Berkshire, A.D. 849, his father being Ethelwulf, son of Egbert, King of the
West Saxons. He succeeded his brother Ethelred in 872, at a time when the
Danes, or Northmen, had extended their conquests widely over the country,
and they had completely overrun the kingdom of the West Saxons by 878.
Alfred was obliged to flee in disguise. At length he gathered a small
force, and having fortified himself on the Isle of Athelney, formed by the
confluence of the Rivers Parret and Tone, amid the marshes of Somerset, he
was able to make frequent sallies against the enemy. It was during his
abode here that he went, according to legend, disguised as a harper into
the camp of King Guthrum (or Guthorm), and, having ascertained that the
Danes felt themselves secure, hastened back to his troops, led them against
the enemy, and gained such a decided victory that fourteen days afterwards
the Danes begged for peace. This battle took place in May, 878, near
Edington, in Wiltshire. Alfred allowed the Danes who were already in the
country to remain, on condition that they gave hostages, took a solemn oath
to quit Wessex, and embraced Christianity. Their king, Guthrum, was
baptized, with thirty of his followers, and ever afterward remained
faithful to Alfred. They received that portion of the east of England now
occupied by the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, as a place of
residence. The few years of tranquillity (886-93) which followed were
employed by Alfred in rebuilding the towns that had suffered most during
the war, particularly London; in training his people in arms and no less in
agriculture; in improving the navy; in systematizing the laws and internal
administration; and in literary labours and the advancement of learning. He
caused many manuscripts to be translated from Latin, and himself translated
several works into Anglo-Saxon, such as the _Psalms_, _Aesop's Fables_,
_Boethius on the Consolation of Philosophy_, the _History of Orosius_,
_Bede's Ecclesiastical History_, &c. He also drew up several original works
in Anglo-Saxon. These peaceful labours were interrupted, about 894, by an
invasion of the Northmen, who, after a struggle of three years, were
finally driven out. Alfred died in 901. He had married, in 868, Alswith or
Ealhswith, the daughter of a Mercian nobleman, and left two sons: Edward,
who succeeded him, and Ethelwerd, who died in 922.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Plummer,
_Life and Times of Alfred the Great_; A. Bowker, _Alfred the Great,
Chapters on his Life and Times_; B. A. Lees, _Alfred the Great_.
ALGAE (al'j[=e]), a nat. ord. of cryptogamic or thallogenous plants, found
for the most part in the sea and fresh water, or on the surface of damp
walls, rocks, the bark of trees, and in similar moist situations. They are
either some shade of bluish-green, green, brown, or red colour. The higher
forms have stems bearing leaf-like expansions, and they are often attached
to the rocks by roots, which, however, do not derive nutriment from the
rocks. A stem, however, is most frequently absent. The plants are nourished
through their whole surface by the medium in which they live. They vary in
size from the microscopic diatoms to forms whose stems resemble those of
forest trees, and whose fronds rival the leaves of the palm. They are
entirely composed of cellular tissue, and many are edible and nutritious,
as carrageen or Irish-moss, dulse, &c. Kelp, iodine, and bromine are
products of various species. The Algae are also valuable as manure. They
are often divided into five orders: Diatomaceae, Confervaceae, Fucaceae,
Ceramiaceae, and Characeae.
ALGAR'DI, Alessandro, one of the chief Italian sculptors of the seventeenth
century; born 1602, died 1654. He lived and worked chiefly at Rome;
executed the tomb of Leo XI in St. Peter's, a bronze statue of Innocent X,
and a marble relief with life-size figures over the altar of St. Leo there.
ALGARO'BA-BEAN. See _Carob Tree_.
AL'GAROT, a violently purgative and emetic white powder, precipitated from
chloride of antimony in water; it was used in medicine by the physician
Victor Algarotus in the sixteenth century.
