ALONSINE TABLES. 



ALPHABET. 



the cold aqueous extract of Barbadoes aloes by evaporation in vacuo. 

 It is deposited in coloured granular crystals, which after pressure 

 between folds of bibulous paper, recrystallisation from water, drying at 

 a temperature not exceeding 150, and final recrystallisatiou from 

 alcohol, present the appearance of groups of pale yellow needles. 

 Aloin is the active purgative principle of aloes. It is neutral to test 

 papers, possesses an intensely bitter taste, and is rapidly changed at 

 212. Caustic and carbonated alkalies dissolve it, forming orange- 

 coloured solutions. Cape and Socotrine aloes also yield aliiin, but it is 

 more difficult to purify when prepared from these varieties. 



ALONSINE, or ALPHONSINE, TABLES, an astrouomicnl work, 

 which appeared in the year 1252, under the patronage of Alonzo X., 

 in the first year of his reign. They contain the places of the fixed 

 stars, and all the methods and tables then in xise for the computation 

 of the places of the planets ; but they are not made from original 

 observations, nor is there any material difference between the astronomy 

 contained in them and that of Ptolemy, except in two points. The 

 length of the year is supposed to be 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 

 16 seconds ; which is a more correct value than had been given before, 

 being only 26 seconds over the best modern determinations. The 

 mean precession of the equinoxes is stated at half its real amount ; 

 being siich as would carry the equinoctial points round the circum- 

 ference of the globe in 49,000 years. An inequality, however, is sup- 

 posed, having a period of 7000 years, by which the mean precession is 

 alternately augmented and retarded 18 degrees. It is difficult to say 

 whence a theory so utterly at variance with the phenomena could be 

 derived. The general opinion is, that these tables were constructed 

 by Isaac Ben Said, a Jew, but others suppose that Al Cabit and Aben 

 Ragel, the preceptors of Alonzo, were the real superintendents. The 

 numbers above cited, in speaking of the precession, have been supposed 

 from their connection with the number 7, and the difficulty of account- 

 ing for them otherwise, to have been the ideas of a Jew. These tables 

 are constructed for the meridian of Toledo, and the epoch 1256. They 

 were not held in much esteem by succeeding astronomers. Begiomon- 

 taniiH says, " beware lest you trust too much to blind calculation and 

 Alphonsine dreams." And Tycho Brahe', who reports that 400,000 

 ducats had been spent upon them, laments that this sum had not been 

 employed in actual observation of the heavens. A full account of their 

 contents may be seen in Delambre, ' Hist, de 1'Ast. du Moyen Age,' 

 p. 248. Till the time of Copernicus and Tycho Brahe' they continued 

 in general use, being in truth, with some modifications, a body of 

 Ptolemsean astronomy. They were first printed in 1483 by the cele- 

 brated Rntdolt of Venice. A copy of this edilio jirinrtpt is in the 

 Royal Library at Paris. There have been several subsequent editions. 



ALPACA-WOOL. The natural history of the Alpaca, or Paco, has 

 been treated under LLAMA, in the DIVISION of NATURAL HISTORY ; we 

 here notice only the. application of the wool to manufactures. 



The introduction of this wool has attracted considerable attention ; 

 and the question of naturalising the alpaca in this country, in Germany, 

 and in Australia, is also an object of much interest. The wool of the 

 alpaca is superior to English wool in length, softness and pliability. 

 The fleece averages from 10 to 12 Ibs., while that of our sheep is 

 seldom more than 8 Ibs. ; and while the staple of Engh'sh wool does 

 not often exceed six inches in length, that of the alpaca varies from 

 eight to twelve inches. The lustrous appearance of the alpaca wool 

 renders it applicable to many of the purposes for which silk is usually 

 employed in textile fabrics ; and it is found a useful substitute for 

 Angora wool. The manufacture of plain and figured stuffs from the 

 fleece of the alpaca was commenced at Bradford in Yorkshire, a number 

 of years ago, and these fabrics have been much admired. The COIT= 

 sumption of alpaca wool in this country in the seven years ending 

 December, 1843, is estimated by Mr. Walton at 12,000,000 Ibs. ; it has 

 hrgely increased. Towards the close of 1844 five different articles 

 were manufactured at Bradford for her Majesty, from the wool of an 

 alpaca which had been kept at Windsor. The fleece weighed 16J Ibs., 

 and when sorted and combed 10 Ibs.j including 1 Ib. of white wool, the 

 remainder being almost entirely jet black. One of the articles manu- 

 factured was an apron, in which the wool of the alpaca, without the 

 admixture of any other wool, was used for the first time in this 

 country ; for though very large quantities have been woven at Bradford, 

 it has usually been in fabrics where the warp was of cotton or some 

 other material, and the weft only of alpaca. Three of the other articles 

 manufactured for her Majesty were a striped and figured dress ; the 

 warp consisting of rose-coloured silk, and the weft of black alpaca with 

 figures on alternate grounds of alpaca and silk. This dress, which 

 measured 12 yards, required 2* Ibs. of alpaca. A plaid dress, measuring 

 15 yards, and containing 2J its. of alpaca, was woven with an inter- 

 mixture of silk and worsted. Another article was a plain black alpaca 

 lustre dress, the warp of fine cotton twist, and the weft of alpaca. 

 Thin required 3J lb. of alpaca, and when taken from the loom it 

 resembled silk from its lustrous quality, and was of course much softer. 



