Pampanga Grande and the Pampanga Chico rivers, and in a large
and fertile valley of which the principal products are Indian
corn, rice, sugar and tobacco. Tagalog is the most important
language; Ilocano, Pampango and Pangasinan are also used.
ALIAS (Lat. for ``at another time''), a term used to
connect the different names of a person who has passed under
more than one, in order to conceal his identity, or for
other reasons; or, compendiously, to describe the adopted
name. The expression alias dictus was formerly used in
legal indictments, and pleadings where absolute precision was
necessary in identifying the person to be charged, as ``John
Jones, alias dictus James Smith.'' The adoption of a name
other than a man's baptismal or surname need not necessarily
be for the purpose of deception or fraud; pseudonyms or
nicknames fall thus under the description of an alias.
Where a person is married under an alias, the marriage is
void when both parties have knowingly and wilfully connived
at the adoption of the alias, with a fraudulent intention.
But if one of the parties to a marriage has acquired a new
name by use and reputation, or if the true name of any one of
the parties is not known to the other, the use of an alias
in these cases will not affect the validity of the marriage.
ALIBI (Lat. for ``elsewhere''), in law, the defence resorted
to in criminal prosecutions, where the person charged alleges
that he was so far distant at the time from the place where the
crime was committed that he could not have been guilty. An alibi,
if substantiated, is the most conclusive proof of innocence.
ALICANTE, a province of south-eastern Spain; bounded
on the N. by Valencia, W. by Albacete and Murcia, S. by
Murcia, and S.E. and E. by the Mediterranean Sea. Pop. (1900)
470,149; area, 2096 sq. m. Alicante was formed in 1833 of
districts taken from the ancient provinces of Valencia and
Murcia, Valencia contributing by far the larger portion.
The surface of the province is extremely diversified. In
the north and west there are extensive mountain ranges of
calcareous formation, intersected by deep ravines; while
farther south the land is more level, and there are many
fertile valleys. On the Mediterranean coast, unhealthy
salt marshes alternate with rich plains of pleasant and
productive huertas or gardens, such as those of Alicante and
Denia. Apart from Segura, which flows from the highlands
of Albacete through Murcia and Orihuela to the sea, there is
no considerable river, but a few rivulets flow east into the
Mediterranean. The climate is temperate, and the rainfall very
slight. Despite the want of rivers and of rain, agriculture is
in a flourishing condition. Many tracts, originally rocky and
sterile, have been irrigated and converted into vineyards and
plantations. Cereals are grown, but the inhabitants prefer
to raise such articles of produce as are in demand for
export, and consequently part of the grain supply has to be
imported. Esparto grass, rice, olives, the sugar-cane, and
tropical fruits and vegetables are largely produced. Great
attention is given to the rearing of bees and silk-worms; and
the wine of the province is held in high repute throughout Spain,
while some inferior kinds are sent to France to be mixed with
claret. There are iron and lignite mines, but the output is
small. Mineral springs are found at various places. The
manufactures consist of fine cloths, silk, cotton, woollen
and linen fabrics, girdles and lace, paper, hats, leather,
earthenware and soap. There are numerous oil mills and brandy
distilleries. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the
carrying trade, while the fisheries on the coast are also
actively prosecuted, tunny and anchovies being caught in great
numbers. Barilla is obtained from the sea-weed on the shores,
and some of the saline marshes, notably those near Torrevieja,
yield large supplies of salt. The principal towns, which are
separately described, include Alicante, the capital (pop. 1900,
50,142), Crevillente (10,726), Denia (12,431), Elche (27,308),
Novelda (11,388), Orihuela (28,530), and Villena (14,099).
Other towns, of less importance, are Aspe (7927), Cocentaina
(7093), Monovar (10,601), Pinoso (7946), and Villajoyosa (8902).
ALICANTE, the capital of the Spanish province described above,
and one of the principal seaports of the country. Pop. (1900)
50,142. It is situated in 38 deg. 21' N. and 0 deg. 26' W., on
the Bay of Alicante, an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea. It
is the termini of railways from Madrid and Murcia. From its
harbour, the town presents a striking picture. Along the
shore extends the Paseo de los Martires, a double avenue of
palms; behind this, the white flat-roofed houses rise in the
form of a crescent towards the low hills which surround the
city, and terminate, on the right, in a bare rock, 400 ft.
high, surmounted by an ancient citadel. Its dry and equable
climate renders Alicante a popular health-resort. The
city is an episcopal see, and contains a modern cathedral.
The bay affords good anchorage, but only small vessels can come
up to the two moles. The harbour is fortified, and there is
a small lighthouse on the eastern mole; important engineering
works, subsidized by the state, were undertaken in 1902 to
provide better accomodation. In the same year 1737 vessels
of 939,789 tons entered the port. The trade of Alicante
consists chiefly in the manufacture of cotton, linen and woollen
goods, cigars and confectionery; the importation of coal,
iron, machinery, manures, timber, oak staves and fish; and
the exportation of lead, fruit, farm produce and red wines,
which are sent to France for blending with better vintages.