ALGAROT'TI, Francesco, Count, born in 1712, died in 1764, an Italian writer
on science, the fine arts, &c. He lived for some years in France and for a
long time in Germany, Frederick the Great of Prussia having made him
chamberlain and count. He wrote _Neutonianismo per le donne_; _Saggi sopra
le belle arti_, his principal work on art; poems, letters, &c. Algarotti's
works published at Venice in 17 vols. (1791-4) and illustrated by Tesi and
Novelli are a _chef-d'oeuvre_ of typography. Frederick the Great erected at
Pisa a monument to his memory.
ALGARVE (al-g[.a]r'v[=a], meaning the land situated in the west), a
maritime province of Portugal occupying the southern portion of the
country, mountainous but with some fertile tracts. The title King of
Algarve was held by the Kings of Portugal. Area, 1937 sq. miles; pop.
274,122.
ALGAU ([.a]l'gou), a name for the south-western portion of Bavaria and the
adjacent parts of Wuertemberg and Tyrol, intersected by the Algau Alps. The
Algau breed of cattle is one of the best in Germany.
ALGAZZALI ([.a]l-g[.a]z-[:a]'l[=e]), Abu Hamed Mohammed, an Arabian
philosopher, Persian by birth; born 1058, died 1111. He was a most prolific
author; an opponent of the prevailing Aristotelian philosophy of the day,
and wrote against it the _Destruction of the Philosophers_, answered by
Averroes in his _Destruction of the Destruction_.
AL'GEBRA (from the Arabic _al_, definite article, and _jabbara_, to make
equal), a kind of generalized arithmetic, in which numbers or quantities
and operations, often also the results of operations, are represented by
symbols. Thus the expression xy + cz + dy^2 denotes that a number
represented by x is to be multiplied by a number represented by y, a number
c multiplied by a number z, a number d by a number y multiplied by itself
(or squared), and the sum taken of these three products. So the _equation_
(as it is called) x^2 - 7x + 12 = 0 expresses the fact that if a certain
number x is multiplied by itself, and this result made less by seven times
the number and greater by twelve, the result is 0. In this case x must
either be 3 or 4 to produce the given result; but such an equation (or
formula) as (a + b)(a - b) = a^2 - b^2 is always true whatever values may
be assigned to a and b. Algebra is an invaluable instrument in intricate
calculations of all kinds, and enables operations to be performed and
results obtained that by arithmetic would be impossible, and its scope is
still being extended.
The beginnings of algebraic method are to be found in Diophantus, a Greek
of the fourth century of our era, but it was the Arabians that introduced
algebra to Europe, and from them it received its name. The first Arabian
treatise on algebra was published in the reign of the great Caliph Al Mamun
(813-33) by Mohammed Ben Musa. Italian merchants were the first algebraists
in Europe, and in 1202 Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, who had travelled and
studied in the East, published a work treating of algebra as then
understood in the Arabian school. From this time to the discovery of
printing considerable attention was given to algebra, and the work of Ben
Musa and another Arabian treatise, called the _Rule of Algebra_, were
translated into Italian. The first printed work treating on algebra (also
on arithmetic, &c.) appeared at Venice in 1494, the author being a monk
called Luca Pacioli da Bergo, a Minorite friar. Rapid progress now began to
be made, and among the names of those to whom advances are to be attributed
are Tartaglia and Geronimo Cardano. About the middle of the sixteenth
century the German Stifel introduced the signs +, -, [sqrt], and Robert
Recorde the sign =. The last-named wrote the first English work on algebra
in 1557. Francois Vieta, a French mathematician (1540-1603), first adopted
the method which has led to so great an extension of modern algebra, by
being the first who used general symbols for known quantities as well as
for unknown. It was he also who first made the application of algebra to
geometry. Albert Girard, a Flemish mathematician in the seventeenth
century, extended the theory of equations by the introduction of imaginary
quantities. The Englishman Harriot, early in the seventeenth century,
discovered negative roots, and established the equality between the number
of roots and the units in the degree of the equation. He also invented the
signs < >, and Oughtred that of x. Descartes, though not the first to apply
algebra to geometry, has, by the extent and importance of his applications,
commonly acquired the credit of being so. The same discoveries have also
been attributed to him as to Harriot, and their respective claims have
caused much controversy. He obtained by means of algebra the definition and
description of curves. Since his time algebra has been applied so widely in
geometry and higher mathematics that we need only mention the names of
Fermat, Wallis, Newton, Leibnitz, De Moivre, MacLaurin, Taylor, Euler,
D'Alembert, Lagrange, Laplace, Fourier, Poisson, Gauss, Horner, De Morgan,
Sylvester, Cayley. Boole, Jevons, and others have applied the algebraic
method not only to formal logic but to political economy.--BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Chrystal, _Algebra_ (2 vols.); Hobson, _Trigonometry_; Hardy, _Pure
Mathematics_; Whittaker and Watson, _Modern Analysis_.
