pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
ALAND, a barony comprehending the island of that name, and the several other islands around it, at the point where the Baltic Sea divides into the Gulf of Bothnia and of Finland. The group consists of more than 80 inhabited and 200 uninhabited islands. Although the principal island is nearer to Sweden than to Finland, the whole were included with the cession of the latter country to Russia. The inhabitants are 13,340, without a city, and scarcely any place deserving the description of a town.

Aland, the chief island of a group on the border of Sweden, separated from it by the Straits of Alandshaf. It is in part covered with wood, but has some arable and more pasture land. On the hills goats are reared; in the valleys sheep and cows. The shores are visited by shoals of fish, the catching and preserving of which forms the chief employment of the inhabitants. The island is about 40 miles long and 35 broad.
ALAR del Rey, a town of Spain, in the province of [7:2:374]Burgos, in Old Castile. It is the commencement of the canal of Castile, on the river Pisuerga, in a cold and barren district. Lat. 42. 51. N.
ALARAF, in the Mahometan Theology, the partition wall that separates heaven from hell. The word is plural, and properly written al araf ; in the singular it is written al arf. It is derived from the Arabic verb arafa, to distinguish. Alaraf gives the denomination to the seventh chapter of the Alcoran, wherein mention is made of this wall. Mahomet seems to have copied his Alaraf either from the great gulf of separation mentioned in the New Testament, or from the Jewish writers, who also speak of a thin wall dividing heaven from hell. Mahometan writers differ extremely as to the pèrsons who are to be found on Alaraf. Some take it for a sort of limbus for the "patriarchs, prophets, &c.; others place here such whose good and evil works so exactly balance each other that they deserve neither reward nor punishment; others imagine this intermediate space to be possessed by those who, going to war without their parents’ leave, and suffering martyrdom there, are excluded paradise for their disobedience, yet escape hell because they are martyrs.
ALARBES, a name given to those Arabians who live in tents, and distinguish themselves by their dress from the others Who live in towns.
ALARES, in Roman Antiquity, an epithet given to the cavalry on account of their being placed in the two wings of the army.
ALARIC, a famous general of the Goths. He entered Thrace at the head of 200,000 men, and laid waste all the country through which he passed. He marched next to Macedonia and Thessaly. The Thessalians met him near the mouth of the river Peneus, and killed about 3000 of his army; nevertheless he advanced into Greece, and after having ravaged the whole country, returned to Epirus loaded with immense spoils. After staying here five years, he resolved to turn his arms to the west. He marched through Pannonia, and, finding little resistance, entered Italy, in the consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus, a. D. 400. After various battles and treaties, he at last took Rome by treachery, and permitted his soldiers to plunder it: this happened a. d. 400. Alaric, having laid waste a great part of Italy, intended to pass into Sicily; but a storm obliging him to land again, he besieged the city of CoSenza; and, having taken it, he died there in 411, eleven years after he first entered Italy.
ALARM, in the military art, denotes either the apprehension of being suddenly attacked, or the notice thereof signified by firing a cannon, firelock, or the like. False alarms are frequently made use of to harass the enemy, by keeping them constantly under arms. Sometimes also this method is taken to try the vigilance of the picquet-guard, and what might be expected from them in case of real danger.

Alarm- Bell, that rung upon any sudden emergency, as a fire, mutiny, or the like.

