secretary. Alembert was much interested in music both as
a science and as an art, and wrote Elements de musique
theorique et pratique (1779), which was based upon the system
of J. P. Rameau with important modifications and differences.
Alembert's fame spread rapidly throughout Europe and procured
for him more than one opportunity of quitting the comparative
retirement in which he lived in Paris for more lucrative and
prominent positions. The offer of Frederick the Great has
already been mentioned. In 1762 he was invited by Catherine
of Russia to become tutor to her son at a yearly salary of
100,000 francs. On his refusal the offer was repeated with
the additional inducement of accommodation for as many of
his friends as he chose to bring with him to the Russian
capital. Alembert persisted in his refusal, and the letter
of Catherine was ordered to be engrossed in the minutes
of the French Academy. In 1755, on the recommendation
of Pope Benedict XIV., he was admitted a member of the
Institute of Bologna. A legacy of L. 200 from David Hume
showed the esteem in which he was held by that philosopher.
Alembert continued to the end to lead the quiet and frugal
life dictated by his limited means as well as his simple
tastes. His later years were saddened by circumstances connected
with a romantic attachment he had formed for Mademoiselle de
Lespinasse, whose acquaintance he made at the house of Madame
du Deffand, a noted resort of literary men and savants. She
nursed him assiduously during an illness he had in 1765, and
from that period till her death in 1776 they lived in the same
house without any scandal. On her part there seems to have
been from first to last nothing more than warm friendship,
but his feelings towards her were of a stronger kind and her
death deeply affected him. He never recovered his elasticity
of spirits, though he continued to occupy himself with his
favourite pursuits, and to frequent the society of his brother
philosophers. After the death of Voltaire (1778), whose friend
and correspondent he had been for more than thirty years, he
was regarded as the leader of the philosophical party in the
Academy. He died at Paris on the 29th of October 1783.
The chief features of Alembert's character were benevolence,
simplicity and independence. Though his income was never
large, and during the greater part of his life was very meagre,
he contrived to find means to support his foster-mother in
her old age, to educate the children of his first teacher,
and to help various deserving students during their college
career. His cheerful conversation, his smart and lively
sallies, a singular mixture of malice of speech with goodness
of heart, and of delicacy of wit with simplicity of manners,
rendered him a pleasing and interesting companion; and
if his manner was sometimes plain almost to the extent of
rudeness, it probably set all the better an example of a
much-needed reform to the class to which he belonged. The
controversy as to the nature of his religious opinions,
arising as it did chiefly out of his connexion with the
Encyclopaedia, has no longer any living interest now that
the Encyclopaedists generally have ceased to be regarded
with unqualified suspicion by those who count themselves
orthodox. It is to be observed, moreover, that as Alembert
confined himself chiefly to mathematical articles, his work
laid him less open to charges of heresy and infidelity than
that of some of his associates. The fullest revelation of
his religious convictions is given in his correspondence
with Voltaire, which was published along with that with
Frederick the Great in Bossange's edition of his works.
The scientific works of Alembert have never been published in a
collected form. The most important of them have been mentioned
above, with the exception of the Opuscules mathematiques
(1761-1780), 8 vols. 4to. His literary and philosophical
works were collected and edited by Bastien (Paris, 1805,
18 vols. 8vo). A better edition by Bossange was published
at Paris in 1821 (5 vols. 8vo). The best account of the
life and writings of Alembert is contained in Condorcet's
Eloge, presented to the Academy and published in 1784.
ALEMBIC (Arab. al, definite article, anbiq, a still;
cognate to the Gr. ambix, a cup), an apparatus for
distillation, used chiefly by the alchemists, and now superseded
by the retort and the worm-still. It varied considerably
in form and construction, but consisted essentially of three
parts--a vessel containing the material to be distilled and
called, from its gourd-like shape, the cucurbit or mattrass;
a vessel to receive and condense the vapour, called the head
or capital; and a receiver for the spirit, connected by a
pipe with the capital. The entire apparatus was sometimes
constructed of glass, but it was more usual to make the cucurbit
of copper or earthenware, and the capital alone of glass.
ALEMTEJO (i.e. ``Beyond the Tagus''), an ancient province of
central and southern Portugal; bounded on the N. by Beira, E. by
Spanish Estremadura and Andalusia, S. by Algarve and W. by the
Atlantic Ocean and Portuguese Estremadura. Pop. (1900) 416,105;
area 9219 sq. m. Alemtejo is traversed by several mountain
ranges, whose height does not generally rise much above 2000
ft. The low and sandy coast has a length of less than 25 m.
and includes no harbour, except at the unimportant town of Villa
Nova de Milfontes (pop. 1900, 825), which overlooks the Mira
estuary. The principal rivers are the Tagus, which divides
Alemtejo from Beira; its tributary the Zatas, or Sorraia, fed
by a whole system of lesser affluents; the Guadiana, which,
crossing the Spanish frontier, flows southwards through the
province; the Sado, which rises in the Serra de Monchique,
and flows to the north; and the Mira, which waters the valley
between the Caldeirao and Monchique ranges. There are
several extensive plains, notably those of Alemtejo, lying
south-west of the Serra de Portalegre; of Beja, between the
Sado and Guadiana; and of Ourique, farther south between the
same rivers. Some portions of these plains are fruitful,
others marshy, while large tracts are mere desolate wastes.
