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ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY uncial letters, and is without accents, marks of aspiration, or spaces between the words. Its probable date is the middle of the 5th century. With the exception of a few gaps, it contains the whole Bible in Greek (the Old Testament being in the translation of the Septuagint), along with the epistles of Clemens Romanus, of whose genuine epistle to the Corinthians it is the only manuscript extant. This celebrated manuscript belonged, as early as 1098, to the library of the Patriarch of Alexandria. In 1628 it was sent as a present to Charles I. of England, by Cyrillus Lucaris, Patriarch of Constantinople.

ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY, a remarkable collection of books, the largest of the ancient world, was founded by the first Ptolemy, and fostered by his son. It quickly grew, and already in the time of the first Ptolemy, Demetrius Phalereus had 50,000 volumes or rolls under his care. During its most flourishing period, under the direction of Zenodotus, Aristarchus of Byzantium, Callimachus, Apollonius Rhodius, and others, it is said to have contained 490,000, or, according to another authority, including all duplicates, as many as 700,000 volumes. During the siege of Alexandria by Julius Cæsar, this part of the library was destroyed by fire; but it was afterward replaced by the collection of Pergamos, which was presented to Cleopatra by Mark Antony. When Theodosius the Great permitted all the heathen temples in the Roman empire to be destroyed, a mob of Christians wrecked the temple containing the library (391 A. D.). In 641 Arabs under the Caliph Omar completed the destruction of the library treasures.

ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL, the common designation of a series of scientific endeavors which were founded and encouraged through the generosity of the Ptolemies, and which had their seat in Alexandria and continued for more than 700 years, from 300 B. C. to 500 A. D. The basis of these schools was the Museion (museum) where the scientists lived and taught as pensioners at the public cost. For the use of these learned men two libraries were founded by the Ptolemies. See ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY.

ALEXANDROPOL (formerly Gumri), an important fortress and the largest town in the Erivan district of Russian Armenia. It lies on a treeless plateau on the road from Erivan to Kara. The stronghold gives the Russians complete command of the headwaters of the Euphrates. The silk trade is actively carried on in the town. Pop. about 40,000.

ALEXIUS COMNENUS, one of the ablest rulers of the Byzantine empire, was born at Constantinople in 1048. He was the nephew of the Emperor Isaac Comnenus, on whose abdication, in 1059, his own father refused the purple; and Alexius was, in 1081, elevated by his soldiers to the throne. Everywhere he was encompassed with foes. The Scythians and Turks were pouring down from the N. and N. E.; the fierce Normans, who had effected a lodgment in Sicily and Italy, were menacing his western provinces; and, in 1096, the myriad warriors of the first crusade burst into his empire on their way to Palestine, and encamped around the gates of his capital. Yet he contrived to avoid all perils by the wisdom of his policy, the mingled patience and promptitude of his character, his discipline in the camp, and his humanity on the throne. He died in 1118.

ALEY, ROBERT JUDSON, American scientist and educator, born in Coal City, Ind., in 1863. After graduating from Indiana University in 1888, he took post-graduate studies at Leland Stanford Jr. University and the University of Pennsylvania, taught in the common and high schools, and was appointed director of mathematics in Indiana University in 1887. He remained in this position until 1909, when he was appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction and in the following year was appointed president of the University of Maine. Editor of several educational journals and a member of many learned and scientific societies, he was also author of "The Geometry of the Triangle" (1897); "The Essentials of Algebra" (1904); "Story of Indiana" (1912).

ALFALFA, also known as LUCERNE, a plant belonging to the legumes, used widely as a forage and hay crop for stock. It had its origin in central western Asia, where it had been under cultivation for thousands of years. Spanish explorers introduced it into Mexico and South America. It was first introduced into the United States in 1854, when it was brought to California from Chile. Its use grew rapidly, especially in the semi-arid regions of the Pacific and Rocky Mountain States. It has come to be one of the most important crops of the irrigated regions of the West. It is also extensively grown in other portions of the United States.

ALFIERI (alf-yā´rē), VITTORIO, COUNT, an Italian dramatist, born at Asti in Piedmont, Jan. 17, 1749. He came into his vast paternal inheritance at the age of 14; and two or three years after-