alcatras 
as the pelican (Pelecanus), gannet (Sula), alba- 
tross (J)iomtdea, especially I), fuliginosa), frig- 
ate-bird (Tachypetcs aquilus), etc., but of no ex- 
act signification in ornithology. 
alcavala (al-ka-va'la), n. [Sp. alcabala, alca- 
vala, < Ar. al-qabdlalt, < a/, the, + qabdlah, tax, 
duty, < qabala, receive : see cabala.'] A tax of 
one tenth formerly imposed in Spain upon pub- 
lic sales and exchanges, and paid by the seller. 
Also written alcabala. 
alcayde, . See aleaid. 
alcazar (al-ka-zar' ; Sp. pron. al-ka-thar'), . 
[Sp. and Pg., a castle, fort, quarter-deck, < Ar. 
132 
and the corresponding animal of northern North America 
known as the moose. See ellrl, 2, and ><>,. 
alchemic (al-kem'ik), a. [Formerly alchi/mic 
= F. alcliimiquc, < ML. alchimicus, < alchiiiiia, 
alchemy: see alchemy, and cf. chemic.] Relat- 
ing to or produced by alchemy. Formerly also 
spelled alchymic. 
At last lowered into the semi-conscious alchemic state 
wherein misery turns to habit. 
alcohol 
Here be the tavern-beakers, and here peep out the fine 
alchemy knaves, looking like . . . most of our gallants 
that seem what they are not. 
Middleton, Your Five Gallants, ii. 3. 
Formerly also spelled alchymy. 
alchochoden(al-ko-ko'den), n. [Ar.] laastrol., 
the giver of life or years ; the planet which is 
the dispositor of hyleg and in aspect with that 
is born, indicating by its 
r, < al, the, + qaqr, a fortified place, in 
pi. a castle.] 1. In Spain, a fortress ; a castle ; 
also, a royal palace, even when not fortified. 
He was then conducted to the alcazar, and the keys of 
the fortress were put into his hand. 
Prticott, Ferd. and Isa., 11. 21. 
The blessed cross was planted in place of the standard 
of Mahomet, and the banner of the sovereigns floated 
triumphantly above the Alcazar. Irving, Granada, p. 616. 
2. A name given to certain places of amuse- 
ment in France and elsewhere, particularly 
when decorated in the Moorish style. 3. 
Naut., the quarter-deck. 
Alee (al'se), n. [NL., < Gr. 4>jo?, elk: see elk*.] 
A genus of ruminating mammals, comprising 
the European elk and the American moose : sy- 
nonymous with Alces (which see). See elk 1 . 
Alcedidae (al-sed'i-de), n.pl. Same as Alcedi- 
nida:. 
alcedinid (al-sed'i-nid), . A bird of the fam- 
ily Alcedinida;; a kingfisher or halcyon. 
Alcedinidae (al-se-dm'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Alcedo (Alcedin-) '+ -ida;.] A family of birds, 
the kingfishers, referred to the order Fissi- 
rostrcs when that group was in vogue, some- 
times to a group known as Syndactyli, now to 
an order Picaria;, which includes many fami- 
lies of non-passerine insessorial birds. However 
classed, the Alceilinidie form a very natural family of 
birds, distinguished by the cohesion of the third and 
fourth toes ; the non-serrate tomia of the long, large, 
straight, and deeply cleft bill ; the rudimentary or very 
small tongue ; the small, weak feet, unfitted for progres- 
sion, usually bare of feathers above the tibio-tarsal joint ; 
the long wings, of 10 primaries ; and a short tail, of 12 
rectrices. The family includes a number of curious and 
aberrant forms, among them two genera (Ceyx and Alcy- 
one) in which the inner front toe is defective. All the Al- 
cedinida: nest in holes and lay white eggs. Their charac- 
teristic habit is to sit motionless on the watch for their 
prey, to dart after it, seize it, and return to their perch. 
