106 



ALEXANDIUNE ALF1K1U. 



Among the scholars of Alexandria nrr to be found 

 _n;it mathematicians, as Euclid, the father of scien- 

 tific geometry ; Apollonius of Perga in Pamphylia, 

 whose work on conic sections still exists ; Niconm- 

 rlnts. tin- first scientific arithmetician ; astronomers, 

 who employed the Egyptian hieroglyphics for mark- 

 ing the northern hemisphere, and fixed the images 

 und names (si ill in use) of the constellations, who left, 

 astronomical writings (e. g. the Phanoinena of Ara- 

 tus, a didactic poem, the Spharica of Menelaus, tlie 

 ustronomical works of Eratosthenes, and especially 

 the Mttgiia Synfafis of the geographer Ptolemy), 

 und made improvements in the theory of tlie calen- 

 ilar, which were afterwards adopted into the .Julian 

 calendar ; natural philosophers, anatomists, as Ile- 

 rophilusand Erasistratus ; physicians and surgeons, 

 as Demosthenes Philalvthes, who wrote the first 

 work on the diseases of the eye ; Zopyrus and Cra- 

 te\as. who improved the art of pharmacy and in- 

 vented antidotes ; instructors in the art of medicine, 

 to whom Asclepiades, Soranus, and Galen, owed their 

 education ; medical theorists and empirics, of the 

 sect founded by Philinus. All these belonged to 

 the numerous association of scholars continuing under 

 the Human dominion, and favoured by tlie Roman 

 emperors, which rendered Alexandria one of the 

 most renowned and influential seats of science in an- 

 tiquity. The best work on the learning of Alexan- 

 dria is the prize-essay of Jacob Matter ; Essai His- 

 ioriifite siir I'Ecole d" Alexandrie, Paris, 1819, 2 vols. 

 AI.KXAMWIXK, or ALEXANDRIAN; the name of a 

 verse, winch consists of six feet, or of six and a half, 

 equal to twelve or thirteen syllables, the pause being 

 always on the sixth syllable ; e. g. tlie second of tlie 

 following verses : 



A nei'dlosa Alexandrine ends the song, 

 Which, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length 

 along. 



It corresponds, in our language, to the hexameters 

 in the Greek and Latin ; though, according to some 

 writers, it rather answers to the senarii of the ancient 

 tragic poets. Chapman's translation of Homer, and 

 Dray ton's Polyolbion are written in this measure. 

 The concluding line of the Spenserian stanza is also 

 an A. This verse becomes fatiguing from monotony, 

 unless tlie writer has a very delicate ear. The 

 French, in their epics and drama, are confined to 

 this verse, which, for this reason, is called by them 

 the heroic. The A. derives its name from an old 

 French poem, belonging to the middle of the 12th 

 or the beginning of the 13th century, the subject of 

 which is Alexander the Great, and in which this 

 verse was first made use of. See French Poetry. 



ALEXIS, a Greek comic poet, who flourished in the 

 time of Alexander, B. C. 323. Only a few frag- 

 ments of his works remain, which may be found in 

 collections of the ancient Greek poets. 



ALEXIS COMNENUS. See Comnenus. 



ALEXIS MICHAELOVITSCH, czar of Russia, born in 

 1630; succeeded his father Michael in 1646; died 

 1677. He was father to Peter the Great, and the 

 first Russian monarch who acted on the policy of a 

 more intimate connexion with the other states and 

 nations of Europe. 