ALGECIRAS ([.a]l-_h_e-th[=e]'r[.a]s) (perhaps Portus Albus of the Romans),
a seaport of Spain, on the west side of the Bay of Gibraltar, a well-built
town carrying on a brisk coasting trade. It was the first conquest of the
Arabs in Spain (711), and was held by them till 1344, when it was taken by
Alphonso XI of Castile after a long siege. Near it, in 1801, Admiral Sir
James Saumarez defeated a Franco-Spanish fleet. Differences between France
and Germany regarding Morocco led to a conference of European Powers here
from 16th Jan.-7th April, 1906. Pop. 15,800.
ALGE'RIA, a French dependency in N. Africa, having on the north the
Mediterranean, on the east Tunis, on the west Morocco, and on the south the
Desert of Sahara; area, 122,878 sq. miles, or including the Algerian Sahara
343,500. The country is divided into three departments--Algiers, Oran, and
Constantine. The coastline is about 550 miles in length, steep and rocky,
and though the indentations are numerous, the harbours are much exposed to
the north wind. The country is traversed by the Atlas Mountains, two chains
of which--the Great Atlas, bordering on the Sahara, and the Little, or
Maritime Atlas, between it and the sea--run parallel to the coast, the
former attaining a height of 7000 feet. The intervals are filled with lower
ranges, and numerous transverse ranges connect the principal ones and run
from them to the coast, forming elevated tablelands and enclosed valleys.
The rivers are numerous, but many of them are mere torrents rising in the
mountains near the coast. The Shelif is much the largest. Some of the
rivers are largely used for irrigation, and artesian wells have been sunk
in some places for the same purpose. There are, both on the coast and in
the interior, extensive salt lakes or marshes (_Shotts_), which dry up to a
great extent in summer. The country bordering on the coast, called the
_Tell_, is generally hilly, with fertile valleys; in some places a flat and
fertile plain extends between the hills and the sea. In the east there are
_Shotts_ that sink below the sea-level, and into these it has been proposed
to introduce the waters of the Mediterranean. The climate varies
considerably according to elevation and local peculiarities. There are
three seasons: winter from November to February, spring from March to June,
and summer from July to October. The summer is very hot and dry. In many
parts of the coast the temperature is moderate and the climate so healthy
that Algeria is now a winter resort for invalids.
The chief products of cultivation are wheat, barley, and oats, tobacco,
cotton, wine, silk, and dates. Early vegetables, especially potatoes and
pease, are exported to France and England. A fibre called _alfa_, a variety
of esparto, which grows wild on the high plateaux, is exported in large
quantities. Cork is also exported. There are valuable forests, in which
grow various sorts of pines and oaks, ash, cedar, myrtle, pistachio-nut,
mastic, carob, &c. The Australian _Eucalyptus glob[)u]lus_ (a gum tree) has
been successfully introduced. Agriculture often suffers much from the
ravages of locusts. Among wild animals are the lion, panther, hyena, and
jackal; the domestic quadrupeds include the horse, the mule, cattle, sheep,
and pigs (introduced by the French). Algeria possesses valuable minerals,
including iron, copper, lead, sulphur, zinc, antimony, marble (white and
red), phosphate, and lithographic stone.
