356 A L M 
an auftere aifd>flrongly aftringent tafte, and ftains the fkin 
in touching. Ir is the Sil Atticum of the ancients: it fer¬ 
ments very violently with acid menftruums ; by which Tin¬ 
gle quality it is fufficiently diftinguifhed from the Sil Syri- 
cum, to which it has in many refpefts a great affinity. It is 
found in immenfe quantities in many parts of Spain ; and 
in Andalufia there are in a manner whole mountains of it. 
It is ufed in painting, and in medicine as an aftringent. 
ALMA'GRO, a fortrefs of Spain, the capital of one 
of the diftrifls of La Mancha. It was built by the arch- 
bifhop Roderic, of Toledo, who finiflied it in 1214, and 
put a confiderable garrifon into it to reftrain the incurfions 
of the Moors. 
AL'MAIN, f. [ allemain , Fr. q. d. all man; but Clu- 
verius derives it of alkmanvi, becaufe they were a mixture 
of men of all nations and countries.] A German. 
Almain, in mulic, a certain kind of air that moves in 
common tune. 
Almain Rivets, a certain light kind of armour, with 
plates of iron, for defence of the arms, ufed by Germans. 
ALMA'MON, caliph of Bagdat, a philosopher and 
aftronomer in the beginning of the gth century, afcended 
the throne in the year 814. He was foil of Ha run Al- 
Rafhid, and grand-ion of Almanfor. His name is other- 
wife written Mamon, Alrnaon , Almainun, Alamcun , or Al- 
Maimon. Having been educated with a love for the libe¬ 
ral faiences, he applied himfelf to cultivate and encourage 
them in his own country. For this purpofe he requefted 
the Greek emperors to fupply him with fuch books on 
philofophy as they had among them ; and he collected (kil- 
ful interpreters to tranfiate them into the Arabic language. 
He alfo encouraged his fubjedts to ftudy them ; frequent¬ 
ing the meetings of the learned, and afiifting at their exer- 
cifesand deliberations. He caufed Ptolemy's Almageft to 
be tranflated in 827, by Ifaac Ben-honain, and Thabet 
Ben-korah, according to Herbelot; but, according to 
others, by Sergius, and Alhazen, the fon of Jofeph. In 
his reign, and doubtlefs by his encouragement, an aftro¬ 
nomer of Bagdat, named Habafti, compofed three fets of 
aftronomical tables. Almamon himfelf made many aftro- 
nomical obfervations, and determined the obliquity of the 
ecliptic to be then 23 0 3 3' (or 23°33' in fome manuferipts) ; 
but Voflius fays 23 0 51' or 23 0 34'. He alfo caufed fkil- 
ful obfervers to procure proper inftruments to be made, 
and to exercife themfelves in aftronomical obfervations ; 
by which he revived the fciences in the Eaft to fuch’a 
degree, that many learned men were found, not only in 
his own time, but after him, in a country where the ftudy 
of the fciences had been long forgotten. This learned 
king died near Tarfus in Cilicia, by having eaten too freely 
of fome dates, on his return from a military expedition, 
in the year 833. 
ALMANACK,/. [Derived, by fome, from the Ara¬ 
bic al, and maiia/i, lieb. to count, or compute; by others, 
from a /, Arabic, and y-'ov, a month, or p.avoiy.o?, the courfe 
of the months ; by others, from a Teutonic original, al , 
and maan, the moon, an account of every moon, or month : 
all of them are probable.] A calendar ; a book in which 
the revolutions of the feafons, with the return of leads and 
fafts, are noted for the enfuing year. 
Almanacks are of various kinds and compofiiion, fome 
books, others ftieets, &c. fome annual, others perpetual. 
The eftential part is the calendar of months, weeks, and 
days; the motions, changes, and phafes, of the moon; with 
the riling and fetting of the fun and moon. To thefe are 
commonly added various matters, aftronomical, aftrologi- 
cal, chronological, meteorological, and etfen political, ru¬ 
ral, medical, &c. as alfo eclipfes, folar ingrelfes, afpeffs 
and configurations of the heavenly bodies, lunations, he¬ 
liocentric and geocentric motions of the planets, prognofti- 
cations of the weather, and prediction's of other events, 
the tides, twilight, equation of time, See. Till about the 
4th century, almanacks bore the marks of heathenifm only; 
from thence to the 7th century, they were a mixture of 
heathenifm and chriftianity ; and ever fince they have been 
A L M 
altogether chriftian : but at all times, aftrological and other 
predictions have been confidered as an eftential part, and 
(till are fo to this day with feveral of them, notwithstanding' 
that rnoft people aft'eCt to di(believe in fuch predictions. 
