The provision for the instruction of the European and Jewish population was also inadequate. In 1883 a law was passed for the reorganization of the systems in force, and primary instruction was made compulsory for Europeans and Jews, whilst in the case of Mahommedans discretion in the establishment of schools was vested in the governor- general.
Attempts are made to assimilate the Mahommedan population by means of Franco-Arab primary and secondary schools, which supplement the purely French and purely Arab establishments of the same character. These attempts meet with little success, owing in part to racial prejudice and in part to the indifference of the Arabs to education. Few Moslems attend the secondary schools. Purely Mahommedan higher schools exist at Algiers, Tlemcen and Constantine. From these establishments the ranks of native officials are recruited. There is one secondary school for Moslem girls. The education provided for Europeans resembles in most respects that given in France. (The lycees at Algiers, Oran and Constantine are open to Mahommedans, but few take advantage of them.) Besides the government schools there are establishments conducted by clerics and laymen. The best girls’ schools are generally those kept by nuns. At Algiers there is an establishment with faculties of law, medicine and pharmacy, science and letters. At Oran is a college for European girls. The scholars attending primary schools number about 150,000 (over 100,000 being Europeans and some 15,000 Jewish) and those at secondary schools about 6000. (F. R. C.)
HISTORY
Africa Minor.
From a geographical point of view Algeria, together with Morocco and Tunisia, from which it is separated only by artificial and purely political frontiers, forms a distinct country. which it is convenient to designate by the name of Africa Minor. Both historically and geographically, Africa Minor belongs much more to the Mediterranean world than to the African. All the foreign invaders who successively established their dominion over this country either crossed the Mediterranean or followed its shores. The Phoenicians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Turks and the French, all came from the east or from the north. The history of Africa Minor is the history of all those foreigners who have successively endeavoured to exploit this land, the history of their divers civilizations struggling against an ever-renascent barbarism.
The political divisions of Africa Minor have changed many times, for, as the country has no natural centre, many towns have aspired to play the role of capital. The rivalry of these towns is intimately connected with the struggles and insurrections which have stained the land with blood. The existing division–viz. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia–dates back to the time of the Turkish dominion. It is since that time only that the expression Algeria has been in use.
Struggle with Spain.
At the beginning of the 16th century the native dynasties which divided Africa Minor between them–the Marinides at Fez, the Abd-el-Wahid at Tlemcen, and the Hafsides at Tunis–were without strength and without authority. Two nations, then at the height of their power, Spain and Turkey, disputed the empire of the Mediterranean. The Spaniards took Mers-el-Kebir (1505), Oran (1509), and Bougie and Tripoli (1510). Two Turkish corsairs, Arouj and his brother, Khair-ed-Din (otherwise known as Barbarossa), at first established in the island of Jerba and afterwards at Jijelli, disputed with the Spaniards the dominion of the country. Arouj seized Algiers (1516); Khair-ed-Din, succeeding him in 1518, did homage for his conquest to the sultan at Constantinople, who named him beylerbey and sent him soldiers (1519). Then began the struggle of the Turks with Spain. In 1541 the emperor Charles V. undertook a great expedition against Algiers. He succeeded in landing, and proceeded to attack the town. But during the night of the 26th of October a violent storm destroyed a great part of his fleet. His provisions and his ammunition were lost, his army was compelled to retreat with considerable loss, and the emperor had to re-embark with the remnant of his troops. This check completely discouraged the Spaniards and assured success to the Turks. The Spanish garrisons established in the coast towns, badly paid and left without reinforcements, had difficulty in defending themselves. In the end, the only towns the Spaniards retained on the Algerian coast were Oran and Mers-el-Kebir. These two towns, taken by the Turks in 1708 and retaken by the Spaniards in 1732, were finally abandoned in 1791.
Barbary corsairs.
Under the Turkish dominion Algeria had originally at its head a beylerbey resident at Algiers. He controlled three beys:–the bey of Titeri in the south, the bey of the east at Constantine, and the bey of the west who resided at Mascara and afterwards at Oran. These three beys existed till 1830. The beylerbeys were replaced in 1587 by pashas sent triennially by the Porte. But the authority of these pashas, strangers to the country, was always precarious. They found themselves, in fact, in conflict with two forces, which in principle were in their service, but which in reality held the power–the taiffe des reis, otherwise called the corporation of the corsairs (see BARBARY PIRATES), and the janissaries, a kind of military democracy in which each member was promoted according to seniority. In 1669 the corsairs drove out the pasha, and put into his place a dey elected by themselves. After some fruitless attempts Turkey ceased to send pashas to Algiers–where they were not allowed even to land–and thus recognized the de facto independence of this singular republic. The authority of the deys, moreover, was scarcely more solid than that of the pashas. They trembled before the janissaries, who from the 18th century elected and deposed them at their pleasure.
The relations which the European powers were able to maintain with northern Africa were at that time difficult and uncertain. Ships trading in the Mediterranean were seized by the corsairs, who pillaged the coasts of Europe, carried off their captives to Algiers, and destroyed the fishing and commercial settlements founded by the Marseillais on the shores of Africa. The Christian governments either uttered useless and impotent complaints at Constantinople, or endeavoured to negotiate directly with Algiers, as in the case of the negotiations of Sanson Napollon during the ministry of Richelieu. More rarely their patience became exhausted, and ships were sent to bombard this nest of pirates. Two naval demonstrations were made by France during the reign of Louis XIV., one by Abraham Duquesne in 1682, and the other by Marshal Jean d’Estrees in 1688, but these repressive measures were too intermittent to produce a durable effect.
In 1815 at the congress of Vienna, and in 1818 at the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, the powers endeavoured to concert measures to put an end to the Barbary piracy. Nevertheless the naval demonstrations made by Lord Exmouth in 1816, and by a combined English and French squadron in 1819, remained equally fruitless. But the result which the European powers in concert had been unable to achieve, was brought about by the accidental circumstances which led France to undertake alone an expedition against Algiers.
French intervention.
Some difficulties had arisen between France and the dey of Algiers with reference to the debts contracted to Bacri and Busnach, two Algerine Jews who had supplied corn to the French government under the Directory. This question of interest would not have been sufficient in itself to bring about a rupture, but the situation became acute when the dey, Hussein, struck the French consul, Deval, on the face with his fly-flap (April 30, 1827). Thereupon the port of Algiers was blockaded. The minister of war, the duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, would have gone further, but the president of the council, the comte de Villele, opposed the sending of an expedition, while in the Martignac ministry M. de la Ferronays, minister of foreign affairs, was bent upon negotiating. It needed a second insult–the firing on “La Provence,” a vessel carrying a flag of truce, in the harbour of Algiers (August 3, 1829)–to spur the French government to further action than an ineffectual blockade. An expedition against Algiers was then decided upon, and Marshal de Bourmont, the minister of war, himself took the command. On the 14th of June 1830 the French troops landed at Sidi-Ferruch. On the 19th of June they beat the enemy at Staoueli. On the 4th of July the fort de l’Empereur was blown up. On the 5th of July Algiers capitulated. Some days later the dey was deported, as well as the greater part of the janissaries. Those who were not married were conveyed immediately to Asia Minor; the rest had permission to remain, but in fact they left the country soon afterwards.
Meanwhile the revolution of July 1830 had broken out in France. The new government found itself very much embarrassed by the situation bequeathed by the Restoration. The more serious section in parliament were frankly opposed to the idea of conquering or of colonizing Algeria; on the other hand, popular sentiment was hostile to evacuation. The French government–fearing to displease the other powers by following up its conquest, and hampered in particular by its engagements towards England, yet conscious that the only means of putting an end to the piracy was to remain–decided provisionally in favour of that intermediate system, called restricted occupation, which consisted in occupying merely the principal seaports and awaiting events. The Algerians extricated the government from its difficulty by attacking the French troops, who were obliged to defend themselves. The natives gained some successes, and it became necessary to avenge the honour of the flag. In this gradual manner were the French led to conquer Algeria.
General Bertrand Clausel, who succeeded Marshal de Bourmont, was one of the few men who at that period dreamed of conquering and colonizing Algeria. His enthusiastic confidence knew no obstacles. If the dey had left, the three beys remained. With the feeble resources at his disposal Clausel undertook an expedition against Bu-Meyrag, the bey of Titeri, took from him Blida and Medea, dismissed him, replaced him by a successor devoted to France, and returned to Algiers after having left a garrison in Medea. Then, not having the means of directly extending the rule of France to the east or west, Clausel devised a system of protectorates. He negotiated directly with the bey of Tunis with a view to installing as beys at Oran and Constantine Tunisian princes who recognized the authority of France. But the events which were taking place in Europe made it imperative to send home a part of the army of Africa, and Medea had to be evacuated. At the same time the negotiations set on foot with the bey of Tunis were censured by the government, and General Clausel was recalled (February 1831).
The period of uncertainty was prolonged under his successors, General Pierre Berthezene (February to December 1831); A. J. M. R. Savary, duc de Rovigo (December 1831 to March 1833), General Avizard (March to April 1833), and General Voirol (April 1833 to September 1834). The French, not yet certain whether or not they would retain Algeria, remained on the defensive. At the time they occupied only the three towns of Algiers, Bona and Oran, with their suburbs, where their situation was moreover singularly precarious. The Arabs would pillage the suburbs and run away. Sometimes they cut off supplies by ceasing to bring provisions to the market, but the French were not to be turned aside by such tactics.
At Algiers the energies of the French were devoted to protecting themselves against the incursions of the Hajutas. This was sufficient to absorb the attention of the general-in-chief, who left the guardianship of the east and west to the initiative of the generals established at Bona and Oran. At Bona, where General Monk d’Uzer was in command till 1836, things went fairly well. At once firm and conciliatory, he had been able to attach to the French cause the natives whom the cruelty of Ahmed, bey of Constantine, had alienated. The occupation of Bougie by General Camille Alphonse Trezel in October 1833 gave the French a footing at another point of this eastern province. But at Oran, where General Desmichels had succeeded General P. F. X. Boyer in the spring of 1833, their situation was much less favourable. There the French had found a redoubtable adversary in the young Abd-el-Kader, who had been proclaimed amir at Mascara in 1832.
Abd-el-Kader.
A man of rare intelligence, a fearless horseman and an eloquent orator, Abd-el-Kader had acquired a great reputation by his piety. He reunited under his sway the tribes that had hitherto been divided, and infused a unique spirit into their resistance. For fifteen years he held the French in check, treating on terms of equality with their government. Moreover, the treaty which General Desmichels had the weakness to sign with him on the 24th of February 1834 greatly improved his position. In pursuance of this treaty, French officers were to represent their country at the court of the amir; while the amir on his part was represented in the three French coast towns, Oran, Arzeu and Mostaganem, by vakils who immediately began to act as masters of the natives. Such was the situation at the period when, the French having at last resolved to keep Algeria, the ordinance of the 22nd of July 1834 laid down the bases of the political and administrative organization of the “French possessions in the north of Africa,” at the head of which was placed a governor-general. But this date (July 22, 1834), very important from a judicial point of view, is much less so from a historical point of view. The position of the first governor-general, Jean Baptiste Drouet d’Erlon (1765- 1844), remained fully as precarious as that of his predecessor. During this time the power of Abd-el-Kader increased. Master of the province of Oran, he crossed the Shelif at the appeal of the natives, the people flocking to witness his progress as that of an emperor. He entered Miliana and Medea, where he installed beys of his own choice. All the western part of Algeria belonged to him. General Trezel, who had succeeded General Desmichels at Oran, resolved to march against the amir, but was defeated on the banks of the Macta (June 1835). This defeat shook public opinion. Drouet d’Erlon was recalled and replaced by Marshal Clausel.
In short, five years after the capitulation of Algiers, the French dominion extended as yet over only six coast towns. Clausel, who returned with the same colonial ambitions as in 1830, resolved to conquer the interior of the country. He marched against the amir, defeated him and entered Mascara. Then he proceeded to deliver the inhabitants of Tlemcen, who had been attacked by Abd-el-Kader, and there he left a garrison. Turning towards the east, Clausel organized at Bona the first expedition against Constantine. This failed, and the only result of it was the occupation of Guelma. Clausel was recalled and replaced by General C. M. D. Damremont (February 1837). The task of maintaining the position of France was then divided between Thomas Robert Bugeaud (1784-1849), acting independently in the west, and Damremont, who directed all his efforts towards the east. By the signature of the celebrated treaty of the Tafna (June 1, 1837), Bugeaud made peace with Abd-el-Kader. In return for a vague recognition of the sovereignty of France in Africa, this treaty gave up to the amir the whole of western Algeria. France reserved to herself only Oran and its environs, Mazagran, Algiers and the Metija; she gave up Tlemcen and the Titeri beylik. This was a triumph for Abd-el-Kader, who rerarded the peace as but a truce which would allow him time to gain strength to resume the war under more favourable conditions.
Damremont, on his part, directed a second expedition on Constantine. The town was taken, but Damremont was killed (October 1837). Marshal Sylvain Charles Valee (1773-1846), who replaced him, founded Philippeville to serve as a seaport for the region of Constantine, occupied Jijelli, and at the head of the expeditionary column returned from Constantine to Algiers by the interior, passing through Setif and les Portes de fer. Abd-el-Kader maintained that the French had thus violated the treaty of the Tafna, and began the war again. For two years his power had been increasing. A whole hierarchy of khalifas, aghas and caids obeyed him. He had a regular army of 8000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, without counting 50,000 goums (bodies of Arab horsemen) brought by the khalifas. He was well furnished with war material, possessing magazines and arsenals in the heart of the Tell. He had attacked and subjugated all who were not willing to recognize his authority. Under his influence old rivalries were effaced; at his voice all the tribes joined in the holy war. On the 18th of November 1839 he sent his declaration of war to Marshal Valee, but the impatient Hajutas had already devastated the Metija. Marshal Valee marched against Abd-el-Kader, and at first gained some successes: the French occupied Cherchel, Medea and Miliana. But at the end of 1840 valee was recalled and replaced by Bugeaud, who adopted totally different tactics. The system of Marshal Valee had been the defensive: he multiplied the fortified posts in order to draw the enemy to a spot chosen beforehand. Bugeaud resolutely adopted the offensive, reduced the weight carried by the soldiers in order to increase the mobility of his troops, and carried the war into the province of Oran, from which Abd-el-Kader drew his principal resources. One after the other, all the magazines of the amir–those at Takdempt, Boghar, Taza, Saida and Sebdu–were taken and destroyed. In the spring of 1843 the duc d’Aumale had an opportunity of surprising the smala (camp) of Abd-el-Kader near Taguin. This was a serious blow for the amir, whose determination to continue the contest was, however, as strong as ever. He took refuge in Morocco, and induced that power to declare war on the French on the pretext that they would not give up the frontier post of Lalla-Maghnia. Morocco was soon vanquished. While Francois, prince de Joinville, was bombarding Tangier and Mogador, Bugeaud gained the victory of the Isly (August 1844). Morocco signed a treaty of peace at Tangier on the 10th of September 1844.
The struggle, however, was not ended. Islam made a supreme effort in Algeria. The Dahra and the Warsenis rose at the voice of a fanatic called Bu-Maza (“the goat man”), a Khuan of the order of the Mouley-Taieb. Elsewhere other “masters of the hour,” false Bu-Mazas, rose. Abd-el-Kader reappeared in Algeria, which he overran with a rapidity which baffled all pursuit. He beat the French at Sidi Brahim, raided the tribes of the Tell Oranais which had abandoned him, penetrated as far as the borders of the Metija, and reached the Jurjura, where he endeavoured to rouse the Kabyles. But his eloquence offended the narrow and cramped particularism of those little democratic cities, deaf to the sentiment of the common interest. From that time he played a losing game. He returned toward the west, penetrating farther and farther to the south. Badly received by the great aristocratic family of the Walid-sidi- Sheikh, he re-entered Morocco, but the emperor of that country, dreading his influence and fearing difficulties with the French, drove him out. This was the end. On the 23rd of December 1847 Abd-el-Kader surrendered to General Lamoriciere in the plains of Sidi-Brahim. His adversary, Bugeaud, was there no longer. Having failed to persuade the French government to adopt his plans of military colonization, he had retired in June 1847 and had been replaced by the duc d’Aumale.
The surrender of Abd-el-Kader marks the end of the period of the conquest. It is true that Great Kabylia had to be subdued only ten years later, and that terrible insurrections still had to be quelled. But at the end of the reign of Louis Philippe the essential work was accomplished. All that remained was to complete and to secure it.
French progress.
Under the second republic Algeria was governed successively by Generals L. E. Cavaignac (February to April 1848), N. A. T. Changarnier (April to September 1848), V. Charon (September 1848 to October 1850), and A. H. d’Hautpoul (October 1850 to December 1851). The policy followed at this period consisted in assimilating Algeria to France. Important efforts were made to attract French colonists to the country, the colonization of Algeria appearing as a means towards the extinction of pauperism in the mother-country. This point of view suggested numerous projects, as chimerical as they were generous; two millions sterling (50 million francs) were expended with a view to installing Parisian unemployed workmen as colonists, but this attempt failed miserably. The most remarkable military events of this period were (1) the siege and destruction of the oasis of Zaatcha, where the inhabitants, displeased by an alteration in the tax on palms, rose at the voice of a fanatic named Bu-Zian; (2) the ineffectual campaign of Marshal Saint Arnaud in Little Kabylia, where the tribes rose at the instigation of Bu-Magla (“the mule man”) in 1851.
Marshal J. L. C. A. Randon (1795-1871), named governor- general of Algeria after the coup d’etat, had at first to repress in the south a rising of a new “master of the hour,” Mahomet ben Abdallah, the sherif of Wargla. A column seized Laghouat (El Aghuat) in December 1852. Si-Hamza, leader of the Walidsidi-Sheikh, an ally of France, indignant at the growing influence of a base-born agitator, pursued him and seized Wargla (1853). In 1854 General Desvaux entered Tuggurt. Henceforth matters remained quiet in the region of the Sahara, and Marshal Randon turned his efforts towards Kabylia. Neither the Romans nor the Turks had been able to subdue this square mountainous tract, of which Bougie, Setif, Aumale and Dellys form the four corners. But in two months (May to June 1857) Marshal Randon made himself master of it, and built in the heart of this country Fort Napoleon (now Fort National), “the thorn in the side of Kabylia,” whose batteries commanded all the Kabyle villages of the region.
In 1858 the creation of a “ministry of Algeria and of the colonies” brought about the resignation of Marshal Randon. The administrative headquarters of Algeria was then transferred from Algiers to Paris. The ministry of Algeria was entrusted first to Prince Napoleon, and afterwards to the marquis J. N. S. P. de Chasseloup-Laubat (1805-1873). But this office, created at the least prematurely, soon disappeared without causing any regrets. This ephemeral regime lasted from the 24th of June 1858 to the 24th of November 1860. The decree of the 24th of November 1860 transferred the services from Paris back to Algiers, and re-established the functions of governor-general, which were exercised at the end of the second empire first by Marshal Pelissier, duc de Malakoff (December 1860 to September 1864) and then by Marshal Macmahon, duc de Magenta (September 1864 to July 1870). At this period the conception of the Arab kingdom was prevalent. The emperor Napoleon III., in a celebrated letter, wrote that he was as much the emperor of the Arabs as the emperor of the French. Algeria was considered as a kind of great military fief, and the officers who ruled there commonly took the side of the native chieftains against the civil population. European colonization, hampered by the ill-will of the Arab bureaux, then made little progress.
Revolt of 1864-1871.
It was at this period that the great insurrection of the Walidsidi-Sheikh broke out in the Sud Oranais. This powerful family had lived up to that time on a good understanding with France; Si-Hamza, chief of the elder branch, had remained until his death (1861) a faithful ally of France. Thanks to him, the security of the southern frontier was assured. But after his death his son, Si-Sliman, imbued with anti-French sentiments, revolted in 1864 and massacred the Beaupretre column. Several years were occupied in quelling the insurrection. Compelled to guard themselves on the south against the Walid-sidi-Sheikh,the French realized how much they lost by not having the support of these great chieftains. They then accepted the services offered to them by Si-Sliman-ben- Kadour, chief of the younger branch of the Walid-sidi-Sheikh, who maintained tranquillity in the Sud Oranais during the great insurrection of Kabylia in 1871.
The causes of this insurrection were manifold, and, moreover, interdependent: the injury done to the military prestige of France by its defeats in Europe; the fall of the imperial government, in which, in the eyes of the natives, the authority of France was incarnate; and the insults offered with impunity in the streets by the civil population to the officers, who were loved and respected by the Arabs, at the same time that the decree of Adolphe Cremieux accorded to the Algerine Jews the rights of French citizens. The great native chiefs, bewildered and disquieted, thought themselves menaced. The insurrection was inevitable. Mokrani, bach-agha of the Mejana, whom the imperial government had loaded with honours, gave the signal. He had an interview with El Haddad, the sheikh of the Khuans, the religious confraternity of Sidi-Abd-er-Rahman, whose influence was great, and having secured his support in April 1871, Mokrani proclaimed the holy war. At the bidding of El Haddad the whole of Kabylia rose, and numbers of French colonists were massacred; the columns of Colonel Cerez and General F. G. Saussier had to engage in numerous fights. The death of the bach-agha at the battle of Suflat, the submission of the Sheikh El Haddad, and finally the arrest of Bu-Meyrag, brother of Mokrani, mark the declining stages of the insurrection, which was completely suppressed by August 1871. A heavy war contribution was imposed upon the rebels and their lands were sequestrated. The Beni-Manassir, who rose almost at the same time in the Dahra, were subdued soon after. Subsequently the native population of the Algerine Tell remained quiet, the massacre of the colonists at Margueritte many years later being a local and isolated movement.
Since 1870.
Under the third republic Algeria was governed successively by Admiral L. H. de Gueydon (March 1871 to June 1873), General A. E. A. Chanzy (June 1873 to February 1879), J. P. L. Albert Grevy (March 1879 to November 1881), Tirman (November 1881 to April 1891), Jules Cambon (April 1891 to September 1897), Louis Lepine (September 1897 to August 1898), E. J. Laferriere (August 1898 to October 1900), Charles Jonnart (October 1900 to June 1901), A. J. P. Revoil (June 1901 to April 1903), and again Jonnart. During the first years of the new regime a keen reaction was produced against the political system of the imperial government in Africa. The civil territory was considerably enlarged at the expense of the military. An effort was made to attract French colonists to Algeria by gratuitous concessions of land. Some lands were granted in particular to natives of Alsace-Lorraine, who preferred to retain French nationality after the war. Peasants from the south of France, whose vines had been destroyed by the phylloxera, crossed the Mediterranean and established in Algeria an important vineyard. This double current of immigration notably increased the French population of North Africa. The tendency then was to treat Algeria as a piece of France. This assimilative policy attained its culminating point in the so-called decrees of rattachement (1881), in pursuance of which each ministerial department in France was made responsible for Algerine affairs which came by their nature within its jurisdiction.
After a great inquiry held in 1892 by a senatorial committee a reaction was produced in France against this excessive assimilation. The system of rattachement was in great part abandoned, and decentralization was obtained by augmenting the powers of the governor-general, and by granting to Algeria legal personality and a special budget (see above, Central Government.) These reforms appear to have given satisfaction to Algerian opinion. Profoundly troubled as Algeria was in the last years of the 19th century by the anti-Semitic agitation, which occasioned frequent changes of governors, it appears to-day to have turned aside from sterile political struggles to interest itself exclusively in the economic development of the country.
The movement of expansion towards the south was continued under the third republic. In 1873 General G. A. A. Gailifet entered El Golea. In 1882 the oasis of Mzab was annexed. In the Sud Oranais an insurrection, fomented by a marabout named Bu-Amama, broke out in 1881, and the insurgents massacred the European labourers engaged in the collection of alfa (or esparto) grass. But soon the French columns re-established peace, and Bu-Amama had to take refuge in Morocco. In 1883 Si-Hamza, chief of the elder branch of the Wahd-sidi-Sheikh, made his submission, and since then that family has remained devoted to France.
The attempts at penetration into the extreme south, abandoned after the massacre by Tuareg of a mission sent in 1881, under Colonel Paul Flatters, to study the question of railway communication with Senegal, were begun again in 1890, in which year the British government recognized the western Sahara as within the French sphere. Since then military stations and scientific and commercial exploration have increased. But the results of these efforts remained inconsiderable until the spring of 1900, when the French authorities decided to occupy the oases of Gurara, Tuat and Tidikelt. This being accomplished by March 1901, the conquest of the Algerine Sahara was from that time completed, and nothing any longer hindered the attempts to join Algeria and the Sudan across the Sahara. (A. GIR.)
BIBLIOORAPHY.–For a general account of Algeria, see Maurice Wahl, L’Algerie (5th ed., Paris, 1908); P. Leroy-Beaulieu, Algerie et Tunisie (2nd ed., Paris, 1897); J. A. Battandier and L. Trabut, L’Algerie; le sol et les habitants (Paris, 1898), specially valuable for agriculture and fauna; Arthur Girault, Principes de colonisation et de legislation coloniale, Tome iii. ch. i.-viii. (3rd ed., Paris, 1908), containing valuable bibliographies of works relating to legislation, jurisprudence, &c.; Jules Duval, L’Algerie et les colonies francaises (Paris, 1877). The Statistiaue generale de l’Algerie is published periodically by the Algerian government. The British Foreign Office publishes annual Reports on the Trade of Algeria; Sir R. Lambert Playfair’s Handbook for Travellers in Algeria (Murray’s Handbooks), corrected to 1902, is a capital guide to the country, as is also Algerie et Tunisie (Paris, 1906), in the Guides- Joanne Series; the Bibliography of Algeria (London, 1888), and the Supplement to the Bibliography of Algeria (London, 1898), by Sir Lambert Playfair, contain thousands of entries and many notes. J. A. Battandier and L. Trabut, Flore de l’Algerie (Algiers and Paris, 1884 and onwards), contains a scientific and descriptive catalogue, in several volumes, of the indigenous flora. For the geology of Algeria, see M. A. Pomel, Description stratigraphique generale de l’Algerie (1889), and numerous papers by E. Ficheur, L. Gentil, G. Rolland, P. Thomas, and J. Welsch will be found in the Bull. Soc. Geol. France, and Compt. Rend, Acad. Sci. The volumes of the International Geological Congress review Algerian geology. The French government publication, Exploration scientifique de l’Algerie (20 vols., 1844-1853), gives the results of investigations made in 1840-1842. O. Depont and X. Conpolani, Les Confeeries religiouses musulmanes (Algiers, 1897), and Carte de l,Algerie . . . domaine geographique des confreries (Algiers, 1898), have special reference to the Islamic sects in Algeria. Stephane Gsell’s Les monuments antiques de l’Algerie (2 vols., Baris, 1901), one of the publications of the Service des monuments historiques of the colony, is an authoritative and finely illustrated work on the antiquities of Algeria. For archaeology see also the bibliography in AFRICA, ROMAN.
The best best elementary work on the history of Algeria is that of Cat, Petite histoire de l’Algerie (Algiers, 1889). For more profound researches consult: (a) for the Turkish period: H. D. de Gramont, Histoire d’Alger sous la domination turque (1887); Mercier, Histoire de l’Afrique septenirionale (1888-1891); Eugene Plantet, Correspondance des deys d’Alger avec la cour de France (1889–1892); Paul Masson, Histoire dec etablissements et du commerce francais dans l’Afrique barbaresque (1903); General Faure-Biguet, Histoire de l’A.irique septentrionale sous la domination musulmane (1905); (b) for the French period: Camille Rousset, La Conquete d’Alger (8th ed., 1899), Les Commencements d’une conquete; l,Algerie de 1830 a 1840, with atlas (1887), and La Conquete de l’Algerie, 1841- 1857, with atlas (1889); Pelissier, Annales algeriennes (1834); Leon Roches, Trente-deux ans a travers l’Islam (1884-1837); Colonel Trumelet, Histoire de l’insurrection des Guled-Sidi-Cheik (1887); Rinn, Histoire de l’insurrection de 1871 (1891).
The best general maps are those of the Carte de l’Algerie, in numerous sheets, on the scale of 1:50,000 (published by the Service geographique de l’Armee, Paris). (F. R. C.)
1 The name “Great” Atlas is more correctly applied to the main range in Morocco.
2 The figures given are not those of the communes, but of the towns proper, certain classes of persons (such as troops, lunatics, convicts) excluded from the municipal franchise not being counted.
3 This western beylik corresponded roughly with the former sultanate of Tlemcen (q.v..)
ALGHERO, a seaport and episcopal see on the W. coast of Sardinia, in the province of Sassari, 21 m. S.S.W. by rail from the town of Sassari. Pop. (1901) 10,779. The see was founded in 1503, but the cathedral itself dates from the 12th century, though it has been reconstructed. The town was strongly fortified by medieval walls, which have to some extent been demolished. It was originally founded by the Doria family of Genoa about 1102, but was occupied by the house of Aragon in 1354, who held it successfully against various attacks until it fell to the house of Savoy with the rest of Sardinia in 1720. Catalonian is still spoken here. Charles V. visited Alghero on his way to Africa in 1541. The coral and fishing industries are the most important in Alghero, but agriculture has made some progress in the district, which produces good wine. There is a large penal establishment containing over 700 convicts. Seven miles to the W.N.W. is the fine natural harbour of Porto Conte, secure in all weather, and on the W. of this harbour is the Capo Caccia, with two stalactite grottos, the finest of which, the Grotta di Nettuno, is accessible only from the sea. The important prehistoric necropolis of Anghelu Ruju was excavated in 1904 61 m. N. of Alghero (Notizie degli Scavi, 1904, 301 seq.).
