ALC 



banks. Blue is the predominating colour ; 

 the wings and tail are short, the beak 

 long, straight, angular, and pointed. 



The bird known to the ancients by 

 this name, is described as little bigger 

 than a sparrow ; feathers purple, mixed 

 with white, neck long and slender, bill 

 green, and proportioned in length to the 

 neck. During her incubation, which 

 was in the sands of the sea-shore, the 

 sea remained perfectly calm : these 

 days, forty in number, were thence 

 called Alcydonid<e,or Halcyonei dies, that 

 is " halcyon days." See HALCYON. 

 ALCHEMiL'LA.the geneiic name of ladies'- 

 tnantle, of which there are seven species, 

 and three of these British. Class tetran- 

 dria, order monogynia. Named from Ara- 

 bic, alkemelyeh, on account of its sup- 

 posed alchemical virtues. 



ALCHEMY, a pseudo-science, which had 

 for its object the transmutation of the 

 baser metals into gold and silver the 

 discovery of an alkahest or universal 

 menstruum a panacea or universal re- 

 medy a universal ferment, and many 

 other things equally ridiculous. It was 

 much cultivated in Europe during the 

 1 6th and 17th centuries, and, notwith- 

 standing the chimerical nature of its 

 objects, we are indebted to its followers 

 for many important discoveries in che- 

 mistry and medicine. The earliest notice 

 that we find of alchemy, is in an edict of 

 the Roman emperor Diocletian, com- 

 manding all books which treat of the art 

 of making gold and silver to be burned. 

 The term is composed of the Arabic al, 

 the, and k&mya, secret, from kamay, to 

 hide. 



ALCIOFA, a genus of articulata, of the 

 order dorsibranchiata, of Cuvier. 



ALCMANIAN, pertaining to Alcman, a 

 lyric poet of the 27th Olympiad, celebrated 

 for his amorous verses. Alcmanian verse 

 consists of two dactyls and two trochees. 

 AL'CO, an American quadruped nearly 

 resembling the dog, but mute and melan- 

 choly. This circumstance has given rise 

 to the fable, that dogs transported to 

 America become mute. The animal was 

 used as food by the native tribes and the 

 first Spanish settlers, but it is said now 

 to be extinct. It is known also by the 

 name of zechichi. 



ALCOATES, T. definite compounds of 



ALCOOLATES, J alcohol and various 



saline substances : discovered by Professor 



Graham. The alcohol seems simply to 



replace the water of crystallization. 



AL'COHOL, a word compounded of Arabic, 

 al, the, and ktShol, a paint for the eye- 

 brows. Sulphuret of antimony reduced 

 to a very fine powder is used for this 

 purpose by eastern ladies, and is called 

 al ktShol ; alcohol came ultimately to signify 

 anything raised to the highest degree of 



5 ALD 



fineness and purity, and (in Europe) now 

 designates the purely spirituous part of 

 liquors which have undergone the vinous 

 fermentation. It is light, transparent, 

 colourless, of a sharp, penetrating smell, 

 and a warm stimulating taste. It cannot; 

 be frozen by any known degree of cold, 

 and boils at 174 Fah., sp. gr. 792, but 

 the strongest spirit obtained by mere dis- 

 tillation is '820 ; and alcohol can rarely be 

 had from the shops less than '835. Its 

 constituents are 2 atoms of carbon, 3 of 

 hydrogen, and 1 of oxygen. "When dis- 

 tilled with sulphuric acid, ether is pro- 

 duced. Alcohol burns with a pale name, 

 producing carbonic acid and water. It 

 give* no smoke. 



ALCOHOLIZA'TION. 1. Conversion into 

 alcohol. 2. Rectification of spirit till 

 wholly dephlegmated. 3. Reduction of a 

 substance to an impalpable powder. 



ALCOHOL'OMETER, i an instrument for 



ALCOHOL'IMETER, ) ascertaining the a- 

 mount of absolute alcohol in a given 

 quantity of alcoholic fluid. Sike's hy- 

 drometer is generally used in England for 

 this purpose. 



AL'COR, a small star adjoining to the 

 large bright one in the middle of the tail 

 of ursa major. The word is Arabic. 



AL'CORAN, see ALKORAN. 



ALCO'VE, a part of a room, separated by 

 an estrade or partition of columns, or by 

 other corresponding ornaments, in which 

 is placed a bed of state, and sometimes 

 seats for company. The use of alcoves, as 

 well as the word, which we have altered 

 from alcoba, seems to have been derived 

 from the Spanish builders, and by them 

 from their Arabian conquerors. They 

 have fallen into disuse. 



The Sp. word is from Ar. al kubbeh, a 



place for the bed, the root of which is 



khaub, sleep. 



AL'CYON, a trivial name of the king- 

 fisher. Sec ALCEDO. 



ALCY'OSITES, spongiform flint fossils, 

 common in the chalk formation. 



ALCY'ONIOM, a genus of polypi, placed 

 in the family corticati, by Cuvier. The 

 animal grows in the form of a plant : the 

 stem or root is fixed, fleshy, gelatinous, 

 spongy, or coriaceous, with a cellular 

 epidermis penetrated with stellated pores, 

 and shooting out tentaculated oviparous 

 hydrae. The best known species is that 

 popularly called "Dead Man's Hand," 

 A. digitatum, Lin. 



ALDEBA'RAN, a star of the first magni- 

 tude in the constellation Taurus, called 

 also the Bull's eye. Term, from Ar. al, 

 the, and dfbr&n, a leader. 



ALDEHYDE, a newly-discovered, colour- 

 less, inflammable liquid, having a peculiar 

 ethereal smell; sp. gr. 79; boils at 71 

 Fah. It is named from the first syllables 

 of oicohol and deAydrogenatu*, and may 