Nautical Almanack, and AJUonomical Ephevieris, is 
a national almanack, chiefly for nautical purpofes, which 
was begun in the year 1767, under the direction of the 
Board of Longitude. It is (till publifhed by anticipation 
for feveral years beforehand, for the convenience of (hips 
going out upon long voyages, for which it is highly ule- 
ful, and was found eminently fo in the courlfe of the late 
voyages round the world for making difcoveries. Belides 
mod things eftential to general ufe, that are to be found in 
other almanacks, it contains many new and important par¬ 
ticulars ; more efpecialiy, the diftances of the moon from 
the fun and fixed ftars, which are computed for the me¬ 
ridian of the Royal Obfervatory of Greenwich, and fet 
dou’n to every three hours of time, exprefsly defigned for 
computing the longitude at lea, by comparing thefe with 
the'like diftances obferved there. 
Covji ruction of Almanacks. The firfl thing to be done 
is, to compute the fun’s and moon’s place for each day of 
the year, or it may be taken from fome ephemerides, and 
entered into the almanack ; next, find the dominical letter, 
and, by means thereof, diftribute the calendar into weeks ; 
then, having computed the time of Eafter, by it fix the 
other moveable feafts ; adding the immoveable ones, with 
the names of the martyrs, the riling and fetting of each 
luminary, the length of day and night, the afpqCts of the 
planets, the phafes of the moon, and the fun’s entrance in¬ 
to the cardinal points of the ecliptic, i. e. the two equi¬ 
noxes and folftices. By the help of good aftronomical 
tables or ephemerides, the conftrudion of almanacks is 
extremely eafy. 
Almanacks for one year pay a duty of four-pence; thofe 
for more years, pay for three years one penny ; but per¬ 
petual almanacks are to pay only for three years, at two¬ 
pence. Out of the duties by this a£t there (hall be paid 
to each univerfity 500I. per ana. half-yearly, at Midlum- 
mer and Chriftmas, and the furplus (ball be paid into the 
exchequer to go to the finking fund. Selling undamped 
almanacks incurs the fame penalty as for felling undamped 
newfpapers. Almanacks in bibles and common prayer- 
books are exempted. 
Almanack, among antiquaries, is alfo the name given 
to a kind of inftrument, ufually of wood, infenbed with 
various figures and Runic charafters, and reprefenting 
the order of the feafts, dominical letters, days of the w'eek, 
and -golden number, with other matters neceffary to be 
known throughout the year; ufed by the ancient northern 
nations, in their computations of time, both civil and ec- 
clefiaftical. Almanacks of this kind are known by various 
names, among the different nations wherein they have 
been ufed ; as rimftocks, primftaries, runlfocks, runftafls, 
Scipiones Runici, Bacculi Annales, clogs, See. 1 hey appear 
to have been ufed only by the Swedes, Danes, and Nor¬ 
wegians. From the fecond of thefe people, their ufe was 
introduced into England, whence divers remains of them 
in the counties. Dr. Plot has given the defeription and 
figure of one of thefe clogs, found in Staffordfliire, undeir 
the title of “ The perpetual Staffordlhire Almanack.” 
ALMA'NAR,/. in aftrology, denotes the pre-emi¬ 
nence, or prevalency, of one planet over another. 
ALMA'ND, or Aman, a river of Athol, a branch of 
the Tay. It has a cafcade near thirty yards high, dole 
by which two rocks fo meet over the river as to make a 
natural bridge. 
AL'MANDINE, f. [Fr. of almandina , Itak] A ruby, 
coarfer and lighter than the oriental, and nearer the colour 
of the granate. 
ALMAN'ZA, a town of New-Caftile, on the frontiers 
of the kingdom of Valencia, inSpain, lituated in N. lat. 38. 
54. W. Ion. 1. 19. It is remarkable for the defeat of the 
allies in 1707, under the marquis de las Minas and the earl 
of Galway. In the beginning of this adion, the Englifti 
X troops 