There are about 120 species in various parts of the world 
referable to about 20 genera. The family is divided into 
two subfamilies, Alcedininae and Dacelaniwe. Sometimes 
called Halcyonutts. Also AlcedUtte. 
Alcedininae (al'se-di-ni'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Al- 
cedo (Alcedin-) + -tea.] A subfamily of Alcedi- 
nida}, embracing the piscivorous or fish-eating 
as distinguished from the insectivorous king- 
fishers, or Daeelonina:. It consists of about genera 
and some 50 species ; one of the genera, Ceryle, includes all 
the kingfishers of America. The common kingfisher of 
Europe, Alcedo ispula, and the belted kingfisher of North 
America, Ceryle alcyon, are typical examples. 
alcedinine (al-sed'i-nin), a. [< Alcedinina:.] 
Having the characters of or pertaining to the 
Alcedinina;: applied to the piscivorous as dis- 
tinguished from the halcyonine kingfishers. 
Alcedinoidese (al"se-di-noi'de-e), n. pi. [NL., 
< Alcedo (Alcedin-) '+ -oidece.] A superfamily 
of birds, containing the families Alcedinida!, 
Bucerotida;, Momotida:, Todidm, and Meropidai. 
Alcedo (al-se'do), n. [L., also improp. halcedo, 
a kingfisher ; the same, with different suffix, as 
Gr. O'AKVUV, > L. alcyon, halcyon, a kingfisher: see 
halcyon.] A genus of kingfishers, of the family 
Alcedinida! and subfamily Alcedinina!, giving 
name to these. A. ispida is the common species 
of Europe. See Alcedinida! and kingfisher. 
Alcelaphinae (al-sel-a-fi'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Al- 
celaphus + -ina:.] A" subfamily of bovine ante- 
lopes, containing large species, such as those of 
the genera Alcelaphus and Connocha;tes, or the 
bubaline antelopes of Africa the hart-beests, 
blesboks, aud gnus. See cut under blesbok. 
Alcelaphus (al-sel'a-fus), n. [NL., < Gr. akiai, 
elk, + c/a$>of, deer.] The typical genus of the 
subfamily Alcelapbina;. The leading species are the 
bubaline antelope (A. bubali*), the hartbeest (A. caama), 
and the blesbok (A. albifmns). 
Alces (al'sez), n. [L., elk, =Gr. aA/o?, elk, = 
E. elk 1 , q. v.] A genus of ruminant mammals 
of the deer family, Ceri-idai. They are of immense 
stature, and have a heavy, ungainly body, very high at the 
withers ; a short, thick neck, with a beard at the throat ; 
a tumid muzzle ; broadly palmate horns in the male ; long 
ears ; coarse, brittle hair ; and no metatarsal gland, but 
a small tarsal gland covered with reversed hair. The 
genus includes two species, or one species of two varieties 
namely, the animal of northern Europe called the elk 
Lully would prove it 
Camden, Remains, Money. 
alchemist (al'ke-mist), . [Early mod. E. al- 
chymist, alchimist, alcumist, alkemyste (also with 
added term. -er\ "alchemister, alchymister, al- 
chimister, < ME. alcamister, alkamystere, alka- 
mystre), < OF. alkemiste, alguemiste, mod. F. 
alchimiste = Sp. alquimista = Pg. It. alchimista, 
< ML. alchymista, <alchymia: see alchemy and 
-ist.] One who practises or is versed iu alche- 
my. Formerly also spelled alchymist. 
You are an alchymitt, make gold of that 
Sha*., T. of A., v. 1. 
alchemistert, ". Same as alchemist. 
alchemistic (al-ke-mis'tik), a. 
practising alchemy. 
Paracelsus informs us that the composition of his " triple 
panacea " can be described only in the language of al- 
chemMic adepts. Pop. Sci. Mo., XX. 84. 
alchemistical (al-ke-mis'ti-kal), a. Same as 
alchemistic. 