Alarm, in fencing, is the same with what is otherwise called an appeal or challenge.
ALASCANI, in Church History, a sect of Anti-Luther-ans, whose distinguishing tenet, besides their denying baptism, is said to have been this, that the words, This is my body, in the institution of the eucharist, are not to be understood of the bread, but of the whole action or celebration of the Supper. They are said to have taken the name from one Joannes Alascô, a Polish baron, superintendent of the church of that country in England. See the next article.
ALASCO, John, a Polish nobleman of the 16th century, who, imbibing the reformed opinions, was expelled his country, and became preacher to a Protestant congregation at Embden; but foreseeing persecution there, he came to England about the year 1551, while the reformation was carrying on under Edward VI. The publication of the Interim driving the Protestants to such places as afforded them toleration, 380 were naturalized here, and obtained a charter of incorporation, by which they were erected into an ecclesiastical establishment, independent on the church of England. The Augustine friars church was granted them, with the revenues, for the maintenance of Alasco as superintendent, with four assistant ministers, who were to be approved of by the king; and this congregation lived undisturbed until the accession of Queen Mary, when they were all sent away. Thèy were kindly received, and permitted to settle at Embden; and Alasco at last, after an absence of 20 years, by the favour of Sigismund, returned to his own country, where he died in 1560. Alasco was much esteemed by Erasmus, and the historians of his time speak greatly in his praise. We have of his writing, De Coena Domini, liber ; Epistola continens Summam controversiae de Coena Domini, &c. He had some particular tenets; and his followers are called Alascani in church history. »
ALASSIO, a seaport in the duchy of Genoa, in the Sardinian kingdom, with 1420 inhabitants, who equip several vessels annually to the coral fishery on the shores of the island of Sardinia. ' o ∣
ALASSONA, a town in European Turkey, with 3000 inhabitants. It is in the ancient Thessaly, now in the pachalic of Tirhala. A great fair is held here.
ALATAMAHA, a large river of North America, which, rising in the Apalachian mountains, runs south-east through the province of Georgia, and falls into the Atlantic Ocean, below the town of Frederica.
ALAVA, a province in the north of Spain, one of those three usually denominated Provincias Vascongadas, which enjoy privileges that distinguish them from the other dominions of the Spanish monarchy, and speak a language most remote from the Castilian, generally called by the natives Vascuence, and by other people the Basque. This province is of a triangular shape, bounded on the north by Guipuscoa and Biscay, on the east by Navarre, on the south and south-west by Rioja, from which it is divided by the river Ebro, and on the west by the northern part of Old Castile. The square extent of this province is 90½ leagues; and the population, by the census of 1803, amounted to 67,523 souls, giving a density of inhabitants somewhat exceeding the general average of Spain.

The surface of the province is-very mountainous, and is abundantly clothed with woods and lofty trees. Its valleys are fertile. The soil yields more corn than the subsistence of its inhabitants requires, as well as flax, hemp, some oil, and a kind of wine called chacoli, which, though it is drunk when new, will not long retain its qualities. The mountains abound in iron-ore, and there were once extensive manufactories of iron goods, though they have of late decreased, owing to the privileges of these provinces exempting them from all taxation, in consequence of which their productions are charged with heavy imposts on their introduction into Castile. There are numerous weavers of coarse cloths and blankets over the whole province. Shoes and hats are manufactured; but these articles, like the iron ware, have experienced a sensible declension of late years. The capital of the province is Vittoria, situated on the river Zadora, which empties itself into the Ebro. The other rivers are the Ayuda, which runs into the Zadora; and the Omecillo, which empties itself into the Ebro. ,
ALAUTA, a considerable river of Turkey in Europe, [7:2:375] which, after watering the north-east part of Transylvania and part of Wallachia, falls into the Danube almost opposite to Nicoolis.
ALAY, signifying in the Turkish language “The Triumph,” a ceremony which accompanies the assembling together the forces of that vast empire upon the breaking out of a war. It consists of the most insipid buffoonery, and is attended with acts of the most shocking barbarity.
ALAYOR, a town of Spain, in the district of the same name, the former containing 900, the latter 3960 inhabitants. It is in the island of Minorca, belonging to the Spanish crown.
ALB, or Albe, in the Romish Church, a vestment of white linen-hanging down to the feet, and answering to the surplice of the English clergy. In the ancient church it was usual with those newly baptized to wear an alb, or white vestment; and hence the Sunday after Easter was called dominica in albis, on account of the albs worn by the baptized on Easter-day.

Alb is also a name of a Turkish coin, otherwise called asper.
ALBA, a province in the duchy of Piedmont, in the continental Sardinian dominions. It is a fine plain of 366 square miles, or 234,240acres, producing abundant harvests of corn, wine, fruits, oil, and truffles, besides the best silk. The cattle arc not numerous. There are no mines, but quarries of marble, slate, and rock-salt. The inhabitants amount to 94,965, living in 2 cities and 75 towns and villages. There is· scarcely any demand for labour, but that which the agriculture requires.

Alba, a city of Italy, capital of the province of the same name, in Piedmont. It is situated on the river Tanaro, between Asti and Chevasco; is the seat of a bishop, and contains, besides the cathedral, six churches and seven religious establishments for the two sexes of ecclesiastics. The population is 6990 persons.' Long. 8. 3. E. Lat. 44. 36. N.

