I 



ALE 



iolfon, arf all terms i.t-arly of the f:ime ri^iufication ; and 

 x< arc thcriaciis, upon the fuppolition of their btiiig fitted to 

 expel till- puifun ui uniinais. 



Aleicipharir.ics are ouliniiiily divided into fuch as are ge- 

 neral ; and thofc more particular, fiijipofcd only to combat 



fomc particular difoafc lint this diiition is ioundcd more 



on fpeciilation than cxpciiciice. 



Alexipharniic medicines, in general, are aromatic and pun- 

 gent to the taile — Among the rell, it is true, there art lome 

 acid plants and juices ; but thefe arc only reckoned in the 

 niimhcr, on account of their ufc in niaUgnant and colliqua- 

 tive fevers. 



Alexipharmics chiefly aft by exciting or increafing a 

 diaphorclls, or pcrfpiration ; or by fuppoiting the vigorous 

 motion of the heart and arteries, which is always diminiflied 

 in malignant difeafes unattended by inflammation. In this 

 latter ftr.fc wine may be rjcl.oned among the principal alexi- 

 phnmiics. Thefe medicines are alfo elteemed pvefervatives 

 againft malignant and pelUleiitiiJ fevers : but they are to 

 be ufed with caution. 



It is dangerous to adminiller alexipharmics to young 

 people of plethoric habits, without previous evacuations ; 

 and CelUis advifes only to promote a fweat, when the marks 

 of one approaching are evident. 



Alexipharmics are decifled proper correftors of opium, 

 when it produces fickncfs, nanfcas, &c. They are alio fer- 

 viceable in thofe difeafes which proceed from external cold, 

 and obllruded perfpirati(ni ; as catarrhs, rheumatifms, 

 fluxes, coughs, and glandular tymours. Alexipharmics 

 make a large clafs of medicines ; but the principal ones arc 

 thefe: i. Of the animal kingdom, hartfiiorn, bezoars, and 

 the bones and teeth of different animals. 2. Of the vege- 

 table kingdom, the leaves and flowers of all the aromatic 

 plants, cfpecially fuch as are umbelliferous. 3. Of the nii- 

 ueral kingdom, the different preparations of antimony, the 

 dulcified Ipirit of vitriol, together with alcoliol in all its 

 forms and combinations. It does not appear, fays Dr. Cul- 

 len, that the medicines given under the titles of alexiphar- 

 mics and alcxiterials are in any refpecl fuited to expel mor- 

 bific matter. So far as they are adapted to this purpofe, 

 the)' are diaphoretics or fudorifics, and ihould be cautioufly 

 ufed. The terms, therefore, he thinks, fliould be expunged 

 from the writings on the Materia Medica ; for, though the 

 medicines may be ufeful, yet wlien they are tviven under the 

 falfe idea which the terms imply, they may lead to an er- 

 roneous practice. CuUen's Mat. Med. vol. i. p. 165. 



ALEXIPPUS, in Biography, one of the phyficians to 

 Alexander the Great, and in high eileem, as riutarch in- 

 forms us, with that prince. 



ALEXIS, MlCKAELOWITZ, or MiKHULOVlTCH, in 



Biography and Hijlory, czar of Ruffia, fucceeded l:is fatlier 

 Michael Theodoroviich in l6.).6, at the age of i j years. 

 He was immediately crowned by the direft:Dn of Morofof, 

 who b;came his prime miniilcr, and engroffed to hlmfelf 

 tile whjle power of government. In older the more effec- 

 tual to fecure his infiueiice with the czar, he married him 

 to one of the daughters of a nobleman of fmall fortune, 

 attached to his interell, and took the fitter for his own 

 wi.*c. Although Morofcf was in fome refpefts an ufeful 

 rainifter, by his attention to the army, by ftrengthtning the 

 frontiers againil Poland and Sweden, and by ereding nianu- 

 faftories for arms, none of thefe fervices were fufficient to 

 comjjcnfate the oppreifion which the people fufFered under 

 his adminirtration. Thtfe grirvances at length, viz. in 

 1 648, produced an ir.furreftion at Mofcow, and the people 

 dtraandcd juftice againil Moiofuf and Lis confederates. 



