A L C 



Paufanias. Of the many poems attrilnited to liim by an- 

 tiquity, nothing remains belidcs a few I'l-agments furnilhcd 

 by citations in Athena-iis and other ancient writers, and 

 prefcrved by Ncandrus, H. Stephens, and Urfinus. The 

 name of his miftrefs was Megalollrata, a poetefs. Alcman 

 ufcd the Doric dialed. I'abr. Bib. Gitcc. hb. ii. c. 15. 

 tom. i. p. 366. Bnrney's Hill. Muiic. vol. i. p. 385, &c. 

 Some have confounded Alcman with Alcmxon, the fon ot 

 PerithiH, of Croton.. who, as Clem. Alex, {ubi fuprn) in- 

 foriui us, was the liril who wrote a book concerning nature. 

 Sec alfo ^IenL■.^'ius ad Laertium. viii. 83. 



ALCMANIAN, in the ^Indent Poetry, a kind of lyric 

 vert'e, or metre, conlilling of two daclyls, and two trochees. 

 Such c. gr. is 



" Virginibus puerifque cano." 



The word is formed from Alcman, the name of an ancient 

 Greek poet, in great elleem for his Erotics, or amorous 

 compofitions. 



Some authors afiign other Alcmanian vorfes, compofed of 

 three dadyls and a long fyllablc. 



E.gr. " Munere hctitiamque Dei." 



Others give an Alcmanian, compofed of a daftyl, fpondee, 

 and another dactyl, and a long fyllable. 



E. gr. " Ne dubita, nam vera fides." 



ALCMENA, \a Mythology, tlie daughter of Eleftryon, 

 king of Mycena: or Argos, wife of Amphitryon, and mo- 

 ther of Hercules by Jupiter. 



ALCMEON, in Biography. See Alcm/FON. 



ALCMEONE, in Entomology, a fpecies of the Papii-IO 

 Hanaus, with rounded wiujrs of the fame colour, yellow at 

 the bafe and white at the tip, found in Malabar. 



ALCO, in Zoology, the name given to the Canis Ante- 

 ricarius of Linnxus, about the fize of a fquirrel, with a 

 fmall head, pendulous ears, curved body, and (hort tail. 

 There are two varieties, -viz. the fat alco, ytzcuinte-por- 

 zotli, canis Mexicanus of Hernandez, or michuacanens of 

 Fernandes, which is extremely fat, head very fmall, ears 

 pendulous, with the fore part of the head white, and yellowifh 

 ears, ftiort neck, arched back, yellow hair, white, (hort 

 pendulous tail, large belly, fpotted with black, white legs 

 and feet, and the female with fix confpicuous paps ; and the 

 techichi of Fernandes, which is like the fmall dogs of Europe, 

 except that it has a wild and melancholy air. The firft of 

 thcfe approaches the Iceland dog, and the fecond is perhaps 

 the fame animal with the koupara, or crab-dog of Guiana, 

 which in figure refembles the fox, and in its hair the jackal ; 

 and has been called the crab-dog, becaufe it lives chiefly upon 

 crabs and other teftaceous animals. 



ALCOBACA, in Geography, a town of Portugal, in 

 Eftremadura, ficuated upon a fmall river near the fea, and 

 furrounded by mountains, in a beautiful fituation. It has 

 a celebrated Ciflercian abbey, built by Alphonfo I. in 1148, 

 which has been the general fepulchrc of the kings of that 

 kingdom. It is fouth-eaft of Liria, and 6\ leagues north- 

 eaft of Peniche. This town carries on various manufac- 

 tures, the oldell of which is in the monallery, eftabhfhed by 

 Pombal. Cambrics and fine linens are made here, but the 

 woollen manufaAory, and that for fpinning of wool, which 

 is performed by machinery, are more important. Link's 

 Travels in Portugal, p. 278. 