Alba Firma, or Album, in our old -customs, denoted rent paid in silver, and not in corn, which was called black mail. Alba Terra, one of the numerous names for the philosopher’s stone.

Alba Longa, in Ancient Geography, a colony from Lavinium, in Latium, 15 miles south-east from Rome, established by Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, at the foot of the Mons Albanus. It was called Alba, from a white sow found by Aeneas, which farrowed 30 white pigs on that spot; which circumstance was interpreted to portend the building of a city there in 30 years after (Propertius). The epithet Longa was added on account of its length. It was the royal residence till the building of Rome, as was foretold by Anchises (VirgiD; was destroyed by Tullus Hostilius, all but the fane or temple; and the inhabitants were transplanted to Rome (Strabo).
ALBACETE, a Spanish town in the province of Murcia. It has 1 parish church, 5 monasteries, 1 hospital, and 5200 inhabitants. There are looms for weaving cloth, 28 manufactories of cutlery, a famous fair held in September, and excellent wine here. Long. 2. 2. W. Lat. 38. 51. N.
ALBAHURIM, figura sexdecirn laterum, a figure of great importance, according to astrological physicians, who built their prognostics on it.
ALBAIDA, a Spanish town in the province of Valencia, containing 3200 inhabitants. There are linen manufactories, bleaching, and soap-boiling carried on here.
ALBAN, a town of 3070 inhabitants, in the arrondissement of Alby, and department of Hérault, in France, near to which is a rich iron-mine.
ALBANENSES, in Church History, the same with Albigenses. See Albigenses.
ALBANO, a city near the lake of the same nape, in the Campagna di Roma, in the Papal territories. It is much admired for the picturesque scenery around it It is well built, and the Roman aqueduct and other monuments of antiquity are in tolerable preservation. The city contains a cathedral, four monasteries, a nunnery, and 2400 inhabitants. Long. 12. 43. 47. E. Lat. 4L 3. 50. N.

Albano is also a town in the kingdom of Naples, remarkable for the fertility of the surrounding territory, and for the nobility of the inhabitants.
ALBANS, St, a large town of great antiquity, in the hundred of Cashio, in the county of Hertford. It was the ancient Verulam of the Romans and the Watlingcester of the Saxons, and celebrated in more recent times by having conferred a title, by its ancient name, on the great Lord Bacon. The abbey church, now parochial, is of a remote date, built originally of Roman bricks, but since covered with stone. It is 800 feet in length and 174 in its greatest breadth, and contains statues, monuments, and inscriptions of remote origin, which have engaged the attention of artists and antiquaries. The town is finely situated, in part on the dèclivity of a hill, at the foot of which the river Ver runs through some pleasant meadows.

It is surrounded by a district highly fruitful, especially in wheat. The municipal government is in a mayor and bur· gesses. It returns two members to parliament, who are chosen by the householders paying king’s and parochial taxes. The town is divided into four parishes, with churches dedicated to St Alban, St Michael, St Peter, and St Stephen. The only manufacture now carried on is that of plaiting straw for hats. The market, which is large, is on a Saturday. The population has been as follows: in 1801, 3038; in 1811, 3653; and in 1821, 4472. Thegreat increase may be attributed to its being the thoroughfare to the northern parts of, the kingdom. It is distant 22 miles from London.
ALBANUS Mons, in Ancient Geography, now called Mont Albano, 26 miles from Rome, near where Alba Longa stood.
ALBANY, a fortress belonging to the British, seated on the S. W. of Hudson’s Bay. Long. 82.10. W. Lat. 59.20. N.

Albany, a town of North America, the capital of a county of the same name, and the seat of government for the state of New York. It is a well-built place, and contained 12,600 inhabitants in 1820. It is situated upon the Hudson river, and though 165 miles from the sea, sloops of 80 tons come up to it. Long. 74. 6. W. Lat. 42. 30. N.
ALBARAZIN, a strong town, and one of the most ancient of the kingdom of Àrragon, in Spain. It is seated on an eminence near the riyer Guadalquivir, a little below its source, and on the frontiers of Valencia and New Castile. It is the seat of a bishop, and produces the best wool in all Arragon. It is about 100 miles east of Madrid. Long. 1. 20. E. Lat. 40, 32. N.
ALBARII, in Antiquity, properly denoted those who gave the whitening to earthen vessels, &c.; in which sense they stood contradistinguished from Dealbatores, who whitened walls.
ALBARIUM Opus, in the ancient building, the incrustation or covering of the roofs of houses with white plaster, made of mere. lime. This is otherwise called opus album. It differed from Tectorium, which is a common name given to all roofing or ceiling, including even that formed of lime and sand, or lime and marble; whereas albarium was restrained to that made of lime alone.
ALBATEGNI, an Arabic prince of Batan, in Mesopotamia, and a celebrated astronomer, who lived about the year of Christ 880, as appears by his observations. He is also called Muhammed ben Geber Albatani, Mahomet tìae son of Geber, and Muhamedes Aractensis. He made astronomical observations at Antioch, and at Racah or Aracta, a town of Chaldea. He is highly spoken of by Dr Halley, as a man of admirable genius, and an excellent observer.