ALGIDUS MONS, a portion of the ridge forming the rim of the larger crater of the Alban volcano (see ALBANUS MONS) and more especially the eastern portion, traversed by a narrow opening (now called the Cava d’Aglio) of which the Via Latina took advantage, and which frequently appears in the early military history of Rome. That a distinct town existed (Dion. Halic. x. 21, xi. 3) on the mountain is improbable; there must have been a fortified post, but the extensive castle on the hill (Maschio d’Ariano) to the south of the Via Latina is entirely medieval, a fact which has not been recognized by some topographers.
ALGIERS (Fr. Alger, Arab. Jezair, i.e. The Islands), capital and largest city of Algeria, North Africa, seat of the governor- general, of a court of appeal, and of an archbishop, and station of the French XIX. corps d’armee. It is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean, to which it gives its name, in 36 deg. 47′ N., 3 deg. 4′ E., and is built on the slopes of the Sahel, a chain of hills parallel to the coast. The view of the city from the sea is one of great beauty. Seen from a distance it appears like a succession of dazzling white terraces rising from the water’s edge. The houses being seemingly embowered in the luxuriant verdure of the Sahel, the effect is imposing and picturesque, and has given rise to the Arab comparison of the town to a diamond set in an emerald frame. The city consists of two parts; the modern French town, built on the level ground by the seashore, and the ancient city of the deys, which climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the kasbah or citadel, 400 ft. above the sea. The kasbah forms the apex of a triangle of which the quays form the base.
Extending along the front of the town is the boulevard de la Republique, a fine road built by Sir Morton Peto on a series of arches, with a frontage of 3700 ft., and bordered on one side by handsome buildings, whilst a wide promenade overlooking the harbour runs along the other. Two inclined roads lead from the centre of the boulevard to the quay 40 ft. below. On the quay are the landing-stages, the custom-house and the railway station. At the southern end of the boulevard de la Republique is the square de la Republique, formerly the place Bresson, in which is the municipal theatre; at the other extremity of the boulevard is the place du Gouvernement, which is planted on three sides with a double row of plane trees and is the fashionable resort for evening promenade. The principal streets of the city meet in the place du Gouvernement: the rue Bab Azoun (Gate of Grief) which runs parallel to the boulevard de la Republique; the rue Bab-el-Oued (River Gate) which goes north to the site of the old arsenal demolished in 1900; the rue de la Marine which leads to the ancient harbour, and in which are the two principal mosques. A large part of the modern town lies south of the square de la Republique; in this quarter are the law courts, hotel de ville, post office and other public buildings. The streets in the modern town are regularly laid out; several are arcaded on both sides.
The old town presents a strong contrast to the new town. The streets are narrow, tortuous and inaccessible to carriages. They often end in a cul-de-sac. The principal street is the rue de la Kasbah, which leads up to the citadel by 497 steps. The streets are joined by alleys just wide enough to pass through. The houses, built of stone and whitewashed, are square, substantial, flat-topped buildings, presenting to the street bare walls, with a few slits protected by iron gratings in place of windows. Each house has a quadrangle in the centre, into which it looks, and which is entered by a low, narrow doorway. Shops in the native quarter are simply chambers in the walls of the houses, and open at the front. In these shops the few Moorish industries are carried on, such as embroidery in gold and silver thread, the making of kid slippers of every kind and colour, the manufacture of gold and silver ornaments. To European eyes the native city, with its motley throng of Moors, Arabs, Jews and negroes, is the most interesting sight in Algiers. Various squares are set apart for markets, and here are to be witnessed scenes of the greatest animation.
The public buildings of chief interest are the kasbah, the government offices (formerly the British consulate), the palaces of the governor-general and the archbishop–all these are fine Moorish houses; the “Grand” and the “New’, Mosques, the Roman Catholic cathedral of St Philippe, the church of the Holy Trinity (Church of England), and the Bibliotheque Nationale d’Alger–a Turkish palace built in 1799-1800. The kasbah was begun in 1516 on the site of an older building, and served as the palace of the deys until the French conquest. A road has been cut through the centre of the building, the mosque turned into barracks, and the hall of audience allowed to fall into ruin. There still remain a minaret and some marble arches and columns. Traces exist of the vaults in which were stored the treasures of the dey. The Grand Mosque (Jamaa-el-Kebir) is traditionally said to be the oldest mosque in Algiers. The pulpit (mimbar) bears an inscription showing that the building existed in 1018. The minaret was built by Abu Tachfin, sultan of Tlemcen, in 1324. The interior of the mosque is square and is divided into aisles by columns joined by Moorish arches. The principal facade, in the rue de la Marine, consists of a row of white marble columns supporting an arcade. The New Mosque (Jamaa-el-Jedid), dating from the 17th century, is in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by a large white cupola, with four small cupolas at the corners. The minaret is 90 ft. high. The interior resembles that of the Grand Mosque. The church of the Holy Trinity (built in 1870) stands at the southern end of the rue d’Isly near the site of the demolished Fort Bab Azoun. The interior is richly decorated with various coloured marbles. Many of these marbles contain memorial inscriptions relating to the English residents (voluntary and involuntary) of Algiers from the time of John Tipton, British consul in 1580. One tablet records that in 1631 two Algerine pirate crews landed in Ireland, sacked Baltimore, and carried off its inhabitants to slavery; another recalls the romantic escape of Ida M`Donnell, daughter of Admiral Ulric, consul- general of Denmark, and wife of the British consul. When Lord Exmouth was about to bombard the city in 1816, the British consul was thrown into prison and loaded with chains. Mrs. M`Donnell–who was but sixteen–escaped to the British fleet disguised as a midshipman, carrying a basket of vegetables in which her baby was hidden. (Mrs. M`Donnell subsequently married the duc de Talleyrand-Perigord and died at Florence in 1880). Among later residents commemorated is Edward Lloyd, who was the first person to show the value of esparto grass for the manufacture of paper, and thus started an industry which is one of the most important in Algeria.
The cathedral of St Philippe, built on the site of a mosque, is in the place Malakoff, next to the governor-general’s palace. In its construction an attempt has been made to produce a building suitable for Christian worship whilst the architecture is Moorish in style. The principal entrance, reached by a flight of 23 steps, is ornamented with a portico supported by four black-veined marble columns. The roof of the nave is of Moorish plaster work. It rests on a series of arcades supported by white marble columns. Several of these columns belonged to the former mosque. In one of the chapels is a tomb containing the bones of San Geronimo. The finding of the remains of the saint in 1853 afforded striking confirmation of an incident recorded by a Spanish Benedictine named Haedo, who published a topography of Algeria in 1612. Haedo sets forth that a young Arab who had embraced Christianity and had been baptized with the name of Geronimo was captured by a Moorish corsair in 1569 and taken to Algiers. The Arabs endeavoured, to induce Geronimo to renounce Christianity, but as he steadfastly refused to do so he was condemned to death. Bound hand and foot he was thrown alive into a mould in which a block of concrete was about to be made. The block containing his body was built into an angle of the Fort of the Twenty-four Hours, then under construction. In 1853 the Fort of the Twenty-four Hours was demolished, and in the angle specified by Haedo the skeleton of Geronimo was found. The bones were interred at St Phihppe. Into the mould left by the saint’s body liquid plaster of Paris was run, and a perfect model obtained, showing the features of the youth, the cords which bound him, and even the texture of his clothing. This model is now in the museum at Mustapha (see below).
Algiers possesses a college with schools of law, medicine, science and letters. The college buildings are large and handsome. There is also a lycee in which the instruction is similar to that given in France, and in which Christians, Jews and Mahommedans are educated together. The museum (a state institution), formerly housed in the same building as the library, was transferred in 1897 to a new building in the suburb of Mustapha Superieur. In the museum are some of the ancient sculptures and mosaics discovered in Algeria, together with medals and Algerian money. New buildings, to contain specimens of Moslem art, were added in 1903.
The port of Algiers is sheltered from all winds. There are two harbours, both artificial–the old or northern harbour and the southern or Agha harbour. The northern harbour covers an area of 235 acres. The depth at the entrance is 72 to 108 ft., and in port from 36 to 66 ft. Two government dry docks are available for merchant vessels. The quays cover 18,000 sq. yds. There are three jetties, north, east and south. Within this harbour is the small harbour of the deys, now transformed into a wet dock. An opening in the south jetty affords an entrance into Agha harbour, constructed in Agha Bay. This harbour is formed by the projection of a mole, 2500 ft. in length, from the eastern jetty of the old harbour. It provides extensive quayage with a minimum depth of water of 28 ft. Agha harbour has also an independent entrance on its southern side. Algiers is the chief coaling station in the Mediterranean, having become so largely at the expense of Gibraltar. In other respects the trade resembles that of other Algerian ports. (For trade statistics see ALGERIA.) The inner harbour was begun in 1518 by Khair-ed- Din (see History, below), who, to accommodate his pirate vessels, caused the island on which was Fort Penon to be connected with the mainland by a mole. The lighthouse which occupies the site of Fort Penon was built in 1544. Work on the northern harbour was begun in 1836, on the southern in 1904. Algiers maintains communication with Marseilles by a quick service of steamers, which run the 497 miles across the Mediterranean in twenty-eight to thirty hours. The journey between Algiers and Paris, from which it is distant 1031 miles, is accomplished in about forty-five hours.
Algiers was a walled city from the time of the deys until the close of the 19th century. The French, after their occupation of the city (1830), built a rampart, parapet and ditch, with two terminal forts, Bab Azoun to the south and Bab-el-Oued to the north. The forts and part of the ramparts were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century, when a line of forts occupying the heights of Bu Zarea (at an elevation of 1300 ft. above the sea) took their place.
Owing to the mildness of its climate Algiers has become a favourite resort for those seeking to escape the rigours of a European winter. The city is well supplied with water and its sanitary state is good. The mistral of the Riviera is entirely absent from Algiers, but in summer the city occasionally suffers from the sirocco or desert wind. The environs of Algiers are noted for their beauty and healthiness. Of the suburbs the most picturesque is Mustapha Superieur, about 2 m. from the centre of the city on the slopes of the hills to the south. Here are the summer palace of the governor-general, many fine Moorish and French villas and luxurious hotels, all surrounded by beautiful gardens. A numerous British colony resides at Mustapha, where there is an English club. Mustapha Inferieur is built on the lower slopes of the hills. Farther to the south is the large Jardin d’Essai, containing five avenues of palms, planes, bamboos and magnolias. Notre-Dame d’Afrique, a church built (1858- 1872) in a mixture of the Roman and Byzantine styles, is conspicuously situated, overlooking the sea, on the shoulder of the Bu Zarea hills, 2 m. to the north of the city. Above the altar is a statue of the Virgin depicted as a black woman. The church also contains a solid silver statue of the archangel Michael, belonging to the confraternity of Neapolitan fishermen. Beyond Notre-Dame d’Afrique is the beautiful Valley of the Consuls, very little changed since the time of the deys. (The valley was in those days the favourite residence of the consuls.) At the Petit Seminaire, on the site of the old French consulate, Cardinal Lavigerie died (1892).
In 1906 the population of the commune of Algiers was 154,049; the population municipale, which excludes the garrison, prisoners, &c., was 145,280. Of this total 138,240 were living in the city proper or in Mustapha. Of the inhabitants 105,908 were Europeans. French residents numbered 50,996, naturalized Frenchmen 23,305, Spaniards 12,354, Italians 7368, Maltese 865, and other Europeans (chiefly British and Germans) 1652, besides 12,490 Jews. The remainder of the population–all Mahommedans–are Moors, Arabs, Berbers, Negroes, with a few Turks. The vast majority of the Europeans are Roman Catholics. Most of the naturalized French citizens are of Spanish or Italian origin.
History.–In Roman times a small town called Icosium existed on what is now the marine quarter of the city. The rue de la Marine follows the lines of a Roman street. Roman cemeteries existed near the rues Bab-el-Oued and Bab Azoun. Bishops of Icosium–which was created a Latin city by Vespasian –are mentioned as late as the 5th century. The present city was founded in 944 by Bulukkin b. Zeiri, the founder of, the Zeirid-Sanhaja dynasty, which was overthrown by Roger II. of Sicily in 1148 (see FATIMITES.) The Zeirids had before that date lost Algiers, which in 1159 was occupied by the Almohades, and in the 13th century came under the dominion of the Abd-el- Wahid, sultans of Tlemcen. Numinally part of the sultanate of Tlemcen, Algiers had a large measure of independence under amirs of its own, Oran being the chief seaport of the Abd-el- Nahid. The islet in front of the harbour, subsequently known as the Penon, had been occupied by the Spaniards as early as 1302. Thereafter a considerable trade grew up between Algiers and Spain. Algiers, however, continued of comparatively little importance until after the expulsion from Spain of the Moors, many of whom sought an asylum in the city. In 1510, following their occupation of Oran and other towns on the coast of Africa, the Spaniards fortified the Penon. In 1516 the amir of Algiers, Selim b. Teumi, invited the brothers Arouj and Khair-ed-Din (Barbarossa) to expel the Spaniards. Arouj came to Algiers, caused Selim to be assassinated, and seized the town. Khair- ed-Din, succeeding Arouj, drove the Spaniards from the Penon (1550) and was the founder of the pashalik, afterwards deylik, of Algeria. Algiers from this time became the chief seat of the Barbary pirates. In October 1541 the emperor Charles V. sought to capture the city, but a storm destroyed a great number of his ships, and his army of some 30,000, chiefly Spaniards, was defeated by the Algerians under their pasha, Hassan. Repeated attempts were made by various European nations to subdue the pirates, and in 1816 the city was bombarded by a British squadron under Lord Exmouth, assisted by Dutch men-of-war, and the corsair fleet burned. The piracy of the Algerians was renewed and continued until 1830. On the 4th of July in that year a French army under General de Bourmont attacked the city, which capitulated on the following day (see ALGERIA, History.)
ALGOA BAY, a wide, shallow bay of South Africa, 436 m. E. from the Cape of Good Hope, bounded W. by Cape Recife, E. by Cape Padrone. St Croix Island in the bay is in 33 deg. 47′ S. 25 deg. 46′ E. On this island Bartholomew Diaz made his second landing in South Africa some time after the 3rd of February 1488, and from the cross which he is thought to have erected on it the island gets its name. Algoa Bay was the first landing-place of the British emigrants to the eastern province of Cape Colony in 1820. At a spot 6 m. N.E. of Cape Recife these emigrants founded a town, Port Elizabeth (q.v.), its harbour being sheltered from all winds save the S.E. By seafarers “Algoa Bay” is used as synonymous with Port Elizabeth.
ALGOL, the Arabic name (signifying “the Demon”) of b Persei, a star of the second magnitude, noticed by G. Montanari in 1669 to fluctuate in brightness. John Goodricke established in 1782 the periodicity of its change in about 2d 21h and suggested their cause in recurring eclipses by a large dark satellite. Their intermittent character prompted the supposition. The light of Algol remains constant during close upon 56 hours; then declines in 6 1/2 hours (approximately) to nearly one-fourth its normal amount, and is restored by sensibly the same gradations. The amplitude of the phase is 1.1 magnitude; and the absence of any stationary interval at minimum proves the eclipse to be partial, not annular. Its conditions were investigated from photometric data, by Professor E. C. Pickering in 1880;1 and their realization was finally demonstrated by Dr H. C. Vogel’s spectroscopic measures in 1889.2 Previously to each obscuration, the star was found to be moving rapidly away from the earth; its velocity then diminished to zero pari passu with the loss of light, and reversed its direction during the process of recovery. Algol, in fact, travels at the rate of 26.3 miles a second round the centre of gravity of the system which it forms with an invisible companion, while the two together approach the sun with an unvarying speed of 2.3 miles per second. The elements of this disparate pair, calculated by Dr Vogel on the somewhat precarious assumption that its dark and bright members are of equal mean density, are as follows:–
Diameter of Algol . . . . 1,061,000 English miles. ” Satellite . . . 834,300 ” ” Distance from centre to centre. 3,230,000 ” ” Mass of Algol . . . . . 4/9 solar mass. ” Satellite . . . . 2/9 ” ” Mean density . . . . . about 1/4 solar.
The plane of the joint orbit, in which no deviation from circularity has yet been detected, nearly coincides with the line of sight. The period of Algol, as measured by its eclipses, is subject to complex irregularities. It shortened fitfully by eight seconds between 1790 and 1879; soon afterwards, restoration set in, and its exact length in 1903 was 2d 20h 48m 56s, being only two seconds short of its original value. By an exhaustive discussion, Dr S. Chandler ascertained in 1888 the compensatory nature of these disturbances;3 and he afterwards found the most important among several which probably conspire to produce the observed effects, to be comprised in a period of 15,000 light-cycles, equivalent to 118 years.4 An explanatory hypothesis, propounded by him in 1892,5 is still on its trial. The system of Algol, according to this view, is triple; it includes a large, obscure primary, round which the eclipsing pair revolves in an orbit somewhat smaller than that of Uranus, very slightly elliptical, and inclined 20 deg. to the line of sight, the periodic time being 118 years. The alternate delay and acceleration of the eclipses are then merely apparent; they represent the changes in the length of the light-journey as the stars perform their wide circuit. If these suppositions have a basis of reality, the proper motion of Algol should be disturbed by a small, but measurable undulation, corresponding to the projection of its orbit upon the sky; and although certainty on the point cannot be attained for some years to come, Lewis Boss regarded the evidence available in 1895 as tending to confirm Dr Chandler’s theory.6
A rival interpretation of the phenomena it dealt with was put forward by F. Tisserand in 1895.7 It involved the action of no third mass, but depended solely upon the progression of the line of apsides in a moderately elliptical orbit due to the spheroidal shape of the globes traversing it. Inequalities of the required sort in the returns of the eclipses would ensue; moreover, their duration should concomitantly vary with the varying distance from periastron at the times of their occurrence. It is a moot question whether changes of the latter kind actually occur. When they are proved to do so, Tisserand’s hypothesis will hold the field.
Algol gives a helium-spectrum which undergoes no alteration at minimum. Hence the light from the marginal and central portions of the disc is identical in quality, and the limb can be little, if at all, darkened by the “smoke-veil” absorption conspicuous in the sun. The rays of this star spend close upon a century in travelling hither. Dr Chase’s measures with the Yale heliometer indicated for it, in 1894, a parallax of about 0” .035;8 and it must, accordingly, be of nearly four times the total brightness of Sirius, while its aerial lustre exceeds seventy- fold that of the solar photosphere. Variables of the Algol class are rendered difficult to discover by the incidental character of their fluctuations. At the end of 1905, however, about 37 had been certainly recognized, besides some outlying cases of indeterminate type, in which continuous occultations by two bright stars, revolving in virtual contact, are doubtfully supposed to be in progress. (A. M. C.)
1 Proceedings Amer. Acad. vol. xvi. p. 27. 2 Astr. Nach. No. 2947. 3 Astr. Journal, No. 165. 4 Ibid. No. 509. 5 Ibid. Nos. 255-256. 6 Ibid. No. 343. 7 Comptes Rendus, t. cxx. p 125. 8 Astr. Jour. No. 318. ALGONQUIN, or ALGONKIN (a word formerly regarded as a French contraction of Algomequin, “those on the other side” of the river, viz. the St Lawrence, hut now believed to be from the Micmac algoomaking–“at the place of spearing fish”), a collective term for a number of tribes of North American Indians dwelling in the valley of the Ottawa river and around the northern tributaries of the St Lawrence. The Algonquins allied themselves with the French against the Iroquois. Many were driven west by the latter and later became known as Ottawa. The French missionaries at work among the Algonquins early in the 17th century found their language to be the key to the many Indian dialects now included by philologists under the general term “Algonquian stock.” The chief tribes included in this stock were the Algonquin, Malecite, Micmac, Nascapi, Pennacook, Fox, Kickapoo, Delaware, Cheyenne, Conoy, Cree, Mohican, Massachuset, Menominee, Miami, Misisaga, Mohegan, Nanticoke, Narraganset, Nipmuc, Ojibway, Ottawa, Pequot, Potawatami, Sac, Shawnee and Wampanoag. The Indians of Algonquian stock number between 80,000 and 90,000, of whom rather more than half are in the United States, the rest being in Canada. Of the Algonquins proper there remain about 1500 settled in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
For details see Handbook of American Indians, ed. F. W. Hodge, Washington, 1907.
ALGUAZIL, a Spanish title often to be met in stories and plays, derived from the Arabic “visir” and the article, “ al.” The alguazil among the early Spaniards was a judge, and sometimes the governor of a town or fortress. In later times he has gradually sunk down to the rank of an officer of the court, who is trusted with the service of writs and certain police duties, but he is still of higher rank than the mere corchete or catch-poll. The title has also been given to inspectors of weights and measures in market-places, and similar officials.
ALGUM, or ALMUG TREE. The Hebrew words Algummim or Almuggim are translated Algum or Almug trees in the authorized version of the Bible (see 1 Kings x. 11, 12; 2 Chron. ii. 8, and ix. 10, 11); almug is an erroneous form (see Max Muller, Science of Language, vol. i.). The wood of the tree was very precious, and was brought from Ophir (probably some part of India), along with gold and precious stones, by Hiram, and was used in the formation of pillars for the temple at Jerusalem, and for the king’s house; also for the inlaying of stairs, as well as for harps and psalteries. It is probably the red sanders or red sandal-wood of India ( Pterocarpus santalinus.) This tree belongs to the natural order Leguminosae, sub-order Papilionaceae. The wood is hard, heavy, close-grained and of a fine red colour. It is different from the white fragrant sandal-wood, which is the produce of Santalum album, a tree belonging to a distinct natural order Santalaceae.
ALHAMA DE GRANADA, a town of southern Spain, in the province of Granada, 24 m. S.W. of Granada. Pop. (1900) 7679. Alhama is finely situated on a ledge of rock which overlooks a deep gorge traversed by the river Marchan or Alhama; while the rugged peaks of the Sierra de Alhamarise behind it to a height of 6800 ft. The town is largely modern; for over one thousand of its picturesque old Moorish houses, which formerly rose in terraces up the mountain side, were destroyed, together with five churches, the hospital, the theatre, the prison, and 800 of the inhabitants, in an earthquake which took place in 1884. Subscriptions were received from all parts of Spain, and the present town was built at a little distance from its predecessor. Few vestiges of antiquity survived, except the baths from which Alhama (in Arabic “the Bath”) derives its name. These are situated near the river, and appear to have been used continuously since Roman times (c. 19 B.C.- A.D. 409) . The temperature of the hot sulphurous springs is about 112 deg. F.; and, as the waters are considered beneficial in cases of rheumatism and dyspepsia, many visitors come to Alhama in spring and autumn, attracted also by the fine scenery of the district. In the 15th century Alhama, and the neighbouring fortress of Loja (q.v.), were generally regarded as the keys of the kingdom of Granada, and their capture went far to insure the overthrow of the Moorish power. Alhama was taken by the Spanish marquis of Cadiz in 1482; and its fall is celebrated in an ancient ballad, Ay de mi, Alhama, which Byron translated into English.
ALHAMBRA, THE, an ancient palace and fortress of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, in southern Spain, occupying a hilly terrace on the south-eastern border of the city of Granada. This terrace or plateau, which measures about 2430 ft. in length by 674 ft. at its greatest width, extends from W.N.W. to E.S.E., and covers an area of about 35 acres. It is enclosed by a strongly fortified wall, which is flanked by thirteen towers. The river Darro, which foams through a deep ravine on the north, divides the plateau from the Albaicin district of Granada; the Assabica valley, containing the Alhambra Park, on the west and south, and beyond this valley the almost parallel ridge of Monte Mauror, separate it from the Antequeruela district.
The name Alhambra, signifying in Arabic “the red,” is probably derived from the colour of the sun-dried tapia, or bricks made of fine gravel and clay, of which the outer walls are built. Some authorities, however, hold that it commemorates the red flare of the torches by whose light the work of construction was carried on nightly for many years; others associate it with the name of the founder, Mahomet Ibn Al Ahmar; and others derive it from the Arabic Dar al Amra, “House of the Master.” (For an account of the period to which the Alhambra belongs, see GRANADA (city) .) The palace was built chiefly between 1248 and 1354, in the reigns of Al Ahmar and his successors; but even the names of the principal artists employed are either unknown or doubtful. The splendid decorations of the interior are ascribed to Yusef I., who died in 1354. Immediately after the expulsion of the Moors in 1492, their conquerors began, by successive acts of vandalism, to spoil the marvellous beauty of the Alhambra. The open work was filled up with whitewash, the painting and gilding effaced, the furniture soiled, torn or removed. Charles V. (1516-1556) rebuilt portions in the modern style of the period, and destroyed the greater part of the winter palace to make room for a modern structure which has never been completed. Philip V. (1700-1746) Italianised the rooms, and completed the degradation by running up partitions which blocked up whole apartments, gems of taste and patient ingenuity. In subsequent Centuries the carelessness of the Spanish authorities permitted this masterpiece of Moorish art to be still further defaced; and in 1812 some of the towers were blown up by the French under Count Sebastiani, while the whole buildings narrowly escaped the same fate. In
Plan of the Alhambra Scale of Yards 1. Court of Myrtles 2. Hall of Ambassadors 3. Court of Lions 4. Hall of the Abencerrages 5. Room of the Two Sisters 6. Modern Entrance 7. Court of the Vestibule 8. Baths 9. Court of the Council Chamber 10. Queens Robing Room
from Baedeker’s Spain & Portugal, by permission of Karl Baedeker Emery Walker SC.
1821 an earthquake caused further damage. The work of restoration undertaken in 1828 by the architect Jose Contreras was endowed in 1830 by Ferdinand VII.; and after the death of Contreras in 1847, it was continued with fair success by his son Rafael (d. 1890), and his grandson Mariano.
The situation of the Alhambra is one of rare natural beauty; the plateau commands a wide view of the city and plain of Granada, towards the west and north, and of the heights of the Sierra Nevada, towards the east and south. Moorish poets describe it as “a pearl set in emeralds,” in allusion to the brilliant colour of its buildings, and the luxuriant woods round them. The park (Alameda de la Alhambra), which in spring is overgrown with wild-flowers and grass, was planted by the Moors with roses, oranges and myrtles; its most characteristic feature, however, is the dense wood of English elms brought hither in 1812 by the duke of Wellington. The park is celebrated for the multitude of its nightingales, and is usually filled with the sound of running water from several fountains and cascades. These are supplied through a conduit 5 m. long, which is connected with the Darro at the monastery of Jesus del Valle, above Granada.
The Moorish portion of the Alhambra resembles many medieval Christian strongholds in its threefold arrangement as a castle, a palace and a residential annexe for subordinates. The Alcazaba or citadel, its oldest part, is built on the isolated and precipitous foreland which terminates the plateau on the north-west. Only its massive outer walls, towers and ramparts are left. On its watch-tower, the Torre de la Vela, 85 ft. high, the flag of Ferdinand and Isabella was first raised, in token of the Spanish conquest of Granada, on the 2nd of January 1492. A turret containing a huge bell was added in the 18th century, and restored after being injured by lightning in 1881. Beyond the Alcazaba is the palace of the Moorish kings, or Alhambra properly so-called; and beyond this, again, is the Alhambra Alta (Upper Alhambra), originally tenanted by officials and courtiers.
In spite of the long neglect, wilful vandalism and ill-judged restoration which the Alhambra has endured, it remains the most perfect example of Moorish art in its final European development, –freed from the direct Byzantine influences which can be traced in the cathedral of Cordova, more elaborate and fantastic than the Giralda at Seville. The majority of the palace buildings are, in ground-plan, quadrangular, with all the rooms opening on to a central court; and the whole reached its present size simply by the gradual addition of new quadrangles, designed on the same principle, though varying in dimensions, and connected with each other by smaller rooms and passages. In every case the exterior is left plain and austere, as if the architect intended thus to heighten by contrast the splendour of the interior. Within, the palace is unsurpassed for the exquisite detail of its marble pillars and arches, its fretted ceilings and the veil-like transparency of its filigree work in stucco. Sun and wind are freely admitted, and the whole effect is one of the most airy lightness and grace. Blue, red, and a golden yellow, all somewhat faded through lapse of time and exposure, are the colours chiefly employed. The decoration consists, as a rule, of stiff, conventional foliage, Arabic inscriptions, and geometrical patterns wrought into arabesques of almost incredible intricacy and ingenuity. Painted tiles are largely used as panelling for the walls.
