A L C ^ ^ ^ 



, , r V r • II TT,,-,/./. r-ille iffcravatton, that the number of manufcrlpts was very con- 



Th. fol'owng is alfo cf th.s fpcc.cs wh.ch Horace calls ^SS'^^^^'"' However, as rockets are not made of vellum, a 



Hiina.ej Alcti ccman* : - „ . . . 



" Non pi.Edenfcm multa vocaverit 



Rcdte beatum ; reftius occupat 



Nomen beati, qui dcorum 



Muncribus fapientcr uti," occ— Od. ix. lib. iv. 



AI.CAID, in mattei-s of Polly, an officer of juftiee 

 an-iing the Moors, Spaniards, and Portugutle. 



Tiie word is alfo written alcade, alcalde, and ulcayd : lomc- 

 tinies alfo alvacide. ' 



It is originally Arabic, compounded of the particle al, 

 and the verb Jtad, or atad, to rule, govern, adimniJUr. 



The emperor of Morocco's court confifts chiefly ot feven 

 or ei"-ht alcaids, his devoted llaves. 



The alcaid, or governor of a city or callle in Barbai7, 

 hath fovereic,n juril'diclion in civil and criminnl concerns ; 

 and all fines and punillments are inflicled at his pha- 

 fure. 



In fome places the alcaids arc much the fume with tlie em- 

 peror's tax-gatherers. . 



Alcaid, among the Spaniards, &c. is a kind of inferior 

 judge, or minilierof julHce, who takes cognizance of caiiles 

 in the firft inllance, and anfwers in good mtafure to the 

 French prev:^fl, and an Englifh jullice of peace. 



They had alfo their alcaid of the whores, who took cog- 

 nizance of cafes of whoredom and adultery. Tliis ofiieer 

 was otherwife called alcaid of honour. Du-Cangc. 



AI.CALA delos Gatnks, in Geogrnphy, a very ancient 

 town of Spain in Seville, fituated on a mountain, and fur- 

 rounded by a fertile plain, lo miles eaft-nortli-eail from 

 Medina Sidonia. 



Alcala de Guadaira, a fmall town of Spain in Seville, on 

 the river Guadaira, two leagues fouth-eall from Seville. 

 N. lat. 37° 22'. W. long, i" 6'. 



Alcala de Haiares, anciently Complutiim, a town of 

 Spain, in New Caftile, fituated on the river Henares, in a 

 beautiful plain, and confifting of well-built houfes, which 

 form handfome (Ireets, and which are difpofed in a kind of 

 oval figure. N. lat. 40° 35'. W. long. 4'^ 20'. It is fur- 

 rounded by piazzas, where the tradefnien keep their fliops, 

 which are well fupplied with a variety of goods. The ad- 

 joining land, watered by the Henares, is fertile and well 



Ic.wied writer confules himfelf with the refleftion, that the 

 manufcripts were written on' paper, and therefore of no 

 great antiquity. Michaehs's Introd. to the New Teft. by 

 Marfh, vol. ii.'p. 441. vol. iii. p. 844. 



ALCALA real, a town of Spain in Cordova, lies in a 

 hilly couiiti7, but produces fine fruits and good wine. It 

 is \i leagues foufli-eaft from Cordova. N. lat. 37° t8'. 

 W. long. 4". 15'. 



AucALA del R'io, a town of Spain in Seville, on the 

 Guadalquiver, two kagues above Seville. 



ALCALI and ALCALIZATUM. See Alkali and 



AlK ALIZATION. 



ALCAMENES, in Biography, a ftatuar)-, the fcholar 

 of Phidias. Pliny, xxxvi. 5. Cicero de Nat. D. i. 30. 



ALCAMOjinGcofra/Zy^aconfiderabletown of Sicily in the 

 valley of Mazara, about 20 miles fouth-well from Palermo. 

