A L M 



hive given our fovcreign the prerogative he enjoys, that 

 vhatcver hath no other owner is veiled by law in the king. 

 Blackfl. Com. vol. ii. p. 262, 8vo. 



Great alterations are made in the face and limits of coun- 

 tries, by alluvions of the fea, rivers, &c. Whole plains 

 ;;rc foretimes formed by alluvions. It is controverted whe- 

 : her alluvions {hould be confidered as fniits, and as fuch ac- 

 i.iuing to ufufruduaries. 



Alluvion of ihe fea, in ylgticulture, fignifies fuch kinds 

 (.f foil a;' are formed by the depofition of various forts of 

 i'.atters, held in folution either by the fea, or larger rivers, 

 :/om their overflowing their banks. The depth of foils 

 /ormed in this way arc various according to particular cir- 

 rumftanccs. It is obfervcd by Mr. Young, in his agricul- 

 iural fui-vey of Lincolnfliire, that the niarlh land iu the 

 \'icinity of Winteringhame, is a traft of alluvion of the 

 ilumhtr, depofited to the depth of fix feet, apparently as 

 'OoJ at the bottom as the top. Soils of this mixture are 

 . ,olUy produftive, whether grain or grafs be cultivated upon 

 I hem. 



AI^LY, in matters of Polity, a fovereign prince or (late, 

 that has' entered into alliance with others. See Alliance. 



ALMA, in do^raphy, a river of RufTia, that takes its 

 riie trom the mountains of Taurida. 



Alma, in Ancient Geography, a river of Italy, in Etruria. 



Alma, or Almus, a mountain of lUyria, in the vicinity 

 of Serinium. The emperor Probus planted vines on it, 

 >vhich he conveyed from Italy. 



ALMACANTARS, Almacantaras, orAtMicAN- 

 THARATH, m Aflronomy. See Almucantars. 



Al.MACANTARS^/'rt^; ScC Al M U C A N T AR S_y?^^ 



ALMACARON, or Almazeron, \xi Geography, a for- 

 tified fea-port town of Spain, in the province of Murcia, 

 at the mouth of the river Guadalantin, on the Mediterranean, 

 which has mines of alum in its neirrhbourhood, is fituated 

 20 miles well of Carthagena. On the weft fide is a caftle, 

 and on the caft a rock with a watch-tower upon it. N. lat. 

 37° 28'. W. long. 0° 56'. 



ALMADA, a fmall market town of Portugal, on the 

 gulf formed by the Tagu?, over againft Lifbon. It has a 

 ( huich on the fummit of a hill, and the Englilh hofpital at 

 the foot of it. 



ALMADE, in Sea-langnage, a fmall vefTel ufed by the 

 negroes of Africa, about four fathoms long ; and made 

 ufually of the bark of a tree. 



The fame name is alfo given to the TcfTels of Calicut in 

 India, which are eighty feet long, and fix or feven broad, 

 aid«fquai-e ftenied. Thefe are otherwlle denominated <-«- 

 thtirl. They go with great fwiftnefs. AVitfen fays, that 

 they are twelve or thirteen paces long, fharj) at head and 

 Hern, and that they are moved both by fails and oars. 



ALMADEN, in Geography, a fmall town of Spain 

 \.\ the kingdom of Seville, and province of La Mancha, 

 i,car which are mines of quiekfilver ; 13 leagues fouth-weft 

 of Civdad-Rcal. 



ALMADIA, a fortrcfs of Afia, in the province of 

 Curdeftan, 50 miles fouth-weft of Betlis. 



ALMADRONES, a town or village of Africa, in 

 ihe kir.gdom of Eez, near Cape Spartel. The bay faces 

 tlie Atlantic Ocean, and lies under the lee of Cape Spartel 

 on tlie fouth. The road is fafe, and has good anchorage, 

 and is well fiieltered from north and eaft winds, but expoled 

 to the fouth and weft. When the wind ftiifts to the weft, 

 and fouth-weft of this point, ftilps fhould be prepared for 

 putting to fea, and take ihclter round the point in Tangier 

 bav. 



Vol. I. 



A L M 



ALMiENA. See Almana. 