Fine marble is procured in the island of Plana near the coast.
Alicante was the Roman Lucentum; but, despite its
antiquity, it has few Roman or Moorish remains. In 718, it
was occupied by the Moors, who were only expelled in 1304,
and made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the city in
1331. Alicante was besieged by the French in 1709, and by
the Federalists of Cartagena in 1873. For an account of
the events which led up to these two sieges, see SPAIN.,
For further details of the local history, see J. Pastor
de la Roca, Historia general de la ciudad y castillo de
Alicante, &c. (Alicante, 1854); and the Ensayo biografico
bibliografico de escritores de Alicante y de su provincia,
by M. R. Garcia and A. Montero y Perez (Alicante, 1890).
ALICE MAUD MARY, GRAND-DUCHESS OF HESSE-DARMSTADT
(1843-1878), second daughter and third child of Queen
Victoria, was born at Buckingham Palace, on the 25th of April
1843. A pretty, delicate-featured child--``cheerful, merry,
full of fun and mischief,'' as her elder sister described
her--fond of gymnastics, a good skater and an excellent
horsewoman, she was a general favourite from her earliest
days. Her first years were passed without particular incident
in the home circle, where the training of their children was
a matter of the greatest concern to the queen and the prince
consort. Among other things, the royal children were encouraged
to visit the poor, and the effect of this training was very
noticeable in the later life of Princess Alice. After the
marriage of the Princess Royal in 1858, the new responsibilities
devolving upon Princess Alice, as the eldest daughter at
home, called forth the higher traits of her character, and
brought her into still closer relationship with her parents,
and especially with her father. In the summer of 1860, at
Windsor Castle, Princess Alice first met her future husband,
Prince Louis of Hesse. An attachment quickly sprang up, and
on the prince's second visit in November they were formally
engaged. In the following year, on the announcement of the
contemplated marriage, the House of Commons unanimously voted
a dowry of L. 30,000 and an annuity of L. 6000 to the princess.
In December 1861, while preparations were being made for the
marriage, the prince consort was struck down with typhoid fever,
and died on the 14th. Princess Alice nursed her father during
his short illness with the utmost care, and after his death
devoted herself to comforting her mother under this terrible
blow. Her marriage took place at Osborne, on the 1st of July
1862. The princess unconsciously wrote her own biography
from this period in her constant letters to Queen Victoria,
a selection of which, edited by Dr. Carl Sell, were allowed
to be printed in 1883. These letters give a complete picture
of the daily life of the duke and duchess, and they also
show the intense love of the latter for her husband, her
mother and her native land. She managed to visit England
every year, and it was at her special request that when
she died her husband laid an English flag upon her coffin.
In the war between Austria and Prussia in 1866, Hesse-
Darmstadt was upon the side of the Austrians; Prince Louis
accompanied his troops to the front, and was duly appointed
by the grand-duke to the command of the Hessian division.
This was a time of intense trial to the princess, whose
husband and brother-in-law, the crown prince of Prussia, were
necessarily fighting upon opposite sides. The duke of Hesse
also took part in the principal battles of the Franco-Prussian
war, while the duchess was actively engaged in organizing
hospitals for the relief of the sick and wounded. The death
of the duke's father, Prince Charles of Hesse, on the 20th
of March 1877, was followed by that of the grand-duke on the
13th of June, and Prince Louis succeeded to the throne as
Grand Duke Louis IV. In the summer of 1878 the grand-duke and
duchess, with their family, came again to England, and went
to Eastbourne, where the duchess remained for some time.
She returned to Darmstadt in the autumn, and on the 8th of
November 1878 her daughter, Princess Victoria, was attacked by
diphtheria. Three more of her children, as well as her
husband, quickly caught the disease, and the youngest, ``May,''
succumbed on the 16th. On the 7th of December the princess
was herself attacked, and, being weakened by nursing and
anxiety, had not strength to resist the disease, which proved
fatal on the 14th of December, the seventeenth anniversary of
her father's death. She left one son and four daughters. .
See Carl Sell, Alice: Mittheilungen aus ihrem Leben und Briefen,
&c. (Darmstadt, 1883), with English translation by the Princess
Christian, Alice: biographical sketch and letters (1884). (G. F. B.)
ALIDADE (from the Arab.), the movable index of a graduated
arc, used in the measurement of angles. The word is used
also to designate the supporting frame or arms carrying
the microscopes or verniers of a graduated circle.
ALIEN (Lat. alienus), the technical term applied by
British constitutional law to anyone who does not enjoy the
character of a British subject; in general, a foreigner who
for the purposes of any state comes into certain domestic
relations with it, other than those applying to native-born or
naturalized citizens, but owns allegiance to a foreign sovereign.
English law, save with the special exceptions mentioned, admits
to the character of subjects all who are born within the king's
allegiance, that is, speaking generally, within the British
dominions. In the celebrated question of the post-nati in
the reign of James I. of England, it was found, after solemn
trial, that natives of Scotland born before the union of the
crowns were aliens in England, but that, since allegiance
is to the person of the king, those born subsequently were
English subjects. A child born abroad, whose father or whose