A L F, 



Two of their principal opprellors were put to death, and 

 the miniilcr efea;)ed merely by the interceflion of the czar 

 hiiufclf. About this time appeared an impollor, the fon of 

 a linen draper of Wologda, who under various pretences 

 laid claim to the throne. Neither the Swedis nor the 

 Poles, whom he endeavoured to intereil in his caiife, af- 

 forded him any fupport ; and after a ihort courfe of extra- 

 vagance and proHigaey, he fell irito the hands of the Ruf- 

 fians, who, after in vain attempting to obtain from him a cou- 

 fcffion by torture, put him to a cruel death. When thefe 

 tumults were appealed, Alexis alTumed the government, and 

 exhibited promiliiig tokens of cr.pacity and vigour. Hav- 

 in" fettled a difpute between Rulfia and Sweden by an 

 embafiy to qui;en Chrillina, he direclcd his attention to 

 Poland, and offered to employ his army in fubduirg the 

 Colfacks, on condition of their conferring upon him the 

 vacant crown. But the interell of France prevailing in 

 favour of Calimir, the brother of Uladillaus their late king, 

 Alexis declared war againil the Poles, and afiilled by the 

 Coffacks, fucceeded in recovering Smolenllcow.'Wilna, Kiow, 

 and the province of Czernichow, which had been ceded to the 

 Ruffians by the late peace. Poland being at this time, \-i%, 

 in 1656, invaded by Gullavus, king of Sweden, with a 

 formidable army, Alexis made a truce with that kingdom ; 

 and as the Swedes had appropriated to thcmfelves the 

 duchy of Lithuania, vvhicli the czar looked upon as his 

 conquetl, he marched his army into Carelia, Ingria and Li- 

 vonia. At length, however, he thought it ad\ liable, in 

 165S, to conclude a three years tmce with Sweden; which, 

 in i66r, was confirmed into a peace by the treaty of Car- 

 dis. By this treaty it was agreed, that, difregarding all 

 that had pafTed between the two powers, every thing fhould 

 remain as it had been fettled by the treaty of peace made at 

 Stolbova in 1617. The war of Alexis with Poland ter- 

 minated r.-,ore honourably for Ruffia. An arraiftice for 13 

 years, agreed upon at AndrulTof in Lithuania was the fore- 

 runner of a complete paciiication, which was effcded in 

 1686, and which reflorcd to the empire Smolenlko, Seve- 

 ria, Czernichow, and Kiow. The king of Poland hkewlfe 

 relinquiilied the fupremacy he had hitherto aiferted over 

 the Coflacks to the czar ; and thefe people became now a 

 protefted relative of the Ruffian empire. Notwithlland- 

 ing this favourable iflue of the czar's contefl with the 

 Poles, a formidable domeflic rebellion obflruftcd the opera- 

 tion of the plans which he was purfuiug for the good of 

 his country. This was occafioned, in 1669, by Stenko 

 (Stephen) Radzin, whofe brother had been hanged by 

 (nder of Dolgoruchi, the Ruffian commander ; and as he 

 had thus infringed upon the hberty of the CofTacks, they 

 made this a pretence for arming againil their fovereign> 

 though there is reafon to believe that ambition was the 

 ruling principle of Radzin. Whatever was the motive, a 

 civil war was the confequcnce, which w-as carried on with 

 various fuccefs, and equal cruelty on both ikies. Radzin 

 gained poffeflion of Albachan, and being joined by a multi- 

 tude of peafants, who murdered their lords, his army at 

 one time amounted to 200,000 men. This rebellion was 

 not fupprelled till the year 1671, when Radzin was betray- 

 ed into the hand of the czar, and executed. The affairs 

 of Poland, and the nieafures which Alexis had taken for 

 making hiinfelf proteiStor of the Coliacks, produced a 

 mifunderttaiiding between the Grand Seignior and the czar, 

 which terminated in actual hoilllities. Alexis endeavoured 

 to engage all the Chriftian potentates in his difpute, and to 

 form a league againil the Turks ; and with this view he 

 feat ambaffadors to leveral of tlicm, and one to Rome, who 



rcfufcd 



