A L M 



«aUv, upon convlAioii bcForc one jufticc on the oatli of one 

 vitnefs, of commitment to tlie hoiife of covreclion for a tL-im 

 not excecJin;j three montlis ; and the pcrfon apprehend ijig 

 fue)i an offender, fliall receive a reward of 20 fiiiUings. 1 6 Geo. 

 J I. c. 26. i. y. 30 Geo. II. c. 19. ji. 26. 



In the i'liilofoph. Collcft. we have a perpetual ahnanac, 

 defcribed by Mr. R.Wood. 



Many forms of a head-almanac have been pnipofed in 

 Jome of our periodical pubhcations ; but the following dif- 

 ticli will V. !-y well anfwcr the purpofe : 



" At DoTcr Dwells Cieorgc Brown Efquirc ; 

 Good Chriftopher Finch, And David Frier." 



The twelve words anfwer to the twelve months ; the firll 

 letter of each word ftands in the calendar againll the fnll day 

 of the correfpondiiig month ; and if the dominical letter is 

 .known, it is eafy to find on what day of the week any day 

 ■of the month will fall throughout the year. In 1802, C 

 being the dominical letter, Dec. 25 is Saturday, becaufe the 

 ■ilrft day denoted by F is Wednefday. 



Almanac, among jinliquaries. See Runic Stqffs. 

 Almanac, H<!;///Vrt/, vcadi ajlronomical ephemerh, is a kind 



-of national almanac, publilhed annually, by anticipation, 

 under direction of the commiffioners of longitude. Befide 

 •every thing elfential to general ufe that is to be found in 

 any almanac hitherto publilhed, it contains many new and 

 intererting particulars ; more efpecially, the diilances of the 

 moon from the fim and fixed ilars for every three hours of 

 apparent time, adapted to the meridian of Greenwich, by 



.comparing which with the diilances carefully obferved at fea, 



■ the mariner may readily, and with little danger of miftake, 

 .infer his longitude to a degree of exatlnefs, that may be 



thought fufficient for mod nautical purpofes. And the 

 .publication of it is chiefly deligned to facilitate the ufe of 



Mayer's lunar tables, by fuperleding the neceflity of intri- 

 -cate calculations, in determining the Lo.s'Gitude at fea. It 



began with the year 17^7, has been continued ever fince, and 



■ greatly contributes to the improvement of aflronomy, geo- 

 graphy and navigation. In this almanac the fun's longi- 

 tude, and every thing relating to it, have been always 

 inferted, as computed from Mayei-'s tables, printed under 

 the infpcftion of Dr. Matkelyne, the ailronomer royal, 

 and pub'ilhed in 1770; and both the fun's place and the 

 moon's place are inferted in the almanacs from the vear 

 1791, as computed from Mayer's tables, and Mr. Ma- 

 fon's tables of 1780, duly correfted. In the ephemeris 

 of 1803, the latitudes as well as longitudes of the ftars are 

 propofed to be thoroughly con-efted ; and the moon's dif- 

 tances from them computed by the late tAr. Taylor's accu- 

 rate tables of logarithmic fines and tangents to every fecond 

 of the quadrant. The calculations of the planets' places 

 have been made for every ephemeris, beginning with that of 

 1 780, from M. De la Lande's tables, contained in the fecond 

 edition of his aftronomy ; and thofe of the echpfcs of Jupi- 

 ter's fatellites were made from Mr. Wargentin's tables, an- 

 nexed to thofe of De la Lande, thofe of the fecond fatellite 

 excepted, which are inferted from new tables of Mr. Vr'^ar- 

 gentin annexed to the nautical almanac of 1779. To the 

 nautical almanacs from 1795 '° 1804, both inclufive, are 

 added the eclipfes of Jupiter's fatellites, computed to mean 

 time, from M. De Lambre's new tables, annexed to the third 

 edition of M. De la Lande's aftronomy. To the almanacs 

 of feveral years, fmce the commencement of this ufeful pub- 

 Jication, many valuable papers have been added, which are 

 more direftly or indirectly connedted with its general con- 

 tents and principal objeft. The articles of the ephemeris 

 axe. enumerated, and explained, together with thofe of the 



A L M 



" Reqi'Ifitc Tables," connected with them, but fep.nrntely 

 publiihi.;'., and examples of their ule are adduced in the ap- 

 pendix annexed to thtm. See Longitude. 