The question of naturalising the alpaca has been taken up with great 

 enthusiasm by a few persons ; but very little progress has yet been 

 made in convincing the country of its practicability. The alpaca 

 inhabits the mountainous and inhospitable regions of Peru, and is 

 remarkable for its abstemiousness. It thrives on coarse food. Those 

 which hare been brought to this country have been confined in parks 

 *nd richly cultivated lands, and have been treated with too much care 



and tenderness. Mr. Walton asserts that they will live where our 

 hardiest sheep would starve, and that the wildest parts of Great 

 Britain are best suited to their habits. In the ' Transactions of the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society,' 1844, there is an account, by Mr. 

 Stirling, of the attempt at that time being made to introduce the 

 alpaca into Scotland. During the severe winter of 1843-4, when 

 sheep required to be regularly fed with turnips and hay, the alpacas 

 perseveringly sought their own food, and did not experience a single 

 day's illness. Mr. Stirling says that they were kept within enclosures 

 better than sheep, and never attempted to leap a fence. In 1841 the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society offered their gold medal for ' a satis- 

 factory account, founded on actual observation and experiment, of the 

 attempt to naturalise the alpaca in Scotland ; ' and in 1844 a prize was 

 offered by the Society for the best pair of alpacas born and bred in 

 Scotland, and the best two, male and female, imported. If, as Mr. 

 Walton states, the alpaca may be pastured on lands which are now 

 waste and unprofitable, and where the hardiest sheep would starve, the 

 naturalisation of the animal would undoubtedly prove a great ' national 

 benefit ; ' but if this is not the case, it is a question whether a constant 

 demand for the wool as an article of import would not be quite as 

 beneficial. The Peruvians would be induced to bestow greater care on 

 the management of their flocks, and the possession of so valuable an 

 export would bring them under influences of a civilising nature, which 

 would render them better customers for our commodities. The expense 

 of importing the alpaca is very great, and the long voyage kills more 

 than two-thirds of the number shipped. Some of the Australian 

 sheep-farmers are now (1859) making renewed attempts to naturalise 

 the alpaca in that country. 



Alpaca is now used to a remarkable extent in manufactures. Um- 

 brellas, paletdts, and various articles and garments are made of it : as 

 it presents a sort of compound of the qualities of silks and woollens. 

 Mr. Titus Salt, of Bradford, has built one of the largest and most 

 magnificent factories in the world, chiefly for the production of textile 

 goods made wholly or partially of alpaca ; nearly half a million sterling 

 has been spent in the various buildings, dwellings, and machinery. 

 The establishment almost constitutes a town in itself, and has been 

 fancifully named Saltaire, by a combination of the name of the owner 

 with that of the river, on the banks of which the factory stands. 



The late Earl of Derby's menagerie at Knowsley, sold by auction in 

 October, 1851, contained eleven alpacas, which were born and bred on 

 the estate. 



ALPHABET is the name given to the series of letters used in 

 different countries at different times. The term is borrowed from 

 the Greek language, in which alpha, beta, are the first two letters ; or 

 if we go a step further back, we should derive the word from the 

 Hebrew, which gives to the corresponding letters the names aleplt, Jtctk. 

 Thus the formation of the word is precisely analogous to that of our 

 familiar expression, the A, B, C ; and sotae writers have found a 

 similar origin for the Latin name given to the letters, namely, elementa, 

 which it must be allowed, bears an extraordinary similarity in sound 

 to the three liquids, I, m, n ; but to make this derivation satisfactory, 

 it should be proved that these letters were at one time the leaders of 

 the alphabet, for otherwise it would be difficult to account for the 

 selection of a name from them in preference to the rest. 



Among the different causes which have promoted the civilisation of 

 man, there is none, we might almost say, which has been so fruitful as 

 the invention of the alphabet ; and the very circumstance of the 

 invention being essential to this effect, and therefore preceding it, has 

 made it a task of some difficulty to point out the mode in which the 

 discovery was made, for historical evidence upon such a point must be 

 very imperfect. The present age however has nearly surmounted this 

 difficulty, and we begin to see pretty clearly at least how the discovery 

 ni /' //'' have been made, perhaps how it actually was made. Oral 

 language itself, we might almost infer a priori, originated in an attempt 

 to imitate, by the organs of the human voice, those different sounds 

 which nature, in her animate and inanimate forms, is constantly 

 presenting to our ears. By his powers of articulation man could 

 imitate those sounds at pleasure, and thus recall to the minds of those 

 around him the notion of absent objects and past actions with which 

 the sounds were connected. Thus, in its various forms and com- 

 bination the single principle of sound would afford a vast number of 

 symbols which might be made to represent, at first, the material 

 objects of nature, or the action of those objects upon one another. 

 The transference of these signs from particular objects, that make an 

 impression on the ear, to the expression of abstract qualities, would be 

 governed by the same principles of association. That such mu&t have 

 been the origin of spoken language, reason would seem to point out, 

 and the historical investigation of the subject strongly confirms the 

 theory. On the other hand, the language which takes the eye for its 

 channel of communication with the mind, would in its first steps be 

 more direct and more simple. The objects of nature and many of the 

 external relations between them were easily represented to the eye 

 with more or less rudeness, by a stick upon sand, and by many other 

 means of graphic imitation which even the savage may command. 

 Yet when we compare these two modes of language with one another, 

 we shall soon perceive that sound is a more convenient medium of 

 ordinary communication, if it be only for the reason that the voic6 is 

 ever with us, and that the ear is ready to receive impressions from 