Irregular, secular ale, courageous, contagious ale, al- 
cumijtical ale. 
. 
Dekker and Webster (?), Weakest Ooeth to the Wall, i. 2. 
alchemistry (al-kem'is-tri), n. [Early mod. E. 
alchymistry, alchumistrie, alcumistrie : see alche- 
mist and -ry. Cf. chemistry.'] Alchemy. For- 
merly also spelled alchymistry. 
alchemize (al'ke-miz), v. t. [Early mod. E. al- 
feet, and a bill shaped very variously in the 
different species. The body is stout and clumsy, and 
the legs are inserted far back and deeply buried in the 
common integument of the body, as in other birds of the 
order Pygupodee. The family is variously subdivided by 
different writers, the most obvious division being into the 
Altinte proper, with stout, hooked bills, comprising the 
auks, puffins, etc., and the Uriiiur, or guillemots and 
murres, with long, slender, acute bills. The family con- 
tains some 25 species of about 12 genera. The Alcida are 
all marine, and confined to the northern Atlantic, north- 
ern Pacific, and Polar seas. Also written Alcadie. See cuts 
under Alca, mtirre, and jmj/in. 
alcidine (al'si-din), a. [< Alcidai + -tnei.] In 
ornith., pertaining to or resembling the auk 
family. 
Relating to or Alcinse (al-si'ne), n. pi. [NL., <Alca + -ina-.] 
A subfamily of birds, of the family Alcida!, em- 
bracing the auks proper and their immediate 
allies. The bill is variously shaped, but always hard 
and horny, stout, compressed, and more or less hooked. 
The leading species of Alcince are the great auk, Alca 
impeimis; the razor-bill, Alca or Utamania torda; the 
puffins, of the genera Fratercula and Lunda; and the 
horn-billed auk, Ceratorhyncha monocerata. 
alcine 1 (al'sin), a. [< Alces + -ine 1 .] Oforper- 
mining to the elk ; noting the group of Cervidee 
to which the elk of Europe and the moose of 
America belong. 
alcine 2 (al'sin), a. [< Alca + -ine.] Of or per- 
taining to the auk, Alca, or family Alcida!. 
-, . . . . - , 
chymize, alcumize, -ise; < alchemy + -tze.~\ To Alcippe (al-sip'e), n. [NL.,< Gr. &ta(inr$ in 
change by alchemy; transmute, as metals. 
Lovelace. [Rare.] 
That which becks 
Our ready minds to fellowship divine, 
A fellowship with essence ; till we shine 
Full alchemiz'd and free of space. 
Keats, Eudymion, i. 781. 
alchemy (al'ke-mi), n. [Early mod. E. also 
alchymy, alcumy, alcomy, alcamy, alkimy, etc., < 
ME. alkamye ; also alknamye, alkenamye, alca- 
niyne, and hence alconomif, alconomy, alcono- 
mye (simulating astronomy); < OF. alkemie, also 
assibilated alchemie (mod. F. alchimie), also 
arkemie, arquemie, = Pr. alkimia = Sp. Pg. al- 
quimia (Pg. also alchimia) = It. alchimia, < ML. 
alchimia, alchymia, < MGr. dpxifua, < Ar. al- 
kimia, < al, the (see al- 2 ), + kimia, < MGr. OT//fz, 
also x>lf*' a , alchemy, defined by Suidas as TJ TOV 
apyvpov Kal xpwov KaraaKevi/, i. e., the prepara- 
tion of silver and gold. Joannes Antiochenus 
says that Diocletian burned the books of the 
Egyptians wept x*IP' a C apyvpov KOI xpwov, i. e., 
concerning the transmutation of silver and 
gold ; hence the name has been identified with 
myth, a daughter of Ares, < dA/o?, strength, + 
OTTrof, a horse.] 