ALCOCK, John-, in Biography, an Englirti Divine, 

 v/as born at Beverley, in Yorkfliire, and educated in 

 the univerfity of Cambridge, wliere he took the degree of 

 doflor of laws. His ccclefiaiUcal preferment was rapid, and 



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he was fuccefTively bilhop of Rochefter, Worceder, and 

 Elv. In 1462 he was appointed mailer of the rolls ; in 

 1470 a privy-counfellor, and one of the ambafladors to the 

 king of CalUle; in 1 47 1 a commiflioner to treat with the 

 commilTioncrs of the king of Scotland; and in 1472 lord- 

 high-chanccllor of England. He is reprefented as a prelate 

 of dillinguiflied learning and piety, and alfo of fingular ab- 

 lUnence and purity. He was not only a coniiderable writer, 

 but an excellent architeft, fo that he was made comptroller 

 of the royal works and buildings under Henry VII. He 

 improved the palaces of his feveral fees ; founded a fchooJ, 

 according to Fuller, at Beverley ; and he was alio the 

 founder of Jcfus college in Cambridge, appropriating to 

 this purpofc a nunnery, which was fo notorious for incon- 

 tinence, that the fociety was called a community of fpirituil 

 harlots. This college was firft deligned for a nialter, fix 

 fellows, and as many fcholars ; but under the patronage of 

 the bilhops of Ely, it has much increafed in buildings and 

 revenues, and now confifts of a mafter, 16 fellows, and 30 

 fcholars. Alccck was famous for preaching long fermons ; 

 one of his fermons before the univerfity lailed upwards of 

 two hours. He wrote feveral pieces, i)/z. " Mons perfcc- 

 tionis ad Carthufianos ;" " Abbatia Spiritus Sanfti in pura 

 Confcientia fundata ;" " Penitential Pfalms," in Enghfli 

 verfe ; " Homilis vulgares ;" " Meditationes pis j" and 

 " Spoufage of a Virgin to Chrift." Befides thefe he wrote 

 a treatife with the whimfical and punning title of " Galli 

 Cantus ad confratres fuos," or the crowing of the cock to 

 his brethren ; at the beginning of which is a print of the 

 bilhop preaching to the clergy, with a cock on each fide, 

 and having alfo a cock in the firft page. This prelate died 

 Oct. I, 1500, at Wiftjeach, and was buried at a fumptuous 

 chapel, which he iiad built for hlmfelf, and which, though 

 now neglefted, is a noble fpecimen of his ilviU in archi- 

 tefture. Biog. Brit. 



AECOER, in Geography, a fmall town of Spain, in 

 New Gaftjle, fituated in a fine country, between the Tagus 

 and the river Cuyar. N. lat. 38° 55'. W. long. 4° 26'. 



ALCOHOL, ardent fpirit,fpirit of wine. Alcool, Efprit 

 de vin, Fr. IVeingeift, Germ. Spirito ardcnte, fpirito de 

 ■vino. Acquarzente, Italian. The terra alcohol is applied 

 exclufively by modern chemifts, to the purely fpirituous 

 part of all liquors that have undergone the vinous fermenta- 

 tion. As this fubftance bears a very high importance, both 

 as a chemical agent and in its various combinations, we fhall 

 beftow upon it confiderable attention. 



Alcohol is in all cafes the produft of the faccharine prin- 

 ciple, and is formed by the fucceffive proccftes of vinous 

 fermentation and diftillation. AH fermented liquors, there- 

 fore, agree in thefc two points ; the one, that a faccharine 

 juice has been neceflar)' to their produftion ; and the other, 

 that they are all capable of furniflring an ardent fpirit by 

 diftillation. 



Various kinds of ardent fpirits are known in commerce, 

 fuch as brandy, rum, aiTack, malt-fpirits, and the like ; 

 thefe differ from each other in colour, fmell, tafte, and 

 ftrength ; but the fpirituous part, to which they owe their 

 inflammabihty, their hot fiery tafte, and their intoxicating 

 quality, is the fame in each, and may be procured in its 

 purell ftate by a fecond diftillation, which is termed in tech- 

 nical language, redification. 



We (hall refer the reader to the articles of Fermenta- 

 tion (vinous), Distillation, and the feveral fpecies of 

 dillilled fpirits, for an account of the progreffive ftages in 

 the formation of alcohol ; and we (hall here take up the fub- 

 jeift with the procefs of rectification or the fecond diftilla- 

 tion, whereby alcohol is brought to that ftate of purity 

 7 in 