Access from the city to the Alhambra Park is afforded by the Puerta de las Granadas (Gate of Pomegranates), a massive triumphal arch dating from the 15th century. A steep ascent leads past the Pillar of Charles V., a fountain erected in 1554, to the main entrance of the Alhambra. This is the Puerta Judiciaria (Gate of Judgment), a massive horseshoe archway, surmounted by a square tower, and used by the Moors as an informal court of justice. A hand, with fingers outstretched as a talisman against the evil eye, is carved above this gate on the exterior; a key, the symbol of authority, occupies the corresponding place on the interior. A narrow passage leads inward to the Plaza de los Aljibes (Place of the Cisterns), a broad open space which divides the Alcazaba from the Moorish palace. To the left of the passage rises the Torre del Vino (Wine Tower), built in 1345, and used in the 16th century as a cellar. On the right is the palace of Charles V., a cold-looking but majestic Renaissance building, out of harmony with its surroundings, which it tends somewhat to dwarf by its superior size. Its construction, begun in 1526, was abandoned about 1650.
The present entrance to the Palacio Arabe, or Casa Real (Moorish palace), is by a small door from which a corridor conducts to the Patio de los Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles), also called the Patio de la Alberca (Court of the Blessing or Court of the Pond), from the Moorish birka, “pond,” or berka, “blessing.” This court is 140 ft. long by 74 ft. broad; and in the centre there is a large pond set in the marble pavement, full of goldfish, and with myrtles growing along its sides. There are galleries on the north and south sides; that on the south 27 ft. high, and supported by a marble colonnade. Underneath it, to the right, was the principal entrance, and over it are three elegant windows with arches and miniature pillars. From this court the walls of the Torre de Comares are seen rising over the roof to the north, and reflected in the pond.
The Sala de los Ambajadores (Hall of the Ambassadors) is the largest in the Alhambra, and occupies all the Torre de Comares. It is a square room, the sides being 37 ft. in length, while the centre of the dome is 75 ft. high. This was the grand reception room, and the throne of the sultan was placed opposite the entrance. The tiles are nearly 4 ft. high all round, and the colours vary at intervals. Over them is a series of oval medallions with inscriptions, interwoven with flowers and leaves. There are nine windows, three on each facade, and the ceiling is admirably diversified with inlaid-work of white, blue and gold, in the shape of circles, crowns and stars–a kind of imitation of the vault of heaven. The walls are covered with varied stucco-work of most delicate pattern, surrounding many ancient escutcheons.
The celebrated Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions) is an oblong court, 116 ft. in length by 66 ft. in breadth, surrounded by a low gallery supported on 124 white marble columns. A pavilion projects into the court at each extremity, with filigree walls and light domed roof, elaborately ornamented. The square is paved with coloured tiles, and the colonnade with white marble; while the walls are covered 5 ft. up from the ground with blue and yellow tiles, with a border above and below enamelled blue and gold. The columns supporting the roof and gallery are irregularly placed, with a view to artistic effect; and the general form of the piers, arches and pillars is most graceful. They are adorned by varieties of foliage, &c.; about each arch there is a large square of arabesques; and over the pillars is another square of exquisite filigree work. In the centre of the court is the celebrated Fountain of Lions, a magnificent alabaster basin supported by the figures of twelve lions in white marble, not designed with sculptural accuracy, but as emblems of strength and courage.
The Sala de los Abencerrajes (Hall of the Abencerrages) derives its name from a legend according to which Boabdil, the last king of Granada, having invited the chiefs of that illustrious line to a banquet, massacred them here. This room is a perfect square, with a lofty dome and trellised windows at its base. The roof is exquisitely decorated in blue, brown, red and gold, and the columns supporting it spring out into the arch form in a remarkably beautiful manner. Opposite to this hall is the Sala de las dos Hermanas (Hall of the two Sisters), so-called from two very beautiful white marble slabs laid as part of the pavement. These slabs measure 15 ft. by 7 1/2 ft., and are without flaw or stain. There is a fountain in the middle of this hall, and the roof–a dome honeycombed with tiny cells, all different, and said to number 5000–is a magnificent example of the so-called “stalactite vaulting” of the Moors.
Among the other wonders of the Alhambra are the Sala de la Justicia (Hall of Justice), the Patio del Mexuar (Court of the Council Chamber), the Patio de Daraxa (Court of the Vestibule), and the Peinador de la Reina (Queen’s Robing Room), in which are to be seen the same delicate and beautiful architecture, the same costly and elegant decorations. The palace and the Upper Alhambra also contain baths, ranges of bedrooms and summer- rooms, a whispering gallery and labyrinth, and vaulted sepulchres.
The original furniture of the palace is represented by the celebrated vase of the Alhambra, a splendid specimen of Moorish ceramic art, dating from 1320, and belonging to the first period of Moorish porcelain. It is 4 ft. 3 in. high; the ground is white, and the enamelling is blue, white and gold.
Of the outlying buildings in connexion with the Alhambra. the foremost in interest is the Palacio de Generalife or Gineralife (the Moorish Jennat al Arif, “Garden of Arif,” or “Garden of the Architect”). This villa probably dates from the end of the 13th century, but has been several times restored. Its gardens, however, with their clipped hedges, grottos, fountains, and cypress avenues, are said to retain their original Moorish character. The Villa de los Martires (Martyrs’ Villa), on the summit of Monte Mauror, commemorates by its name the Christian slaves who were employed to build the Alhambra, and confined here in subterranean cells. The Torres Bermejas (Vermilion Towers), also on Monte Mauror, are a well-preserved Moorish fortification, with underground cisterns, stables, and accommodation for a garrison of 200 men. Several Roman tombs were discovered in 1829 and 1857 at the base of Monte Mauror.
See Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra; from drawings taken on the spot by J. Goury and Owen Jones; with a complete translation of the Arabic inscriptions and a historical notice of the Kings of Granada, by P. de Gayangos. These two magnificent folios, though first published in London between 1842 and 1845, give the best pictorial representation of the Alhambra. See also Rafael Contreras, La Alhanabra, El Alcazar, y la gran Mezquita de Occidente Madrid, 1885); The Alhambra, by Washington Irving, was written in 1832, and rewritten in 1857, when it had already become widely celebrated for its picturesque and humorous descriptions. A well-Illustrated edition was published in London in 1896.
ALHAZEN (ABU ALI AL-HASAN IBN ALHASAN), Arabian mathematician of the 11th century, was born at Basra and died at Cairo in 1038. He is to be distinguished from another Alhazen who translated Ptolemy’s Almagest in the 10th century. Having boasted that he could construct a machine for regulating the inundations of the Nile, he was summoned to Egypt by the caliph Hakim; but, aware of the impracticability of his scheme, and fearing the caliph’s anger, he feigned madness until Hakim’s death in 1021. Alhazen was, nevertheless, a diligent and successful student, being the first great discoverer in optics after the time of Ptolemy. According to Giovanni Battista della Porta, he first explained the apparent increase of heavenly bodies near the horizon, although Bacon gives the credit of this discovery to Ptolemy. He taught, previous to the Polish physicist Witelo, that vision does not result from the emission of rays from the eye, and wrote also on the refraction of light, especially on atmospheric refraction, showing, e.g. the cause of morning and evening twilight. He solved the problem of finding the point in a convex mirror at which a ray coming from one given point shall be reflected to another given point. His treatise on optics was translated into Latin by Witelo (1270), and afterwards published by F. Risner in 1572, with the title Oticae thesaurus Alhazeni libri VII., cum ejusdem libro de crepusculis et nubium ascensionibus. This work enjoyed a great reputation during the middle ages. Works on geometrical subjects were found in the Bibliotheque nationale de Paris in 1834 by E. A. Sedillot; other manuscripts are preserved in the Bodleian library at Oxford and in the library of Leiden.
See Casiri, Bibl. Arab. Hisp. Escur.; J. E. Montucla, Histoire des mathemaltiques (1758); and E. A. Sedillot, Materiaux pour l’histoire des sciences mathematiques.
ALI, in full, ‘ALI BEN ABU TALIB (c. 600-661), the fourth of the caliphs or successors of Mahomet, was born at Mecca about the year A.D. 600. His father, Abu Talib, was an uncle of the prophet, and Ali himself was adopted by Mahomet and educated under his care. As a mere boy he distinguished himself by being one of the first to declare his adhesion to the cause of Mahomet, who some years afterwards gave him his daughter Fatima in marriage. Ali proved himself to be a brave and faithful soldier, and when Mahomet died without male issue, a few emigrants thought him to have the best claim to succeed him. Abu Bekr, Omar and Othman, however, occupied this position before him, and it was not until 656, after the murder of Othman, that he assumed the title of caliph. The fact that he took no steps to prevent this murder is, perhaps, the only real blot upon his character. Almost the first act of his reign was the suppression of a rebellion under Talha and Zobair, who were instigated by Ayesha, Mahomet’s widow, a bitter enemy of Ali, and one of the chief hindrances to his advancement to the caliphate. The rebel army was defeated at the “Battle of the Camel,” near Bassorah (Basra), the two generals being killed, and Ayesha taken prisoner. Ali soon afterwards made Kufa his capital. His next care was to get rid of the opposition of Moawiya, who had established himself in Syria at the head of a numerous army. A prolonged battle took place in July 657 in the plain of Siffin (Suffein), near the Euphrates; the fighting was at first, it is said, in favour of Ali, when suddenly a number of the enemy, fixing copies of the Koran to the points of their spears, exclaimed that “the matter ought to be settled by reference to this book, which forbids Moslems to shed each other’s blood.” The superstitious soldiers of Ali refused to fight any longer, and demanded that the issue be referred to arbitration (see further CALIPHATE, section B. 1). Abu Musa was appointed umpire on the part of Ali, and `Amr-ibn-el-Ass, a veteran diplomatist, on the part of Moawiya. It is said that `Amr persuaded Abu Musa that it would be for the advantage of Islam that neither candidate should reign, and asked him to give his decision first. Abu Musa having proclaimed that he deposed both Ali and Moawiya, `Amr declared that he also deposed Ali, and announced further that he invested Moawiya with the caliphate. This treacherous decision (but see CALIPHATE, ib.) greatly injured the cause of Ali, which was still further weakened by the loss of Egypt. After much indecisive fighting, Ali found his position so unsatisfactory that according to some historians he made an agreement with Moawiya by which each retained his own dominions unmolested. It chanced, however–according to a legend, the details of which are quite uncertain–that three of the fanatic sect of the Kharijites had made an agreement to assassinate Ali, Moawiya and `Amr, as the authors of disastrous feuds among the faithful. The only victim of this plot was Ali, who died at Kufa in 661, of the wound inflicted by a poisoned weapon. A splendid mosque called Meshed Ali was afterwards erected near the city, but the place of his burial is unknown. He had eight wives after Fatima’s death, and in all, it is said, thirty-three children, one of whom, Hassan, a son of Fatima, succeeded him in the caliphate. His descendants by Fatima are known as the Fatimites (q.v.; see also EGYPT: History, Mahommedan period). The question of Ali’s right to succeed to the caliphate is an article of faith which divided the Mahommedan world into two great sects, the Sunnites and the Shiites, the former denying, and the latter affirming, his right. The Turks, consequently, hold his memory in abhorrence; whereas the Persians, who are generally Shi`as, venerate him as second only to the prophet, call him the “Lion of God” (Sher-i-Khuda), and celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom. Ali is described as a bold, noble and generous man, “the last and worthiest of the primitive Moslems, who imbibed his religious enthusiasm from companionship with the prophet himself, and who followed to the last the simplicity of his example.” It is maintained, on the other hand, that his motives were throughout those of ambition rather than piety, and that, apart from the tragedy of his death, he would have been an insignificant figure in history. (See further CALIPHATE.)
In the eyes of the later Moslems he was remarkable for learning and wisdom, and there are extant collections (almost all certainly spurious) of proverbs and verses which bear his name: the Sentences of Ali (Eng. trans., William Yule, Edinburgh, 1832); H. L. Fleischer, Alis hundert Spruche (Leipz. 1837); the Divan, by G. Kuypert (Leiden, 1745, and at Bulak, 1835); C. Brockelmann, Gesch. d. arabisch. Lit. (vol. i., Weimar, 1899).
ALI, known as ALI BEY (1766-1818), the assumed name of DOMINGO BADIA Y LEBLICH, a Spanish traveller, born in 1766. After receiving a liberal education he devoted particular attention to the Arabic language, and made a special study of the manners and customs of the East. Pretending to be a descendant of the Abbasids, Badia in 1803 set out on his travels. Under the name of Ali Bey el Abbassi, and in Mussulman costume, he visited Morocco, Tripoli, Egypt, Arabia and Syria, and was received as a person of high rank wherever he appeared. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca, at that time in the possession of the Wahabites. On his return to Spain in 1807 he declared himself a Bonapartist, and was made intendant first of Segovia and afterwards of Cordova. When the French were driven from Spain, Badia was compelled to take refuge in France, and there in 1814, published an account of his travels under the title of Voyage d’Aii Bey en Asie et en Afrique, &c. A few years later he set out again for Syria, under the assumed name of Ali Othman, and, it is said, accredited as a political agent by the French government. He reached Aleppo, and there died on the 30th of August 1818, not without suspicion of having been poisoned.
An account of his Eastern adventures was published in London in 1816, in two volumes, entitled Travels in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria and Turkey, between the years 1803 and 1807.
ALI, known as ALI PASHA (1741-1822),Turkish pasha of Iannina, surnamed Arslan, “the Lion,” was born at Tepeleni, a village in Albania at the foot of the Klissura mountains. He was one of the Toske tribe, and his ancestors had for some time held the hereditary office of bey of Tepeleni. His father, a man of mild and peaceful disposition, was killed when Ali was fourteen years old by neighbouring chiefs who seized his territories. His mother Khamko, a woman of extraordinary character, thereupon herself formed and led a brigand band, and studied to inspire the boy with her own fierce and indomitable temper, with a view to revenge and the recovery of the lost property. In this wild school Ali proved an apt pupil. A hundred tales, for the most part probably mythical, are told of his powers and cunning during the years he spent among the mountains as a brigand leader. At last, by a picturesque stratagem, he gained possession of Tepeleni and took vengeance on his enemies. To secure himself from rivals in his own family, he is said to have murdered his brother and imprisoned his mother on a charge of attempting to poison him. With a view to establishing his authority he now made overtures to the Porte and was commissioned to chastise the rebellious pasha of Scutari, whom he defeated and killed. He also, on pretext of his disloyalty, put to death Selim, pasha of Delvinon. Ali was now confirmed in the possession of all his father’s territory and was also appointed lieutenant to the derwend-pasha of Rumelia, whose duty it was to suppress brigandage and highway robbery. This gave him an opportunity for amassing wealth by sharing the booty of the robbers in return for leaving them alone. The disgrace that fell in consequence on his superior, Ali escaped by the use of lavish bribes at Constantinople. In 1787 he took part in the war with Russia, and was rewarded by being made pasha of Trikala in Thessaly and derwend-pasha of Rumelia. It now suited his policy to suppress the brigands, which he did by enlisting most of them under his own banner. His power was now already considerable; and in 1788 he added to it by securing his nomination to the pashalik of Iannina by a characteristic trick.
The illiterate brigand, whose boyish ambition had not looked beyond the recovery of his father’s beylick, was now established as one of the most powerful viziers under the Ottoman government. Success only stimulated his insatiable ambition. He earned the confidence of the Porte by the cruel discipline he maintained in his own sanjak, and the regular flow of tribute and bribes which he directed to Constantinople; while he bent all his energies to extending his territories at the expense of his neighbours. The methods he adopted would have done credit to Cesare Borgia; they may be studied in detail in the lurid pages of Pouqueville. Soon, by one means or another, his power was supreme in all central Albania. Two main barriers still obstructed the realization of his ambition, which now embraced Greece and Thessaly, as well as Albania, and the establishment in the Mediterranean of a sea-power which should rival that of the dey of Algiers. The first of these was the resistance of the little Christian hill community of Suli; the second the Venetian occupation of the coast, within a mile of which–by convention with the Porte–no Ottoman soldier might penetrate. It needed three several attacks before, in 1803, Ali conquered the Suliot stronghold. Events in western Europe gave him an earlier opportunity of becoming master of most of the coast towns. Ali had watched with interest the career of Bonaparte in Italy, and the treaty of Campo Formio (1797), which blotted the Venetian republic from the map of Europe, gave him the opportunity he desired. In response to his advances commissaries of the French republic visited him at Iannina and, affecting a sudden zeal for republican principles, he easily obtained permission to suppress the “aristocratic” tribes on the coast. His plans in Albania were interrupted by the war against Pasvan Oglu, the rebellious pasha of Widdin, in which Ali once more did good service. Meanwhile international politics had developed in a way that necessitated a change in Ali’s attitude. Napoleon’s occupation of the Ionian Islands and his relations with Ali had alarmed Russia, which feared that French influence would be substituted for her own in the Balkan peninsula; and on the 5th of September 1798 a formal alliance, to which Great Britain soon after acceded, was signed on behalf of the emperor Paul and the sultan. Once more Ali turned Turk and fought against his recent friends with such success that in the end he remained in possession of Butrinto, Prevesa and Vonitza on the coast, was created pasha “of three tails” by the sultan, and received the congratulations of Nelson. But the campaign of Austerlitz followed, then the peace of Pressburg which guaranteed to Napoleon the former dominions of Venice, and finally the treaty of Tilsit, which involved, among other things, the withdrawal of the Russians from the Ionian Islands and the Albanian coast.
Amid all the momentous changes the part of Ali was a difficult one. He had, moreover, to contend with domestic enemies, and with difficulty defeated a league formed against him by some Mussulman tribes, under Ibrahim of Berat and Mustapha of Delvinon, and the Suliots. He knew, however, how to retain the confidence of the sultan, who not only confirmed him in the possession of the whole of Albania from Epirus to Montenegro, but even in 1799 appointed him vali of Rumelia, an office which he held just long enough to enable him to return to Iannina laden with the spoils of Thessaly. He was now at the height of his power. In 1803 the Suliot stronghold fell; and he was undisputed master of Epirus, Albania and Thessaly, while the pashalik of the Morea was held by his son Veli, and that of Lepanto by his son Mukhtar. Only the little town of Parga held out against him on the coast; and in order to obtain this he once more in 1807 entered into an alliance with Napoleon. The French emperor, however, preferred to keep Parga, as a convenient gate into the Balkan peninsula, and it remained in French occupation until March 1814, when the Pargiots rose against the garrison and handed the fortress over to the British to save it from falling into the hands of Ali, who had bought the town from the French commander, Cozi Nikolo, and was closely investing it. The cordial relations between Napoleon and the pasha of Iannina had not long continued. Ali was angered by the refusal to surrender Parga and justly suspicious of the ambitions which this refusal implied; he could not feel himself secure with the Ionian Islands and the Dalmatian coast in the hands of a power whose plans in the East were notorious, and he was glad enough to avail himself of Napoleon’s reverses in 1812 to help to rid himself of so dangerous a neighbor. His services to the allies received their reward. Still bent on obtaining Parga, he sent a special mission to London, backed by a letter from Sir Robert Liston, the British ambassador at Constantinople, calling the attention of the government to the pasha’s supereminent qualities” and his services against the French. After some hesitation it was decided to evacuate Parga and hand it over to the Ottoman government, i.e. Ali Pasha. The convention by which this was effected was ultimately signed on the 17th of May 1817, being ratified by the sultan on the 24th of April 1819. By its terms the Pargiots were to receive an asylum in the islands, the Ottoman government undertaking to pay compensation for their property. Ali had no difficulty in finding the money; the garrison, as soon as it was received, marched out with the bulk of the inhabitants; and the last citadel of freedom in the Balkans fell to the tyrant of Iannina.1
Ali’s authority in the great part of the peninsula subject to him now overshadowed that of the sultan; and Mahmud II., whose whole policy had been directed to destroying the overgrown power of the provincial pashas, began to seek a pretext for overthrowing the Lion of Iannina, whose all-devouring ambition seemed to threaten his own throne. The occasion came in 1820 when Ali, emboldened by impunity, violated the sanctity of Stamboul itself by attempting to procure the murder of his enemy Pacho Bey in the very precincts of the palace. A decree of disposition was now issued against the sacrilegious vali, who had dared “to fire shots in Constantinople, the residence of the caliph, and the centre of security.” Its execution was entrusted to Khurshid Pasha, with the bulk of the Ottoman forces.
For two years Ali, now over eighty years of age, held his own, in spite of the defection of his vassals and even of his sons. At last, in the spring of 1822, after a prolonged siege in his island fortress at Iannina, which even the outbreak of the Greek revolt had not served to raise, the intrepid old man was forced to sue for terms. He asked and received an interview with Khurshid, was received courteously and dismissed with the most friendly assurances. As he turned to leave the grand vizier’s tent he was stabbed in the back; his head was cut off and sent to Constantinople. Notwithstanding their treason to their father, his sons met with the same fate.
In spite of the ferocious characteristics which have been suggested in the above sketch, Ali Pasha is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable, as he is one of the most picturesque, figures in modern history; and as such he was recognized in his own day. His court at Iannina was the centre of a sort of barbarous culture, in which astrologers, alchemists and Greek poets played their part, and was often visited by travellers. Amongst others, Byron came, and has left a record of his impressions in “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” less interesting and vivid than the prose accounts of Pouqueville, T. S. Hughes and William M. Leake. Leake (iii. 259) reports a reproof addressed by Ali to the French renegade Ibrahim Effendi, who had ventured to remonstrate against some particular act of ferocity: “At present you are too young at my court to know how to comport yourself. . . . You are not yet acquainted with the Greeks and Albanians: when I hang up one of these wretches on the plane-tree, brother robs brother under the very branches: if I burn one of them alive, the son is ready to steal his father’s ashes to sell them for money. They are destined to be ruled by me; and no one but Ali is able to restrain their evil propensities.” This is perhaps as good an apology as could be made for his character and methods. To the wild people over whom he ruled none was needed. He had their respect, if not their love; he is the hero of a thousand ballads; and his portrait still hangs among the ikons in the cottages of the Greek mountaineers. All accounts agree in describing him in later life as a man of handsome presence, with a venerable white beard, piercing black eyes and a benevolent cast of countenance, the effect of which was heightened in conversation by a voice of singular sweetness.
AUTHORITIES.–Apart from the scattered references in the published and unpublished diplomatic correspondence of the period, contemporary journals and books of travel contain much interesting material for the life of Ali. Of these may especially be mentioned Francois C. H. L. Pouqueville, Voyage en Moree, a Constantinople, en Albanie, &c. (3 vols., Paris, 1805), of which an English version by A. Plumptre was published in 1815; ib. Voyage dans la Grece (5 vols., Paris, 1820, 1821). Pouqueville, who spent some time as French resident at Iannina, had special facilities for obtaining firsthand information, though his emotionalism makes his observations and deductions at times somewhat suspect. Very interesting also are Thomas Smart Hughes, Travels in Greece and Albania (2 vols., 2nd ed., Lond. 1830); John Cam Hobhouse (Lord Broughton), A Journey through Albania, &c. . . . during the years 1809 and 1810 (Lond., 4to, 1813, a new ed., 2 vols., 1855); William Martin Leake, Travels in Northern Greece (4 vols., Lond. 1845). See also Pouqueville’s Hist. de la regeneration de la Grece, 1740-1824 (4 vols., Paris, 1824, 3rd ed., Brussels, 1825); R. A. Davenport, Life of Ali Pasha, vizier of Epirus (1861). (W. A. P.)
1 In his report on the Ionian Treaty presented to Lord Castlereagh at the congress of Vienna in December 1814, Sir Richard Church strongly advocated, not only the retention of Parga, but that Vonitza, Prevesa and Butrinto also should be taken from Ali Pasha and placed under British protection, a measure he considered necessary. for the safety of the Ionian Islands. “Ali Pasha,” he wrote, “is now busy building forts along his coast and strengthening his castles in the interior. In January 1814 he had 14,000 peasants at work on the castle of Argiro Castro, and about 1500 erecting a fort at Porto Palermo, nearly opposite Corfu.” In 1810 he had erected a fort directly opposite Santa Maura commanding the harbour.
The fate of Parga created intense feeling at the time in England, and was cited by Liberals as a crowning instance of the perfidy of the government and of Castlereagh’s subservience to reactionary tendencies abroad. The step, however, was not lightly taken. In occupying the town the British general had expressly refrained from pledging Great Britain to remain there; and the government held that any permanent occupation of a post on the mainland carried with it risks of complications out of all proportion to any possible benefit.
ALIAGA, a town of the province of Nueva Ecija, Luzon, Philippine Islands, about 70 m. N. by W. of Manila. Pop. (1903) 11,950. It has a comparatively cool and healthful climate, and is pleasantly situated about midway between the Pampanga Grande and the Pampanga Chico rivers, and in a large and fertile valley of which the principal products are Indian corn, rice, sugar and tobacco. Tagalog is the most important language; Ilocano, Pampango and Pangasinan are also used.
ALIAS (Lat. for “at another time”), a term used to connect the different names of a person who has passed under more than one, in order to conceal his identity, or for other reasons; or, compendiously, to describe the adopted name. The expression alias dictus was formerly used in legal indictments, and pleadings where absolute precision was necessary in identifying the person to be charged, as “John Jones, alias dictus James Smith.” The adoption of a name other than a man’s baptismal or surname need not necessarily be for the purpose of deception or fraud; pseudonyms or nicknames fall thus under the description of an alias. Where a person is married under an alias, the marriage is void when both parties have knowingly and wilfully connived at the adoption of the alias, with a fraudulent intention. But if one of the parties to a marriage has acquired a new name by use and reputation, or if the true name of any one of the parties is not known to the other, the use of an alias in these cases will not affect the validity of the marriage.
ALIBI (Lat. for “elsewhere”), in law, the defence resorted to in criminal prosecutions, where the person charged alleges that he was so far distant at the time from the place where the crime was committed that he could not have been guilty. An alibi, if substantiated, is the most conclusive proof of innocence.
ALICANTE, a province of south-eastern Spain; bounded on the N. by Valencia, W. by Albacete and Murcia, S. by Murcia, and S.E. and E. by the Mediterranean Sea. Pop. (1900) 470,149; area, 2096 sq. m. Alicante was formed in 1833 of districts taken from the ancient provinces of Valencia and Murcia, Valencia contributing by far the larger portion. The surface of the province is extremely diversified. In the north and west there are extensive mountain ranges of calcareous formation, intersected by deep ravines; while farther south the land is more level, and there are many fertile valleys. On the Mediterranean coast, unhealthy salt marshes alternate with rich plains of pleasant and productive huertas or gardens, such as those of Alicante and Denia. Apart from Segura, which flows from the highlands of Albacete through Murcia and Orihuela to the sea, there is no considerable river, but a few rivulets flow east into the Mediterranean. The climate is temperate, and the rainfall very slight. Despite the want of rivers and of rain, agriculture is in a flourishing condition. Many tracts, originally rocky and sterile, have been irrigated and converted into vineyards and plantations. Cereals are grown, but the inhabitants prefer to raise such articles of produce as are in demand for export, and consequently part of the grain supply has to be imported. Esparto grass, rice, olives, the sugar-cane, and tropical fruits and vegetables are largely produced. Great attention is given to the rearing of bees and silk-worms; and the wine of the province is held in high repute throughout Spain, while some inferior kinds are sent to France to be mixed with claret. There are iron and lignite mines, but the output is small. Mineral springs are found at various places. The manufactures consist of fine cloths, silk, cotton, woollen and linen fabrics, girdles and lace, paper, hats, leather, earthenware and soap. There are numerous oil mills and brandy distilleries. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the carrying trade, while the fisheries on the coast are also actively prosecuted, tunny and anchovies being caught in great numbers. Barilla is obtained from the sea-weed on the shores, and some of the saline marshes, notably those near Torrevieja, yield large supplies of salt. The principal towns, which are separately described, include Alicante, the capital (pop. 1900, 50,142), Crevillente (10,726), Denia (12,431), Elche (27,308), Novelda (11,388), Orihuela (28,530), and Villena (14,099). Other towns, of less importance, are Aspe (7927), Cocentaina (7093), Monovar (10,601), Pinoso (7946), and Villajoyosa (8902).
ALICANTE, the capital of the Spanish province described above, and one of the principal seaports of the country. Pop. (1900) 50,142. It is situated in 38 deg. 21′ N. and 0 deg. 26′ W., on the Bay of Alicante, an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the termini of railways from Madrid and Murcia. From its harbour, the town presents a striking picture. Along the shore extends the Paseo de los Martires, a double avenue of palms; behind this, the white flat-roofed houses rise in the form of a crescent towards the low hills which surround the city, and terminate, on the right, in a bare rock, 400 ft. high, surmounted by an ancient citadel. Its dry and equable climate renders Alicante a popular health-resort. The city is an episcopal see, and contains a modern cathedral.
