246 A L C 
•ALCAMER, an ancient and handfome town of the 
United Provinces, in the environs of which they make the 
bed butter and cheefe, and rear the mod highly-valued tu¬ 
lips, in Holland, It is fevenleen miles north-by-wed of 
Amfterdam. Lat.52. 40. N. Ion. 13.52. £. 
ALCALY, Alcali, or Alkali. See Chemistry. 
ALCANIS, a town of Arragon, in Spain, feated on the 
river Guadaloupe, tvvelve miles from Cafpe. it was for¬ 
merly the capital of the king of the Moors. Here is a 
very remarkable fountain, which throws up water through 
forty-two pipes. It is furrounded with gardens and fruit- 
trees, and defended with a good fortrefs. Lat. 41. o. N. 
Ion. o. 5. V/, 
ALCANNA, f. a powder prepared from the leaves of 
the Egyptian privet, in which the people of Cairo drive 
a confiderable trade. It is much ufed by the Turkilh wo¬ 
men to give a golden colour to their nails and hair. In 
dyeing, it gives a yellow colour when deeped with com¬ 
mon water, and a red one when infufedin vinegar. There 
is alfo an oil extracted from the berries of alcanna, and 
ufed in medicine as a calmer. 
ALCANTARA, a fmall hut very drong city of Eflre- 
madura, in Spain. It gives name to one of the three or¬ 
ders of knighthood. It is feated on the banks of the Ta¬ 
gus, twenty-one miles from Coria, in a very fruitful foil, 
and is celebrated for its bridge over that river. This was 
built in the time of the emperor Trajan, asappears by an 
infeription over one of the arches, by the people of L11- 
fitania, who were afieffied to fupply the expence. It is 
raifed 200 feet ?bove the level of the water; and, though 
it conlids but of fix arches, is 670 feet in length, and 
twenty-eight in breadth. At the entrance of the bridge, 
there is a fmall antique chapel hewn in a rock by the an¬ 
cient Pagans, who dedicated it to Trajan, as the Chrif- 
tians did to St. Julian. This city was built by the Moors, 
on account of the convenience of this bridge, which is at 
a place where the Tagus is very deep, running between 
two high deep rocks: for this reafon, they called it Al- 
Canlara, which, in their language, fignifies “ the bridge.” 
It was taken from them in 1214, and given to the knights 
of Calatrava, who afterwards alfumed the name of Al¬ 
cantara. It was taken by the earl of Galloway, in April 
1706, and retaken by the French in November following. 
It is forty-five miles from Madrid, and 125 from Seville. 
Lat. 39. 30. N. Ion. 7. 12. W. 
Knights of Alcantara, a military order of Spain, 
which took its name from the above-mentioned city. They 
make a very confiderable figure in the hidory of the expe¬ 
ditions againd the Moors. The knights of Alcantara make 
the fame vows as thofe of Calatrava, and are only diftin- 
guifhed from them by this, that the crofs fleur de lys, which 
they bear over a large white cloak, is of a green colour. 
They podefs thirty-feven commanderies. After the ex- 
pulfion of the Moors, and the taking of Granada, the fo- 
vereignty of the order of Alcantara and that of Calatrava 
was fettled in the crown of Cadile by Ferdinand and Ifa- 
bella. In 1540, the knights of Alcantara fued for leave 
to marry, which was granted them. 
ALCAREZ, a fmall city of La Mancha, in Spain, de¬ 
fended by a drong caftle, and remarkable for an ancient 
aqueduct. It dands near the river Guardamena, and the 
foil about it is very fruitful. They have a breed of fmall 
running-horfes, which are very fleet and drong. It is 
twenty-five miles north of the confines of Andalufia, 108 
fouth of Cuenza, and 138 fouth-by-ead of Madrid. Lat. 
-38. 28. N. Ion. 1.50. W. 
ALCASSAR DO SAL, a town of Portugal in Edre- 
madura, which has a cadle faid to be impregnable. It is 
indeed very drong, both by art and nature, being built on 
the top of a rock, which is exceedingly deep on all Tides. 
Here is a falt-work which produces very fine white fait, 
from whence the town takes its name. Lat. 38. 18. N. 
Ion. 9. 10. W. 
Alcassar, a city of Barbary, feated about two leagues 
from Larache, in A r ga, a province of the kingdom of Fez. 