The trade of Algeria has greatly increased under French rule, France,
Spain, and England being the countries with which it is principally carried
on, and three-fourths of the whole being with France. The exports (besides
those mentioned above) are olive-oil, raw hides, wood, wool, tobacco,
oranges, &c.; the imports, manufactured goods, wines, spirits, coffee, &c.
The manufacturing industries are unimportant, and include morocco leather,
carpets, muslins, and silks. French money, weights, and measures are
generally used. The chief towns are Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Bona, and
Tlemsen. There are about 2800 miles of railways opened; there is also a
considerable network of telegraph lines.
The two principal native races inhabiting Algeria are Arabs and Berbers.
The former are mostly nomads, dwelling in tents and wandering from place to
place, though a large number of them are settled in the Tell, where they
carry on agriculture and have formed numerous villages. The Berbers, here
called Kabyles, are the original inhabitants of the territory and still
form a considerable part of the population. They speak the Berber language,
but use Arabic characters in writing. The Jews form a small but influential
part of the population. Various other races also exist. Except the Jews,
all the native races are Mahommedans. There are now a considerable number
of French and other colonists, provision being made for granting them
concessions of land on certain conditions. There are over 260,000 colonists
of French origin in Algeria, and over 200,000 colonists natives of other
European countries (chiefly Spaniards and Italians). Algeria is governed by
a governor-general, who is assisted by a council appointed by the French
Government. The settled portion of the country, in the three departments of
Algiers, Constantine, and Oran, is treated much as if it were a part of
France, and each department sends two deputies and one senator to the
French chambers. The rest of the territory is under military rule. The
colony costs France a considerable sum every year. Pop. of Algeria proper
in 1911, 5,523,449; of the Algerian Sahara, 40,379.
The country now called Algeria was known to the Romans as Numidia. It
flourished greatly under their rule, and early received the Christian
religion. It was conquered by the Vandals in A.D. 430-1, and recovered by
Belisarius for the Byzantine Empire in 533-4. About the middle of the
seventh century it was overrun by the Saracens. The town of Algiers was
founded about 935 by Yussef Ibn Zeiri, and the country was subsequently
ruled by his successors and the dynasties of the Almoravides and Almohades.
After the overthrow of the latter, about 1269, it broke up into a number of
small independent territories. The Moors and Jews, who were driven out of
Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella at the end of the fifteenth century,
settled in large numbers in Algeria, and revenged themselves on their
persecutors by the practice of piracy. On this account various expeditions
were made by Spain against Algeria, and by 1510 the greater part of the
country was made tributary. A few years later the Algerians invited to
their assistance the Turkish pirate Horush (or Haruj) Barbarossa, who made
himself Sultan of Algiers in 1516, but was not long in being taken by the
Spaniards and beheaded. His brother and successor put Algiers under the
protection of Turkey (about 1520), and organized the system of piracy which
was long the terror of European commerce, and was never wholly suppressed
till the French occupation. Henceforth the country belonged to the Turkish
Empire, though from 1710 the connection was little more than nominal. The
depredations of the Algerian pirates were a continual source of irritation
to the Christian Powers, who sent a long series of expeditions against
them. For instance, in 1815 a United States fleet defeated an Algerian one
and forced the Dey to agree to a peace in which he recognized the American
flag as inviolable. In 1816 Lord Exmouth with an English fleet bombarded
Algiers, and exacted a treaty by which all the Christian slaves were at
once released, and the Dey undertook for the future to treat all his
prisoners of war as the European law of nations demanded. But the piratical
practices of the Algerians were soon renewed.
