ALE 



ALE 



uiatical theory of the sonorous body suffi- 

 cient to account for the rules of that art. 

 In the year 1772 he was chosen Secretary 

 to the French Academy of Sciences. He 

 formed, soon after this preferment, the 

 design of writing 1 the lives of ail the de- 

 ceased academicians, from 1700 to 1772 ; 

 and in the space of three years he exe- 

 cuted this design by composing seventy 

 eulogies. 



The correspondence which D'Alembert 

 held with eminent literary characters, and 

 his constant intercourse with learned men 

 of all nations, together with his great in- 

 fluence in the academy, concurred to give 

 him a distinguished importance above 

 most of his countrymen. By some, who 

 were jealous of his reputation, he was 

 denominated the Mazarin of literature ; 

 but there seems ROW no doubt, but that 

 his influence was obtained by his great 

 talents and learning, rather than by art- 

 ful management and supple address. He 

 was a decided and open enemy to super- 

 stition and priestcraft. Without enquir- 

 ing into the merits of Christianity, he con- 

 cluded, that the religion taught in France 

 was that which believers in general re- 

 garded as the true doctrine, and which 

 he rejected as a fable unworthy the atten- 

 tion of the philosopher. There is no rea- 

 son to think that he ever studied the 

 foundations on which natural and revealed 

 religion were built ; and it is certain that 

 he adopted a system of deified nature, 

 which bereaves the world of a designing 

 cause and presiding intelligence. He was 

 zealous even in propagating the opinions 

 which he adopted, and might be regarded 

 as an apostle of atheism. The eccentri- 

 city of his opinions did not destroy the 

 moral virtues of his heart. A love of 

 truth and a zeal for the progress of real 

 science and liberty, formed the basis of 

 his character : strict probity, a noble dis- 

 interestedness and an habitual desire of 

 being useful, were its distinguishing fea- 

 tures. To the young who possessed ta- 

 lents and genius, he was a patron and in- 

 sti-uctor : to the poor and oppressed he be- 

 came a firm and generous friend : to those 

 who had shown him kindness, he never 

 ceased to be grateful ; a sure evidence of 

 a great mind. To two ministers who had 

 befriended him in their prosperity, he de- 

 dicated works when they were in disgrace 

 with the court. An instance of a kind, a 

 grateful disposition, was displayed by 

 D'Alembert in early life. His mother, 

 who had infamously disowned and aban- 

 doned him, hearing of the greatness of 

 his talents, and of the promise which he 



gave of future celebrity, obtained an in- 

 terview, and laid claim to the character 

 of a parent. " What do I hear," said the 

 indignant youth, " you are the mother-in- 

 law, the glazier's wife is my true mother:*' 

 for her indeed he never ceased to testify 

 the affection and gratitude of a child: 

 and under her roof he resided, as we have 

 seen, many years, till an alarming illness 

 made it necessary for him to remove to a 

 more airy lodging. D'Alembert main 

 tained his high rank and reputation among 

 mathematicians and philosophers till his 

 death, in October 1783. His loss was 

 deplored by survivors of every country ; 

 but his particular friends and associates 

 exhibited on the occasion, every mark of 

 grief which real and unaffected sorrow 

 can alone supply for undissembled worth. 



ALEMBIC, in chemistry, a vessel usu- 

 ally made of glass or copper, formerly 

 used for distillation. The bottom, in 

 which the substance to be distilled is put, 

 is called the cucurbit ,- the upper part is 

 called the head, the beak of which is fit- 

 ted into the neck of the receiver. Re- 

 torts and the common worm-still are now 

 more generally employed. See CHEM- 

 ISTRY, DISTILLATION, &c. 



ALETR1S, in botany, a genus of the 

 Hexandria Monogynia class and order, 

 of the natural order of Lilije or Liliaceae, 

 of which there are pine species; A.fari- 

 nosa, or American aletris, used by the na- 

 tives in coughs, and in the pleurisy. Some 

 of the species are natives of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, others arc found natural in 

 Ceylon and Guinea. The A. zelanica, or 

 Ceylon aloe, is common in gardens where 

 exotic plants are preserved. A. guianen- 

 sis, or Guinea aloe, when in flower, sel- 

 dom continues in beauty more than two or 

 three days, and never produces seeds in 

 England'. The Ceylon, Guinea, and 

 sweet-scented species, are too tender to 

 live through the winter in England, unless 

 in a warm stove; and they will not pro- 

 duce flowers if the plants are not plunged 

 into a tan-bed. The creeping roots of the 

 Ceylon and Guinea sorts send up many 

 heads, which should be cut off in June, 

 and after having been laid in the stove a 

 fortnight, that the wounded part may 

 heal, they should be planted in small 

 pots of light sandy earth, plunged into a 

 moderate not bed, and treated like other 

 tender succulent plants, and be never set 

 abroad in summer. 



ALEURITES, in botany, a genus of the 

 Moncecia Monadelphia class and order, 

 of the natural order of Tricoccx. The 

 flowers are male and femule ; the calyx 