A L C 
It was of great note, and the feat of the governor of this 
part of the kingdom. It was built by Jacob Almanzor, 
king of Fez, about the year 1 r8o, and defigned fora ma¬ 
gazine and place of rendezvous for the great preparations 
he was making to enter Granada in Spain, and to make 
good the footing Jcfeph Almanzor had got fome time be¬ 
fore. It is faid his father fird invaded Spain with 300,000 
men, mod of whom he was obliged to bring back to Af¬ 
rica to quiet a rebellion that had broken out in Morocco. 
This done, he returned to Spain again, with an army, as 
it is faid, of 200,000 horfe and 300,000 foot. The city 
is now fallen greatly to decay, fo that of fifteen mofques 
there are only two that they make ufe of. Here are a 
great number of ftorks, who live very familiarly with the 
people, walking about the town, poffefling the tops of the 
houfes and mofques without moleikition; for they edeem 
them facred birds, and account it finful to didurb them. 
Not far from hence is the river F.lmahaffen, famous for 
the battle fought between Don Sebaftian king of Portugal 
and the Moors; in which the Portuguefe were defeated 
and their king fiain. I.at. 35. 15. N. Ion. 12. 35. W. 
ALCAVAI.A, /. in the Spanilh finances, was at fird a 
tax of ten per cent, afterwards of fourteen per cent, and 
is at prefent of only fix per cent, upon the fale of every 
fort of property, whether moveable or immoveable; and 
it is repeated every time the property is fold. The levy¬ 
ing of this tax requires a multitude of revenue-officers 
fufficient to guard the tranfportation of goods, not only 
from one province to another, but from one ffiop to ano¬ 
ther. It fubjeTs every farmer, every manufaiTurer, every 
merchant, and fhopkeeper, to the continual vifits and ex¬ 
amination of the tax-gatherers. Through the greater part 
of a country in which a tax of this kind is edabliffied, no¬ 
thing can be produced for didant fale. The produce of 
every part of the country mud be proportioned to the 
confuniption of the neighbourhood. It is to the alcavala, 
accordingly, that Udaritz imputes the ruin of the manu¬ 
factures of Spain. He might have imputed to it likewife 
the declenfion of agriculture, it being impofed not only 
upon manufactures, but upon the rude produce of the land. 
ALCAZA LEGUER, a town of Africa, in the king¬ 
dom of Fez, and in the province of Ilabat. It was taken 
by Alphonfo, king of Portugal, in 1468; but foon after 
that, it was abandoned to the Moors. It is feated on the 
coaftof the draitsof Gibraltar. Lat. 38. o. N. Ion.5. 30.W. 
ALC AZER, a town of Spain, in New Cadile, feated on 
the river Guardamana, which has a fortrefs on a high hill 
for its defence., and lies in a very fruitful country. It is 
100 miles north-wed of Carthagena. Lat. 38.15. N. Ion. 
2. 10. W. 
ALCE, Alces, or Elk,/, in zoology, the trivial name 
of a fpecies of the cervus, belonging to the order of mam¬ 
malia pecora. See Cervus. 
ALCEA,/ [from ax**), robur: on account of its fup- 
pofed drength as a remedy in the dyfentery, &c.] In bo¬ 
tany, a genus of the monadelphia polyandria clafs, and of 
the natural order of columniferse. The generic charac¬ 
ters are—Calyx: double, each one-leafed ; the outer cut 
half-way into fix parts, permanent, and very fpreading ; 
the inner cut half way into five parts, larger, and perma¬ 
nent. Corolla: of five obcordate, emarginate, fpread¬ 
ing, petals, coalefcing at their bafes. Stamina : filaments 
uniting into a fort of five-angled cylinder at bottom, loofe 
at top, and inferted into the corolla; antheras almoft kid- 
ney-ffiaped. Pidillum : germ orbiculate; dyle cylindric, 
fhort; ftigmas about twenty, fetaceous, the length of the 
dyle. Pericarpium: many jointed arils in a ring round a 
columnar flatted receptacle, parting and opening on the 
infide. Seed: one, flat, kidney-fhaped, in each aril—■ 
EJfential CharaEler. Calyx double, outer fix-cleft; arils 
many, one-feeded. 
Species. 1. Alcea rofea, or common hollyhock: leaves 
finuate-angular. a. Alcea ficifolia, or fig-leaved holly¬ 
hock: leaves palmate. The fird and fecond are diftincl 
fpecies, whofe difference in the form of their leaves al¬ 
ways 