The bay affords good anchorage, but only small vessels can come up to the two moles. The harbour is fortified, and there is a small lighthouse on the eastern mole; important engineering works, subsidized by the state, were undertaken in 1902 to provide better accomodation. In the same year 1737 vessels of 939,789 tons entered the port. The trade of Alicante consists chiefly in the manufacture of cotton, linen and woollen goods, cigars and confectionery; the importation of coal, iron, machinery, manures, timber, oak staves and fish; and the exportation of lead, fruit, farm produce and red wines, which are sent to France for blending with better vintages. Fine marble is procured in the island of Plana near the coast.
Alicante was the Roman Lucentum; but, despite its antiquity, it has few Roman or Moorish remains. In 718, it was occupied by the Moors, who were only expelled in 1304, and made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the city in 1331. Alicante was besieged by the French in 1709, and by the Federalists of Cartagena in 1873. For an account of the events which led up to these two sieges, see SPAIN.,
For further details of the local history, see J. Pastor de la Roca, Historia general de la ciudad y castillo de Alicante, &c. (Alicante, 1854); and the Ensayo biografico bibliografico de escritores de Alicante y de su provincia, by M. R. Garcia and A. Montero y Perez (Alicante, 1890).
ALICE MAUD MARY, GRAND-DUCHESS OF HESSE-DARMSTADT (1843-1878), second daughter and third child of Queen Victoria, was born at Buckingham Palace, on the 25th of April 1843. A pretty, delicate-featured child–“cheerful, merry, full of fun and mischief,” as her elder sister described her–fond of gymnastics, a good skater and an excellent horsewoman, she was a general favourite from her earliest days. Her first years were passed without particular incident in the home circle, where the training of their children was a matter of the greatest concern to the queen and the prince consort. Among other things, the royal children were encouraged to visit the poor, and the effect of this training was very noticeable in the later life of Princess Alice. After the marriage of the Princess Royal in 1858, the new responsibilities devolving upon Princess Alice, as the eldest daughter at home, called forth the higher traits of her character, and brought her into still closer relationship with her parents, and especially with her father. In the summer of 1860, at Windsor Castle, Princess Alice first met her future husband, Prince Louis of Hesse. An attachment quickly sprang up, and on the prince’s second visit in November they were formally engaged. In the following year, on the announcement of the contemplated marriage, the House of Commons unanimously voted a dowry of L. 30,000 and an annuity of L. 6000 to the princess. In December 1861, while preparations were being made for the marriage, the prince consort was struck down with typhoid fever, and died on the 14th. Princess Alice nursed her father during his short illness with the utmost care, and after his death devoted herself to comforting her mother under this terrible blow. Her marriage took place at Osborne, on the 1st of July 1862. The princess unconsciously wrote her own biography from this period in her constant letters to Queen Victoria, a selection of which, edited by Dr. Carl Sell, were allowed to be printed in 1883. These letters give a complete picture of the daily life of the duke and duchess, and they also show the intense love of the latter for her husband, her mother and her native land. She managed to visit England every year, and it was at her special request that when she died her husband laid an English flag upon her coffin.
In the war between Austria and Prussia in 1866, Hesse- Darmstadt was upon the side of the Austrians; Prince Louis accompanied his troops to the front, and was duly appointed by the grand-duke to the command of the Hessian division. This was a time of intense trial to the princess, whose husband and brother-in-law, the crown prince of Prussia, were necessarily fighting upon opposite sides. The duke of Hesse also took part in the principal battles of the Franco-Prussian war, while the duchess was actively engaged in organizing hospitals for the relief of the sick and wounded. The death of the duke’s father, Prince Charles of Hesse, on the 20th of March 1877, was followed by that of the grand-duke on the 13th of June, and Prince Louis succeeded to the throne as Grand Duke Louis IV. In the summer of 1878 the grand-duke and duchess, with their family, came again to England, and went to Eastbourne, where the duchess remained for some time. She returned to Darmstadt in the autumn, and on the 8th of November 1878 her daughter, Princess Victoria, was attacked by diphtheria. Three more of her children, as well as her husband, quickly caught the disease, and the youngest, “May,” succumbed on the 16th. On the 7th of December the princess was herself attacked, and, being weakened by nursing and anxiety, had not strength to resist the disease, which proved fatal on the 14th of December, the seventeenth anniversary of her father’s death. She left one son and four daughters. .
See Carl Sell, Alice: Mittheilungen aus ihrem Leben und Briefen, &c. (Darmstadt, 1883), with English translation by the Princess Christian, Alice: biographical sketch and letters (1884). (G. F. B.)
ALIDADE (from the Arab.), the movable index of a graduated arc, used in the measurement of angles. The word is used also to designate the supporting frame or arms carrying the microscopes or verniers of a graduated circle.
ALIEN (Lat. alienus), the technical term applied by British constitutional law to anyone who does not enjoy the character of a British subject; in general, a foreigner who for the purposes of any state comes into certain domestic relations with it, other than those applying to native-born or naturalized citizens, but owns allegiance to a foreign sovereign.
English law, save with the special exceptions mentioned, admits to the character of subjects all who are born within the king’s allegiance, that is, speaking generally, within the British dominions. In the celebrated question of the post-nati in the reign of James I. of England, it was found, after solemn trial, that natives of Scotland born before the union of the crowns were aliens in England, but that, since allegiance is to the person of the king, those born subsequently were English subjects. A child born abroad, whose father or whose grandfather on the father’s side was a British subject, may claim the same character unless at the time of his birth his father was an attainted traitor, or in the service of a state engaged in war against the British empire (4th Geo. II. c. 21). Owing to this exceptional provision some sons of Jacobite refugees born abroad, who joined in the rebellion of 1745, were admitted to the privilege of prisoners of war.
It has been enacted in the United Kingdom with regard to the national status of women and children that a married woman is to be deemed a subject of the state of which her husband is for the time being a subject; that a natural-born British woman, having become an alien by marriage, and thereafter being a widow, may be rehabilitated under conditions slightly more favourable than are required for naturalization; that where a father or a widow becomes an alien, the children in infancy becoming resident in the country where the parent is naturalized, and being naturalized by the local law, are held to be subjects of that country; that those of a father or of a widow readmitted to British nationality or who obtains a certificate of naturalization, becoming during infancy resident with such parent in the British dominions in the former case or in the United Kingdom in the latter, become readmitted or naturalized (Naturalization Act 1870, s. 10). The nationality of children not covered by these enactments is not affected by the change of their parents’ nationality. The same statute provides that a declaration of alienage before a justice of peace or other competent judge, having the effect of divesting the declarant of the character of a British subject, may be made by a naturalized British subject desiring to resume the nationality of the country to which he originally belonged, if there be a convention to that effect with that country; by natural-born subjects who were also born subjects of another state according to its law; or by persons born abroad having British fathers.
Naturalization, which means conferring the character of a subject, may now, under the act of 1870, be obtained by applying to the home secretary and producing evidence of having resided for not less than five years in the United Kingdom, or of having been in the service of the crown for not less than five years, and of intention to reside in the United Kingdom or serve under the crown. Such a certificate may be granted by the secretary of state to one naturalized previously to the passing of the act, or to a British subject as to whose nationality a doubt exists, or to a statutory alien, i.e. one who has become an alien by declaration in pursuance of the act of 1870.
In the United States the separate state laws largely determine the status of an alien, but subject to Federal treaties. (For further particulars see ALLEGIANCE and NATURALIZATION.)
Many of the disabilities to which aliens were subject in the United Kingdom, either by the common law or under various acts of parliament, have been repealed by the Naturalization Act 1870. It enables aliens to take, acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property of every description, and to transmit a title to it, in all respects as natural-born British subjects. But the act expressly declares that this relaxation of the law does not qualify aliens for any office or any municipal, parliamentary or other franchise, or confer any right of a British subject other than those above expressed in regard to property, nor does it affect interests vested in possession or expectancy under dispositions made before the act, or by devolution of law on the death of any one dying before the act. A ship, any share in which is owned by an alien, shall not be deemed a British ship (Merchant Shipping Act 1894, s. i.) By the Juries Act 1870, s. 8, aliens who have been domiciled for ten years in England or Wales, if in other respects duly qualified, are liable to serve on juries or inquests in England or Wales; and by the Naturalization Act 1870, s. 5, the ahens’ old privilege of being tried by a jury de medietate linguae (that is, of which half were foreigners), was abolished.
It seems to be a rule of general public law that an alien can be sent out of the realm by exercise of the crown’s prerogative; but in modern English practice, whenever it seems necessary to expel foreigners (see EXPULSION), a special act of parliament has to be obtained for the purpose, unless the case falls within the extradition acts or the Aliens Act 1905. The latter prohibits the landing in the United Kingdom of undesirable alien steerage passengers, called in the act “immigrants,” from ships carrying more than twenty alien steerage passengers, called in the act “immigrant ships”; nor can alien immigrants be landed except at certain ports at which there is an “immigrant officer,” to whom power of prohibiting the landing is given, subject to a right of appeal to the immigration board of the port. The act contains a number of qualifications, and among these empowers the secretary of state to exempt any immigrant ship from its provisions if he is satisfied that a proper system is maintained to prevent the immigration of undesirable persons. The principal test of undesirableness is not having or being in a position to obtain the means of supporting one’s self and one’s dependents, or appearing likely from disease or infirmity to become a charge on the rates, provided that the immigrant is not seeking to avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political grounds, or persecution, involving danger of imprisonment or danger to life or limb, on account of religious belief. Lunatics, idiots, persons who from disease or infirmity appear likely to become a detriment to the public otherwise than through the rates, and persons sentenced in a foreign country for crimes for which they could be surrendered to that country, are also enumerated as undesirable. Power is also given to the secretary of state to expel persons sentenced as just mentioned, or, if recommended by the court in which they have been convicted, persons convicted of felony or some offence for which the court has power to impose imprisonment without the option of a fine, or of certain offences against the police laws; and persons in receipt of any such parochial relief as disqualifies for the parliamentary franchise, or wandering without ostensible mean of subsistence, or living under insanitary conditions due to overcrowding. (JNO. W.)
ALIENATION (from Lat. alienus, belonging to another), the act or fact of being estranged, set apart or separated. In law the word is used for the act of transfer of property by voluntary deed and not by inheritance. In regard to church property the word has come to mean, since the Reformation, a transfer from religious to secular ownership. “Alienation” is also used to denote a state of insanity (q.v..)
ALIEN-HOUSES, religious houses in England belonging to foreign ecclesiastics, or under their control. They generally were built where property had been left by the donors to foreign orders to pray for their souls. They were frequently regular “priories,” but sometimes only “cells,” and even “granges,’, with small chapels attached. Some, particularly in cities, seem to have been a sort of mission-houses. There were more than 100 in England. Many alien-houses were suppressed by Henry V. and the rest by Henry VIII.
ALIENIST (Lat. alienus, that which belongs to another, i.e. is external to one’s self), one who specializes in the study of mental diseases, which are often included in the generic name “Alienation.” (See INSANITY.)
ALIGARH, a city and district of British India in the Meerut division of the United Provinces. The city, also known as Koil, was a station on the East Indian railway, 876 m. from Calcutta. Sir Sayad Ahmad Khan, K.C.S.I., who died in 1898, founded in 1864 the Aligarh Institute and Scientific Society for the translation into the vernacular of western literature; and afterwards the Mahommedan Anglo-Oriental College, under English professors, with an English school attached. The college meets with strong support from the enlightened portion of the Mussulman community, whose aim is to raise it to the status of a university, with the power of conferring degrees. The population (1901) 70,434, showed an increase of 14% in the decade. There are several flour-mills, cotton-presses and a dairy farm. Aligarh Fort, situated on the Grand Trunk road, consists of a regular polygon, surrounded by a very broad and deep ditch. It became a fortress of great importance under Sindhia in 1759, and was the depot where he drilled and organized his battalions in the European fashion with the aid of De Boigne. It was captured from the Mahrtatas under the leadership of Perron, another French officer, by Lord Lake’s army, in September 1803, since which time it has been much strengthened and improved. In the rebellion of 1857 the troops stationed at Aligarh mutinied, but abstained from murdering their officers, who, with the other residents and ladies and children, succeeded in reaching Hathras.
The district of Aligarh has an area of 1857 sq. m. It is nearly a level plain, but with a slight elevation in the centre, between the two great rivers the Ganges and Jumna. The only other important river is the Kali Nadi, which traverses the entire length of the district from north-east to south-west. The district is traversed by several railways and also by the Ganges canal, which is navigable. The chief trading centre is Hathras. In 1901 the population was 1,200,822, showing an increase of 15% in the decade, due to the extension of irrigation. There are several factories for ginning and pressing cotton.
ALIGNMENT (from Fr. a and ligne, the Lat. linea, a line), a setting in line, generally straight, or the way in which the line runs; an expression used in surveying, drawing, and in military arrangements, the alignment of a regiment or a camp meaning the situation when drawn up in line or the relative position of the tents. The alignment of a rifle has reference to the way of getting the sights into line with the object, so as to aim correctly.
ALIMENT (from Lat. aliment-um, from alere to nourish), a synonym for “food,” literally or metaphorically. The word has also been used in the same legal sense as ALIMONY (q.v..) Aliment, in Scots law, is the sum paid or allowance given in respect of the reciprocal obligation of parents and children, husband and wife, grandparents and grandchildren, to contribute to each other’s maintenance. The term is also used in regard to a similar obligation of other parties, as of creditors to imprisoned debtors, the payments by parishes to paupers, &c. Alimentary funds, whether of the kind above mentioned, or set apart as such by the deed of a testator, are intended for the mere support of the recipient, and are not attachable by creditors.
ALIMENTARY CANAL, in anatomy. The alimentary canal, strictly speaking, is the whole digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. From the one orifice to the other the tube is some 25 to 30 ft. long, and the food, in its passage, passes through the following parts one after the other:–mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, small intestines, caecum, large intestines, rectum and anus. Into this tube at various points the salivary glands, liver and pancreas pour their secretions by special ducts. As the mouth (q.v.) and pharynx (q.v.) are separately described, the detailed description will here begin with the oesophagus or gullet.
The oesophagus (Gr. oiso, I will carry, and fagein, to eat), a muscular tube lined with mucous membrane, stretches from the lower limit of the pharynx, at the level of the cricoid cartilage, to the cardiac orifice of the stomach. It is about 10 in. long (25 cm.) and half to one inch in diameter. At first it lies in the lower part of the neck, then in the thorax, and lastly, for about an inch, in the abdomen. As far as the level of the fourth or fifth thoracic vertebra it lies behind the trachea, but when that tube ends, it is in close contact with the pericardium, and, at the level of the tenth thoracic vertebra, passes through the oesophageal opening of the diaphragm (q.v.), accompanied by the two vagi nerves, the left being in front of it and the right behind. In the abdomen it lies just behind the left lobe of the liver. Both in the upper and lower parts of its course it lies a little to the left of the mid line. Its mucous membrane is thrown into a number of longitudinal pleats to allow stretching.
The stomach (Gr. stomachos) is an irregularly pear-shaped bag, situated in the upper and left part of the abdomen. It is somewhat flattened from before backward and so has an anterior and posterior surface and an upper and lower border. When moderately distended the thick end of the pear or fundus bulges upward and to the left, while the narrow end is constricted to form the pylorus, by means of which the stomach communicates with the small intestine. The cardiac orifice, where the oesophagus enters, is placed about a third of the way along the upper border from the left end of the fundus, and, between it and the pylorus, the upper border is concave and is known as the lesser curvature. From the cardiac to the pyloric orifice, round the lower border, is the greater curvature. The stomach has in front of it the liver (see fig. 1), the diaphragm and the anterior abdominal wall, while behind it are the pancreas, left kidney, left adrenal, spleen, colon and mesocolon. These structures form what is known as the stomach chamber. When the stomach is empty it contracts into a tubular organ which is frequently sharply bent, and the transverse colon ascends to occupy the vacant part of the stomach chamber.
The last inch of the stomach before reaching the pylorus is
From A. Birmingham; Cunningham’s Text-Book of Anatomy.
FIG. 1.–The Abdominal Viscera in situ, as seen when the abdomen is laid open and the great omentum removed (drawn to scale from a photograph of a male body aged 56, hardened by formalin injections).
The ribs on the right side are indicated by Roman numerals; it will be observed that the eighth costal cartilage articulated with the sternum on both sides. The subcostal, intertubercular, and right and left Poupart lines are drawn in black, and the mesial plane is indicated by a dotted line. The intercostal muscles and part of the diaphragm have been removed, to show the liver and stomach extending up beneath the ribs. The stomach is moderately distended, and the intestines are particularly regular in their arrangement.
usually tubular and is known as the pyloric canal. Before reaching this there is a bulging known as the pyloric vestibule (see D. J. Cunningham, Tr. R. Soc. of Edinib. vol. xlv. pt. 1, No. 2). The pylorus is an oval opening, averaging half an inch in its long axis but capable of considerable distension; it is formed by a special development of the circular muscle layer of the stomach, and during life is probably tightly closed. The mucous membrane of the stomach is thrown into pleats or rugae when the organ is not fully distended, while between these it has a mammillated appearance.
Superficial to the mucous coat is a sub-mucous, consisting of loose connective tissue, while superficial to this are three coats of unstriped muscle, the inner oblique, the middle circular and the outer longitudinal. The peritoneal coat is described in the article on the coelom and serous membranes.
The small intestine is a tube, from 22 to 25 ft. long, beginning at the pylorus and ending at the ileo-caecal valve; it is divided into duodenum, jejunum and ileum.
The duodenum is from 9 to 11 in. long and forms a horseshoe or C-shaped curve, encircling the head of the pancreas. It differs from the rest of the gut in being retroperitoneal. Its first part is horizontal and lies behind the fundus of the gall-bladder, passing backward and to the right from the pylorus. The second part runs vertically downward in front of the hilum of the right kidney, and into this part the pancreatic and bile ducts open. The third part runs horizontally to the left in front of the aorta and vena cava, while the fourth part ascends to the left side of the second lumbar vertebra, after which it bends sharply downward and forward to form the duodeno-jejunal flexure.
The jejunum forms the upper two-fifths of the rest of the small intestine; it, like the ileum, is thrown into numerous convolutions and is attached by the mesentery to the posterior abdominal wall. (See COELOM AND SEROUS MEMBRANES.)
The ileum is the remaining three-fifths of the small intestine, though there is no absolute point at which the one ends and the other begins. Speaking broadly, the jejunum occupies the upper and left part of the abdomen below the subcostal plane (see ANATOMY: Superficial and Artistic), the ileum the lower and right part. About 3 ft. from its termination a small pouch, known as Meckel’s diverticulum, is very occasionally found. At its termination the ileum opens into the large intestine at the ileo-caecal valve.
The caecum is a blind sac occupying the right iliac fossa and extending down some two or three inches below the ileo- caecal junction. From its posterior and left surface the vermiform appendix protrudes, and usually is directed upward and to the left, though it not infrequently hangs down into the true pelvis. This worm-like tube is blind at its end and is usually 3 or 4 in. long, though it has been seen as long as 10. in. Its internal opening into the caecum is about 1 in. below that of the ileum. On transverse section it is seen to be composed of (1) an external muscular coat, (2) a submucous coat, (3) a mass of lymphoid tissue, which appears after birth, and (4) mucous membrane. In many cases its lumen is wholly or partly obliterated, though this is probably due to disease (see R. Berry and L. Lack, Journ. Anat. & Phys. vol. H. p. 247). Guarding the opening of the ileum into the caecum is the ileo-caecal valve, which consists of two cusps projecting into the caecum; of these the upper forms a horizontal shelf, while the lower slopes up to it obliquely. Complete absence of the valve has been noticed, and in one such case the writer found that no abdominal inconvenience had been recorded during life. The caecum is usually completely covered by peritoneum, three special pouches of which are often found in its neighbourhood; of these the ileo-colic is just above the point of junction of the ileum and caecum, the ileocaecal just below that point, while the retro-caecal is behind the caecum. At birth the caecum is a cone, the apex of which is the appendix; it is bent upon itself to form a U, and sometimes this arrangement persists throughout life (see C. Toldt, “Die Formbildung d. menschl. Blinddarmes,” Sitz. der Wiener Akad. Bd. ciii. Abteil. 3, p. 41).
The ascending colon runs up from the caecum at the level of the ileo-caecal valve to the hepatic flexure beneath and behind the right lobe of the liver; it is about 8 in. long and posteriorly is in contact with the abdominal wall and right kidney. It is covered by peritoneum except on its posterior surface (see fig. 1).
The transverse colon is variable in position, depending largely on the distension of the stomach, but usually corresponding to the subcostal plane (see ANATOMY: Superficial and Artistic). On the left side of the abdomen it ascends to the splenic flexure, which may make an impression on the spleen (see DUCTLESS GLANDS), and is bound to the diaphragm opposite the eleventh rib by a fold of peritoneum called the phrenico-colic ligament. The peritoneal relations of this part are discussed in the article on the coelom and serous membranes.
The descending colon passes down in front of the left kidney and left side of the posterior abdominal wall to the crest of the ilium; it is about 6 in. long and is usually empty and contracted while the rest of the colon is distended with gas; its peritoneal relations are the same as those of the ascending colon, but it is more likely to be completely surrounded.
The iliac colon stretches from the crest of the ilium to the inner border of the psoas muscle, lying in the left iliac fossa, just above and parallel to Poupart’s ligament. Like the descending, it is usually uncovered by peritoneum on its posterior surface. It is about 6 in. in length.
The pelvic colon lies in the true pelvis and forms a loop, the two limbs of which are superior and inferior while the convexity reaches across to the right side of the pelvis. In the foetus this loop occupies the right iliac fossa, but, as the caecum descends and enlarges and the pelvis widens, it is usually driven out of this region. The distal end of the loop turns sharply downward to reach the third piece of the sacrum where it becomes the rectum. To this pelvic colon Sir F. Treves (Anatomy of the Intestinal Canal, London, 1885) has given the name of the omega loop. Formerly the iliac and pelvic colons were spoken of as the sigmoid flexure, but Treves and T. Jonnesco (Le Colon pelvien pendant la vie intra-uterine, Paris, 1892) have pointed out the inapplicability of the term, and to the latter author the modern description is due.
The rectum, according to modern ideas, begins in front of the third piece of the sacrum; formerly the last part of the O (or omega) loop was described as its first part. It ends in a dilatation or rectal ampulla, which is in contact with the back of the prostate in the male and of the vagina in the female and is in front of the tip of the coccyx. The rectum is not straight, as its name would imply, but has a concavity forward corresponding to that of the sacrum and coccyx.
When viewed from in front three bends are usually seen, the upper and lower of which are sharply concave to the left, the middle one to the right. At the end of the pelvic colon the mesocolon ceases, and the rectum is then only covered by peritoneum at its sides and in front; lower down the lateral covering is gradually reflected off and then only the front is covered. About the junction of the middle and lower thirds of the tube the anterior peritoneal covering is also reflected off on to the bladder or vagina, forming the recto-vesical pouch in the male and the pouch of Douglas in the female. This reflexion is usually about 3 in. above the anal aperture, but may be a good deal lower.
The anal canal is the termination of the alimentary tract, and runs downward and backward from the lower surface of the rectal ampulla between the levatores ani muscles. It is about an inch long and its lateral walls are in contact, so that in section it appears as an antero-posterior slit (see J. Symington, Journ. Anat. and Phys. vol. 23, 1888).
Structure of the Intestine.–The intestine has four coats: serous, muscular, submucous and mucous. The serous or peritoneal coat has already been described wherever it is present. The muscular coat consists of unstriped fibres arranged in two layers, the outer longitudinal and the inner circular (see fig. 2). In the large intestine the longitudinal fibres, instead of being arranged evenly round the tube as they are in the small, are gathered into three longitudinal bands called taeniae (see fig. 1); by the contraction of these the large intestine is thrown into a series of sacculi or slight pouches. The taeniae in the caecum all lead to the vermiform appendix, and form a useful guide to this structure. In the rectum the three taeniae once more become evenly arranged over the whole surface of the bowel, but more thickly on the anterior and posterior parts. The circular layer is always thicker than the longitudinal; in the small intestine it decreases in thickness from the duodenum to the ileum, but in the large it gradually increases again, so that it is thickest in the duodenum and rectum.
The submucous coat is very strong and consists of loose areolar tissue in which the vessels break up.
The mucous coat is thick and vascular (see fig. 2); it consists of an epithelial layer most internally which forms the intestinal glands (see EPITHELIAL, ENDOTHELIAL AND GLANDULAR TISSUES.) External to this is the basement membrane, outside which is a layer of retiform tissue, and this is separated from the submucous coat by a very thin layer of unstriped muscle called the muscularis mucosae. In the duodenum and jejunum the mucous membrane is thrown into a series of transverse pleats called valvulae conniventes (see fig. 3); these begin about an inch from the pylorus and gradually fade away as the ileum is reached. About 4 in. from the pylorus the common bile and pancreatic ducts form a papilla, above which one of the valvulae conniventes makes a hood and below which a vertical fold, the frenulum, runs downward. The surface of the mucous membrane of the whole of the small intestine has a velvety appearance, due to the presence of closely-set, minute, thread-like elevations called vilii (see ffg. 2). Throughout the whole length of the intestinal tract are minute masses of lymphoid tissue called solitary glands (see fig. 2); these are especially numerous in the Caecum and appendix, while in the ileum they are collected into large oval patches, known as agminated glands or Peyer’s patches, the long axes of which, from half an inch to 4 in. long, lie in the long axis of the bowel. They are always found in that part of the intestine which is furthest from the mesenteric attachment. In the interior of the rectum three shelf-like folds, one above the other, project into the cavity and correspond to the lateral concavities or kinks of the tube. They are not in the same line and the largest is usually on the right side. They are known as the plicae recti or valves of Houston. In the anal canal are four or five longitudinal folds called the columns of Morgagni. (For further details, see Quain’s Anatomy, London, 1896; Gray’s Anatomy, London, 1905; Cunningham’s Anatomy, Edinburgh, 1906.)
Embryology.–The greater part of the alimentary canal is formed by the closing-in of the entoderm to make a longitudinal tube, ventral and parallel to the notochord. This tube is blind in front and behind (cephalad and caudad), but the middle part of its ventral wall is for some distance continuous with the wall of the yolk-sac, and this part of the canal, which at first opens into the yolk-sac by a very wide aperture, is called the mid gut. The part in front of it, which lies dorsal to the heart, is the fore gut, while the part behind the aperture of the yolk-sac is the hind gut.
The pharynx, oesophagus, stomach and part of the duodenum are developed from the fore gut, a good deal of the colon and the
From A. Birmingham; Cunningham’s Text-Book of Anatomy. Fig. 3.–Valvulae Conniventes (natural size). A, As seen in a bit of jejunum which has been filled with alcohol and hardened.
B, A portion of fresh intestine spread out under water.
rectum from the hind gut, while the mid gut is responsible for the rest. The cephalic part of the fore gut forms the pharynx (q.v.), and about the fourth week the stomach appears as a fusiform dilatation in the straight tube. Between the two the oesophagus gradually forms as the embryo elongates. The opening into the yolk-sac, which at first is very wide, gradually narrows, as the ventral abdominal walls close in, until in the adult the only indication of the connexion between the gut and the yolk-sac is the very rare presence (about 2%) of Meckel’s diverticulum already referred to. The stomach soon shows signs of the greater and lesser curvatures, the latter being ventral, but maintains its straight position. About the sixth week the caecum appears as a lateral diverticulum, and, until the third month, is of uniform calibre; after this period the terminal part ceases to grow at the same rate as the proximal, and so the vermiform appendix is formed. The mid gut forms a loop with its convexity toward the diminishing vitelline duct, or remains of the yolk-sac, and until the third month it protrudes into the umbilical cord. The greater curvature of the stomach grows more rapidly than the lesser, and the whole stomach turns over and becomes bent at right angles, so that what was its left surface becomes ventral. This turning over of the stomach throws the succeeding part of the intestine into a duodenal loop, which at first has a dorsal and ventral mesentery (see COELOM AND SEROUS MEMBRANES.) The intestine now grows very rapidly and is thrown into a series of coils; the caecum ascends and passes to the right ventral to the duodenum, and presses it against the dorsal wall of the abdomen; then it descends toward its permanent position in the right iliac fossa.
From the ventral surface on the hinder (caudal) closed end of the intestinal tube the allantois grows to form the placenta and bladder (see URINARY SYSTEM, REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM and PLACENTA), and this region is the cloaca into which the alimentary, urinary and generative canals or ducts all open, but later two lateral folds appear which, by their union, divide the cloaca into a ventral and a dorsal part, the former being genito-urinary and the latter alimentary or intestinal. In this way the rectum or dorsal compartment is shut off from the genito-urinary. Later an ectodermal invagination at the hind end of the embryo develops and forms the anal canal; this is the proctodaeum, and for some time it is separated from the hind (caudal) end of the rectal part of the mesodaeum (or part of the intestinal canal formed from the mesoderm) by a membrane called the anal membrane. This is eventually absorbed and the digestive tract now communicates with the surface by the anus.
