ALC 



ALC 



sparrow ; its plumage is painted with 

 blue and green, and lightly tinged with 

 purple; these colours ar.e not distinct, 

 but melted together, and shining vari- 

 ously over the whole body, the wings, 

 and the neck ; its bill is yellowish, long, 

 and slender. The habits of these birds 

 also resemble one another. The alcyon 

 was solitary and pensive ; and the kings - 

 fisher is almost always seen alone, and 

 the pairing season is of short duration. 

 The former was not only an inhabitant of 

 the sea-shore, but haunted the banks of 

 rivers : and the latter has also been found 

 to seek shell-fish and large worms, that 

 abound on the shore of the sea, and in 

 rivulets that flow into it. The alcyon 

 was seldom seen, and rapid in its flight ; 

 it wheeled swiftly round ships, and in- 

 stantly retired into its little grot on the 

 shore. The same character belongs also 

 to the kingsfisher. The alcyon and the 

 kingsfisher have the same mode of taking 

 their prey, by diving vertically upon it. 

 The kingsfisher is the most beautiful bird 

 in our climates, as to the richness and 

 luxuriance of the colours of its plumage. 

 It has, says Buffon, all the shades of the 

 rainbown, the brilliancy of enamel, and 

 the glossy softness of silk ; and Gesner 

 compares the glowing yellow red, which 

 colours the breast, to the red glare of a 

 burning coal ; and yet the kingsfisher has 

 strayed from those climates, where its re- 

 splendent and glowing colours would ap- 

 pear to the greatest advantage. There 

 is a species that is common in all the 

 islands of the South Sea; and Forster, 

 in his observations on Captain Cook's se- 

 cond voyage, has remarked, that its plu- 

 mage is much more brilliant between the 

 tropics than in the regions situated be- 

 yond the temperate zone, in New Zea- 

 land. In the language of the Society 

 Islands, the kingsfisher is called Erooro, 

 and at Otaheite it is accounted sacred, 

 and not allowed to be taken or killed. 

 Kingsfishers were* found, not only at Ota- 

 heite, but in 1 Huaheine and Ulietea, and 

 in the islands that are scattered over the 

 South Sea, though they are more than 

 1500 leagues distant from any continent. 

 These kingsfishers are of a dull green, 

 with a collar of the same about their 

 neck. The islanders entertain a super- 

 stitious veneration for them. The chief 

 at Ulietea intreated Capt. Cook's com- 

 panions, in a very serious tone, to spare 

 the kingsfishers and herons of his island, 

 giving permission to kill all the other 

 birds. There are 20 species in Africa 

 and Asia, and eight more that are known 



in the warm parts of America. The Eu- 

 ropean kingsfisher is scattered through 

 Asia and Africa : many of those sent 

 from China and Egypt are found to be 

 the same with ours, and Belon has met 

 with them in Greece and in Thrace. This 

 bird, though it derives its origin from the 

 hottest climates, bears the vigour of our 

 seasons. It is seen in the winter along 

 the brooks, diving under the ice, and 

 emerging with its prey. The Germans 

 have called it eissvogel, or ice-bird ; and 

 it has been found even among the Tar- 

 tars and Siberians. The Tartars and Os- 

 tiacs use the feathers of these birds for 

 many superstitious purposes. The for- 

 mer use ihem as love amulets; pretend- 

 ing that those which float on water will 

 induce a woman who is touched with them 

 to fall in love with the person who thus 

 applies it. The Ostiacs take the skin, 

 the bill and the claws of this bird, and 

 enclose them in a purse : and whilst they 

 preserve this amulet, they think the} have 

 no ill to fear. Credulity has admitted and 

 reported many other similar tales con- 

 cerning the extraordinary powers and 

 virtues of this bird; but it is needless to 

 recite them. Its flesh has the odour of 

 musk, and is unpalatable. Plate II. Aves, 

 % 4. 



ALCHEMY, that branch of chemistry, 

 which had for its principal object the 

 transmutation of all the metals into gold : 

 the panacea, or universal remedy for all 

 diseases; and the alkahest, or universal 

 menstruum. Those who pursued these 

 delusive projects gradually assumed the 

 form of a sect, under the name of Alche- 

 mists, a term made up of the word che- 

 mist, and the Arabian article al as a pre- 

 fix. The alchemists laid it down as a first 

 principle, that all metals are composed of 

 the same ingredients, or that the sub- 

 stances at least which compose gold ex- 

 ist in all metals, and are capable of being 

 obtained from them. The great object of 

 their researches was, to convert the baser 

 metals into gold. The substance which 

 produced this property they called lapis 

 philosophowm.) "the philosopher's stone;" 

 and many of them boasted that they were 

 in possession of that grand instrument. 

 The alchemists were established in the 

 west of Europe as early as the ninth cen- 

 tury ; but between the eleventh and fif- 

 teenth, alchemy was in itsmost flourishing 

 state. The principal alchemists were, Al- 

 bertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, Arnoldua 

 de Villa Nova, Raymond Lully, and the 

 two Isaacs of Holland. 



ALCH1M1LLA, or ALCHBMIIXI, l a , 



