374 ALT 
liliacae. The generic characters are—Corolla: fix-p.e- 
talled, fnb-bilabiate; tire three outer petals wedge-lhaped, 
retufe, mucronate ; the inner which are alternate with the 
others, lanceolate ; the two lower ones tubulous at tire 
bafe. Stamina: filaments awl-fhaped, bending down, un¬ 
equal; antherse oblong. Piftillum : germ inferior, hex- 
angular, truncate; ftyie bending down, filiform, the length 
of the ftaniens ; (tigmas three, oblong, bifid. Pericar¬ 
dium : a roundifh, fix-ribbed, mucronate, capfttle, three- 
celled and three-valved, valves concave, contrary to the 
diffepiment. Seeds : very many, globofe, covered with 
raifed points, fubumbilicate at the tip .—FJJintial CharaEler. 
Corolla, of fix petals, fubbilabiate ; the two lower petals 
tubulofe at the bafe. Stamina, bending down. 
Species, i. Alftroemeria pelegrina, or fpottcd-flowered 
Alftroemeria : Idem ereft, corollas bell-fhaped, ftraight, 
leaves linear-lanceolate, 1 'elTile. The flowers are whitilh, 
moft beautifully fiained and veined with purple and red. 
.ft flowers from June to Oftober. 
2. Alftroemeria pulchella: ftem ereft, corollas refiex- 
fpreading, acute; leaves fefftle; pedicles fhorter tliau the 
involucre. In appearance and ftrtifture very like the for¬ 
mer; but the leaves narrower, and the frem terminated by 
an irregular involucre, of larger petiolate leaves. 
3. Alftroemeria ligtu, or ftriped-fiowered alftroemeria : 
Idem ereft, leaves fpatu'ate-oblong, peduncles of the um¬ 
bel longer than the involucre, corolla two-lipped. This 
fpecies is remarkable for the largenefs of the flowers, and 
for their fragrancy, in which they are fearcely inferior to 
mignionette. It flowers in February and March. 
4. Alftroemeria falfilla: ftem twining, leaves petiolate, 
lanceolate, acuminate, umbel branching, peduncles longer 
than the involucre, brafted and loofe. 5. Alftroemeria 
multiflora : ftem twining, leaves petiolate, lanceolate, acu¬ 
minate, umbel Ample", peduncles Ihorter than the braftes ; 
petals alternate, truncate. 6. Alftroemeria ovata: ftem 
twining, leaves lanceolate, lanuginofe on the upper fur- 
face, lucid on the lower; corollas tubular. Thefelpecies 
are all found in South America. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe are ftove plants, and, 
where they can be obtained, may be propagated by part¬ 
ing the roots in autumn. The firft is found to be much 
more hardy than the third, and may be treated as a green- 
houfe plant; it will however flower and ripen its feeds 
better under the glafs of a hot-bed frame, where air is 
freely admitted. This is more ufually raifed from feeds, 
flown in the fpring, in a pot of light earth, on a gentle 
hot-bed. either of dung or tan. 
ALS'WOLD, [of alle, all, and wcaldan, Sax. to govern, 
q. d. to govern all ; or of allc, all, and IVeald, his territo¬ 
ries, confiding moftly of woods and forefts.] A king of 
the Northumbrians. 
ALT,/, in mufic, a term applied to the high notes in 
the fcale. 
ALTA'IC CHAIN, a range of mountains which bounds 
Alia on the fouth. It begins at the vaft mountain Bogdo, 
paffes above the head of the Irtifch, and then takes a courfe 
rugged, precipitous, clothed with fnow, and rich in mine¬ 
rals, between the Irtifch and Ob; then proceeds by the 
lake Telezkoi, the rife of the Ob; after which it retires, 
in order to comprehend the great rivers which form the 
J-enefei, and are locked up in thefe high mountains; final¬ 
ly, under the name of the Sainnes, is uninterruptedly con¬ 
tinued to the lake of Baikal. A branch infinuates itfelf 
between the fources of the rivers Onon and Ingoda, and 
thofe of Ichikoi, accompanied with very high mountains, 
running without interruption to the north-eaft, and divi¬ 
ding the river of Amur, which difeharges itfelf into the 
■eaft, in the Chinefe dominions, from the river Lena and 
lake Baikal. Another branch ftretches along the Olecma, 
erodes the Lena below Jakoutlk, and is continued between 
the two rivers Tongoufka to the Jenefei, where it is loft 
in woody and morally plains. The principal chain, rug¬ 
ged with Iharp-pointed rocks, approaches and keeps near 
•the Ihores of the foa of Ockbozt, ttnd, palling by the four- 
A L T 
ces of the rivers Outh, Aldan, and Mala, is diftributed in 
fmallbrdncb.es, which range between the eaftern rivers 
which fall into the Icy Sea ; befides two principal branches, 
one of which, turning fouth, runs through all Kamtf- 
chatka, and is broken, from the cape Lopatka, into the 
numerous Kurile ifles, and to the eaft forms another ma¬ 
rine chain, in the iflands which range from Kamtfchatka 
to America; moft of them, as well as Kamtfchatka itfelf, 
diftinguiftied by fierce volcanoes, or the traces of volcanic 
fires. The laft chain forms chiefly the great cape Tfchut- 
iki, with its promontories and rocky broken Ihores. 