F. Wood Jones (British Medical Journal, 17th of December 1904) has given a somewhat different description of the development of the cloaca and anus, which better explains the various abnormalities met with in this region but requires further confirmation before it is generally accepted. For the development of the mouth, pharynx, lungs, liver and pancreas from the primitive alimentary canal, the reader is referred to the special articles on those structures. (For further details, see W. His, Anatomie menschlicher Embryonen (Leipzig, 1880-1885); C. S. Minot’s Embryology (New York, 1897); and J. P. M`Murrich, Development of the Human Body (London, 1906). (F. G. P.)
Comparative Anatomy.–The primitive condition of the vertebrate alimentary canal may be described as a straight, simple tube, consisting of an anterior portion, the stomodaeum, formed by an ectodermal invagination, the mesenteron, a long median portion lined by endoderm, and a short posterior portion, the proctodaeum, formed by ectodermal invagination. In the lower vertebrates the primitive tube subserved also the purpose of respiration, and traces of the double function remain in the adult structure of all vertebrates (see MOUTH, PHARYNX.) In fish, the pharynx, or branchial region, suddenly becomes narrower, posterior to the gill-slits, to form the oesophagus; in higher animals the oesophagus, in the adult, is separated from the primitive pharyngeal region and lies dorsal to it. Probably, in the primitive vertebrata, the entire alimentary canal was lined with ciliated cells. Traces of this ciliation persist in many living forms. In the Ammocoete, the larval form of Petromyzon (see CYCLOSTOMATA), the whole canal is ciliated except the pharynx and the rectum; in the Dipnoi the epithelium of the stomach and the intestines is ciliated; in Selachii that of the posterior part of the gullet, and the spiral valve, is ciliated; extensive ciliation may occur in almost any region of the gut of the lower teleos. tomes, but in the higher forms (Teleostei) it is generally absent. In the latter, however, and in higher groups of vertebrates, a peculiar striated border on the columnar cells lining the intestinal tract has been held to be a final trace of ancestral ciliation.
The alimentary canal may be conveniently described in three divisions, the oesophagus or gullet, the passage by which food reaches the stomach, the stomach, typically an expanded region in which the food remains for a considerable time and is mechanically pulped, mixed with mucus and certain digestive juices (see NUTRITION) and partly macerated, the intestinal tract or gut, extending from the distal end of the stomach to the cloaca or anus, in which the food is subjected to further digestive action, but which is above all the region in which absorption of the products of digestion takes place, the refuse material together with quantities of waste matter entering the gut from the blood and liver being gradually passed towards the anus for discharge from the body.
The oesophagus is essentially merely a passage, as straight as may be, from the pharynx to the stomach, varying in length with the length of the neck and thoracic regions in different animals, and in calibre with the nature of the food. It is almost invariably lined with a many-layered epithelium, forming a tough coating, readily repaired and not easily damaged by hard food masses. It is occasionally separated from the stomach by a slight constriction which may be capable of contraction so as to prevent regurgitation. There are few exceptions to this structural and functional simplicity. In fishes (see ICHTHYOLOGY, Anatomy) the swim-bladder is developed as a dorsal outgrowth of the oesophagus and may remain in open connexion with it. In certain Teleosteis (e.g. Liitodeira) it is longer than the length it has to traverse and is thrown into convolutions. In many other fish, particularly Selachiis, a set of processes of the lining wall project into the cavity near the stomach and have been supposed to aid in preventing food particles, or living creatures swallowed without injury, escaping backwards into the mouth. In some egg-eating snakes the sharp tips of the ventral spines (hypapophyses) of the posterior cervical vertebrae penetrate the wall of the oesophagus and are used for breaking the shells of the eggs taken as food. In some aquatic Chelonians, the food of which consists chiefly of seaweeds, the lining membrane is produced into pointed processes backwardly directed. In birds this region frequently presents peculiarities. In Opisthocomus it forms an enormously wide double loop, hanging down over the breast-bone, which is peculiarly flattened and devoid of a keel in the anterior portion. In many birds part of the oesophagus may be temporarily dilated, forming a “crop,” as for instance in birds of prey and humming birds. In the flamingo, many ducks, storks, and the cormorant the crop is a permanent although not a highly specialized enlargement. Finally, in the vast majority of seed- eating birds, in gallinaceous birds, pigeons, sandgrouse, parrots and many Passeres, particularly the finches, the crop is a permanent globular dilatation, in which the food is retained for a considerable time, mixed with a slight mucous secretion, and softened and partly macerated by the heat of the body. Many birds feed their young from the soft contents of the crop, and in pigeons, at the breeding season, the cells lining the crop proliferate rapidly and are discharged as a soft cheesy mass into the cavity, forming the substance known as pigeon’s milk. Amongst Mammalia, in Rodentia, Carnivora, elephants and ruminants, the wall of the oesophagus contains a layer of voluntary muscle, by the contraction of which these animals induce anti- peristaltic movements and can so regurgitate food into the mouth.
Stomach.–Where the oesophagus passes into the stomach, the lining wall of the alimentary tract changes from a many-layered epithelium to a mucous epithelium, consisting of a single layer of endodermal cells, frequently thrown into pits or projecting as processes; from being chiefly protective, it has become secretory and absorbing, and maintains this character to the distal extremity where it passes into the epiblast of the proctodaeum. In most cases the course of the alimentary canal from the distal end of the oesophagus to the cloaca or anus is longer than the corresponding region of the body, and the canal is therefore thrown into folds. The fundamental form of the stomach is a sac-like enlargement of the canal, the proximal portion of which is continuous with the line of the oesophagus, but the distal portion of which is bent in the proximal portion, the whole forming an enlarged bent tube. At the distal end of the tube the intestinal tract proper begins, and the two regions are separated by a muscular constriction. In fishes the stomach is generally in one of two forms; it may be a simple bent tube, the proximal limb of which is almost invariably much wider than the distal, anteriorly directed limb; or the oesophagus may pass directly into an expanded, globular or elongated sac, from the anterior lateral wall of which, not far from the oesophageal opening, the duodenum arises. In Batrachia and Reptilia the stomach is in most cases a simple sac, marked off from the oesophagus only by increased calibre. In the Crocodilia, however, the anterior portion of the stomach is much enlarged and very highly muscular, the muscles radiating from a central tendinous area on each of the flattened sides. The cavity is lined by a hardened secretion and contains a quantity of pebbles and gravel which are used in the mechanical trituration of the food, so that the resemblance to the gizzard of birds is well marked. This muscular chamber leads by a small aperture into a distal, smaller and more glandular chamber. In birds the stomach exhibits two regions, an anterior glandular region, the proventriculus, the walls of which are relatively soft and contain enlarged digestive glands aggregated in patches (e.g. some Steganopodes), in rows (e.g. most birds of prey) or in a more or less regular band. The distal region is larger and is lined in most cases by a more or less permanent lining which is thick and tough in birds with a muscular gizzard, very slight in the others. In many birds, specially those feeding on fish, the two regions of the stomach are of equal width, and are indistinguishable until, on opening the cavity, the difference in the character of the lining membrane becomes visible. In other birds the proventriculus is separated by a well marked constriction from the posterior and larger region. In graminiferous forms the latter becomes a thick-walled muscular gizzard, the muscles radiating from tendinous areas and the cavity containing pebbles or gravel.
In mammals, the primitive form of the stomach consists of a more or less globular or elongated expansion of the oesophageal region, forming the cardiac portion, and a forwardly curved, narrower pyloric portion, from which the duodenum arises. The whole wall is muscular, and the lining membrane is richly glandular. In the Insectivora, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, and in most Edentata, Chiroptera, Rodentia and Primates, this primitive disposition is retained, the difference consisting chiefly in the degrees of elongation of the stomach and the sharpness of the distal curvature. In other cases the cardiac portion may be prolonged into a caecal sac, a condition most highly differentiated in the blood-sucking bat, Desmodeus, where it is longer than the entire length of the body. There are two cardiac extensions in the hippopotamus and in the peccary. In many other mammals one, two or three protrusions of the cardiac region occur, whilst in the manatee and in some rodents the cardiac region is constricted off from the pyloric portion. In the Artiodactyla the stomach is always complex, the complexity reaching a maximum in ruminating forms. In the Suidae a cardiac diverticulum is partly constricted from the general cavity, forming an incipient condition of the rumen of true ruminants; the general cavity of the stomach shows an approach to the ruminant condition by the different characters of the lining wall in different areas. In the chevrotains, which in many other respects show conditions intermediate between nonruminant artiodactyles and true ruminants, the oesophagus opens into a wide cardiac portion, incompletely divided into four chambers. Three of these, towards the cardiac extremity, are lined with villi and correspond to the rumen or paunch; the fourth, which lies between the opening of the oesophagus and the pyloric portion of the stomach, is the ruminant reticulum and its wall is lined with very shallow “cells.” A groove runs along its dorsal wall from the oesophageal aperture to a very small cavity lined with low, longitudinally disposed folds, and forming a narrow passage between the cardiac and pyloric divisions; this is an early stage in the development of the omasum, psalterium or manyplies of the ruminant stomach. The fourth or true pyloric chamber is an elongated sac with smooth glandular walls and is the abomasum, or rennet sack. In the camel the rumen forms an enormous globular paunch with villous walls and internally showing a trace of division into two regions. It is well marked off from the reticulum, the “cells” of which are extremely deep, forming the well-known water-chambers. The psalterium is sharply constricted off from the reticulum and is an elongated chamber showing little trace of the longitudinal ridges characteristic of this region; it opens directly into the relatively small abomasum. In the true ruminants, the rumen forms a capacious, villous reservoir, nearly always partly sacculated, into which the food is passed rapidly as the animal grazes. The food is subjected to a rotary movement in the paunch, and is thus repeatedly subjected to moistening with the fluids secreted by the reticulum, as it is passed over the aperture of that cavity, and is formed into a rounded bolus. Most ruminants swallow masses of hairs, and these, by the rotary action of the paunch, are aggregated into peculiar dense, rounded balls which are occasionally discharged from the mouth and are known as “hair-balls” or “bezoars.” The food bolus, when the animal is lying down after grazing, is passed into the oesophagus and reaches the mouth by antiperistaltic contractions of the oesophagus. After prolonged mastication and mixing with saliva, it is again swallowed, but is now passed into the psalterium, which, in true ruminants, is a small chamber with conspicuous longitudinal folds. Finally it reaches the large abomasum where the last stages of gastric digestion occur.
In the Cetacea the stomach is different from that found in any other group of mammals. The oesophagus opens directly into a very large cardiac sac the distal extremity of which forms a long caecal pouch. At nearly the first third of its length this communicates by a narrow aperture into the elongated, relatively narrow pyloric portion. The latter is convoluted and constricted into a series of chambers that differ in different groups of Cetacea. In the Sirenia the stomach is divided by a constriction into a cardiac and a pyloric portion, and the latter has a pair of caeca. In most of the Marsupialia the stomach is relatively simple, forming a globular sac with the oesophageal and pyloric apertures closely approximated; in the kangaroos, on the other hand, the stomach is divided into a relatively small, caecal cardiac portion and an enormously long sacculated and convoluted pyloric region, the general arrangement of which closely recalls the large caecum of many mammals.
Intestinal Tract.–It is not yet possible to discuss the general morphology of this region in vertebrates as a group, as, whilst the modifications displayed in birds and mammals have been compared and studied in detail, those in the lower groups have not yet been systematically co-ordinated.
Fishes.–In the Cyclostomata, Holocephali and a few Teleostei the course of the gut is practically straight from the pyloric end of the stomach to the exterior, and there is no marked differentiation into regions. In the Dipnoi, a contracted sigmoid curve between the stomach and the dilated intestine is a simple beginning of the complexity found in other groups. In very many of the more specialized teleosteans, the gut is much convoluted, exhibiting a series of watchspring-like coils. In a number of different groups, increased surface for absorption is given, not by increase in length of the whole gut, but by the development of an internal fold known as the spiral valve. This was probably originally a longitudinal fold similar to the typhlosole of chaetopods. It forms a simple fold in the larval Ammocoete, and in its anterior region remains straight in some adult fish, e.g. Polypterus, but in the majority of cases it forms a complex spiral, wound round the inner wall of the expanded large intestine, the internal edge of the fold sometimes meeting to form a central column. It occurs in Cyclostomata, Selachii, Holocephali, Chondrostei, Crossopterygii, Amiidae, Lepidosteidae and Dipnoi. A set of organs peculiar to fish and known as the pyloric caeca are absent in Cyclostomata and Dipnoi, in most Selachii and in Amia, but present, in numbers ranging from one to nearly two hundred, in the vast majority of fish. These are outgrowths of the intestinal tract near the pyloric extremity of the stomach, and their function is partly glandular, partly absorbing. In a few Teleostei there is a single caecal diverticulum at the beginning of the “rectum,” and in the same region a solid rectal gland occurs in most elasmobranchs, whilst, again, in the Dipnoi a similar structure opens into the cloaca. These caeca have been compared with the colic caeca of higher vertebrates, but there is yet no exact evidence for the homology.
In the Batrachia the course of the intestinal tract is nearly straight from the pyloric end of the stomach to the cloaca, in the case of the perennibranchiates there being no more than a few simple loops between the expanded “rectum” and the straight portion that leaves the stomach. In the Caducibranchiata the anterior end of the enlarged rectum lies very close to the distal extremity of the stomach, and the gut, between these two regions, is greatly lengthened, forming a loop with many minor loops borne at the periphery of an expanse of mesentery, recalling the Meckelian tract of birds and mammals. In the tadpole this region is spirally coiled and is still longer relatively to the length of the whole tract. In Hyla and Pipa there is a small caecum comparable with the colic caecum of birds and mammals.
In Reptilia the configuration of the intestinal tract does not differ much from that in Batrachia, the length and complexity of the minor coils apparently varying with the general configuration of the body, that is to say, in reptiles with a long, narrow, and snake-like body the minor loops of the gut are relatively short and unimportant, whilst in those with a more spacious cavity, such as chelonians, many lizards and crocodiles, the gut may be relatively long and disposed in many minor coils. There is comparatively little differentiation between the mid-gut and the gut in cases where the whole gut is long; in the others the hind-gut is generally marked by an increase of calibre. A short caecal diverticulum, comparable with the colic caecum of birds and mammals, is present in many snakes and lizards and in some chelonians.
In fishes, batrachians and reptiles the intestinal tract is swung from the dorsal wall of the abdominal cavity by a mesentery which is incomplete on account of secondary absorption in places, and which grows out with the minor loops of the gut. There are also traces, more abundant in the lower forms, of the still more primitive ventral mesentery.
Intestinal Tract in Birds and Mammals.–There is no doubt but that the similarity of the modes of disposition of the alimentary tract in birds and mammals points to the probability of the chief morphological features of this region in these animals having been laid down in some common ancestor, although we
FIG. 4.–Intestinal Tract of Chauna chavaria. c.c. Colic caeca. p.v. Cut root of portal vein. d. Duodenum. r.v. Rectal vein. g. Glandular patch. s. Proventriculus. l.l. Meckel’s tract. y. Meckel’s diverticulum, or l.i. Hind-gut. Yolk-sac vestige. have not yet sufficient exact knowledge of the gut in Pisces, Batrachia and Reptilia to find amongst these with any certainty the most probable survival from the ancestral condition. The primitive gut must be supposed to have run backwards from the stomach to the cloaca suspended from the dorsal wall of the body-cavity by a dorsal mesentery. This tract, in the course of phylogeny of the common ancestors of birds and mammals, became longer than the straight length between its extreme points and, consequendy, was thrown into a series of folds. The mesentery grew out with these folds, but the presence of adjacent organs, the disturbance due to the outgrowth of the liver, and the secondary relations brought about between different portions of the gut, as the out-growing loops invaded each other’s localities, disturbed the primitive simplicity. Three definite regions of outgrowth, however, became conspicuous and are to be recognized in the actual disposition of the gut in existing birds and mammals. The first of these is the duodenum. In the vast majority of birds, and in some of the simpler mammals, the portion of the gut immediately distal of the stomach grows out into a long and narrow loop (fig. 4, d), the proximal and distal ends of which are close together, whilst the loop itself may remain long and narrow, or may develop minor loops on its course. In mammals generally, however, the duodenum is complex and is not so sharply marked off from the distal portion of the gut as in birds. The second portion is Meckel’s tract. It consists of the part generally known as the small intestines, the jejunum and ileum of human anatomy, and
Fig. 5,–Intestinal Tract of Canis vulpes. S, cut end of duodenum; C, caecum; R, cut end of rectum.
stretches from the distal end of the duodenum to the caecum or caeca. It is the chief absorbing portion of the gut, and in nearly all birds and mammals is the longest portion. It represents, however, only a very small part of the primitive straight gut, corresponding to not more than two or three somites of the embryo. This narrow portion grows out to form the greater part of what is called the pendent loop in mammalian embryology. Its anterior or proximal end lies close to the approximated
Fig. 6.–Intestinal Tract of Macropus bennetti. S, cut end of duodenum; R, cut end of rectum; C, caecum; C2, accessory caecum; C.L, colic loop of hind-gut.
proximal and distal ends of the duodenal loop, whilst its distal end passes into the hind-gut at the colic caecum or caeca. In the embryos of all birds and mammals, the median point of Meckel’s tract, the part of the loop which has grown out farthest from the dorsal edge of the mesentery, is marked by the diverticulum caecum vitelli, the primitive connexion of the cavity of the gut with the narrowing stalk of the yolk-sac (fig. 4, y.) Naturally, in birds where the yolk-sac is of great functional importance this diverticulum is large, and in a majority of the families of birds persists throughout life, forming a convenient point of orientation. In mammals, no doubt in association with the functional reduction of the yolk-sac, this diverticulum, which is known as Meckel’s diverticulum, has less importance, and whilst it has been observed in a small percentage of adult human subjects has not been recognized in the adult condition of any lower Mammalia.
In birds, Meckel’s tract falls into minor folds or loops, the disposition of which forms a series of patterns remarkably different in appearance and characteristic of different groups. In fig. 4 an extremely primitive type is represented. In mammals Meckel’s tract remains much more uniform; it may be short, or increase enormously in length, but in either case it falls into a fairly symmetrical shape, suspended at the circumference of a nearly circular expanse of mesentery. Where it is short it is thrown into very simple minor loops (figs. 5, 6 and 7); where it is long, these minor loops form a convoluted mass (figs. 8 abd 9).
FIG. 7.–Intestinal Tract of Tapir. S, cut end of duodenum; R, cut end of rectum; C, caecum; CL, colon.
The third portion of the gut should be termed the hind-gut and lies between the caecum or caeca and the anus, corresponding to the large intestines, colon and rectum of human anatomy. It is formed from a much larger portion of the primitive straight gut than the duodenum and Meckel’s tract together, and its proximal portion, in consequence, lies very close to the origin of the duodenum. In the vast majority of birds, the hind-gut in the adult is relatively extremely short, often being only from
Fig. 8.–Intestinal Tract of Giraffe. S, cut end of duodenum; R, cut end of rectum; C, caecum; P.C.L, post-caecal loop; S.P, spiral loop; SF, third loop of hind-gut.
one-eighth to one-thirtieth of the whole length of the gut. A certain number of primitive birds, however, have retained a relatively long condition of the hind-gut (fig. 4), the greatest relative length occurring in struthious birds, and particularly in the ostrich, where the hind-gut exceeds in length the duodenum and Meckel’s tract together. Mammals may be contrasted with birds as a group in which the hind-gut is always relatively long, sometimes extremely long, and in which, moreover, there is a strong tendency to differentiation of the hind-gut into regions the characters of which are of systematic importance. The first region is the colon, which forms a very simple expansion in mammals such as Carnivora (fig. 5), where the whole hind-gut is relatively short, or a series of simple loops in mammals in which the whole gut has a primitive disposition (e.g. Marsupialia, fig. 6). In the odd-toed Ungulata, the colon (fig. 7) forms an enormously long loop, the two limbs of which are closely approximated and the calibre of which is very large. In Ruminantia (fig. 8) the colon is still more highly differentiated, displaying first a simple wide loop, then a complicated watchspring-like coil, and finally a very long, irregular portion. In the higher Primates (fig. 9) it forms one enormous very wide loop, corresponding to the ascending, transverse and descending colons of human anatomy, and a shorter distal loop, the omega loop of human anatomy. Other striking patterns are displayed in other mammalian groups.
The second region of the hind-gut is usually known as the rectum. and although it is sometimes lengthened it is typically little longer than the portion of the primitive straight gut that it represents.
FIG. 9.–Intestinal Tract of Gorilla. S, cut end of duodenum; R, cut end of rectum; C, vermiform appendix of caecum; X, X2, X3, cut ends of factors of the portal vein.
Adaptations of the Intestinal Tract to Function.–The chief business of the gut is to provide a vascular surface to which the prepared food is applied so that the nutritive material may be absorbed into the system. Overlying and sometimes obscuring the morphological patterns of the gut, are many modifications correlated with the nature of the food and producing homoplastic resemblances independent of genetic affinity. Thus in birds and mammals alike there is a direct association of herbivorous habit with great relative length of gut. The explanation of this, no doubt, is simply that the vegetable matter which such creatures devour is in a form which requires not only prolonged digestive action, but, from the intimate admixture of indigestible material, a very large absorbing surface. In piscivorous birds and mammals, the gut is very long, with a thick wall and a relatively small calibre, whilst there is a general tendency for the regions of the gut to be slightly or not at all defined. Fish, as it is eaten by wild animals, contains a large bulk of indigestible matter, and so requires an extended absorbing surface; the thick wall and relatively small calibre are protections against wounding by fish bones. In frugivorous birds the gut is strikingly short, wide and simple, whilst a similar change has not taken place in frugivorous mammals. Carnivorous birds and mammals have a relatively short gut. In birds, generally, the relation of the length and calibre of the gut to the size of the whole creature is striking. If two birds of similar habit and of the same group be compared, it will be found that the gut of the larger bird is relatively longer rather than relatively wider. The same general rule applies to Meckel’s tract in mammals, whereas in the case of the hind-gut increase of capacity is given by increase of calibre rather than by increased length.
The Colic Caeca.–These organs lie at the junction of the hind-gut with Meckel’s tract and are homologous in birds and mammals although it happens that their apparent position differs in the majority of cases in the two groups. In most birds, the hind-gut is relatively very short, and the caecal position, accordingly, is at a very short distance from the posterior end of the body. whereas in most mammals the hind-gut is very long and the position of the caecum or caeca is relatively very much farther from the anus. Next, in most birds, the caeca when present are paired, whereas in most mammals there is only a single caecum. On the other hand, in certain birds (herons) as a normal occurrence, and in many birds as an individual variation, only a single caecum occurs. In some mammals, e.g. many armadillos, in Hyrax and the manatee, the caeca are normally paired; in many other (e.g. some rodents and marsupials) in addition to the normal caecum there is a reduced second caecum, whilst in quite a number of forms the relation of the caecum, ileum and colon at their junction is readily intelligible on the assumption that the caeca were originally paired. The origin and many of the peculiarities of the ileo-caecal valve find their best explanation on this hypothesis.
The caeca are hollow outgrowths of the wall of the gut, the blind ends being directed forwards. The caecal wall is in most cases highly glandular and contains masses of lymphoid tissue. In birds and in mammals this tissue may be so greatly increased as to transform the caecum into a solid or nearly solid sac, the calibre of which is for the most part smaller than that of the unmodified caecum. In some birds, the whole area of the caecum may be modified in this way; in mammals, it is generally the terminal portion, which then becomes the vermiform appendix, familiar in the anthropoid apes, in man and in some rodents. It is difficult to see in this modification merely a degeneration; not improbably it is the formation of a new glandular organ.
The caeca exhibit almost every gradation of development, from relatively enormous size to complete absence, and there is no definite, invariable connexion between the nature of the food and the degree of their development. In the case of birds, it may be said that on the whole the caeca are generally large in herbivorous forms and generally small in insectivorous, frugivorous, carnivorous and piscivorous forms, but there are many exceptions. Thus, owls and falcons have a diet that is closely similar, and yet owls have a pair of very long caeca, whilst in the Falconidae these organs are much reduced and apparently functionless. The insectivorous and omnivorous rollers, motmots and bee-eaters have a pair of large caeca, whilst in passerine birds of similar habit the caeca are vestigial glandular nipples. It is impossible to doubt that family history dominates in this matter. Certain families tend to retain the caeca, others to lose them, and direct adaptation to diet appears only to accelerate or retard these inherited tendencies. So also in mammals, no more than a general relation between diet and caecal development can be shown to exist, although the large size of the single caecum of mammals is more closely associated with a herbivorous as opposed to a carnivorous, frugivorous, piscivorous or omnivorous diet than is the case in birds. There is no relationship between diet and the complete or partial presence of both members of the primi-pair of caeca in mammals, the occurrence of the pair being rather an “accident” of inheritance than in any direct relation to function.
LITERATURE.–T. W. Bridge, in The Cambridge Natural History (vol. vii).; D. S. Jordan, A Guide to the Study of Fishes; R. Owen, Anatomy of Vertebrates; M. Weber, Die Saugethiere; W. H. Flower, The Organs of Digestien in Mammalia; R. Wiedersheim, Lehrbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie der Wirbelthiere; A. Oppel, Lehrbuch der vergleichenden mikroskopischen Anatomie der Wirbelthiere; Chalmers Mitchell, “The Intestinal Tract of Birds,” Transactions of the Linn. Soc. of London (vol. viii., 1901); and “On the Intestinal Tract of Mammals,” Transactions of the Zool. Soc. of London (vol. xvii., 1905). (In the two latter memoirs a fuller list of literature is given.) (P. C. M.)
ALIMONY (from Lat. afere, to nourish), in law the allowance for maintenance to which a wife is entitled out of her husband’s estate for her support on a decree for judicial separation or for the dissolution of the marriage. Though, as a rule, payable to a wife, it may, if the circumstances of the case warrant it, be payable by the wife to the husband. Alimony is of two kinds, (a) temporary (pendente lite), and (b) permanent. Temporary alimony, or alimony pending suit, is the provision made by the husband for the wife in causes between them to enable her to live during the progress of the suit, and is allowed whether the suit is by or against the husband and whatever the nature of the suit may be. The usual English practice is to allot as temporary alimony about one-fifth of the husband’s net income; where it appears that the husband has no means or is in insolvent circumstances, the court will refuse to allot temporary alimony. So where the wife is supporting herself by her own earnings, this fact will be taken into consideration. And where the wife and husband have lived apart for many years before the institution of the suit, and she has supported herself during the separation, no alimony will be allotted. Nor will the wife be entitled to alimony where she has sufficient means of support independent of her husband. Permanent alimony is that which is allotted to the wife after final decree. By the Matrimonial Causes Act 1907, the court may, if it think fit, on any decree for dissolution or nullity of marriage, order that the husband shall, to the satisfaction of the court, secure to the wife such a gross sum of money or such annual sum of money for any term not exceeding her life, as having regard to her fortune (if any), to the ability of her husband, and to the conduct of the parties, it may deem reasonable. The court may suspend the pronouncing of its decree until a proper deed or instrument has been executed by all necessary parties. The court may also make an order on the husband for payment to the wife during their joint lives of a reasonable monthly or weekly sum for her maintenance; the court may also at any time discharge, modify, suspend or increase the order according to the altered means of the husband; the court has also power to make provision for children. Alimony is paid direct to the wife or to a trustee or trustees on her behalf, but the court may impose any restrictions which seem expedient. We may also describe as a kind of alimony the allowance of a reasonable weekly sum not exceeding L. 2 which in England, under the Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) Act 1895, may be given to a married woman on applying to a court of summary jurisdiction if she has been forced by cruelty to leave her husband or has been deserted by him.
United States.–Alimony is granted by the courts of the several states on much the same principle as in England, though in many states the courts of equity as such may grant alimony without divorce or separation proceedings independently of any statute, on the ground that it is just that the husband should support his wife when she lives apart from him for his fault, and since the courts of common law provide no remedy the courts of equity will. This is so in Alabama (Brady v. Brady, 1905, 39 So. Rep. 237), Kentucky, North Carolina, Iowa, California, Ohio, Virginia, South Dakota and the District of Columbia. In other states alimony without such proceedings is allowed by statute, and such alimony is now very general throughout the United States. The usual grounds for the allowance of it are desertion and such conduct as would amount to legal cruelty. After divorce a vinculo, alimony or separate maintenance is sometimes granted on good reason. The marriage must be proven as a fact, but a “common law” marriage, i.e. one established by cohabitation and repute, is sufficient. In several states alimony or maintenance is by statute allowed to the husband in certain cases out of the wife’s property. This is so in Massachusetts, Virginia, Rhode Island and Iowa. In Oregon he is entitled to one-third of his wife’s real estate in addition to maintenance on divorce for her fault. The amount of alimony depends upon the circumstances of each case as in England. Permanent alimony is generally more than when pendenite lite, and usually one-third the husband’s income. It may generally be changed from time to time as the circumstances of the parties change. Judgment for alimony is considered a judgment in personam and not in rem, and can only be enforced outside the state where rendered in case the husband has been personally served with process within that state. The remarriage of the man is not sufficient ground for reducing the alimony (Smith v. Smith, 1905, 102 N.W. Rep. 631), but on remarriage of a woman to one able to support her, her former husband being in poor circumstances, it will be reduced (Kiralfy v. Kiralfy, 1901, 36 Wisc. N.S. 407).
