372 A L S 
the S. E. It is divided into two pariflies, viz. Old and 
New Alresford; but thefe are united in one reftory, 
which alfo comprehends the parifh of Meidllead. The 
church of Old Alresford is the mother church ; thofe of 
New Alresford and Meidllead being only chapelries annex¬ 
ed. Tire church of Old Alresford was taken down in the 
year 1753, and has lince been re-buiit : it is now a very 
neat firucture, with a beautiful tower, in which are iix 
mufical bells.—Alresford is governed by a bailiff and 
eight burgeffes, and formerly lent one member to parlia¬ 
ment ; but tlie charter of this town is now faid to be loll, 
dt has been twice nearly all confumed by fire. Its market 
is held on Thurfdays forcorn ; it has three fairs, viz. Holy 
Thurfday; July 5 ; and the fil'd Thurfday after the 10th 
of October, at which time a large market for dieep com¬ 
mences, and continues every -Thurfday till Chridmas. 
Here is a good free grammar fchooi, founded in the year 
.1698, by Henry Perryn, Efiq. of Old Alresford, and well 
.endowed. 
ALS, adv. \_als, Dutch.] Alfo; likewife : a word now 
out of ufe. 
AL'SA, a river of Carniola, now the Aufa; running 
by Aquileia, with adtortcourfe from north to Couth, into 
the Adriatic; where Condantine, the fon of Condantine 
the Great, fighting againd Condans his brother, lod his life. 
ALSA'CE UrrER, and Lowep., late provinces of 
France, now included in the department of the Upper and 
Lower Rhine, are bounded on the cad by the Rhine, on 
the foutli by Swifferland, on the wed by Lorrain, and on 
the north by the palatinate of the Rhine. It w as formerly 
a part of Germany, but was given to France by the treaty 
of Munder. It is one of the mod fruitful and plentiful 
provinces of Europe, abounding in corn, wine, wood, flax, 
tobacco, pulfe, fruits, &c. The mountains which divide 
it from Lorrain are very high ; and generally covered 
with fir, beech, oak, and horn-beam. Thofe on the fide 
,of Swifferland are lefs high ; and furnifhed with all forts 
of wood, as well for fuel as building. The country itfelf 
is diverfified with riling bills and fertile vales, 'befides 
large foreds ; but that between the rivers Ill, Hart, and 
the Rhine, as far as Strafburgh, is inferior to the red. In 
High Alface there are mines of (liver, copper, and lead- 
They however work none but thofe of Giromany, from 
which are annually drawn 1600 marks of filver, each mark 
being eight ounces ; and 24,000 pounds of copper. There 
are iron-works in feveral parts of Alface, and particular¬ 
ly at Betford. There is a mineral fpring at Sultlbach, near 
Munder, in High Alface ; which is in great reputation 
for the palfy, weaknefs of the nerves, and the gravel.— 
The inhabitants of Alface are honed and good-natured, 
but wedded to their own manners and cudoms. The 
fruitfulnefs of their country renders them indolent and 
inactive ; for the Swifs make their hay and reap their 
corn, as well as manage the vintage of High Alface, 
which fends a great deal of money out of the province. 
The common language of the country is the German; but 
the better fort of people fpeak French. 
AL'SEN, an iOand of Denmark in the leffer Belt, or 
entrance into the Baltic fea, between Slefwick and Funen. 
It is remarkable for producing large crops of anifefeeds, a 
carminative much ufed in feafoning the food and mixing 
with the bread all over the Danilh dominions. Lat. 55. 
i 2. N. Ion. 10. 12. E. 
ALS'FIELD, a town of Germany, in the landgravate 
of Heffe Caffe!, ten miles north-wed of Marpurg, and 35 
foiith of Hefle Caffe!. It is an ancient town, and well built; 
and the inhabitants were the fird of this country who em¬ 
braced the Reformation. Lat. 50. 40. N. Ion. 9. 5. E. 
AI.S'HASH, a beautiful city in Buekharia, fuppofed 
to be the fame with that which is now called Tajhcant, the 
capital of the eadern part of Turkedan, poffelfed by the 
Kaffats, It is fituated on the river Si/iun, now Sir, and 
had a well-watered garden for every houfe; but was ruin¬ 
ed by Jengluz Khan, who took the city, and caufed a great 
number of its inhabitants to be maflacred. 