At last the French determined on more vigorous measures, and in 1830 sent a
force of over 40,000 men against the country. Algiers was speedily
occupied, the Dey retired, and the country was without a government, but
resistance was organized by Abd-el-Kader, an Arab chief whom the emergency
had raised up. He began his warlike career of fifteen years by an attack on
Oran in 1832, and after an obstinate struggle the French, in Feb., 1834,
consented to a peace, acknowledging him as ruling over all the Arab tribes
west of the Shelif by the title of Emir of Maskara. War was soon again
renewed with varying fortune, and in 1837, in order to have their hands
free in attacking Constantine, the French made peace with Abd-el-Kader,
leaving to him the whole of Western Algeria except some coast towns.
Constantine was now taken, and the subjugation of the province of
Constantine followed. Meanwhile Abd-el-Kader was preparing for another
conflict, and in Nov., 1838, he suddenly broke into French territory with a
strong force, and for a time the supremacy of the French was endangered.
Matters took a more favourable turn for them when General Bugeaud was
appointed governor-general in Feb., 1841. In the autumn of 1841 Saida, the
last fortress of Abd-el-Kader, fell into his hands, after which the only
region that held out against the French was that bordering on Morocco.
Early in the following year this also was conquered, and Abd-el-Kader found
himself compelled to seek refuge in the adjoining empire. From Morocco
Abd-el-Kader twice made a descent upon Algeria, on the second occasion
defeating the French in two battles; and in 1844 he even succeeded in
raising an army in Morocco to withstand the French. Bugeaud, however,
crossed the frontier, and inflicted a severe defeat on this army, while a
French fleet bombarded the towns on the coast. The Emperor of Morocco was
at length compelled to agree to a treaty, in which he not only promised to
refuse Abd-el-Kader his assistance, but even engaged to lend his assistance
against him. Reduced to extremities Abd-el-Kader surrendered on 27th Dec.,
1847, and was at first taken to France a prisoner, but was afterwards
released on his promise not to return to Algeria. The country was yet far
from subdued. The Kabyles, and the Arabs in the south, made protracted
resistance, and rose again and again against the yoke which it was
attempted to impose upon them. The numerous risings that successively took
place thus rendered Algeria a school for French generals, such as
Pelissier, Canrobert, St. Arnaud, and MacMahon. In 1864 MacMahon succeeded
Pelissier as governor-general, and had as his first work to put down an
insurrection. About this time the Emperor Napoleon III, who had visited the
colony, introduced considerable modifications into the government,
recognizing that the native races had grievances to complain of, and that
the French rulers were in various ways astray in the methods of government
adopted. Fresh disturbances broke out in the south nearly every year till
1871, when, owing to the Franco-Prussian war, a great effort was made to
throw off the French yoke, the colony being nearly denuded of French
soldiers. It was, however, completely suppressed, and in order to remove
what was believed to be one principal cause of the frequent insurrections,
a civil government was established instead of the military government in
the northern parts of the colony. The southern parts, inhabited by nomadic
tribes, are still subject to military rule. When the French took in hand
the occupation of Tunis, a rising took place (in 1881) in the west of
Algeria, under a chieftain who was able to inflict some loss and damage on
the French forces and colonists, but with no permanent result. Since then
quietness has generally prevailed in the colony, where the French, however,
continue to maintain a considerable military force. Owing to this and other
expenditure Algeria has always formed a burden on the resources of France.
The great aid rendered by Algeria to France during the European War led the
French Government to introduce new laws. The law of 4th Feb., 1919, gives
French citizenship to all Algerian natives under certain
conditions.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. D. Stott, _The Real Algeria_; Sir R. Lambert
Playfair, _Handbook for Travellers in Algeria_ (Murray's Handbooks).
ALGESI'RAS. See _Algeciras_.
ALGHERO, or ALGHERI ([.a]l-g[=a]'r[=o], [.a]l-g[=a]'r[=e]), a fortified
town and seaport on the north-west coast of the island of Sardinia, 15
miles south-west of Sassari; the seat of a bishop, with a handsome
cathedral. One of the remarkable edifices of Alghero is the Casa Arbia,
where Charles V was lodged. The necropolis of Anghelu Ruju, situated in the
vicinity, was excavated in 1904.