Instead of the tables of Ptolemy, which were imperfect, he computed new ones: these were adapted to the meridian of Aracta or Racah, and were long used as the best among the Arabs. Albategni composed in Arabic a work under the title of The Science of the Stars, comprising all parts of astronomy, according’ to his own observations and those of Ptolemy. This work was ’ translated into Latin by Plato of Tibur, and published at Nuremberg in 1537, with some additions and demonstrations of Regiomontanus. It was reprinted at Bologna in 1645, with this author’s notes. Dr Halley detected many faults in these editions. (Philosophical Transactions for 1693, No. 204.) In this work Albategni gives the motion of the sun’s apogee since Ptolemy’s time, as well as the motion of the stars, which he makes one degree in 70 years. He makes the longitude of the first star of Aries to be 18° 2 , , and the obliquity of the ecliptic 23° 35'. Upon Albategni’s observations were founded the Alphonsine tables of the moon’s motion.
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ALBATERRA, a town in the government of Orihuela, and province of Valencia, in Spain. It contains 2400 inhabitants, and produces abundance of figs.
ALBATI Equi, an appellation given to such horses, in the games of the ancient circus, as wore white furniture.
ALBATROSS. See Ornithology, Index.
ALBAZIN, a town of Greater Tartary, with a strong castle. It is situated upon the river Amur or Yamour, and belongs to the Russians. Long. 103. 30. E. Lat. 54. N.
ALBE, a small piece of money, current in Germany, worth only a French sol and seven deniers.
ALBECK, or Alpeck, a bailiwick in the circle of Jaxt, in Wirtemberg, extending over 114 square miles, or 72,960 acres. It contains one city, three market-towns, and 13,953 inhabitants. The soil is fertile, and produces good crops of corn, flax, hemp, rape-seed, and fruit. The chief trade depends on spinning linen, and on making various wares of wood.
ALBEMARLE, or Aumale, a town of France, in Upper Normandy, now in the department of Seine Inferior, from whence the noble family of Keppel takes the title of Earl. It is seated On the declivity of a hill, on the confines of Picardy, 35 miles north-east of Rouen, and 70 north-west of Paris. 1 Long. l. l 42. ’ E. Lat. 49. 50. N.
ALBENGUA, a town of Italy, in the ' territory of Genoa. It is the see of a bishop, and is a very ancient, handsome town, but not well peopled, on account of the insalubrity of the air. It is seated in a very beautiful plain, which is well cultivated; and the outside of the town is surrounded with olive-írees. It is a seaport, about 30 miles south-west of Genoa. Long. 8. 13. E. Lat. 44. 4. N.
ALBERNUO, a kind of camlet, brought from the Levant by the way of Marseilles.
ALBERONI, Julius, the son of a poor gardener in the suburbs of Placentia, born in 1664, who, by his great abilities and good fortune, rose from this low ^origin to the employment of first minister of state at the court of Spain, and to the dignity of cardinal. He roused that kingdom out of the lethargy it had sunk into for a century past, awakened the attention and raised the astonishment of all Europe by his projects, one of which was to set the Pretender on the throne of Great Britain. He was at length deprived of his employment, and banished to Rome. He died in 1752, at the great age of 87. His Testament Politique, collected from his memoirs and letters, was published at Lausanne in 1753.
ALBERT, Margrave of Brandenburg, and the last grand master of the Teutonic order, laid aside the habit of his order, embraced Lutheranism, and concluded a peace at Cracow in 1525, by which he was acknowledged duke of the east part of Prussia (formerly called for that reason Ducal Prussia), but to be held as a fief of Poland, and to descend to his male heirs. See Prussia.
ALBERTI, Leone Battista, was descended from a noble family of Florence, and was perfectly acquainted with painting, sculpture, and architecture. He wrote of all three in Latin, but his studies did not permit him to leave any thing considerable behind him in painting. He was employed by Pope Nicholas V. in his buildings, which he executed in a beautiful manner; and his work on architecture, which consists of 10 books, is greatly esteemed. He also wrote some treatises of morality, and a piece of arithmetic. He died in 1485.