ALIN, OSCAR JOSEF (1846–1900), Swedish historian and politician, was born at Falun on the 22nd of December 1846. In 1872 he became docent, and in 1882 professor of political economy at Upsala, of which university he was afterwards rector. In September 1888 he was elected a member of the first chamber of the Riksdag, where he attached himself to the conservative protectionist party, over which, from the first, he exercised great authority. But it is as a historian that Alin is most remarkable. Among his numerous works the following are especially worthy of note: Bidrag till svenska radets historia under. medeltiden (Upsala, 1872); Sveriges Historia, 1511-1611 (Stockholm, 1878); Bidrag till svenska statsrickets historia (Stockholm, 1884-1887); Den svensk-norsk Unionen (Stockholm, 1889-1891), the best book on the Norwego-Swedish Union question from the Swedish point of view; Fjerde Artiklen af Fredstraktaten i Kiel (Stockholm, 1899); Carl Johan och Sveriges yttre politik, 1810-1815 (Stockholm, 1899); Carl XIV. och Rikets Stander, 1840-1841 (Stockholm, 1893). He also edited Sveniska Riksdagsakter, 1521-1554 (Stockholm, 1887), in conjunction with E. Hildebrand, and Sveriges Grundlagar (Stockholm, 1892). He died at Upsala on the 31st of December 1900.
Obituary notice in Sv. Hist. Tidssk. (1901). (R. N. B.)
ALIPUR, a suburb of Calcutta, containing Belvedere House, the official residence of the lieutenant-governor of Bengal, and a number of handsome mansions. It lies within the limits of the south suburban municipality, and is a cantonment of native troops. On the Calcutta maidan, opposite Alipur Bridge, stood two trees under which duels were fought. It was here that the meeting in 1780 between Warren Hastings and Sir Philip Francis took place.
ALIQUOT (a Lat. word meaning “some,” “so many”), a term generally occurring in the phrase “aliquot part,” and meaning that one quantity is exactly divisible into another; thus 3 is an aliquot part of 6.
ALIRAJPUR, a native state of India, under the Bhopawar agency in Central India. It lies in Malwa, near the frontier of Bombay. It has an area of 836 sq. m.; and a population (1901) of 50,185. The country is hilly, and many of the inhabitants are aboriginal Bhils. It has from time to time been under British administration. The chief, whose title is Rana, is a Rahtor Rajput. He has an estimated revenue of L. 8700, and pays a tribute of L. 700. The Victoria bridge at Alirajpur was built to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of 1897.
ALISMACEAE (from the Gr. alisma, a water-plant mentioned by Dioscorides), in botany, a natural order of monocotyledons belonging to the series Helobieae, and represented in Britain by the water plantain, Alisma Plantago, the arrow-head, Sagittaria, the star-fruit, Damasonium, and flowering rush, Butomus (from the Gr. bous, ox, temnein, to cut, in allusion to leaves cutting the tongues of oxen feeding on them). They are marsh- or water-plants with generally a stout stem (rhizome) creeping in the mud, radical leaves and a large, much branched inflorescence. The leaves show a great variety in shape, often
FIG. 1.–Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus.) 1, Flower in vertical section; 2, horizontal plan of arrangement of flower.
the same plant, according to their position in, on or above the water. The submerged leaves are long and grass- like, the floating leaves oblong or rounded, while the aerial leaves are borne on long, thin stalks above the water, and are often heart- or arrow-shaped at the base. The flower-bearing stem is tall; the flowers are borne in whorls on the axis as in arrow-head, on whorled branchlets as in water plantain or in an umbel as in Butomus (fig. 1). The flowers are regular and rather showy, generally with three greenish sepals, followed in regular succession by three white or purplish petals, six to indefinite stamens and six to indefinite free carpels. The floral arrangement thus recalls that of a buttercup, a resemblance which extends to the fruit, which is a head of achenes or follicles. The flowers contain honey, and attract flies, short-lipped bees or other small insects by the agency of which pollination is effected. The fruit of Butomus is of interest in having the seeds borne over the inner face of the wall of the leathery pod (follicle). Damasonium derives its popular name, star-fruit, from the fruits spreading when ripe in the form of a star. It is a western
FIG. 2.–Water Plantain (Alisma Plantago.) Plant about 3 ft. high. 1, Flower; 2, same in vertical section; 3, horizontal plan of flower; 4, mature fruit.
Mediterranean plant which spreads to the south of England, where it is sometimes found in gravelly ditches and pools. The order contains about fifty species in fourteen genera, and is widely distributed in temperate and warm zones. Alisma Plantago (fig. 2), a common plant in Britain (except in the north) in ditches and edges of streams, is widely distributed in the north temperate zone, and is found in the Himalayas, on the mountains of tropical Africa and in Australia.
ALISON, ARCHIBALD (1757-1839), Scottish author, son of Patrick Alison, provost of Edinburgh, was born on the 13th of November 1757 at Edinburgh. After studying at the university of Glasgow and at Balliol College, Oxford, he took orders in the Church of England, and was appointed in 1778 to the curacy of Brancepeth, near Durham. In 1784 he married Dorothea, youngest daughter of Professor Gregory of Edinburgh. The next twenty years of his life were spent in Shropshire, where he held in succession the livings of High Ercall, Roddington and Kenley. In 1800 he removed to Edinburgh, having been appointed senior incumbent of St Paul’s Chapel in the Cowgate. For thirty-four years he filled this position with much ability, his preaching attracting so many hearers that a new and larger church was built for him. His last years were spent at Colinton, near Edinburgh, where he died on the 17th of May 1839. Alison published, besides a Life of Lord Woodhouselee, a volume of sermons, which passed through several editions, and a work entitled Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste (1790), based on the principle of association (see under AESTHETICS, p. 288). His elder son, Dr Wilham Pulteney Alison (1790-1859), was a distinguished Edinburgh medical professor.
SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, Bart. (1792-1867), the historian, was the younger son, and was born at Kenley, Shropshire, on the 29th of December 1792. He studied at the university of Edinburgh, distinguishing himself especially in Greek and mathematics. In 1814 he passed at the Scottish bar, but he did not at once practise. The close of the war had opened up the continent, and Alison set out in the autumn of 1814 for a lengthened tour in France. It was during this period that the idea of writing his history first occurred to him. A more immediate result of the tour was his first literary work of any importance, Travels in France during the Years 1814-1815, written in collaboration with his brother and A. F. Tytler, which appeared in the latter year. On his return to Edinburgh he practised at the bar for some years with very fair success. In 1822 he became one of the four advocates-depute for Scotland. As a result of the experience gained in this office, which he held until 1830, he wrote his Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland (1832) and Practice of the Criminal Law of Scotland (1833), which in 1834 led to his appointment by Sir Robert Peel to the office of sheriff of Lanarkshire, which ranks next to a judgeship in the supreme court. The office, though by no means a sinecure, gave him time not only to make frequent contributions to periodical literature, but also to write the long-projected History of Europe, for which he had been collecting materials for more than fifteen years. The history of the period from the beginning of the French Revolution till the restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 was completed in ten volumes in 1842, and met with a success almost unexampled in works of its class. Within a few years it ran through ten editions, and was translated into many of the languages of Europe, as well as into Arabic and Hindustani. At the time of the author’s death it was stated that 108,000 volumes of the library edition and 439,000 volumes of the popular edition had been sold. A popularity so widespread must have had some basis of merit, and the good qualities of Alison’s work lie upon the surface. It brought together, though not always in a well-arranged form, an immense amount of information that had before been practically inaccessible to the general public. It at least made an attempt to show the organic connexion in the policy and progress of the different nations of Europe; and its descriptions of what may be called external history–of battles, sieges and state pageants–are spirited and interesting. On the other hand the faults of the work are numerous and glaring. The general style is prolix, involved and vicious; mistakes of fact and false deductions are to be found in almost every page; and the constant repetition of trite moral reflections and egotistical references seriously detracts from its dignity. A more grave defect resulted from the author’s strong political partisanship, which entirely unfitted him for dealing with the problems of history in a philosophical spirit. His unbending Toryism made it impossible for him to give any satisfactory explanation of so complex a fact as the French Revolution, or accurately to estimate the forces that were to shape the Europe of the 19th century. A continuation of the History, embracing the period from 1815 to 1852, which was completed in four volumes in 1856, did not meet with the same success as the earlier work. The period being so near as to be almost contemporary, there was a stronger temptation, which he seems to have found it impossible to resist, to yield to political prejudice, while the materials necessary for a clear knowledge of the influences shaping European affairs were not as yet accessible. The book is now almost wholly out of date. In 1845 Alison was chosen rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen, and in 1851 of Glasgow University. In 1852 a baronetcy was conferred upon him, and in the following year he was made a D.C.L. of Oxford. His literary activity continued till within a short time of his death, the chief works he published in addition to his History being the Principles of Population (1840), in answer to Malthus; a Life of Marlborough (1847, 2nd edition greatly enlarged, 1852); and the Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir C. Stewart (1861.) This latter, based on MS. material preserved at Wynyard Park, is still of value, not only as the only available biography, but more especially because Alison’s Tory sympathies enabled him to give a juster appreciation of the character and work of Castlereagh than the Liberal writers by whom for many years he was misjudged and condemned (see LONDONDERRY, Robert Stewart, 2nd marquess of). Three volumes of Alison’s political, historical and miscellaneous essays were reprinted in 1850. He died at Possil House, Glaagow, on the 23rd of May 1867. His autobiography, Some Account of my Li/e and Writings, edited by his daughter-in-law, Lady Alison, was published in 1883 at Edinburgh. Sir Archibald Alison married in 1825 Elizabeth Glencairn, daughter of Colonel Tytler, by whom he had three children, Archibald, Frederick and Eliza Frances Catherine. Both sons became distinguished officers.
SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON, Bart. (1826-1907), the elder of the sons, entered the 72nd Highlanders in 1846. He served at the siege of Sevastopol; and during the Indian Mutiny he was military secretary to Sir Colin Campbell and was severely wounded at the relief of Lucknow, losing an arm. From 1862 to 1873 he was assistant adjutant-general at headquarters, Portsmouth and Aldershot. He was second in command of the Ashanti expedition 1873-1874, and was made a K.C.B. For three years Alison was deputy adjutant-general in Ireland, and then, for a few months, commandant of the Staff College. He was promoted to be major-general in 1877, and was head of the intelligence branch of the war office (1878-1882). He commanded the troops at Alexandria in 1882 until the arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley, led the Highland brigade at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, and remained in command of the army of occupation until 1883. He commanded at Aldershot 1883-1888, was for some months adjutant-general to the forces during Lord Wolseley’s absence in Egypt, was made G.C.B. in 1887, was promoted general, and became a military member of the Council of India in 1889. He retired in 1893 and died in 1907.
ALIWAL, a village of British India, in the Ludhiana district of the Punjab, situated on the left bank of the Sutlej, and famous as the scene of one of the great battles of the 1st Sikh War. Late in January 1846 it was held by Ranjur Singh, who had crossed the river in force and threatened Ludhiana. On the 28th Sir Harry Smith, with a view to clearing the left or British bank, attacked him, and after a desperate struggle thrice pierced the Sikh troops with his cavalry, and pushed them into the river, where large numbers perished, leaving 67 guns to the victors. The consequence of the victory was the submission of the whole territory east of the Sutlej to the British.
ALIWAL NORTH, a town of South Africa, on the south bank of the Orange River, 4300 ft. above the sea, and 282 m. by rail N.W. by N. of the port of East London. Pop. (1904) 5566, of whom 1758 were whites. The town, a trading and agricultural centre for the N.E. part of the Cape and the neighbouring regions of Basutoland and Orange Free State, presents a pleasing appearance. It contains many fine stone buildings. The streets are lined with trees, and water from the neighbouring sulphur springs flows along them in open channels. The river, here the boundary between the Cape province and Orange Free State, is crossed by a stone bridge 860 ft. long. The sulphur springs, 1 m. from the town, which yield over 500,000 gallons daily, are resorted to for the cure of rheumatism and skin diseases. By reason of its dry and bracing climate, Aliwal North is also a favourite residence of sufferers from chest complaints. In the neighbourhood are stone quarries. Aliwal North is the capital of a division of the province of the same name, with an area of 1330 sq. m. and a pop. (1904) of 14,857, of whom 40% are whites.
Aliwal North was so called to distinguish it from Aliwal South, now Mossel Bay, the seaport of the pastoral Grasveld district, on the west side of Mossel Bay. Both places were named in honour of Sir Harry Smith, governor of Cape Colony 1847-1852, Aliwal (see above) being the village in the Punjab where in 1846 he gained a great Victory over the Sikhs. Crossing the Orange River at this spot in September 1848, Sir Harry noted that it was “a beautiful site for a town,” and in the May following the town was founded. In the early months of the Boer War of 1899-1902 Aliwal North was held by the Boers. It was reoccupied by the British in March 1900.
ALIZARIN, or 1.2 DIOXYANTHRAQUINONE,
/CO\ C6H4 C6H2(OH)2[1.2], \CO/ a vegetable dyestuff formerly prepared from madder root (Rubia tinctorum) which contains a glucoside ruberythric acid (C26H28O14). This glucoside is readily hydrolysed by acids or ferments, breaking up into alizarin and glucose:
C26H28O14 + 2H2O = 2C6H12O6 + C14H8O4 Ruberythric acid = Glucose + Alizarin. Alizarin was known to the ancients, and until 1868 was obtained entirely from madder root. The first step in the synthetical production of alizarin was the discovery in 1868 of C. Graebe and C. Liebermann that on heating with zinc dust, alizarin was converted into anthracene. In order to synthesize alizarin, they converted anthracene into anthraquinone and then brominated the quinone. The dibrominated product so obtained was then fused with caustic potash, the melt dissolved in water, and on the addition of hydrochloric acid to the solution, alizarin was precipitated. This process, owing to its expensive nature, was not in use very long, being superseded by another, discovered simultaneously by the above-named chemists and by Sir W. H. Perkin; the method being to sulphonate anthraquinone, and then to convert the sulphonic acid into its sodium salt and fuse this with caustic soda.
In practice, the crude anthracene is purified by solution in the higher pyridine bases, after which treatment it is frequently sublimed. It is then oxidized to anthraquinone by means of sodium dichromate and sulphuric acid in leaden vats, steam heated so that the mixture can be brought to the boil. When oxidation is complete the crude anthraquinone is separated in filter presses and heated with an excess of commercial oil of vitriol to 120 deg. C., the various impurities present in the crude material being sulphonated and rendered soluble in water, whilst the anthraquinone is unaffected; it is then washed, to remove impurities, and dried. The anthraquinone so obtained is then heated for some hours at about 150-160 deg. C. with fuming sulphuric acid (containing about 40-50% SO3), and by this treatment is converted into anthraquinone-b-monosulphonic acid. The solution is poured into water and sodium carbonate is added to neutralize the excess of acid, when the sodium salt of the monosulphonic acid (known as silver salt) separates out This is filtered, washed, and then fused with caustic soda, when the sulpho-group is replaced by a hydroxyl group, and a second hydroxyl group is simultaneously formed; in order to render the formation of this second group easier, a little potassium chlorate or sodium nitrate is added to the reaction mixture. The melt is dissolved in water and the dyestuff is liberated from the sodium salt by hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, or is converted into the calcium salt by digestion with hot milk of lime, then filtered and the calcium salt decomposed by acid. The precipitated alizarin is then well washed and made into a paste with water, in which form it is put on to the market.
K. Lagodzinski (Berichte, 1895, 28, p. 1427) has synthesized alizarin by condensing hemipinic acid [(CH3O)2C6H2(COOH)2] with benzene in the presence of aluminium chloride. The product on acidification gives a compound C15H12O5.H2O which is probably an oxy-methoxy-benzoyl benzoic acid. This is dissolved in cold concentrated sulphuric acid, in which it forms a yellowish red solution, but on heating to 100 deg. C. the colour changes to red and violet, and on pouring out upon ice, the monomethyl ether of alizarin is precipitated. This compound is hydrolysed by hydriodic acid and alizarin is obtained. It can also be synthesized by heating catechol with phthalic anhydride and sulphuric acid at 150 deg. C.
/CO\ /CO\ C6H4 O + C6H4(OH)2[1.2] = H2O + C6H4 C6H2(OH)2. \CO/ \CO/
Pure alizarin crystallizes in red prisms melting at 200 deg. C. It is insoluble in water, and not very soluble in alcohol. It dissolves readily in caustic alkalis on account of its phenolic character, and it forms a yellow-coloured di-acetate. Its value as a dyestuff depends on its power of forming insoluble compounds (lakes) with metallic oxides. It has no affinity for vegetable fibres, and consequently cotton goods must be mordanted before dyeing with it (see DYEING.)
Numerous derivatives of alizarin are known. On solution in glacial acetic acid and addition of nitric acid, b-nitroalizarin
OH | (alizarin orange) / \ /CO\ / \OH | | | | \ / \CO/ \ /NO2
is produced, and this on heating with sulphuric acid and glycerin is converted into alizarin blue.
The trioxyanthraquinones–purpurin, anthrapurpurin, anthragallol and flavopurpurin—are also very valuable dyestuffs. These compounds may be represented by the following formulae:
OH OH OH OH | | | | / \ /CO\ / \OH HO/ \ /CO\ / \OH / \ /CO\ / \OH / \ /CO\ / \OH | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \ / \CO/ \ / \ / \CO/ \ / HO\ / \CO/ \ / \ / \CO/ \ /OH | OH Purpurin. Anthrapurpurin. Flavopurpurin. Anthragallol.
Purpurin (1.2.4 trioxyanthraquinone) is found with alizarin in madder root; it is now prepared synthetically by oxidizing alizarin with manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid. After the separation of the silver salt (see above) obtained on sulphonating anthraquinone, the remaining acid liquid gives on treatment with calcium carbonate the calcium salt of anthraquinone 2.6 disulphonic acid (anthraquinone- a-disulphonic acid). This is converted into the sodium salt by means of sodium carbonate, and on alkali fusion yields fiavopurpurin. In a similar manner anthrapurpurin is prepared by alkali fusion of anthraquinone 2.8 disulphonic acid. Anthragallol is synthetically prepared by the condensation of benzoic and gallic acids with sulphuric acid
OH OH | | / \COOH / \OH / \ /CO\ / \OH | | + | | = 2 H2O + | | | | \ / HOOC\ /OH \ / \CO/ \ /OH
or from pyrogallol and phthalic anhydride in the presence of sulphuric acid or zinc chloride.
A. Baeyer in 1890, by heating alizarin with fuming sulphuric acid for 24-48 hours at 35-40 deg. C., obtained a product, which after treatment with caustic soda gave a sulphuric acid ester of quinalizarin, and this after acidification and boiling was converted into quinalizarin (Alizarin Bordeaux) or 1.2.6.9 tetra-oxyanthraquinone. Penta-oxyanthraquinones have been obtained from purpurin and anthrapurpurin, while a hexa- oxyanthraquinone has been obtained from 1.5 dinitro- anthraquinone.
ALKAHEST (a pseudo-Arabic word believed to have been invented by Paracelsus), a liquid, much sought after by the alchemists, having the power of dissolving gold and every other substance, which it was supposed would possess invaluable medicinal qualities.
ALKALI, an Arabic term originally applied to the ashes of plants, from which by lixiviation carbonate of soda was obtained in the case of sea-plants and carbonate of potash in that of land-plants. The method of making these “mild” alkalis into “caustic” alkalis by treatment with lime was practised in the time of Pliny in connexion with the manufacture of soap, and it was also known that the ashes of shore-plants yielded a hard soap and those of land-plants a soft one. But the two substances were generally confounded as “fixed alkali” (carbonate of ammonia being “volatile alkali”), till Duhamel du Monceau in 1736 established the fact that common salt and the ashes of sea-plants contain the same base as is found in natural deposits of soda salts (“mineral alkali”), and that this body is different from the “vegetable alkali” obtained by incinerating land- plants or wood (pot-ashes). Later, Martin Heinrich Klaproth, finding vegetable alkali in certain minerals, such as leucite, proposed to distinguish it as potash, and at the same time assigned to the mineral alkali the name natron, which survives in the symbol, Na, now used for sodium. The word alkali supplied the symbol for potassium, K (kalium.) In modern chemistry alkali is a general term used for compounds which have the property of neutralizing acids, and is applied more particularly to the highly soluble hydrates of sodium and potassium and of the three rarer “alkali metals,” caesium, rubidium and lithium, also to aqueous ammonia. In a smaller degree these alkaline properties are shared by the less soluble hydrates of the “metals of the alkaline earths,” calcium, barium and strontium, and by thallium hydrate. An alkali is distinguished from an acid or neutral substance by its action on litmus, turmeric and other indicators.
ALKALI MANUFACTURE. The word “alkali” denotes both soda and potash, but by “alkali manufacture” we understand merely the manufacture of sodium sulphate, carbonate and hydrate. The corresponding potash compounds are not manufactured in the United Kingdom, but exclusively in Germany (from potassium chloride and from the mother-liquor of the strontia process in the manufacture of beetroot sugar) and in France (from vinasse) . The term alkali is employed in a technical sense for the carbonate and hydrate (of sodium), but since in the Leblanc process the manufacture of sodium sulphate necessarily precedes that of the carbonate, we include this as well as the manufacture of hydrochloric acid which is inseparable from it. We also treat of the utilization of hydrochloric acid for the manufacture of chlorine and its derivatives, which are usually comprised within the meaning of the term “alkali manufacture.” A great many processes have been proposed for the manufacture of alkali from various materials, but none of these has become of any practical importance except those which start from sodium chloride (common salt); and among the latter again only three classes of processes are actually employed for manufacturing purposes, viz. the Leblanc, the ammonia-soda, and the electrolytic processes.
I. THE LEBLANC PROCESS
The Leblanc process, which was invented by Nicolas Leblanc (q.v.) about 1790, begins with the decomposition of sodium chloride by sulphuric acid, by which sodium sulphate and hydrochloric acid are produced. The sodium sulphate is afterwards fluxed with calcium carbonate and coal, and a mixture is thus obtained from which sodium carbonate can be extracted by exhausting it with water.
Leblanc himself for a time carried out his process on a manufacturing scale, but he was ruined in the political troubles of the time and died by his own hand in 1806. His invention was, however, at once utilized by others in France; and in Great Britain, after a few previous attempts on a small scale, it was definitely introduced by James Muspratt (q.v.) in 1823. From that time onward the Leblanc process spread more and more, and for a considerable period nearly all the alkali of commerce was made by it. The rise of the ammonia-soda process (since 1870) gradually told upon the Leblanc process, which in consequence has been greatly restricted in Great Britain and Germany, and has become practically extinct in all other countries, except as far as its first part, the manufacture of sodium sulphate and hydrochloric acid, is concerned.
The production of alkali in Great Britain, soon after the introduction of the Leblanc process, became the most extensive in the world, and outstripped that of all other countries put together. With the rise of the ammonia-soda process, for which the economic conditions are nearly as favourable in other countries, the predominance of Great Britain in that domain has become less, but even now that country produces more alkali than any other single country. Most of the British alkali works are situated in South Lancashire and the adjoining part of Cheshire, near the mouth of the Tyne and in the West of Scotland.
Various industries are carried on in Leblanc alkali works, as follows:–
1. Manufacture of sodium sulphate.
2. Manufacture of hydrochloric acid.
3. Preparation of chlorine.
4. Employment of chlorine for the manufacture of bleaching- powder and of chlorates.
5. Manufacture of ordinary alkali from sulphate of soda.
6. Manufacture of caustic soda.
7. Manufacture of soda crystals.
8. Recovery of sulphur from alkali waste.
1. Manufacture of Sodium Sulphate.–This is commercially known as salt-cake, and is made by decomposing common salt with sulphuric acid of about 80%, the reaction being 2NaCl + H2SO4 = Na2SO4 + 2HCl. This reaction proceeds in two stages. At first principally acid sodium sulphate, NaHSO4, is formed together with some normal sulphate; later, when the temperature has risen, the NaHSO4 acts with more NaCl so that nearly all of it is converted into Na2SO4. The gaseous hydrochloric acid evolved during all this time must be absorbed in water, unless it is directly converted into chlorine (see below, 2 and 3).
The process is carried out either in hand-wrought furnaces, or mechanical furnaces, both called “decomposing” or “salt-cake furnaces.” In the former case, the first reaction is produced in cast- iron pans or “pots,” very heavy castings of circular section, fired from below, either directly or by the waste heat from the muffle- furnace. The reaction is completed in a “roasting- furnace.” The latter was formerly often constructed as a revereratory funace, which is easy to build and to work, but the hydrochloric acid given off here, being mixed with the products of the combustion of fuel, cannot be condensed to strong acid and is partly, if not entirely, wasted. It is, therefore, decidedly preferable to employ “muffle-furnaces” in which the heating is performed from without, the fire-gases passing first over the arch and then under the bottom of the muffle. This requires more time and fuel than the work in “open” furnaces, but in the muffles the gaseous hydrochloric acid is separated from the fire-gases, just like that evolved in the pot, and can therefore be condensed into strong hydrochloric acid, like the pot-acid. This roaster-acid is, however, of less value than the pot-acid, as it contains more impurities.
It is not easy to keep the muffles permanently tight, and as soon as any leakages occur, either hydrochloric acid must escape into the fire-flue, or some fire-gases must enter into the muffle. The former is decidedly more objectionable than the latter, as it means that uncondensed hydrochloric acid is sent into the air. This drawback has been overcome by the construction of “plus-pressure” furnaces (figs. 1 and 2), where the fire-grate is placed 11 ft. below the top of the muffle. In consequence the fire-gases, when arriving there by the chimney shaft (a), have already a good upward draught, and when circulatung round the muffle are at a lower pressure than the gases within the muffle, so that in case of any cracks being formed, no hydrochloric acid escapes into the fire-flues, but vice versa.
Since the work with ordinary hand-wrought salt-cake furnaces is disagreeable and costly, many attempts have been made to construct mechanical salt-cake furnaces. Of these J. Mactear’s furnaces (fig. 3) have met with the greatest success. They consist of a horizontal pan, 17 ft. wide, which is made up of a central pan (e), and a series of concentric compartments (C1), (C2), (C3), and which is supported on a frame (d d), revolving round a perpendicular axis on the wheels (n n). It is with an arch and heated on the top from one side (l), either by an ordinary coal-grate or by a gas-producer. A set of stirring blades carried in the frame (b b), and driven by gearing,
FIGS. 1. and 2.–Salt-cake Furnace. (Sectional Elevation and Plan.) Scale
Figs. 1-9 from Lunge’s Handbuch der Soda-Industrie, by permission of Friedr. Vieweg u. Sohn.
passes through a gap in the arch in such a manner that the gases cannot escape outwards. The salt is conveyed to the furnace by a chain of buckets running on the pulley (g), and passing into the hopper (h), and through the pipe (i) is mixed with the proper amount of acid supplied by the pipe ( f.) The mixture is fed in continuously to the central pan (e.) whence it overflows into the compartments (c1), (c2), (c3) successively until it reaches the circumference, where it is discharged continously by o and p into the collecting-box (q), being now converted into salt-cake. This furnace acts very well, and has been widely introduced both in Great Britain and in other countries, but it has one great drawback, apart from its high cost, viz. that all the hydrochloric acid gas gets mixed with fire-gases, and consequently is condensed in a weaker and less pure form than from ordinary pots and muffles. This has led some factories which had introduced such furnaces to revert to hand-wrought muffle-furnaces.
Much was expected at one time from the.“direct salt-cake process” of Hargreaves and Robinson, in which common salt is subjected in a series of large cast-iron cylinders to the action of pyrites-burner gases and steam at a low red heat. The reaction going on here is: 2NaCl + SO2 + O + H2O = Na2SO4 + 2HCl. This means that the previous manufacture of sulphuric acid in the vitriol-chambers is done away with, but this apparently great simplification is balanced by the great cost of the Hargreaves plant, and by the fact that the whole of the hydrochloric acid is mixed with nine or ten times its volume of inert gases. Owing to this, it is practically impossible to condense the gaseous hydrochloric acid into the commercial acid, although this acid may be obtained sufficiently strong to be worked up in the Weldon chlorine process (see below, 3). Therefore the Hargreaves process has been introduced only in a few places.
Although the consumption of salt-cake for the manufacture of alkali is now much less than formerly, since the Leblanc alkali process has been greatly restricted, yet it is largely made and will continue to be made for the use of glassmakers, who use it for the ordinary description of glass in the place of soda-ash. Nor must it be overlooked that salt-cake must be made as long
FIG. 3.–Mechanical Salt-cake Furnace. (Sectional Elevation.) Scale
as there is a sale for hydrochloric acid, or a consumption of the latter for the manufacture of chlorine.