ALGIERS (al'j[=e]rz; Fr., _Alger_), a city and seaport on the
Mediterranean, capital of the French colony of Algeria, is situated on the
west side of the Bay of Algiers, partly on the slope of a hill facing the
sea. The old town, which is the higher, is oriental in appearance, with
narrow, crooked streets, and houses that are strong, prison-like edifices.
Its crowning point is the Kasbah, or ancient fortress of the Deys, about
500 feet above the sea, now serving as barracks. The modern French town,
which occupies the lower slope and spreads along the shore, is handsomely
built, with broad streets and elegant squares. It contains the Government
buildings, the central military and civil establishments, the residence of
the governor-general and the officials of the general and provincial
Government, the superior courts of justice, the archbishop's palace and the
cathedral, various other churches, including an English church and library,
the great commercial establishments, &c. A fine boulevard built on a series
of arches, and bordered on one side by handsome buildings, runs along the
sea-front of the town overlooking the bay, harbour, and shipping. Forty
feet below are the quay and railway-station, reached by inclined roads
leading from the centre of the boulevard. The harbour is good and
capacious, enclosed by piers or jetties, and otherwise improved at great
expense, and it and the city are defended by a strong series of
fortifications. Algiers is well provided with educational institutions,
including high schools or colleges for law, medicine, literature,
mathematics, and natural science; besides normal schools, an observatory,
public library, &c. Algiers is in every way far the most important place in
Algeria. There is a large shipping trade carried on, especially with
Marseilles, Cette, and some of the Spanish ports. Trade routes from the
interior and also railways centre in Algiers, and the exports include
grain, wine, cattle, wool, ore, tobacco, fruit, olive-oil, &c. Algiers is
now an important coaling station The city possesses widely-extended
suburbs. The climate, though variable, makes it a very desirable winter
residence for invalids and others from colder regions. Though warm, it is
bracing. There is a considerable rainfall (average 29 inches), but the dry
air and absorbent soil prevent it from being disagreeable. The winter
months resemble a bright, sunny English autumn, while the heat of summer is
not so intense as that of Egypt. The sirocco or desert wind is troublesome,
however, during summer, but in the winter it is merely a pleasant, warm,
dry breeze. Hailstorms are not infrequent, but frost and snow in Algiers
are so rare as to be almost unknown. Pop. 172,397.
ALGIN, a viscous, gummy substance obtained from certain seaweeds, more
especially those of the genus Laminaria. It can be utilized for all
purposes where starch or gum is now required; may be used in cookery for
soups and jellies; and in an insoluble form it can be cut, turned, and
polished, like horn or vulcanite.
ALGO'A BAY, a bay on the south coast of the Cape Province, 425 miles east
of the Cape of Good Hope, the only place of shelter on this coast for
vessels during the prevailing north-west gales. It was the first
landing-place of British immigrants in 1820. The usual anchorage is off
Port Elizabeth, on its west coast, a place of large and increasing trade,
but open on the east and south-east.
ALGOL', Arabic name of a star in the constellation Perseus (head of
Medusa), remarkable as a variable star, changing in brightness from the
second to the fifth magnitude.
ALGO'MA, a district of Canada, on the north of Lake Superior, forming part
of the north-west portion of Ontario, rich in silver, copper, iron, &c.
ALGON'KINS, or ALGONQUINS, a family of North American Indians, formerly
spread over a great extent of territory, and still forming a large
proportion of the Indians of Canada. They consisted of four groups,
namely--(1) the eastern group, comprising the Massachusetts, Narragansets,
Mohicans, Delawares, and other tribes; (2) the north-eastern group,
consisting of the Abenakis, &c.; (3) the western group, made up of the
Shawnees, Miamis, Illinois, &c.; and (4) the north-western group, including
the Chippewas or Ojibbewas, the largest of all the tribes.