ALBERT NYANZA 



swamps. In the dry season the lake is obscured 

 verhanging haze caused by evaporation. 

 Nyanza is a Bantu word meaning lake, and is 

 applied in conjunction with other names to 

 many central African lakes. 



ALBERT NYAN'ZA, or Albert Lake, for 

 Nyanza means lake, lies in Central Africa, 

 about 2,400 feet above sea level, and is 100 

 miles long and twenty miles wide. It is con- 

 nected with Albert Edward Nyanza by the 

 Semliki River, with the Victoria Nyanza by the 

 Victoria Nile, and the White Nile issues from 

 its northern extremity. The lake abounds with 

 fish and here are found also in great numbers 

 the crocodile and hippopotamus. It was dis- 

 covered in 1864 by Sir S. Baker, and named 

 after Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. 



ALBIGENSES, albijen ' seez, so-called from 

 their chief stronghold, Albi, a religious sect 

 which sprang up in the south of France during 

 the thirteenth century. Their beliefs and prac- 

 tices were so different from those of the Church 

 of Rome that Pope Innocent III preached a 

 crusade against them. This, however, did not 

 win them back to the Church fold, and, after 

 they had killed the Pope's messenger, Peter 

 of Castelnau, war against them began in 1209. 

 Peace was made in 1229, after many thousands 

 on both sides had perished. Later outbursts 

 of rebellion were quelled and the sect disap- 

 peared. 



ALBINO, al by' no, a human being or other 

 animal whose skin, hair and eyes show radical 

 differences from the normal because of the 

 absence of pigment, that is, dark coloring mat- 

 ter. The condition may be inherited. A human 

 being who is a complete albino has pale, 

 milky-white skin, white hair and pinkish eye- 

 balls. The latter condition is due to the fact 

 that the red blood of the capillaries shows 

 through the transparent cornea, iris and retina 

 (see EYE) ; in normal beings it is concealed by 

 the coloring. Also in normal eyeballs the col- 

 oring matter diminshes the intensity of the 

 light which falls on the retina, but an albino 

 is not thus favored and must keep his eyes 

 nearly closed in the sunlight. Albinism may 

 be partial or complete, and though prevalent 

 among Indians and negroes, may occur in any 

 race. Among the lower animals, white mice, 

 white rabbits and white poultry are examples 

 of albinism that is fixed by heredity. This 

 condition is often noticed in the flowers of 

 plants. 



It is popularly supposed that an albino is 

 weaker in constitution than a normal being, 



164 ALBUQUERQUE 



but experiments have failed to show positive 

 proof of this. 



ALBU'MEN, or ALBU'MIN, a substance 

 which has its purest and best known form in the 

 white of an egg. Scientists make a distinction 

 between the two spellings, albumen being ac- 

 tually the white of an egg, and albumin, tin- 

 general term for the chemical compound which 

 has its purest form in the white of an r-gg. 

 Albumin is a combination of carbon, hydrogen, 

 nitrogen and oxygen, with a little sulphur; it 

 is typical of the c)ass of foods called proteins 

 (which see). It is found in the blood of man 

 and of most animals, in the humors 'of the 

 eye (see EYE), and in many plants. The al- 

 bumen, or white, of an average hen's eg is 

 composed of 86.2 per cent water, 12.3 protein 

 and a small proportion of fat and minerals. A 

 dozen eggs yield about three-fourths of a pint 

 of albumen. 



Its Uses. When heated, albumin hardens 

 and finally becomes a solid mass. If it is 

 mixed with any liquid and then heated, it 

 either settles to the bottom or forms a scum 

 at the top which can easily be removed. In 

 this process it takes up any substances which 

 may be suspended in the liquid. For this rea- 

 son many cooks drop an egg into coffee to 

 "settle" it. Albumin is used in sugar refining, 

 and to some extent in other industries. 



Albumin hardens not only when it is heated 

 but also when exposed to certain salts, prac- 

 tically all of which are poisonous. Thus, cor- 

 rosive sublimate, or bichloride of mercury, 

 turns the white of an egg to a solid. If no 

 other remedy is at hand, the white of an egg 

 is the best antidote for many cases of poison- 

 ing, as the albumen surrounds the poison with 

 a solid coating which nothing in the diges- 

 tive system can dissolve. 



ALBUQUERQUE, ahl boo ker'ka, N. M., the 

 largest city in the state and the county seat 

 of Bernalillo County. It is sixty miles directly 

 southwest of Santa Fe, the state capital, and 

 530 miles southwest of Denver, on the Rio 

 Grande River, and at the junction of the At- 

 chison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Santa 

 Fe & New Mexico Central railroads. In 1910 

 the population was 11,020; in 1914 it was 

 13,057. 



Albuquerque is situated at an altitude of 

 4,950 feet in a broad valley of the Rocky 

 Mountains. Its climate and the beauty of its 

 unique desert and mountain scenery are un- 

 surpassed. Just west of the city are the lands 

 where the Navajo and Hopi Indians still lead 



