A I. G 



A L G 



of Adelirus," and " The Hirtory of his own Abbfv." 

 liiog. Dia. 



Alfred, of BciH-rh-y, an ancient liiiloiian, wrote Jils 

 •' Annales," puhlifliiJ by Hcarne, between the years 114S 

 and I I JO, and bonowod his acconnt of ihc IJiitidi kings 

 from Geoffroy of Monmoutli. 15iog. l)i<ft. 



ALFRETON, in Gfography, a fmall market town of 

 England, in the county of Derby, is faid to have Ijccn 

 founded by king Alfred. It has a confiderable corn market 

 on Friday. It is 15 miles north of Derby, and 141^ north 

 of London. 



AIjFTER, a boioiigh, citadel ami feignory in the elec- 

 torate of Cologn and prefefturate of Bonn, belonging to 

 the counts of Salm-Reifierfcheid. 



AI^GA, in Natural H'ljiory, a fjiecles of millepora, with 

 thin femieircidar lamina?, forming horizontal leaves ; the 

 millepora lichenoides of Solander and lilhs, found, of a red, 

 purple, yellow and whitilh colour, on the fliores of Corn- 

 wall. 



ALGj'E, in Botany, an order or divifion of the cryplo- 

 gamia clafs of plants. — It is one of the fcven families or na- 

 tural tribes into which the vegetable kingdom is dillributed 

 in the Philofoph'ia Botanica of Linnsus ; the 57th order of 

 \\\i fragments of a natural method ; and the fecond genus of 

 the feftion marhin aut JIuviatUii, in the clafs afpermx vulgo 

 lial'itx of Tournefort. 



The plants belonging to tliis order arc defcribed as having 

 their root, leaf, and item entire, or all one. The whole of 

 the fea weeds and various other aquatic plants are compre- 

 hended under this divilion. 



From tlieir admitting of little diftinftion of root, leaf, or 

 ftem, and the parts of their flowers being equally incapable 

 •of defcription, the genera are diftinguilhed by the filnation 

 of what is fuppofed to be the flowers or feeds, or by the re- 

 fcmblance which the whole plant bears to fome other fub- 

 ftance. 



The parts of fruftification are either found in fauccrs or 

 tubercles, as in lichens ; in hollow bladders,as in \\\efucl ; or dif- 

 perfcd through the whole fubftance of the plants, as in the 

 uhs. The fubftance of the plants has much variety ; it is 

 ilelh-like or leather-like, membranaceous or fibrous, jelly-like 

 cr horn-like, or it has the refemblance of a calcareous earthy 

 matter. 



Mr. Valley has lately (hewn that fome of the plants 

 that belong to this older pofl'efs a high degree of irrita- 

 bility. — Withering's Arrangement of Britifh Plants, vol. i. 

 p. 369. 



Lamarck diftributes the alga; into three feftions : the firft 

 comprehends all thofe plants, whofe fruftification is not ap- 

 parent or feems doubtful. Thefe commonly live in water, 

 or upon moill bodies, and are membranous, gelatinous, or 

 filamentous. To this feilion he refers the byfli, confer\-a, 

 iilya, tremclla and varec. The plants of the fecond fcclion 

 are diftinguilhed by their apparent fructification, although 

 it be little known, and they are formed of parts which have 

 no particular and fenfible opening or explofion at any deter- 

 mined period ; their fubftance is ordinarily cruftaceous or 

 coriaceous. They include the taftella, ceratofperma and 

 lichen. The third Jeftion comprehends plants, which have 

 their fruiftification very apparent, and diftinguilhed by con- 

 iiituent parts which open at a certain period of maturity for 

 the efcape of the fecundating duft or feeds. Thefe plants 

 are more herbaceous, as to both their fubftance and their 

 colour, than thofe of the other two fee'^ions, and are more 

 nearly related to the moffes from which they do not effen- 

 lially differ. Their flowers are often contained in articulated 



ar,d ver)' elaftie filaments. To this fc<!\ion are referred the 

 riceia, blafia, anthoceros, targiona, hepatica, and junger- 

 maiina. In the Linna-an fylltm the algas arc divided into 

 two claflcs, fix. the terrcjlra and aqu.uica:. The former 

 include the anthoceros, blafia, riceia, lichen, and byiTus ; and 

 the latter ate the ulva, fucus, and conferva. The frutlifi- 

 cation of the alga;, and particularly of thofe called aquaticz, 

 is denomiiiatcd by a judicious bi.tanift, the cpprohriiim lota- 

 nuorum. See obfer.ations on this order of plants by Dr. 

