A I. A 



AI.AEAN'DA, a town of Carii;, in Afia Minor, fouth 

 {■!" the ri\cr Mroaiidtr. It was foiiiulcd by Ah'.bniichir, wlio 

 (in tills account \v:is vvoriliipptd hy its ir.liabit.'\iits, callid 

 Alabandi, Alabamlii, and Alabandi.iifi.!;. Jii tlie time of 

 I'liiiv it was a free city, ul. tree it was proverbiailv dei'.omi- 

 linted tbe mod tortiinate tity of tiie Carians. .Stral o (v(;l. 

 xii. p. 976.) rtprefeiits the Alabar.denlVs as luxurious and 

 gluttonous, and devoted to p'.eafure. Home writeis have 

 given the name Abdiauda to Antuh ni.\. 



ALA15ARCHA, iu Julirjuily, a kind of Uiagiftratc 

 among the Jews of Alexandria, whom tlie emperors al- 

 lowed them to clc6t, to have the fuperintcndeuey of their 

 policy, and to decide differences and diiputes wliich arofe 

 among them. 



ALAEARDA, the name of a fj^ear anciently ufcd by 

 the Helvetians and Germans. 



ALABASTER, William, in 7i'wt;rti/)l<y, an Englifti 

 divine, was born at Hadlcigh, in Suflolk, in the 16th cen- 

 tuiy, educated in Truilty college, Cambridge ; and accom- 

 panied the Earl of EfTex, as his chaplain, in his expedition 

 to Cadiz, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Fickle in his 

 temper, unfteady in his pruiciples, and difFatisfied with his 

 fituation, and at the fame time ieduced by the pomp of the 

 RomiHi worfliip and the rtfpeft paid to its priclls, he became 

 a convert to the church of Rome. But in his new connec- 

 tion he was difappointed ; ar.d upon his return to England, 

 he refumed the Proleilant profeilion, and obtained prefer- 

 ments in the Englifli church ; being appointed to a living 

 in Hertfordfhire and a prebend ot St. Paul's, tie was wtU 

 acquainted with the Hebrew language ; but fo much at- 

 tached to the unintelligible myfteries of the Jewifli cabbala, 

 that his knowledge of the original language of the C^ld 

 Teftament was of little fervice to him in the intei'prctation 

 of fcriptUre. Of liis talenlB as a Biblical commentator, 

 we mav form fome judgment by the ferm.on which he 

 preached on taking his degree of dc'ftor in divinity at Cam- 

 bridge. His text was iCliron.i. i. Ad;mi, Seth, Enos ; 

 and having juft touched upi'U the literal fenfe, he enlarged 

 on its myiUcal meaning ; explaining Adam bv mis.fortunc 

 and raifeiT, and lo of the reft. He wrote a Lexicon Pen- 

 taglotton, which was printed in folio, in 16^7 ; and other 

 works of a myllic;;! kir.d, viz. " Apparatus in Revclatio- 

 ncni Jefu ChrHH," jirinted at Antwerp, in 1607; " Spira- 

 culumTubarum feu fons Spiritualium ixpofitionum ex cqui- 

 vocis Pentatcuchi Jignilicationihus," and " Ecce Sponfus 

 venlt, feu Tuba pulchritudinls, hoc ell, demonllratio quod 

 non lit illlcitum, nee impi.lTibile, computare durationem 

 Mundi ct tenipus fecund! adventus Chrilli," all printed in 

 London. He was alio the author of a Latin tragedy, in- 

 tilled Roxana, which, at its exhibition in a college at Cam- 

 bridge, produced a fingular accident. When the laft words, 

 fcquar, fcqii.ir, vvere pronounced, the voice and mauner of 

 the attor lo terrified a lady who was prefent, that flie irre- 

 coverablv loih I'.er fenfes. Alabailcr died in the year 1640. 

 Gen. Diet. 



AtABASTtR, aWi'iire, Fr. ahlajlntes of Pliny, in Mine- 

 ralogy. Some derive the word from ollui, btcauie of the 

 whitenefs of this ftone. Others from a''.y.hy.r(o;; which they 

 form from the privat. a, and 7-.<xjji'Sayw, aipio, lo take ; this 

 llone beuig too Imooth and flippery for the hand to fallen 

 hold of it. Under this name are confounded two minerals, 

 wholly dllUiu'l from each other when pure, but W'hich, in 

 fome of the varieties, are occarionally mixed together. 