ALMA(iEST, the name of a celebrated work, com- 

 pnftd by Ptolemy, and confifting of 15 books; being a 

 colletSion of many of the obfervations and problems of tlie 

 ancientj, relating both to geometry and aftronomy. It con- 

 tains a catalogue of tlie fixed ftars with their places, 

 bcfides numerous records of eclipfcs, the motions ot the 

 planets, &c. being the fiift work of the kind that has been 

 tranfmilted to us, it is valuable to aft'onomcrs. 



In the original Greek it was called ot/it«Ji: f<>->i;n, q. J. 

 grealejl conjlrudion, or colleSion : which laft word megljl.; 

 joined to the particle al, gave occafion to its being called 

 almageft by the Arabians, who found it at Alexandria, in 

 Egypt, on their capture of tliat kingdom, and tniiidated it 

 into their tongue about the year 827, by order of tlic caliph 



Ahv.amon The Arabic word is almughe/ii. It was firft 



tranflatedinto Latin about the year 1230, by favour of the 

 emperor Frederic II. But the Greek text was not known in 

 Europe till about the beginning of the 15th century, when 

 it waj brought from Coullaiitinople, then taken by theTurks, 

 by (George, a ir.onk of Ticbizond, who tranflated it into 

 Latin ; and this trandation has been frequently publidied. 



Ricciolus alfo publiflied, in 1651, a body of Aftronomy, 

 which he entitles, after Ptolemy, the i\c\\ Alinage/l : beings 

 colkftion of ancient and modern obfervations and difcoveries 

 in tliat fcience. 



We have alfo a hotanicaX Almagifl, compofcdby Plukenet, 

 being a kind of pinas, or general index ot plants, containing 

 the proper and defcriptive names of upwards ol fix thouland. 

 To which, in a fnpplement, fince publilhed by the iamc 

 author, have been added above one thoufand others. Alma- 

 geftum Botaiiicum,f!vc Phytographia;Plucnetiance Onomafti- 

 con, &:c. Lond. 1696. fol. 



ALMAGRA, in Natural HiJIory, a name given in later 

 ages to an earth of the ochre kind, called_^/ <7«/Vwmby the 

 ancients. It is an ochre of a fine and deep red, with fomc 

 admixture of purple, very heavy, and of a denfe yet friable 

 ftruelure, and rough dufty furface. It adheres vciy firmly 

 to the tongue, and melts freely and cafily in the mouth, and 

 is of an auftere and ftrongly aftringent tafte ; it ftains the 

 fkin in , touching it, and -ferments veiy violently with acid 

 meiiftruums ; by which fingle quality, it is fufficiently dif- 

 tinguiftied from the fil fyricum, to which it has in many 

 refpefts a great affinity. It is found in immenfe quantities, 

 in many parts of Spain ; and in Andalul'a there are in a 

 manner whole mountains of it. It is uled in painting, and 

 in medicine, being a vei-y valuable aftringent. 



ALMAGRO, Di KGO de, in Biographyawii. HiJIory, oneof 

 the colleagues and rivals of I'rancifco Pizarro, and Ferdinando 

 de Luque in the concpicft of Peru, was probably a foundling 

 of obfcure birth and unknown parentage, and tie. ived his na.ne 

 from the vi'lage in which he was born, about the year 1463. 

 AUhough he was uninftruclcd in reading and writing, he 

 advanced himfelf by mihtary fervicc ; and having acquired 

 wealth and influence in Panama, he formed an aflbciation 

 with the pcrfons above-mentioned in 1524, lor difcovery and 

 conqueft on the coaft of Peru. Each engaged to devote his 

 talents and his whole fortune to the adventure, and their 

 confederacy for this purpofe v.-as authorized by Pedrariai, the 

 governor of Panama. The province alllgacd to Almagro 

 was that of conducing the fupplics of provifions and rein- 

 forcements of troops, as Pi/.ano might need them in the 

 profceutioo of their entcquize. This office he performed 

 with perfeveriiigafritluity, though their firft attempts In 1525 

 and 1526 were attended with difficulties, which would have 

 deterred adventurers lefs ardent than thcnifelvcs from rencw- 

 5 A ing 