 Goodenough and Mr. Woodward in the Liinrian Traiif- 

 ac^ions, vol. iit, j). 84, &c. 



Al.G,v, in ylmhiit Geography, au inland city of the 

 ifland of Eubcca, called by Strabo, the Eiiboic Alg;e, and 

 aho ./Eges, to diftinguilh it from two other cities of that 

 name, one in Achaia, near tlie river Gratis, the other in 

 jEolis. He conceives, that from this place, in which was a 

 temple of Neptune, the .(EGEAN Sea derived its name. S«c 



Alg«, a port of Italy, which Antonine places three 

 miles from Centumcellar. 



ALGAGLIOLA, a fea-port town of Corfica, defended 

 by a caftle, fituated upon a rock, was almoft deftroyed by 

 the mal-contents in 173 1, but foon afterwards rebuilt. N. 

 lat. 42° 20'. E. long. 9° 4j'. 



ALGAIRA, or Aliara, in Geography, a river of Spain, 

 joins the Gabriel, before its conflux with the Xucar. 



ALGALA, or Algalie, in Surgery, the Arabian name 

 of a hollow curved inftrumciit employed for drawing off the 

 urine, or fearching for a ftone, by introducing it into the 

 bladder. The more common appellation of this tube is 

 Cathetkr or Sound, which fee. 



ALGARDI, Alessandro, in Biography, an eminent 

 artift, both as a iculptoi and architca, was born at Ilologna 

 in IJ98, and became adifciple of Julius Ga:far Gonventi, un- 

 der whofe iiiftruftion he acquired a reputatii^n in fculpture 

 little inferior to that of Michael Angelo Biionaroti. He aUi> 

 frequented the fchool of the Garaccii, where he probably 

 learned the art ol engraving ; his ftyle, refembling that of 

 Augoftino Caracci, being ilight and free, and liis execution 

 with the graver bold and open. Having ftudied at Mantua 

 and Venice, he vifited Rome in 1625, and became ac- 

 quainted with Domenichino, by whom he was recommended 

 to the ilatuary work of the chapel Bandini, which he was 

 painting. For fonie years he was chiefly employed in re- 

 pairing antiques and modclhu.g for goldfmiths ; but his ta- 

 lents and reputation procured him luperior work. Among 

 his performances may be recounted a ftatiic of St. Philip de 

 Neri, in the iacrifty of the fathers of the oratory at Rome; 

 his group of tlie decollation of St. Paul for the Barnabite 

 church at Bologna, and the tomb of Leo. XI- at St. Peter's. 

 One of his capital performances was a bas-relief in this ca- 

 thedral, reprefenting the ftory of Attila, 32 feet by 18, 

 which was the laboui' ot four years, and which gained him 

 univerlal applaufe, with the honour of knighthood and 

 the golden crofs. His bronze figure of Innocent XI. \i 

 reckoned the fineft of the flatues of the popes in Rome. 

 A crucifix likewifc, called, by way of diltinftion, Al? 

 gardi's crucifix, has been much celebrated, and often copied 

 by many of the principal artifts. He was afllduous and quick 

 in execution, but becoming corpulent and infirm, he was 

 under a neceffity of recumng to the affiftanee of his puplli, 

 of wiiom he formed an eminent fchool. He died in 1654, 

 at the age of 52 years. His difpofition was lively, his con- 

 verfation plcafaut, and his manners irreproaclwble. He lived 

 in celibacy, and left his property to his filler. His works, 

 which are held in hij^h cltimation, though the air of his heads 

 402 is 