The compiifl gypfum of Kirwan (Alabalb-ite, I. a Meth. 

 albatre gypfeiix tic Li/le. Dichter Gvpllein, IVerner) 

 when of a white or yellowifh, or greenilh colour, femi- 

 tranfparent, and capable of receiving 1 polifji, is known 



Vol. L 



ALA 



nmong tlutiiaries by the nam': of alabaftcr, which term is 

 alfo retained asi a fceondary appellation i.i utoII book* ct 

 mineralogy ; and U ccitaiuly iho ah'l.aflritcs of Plii.y. 

 which is charafterifed by that aullior as a llone rcfernbllm; 

 gypfum. When its coloitrs are diipoled in bandi or clouds, 

 it is called, in the lldl cafe, onyx alabailcr, ar.d in the lat- 

 ter, agate alabafter. It not unfixquently contains a fufii- 

 cient ])ortinn of carbonated lime lo produce a brifk eficr- 

 vefcence with nitrous acid ; and hence has originated the 

 confufion of authors, who make the circurr.llaree cf tflfl- 

 vefcence an client iul diiUndive charafter between the gyp- 

 feou.s and calcareous alabafters. Its fpecilic gravity feldorn 

 exceeds 1.9. Its fradure is compacl — fphnU'ry, fometimeti 

 verging on the fme-grdincd foliated. In Iranfparency, it i« 

 conliderably fuperior to white wax, allowing light to pal* 

 readily through it, but not tranfnulting the forms of objertts. 

 By night calcination it is converted into Paris plafler. 



Gypfeous alabailer is veiy eafily worked, but is not fuf- 

 ce{>tlble of a polifli equal to marble, it is made into va. 

 fes, columns, tables, and other ornamental articlee of fur- 

 niture ; thin flabs of it have even been ufed in one of the 

 churches of Florence inllead of window glals. Its brit- 

 tlenefs liowever, and want of luftre, have caufed it to In- 

 alnioll wholly fuperfeded by more durable materials. Among 

 the ancients, the moll eileeraed came from Carmania, Up- 

 per Egypt, and Syria : of the variety called onyx, the 

 boxes for holding perfumes were raoftly fabricated ; thuk, 

 in Horace, vve meet with " Nardi parvus onyx." 



The calcurei.ut nlahnjler, or linter (albatre calcaire), is • 

 llone of the fame family as flalaftite, confiding chierty of 

 carbonat of lime, and exhibiting a confiderable variety cif 

 colours ; fuch as pure white, yellowilh, greenidi, rcddifli, 

 and blulfli grey : its fraflure is llrialed or fibrous, the ftrix 

 fometimcs parallel and Ibmetlmrs di\crgcnt : its hai-dnefs is 

 fomewhat inferior to that of marble, which neverthelc(s 

 does not prevent it from rcCLi\li!g a gocd pollfii : its fpe- 

 cilic gravity from 2.4 to 2.^ : its tranfpaiency is nearly equaJ- 

 to that of white wax: it iffervefccs with acids and burns 

 to lime. Two forts of alabadcr are ('.idinguinied by da- 

 tuarics, the common and orieiit.J ; under the latter of thefe 

 are ranked the hardeil, the lined, and the bed coloure.l 

 pieces ; a suniber of fub-varieties ai-e alio prodv:ced by the 

 colours being in veins, or dendritic, or in concentric undu- 

 lating zones. Italy and Spain yield the mod beautiful 

 fpeclir.ens ; the inferior kinds are found in Germany and 

 France. It is manufaftured, I'ke the gypfeous alabadcr, 

 into tables, vales, datuts, cliimney-pieces, &c. 



Many of the hot fulphurtous waters rife out of the 

 ground of a turbid wheyilh colour, on account of a large 

 quantity of gypfum and chalk, which they hold fulpinded, 

 and in a date of half folution ; as thefe grow cool and lofc 

 their carbonic acid, the earthy particles are for the mod 

 part depolitcd, lining the bottom and ddcs of the channels 

 in which they (low whh a compact alabadcr. Advantage 

 has been oecafionally taken of this circumdance to obtain 

 very beautifid impreffions of bai reliefs, by cxpoiing the 

 moulds lo a current of fuch water, till they have become^ 

 filled with the earthy dtpofit. The mod remarkable of 

 thefe fprings in Europe, is that which fupplies the baths 

 of St. Phlhp iiiTufcany: it Is fitualed on a mountain near 

 Radicofaiii, and fonns tlie fourcc of the little river Paglia, 

 'J'he water as it ill'ues fortii is veiy hot, fprings out with 

 great impetuolity, has a lliong fulphureous odour, and 

 holds in folution a large quantity m calcareous matter. 

 From its veiy fourcc it flows in deep channels, covered with 

 a thick crud of ilaladltc, of a dazzling white, efpecially 

 w hen the fun fhiius upon it ; and which is harder or fofttr 

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