2. Manufacture of Hydrochloric Acid (commercially also known as “muriatic acid”). This unavoidable gaseous bye-product of the manufacture of salt-cake was, during the first part of the 19th century, simply sent into the air. When its deleterious effects upon vegetation, building materials, &c., became better known, and when at the same time an outlet had been found for moderate quantities of hydrochloric acid, most factories made more or less successful attempts to “condense” the gas by absorption in water. But this was hardly anywhere done to the fullest possible extent, and in those districts where a number of alkali works were located at no great distance from one another, their aggregate escapes of hydrochloric and other acids created an intolerable nuisance. This was most notably the case in South Lancashire, and it led to the passing of Lord Derby’s “Alkali Act,” in 1863, supplemented by further legislation in 1874, 1881 and later. There is hardly another example in the annals of legislative efforts equal to this, in respect of the real benefit conferred by it both on the general public and on the manufacturers themselves. This is principally the consequence of the exemplary way in which the duties of inspector under these acts were carried out by Dr R. Angus Smith (1817-1884) and his successors, who directed their efforts not merely to their primary duty of preventing nuisance, but quite as much to showing manufacturers how to make the most of the acid formerly wasted in one shape or another. Not merely Great Britain but all mankind has been immensely benefited by the labours of the British alkali inspectors, which were, of course, supplemented by the work of technical men in all the countries concerned. The scientific and technical principles of the condensation of hydrochloric acid are now thoroughly well understood, and it is possible to recover nearly the whole of it in the state of strong commercial acid, containing from 32 to 36% of pure hydrochloric acid, although probably the majority of the manufacturers are still content to obtain part of the acid in a weaker state, merely to satisfy the requirements of the law prescribing the prevention of nuisance. The principles of the condensation, that is of converting the gaseous hydrochloric acid given off during the decomposition of common salt into a strong solution of this gas in water, can be summarized in a few words. The hydrochloric acid gas, which is always diluted with air, sometimes to a very great extent, must be brought into the most intimate contact possible with water, which greedily absorbs it, forming ordinary hydrochloric acid, and this process must be carried so far that scarcely any hydrochloric acid remains in the escaping gases. The maximum escape allowed by thc Alkali Acts, viz. 5 % of the total hydrochloric acid, is far above that which is now practically attained. For a proper utilization of the condensed acid it is nearly always imperative that it should be as strong as possible, and this forms a second important consideration in the construction of the condensing apparatus. Since the solubility of hydrochloric acid in water decreases with the increase of the temperature, it is necessary to keep the latter down–a task which is rendered somewhat difficult both by the original heat retained by the gases on their escape from the decomposing apparatus, and by the heat given off through the reaction of hydrochloric acid upon water.
Very different methods have been employed to effect all the above purposes. In Great Britain Gay-Lussac’s coke-towers, adapted by W. Gossage to the condensation of hydrochloric acid, are still nearly everywhere in use, frequently combined with a number of stone tanks through which the gas from the furnaces travels before entering the towers, meeting on its way the acid condensed in the tower. This process is excellent for effecting a complete condensation of the hydrochloric acid as prescribed by the Alkali Acts, and for recovering the bulk of the acid in a tolerably strong state, but less so for recovering nearly the whole of it in the most concentrated state, although even this is occasionally attained. On the continent of Europe, where the last-named requirement has been for a long time more urgent than in Great Britain, another system has been generally preferred, namely, passing the gas through a long series of stoneware receivers, and ultimately through a small tower packed with stoneware or coke, making the acid flow in the opposite direction to the gas. Great success has also been obtained by “plate-towers” made of stoneware, which allow both the coke-towers and most of the stoneware receivers to be dispensed with.
3. Preparation of Chlorine.–In this place we speak only of the preparation of chlorine from hydrochloric acid by chemical processes; the electrolytic processes will be treated hereafter. It is clear that free chlorine must be prepared from hydrochloric acid by oxidizing the hydrogen. This can be done most easily by “active” oxygen, such as is present in the peroxides, in chromic or permanganic acid. Practically the only agent employed in this way, and that already by C. W. Scheele, the discoverer of chlorine, in 1774, is the peroxide of manganese (manganese dioxide), found in considerable quantities in nature as “manganese ore” (the purest of which is called pyrolusite), and also artificially regenerated from the waste liquors of a former operation. Even now, where chlorine is required for immediate use in some other chemical operations on a comparatively small scale, it is obtained by the action of hydrochloric acid on native manganese dioxide, according to the equation: Mno2 + 4HCl = MnCl2 + Cl2 + 2H2O. This action must be promoted by heating the mixture, but even then nothing like all of the hydrochloric acid employed is made to act as above, because the attack on the manganese ore requires a certain minimum concentration of the acid. Formerly, instead of free hydrochloric acid a mixture of common salt and sulphuric acid was sometimes employed, but this is never done on a manufacturing scale now. Owing to the impossibility of employing any metal in contact with the acid, the “chlorine stills,” where the above reaction is carried out, must be made of acid-proof stones or “chemical” stoneware. This process is very costly, as much of the acid and all of the manganese is wasted. Moreover it is of a most disagreeable kind, as the waste “still-liquor,” containing very much free hydrochloric acid and even some free chlorine, forms a most deleterious impurity when finding its way into drains or water- courses, apart from the intolerable nuisance caused by the escapes of chlorine from the stills and otherwise, which cannot be at all times avoided.
Many endeavours were made to avoid the loss of the manganese in this operation, but with only partial or no success. The difficulty was only overcome by the Weldon process, being the inventions of Walter Weldon from 1866 onwards, and his process up to this day furnishes the greater proportion of chlorine manufactured in the world. It begins with “still-liquor,” obtained in the old way from native manganese ore and hydrochloric acid. This liquor is first treated with carbonate of lime (ground chalk or limestone) in a “neutralizing-well,” made of acid-proof material and provided with wooden stirring-gear. Here the free hydrochloric acid is converted into calcium chloride, and at the same time any ferric chloride present is converted into insoluble ferric hydroxide: 2FeCl3 + 3CaCO3 + 3 H2O = 2Fe(OH)3 + 3CaCl2 + 3CO2. The sulphuric acid present is mostly precipitated as calcium sulphate. The mud thus formed is settled out, and the clear liquor, which is now quite neutral and contains both manganese and calcium chlorides, is mixed with cream of lime and treated by a strong current of air, produced by a blowing-engine. This is done in a tall iron cylinder, say 9 ft. wide and 30 ft. high, called the “oxidizer.” The air-pipe goes right to the bottom of the cylinder and there branches out into perforated side-pipes, so that the mass is thoroughly stirred up all the time. The first action of the lime is to convert the manganese chloride into manganous hydrate (Mn(OH)2) and calcium chloride; then more lime is added which greatly promotes and hastens the oxidizing process. The object of the latter is to convert the manganous hydroxide by the atmospheric oxygen into manganese dioxide, but this would take place much too slowly if there was not an excess of lime present ready to combine with the manganese dioxide to form a calcium manganite. Only so much lime is used that an acid manganite is formed corresponding to one molecule of calcium oxide to two of manganous oxide. This additional lime, which is called the “basis,” certainly takes up hydrochloric acid in the next stage of the process, but that causes no more waste of acid than the incomplete action on native manganese ore, mentioned before. The product obtained, called “Weldon mud,” is of such fine texture that it acts immediately with hydrochloric acid when mixed with it in the “Weldon stills” (fig. 4), and that this acid can be almost entirely neutralized thereby. The new still liquor formed in this manner is treated as above, so that the manganese does its work over and over again. There is only a slight mechanical loss, which is reduced in the best managed works to about 2 parts of manganese dioxide to 100 of bleaching- powder. There are also other advantages of this process which explain its wide extension, in spite of the fact that only from 30 to 35 parts of the hydrochloric acid employed is converted into chlorine, the remainder ultimately leaving the factory in the shape of a harmless but useless solution of calcium chloride.
Weldon’s later attempts at superseding his classical process by other inventions which utilize a larger proportion of the chlorine, introduced as hydrochloric acid, have not been successful in the long run, although some of them were aided by the great technical skill of A. R. Pechiney. But the Deacon process, the invention of Henry Deacon (who was greatly aided by his chemist Dr Ferdinand Hurter), carried out since 1868, has attained to better, although nothing like complete, success in that direction.
The Deacon process, like the Weldon process, effects its object by the oxidizing action of atmospheric air, but in a very different manner. Weldon retained the principle of the Scheele
FIG. 4.–Weldon Chlorine Still. (Sectional Elevation.) Scale
C, Stone steam column resting in stone socket K.
process by employing the active oxygen of manganese dioxide to convert hydrochloric acid into free chlorine, and he employed the atmospheric oxygen only indirectly, for the recovery of manganese dioxide from the manganese chloride formed. But Deacon worked on the direct reaction: 2HCl + O = H2O + Cl2. This reaction in ordinary circumstances is so slow as to be practically useless. If, however, a “contact-substance” is employed and that at the proper temperature, the process goes on at an immensely quickened rate and can even be carried out as a continuous operation. The only substance which possesses sufficiently strong catalytic properties for the reaction is cupric chloride. If pieces of porous clay are soaked in a solution of this salt and dried and kept at a temperature of 450 deg. C. (in practice it is necessary to go to a rather higher temperature), it is possible continuously to convert a united stream of hydrochloric acid and atmospheric air, passed through the contact- substance in a “decomposer” (fig. 5), to a larger extent into chlorine and water, of course mixed with the excess of oxygen and all the nitrogen of the air. On a small scale it is possible to push the decomposition as far as 90% of the hydrochloric acid, but on the large scale only at most 60% is reached. The mixture of hydrochloric acid and air is taken directly from the “decomposing-pan” of an ordinary salt-cake furnace, is first cooled down in pipes sufficiently to condense most of the moisture present (together with about 8% of the hydrochloric acid), and then passed through a cast-iron superheater and from this into the “decomposer.” The gaseous mixture, issuing from the latter, is washed with water in the usual condensing apparatus, to remove the 40 or 50 parts of hydrochloric acid left unchanged, and can then be immediately employed for the manufacture of chlorate of potash.
Where (as is the more usual case) the chlorine has to serve for the manufacture of bleaching-powder, it must first be deprived of the great amount of moisture which it contains, by means of
FIG. 5.–Deacon “Decomposer.” (Sectional Elevation.) Scale 1/40. a,a, Upright cast-iron cylinders; b,b, brick jacket; c,c, flues; d,e, iron plates arranged like venetian blinds, between which the contact-substance is contained; f, charging hole; g, discharging hole; h, entrance pipe for gas; i, exit pipe for gas.
coke-towers fed with moderately strong sulphuric acid. As the gas issuing from these contains only about 5 volumes % of hydrochloric acid, it cannot be made to act upon lime in the ordinary bleaching-powder chambers, but specially constructed chambers must be provided (see fig. 4). The movement of the gases through all this complicated set of apparatus is produced by a Root’s blower placed at the end of it all.
The Deacon process makes cheaper chlorine than the Weldon process, but the plant is complicated and costly and the working requires a great deal of attention. In skilled hands it has been proved to yield excellent results.
The hydrochloric acid from the calcining-furnaces or “roasters” cannot be employed immediately for the Deacon process, as the sulphuric acid always contained in the roaster gases soon “poisons” the contact-substance and renders it inoperative. This acid must, therefore, be condensed in the ordinary way into liquid hydrochloric acid and formerly could be worked up only by the Weldon process. R. Hasenclever has overcome this drawback by running this impure acid into moderately strong sulphuric acid (140 deg. Twaddell), blowing in air at the same time. This produces a mixed current of pure hydrochloric acid gas and air, which is carried into a Deacon decomposer where it acts in the usual manner. The sulphuric acid, of which 6 or 7 parts are used to one of impure liquid hydrochloric acid, is always reserved for use in the same process, by driving off the excess of water in a lead pan, fired from the top, so that the principal expense of the process is that of the fuel required for the last operation.
4. Applications of Chlorine.–Some of the chlorine manufactured (practically only such as is obtained by the electrolysis of chlorides) is condensed by cold and pressure into liquid chlorine. If this is anhydrous, as it must be in any case for this purpose, it does not act upon the metal of the compressors, nor upon the iron bottles in which it is sent out. It may even be sent out in tank wagons, similar to those which are employed for carrying sulphuric acid, holding 10 tons each.
Sometimes the chlorine is employed directly for bleaching purposes, especially for some kinds of paper. A number of organic chlorinated products are also produced on a large scale. But most of the chlorine is utilized for the production of bleaching- powder, of bleach-liquor, and of chlorate of potash.
Bleaching-powder is a compound obtained by the action of free chlorine on hydrated lime, containing a slight excess of water at ordinary temperatures or slightly above these. Its composition approaches the formula CaOCl2, and it is regarded as a double salt of calcium chloride and hypochlorite, which by the action of water splits up into a mixture of these salts. It always contains a certain quantity of chemically combined water and also an excess of lime. Usually this lime is regarded only as mechanically mixed with the bleaching-compound, CaOCl2, but some chemists adopt formulae in which this lime is equally represented.
For the manufacture of bleaching-powder, limestone of high degree of purity (especially free from magnesia and iron) is carefully burned so as to drive out nearly all the carbon dioxide without overheating the lime. The quick-lime is then slaked with the requisite quantity of water; the product is passed through a fine-meshed wire sieve and is spread in layers of 2 or 3 in. at the bottom of large boxes, the “bleaching-powder chambers,” made of lead, or sometimes of cast-iron protected by paint, of slate or even of tarred wood. Chlorine, generated in an ordinary or a Weldon still, is passed in and is rapidly absorbed. When the absorption becomes slow, the gas is cut off and the chamber is left to itself for twelve hours or more, when it will be found that all the chlorine has been taken up. Now the door of the chamber is opened, the powder lying at the bottom is turned over and the treatment with gas is repeated. Sometimes a third treatment is necessary in order to get the product up to the strength required in commerce, viz. 35% of “available” chlorine. The finished product is packed into wooden casks lined with brown paper. The work of packing is a most disagreeable and unhealthy operation which is best relieved by erecting the chambers at a higher level and placing the casks underneath, communication being made by means of traps in the chamber-bottom. so that the packers can do their work outside the chambers. The bleaching-powder casks must be kept in a dry place, as cool as possible, and never exposed to the direct rays of the sun, in order to prevent a decomposition which now and then has even led to explosions.
The weak chlorine from the Deacon process cannot be treated in this manner, as chambers of impossibly large dimensions would be required. Originally the absorption of the Deacon chlorine took place in a set of chambers, constructed of large slabs of stone, containing a great many horizontal shelves superposed over one another. About sixteen such chambers were combined in such manner that the fresh gas passed into that chamber which had been the longest time at work and in which the bleaching-powder was nearly finished, and so forth until the gas, now all but entirely exhausted, reached the last-filled chamber in which it met with fresh lime and there gave up the last of the chlorine. These “Deacon chambers” occupied a large space, besides being expensive to build and difficult to keep in repair.
They are now mostly replaced by an apparatus, the invention of R. Hasenclever, consisting of four horizontal cast-iron cylinders with internal stirring-gear. The fresh lime is continually charged into the top cylinder, is gradually moved towards the other end, falls down into the next lower cylinder and thus gradually makes its way to the lowest cylinder. The weak chlorine gas from the Deacon apparatus travels precisely the opposite way, from the bottom upwards, the result being that finished bleaching- powder is continually discharged at the bottom and air free from chlorine leaves the apparatus at the top.
Bleaching-powder is manufactured to the extent of several hundred thousands of tons annually, almost entirely for the use of papermakers and cotton bleachers. Smaller quantities are used for disinfection and other purposes. It is usually sold in “tierces,” that is, casks containing about 10 cwt.
Bleach-liquors.–If the chlorine is made to act on cream of lime, care being taken that the temperature does not rise above 35 deg. and that the chlorine is not in excess, a solution is obtained containing a mixture of calcium chloride and hypochlorite which is a very convenient agent for bleachers, but which does not bear the expense of carriage over long distances. Similar liquids are obtained with a basis of sodium (“eau de Javel”), by passing chlorine into solutions of sodium carbonate. The former kind of bleach-liquor is mostly used in the industry of cotton, the latter in that of linen.
Chlorate of Potash.–Formerly all chlorate of potash, as some is still, was obtained by passing chlorine into milk of lime, allowing the temperature to rise almost to the boiling-point, and continuing until the bleaching-solution, originally formed, is converted into a mixture of calcium chlorate and chloride, the final reaction being 6Ca(OH)2 + 6Cl2 = 5Cacl2 + Ca(ClO3)2 + 6H2O. On adding to this solution, after settling out the mud, a quantity of potassium chloride equivalent to the calcium chlorate, the reaction Ca(ClO3)2 + 2KCl = CaCl2 + 2KClO3 is produced, the ultimate proportions thus being theoretically 2KClO3 to 6CaCl2, though in reality there is rather more calcium chloride present. When this solution is concentrated by evaporation and cooled down, about five-sixths of the chlorate of potash crystallizes out. It is purified by redissolving and crystallization, and is sold either in the state of crystals or finely ground. During these operations care must be taken lest a spark should produce the inflammation of the chlorate on contact with any organic substance. Large quantities of potassium chlorate exposed to strong heat in contact with the wood of casks or the timber of a roof have produced violent explosions.
Most of the chlorate of potash is now prepared by electrolysis of potassium chloride (see below). It is employed for fire-works, for some descriptions of explosives, for safety matches and as an oxidizer in some operations, especially in dyeing and tissue printing. For the last-named purpose it is sometimes replaced by sodium chlorate. The chlorates are usually sold in wooden kegs containing 1 cwt. each.
5. The Manufacture of Soda-ash from Salt-cake by the Leblanc process.–This process consists in heating a mixture of commercial
FIG. 6.–Black-ash Furnace and Boiling-down Pan. Scale
[14051]
sulphate of soda (salt-cake) with about the same weight of crushed limestone and half its weight of coal, until the materials are fluxed and a reaction has taken place, the principal phase of which is expressed by the equation Na2SO4 + CaC03 + 2C = 2CO2 + Na2CO3 + CaS. A number of secondary reactions, however, occur, owing partly to the excess of calcium carbonate and coal and partly to the impurities present, so that the solid product of the process, which is called “black-ash,” has a somewhat complicated composition. Its principal constituents are always sodium carbonate and calcium sulphide, which are separated by the action of water, the former being soluble and the latter insoluble.
The furnace in which the reaction takes place is shown in fig. 6 in a sectional plan. It is called a “black-ash” furnace, and belongs to the class of reverberatory furnaces. A large fire-grate (ab), having a cave (c) to facilitate stoking and stepped back at (d), is bounded on one side by a fire-bridge (e); on the other side of this, separated by an air-channel (g), there is first the proper fluxing bed (h), and behind this the “back-bed” (i) for pre-heating the charge. The flame issuing from the furnace by (o) is always further utilized for boiling down the liquors obtained in a later stage, either in a pan (p) fired from the top and supported on pillars (qq) as shown in the drawing, or in pans heated from below. The charge of salt-cake (generally 3 cwt.), limestone and coal is roughly mixed and put upon the back-bed; when the front- bed has become empty it is drawn forward and exposed to the full heat of the fire, with frequent stirring. After about three- quarters of an hour the substances are so far fluxed or softened that the reaction now sets in fully, as shown by the copious escape of gas. This is at first colourless carbon dioxide, but later on inflammable gases come out of the mass, which at this stage has turned into a thicker, pasty condition, showing that the end of the reaction is near. The inflammable gas is carbon monoxide, which, however, does not burn with its proper purple flame, but with a flame tinged bright yellow by the sodium present. This carbon monoxide is formed by the action of coal on the lime formed at this stage from the original limestone. When the “candles” of carbon monoxide appear, the pasty mass is quickly drawn out of the furnace into iron “bogies,” where it solidifies into a grey, porous mass, the “black-ash.” Care must be taken to heat it no longer than necessary, as it otherwise turns red and yields bad soda.
The hand-wrought black-ash furnace has been mostly superseded in the large factories by the revolving black-ash furnace, shown in fig. 7. These furnaces possess a large cylindrical shell (e), lined with fire-bricks, and made to revolve round its horizontal axis by means of a toothed wheel fixed on its exterior; (ff) are tire-seats holding tires (gg), which work in friction rollers (h). The flame of a fixed fireplace (a) enters through an “eye” (b) in the centre of the front end of the cylinder and issues in the centre of
FIG. 7.–Revolving Black-ash Furnace. (Elevation.) Scale
the back end, first into a large dust-chamber (m.) and then over or under boiling-down pans (p.) These mechanical furnaces do the work of from four to ten ordinary furnaces according to their size. with comparatively very little expense for labour, but they must be very carefully managed and the black-ash from them is more difficult to lixiviate than that from hand-wrought furnaces, because it is less porous. The lixiviation of the black- ash requires great care, as the calcium sulphide is liable to be changed into soluble calcium compounds, which immediately react with sodium carbonate and destroy a corresponding quantity of the latter, rendering the soda weaker and impure. This change of the calcium sulphide may be brought about either by the oxidizing action of the air or by “hydrolysis,” produced by prolonged contact with hot water, the use of which, on the other hand, cannot be avoided in order to extract the sodium carbonate itself. The apparatus which has been found most suitable for the purpose was devised by Professor H. Buff of Giessen, and first practically carried out by Charles Dunlop at St Rollox. It consists of a number of tanks or “vats,” placed at the same level and connected by pipes which reach nearly to the bottom of one tank and open out at the top into the next tank. The vats are also provided with false bottoms, outlet cocks, steam pipes and so forth. Tepid water is run in at one end of the series, where nearly exhausted black-ash is present; the weak liquor takes up more soda from the intermediate tanks and at last gets up to full strength in the last tank, charged with fresh black-ash and kept at a higher temperature, viz. 60 deg. C. When the first tank has been quite exhausted, the water is turned on to the next, the first tank is emptied by discharging the “alkali- waste,” and is filled with fresh black-ash, whereupon it becomes the last of the series. In spite of all precautions a certain quantity of impurities is always formed, but this should be kept down as much as possible by strictly watching the temperature in the vats and by taking care that the black-ash in the wet state is never exposed to the air. The unavoidable contamination with muddy particles of vat-waste is removed by allowing the vat- liquor to rest for some hours in a separate tank and settling out the mud.
The clear vat-liquor, if allowed to cool down to ordinary temperature, would separate out part of the sodium carbonate in the shape of decahydrated crystals. As these do not come out sufficiently pure, they would not be marketable and therefore they are not allowed to be formed, but the liquid, while still hot, is either run into the boiling-down pans, or submitted to one of the purifying operations to be described below. If it is boiled down without further purification, the resulting soda-ash is not of the first quality, but it is sufficiently pure for many purposes. The boiling down is most economically performed by means of large iron pans covered with a brick arch and heated from the top by the waste flame issuing from the black-ash furnaces (see figs. 6 and 7). It is continued until the contents of the pan have been converted into a thick paste of small crystals of monohydrated sodium carbonate, permeated by a mother-liquor which is removed by draining on perforated plates or by a centrifugal machine, and is always returned to the pans. The drained crystals are dried and heated to redness in a reverberatory furnace; when “finished,” the mass is of an impure white or light yellow colour and is sold as ordinary “soda-ash.” It is not easy to make it stronger than 92% of sodium carbonate, which is technically expressed as “52 degrees of available soda” (see next page). If purer and stronger soda-ash is wanted, the boiling down must be carried out in pans fired from below, and the crystals of monohydrated sodium carbonate “fished” out as they are formed, but this is mostly done after submitting the liquor to the purifying operations which we shall now describe.
The dried or “finished” soda-ash is ground to a pretty fine powder and is packed into wooden casks or “tierces,” holding from 10 to about 20 cwt. each, according to the way of filling them.
The principal impurities of crude vat-liquor are sodium hydrate and sulphide, the latter of which always leads to the formation of soluble double sulphur salts of sodium and iron. The other impurities are of minor importance. The sulphides can be removed by “oxidizing” them into thiosulphates by means of atmospheric air, with or without the assistance of other agents, such as manganese peroxide; or by “carbonating” them with lime-kiln or other gases containing carbon dioxide; or by precipitating them with lead or zinc oxide. The last mentioned is the best but costliest method, and is employed only in the manufacture of the highest strengths of caustic soda. The most usual process, where soda-ash is to be made, is the “carbonating.” This is usually effected either by forcing lime-kiln gas through the liquor, contained in a closed iron vessel, or by passing the gases through an iron tower filled with coke or other materials, suitable for subdividing the stream of the gases and that of the vat-liquor which trickles down in the tower. The same apparatus is used for “oxidizing” by means of atmospheric air passed through by means of an injector; sometimes both air and carbon dioxide are passed in at the same time. The operation is finished when all the sodium sulphide has been converted into normal sodium carbonate, partly also into acid sodium carbonate (bicarbonate) NaHCO3; at the same time a precipitate is formed, consisting of ferrous sulphide, alumina and silica, which is removed by another settling tank, and the clear liquor is now ready either for boiling down in a “fishing-pan” for the manufacture of white soda-ash, or for the process of causticizing.
Soda-ash (as well as caustic soda) is sold by degrees of “available soda.” This means that portion which neutralizes the acid employed for testing, and the degrees mean the percentage of Na2O thus found, whether it be present as Na2CO3, NaOH, or sodium aluminate or silicate. The purest soda-ash, equal to 100% Na2CO3, would be 58 1/2 degrees of available soda. The ordinary commercial strength of Leblanc soda-ash is from 52 to 54 degrees (in former times much was sold in the state of 48%).
6. Manufacture of Caustic Soda.–Most of the Leblanc liquor is nowadays converted into caustic soda, as white soda-ash is more easily and cheaply made by the ammonia-soda process. We shall therefore in this place describe the manufacture of caustic soda. This is always made from the carbonate by the action of slaked lime: Na2CO3 + Ca(OH)2 = CaCO3 + 2NaOH. The calcium carbonate, being insoluble, is easily separated from the caustic liquor by filtration. But as this reaction is reversible, we must observe the conditions necessary for directing it in the right sense. These are: diluting with water so as not to exceed 10% of sodium carbonate to 90% of water; boiling this mixture; and keeping it well agitated. At the best about 92% of the sodium carbonate can be converted into caustic soda, 8% remaining unchanged.
The operation is performed in iron cylinders, provided with an agitating arrangement. This may consist of a steam injector by means of which air is made to bubble through the liquid, which produces both the required agitation and the heating, and at the same time oxidizes at least part of the sulphides; but this method of agitation causes a great waste of steam and at the same time a further dilution of the liquor. Many, therefore, prefer mechanical stirring by means of paddles, fixed either to a vertical or to a horizontal shaft, and inject only sufficient steam to keep the mass at the proper temperature. Some heat is also gained by the slaking of the caustic lime within the liquor. After from half an hour to a whole hour the conversion of sodium carbonate into sodium hydrate is brought about as far as is practicable. The whole mass is now run into the filters, which are always constructed on the vacuum principle. They are iron boxes, in which a bed is made of bricks, above them gravel, and over this sand, covered on the top by iron grids. The space below the sieve thus formed is connected by means of an outlet tap with a closed tank, and this again communicates with a vacuum pump. By this means the filtration is quickened by the atmospheric pressure, and goes on very rapidly, as also does the subsequent washing. The filtered caustic liquor passes to the concentration plants; the washings are employed for diluting fresh vat-liquor for the next operation, or for dissolving solid soda-ash for the same purpose. The washed-out calcium carbonate, which always contains much calcium hydrate and 2 or 3% of soda in various forms, usually goes back to the black-ash furnaces, but it cannot be always used up in this way, and what remains is thrown upon a heap outside the works. Attempts have been made to use it in the manufacture of Portland cement, but without much success.
The clear caustic soda liquor must be concentrated in such a way that the caustic soda cannot to any great extent be reconverted into sodium carbonate, and that the “salts” which it contains, sodium carbonate, sulphate, chloride, &c., can be. separated during the process. Formerly the most usual concentrating apparatus was the “boat-pan” (fig. 8). This is an
FIG. 8.–Caustic Soda Concentration Boat-pan. (Sectional Elevation.) Scale
oblong iron pan, the bottom of which slopes from both sides to a narrow channel. The latter rests on a brick pillar; the remaining part of the sloping bottom is heated, either by the waste fire from a black-ash furnace or by a special fireplace. This arrangement has the effect that the salts, as they separate out, slide down the sloping part and arrive in the central channel, which is not exposed to the fire-gases, so that they quietly settle there, without caking to the pan, until they are fished out by means of perforated ladles. These boat-pans were for many years almost everywhere employed, and did their work quite well, but rather expensively. At many works they have been replaced by either Thelen pans or vacuum pans.
The “Thelen pan” (thus named from its inventor, a foreman at the Rhenania works near Aachen) is a mechanically worked fishing-pan, which requires considerably less labour and coal than ordinary boat-pans. It is a long trough, of nearly semicircular section, the whole bottom being exposed to the fire- gases. A horizontal shaft runs length-ways through the trough, and is provided with stirring blades, arranged in such a manner that they constantly scrape the bottom, so that the salts cannot burn fast upon it, and are at the same time moved forward towards one of the ends of the trough where they are automatically removed by means of a chain of buckets.
