ALS 



ALT 



minent but truncated apex, and a cauda- 

 ted base. There are seven species. 



ALSINE, c/iick'-ivfi'tl, in botany, a ge- 

 nus of the Pentandria Trigynia class and 

 order, and the natural order of Caryo- 

 phyllci : its characters are, tliat tbe calyx 

 is a five-leaved perianlliium, leaflets con- 

 cave, oblong and acuminate : the corolla 

 has five equal petals, longer than the 

 calyx ; the stamina consist of capillary 

 filaments, the anthers roundish ; the pis- 

 tillum has asubovate germ, styles filiform, 

 and stigmas obtuse ; the pericarpium is 

 an ovate, one-celled, three-valved, cap- 

 sule, covered with the calyx ; the seeds 

 are very many and roundish. There are 

 five species, of which the following is the 

 principal. A. media, common chick- 

 weed, with petals bipartite, and leaves 

 ovate cordate. The number of stamens 

 in the flower of the common chick-weed 

 is uncertain, from three to ten. This spe- 

 cies in different soils and situations as- 

 sumes different appearances; but it is 

 distinguished from the cerastiums, which 

 it most resembles, by the number of pis- 

 tils, and by having the petals shorter than 

 the leaves of the calyx, and from all the 

 plants related to it, and particularly the 

 stellaria nemorum, by having the stalk 

 alternately hairy on one side only. Dr. 

 Withering refers it to the stellaria, with 

 which genus it agrees in various respects, 

 and especially in the capsules opening 

 with six valves. He observes, that it 

 grows almost in all situations, from damp 

 and almost boggy woods, to the driest 

 -gravel walks in gardens; but in these 

 various states its appearances are very 

 different, so that those who have only ta- 

 ken notice of it as garden chick-weed 

 would hardly know it in woods, where 

 it sometimes exceeds half a yard in 

 height, and has leaves near two inches 

 long, and more than one inch broad. In 

 its truly wild state, he says, in damp 

 woods, and hedge bottoms, with a north- 

 ern aspect, it has almost always ten sta- 

 mens; but in drier soils and more sunny 

 exposures, the stamens are usually five or 

 three. When the flowers first open, the 

 peduncles are upright ; as the flowers go 

 off, they hang down; and when the seeds 

 ripen, they again become upright. Dr. 

 \\ itbering observes, that the flowers arc- 

 upright, and open from nine in the morn- 

 ing till noon; but if it rains, they do not 

 open. After rain they become pendent; 

 but in the course of a few days rise again. 

 In gardens or dunghills, chick-weed sheds 

 abundance of seeds, which are round, 

 cqmpressed, yellow 3 and rough, with lit- 



tle tubercles ; and thus becomes a trou- 

 blesome weed ; but if it be not suffered to 

 seed, it may be destroyed, as it is annual, 

 without much trouble. This species is a 

 remarkable instance of the sleep of plants; 

 for ever}' night the leaves approach in 

 pairs, including with their upper surfaces 

 the tender rudiments of the new shoots; 

 and the uppermost pair but one, at the 

 end of the stalk, is furnished with longer 

 leaf-stalks than the others, so that they 

 can close upon the terminating pair, and 

 protect the end of the branch. The 

 young shoots and leaves, when boiled, 

 can scarcely be distinguished from spring 

 spinach, and are equally wholesome. 

 Swine are very fond of it ; cows and hor- 

 ses eat it; sheep are indifferent to it-, 

 and goats refuse it. This plant is found 

 wild in most parts of the world. It is 

 annual, and flowers almost through the 

 whole year. 



ALSTONIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Polyandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Essen, char, corol. one-petalled, eight or 

 ten cleft: clefts alternated. There isbut 

 one species, a shrub found in South Ame- 

 rica. It is very smooth, aod has the air 

 of the bohea-tea, in the leaves, calyxes, 

 and situations of the flowers. The dried 

 leaves taste like those of Chinese tea. 



ALSTROEMER1A, in botany, a genus 

 of the Hexandria Monogynia class and 

 order : cor. six-petalled, somewhat two- 

 lipped; the lower petals tubular at the 

 base : stamina declined. There are six 

 species, all found in South America. 



ALT, in music, a term applied to that 

 part of the great scale of sounds, which 

 lies between F above the treble-cleft note 

 and G in altissimo. 



ALTAR, a place upon which sacrifices 

 were anciently offered to some deity. 



The heathens at first made their altars 

 only of turf; in following times they were 

 made of stone, of marble, of wood, and 

 even of horn, as that of Apollo in Delos. 

 Altars differed in figure as well as in ma- 

 terials. Some w r ere round, others square, 

 and others oval. All of them were turn- 

 ed towards the east, and stood lower than 

 the statues of the gods, and were gene- 

 rally adorned with sculpture, inscriptions, 

 and the leaves and flowers of the particu- 

 lar tree consecrated to the deity. Thus, 

 the altars of Jupiter were decked with 

 oak, those of Apollo with laurel, those of 

 Venus with myrtle, and those of Minerva 

 with olive. 



The height of altars also differed ac- 

 cording to the different gods to whom 

 they sacrificed. Tbose of Jhe celestial 