ALEXIS PETROVITSCH, the eldest son of the czar 

 Peter the Great and Eudoxia Lapuchin, was born 

 in Moscow, 1690, and opposed the innovations in- 

 troduced by liis father, who, on this account, deter- 

 mined to disinherit him. A. renounced the crown, 

 and declared that he would become a monk ; but, 

 when Peter set out on his second journey, he made 

 his escape, in 1717, to Vienna, and thence to 

 Naples, under the pretext of going to his father, 

 who liad sent for him. At tlie command of Peter, 



ie returned ; but the enraged czar, regarding his 

 flight as an act of treason, disinherited him, by a 

 ukase of 2d Feb., 1718; and when he discovered 

 .hat A. was paving the way to succeed to the crown, 

 lie not only CMMdaU the participators in his project 

 to be punished capitally or otherwise, but liad A , 

 also condemned to death, and the sentence read to 

 liim, as pronounced unanimously by 144 judges. 

 Although he \vas soon afterwards, pardoned, yet tlie 

 fright and anxiety which he liad experienced, a licet - 

 ed him so much, tlrnt lie died iu the course of four 

 days, June 26, O. S. 1718. He left a daughter, and 

 a son, afterwards the emperor Peter II. The ac- 

 count of Busching, that general \Veide decapitated 

 A. in prison, is without any authority. 



ALEXIS-BATH; a watering-place in Anhalt-Beren- 

 burg, of all the German mineral springs the n:osi 

 strongly impregnated with iron. It is charmingly 

 situated at the toot of tlie Harz. 



ALFARABI, an eminent Arabian philosopher of the 

 10th century, was a native of Farab, in Asia Minor ; 

 died at Damascus in 950. His works consist of 

 treatises on different parts of the Aristotelian philo- 

 sophy. These were printed at Paris in 1638. 



ALFIERI, Vittorio, count, was born at Asti, in 

 Piedmont, in 1749, of a rich and distinguished 

 fafliily. His early education was very defective, 

 like that of most men of his rank and country at thai 

 time. His uncle and guardian sent him to Turin, 

 whose academy he left as ignorant and uninforaied 

 as when he entered it. He then joined a provincial 

 regiment, which was only called together for a few 

 days during tlie year. He afterwards travelled 

 over Italy, France, England, and Holland ; return- 

 ed and commenced the study of history, but, soon 

 disgusted with this pursuit, commenced his travels 

 anew, and wandered for nearly three years, continu- 

 ally restless and unsatisfied. He left the military 

 service, and led, for a long time, an inactive life, 

 until ennui drove him to write dramatic poetry. 

 His first attempt was crowned with undeserved suc- 

 cess ; and he determined, at the age of twenty-seven 

 years, to devote all his efforts to the single object of 

 becoming a tragic poet. Sensible of his deficiencies, 

 he went to work zealously to acquire the rudiments 

 of knowledge. He first studied Latin and Tuscan, 

 for which purpose he went to Tuscany. In this 

 journey he became acquainted with the countess of 

 Albany (q. v.), the consort of the English pretender, 

 and a daughter of the noble family of Stolberg, to 

 whom he soon became deeply attached. From this 

 time, he strove with restless zeal to acquire distinc- 

 tion as a poet, in order to be worthy of her, whose 

 esteem and love had such value in his eyes Jn 

 order to continue his labours wholly free and inde- 

 pendent, he broke the last tie which bound him to 

 his country. He bestowed his fortune on his sister, 

 reserving only a moderate income for himself, and 

 henceforth lived alternately at Florence and J{ome. 

 Here he composed fourteen tragedies, to which lie 

 afterwards added some others, although contrary to 

 his own inclination. The unfoi Lunate situation of 

 his beloved friend often disturbed him, but the death 

 of her husband at length put an end to her troubles, 

 and enabled her to marry A. Henceforth A. lived 

 with her alternately in Alsace and in Paris, unceas- 

 ingly busied with composition, and the arrangement 

 and publication of his works (by Didot and Be; ; u- 

 mnrchais). When the disturbances in France began, 

 he quitted the country, and went to England. I'.m- 

 barrassed by the constant fall of assignats, he went. 

 Ixick to Paris, angry at seeing the cause of freedom 

 dishonoured by unworthy hands, and imnble, from 

 the state of his feelings, to continue his intellectual 

 labours. This torture of mind he endured till the 