1. A genus of 
cirriped crusta- 
ceans, of the 
order Abdomina- 
lia, having three 
pairs of abdomi- 
nal limbs, no 
AUipK,mpa,. thoracic limbs, a 
i. female, with males seen as dark species Segmented body, 
on either side of upper part of the sac ; 3, twn VA AYtpn 
female, in section ; j. male ; 4. burrow of . ej">> ' BAUJI 
the animal in a shell; H. horny disk of at- 8H6 niOllt 11, and 
st h pa^'of c'irr*;%?7, a i'; Three "?racfc tne 86X68 dlS- 
cim. in uie male rt. amennary appen- , i, 7 . r. 
dages; , seminal vesicle ; J.tcais; m, pe- family Alcippidce. 
nis ; *. orifice of sac ; o, eye. A species, A. lampatt, 
is found on the Brit- 
ish coast, burrowing in shells of Funi* and Buccinum 
(whelks). 
2. A genus of birds, of uncertain position, 
classed by G. R. Gray (1869) as one of the 
JEgithinidte. It was founded by E. Blyth in 1844, and 
contains 12 species, inhabiting India, China, the Malay 
esp. juice of plants (> E. chyme, q. V.), <.~x&tv, Alcippidae (al-sip'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Alcippe, 
pour, akin to L. fundere = AS. geotan, pour, 1> + -fete.] A family of cirripeds of which 
and to E. gush. Alchemy would thus be origi- Alcippe is the typical genus, 
nally the art of extracting juices from plants Alcmanian (alk-ma'ni-an), a. [< L. Alcmanius, 
for medicinal purposes.] 1. Medieval chemis- ^ G"T- 'Afauav, Doric of 'A^it/uiiav.] Pertainingto 
try; the doctrines and processes of the early Alcman, a Spartan lyri' poet of the seventh cen- 
j j: i _i :_!._ . ; L- 1-_ it tury B. c., celebrated for his amatory verses. 
and medieval chemists ; in particular, the sup- 
posed process, or the search for the process, 
by which it was hoped to transmute the baser 
metals into gold. 
Alchemy was, we may say, the sickly but imaginative in- 
fancy through which modern chemistry had to pass before 
it attained its majority, or, in other words, became a pos- alCO (al'kd), n. 
itive science. Encyc. Brit., I. 459. 8ma ll dog, with a" small head and large pendu- 
2. Any magical or mysterious power or process lous ears, found wild in Mexico and Peru, and 
of transmuting or transforming. now domesticated. 
n. A contracted form 
Alcmanian verse or line, a dactylic tetrameter catalec- 
tic, or series of three dactyls or spondees (the third foot 
regularly a dactyl), followed by a spondee or trochee. A 
couplet consisting of a hexameter followed by such aline 
is called an Alcmanian digtich, and this may be used sin- 
' " or double as an Alcmanian strophe or stanza. 
* /.I'vxx [Native name.] A variety of 
S. B. Herrick, Plant Life, p. 21. 
3. Formerly, a mixed metal used for utensils, 
a modification of brass : so called because be- 
lieved to have been originally formed by the 
art of alchemy ; hence, an imitation, as alchemy 
was supposed to be of brass : used figuratively 
by Milton for a trumpet. 
Four speedy Cherubim 
Put to their mouths the sounding alchymy. 
Milton, P. L., ii. 517. 
alcogene (al'ko-jen), n. [< alco(hol) + -gene.] 
Tne vapor-cooler in a distilling apparatus. 3. 
? ' . 
alcohate (al k 9 -hat), n. A contracted form of 
alcohol (al'ko-hol), . [Formerly also spelled 
alcohole, alko)iol, < F. alcohol, now alcool, = Sp. 
Pg. alcohol = It. alcohol, alcool, alcoole, < ML. 
alcohol, orig. in the sense of a fine, impalpable 
powder, the black sulphid of antimony, after- 
ward extended to any fine powder produced by 