ALMAN.,:\.R, in the Arabian yljtrology, denotes the pre- 

 eminence, or prevalence of one planet over another. 



ALMANDIN, or Alabaxdin, a precious ilone of the 

 RuuY kind, fomething fofter than the oriental rubby ; and, 

 as to colour, partaking more of that of the gi anile than the 

 ruby. 



It is ranked am.ong the licheft of ftoncs, and takes its 

 name from Alabanda, a city of Caria, whence Pliny fays it 

 was brought. 



ALMANSOR, Almansur, or Almanzor, the Vif.o- 

 rions, in Biography and Hifiory, the fin-name of Abu Jaafar, 

 fecond caliph of the houfe of Al Abbas, or the Abaffides, fuc- 

 ceeded his brother Abul Abbas Al Saifali, A.D. 753, in the 

 year of the Hegira 136, and was inaugurated at Al Haflic- 

 miyah in the following year. His right of accefhon, though 

 Al Saffah had declared liim prefumptivt heir of tiie crown, and 

 he had been proclaimed cali{>h in the imperial city of Anbar, 

 then the capital of the Mollcm £mpire, was, immediately 

 upon his inauguration, difputed by his uncle Abdallah ebii 

 Ali, who caufed himielf to be lecognized as caliph at Da- 

 mafcus. In order to fupport his pi^tenfior.s, he colkfted 

 a num.erous army m Arabia, Syria and Mefopotamia, and 

 marched to the banks of the Mafiu.;, near Nifibis, where he 

 encamped. Here he was harafled for five months by Abu 

 Moflcm, who had the command ot Almanfor's forces, af- 

 fembled in Perfia, Khorafan and Irak ; and al length, A. D. 

 754, totally defeated. Alter this viftory, and notwithftand- 

 ing the fervices which Abu Moflem had rendered to the fa- 

 mily of Al Abbas, he became an objeCl of jealoufy, and was 

 aflairmated by order of Ahr.anfor in his own prefence. See 

 Abu Moslem. The death of Abu Mollem was fucceeded 

 by the rebellion of Sinon, a magian, who having fciztd on 

 the treafures of the deceafed governor of Khorafan, excited 

 the people of that country to a revolt ; but this infurrettion 

 was loon quelled by Jamhur ebn Morad, the general of Al- 

 manfor. The fpoii obt;uned by this victory was avaricioufly 

 feized by the caliph, and the outrage fo inceiifed Jamhur, 

 that he immediately turned his arms againft his mafter ; but 

 he was foon defeated by the caliph's forces. About tin's 

 time Tlieodorus, patriarch of Antioch, having been detected 

 in an illicit conefpondence with the Grecian emperor, was 

 banifhed into an obfcure part of Paleiline, and the Chriftians 

 in the dominions of the caliph were prohibited from building 

 or repairing any churches, and laid under feveral other re- 

 flraints. 



In 757 Almanfor fent a large army into Cappadocia, forli- 

 fied the city of Malatia or Melitene, garrifoned it with 4COO 

 men, and depofited in it a great part of his treafures. But 

 in this year he was attacked by the Rawandians, a fedt of 

 believers in the Metempfychofis, fo called from their head 

 or founder Al Rawand. The followers of this chief alTem- 

 bled at Al Plafhemiyah, where the caliph refided, and by 

 .tl;e ceremony of going in proceffion round his palace, as the 

 religious Modems go round the Caaba, intimated their pur- 

 pofe of invoking him as a deity, and paying him divine ho- 

 nours. The caliph provoked, as it is faid, by their impiety, 

 ordered feveral of thefe fectarics to be in;priioned ; upon 

 which their refentment was roufed, and thev formed a de- 

 fign of affafTmating him. Their intention, however, was de- 

 feated by the generous interpofition of Maan ebn Zaidct, an 

 Ommiyan chief, who had been under a neceffity of conceal- 

 ing himfelf from the caliph's refentment. Kotwithflanding 

 his refcue, the infult he had received in his capital induced 

 hiirl to build a new city on the banks of the T- ^ris, and there 



tQ 