ALBERTI, a market-town of Hungary, in the province of Hither Danube and the palatinate of Pest, on the line through which the canal intended to unite the Theiss and the Danube is to pass. It is in long. 19. 47. 58. E. lat. 47. 15. N.
ALBERTISTS, a sect of scholastics, só named from their leader Albertus Magnus.
ALBERTUS Magnus, a Dominican friar, and afterwards bishop of Ratisbon, was one of the most learned men and most famous doctors of the 13th century. He is said to have acted as a man-midwife; and some have been highly offended that one of his profession should follow such an employment. A book entitled De Natura Perum, of which he was reputed the author, gave rise to this report. In this treatise there are several instructions for midwives, and so much skill shown in their art, that one would think the author could not have arrived at it without having himself practised; but the advocates for Albert say he was not the writer thereof, nor of that other piece De Secretis Mulierum; in which there are many phrases and expressions, unavoidable on such a subject, which gave great offence, and raised a clamour against the supposed author. It must be,'acknowledged, however, that there are, in his Comment upon the Master of Sentences, some questions concerning the practice of conjugal duty, in which he has used some words rather too gross for chaste and delicate ears ^ v but they allege, what he himself used to say in his own vindication, that he came to the knowledge of So many monstrous things at confession, that it was impossible to avoid touching upon such questions. Albert was certainly a man of a most curious and inquisitive turn of mind, which gave rise to other accusations brought against him. It is said that he laboured to find out the philosopher’s stone, that he was á magician, and that he made a machine in the shape of a man, which was an oracle to him, and explained all the difficulties he proposed. He had great knowledge in the mathematics, and by his skill in that science might probably have formed a head with springs capable of articulating sounds, like to the machines of Boetius, of which Cassiódôrus has said, “Metals lowe; the birds of Diomedes trumpet in brass; the brazen serpent hisses; counterfeited swallows chatter, and such as have no proper note, from brass send forth harmonious music.” John Matthaeus de Luna, in his treatise De Perum Inventoribus, has attributed the invention of fire-arms to Albert; but in this he is confuted by Naude in his Apologie des Grander Hommes. Albert died at Cologne in 1280. His works were printed at Lyons in 1651, in 21 volumes folio.
ALBERTUS, a gold coin, worth about fourteen Frencíi livres. It was coined during the administration of Albertus, archduke of Austria.
ÁLBESIA, in Antiquity, a kind of shields, otherwise called Decumana.
ALBI, a city of France, in the department of the Tarn, the capital of the Albigeois, in Upper Languedoc. The cathedral is dedicated to St Cecilia, and has one of the finest choirs in the kingdom. Here is a very valuable silver shrine, of exquisite workmanship, of the mosaic kind; it contains the relics of St Clair, the first bishop of this city. The chapel of this pretended saint is magnificent, and adorned with paintings. La Lice is a fine large walk without the city. What distinguishes this from all others is a terrace above a deep mall, which serves instead of a fosse: it is bordered with two rows of very fine trees, which are kept in excellent order. There are four gates, through which you may view all the beauties of a delightful plain. At one end of this is the convent of the Dominicans. The archbishop’s palace is very beautiful. The river washes its walls, and serves both for an ornament and defence. This city is seated on the river Tarn, 35 miles north-east of Toulouse, and contained 9860 inhabitants by the last census. Long. 2. 9. E. Lat. 43. 56. N.

The Axbigeois is a small territory, about twenty-seven [7:2:382] milés in length and twenty in breadth, abounding in corn, wood, grapes, saffron, plums, and sheep; and the inhabitants have a great trade in dried prunes, grapes, a cóarse sort of cloth, and wine of Gaillac. These wines are the only sort hereabouts that are fit for exportation: they are carried down to Bourdeaux, and generally sold to the British. They have likewise several coal-mines.
ALBINI, in Antiquity, the workmen employed in what was called opus albarium. They make a different profession from the dealbatores or Whiteners.