The most efficient evaporating apparatus, as far as economy of fuel is concerned, is the vacuum-pan, of which from two to five are combined to form a set, but it has the drawback that the removal of the salts is much more difficult than with the older pans, described above. In this apparatus only the first of the pans is heated directly, usually by means of ordinary boiler- steam circulating round a number of pipes, containing the liquid to be concentrated. The steam rising from the latter is passed into a similar pan, in which it circulates round another set of pipes, but as it could not bring the liquid in the latter to boil under ordinary conditions, the second pan is connected with a vacuum-pump so that the boiling-point of the liquid in this pan is lowered. This pan may be followed by a third pan, in which a stronger vacuum is maintained, and so forth. By this means the latent heat of the steam, issuing from all pans but the last, is utilized for evaporating purposes, and from half to three-fourths of the fuel is saved.
After being concentrated up to a certain point, and after the separation of nearly all the salts, the caustic liquor is transferred to cast-iron “finishing-pots” (fig. 9), holding from ten to twenty tons. Here it is further boiled down until the greater part or nearly all of the water has been removed, and until the salts on cooling would set to a solid mass. This requires ultimately a good red heat. Before the mass has reached that point the sulphides still present have been destroyed, either by the addition of solid nitrate of soda or by blowing air through the red-hot melt. Before finishing, the molten mass must be kept at a quiet
FIG. 9.–Caustic Soda “Finishing-pot.” (Sectional Elevation.) Scale
heat for some hours in order to settle out the ferric oxide which it always contains, and which becomes insoluble (through the destruction of the sodium ferrite) only at high temperatures. When it has completely cleared, the liquid caustic is ladled or pumped out into sheet-iron drums, holding about 6 cwt. each, where it solidifies and forms the caustic soda known to commerce.
The best caustic soda tests from 75 to 76 degrees of “available soda”; this is only a few per cent removed from the composition of pure NaOH, which would be = 77.5 degrees Na2O. Most of the caustic soda is sold at a strength of 70 degrees, sometimes as low as 60 degrees.
Caustic soda is used in very large quantities in the manufacture of soap, paper, textile fabrics, alizarin and other colouring matters, and for many other purposes.
7. Soda-Crystals.–Another product made in alkali works is soda-crystals. Their formula in Na2CO3, 10H2O, corresponding to 37% of dry sodium carbonate. They are made by dissolving ordinary soda-ash in hot water, adding a small quantity of chloride of lime for the destruction of colouring matter and the oxidation of any ferrous salts present, carefully settling the solution, without allowing its temperature to fall below the point of maximum solubility (34 deg. C.), and running the clarified liquid into cast-iron crystallizers or “cones,” where, on cooling down, most of the sodium carbonate is separated in large crystals of the decahydrated form. This process lasts about a week in winter, and up to a fortnight in summer. In France the crystallization of soda is performed not in large tanks but in sheet-iron dishes holding only about 1/4 cwt., and requires only from 27 to 48 hours in the cool season; it is not carried on at all in warmer climates during the summer months. The mother-liquor, drained from the soda-crystals, on boiling down to dryness yields a very white, but low-strength soda-ash, as the soluble impurities of the original soda-ash are nearly all collected here; it is called “mother-alkali.”
Although the soda-crystals contain the alkali combined with such a large quantity of water, they are made in large quantities, because their form, together with their complete freedom from caustic soda, makes them very suitable for domestic purposes. Hence they are best known as “washing-soda.” Sometimes they are made, not from soda-ash, but from Leblanc soda-liquor before “finishing” the ash, or from the crude bicarbonate of the ammonia-soda process by prolonged boiling, until nearly half of the carbonic acid has been expelled.
Formerly bicarbonate of soda was made from Leblanc soda- crystals by the action of carbonic acid, but this article is now almost exclusively made in the ammonia-soda process.
8. The Recovery of Sulphur from Alkali-waste.–For many years all the sulphur used in the Leblanc process in the shape of sodium sulphate, and originally imported into the manufacture in the shape of brimstone or pyrites, was wasted in the crude calcium sulphide remaining from the lixiviation of black-ash. This “alkali-waste,” also called tank-waste or vat- waste, was thrown into heaps where the calcium sulphide was gradually acted upon by the moisture and the oxygen of the air. The sulphur was by these converted partly into gaseous sulphuretted hydrogen, partly into soluble polysulphides, thiosulphates and other soluble compounds, and in all shapes caused a nuisance which became more and more intolerable as the number and size of alkali works increased. Both the air and the water in their neighbourhood were contaminated thereby.
Both this nuisance and the loss of the sulphur (whose cost sometimes amounted to more than half of the total cost of the soda-ash) led to many attempts at extracting the sulphur from the alkali-waste. This was first done with a certain amount of success by the processes of M. Schaffner (1861) and L. Mond (1862), but as these required the use of hydrochloric acid, and as they only recovered about half of the sulphur, they were superseded by another–a process which had been originally proposed by W. Gossage in 1837, but has been made practicable only by the inventions of C. F. Claus, in 1883, and from 1887 onward by the technical skill of Messrs Chance Brothers, of Oldbury. The Claus-Chance process, as it is called, comprises the following operations. The wet alkali-waste as it comes from the lixiviating vats, is transferred into upright iron cylinders in which it is systematically treated with lime-kiln gases until the whole of the calcium sulphide has been converted into calcium carbonate, the carbon dioxide of the lime-kiln gases being entirely exhausted. The sulphur issues as sulphuretted hydrogen, mixed with the nitrogen of the air. It is mixed with fresh air containing sufficient oxygen for the combustion of the hydrogen, and the mixture is passed through red-hot iron oxide (burnt pyrites) which by its catalytic action causes the reaction H2S + O = H2O + S to take place. By cooling the vapours the sulphur is condensed in a very pure form, and about 85% of the whole of it is recovered, the remaining 15% escaping in the shape of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and H2S. Unfortunately it has been hitherto found impossible to deal with these gases in any profitable way.
It should be noted that this “recovered sulphur,” which is equal in purity to the “refined brimstone” of commerce, has a far higher value than the sulphur contained in the originally employed pyrites, so that the recovery is a paying process, in spite of the somewhat considerable cost of the plant and of the working operations. It has been introduced at most large Leblanc alkali works, and has, so to say, given them a new lease of life.
II. THE AMMONIA-SODA PROCESS
In spite of the great improvements effected during recent times the Leblanc process cannot economically compete with the ammonia-soda process, principally for two reasons. The sodium in the latter costs next to nothing, being obtained from natural or artificial brine in which the sodium chloride possesses an extremely slight value. The fuel required is less than half the amount used in the Leblanc process. Moreover, the ammonia process has been gradually elaborated into a very complicated but perfectly regularly working scheme, in which the cost of labour and the loss of ammonia are reduced to a minimum. The only way in which the Leblanc process could still hold its own was by being turned in the direction of making caustic soda, to which it lends itself more easily than the ammonia-soda process; but the latter has invaded even this field. One advantage, however, still remained to the Leblanc process. All endeavours to obtain either hydrochloric acid or free chlorine in the ammonia- soda process have proved commercial failures, all the chlorine of the sodium chloride being ultimately lost in the shape of worthless calcium chloride. The Leblanc process thus remained the sole purveyor of chlorine in its active forms, and in this way the fact is accounted for that, at least in Great Britain, the Leblanc process still furnishes nearly half of all the alkali made, though in other countries its proportional share is very much less. The profit made upon the chlorine produced has to make up for the loss on the alkali.
The ammonia-soda process was first patented in 1838 by H. G. Dyar and J. Hemming, who carried it out on an experimental scale in Whitechapel. Many attempts were soon after made in the same direction, both in England and on the continent of Europe, the most remarkable of which was the ingenious combination of apparatus devised by J. J. T. Schloesing and E. Rolland. But a really economical solution of the problem was first definitely found in 1872 by Ernest Solvay, as the result of investigations begun about ten years previously. The greater portion of all the soda-ash of commerce is now made by Solvay’s apparatus, which alone we shall describe in this place, although it should be borne in mind that the principles laid down by Dyar and Hemming have been and are still successfully carried out in a number of factories by an entirely different kind of apparatus.
The leading reaction of this process is the mutual decomposition of ammonium bicarbonate and sodium chloride: NaCl + NH4HCO3 = NaHCO3 + NH4Cl. It begins, however, not with ready-made ammonium bicarbonate, but with the substances from which it is formed–ammonia, water and carbon dioxide–which are made to act on sodium chloride. In practice the process is carried out as follows. A nearly saturated solution of sodium chloride is obtained by purifying natural or artificial brine, i.e. an impure solution of common salt, especially removing the alkaline earths and so forth by addition of sodium or ammonium carbonate and settling out the precipitate formed. This solution is saturated with ammonia, produced in the recovery plant (see below), in vessels provided with mechanical agitators and strongly cooled by coils of pipes through which cold water is made to flow. These vessels, as well as all others which are used in the process, are not open to the air, but communicate with it through washers in which fresh salt solution is employed for retaining any escaping vapours of ammonia. The ammoniacal salt solution is now saturated with carbon dioxide. This is employed in the shape of lime-kiln gases, obtained in a comparatively pure and strong form (up to 33% CO2), in very large kilns, charged with limestone and coke. The kilns are closed at the top, and the gases are drawn out by powerful air-pumps, washers being interposed between the kilns and the pumps for the purpose of purifying and cooling the gas. The heat evolved by the compression in the air-pumps (which rises to four atmospheres or upwards) is again removed by cooling, and the gas is now passed upwards in the “Solvay tower” (fig. 10). This is a tall iron erection, built up from superposed cylinders, which are separated from one another by perforated horizontal diaphragms, constructed in such a way that the gases are over and over again subdivided into many smaller streams and are thus thoroughly brought into contact with the ammoniacal salt solution with which the tower is about two-thirds filled. There the reaction mentioned above takes place, and owing to the concentration of the liquid the sodium bicarbonate formed is to a great extent precipitated in the shape of small crystals, forming with the mother-liquor a thin magma. This takes place with considerable evolution of heat which is removed by internal and external cooling with water. The temperature must not be allowed to rise beyond a certain point, for the reaction NaCl + NH4HCO3 = NaHCO3 + NH4Cl is reversible, and at a temperature of about 60 deg. or 70 deg. C. it is in fact practically going the wrong way, viz. from right to left. On the other hand the cooling must not be carried too far, for in this case the crystals of sodium bicarbonate become so fine that the muddy mass is very difficult to filter. The best temperature seems to be about 30 deg. C.
Either at certain intervals, or continuously, a portion of the contents of the tower is withdrawn and fresh ammoniacal salt solution is introduced higher up. The muddy liquid running out is passed on to the vacuum filters (Z, fig. 10). Here a separation takes place between the crystals of sodium bicarbonate and the mother-liquor. The former are washed with water until the chlorides are nearly removed, and are then carried into the drying apparatus.
From Thorpe’s Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, by permission of Longmans, Green & Co.
FIG. 10.–Ammonia - soda Carbonating Towers and Filters. (Sectional Elevation.) Scale 1/100. AA, Tower; B, ammoniacal brine main; E, gas-inlet; Z, vacuum filter; V, pipe to air-pump.
This must be constructed in such a manner that the bicarbonate, which always contains some ammonium salts, is first freed from these by moderate heating (of course taking care that the ammonia is completely recovered), and later on, by raising the temperature, it is decomposed into solid sodium carbonate and gaseous carbon dioxide. The former needs only grinding to constitute the final product, ammonia- soda ash; the latter is again employed in the process of treating the ammoniacal salt solution with carbon dioxide. Various forms of apparatus are employed for this treatment of the crude bicarbonate–sometimes semi-circular troughs with mechanical agitators on the principle of the Thelen pan (see above)–all acting on the principle that the escaping ammonia and carbon dioxide must be fully utilized over again. The soda-ash obtained in the end is of a high degree of purity, testing from 98 to 99% Na2CO3, the remaining 1 or 2% consisting principally of NaCl.
A very important part of the process has still to be described, viz. the recovery of the ammonia from the mother-liquor coming from the vacuum filters and various washing liquors. Unless this recovery is carried out in the most efficient manner, the process cannot possibly pay; but so much progress has been made in this direction that the loss of ammonia is very slight indeed, merely a fraction per cent. The ammonia is for the major part found in the mother-liquor as ammonium chloride. A smaller but still considerable portion exists here and in the washings in the shape of ammonium carbonates. These compounds differ in their behaviour to heat. The ammonium carbonates are driven out from their solutions by mere prolonged boiling, being thereby decomposed into ammonia, carbon dioxide and water, but the ammonium chloride is not volatile under these conditions, and must be decomposed by milk of lime: 2NH4Cl + Ca(OH)2 = 2NH3 + CaCl2 + 2H2O. The solution of calcium chloride is run to waste, the ammonia is re-introduced into the process.
Both these reactions are carried out in tall cylindrical columns or “stills,” Consisting of a number of superposed cylinders, having perforated horizontal partitions, and provided with a steam-heating arrangement in the enlarged bottom portion. The milk of lime is introduced at a certain distance from the bottom. The steam causes the action of the lime on the ammonium chloride to take place in this lower portion of the still, from which the steam, mixed with all the liberated ammonia, rises into the upper portion of the column where its heat serves to drive out the volatile ammonium carbonate. Just below the top there is a cooling arrangement, so that nearly all the water is condensed and runs back into the column, while the ammonia, with the carbon dioxide formerly combined with part of it, passes on first through an outside cooler where the remaining water is condensed, and afterwards into the vessels, already described, where the ammonia is absorbed by a solution of salt and thus again introduced into the process.
The reversible character of the principal reaction has the consequence that a considerable portion of the sodium chloride (up to 33%) is lost, being contained in the waste calcium chloride solution which issues from the ammonia stills. This is, however, not of much importance, as it had been introduced in the shape of a brine where its value is very slight (6d. per ton of NaCl). It is true that all the chlorine combined with the sodium is lost partly as NaCl and partly as CaCl2; none of the innumerable attempts at recovering the chlorine from the waste liquor has been made to pay, and success is less likely than ever since the perfection of the electrolytic processes. (See CHLORINE.) For all that, especially in consequence of the small amount of fuel required, and the total absence of the necessity of employing sulphur compounds as an intermediary, the ammonia-soda process has supplanted the Leblanc process almost entirely on the continent of Europe and to a great extent in Great Britain.
III. ELECTROLITIC ALKALI MANUFACTURE
In theory by far the simplest process for making alkalis together with free chlorine is the electrolysis of sodium (or potassium) chloride. When this takes place in an aqueous solution, the alkaline metal at once reacts with the water, so that a solution of an alkaline hydrate is formed while hydrogen escapes. The reactions are therefore (we shall in this case speak only of the sodium compounds): (1) NaCl = Na + Cl, (2) Na + H2O = NaOH + H.
The chlorine escapes at the anode, the hydrogen at the cathode. If the chlorine and the sodiun hydrate can act upon each other within the liquid, bleach-liquors are formed: 2NaOH + Cl2 = NaOCl + NaOH + H2O. The production of these for the use of papermakers and bleachers of textile fabrics has become an important industry, but does not enter into our province.
If, however, the action of the chlorine on the sodium hydrate is prevented, which can be done in various ways, they can both be collected in the isolated state and utilized as has been previously described, viz. the chlorine can be used for the manufacture of liquid chlorine, bleaching-powder or other bleaching compounds, or chlorates, and the solution of sodium hydrate can be sold as such, or converted into solid caustic soda. Precisely the same can be done in the electrolysis of potassium chloride.
There is a third way of conducting the action, viz. so that the chlorine can act upon the caustic soda or potash at a higher concentration and temperature, in which case chlorates are directly formed in the liquid: KCl + 8H2O = KClO3 + 8H2. This has indeed become the principal, because it is the cheapest, process for the manufacture of potassium and sodium chlorate. Perchlorates can also be made in this way.
In all these cases the chlorine, or the products made from it, really play a greater part than the alkali. From 58.5 parts by weight of NaCl we obtain theoretically 23Na = 40NaOH = 53Na2CO3, together with 35.5 Cl, or 100 bleaching-powder. As the weight of bleaching-powder consumed in the world is at most one-fifth of that of alkali, calculated as Na2CO3, it follows that only about one-tenth of all the alkali required could be made by electrolysis, even supposing the Leblanc process to be entirely abolished. The remaining nine-tenths of alkali must be supplied from other sources, chiefly the ammonia-soda process. As long as the operation of the Leblanc process is continued, it will supply a certain share of both kinds of products. Trustworthy statistics on this point cannot be obtained, because most firms withhold any information as to the extent of their production from the public.
The first patents for the electrolysis of alkaline chlorides were taken out in 1851 and several others later on; but commercial success was utterly impossible until the invention of the dynamo machine allowed the production of the electric current at a sufficiently cheap rate. The first application of this machine for the present purpose seems to have been made in 1875 and the number of patents soon rapidly increased; but although a large amount of capital was invested and many very ingenious inventions made their appearance, it took nearly another twenty years before the manufacture of alkali in this way was carried out in a continuous way on a large scale and with profitable results. A little earlier the manufacture of potassium chlorate (on the large scale since 1890) had been brought to a definite success by H. Gall and the Vicomte A. de Montlaur; a few years later the processes worked out at the Griesheim alkali works (near Frankfort) for the manufacture of caustic potash and chlorine established definitely the success of electrolysis in the field of potash, but even then none of the various processes working with sodium chloride had emerged from the experimental stage. Only more recently the manufacture of caustic soda by electrolysis has also been established as a permanent and paying industry, but as the greatest secrecy is maintained in everything belonging to this domain, and as neither patent specifications nor the sanguine assertions and anticipations of interested persons throw much real light on the actual facts of the case, nothing certain can be said either in regard to the date at which the profitable manufacture of caustic soda was first carried out by electrolysis, or as to what extent this is the case at the present moment.
We shall here give merely an outline of those more important processes which are known to be at present working profitably on a large scale.
(1) The Diaphragm process is probably the only one employed at present for the decomposition of potassium chloride, and it is also used for sodium chloride. A hot, concentrated solution of the alkaline chloride is treated by the electric current in large iron tanks which at the same time serve as cathodes. The anodes are made of retort-carbon or other chlorine-resisting material, and they are mounted in cells which serve as diaphragms. The material of these cells is usually cement, mixed with certain soluble salts which impart sufficient porosity to the material. The electrolysis is carried on until about a quarter of the chloride has been transformed; it must be stopped at this stage lest the formation of hypochlorite and chlorate should set in. The alkaline liquid is now transferred to vacuum pans, constructed in such a manner that the unchanged chloride, which “salts out” during the concentration, can be removed without disturbing the vacuum, and here at last a concentrated pure solution of KOH or NaOH is obtained which is sold in this state, or “finished” as solid caustic in the manner described in the section treating of the Leblanc soda.
(2) The Castner-Kellner process employs no diaphragm, but a mercurial cathode. The electrolysis takes place in the central compartment of a tripartite trough which can be made to rock slightly either to one side or the other. The bottom of the trough is covered with mercury. The sodium as it is formed at the cathode at once dissolves in the mercury which protects it against the action of the water as long as the percentage of sodium in the mercury does not exceed, say, 0.02%. When this percentage has been reached, the cell is rocked to the other side, so that the amalgam flows into one of the outer compartments where the sodium is converted by water into sodium hydrate. At the same time fresh mercury, from which the sodium had been previously extracted, flows from the other outside compartment into the central one. After a certain time the whole is rocked towards the other side, and the process is continued until the outer compartments contain a strong solution of caustic soda, free from chloride and hypochlorite.
(3) Aussig process.–Here the anode is fixed in a bell, mounted in a larger iron tank where the cathodes are placed. The whole is filled with a solution of common salt. As the electrolysis goes on, NaOH is formed at the cathodes and remains at the bottom. The intermediate layer of the salt solution, floating over the caustic soda solution, plays the part of a diaphragm, by preventing the chlorine evolved in the bell from acting on the sodium hydrate formed outside, and this solution offers much less resistance to the electric current than the ordinary diaphragms. This process therefore consumes less power than most others.
(4) The Acker-Douglas process electrolyses sodium chloride in the molten state, employing a cathode consisting of molten lead. The latter dissolves the sodium as it is formed and carries it to an outer compartment where by the action of water the sodium is converted into caustic soda, while the lead returns to the inner compartment. This process is carried on at Niagara Falls, but it is uncertain to what extent.
(5) The Hargreaves-Bird process avoids certain drawbacks attached to other processes, by employing a wire diaphragm and converting the caustic soda as it issues on the other side of this, by means of carbon dioxide, into a mixture of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate, which separates out in the solid state. This process is but little used.
It stands to reason that the electrolytic processes have been principally developed in localities where the electric current can be produced in the cheapest possible manner by means of water power, but this is not the only condition to be considered, as the question of freight to a centre of consumption and other circumstances may also play an important part. Where coal is very cheap indeed and the other conditions are favourable, it is possible to establish such an industry with a prospect of commercial success, even when the electric current is produced by means of steam-engines.
Natural Soda.–This is the term applied to certain deposits of alkaline salts, or their solutions, which occur, sometimes in very large quantities, in various parts of the world. The oldest and best known of these are the Natron lakes in Lower Egypt. The largest occurrence of natural soda hitherto known is that in Owen’s Lake and other salt lakes situated in eastern California. The soda in all of these is present as “sesquicarbonate,” in reality 4/3 carbonate: NaHCO3.Na2CO3.2H2O, and is always mixed with large quantities of chloride and sulphate, which makes its extraction more difficult than would appear from the outset. Hence, although for many centuries (up to Leblanc’s invention) hardly any soda was available except from this source, and although we now know that millions of tons of it exist, especially in the west of the United States, there is as yet very little of it practically employed, and that only locally.
REFERENCES.–The principal work on the manufacture of alkali is G. Lunge’s Sulphuric Acid anid Alkali (2nd ed., vols. ii. and iii., 1895-1896). This work has also appeared in a German and a French edition. The same author wrote the articles on the manufacture of sodium and potassium compounds and on chlorine in Thorpe’s Dictionary of applied Chemistry (3 vols., 1890-1893). The subject is also treated, very much more briefly, in Sorel’s Industrie chimique minerale (1902), and of course in every other general treatise on chemical technology. A special treatise on the manufaciure of ammonia soda ash has been published in German by H. Schreib. Consult also the official Annual reports on Alkali, &c., and, from 1864 onwards, Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, Fischers Jahresberichte der chemischen Technologie, and Zeitschrift fur angewandte Chemie. (G. L.)
ALKALINE EARTHS. The so-called alkaline earth-metals are the elements beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium. By the early chemists, the term earth was used to denote those non-metallic substances which were insoluble in water and were unaffected by strong heating; and as some of these substances (e.g. lime) were found to be very similar in properties to those of the alkalis, they were called alkaline earths. The alkaline earths were assumed to be elements until 1807, when Sir H. Davy showed that they were oxides of various metals. The metals comprising this group are never found in the uncombined condition, but occur most often in the form of carbonates and sulphates; they form oxides of the type RO, and in the case of calcium, strontium and barium, of the type RO2. The oxides of type RO are soluble in water, the solution possessing a strongly alkaline reaction and rapidly absorbing carbon dioxide on exposure; they are basic in character and dissolve readily in acids with the formation of the corresponding salts. As the atomic weight of the element increases, it is found that the solubility of the sulphates in water decreases.
Beryllium to a certain extent stands alone in many of its chemical properties, resembling to some extent the metal aluminium. Beryllium and magnesium are permanent in dry air; calcium, strontium and barium, however, oxidize rapidly on exposure. The salts of all the metals of this group usually crystallize well, the chlorides and nitrates dissolve readily in water, whilst the carbonates, phosphates and sulphates are either very sparingly soluble or are insoluble in water.
ALKALOID, in chemistry, a term originally applied to any organic base, i.e. a nitrogenous substance which forms salts with acids; now, however, it is usual to restrict the term to bases of vegetable origin and characterized by remarkable toxicological effects. Such bases occur almost exclusively in the dicotyledons, generally in combination with malic, citric, tartaric or similar plant-acids. They may be extracted by exhausting the plant-tissues with a dilute acid, and precipitating the bases with potash, soda, lime or magnesia. The separation of the mixed bases so obtained is effected by repeated fractional crystallization, or by taking advantage of certain properties of the constituents.
A chemical classification of alkaloids is difficult on account of their complex constitution. I. A. Wyschnegradsky, and afterwards W. Konigs, expressed the opinion that the alkaloids were derivatives of pyridine or quinoline. This view has been fairly well supported by later discoveries; but, in addition to pyridine and quinoline nuclei, alkaloids derived from isoquinoline are known. The purely chemical literature on the alkaloids is especially voluminous; and from the assiduity with which the constitutions of these substances have been and are still being attacked, we may conclude that their synthesis is but a question of time. Piperine, conine, atropine, belladonine, cocaine, hyoscyamine and nicotine have been already synthesized; the constitution of several others requires confirmation, while there remain many important alkaloids–quinine, morphine, strychnine, &c.–whose constitution remains unknown.
The following classification is simple and convenient; the list of alkaloids makes no pretence at being exhaustive.
(1) Pyridine group. Piperine; conine; trigonelline; arecaidine; guvacine; pilocarpine; cytisine; nicotine; sparteine. (2) Tropine group. Alkaloids characterized by containing the tropine (q.v.) nucleus. Atropine; cocaine; hygrine; ecgonine; pelletierine. (3) Quinoline group. The alkaloids of the quina-barks: quinine, &c.; the strychnos bases: strychnine, brucine; and the veratrum alkaloids: veratrine, cevadine, &c. (4) Isoquinoline group. The opium alkaloids: morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine, narcotine, narceine, &c.; and the complicated substances hydrastine and berberine. In addition to the above series there are a considerable number of compounds derived from purin which are by some writers classed with the alkaloids. These are treated in the article PURIN. There are also reasons for including such compounds as muscarine, choline, neurine and betaine in this group.
The greater number of these substances are of considerable medicinal value; this aspect is treated generally in the article PHARMACOLOGY. Reference should also be made to the articles on the individual alkaloids for further details as to their medicinal and chemical properties.
The chemistry of the alkaloids is treated in detail by Ame Pictet in his La Constitution chimique des alcatoides vegetaux (Paris, 1897); enlarged and translated by H. C. Biddle wiih the title The Vegetable Alkaloids (New Vork, 1904); and by J. W. Bruhl, F. HJelt, and O. Aschan: Die Pflanzen-Alkaloide (1900). A pamphlet, Die Alkaloidchemie in den Jahren 1900-1904, by Julius Schmidt, may also be consulted.
ALKAN, CHARLES HENRI VALENTIN MORHANGE (1813-1888), French musical composer, was born and died in Paris. Alkan was his nom de guerre. Admitted to the Conservatoire of Paris in his sixth year, he had a distinguished career there until 1830. He visited London in 1833, after which he settled in Paris as a pianoforte teacher till his death. He is important as the composer of a large number of pianoforte etudes, embodying the most extravagant technical difficulties. His invention was not modern enough to secure for these works that attention which they deserve as representing a pianoforte technique and sense of effect in some respects more advanced even than that of Liszt, though lacking Liszt’s economy and tact.
ALKANET (dim. from Span. alcana, Arab. al-hena = henna, Egyptian privet, or Lawsonia inermis), a plant, Alkanna or Anchusa tinctoria, of the order Boraginaceae, also known as orchanet, dyer’s bugloss, Spanish bugloss or bugloss of Languedoc, which is grown in the south of France and on the shores of the Levant. Its root yields a fine red colouring matter which has been used to tint tinctures, oils, wines, varnishes, &c.
AL KASR AL KEBIR (“the great castle,” in Span. ALCAZAR KEBIR, in Port. ALCACER QUBIR), a town of Morocco, on the river Lekkus, 80 m. N.W. of Fez. Pop. about 10,000. Its mud and pantile dwellings are here and there relieved by a mosque tower, but the aspect of the town is far from inviting. It is frequently flooded in winter and in consequence fever is prevalent. The weekly market, held on Sundays in the centre of the town, gives to the place an appearance of bustle. A vice-governor is appointed for the town by the basha of Laraiche, one for the country round by the sultan of Morocco, a condition which causes much confusion on market-days. Al Kasr al Rebir was built, according to Leo Africanus, by Yakub el Mansur (1186-1199). Not far from the town, by the banks of the river Makhazan, is the site of the battle fought in 1578 between Dom Sebastian, king of Portugal, and the Moors under Abd el Malek, in which the Moors were victorious, though both kings perished, as well as the deposed Mahommed XI., who had called in the Portuguese to his aid against Abd el Malek.
ALKMAAR, a town in the province of North Holland, kingdom of Holland, 24 1/2 m. by rail N.N.W. of Amsterdam, connected by steam-tramway with Haarlem and Amsterdam, and on the North Holland canal. Pop. (1900) 18,373. Alkmaar is a typical North Holland town, with tree-lined canals and brightly coloured 17th-century houses. The old city walls have been replaced by pleasant gardens and walks, and there is a park in which stands a fine monument (1876) by J. T. Stracke (1817- 1891), symbolizing Alcmaria victrix, to commemorate the siege by the Spaniards in 15