ALS 
ALS'HEDA, a parifh of Sweden, in the province of 
Smaland, where a gold mine was difeovered in 1738. 
AL'SINA,yi in botany. See Theligonum. 
ALSINAN'THEMUM,y. in botany. See Arenaria. 
ALSINAS'TRUM, f. in botany. See Costus and 
Elatine. 
ALSI'NE, f. faAfl-o?, lucus, a grove.] In botany, a 
genus of the pentandria trigynia clafs, ranking in the na¬ 
tural order of caryophyllei. The generic characters are—- 
Calyx: perianth five-leaved; leaflets concave, oblong, 
acuminate. Corolla : of five equal petals, longer than the 
calyx. Stamina: filaments capillary ; antherae roundilh. 
Pidillum : germ fubovate ; flyles filiform; fligmas ob- 
tufe. Pericarpium : an ovate, one-celled, three-valved 
capfule, covered with the calyx. Seeds: very many, 
roundilh.— EjJ'cntial CharaEler. Calyx, five-leaved ; pe¬ 
tals, five, equal; capfule, one-celled, three-valved. 
Species. 1. Alline media, or common duckweed: pe¬ 
tals bipartite, leaves ovate-cordate. Common chickweed 
is fo generally known, that it feems fcarcely neceffary to 
deferibe it ; we may obferve, however, that the number 
of liamens in the flower is very uncertain from three toten- 
In gardens or on dunghills it quickly (beds abundance of 
feeds, and becomes a troublefome weed; but, being an¬ 
nual, it may be deltroyed with little trouble, if it is never 
fuffered to feed. The diverlity of foils in which it grows 
caufes it to put on different appearances, which may mif- 
lead theunwary botanilh It is diftinCt however from the 
ceraftiums, which it mod refembles, in having the petals 
fhorter than the leaves of the calyx : and from all the 
plants related to it, in having (he flalk alternately hairy 
on one fide only. When the flowers firlt open, the pe¬ 
duncles are upright; as the flowers go off they hang down ; 
and when tire feeds ripen they again become ereCf. It is 
commonly given as food to chickens and fmall birds; boil¬ 
ed, it exaftly refembles fpinach. Swine are very fond of 
it; and it is eaten by many infeCts. As a medicine, it con¬ 
tains no active principle, but is frequently applied to fwel- 
lings either alone or in poultices. Flowers upright, and 
open from nine to noon ; but if it rains they do not open. 
After rain they become pendent, but in a few days rife 
again. Chickweed is a remarkable inftance of the lleep 
of plants; at night the leaves approach in pairs, fo as to 
inclofe between their upper furfaces the tender buds ; and 
the two upper leaves but one, at the end of the ftalk, are 
furnilhed with longer petioles than the others, fo that they 
can clofe upon the terminating pair, and protect the end 
of the branch. It is found wild in molt parts of the world. 
2. Alline fegetalis : petals entire, leaves awl-fliaped. 
3. Alline mucronata : petals entire, Ihort; leaves fetace- 
ous ; calyxes awned. Thefe two are natives of France, 
and Swifferland. 
Alsine. See Androsace, Arf.naria, Bufonia, 
Cali.itriche, Campanula, Centunculus, Ce- 
rastium, Corrigiola, Cucubalus, Draba, 
Frankenia, Glaux, Glinus, Gypsophila, Ho- 
LOSTEUM, ISNARDIA, LlNUM, LeMOSELLA, LvCH- 
nis, Moehringia, Mollugo, Montia, Nama, 
Oldenlandia, Peplis, Pharnaceum, Sagina, Sa- 
molus, Sibthorpia, Silene, Spergula, Stella- 
ria, Trientalis, Veronica. 
Alsine afeinis. See Androsace. 
AL'SINES FACIE. See Theligonum. 
ALSINEFOR'MIS. See Montia. 
ALSINEL'LA. See Sagina. 
ALSINOI'DES. See Bufonia and Montia. 
ALSI'RAT, f. in the Mahometan theology, denotes a 
bridge laid over the middle of hell, finer than a hair, and 
fliarper than the edge of a fword, over which people are 
to pafs, after their trial, on the day of judgment. To add 
to the difficulty of the paflage, Mahomet allures, that the 
allirat, narrow as it is, is befet with briars and thorns ; 
none of which, however, will be any impediment to the 
good, who Ihall fly over it like the wind; Mahomet and 
his muffulmen lead the way; whereas the wicked, by the 
narrownefs 
