80 



ALB01N ALBUMEX. 



covered several smnll rivers, but they nr> not proba- 

 My of sufficient iinjiortance to give any value ID tlir 

 ountry, until tin- settlements or civilized nations have 

 become much more extensive than fit present. The 

 appearance of the country, ns seen from the ocean, 

 is by no means inviting-; lint some hunters, who 

 have penetrated into the interior, give a favourable 

 representation ot it, particularly of that portion which 

 lies near the Multnomah, a branch of the Columbia 

 river, tliat runs from the south. 



ALBOI.N, king of the Lombards, succeeded his 

 father, Audoin, in 561. He reigned in Noricum 

 Mid 1'aimonia, while, Cuniimmd, king of the Gepidas, 

 ruled in Pacia ; n-1 Sirmia, and Baian or Chagan, 

 king of the Avara, was completing the conquest of 

 Moldavia and \Valachia. Narses, tlie general of 

 Justinian, sought his alliance, and received his aid, 

 ia the war against Totila. A. , in connexion with 

 the A vnrs, made war against the Gepidae, and slew 

 their king, Cunimund, with his own hand, in a great 

 buttle fought in i66. This victory established his 

 tame. After the death of his wife, Clodosvvinda, he 

 married Rosamond, the daughter of Cunimund, who 

 was among the captives. He afterwards undertook 

 the conquest of Italy, where Narses, who liad sub- 

 jected this country to Justinian, offended by an un- 

 grateful court, sought an avenger in A., and offered 

 him his co-operation. Every year witnessed the 

 increase of A. 's power in Italy, in reducing which 

 he*met with no resistance, except the brave defence 

 of single cities. Pa via fell into his hands after a 

 siege of three years. After reigning three ami a 

 lialf years in Italy, he was slain at Verona, in 574, 

 by an assassin, instigated by his wife, Rosamond. 

 I le had incurred her hatred by sending her, during 

 one of his fits of intoxication, a cup, wrought from 

 the skull of her father, filled with wine, and forcing 

 her, according to his own words, to drink with her 

 father. This incident lias been introduced by Ruc- 

 cellai and Alfieri, into their tragedies, called Hosa- 

 viunda, in a very pathetic manner. 



ALBORAK ; amongst the Mahommetan writers, the 

 l>east on which Mahomet rode on his journeys to 

 heaven. The Arab commentators report many 

 fables concerning this extraordinary animal. It is 

 represented as ofan intermediate shape and size be- 

 tween an ass and a mule. A place, it seems, was 

 secured for it in paradise, at the intercession of Ma- 

 homet, which, however, was in some measure ex- 

 torted from the prophet by Alborak refusing to carry 

 him upon any other terms, when the angel Gabriel 

 was come to conduct him to heaven. 



ALBUFERA ; a considerable salt-water lake, lying 

 north of the city of Valencia, in Spain, near the sea, 

 with which it is connected by sluices. It abounds in 

 fish, but dries in summer so much as, in some parts, 

 to become a mere marsh. The French general 

 Suchet, received the title of duke of Albufera on 

 account of the blockade and capture of the Spanish 

 general Blake, in Valencia. The water-birds and 

 eels which are taken here yield 12,000 dollars an- 

 nually. 



ALBUHKRA ; a village in Estremadura, on the 

 Albuhera, twelve miles S.S.E. of Badajoz. A battle 

 was fought here, May 16, 1811, between the army 

 of marshal Beresford, consisting of about 30,000 

 British, Spanish, and Portuguese, and that of the 

 French marshal Soult, amounting to about 25,000 

 men, but considerably superior in artillery. The 

 object of the French was to raise the siege of Bada- 

 joz, which was invested by the English. Soult was 

 obliged to retreat to Seville, with a loss stated at 

 8000 men. The allies lost about 7000 men, and 

 gained the victory by a cool, well-directed, and 

 opportune fire on the columns of French infantry. 



Badajoz, a few days after, fell into the hands of Uw 



allies. 



ALBUM ; among the Romans, a white board for 

 ollicial publications. These boards received their 

 appellations from the various magistrates ; the album 

 P'liitijlfuin served as a Mate chronicle. Album is also 

 used U) denote a kind of table or pocket-book, 

 wherein the men of letters, with whom a ]ier-on lias 

 conversed, inscribe their names, with some sentence. 

 or motto. The famous Algernon Sydney, being ia 

 Denmark, was presented by the university of Copen- 

 hagen with Uieir album, whereupon he wrote t . 

 words : 



Manns ha-c ininiica tyrannis 



Ense petit plucidam nub libertato quietrm. 



Albums are at present in fashion among ladies. In 

 Germany, where the fashion is said to ha\e origi- 

 nated, they are now almost out of use, excepting 

 such as are kept on interesting spots, hi^h lowers, 

 mountains, fields of battle, c Goethe, Vim;- once 

 asked by a tedious visitor to write something in his 

 album, wrote G, the initial of his name. The name 

 of this letter, in German, signifies go. 



ALBUMAZER, an Arabian philosopher of the ninth 

 century, who combined the study of physic with 

 that of judicial astrology and astronomy, a work 

 upon which latter science was printed under his 

 name at Venice, in 1489. A treatise on the re- 

 volution of years, Venice, 1526, 8vo. is also ascribed 

 to him. 



ALBUMEN, in physiology, exists nearly pure in the 

 white of eggs. As thus procured, it is a glareous 

 fluid, with very little taste. When kept for tome 

 time exposed to the air, it putrefies, but when spread 

 in thin layers and dried, it does not undergo any 

 change. When heated to about 165" Fahr., it coa- 

 gulates, and its properties are entirely changed. Jt 

 is soluble in cold water, and is separated, in its coa- 

 gulated state, by hot water, if the quantity of fluid" 

 be not great, but if the water be about ten tin:- 

 much in amount as the albumen, there is no coagu- 

 lation. Hence we cannot dissolve it in warm water. 

 for, when put into it (as when a little of the while ot 

 eggs is thrown into a glass of boiling water), it is 

 instantly coagulated. It is also coagulated by acids. 

 A. exists in different parts of animals, as curtilage, 

 bones, horns, hoofs, flesh, the membranous parts, 

 and in considerable quantity in blood, from which it 

 is usually procured, when required in the arts. From 

 the property which it possesses of being coagulated 

 by heat, it is employed for clarifying fluids, as in the 

 refining of sugar, and in many other processes. When 

 required in a large quantity, bullock's blood is used. 

 When this or the white of eggs is put into a warm 

 fluid, its A. is coagulated, and entangles the impuri- 

 ties, and, as the scum rises, it is removed. A. acts 

 in the same way, also, in clarifying spirituous fluids. 

 When, for instance, the white of an egg is added lo 

 wine, or to any cordial, the alcohol coagulates it, and 

 the coagulum entangles the impurities, and carries 

 them to the bottom. Both gelatin and A. exist in 

 flesh, and, as the former is soluble in warm water, 

 hence the difference in the nutritious quality of 

 butcher's meat, according to the mode of cooking it ; 

 when, for instance, meat is boiled, the greater part 

 of the gelatin is extracted, and retained by the soup ; 

 when, on the contrary, it is roasted, the gelatinous 

 matter is not removed ; so that roasted meat contains 

 both gelatin and A., and should, therefore, !* more 

 nutritious than the other. By the analysis of (,'ay 

 Lussac and Thenard, 100 parts of A. are formed of 

 52.883 carbon, 23.872 oxygen, 7.540 hydrogen, 

 15.705 nitrogen. The negative pole of a voltaic 

 pile in high activity coagulates A. Orfila has found 

 the white of eggs to be the best antidote to the 