AL'TAMONT, a very handfome town of Italy, in the 
kingdom of Naples, and in Calabria Citerior, fifteen miles 
north-weft of Bafigniano. Lat*39.4Q.N. Ion. 16.22. E. 
ALTAMU'RA, a town of Naples, in the territory of 
Bari, with the title of a principality, feated on the foot of 
the Apennine mountains. Lat.41.0-N. Ion.16.54. E. 
AL'TAR,/ \_alta ara ; Left, or from Sk, God, andiNn, 
deferibed, q. d. a place by God’s appointment. It is ob- 
ferved by Junius, that the word altar is received, with 
Chriftianity, in all the European languages; and that al~ 
tare is ufed by one of the fathers, as appropriated to the 
Chriftian worlhip, in oppolition to the arce of gentilifm.] 
The place where religious offerings are laid. The table 
in Chriftian churches w here the communion isadminiftered. 
Before temples were in ufe, altars were erefted fome- 
times in groves, fometimes in the highways, and fometimes 
on the tops of mountains; and it was a cuftom to engrave 
upon them the name, enfign, or character, of the deity to 
whom they were confecrated. In the great temples of 
ancient Rome there were ordinarily three altars : the firft 
was placed in the fanctuary, at'-the foot of the ftatue of 
the divinity, upon which incenfe was burnt, and libations 
offered; the fecond was before the gate of the temple, 
and upon it they facrificed the victims ; and the third was a 
portable altar, upon which were placed the offering and 
the facred veffels. 
Befides thefe ufes of altars, the ancients fwore upon 
them, and lwore by them, in making alliances, confirm¬ 
ing treaties of peace and other foleirm occafions. Altars 
alfo ferved as places of refuge to all thofe who fled to them, 
whatever crime they had committed. 
Altars are doubtlefs as ancient as facrifices themfelves; 
confequently their origin is not much later than that ol the 
world; Gen. chap. iv. Some attribute their origin to the 
Egyptians; others to the Jews; others to the patriarchs 
before the flood. Some carry them as far back as Adam, 
whole altar is much fpoken of by Jewilh, and even Chrif¬ 
tian, writers. Others are contented to make the patriarch 
Enoch the firft who confecrated a public altar. Be this 
as it will, the earlieft altars we find any exprefs teftimony 
of are thofe erefted by Abraham. 
Altars, in the patriarchal times, were very rude. The 
altar which Jacob fet up at Beth-ei was nothing but a ftone, 
which ferved him inftead of a bolder; that of Gideon, a 
ftone before his hoitfe : and the firft which God command¬ 
ed Mofes to ereft was probably of earth or unpolilhed 
ftones, without any iron ; for, if any ufe was made of that 
metal, the altar was declared impure. The principal al¬ 
tars of the Jews were, The altar of incenfe ; that of burnt 
offering-, and the altar, or table, for thefhew-bread. The 
altar of incenfe was a fmall table of Ihittim-wood, covered 
with plates of gold, of one cubit in length, another in 
width, and two in height. At the four corners, were four 
kinds of horns, and all round a little border or crown 
over it. This was the altar hidden by Jeremiah before the 
captivity ; and upon it the officiating prieft offered, every 
morning and evening, incenfe of a particular compofition. 
The altar of burnt-offerings was made of Ihittim-wood, 
and carried upon the llioulders of the priefts by Haves of 
the fame wood overlaid with brafs. In the time of Mofes, 
this altar was five cubits fquare and three high; but in 
Solomon’s temple it was much larger, being twenty cubits 
fquare and ten in height. It was covered with brafs; and 
at each corner was a horn or fpire, wrought out of the 
2 fame 