 It is fituated on high ground, in a line open cultivated coinitry-, 

 and well dickered by large woods of olive trees. The num- 

 ber of inhabitants is about 8,500. It derives its^iame from 

 Adalcam, the caliph's lieutenant, who, in 827, conquered 

 Sicily, and who erected a fortrefs in Monte Bonifati ; but 

 Frederick of Swabia, having difpofTcfTed the Saracens, de- 

 llroyed the fort, and erefted the burgh of Alcamo at the 

 foot of the mountain. Having pafTed through feveral Spa- 

 nilk families, it now belongs to the duke of Ferrandma, 

 heir to the poffetlions of Toledo duke of Alba. The 

 church is adorned with foinegood pitturesby Pietro Novello, 

 commonly called the Raphael of Sicily ; and with alto- 

 relievos of great merit by Gagini. The flreets of the town 

 command a fuperb view : the bed land in the vicinity is 

 fown with corn, the next fort is planted with vines, and the 

 worfl; foil is cultivated with myrtle-leaved fumach, the leaves 

 and flowers of which are dried and pulverized, and exported 

 in bags, for the puipofe of tanning fine leather. N. lat. 38" 2', 

 E. long. 12° ^&. Swinb. Trav. vol. iii. p. 346. 



ALCANDRO, a town of Spain in Old Caftile, fituate 

 on the Ebro ; four leagues from Calahorra. 



ALCANI, or Alkan, a town of Africa in Egypt, on 

 the weftern branch of the Nile, 30 miles N. N. W. of Cairo. 



ALCANITZ, or Alcanis, atown of Spain in Aragon, 

 on the river Guadaloupe, and the frontiers of Catalonia, 

 15 leagues fouth-eaft from SaragofTa. It was formerly the 



-•ultivated, and yields plenty of grain, good mufcat wine, capital of the Moors, but now belongs to the order of Ca- 

 and excellent melons. Near the town is a fpring, the wa- 

 ter of which is preferved, on account of its peculiar purity, 

 for the king's ufe, and conveyed to Madrid. This town 

 belongs to the archbifliop of Toledo. It has a collegiate 

 church, and a celebrated univerfity, which was reftored in 

 1494, by Cardinal Ximenes ; and in the church belonging to 

 it this Cardinal was buried. This univerfity pofTelfed a very 

 confiderable library, and many curious manufcripts. Go- 

 mez fays, that they coll 4000 aurei, and that among them 

 were feven of the Hebrew Bible. Here, it is probable, 

 were depofited, the Greek manufcripto ufed for the Complu- 

 tenfian edition of the Greek teftament. ProfefTor Molden- 



hawer went to Alcala, in 1784, with a view of difcovering as Malabar and Ceylon, in Egypt, and alfo in Cyprus, and 

 thefe manufcripts ; bu^, to his extreme aftoniftinient, he found in all parts of Syria. The colours drawn from thefe leaves 

 that about 35 years before that time, a very illiterate libra- is either red or yellow, according to the mode of preparing 

 rian, who v/anled room far fome new books, fold the ancient it ; yellow, when fteeped in common water; and red, when 

 vellum manufcripts to one Toryo, who dealt in fire-works, infnfed in vinegar or alum water. The people of Cairo 

 as materials for making rockets. Martinez, a Greek fcho- make a confiderable traffic of thefe leaves, which they re- 

 lar, as foon as he heard of this favage aft, haftened to fave duce to a powder, called archenda, much ufed by the women 

 thefe treafures from deflruftion ; but they were aftually de- to dye their nails, hands, hair, and other parts of the body 

 ftroyed, except a few fcattered leaves, which are now pre- 01 a golden yellow hue. They apply it affo for the fame 

 fcrved in the Lbrary. It is added, as a circumllance of purpofe to the manes and tails of their horfes. This 



7 cuftum 



latrava. It has a collegiate church and a fortrefs, and is 

 fuiroundcd with gardens and fruit-trees. A fountain in 

 this town throws up'water through 42 pipes. N. lat. 41*^ 

 10'. W. long. 0° lo'. 



ALCANIZOS, a town of Spain in Leon, on the fn.n- 

 tiers of Portugal, four leagues well from Zamora. 



ALCANNA, or Alkanna, in Commerce, by the Turks 

 called knah, a dying drug, brought from Egypt and the 

 Levant, being the leaves of a plant called Ugujirlum JEgyp- 

 tium, the Egyptian privet, or the Lawsonia ir.crmis of the 

 LinHocan fyllem. The tree is alfo called clhanna, tamar- 

 hendi, poutaletfie of Rhud, and grows in the Eafl Indies, 



