Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/178

ALWAR tion to the study of the history of the Middle West, was editor of the "Mississippi Valley Historical Review," editor-in-chief of the "Illinois Centennial History," edited many volumes dealing with the early history of the Middle Western States, and was the author of "Mississippi Valley and British Policy" (1917).

ALWAR, a city of India, about 100 miles from Delhi. It is the capital of the state of Alwar. The town has several important public buildings, including the Royal Palace and several churches. Pop. about 45,000.

ALWOOD, WILLIAM BRADFORD, an American horticulturist, born in Delta, 0., in 1859. He studied at Ohio State University and George Washington University and carried on post-graduate studies in Germany and France. He was superintendent of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station from 1882 to 1886. From 1886 to 1888 he was special agent of the United States Department of Agriculture. From 1888 to 1904 he was vice-director of the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. He carried on important researches in horticulture and mycology, was appointed enological chemist in the United States Bureau of Chemistry in 1906, wrote much on horticultural subjects, and was a member of many American and foreign horticultural and other scientific societies.

ALYPIN, a drug used often as a substitute for cocaine. It occurs as a white crystalline powder having a bitter taste and is usually soluble in water and alcohol.

AMADEUS, a common name in the house of Savoy. The first who bore it was Count Amadeus, who lived in the 11th century, but the first to make an important figure in history was Amadeus V. (1249-1323). Amadeus VIII., born in 1383, secured the elevation of Savoy into a duchy. He was elected Pope in 1439, as Felix V., but resigned later. Amadeus I., of Spain, born in 1845, son of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, was elected King of Spain in 1870, abdicated in 1873, and died in 1890.

AMADIS, a much used name in the chivalric poetry of the Middle Ages. Of the numerous romances that may be grouped under it, that which narrates the adventures of Amadis of Gaul is at once the most ancient and the best. Castilian and Portuguese versions of the 13th and 14th centuries were lost. Instead of these, we have a Spanish version of almost 100 years later, written by Garcia Ordoñez de Montalvo about 1465, but first printed in 1508. This prose romance is one of the three spared by the licentiate and the barber at the burning of Don Quixote's books. Its hero is Amadis, the model of every knightly virtue, son of King Perion of Gaul and Elisena. Princess of Brittany. The work is wearisome from its length, but it contains many pathetic and striking passages, and has great value as a mirror of the manners of the age of chivalry.

The Spanish Amadis romances consist of 12 books, of which the first four contain the history of Amadis of Gaul. The earliest edition now in existence bears the date of 1508. A French translation appeared in 1540, an Italian in 1546, and an English in 1588, while a version of German was published in 1583. Lastly, a Frenchman, Gilbert Saunier Duverdier, at the beginning of the 17th century, arranged all these romances into a harmonious and consecutive series, and with his compilation in seven volumes, the "Roman des Romans," brought the history of Amadis and the series of about 50 volumes to a close. A version of the old romance in French was published by Creuzé de Lesser, in 1813; in English, by William Stewart Rose, in 1803; while the literary skill of Southey produced, in 1803, an abridgment that is still readable.

AMALFI (am-al´fē), a city and seaport, in the province of Salerno, Italy; on the Gulf of Salerno; 22 miles S. E. of Naples. It was founded in the 4th century; was the birthplace of Flavio Gioja, the inventor of the mariner's compass; became the capital of the republic; and attained very large commercial importance. It contained a cathedral with bronze doors cast in Constantinople in 1066, and a Capuchin monastery. On Dec. 24, 1899, a portion of the rocks and land facing the Gulf suddenly slid into the water, carrying down the ancient monastery building and other structures. Pop. about 7,000.

AMALGAM, the union or alloy of any metal with quicksilver (mercury).

In mineralogy, a mineral classed by Dana under his "Native Elements." It occurs in Hungary, the Palatinate, Sweden, Spain, Chile, and elsewhere.

Gold amalgam is a mineral occurring in white, crumbling grains about the size of a pea, or in yellowish-white four-sided prisms. It consists of gold 39.02, and mercury 60.98. It is found in Colombia and in California.

AMALIA, ANNA, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, was born in 1739, and, left a widow in the second year of her mar-