The climate in the lower parts of the country is exceedingly
hot and is rendered unhealthy in summer by the stagnant
marshes. Towards the Spanish frontier the soil is fertile,
and in the south the country is covered by extensive forests of
oak, pine, chestnut, cork and ilex, especially on the sides
of the Mezquita and Caldeirao ranges. In the more fertile
parts, grapes, figs, citrons, pomegranates and other fruits are
produced. Wheat, maize and rice are grown, and some attention
is given to the rearing of mules, asses, goats, cattle and
sheep; while the Alter breed of horses, named after the villages
of Alter do Chao and Alter Pedroso (3971), near Portalegre,
is often accounted the best in the kingdom. Agriculture,
however, is in a backward state, the sparse population being
mostly concentrated in the towns, leaving extensive districts
uncultivated and almost uninhabited. Droves of swine are
fed on the waste lands, growing to a great size and affording
excellent hams. The mineral wealth of Alemtejo is little
exploited, although there are copper and iron mines and marble
quarries. Medicinal springs exist at Aljustrel (3790),
Castello de Vide (5192), Mertola (3873), Portalegre, Vimieiro
(1838) and elsewhere. Chief among the local industries
are the preparation of exceptionally fine olive oil, and
the manufacture of cloth, pottery and leather. Alemtejo is
traversed by three very important main lines of railway, the
Madrid-Caceres-Lisbon, Madrid-Badajoz-Lisbon and Lisbon-Faro;
while the two last are connected by a branch line from Casa
Branca to Evora and Elvas. For administrative purposes the
province is divided into the districts of Portalegre in the
north, Evora in the central region and Beja in the south;
but the titles of these new districts have not superseded the
ancient name of Alemtejo in ordinary usage. The chief towns
Beja (8885), Elvas (13,981), Estremoz (7920), Evora (16,020)
and Portalegre (11,820) are described in separate articles.
ALENCON, COUNTS AND DUKES OF. The first line of the counts
of Alencon was founded by Yves, lord of Bellesme, who in the
middle of the 10th century possessed and fortified the town of
Alencon. His successors, involved in all the wars of the
kings of England in Normandy, were alternately deprived and
repossessed of their domains, according to the fluctuations
of fortune between the rival parties. Mabille, countess
of Alencon and heiress of this family (d. 1082 ), married
Roger of Montgomery, and from them descended a second house
of Alencon which became extinct in the person of Robert
IV.; the county of Alencon was then joined to the royal
domain. It was successively granted as an appanage to
Peter, son of St Louis (1268), and to Charles, count of
Valois, brother of Philip the Fair (1293). The third house
of Alencon sprang from Charles, second son of the count of
Valois, who was killed at the battle of Crecy in 1346. The
countship of Alencon was raised to a peerage in 1367 and into
a dukedom in 1414. John, 1st duke of Alencon, was killed
at Agincourt on the 25th of October 1415, after having with
his own hand slain the duke of York. His son, also named
John, was dispossessed of his duchy by the king of England,
but reconquered it in 1449. In 1524 the dukedom of Alencon
reverted to the crown, in consequence of the death of the
duke Charles IV. without issue of his marriage with Margaret,
sister of Francis I. It was given as a jointure to Catherine
de'Medici in 1559, and as an appanage to her son Francis in
1566. It was pawned by Henry IV. to the duke of Wurttemberg,
and subsequently it passed to Gaston, duke of Orleans, by
grant of Louis XIII.; to Elizabeth of Orleans, duchess of
Guise; to Charles, duke of Berry, grandson of Louis XIV.
(1710); and to Monsieur (Louis XVIII.), brother of Louis XVI.
The title of duc d'Alencon was given to Ferdinand of Orleans, son
of the duc de Nemours, and grandson of Louis-Philippe. (M. P.*)
ALENCON, a town of north-western France, capital of the
department of Orne, 36 m. N. of Le Mans on a branch line
of the Western railway. Pop (1906) 14,378. Alencon, a
clean, regularly built town with broad handsome streets,
is situated in a wide and fertile plain, on the Sarthe
at its confluence with the Briante. The only remains of
the ancient castle of Alencon are two towers of the 15th
century, which serve as a prison, and a third of the 14th
century known as the Tour Couronnee, to which they are
united. Notre-Dame, the chief church, dates from the 15th
century. It is remarkable for a porch ornamented in the
richest Gothic style, and for its stained windows of the 16th
century. Alencon has a large circular corn-market and a cloth-
market. The manufacture of the point d'Alencon lace has
greatly diminished. The weaving and bleaching of cloth,
which is of less importance than formerly, the manufacture of
vehicles, and tanning are carried on; there is a large trade
in the horses of the district, and granite is worked in the
neighbourhood. Alencon is the seat of a prefect and
a court of assizes. It has tribunals of first instance
and of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, a lycee,
training-colleges and a chamber of arts and manufactures.
ALENIO, GIULIO (1582-1649), Italian Jesuit missionary, was
born at Brescia. He entered the Society of Jesus and was sent
to the East. He landed at Macao in 1610, and while waiting a
