Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/633

Rh A L M A L M 595 orchards near Nablous (Shechem), the peach and almond trees are intermingled, the almond looks white by^ com parison. In early spring it forms a beautiful feature in the landscape there, as the lower slopes of Gemim, as well as the valley, are studded with almonds and peaches, in lively contrast with the deep green foliage of the orange-trees, and rivalling an apple orchard in splendour of colour. There arc also many wild almond-trees on Mount Carmel. The tree seldom exceeds 12 to 16 feet in height.&quot; There are two varieties of the plant, tho one producing sweet, the other bitter almonds. The kernel of the former contains a fixed oil and emulsin; while that of the latter has in addi tion a nitrogenous substance called amygdalin, which, by combination with emulsin, produces a volatile oil and prus- sic acid. The flowers of the bitter almond-tree (Amygdalus communis, variety amara) are larger and whiter than those of the sweet almond-tree (Amygdalus communis, variety dulcis}. The sweet almond is bland and inodorous. There are numerous commercial varieties, of which the most esteemed is the Jordan almond, imported from Malaga. Valentia almonds ar.e also valued. Fresh sweet almonds are nutritive and demulcent, but as the outer brown skin or episperm sometimes causes irritation of the alimentary canal, they are blanched by removal of this skin when used at dessert. When bitter almonds are pounded in water a ratafia odour is produced, on account of the formation of prussic acid. The essential oil or essence of almonds, so much employed for flavouring dishes, requires to be used with caution, as it possesses marked poisonous qualities. In some cases the oil, even when taken in small quantities, produces nettle-rash. The import of sweet almonds into Britain in 1870 amounted to 36,189 cwt.; of bitter almonds, 7618 cwt. ALMONDBURY, an extensive parish and township of Yorkshire in England, lying to the S.E. of Huddersfield. As the manufactures of Huddersfield have increased, various outlying districts have been built on, so that the parish of Almondbury now includes a considerable part of that important and flourishing town. The parish contains 28,092 acres. The town lies on the river Calder, 2 miles S.E. of Huddersfield, and had formerly a cathedral and a strong castle. By some writers it is supposed to occupy the site of the Roman Campodumim mentioned by Antoninus ; but whether or not, the place can boast a Roman origin it was at least a town of importance in Saxon times, and a seat of the kings of Northumbria. It has a free grammar school founded by James I., a good church, and several other public buildings. The inhabitants of the town and parish are chiefly engaged in the manu facture of fine cloths, and woollen, cotton, and silk goods. In 1871 the population of the parish was 46,299; of the township, 11,669. ALMONER, in its primitive sense, denotes an officer in religious houses, to whom belonged the management and distribution of the alms of the house. By the ancient canons, all monasteries were to spend at least a tenth part of their income in alms to the poor, and all bishops were required to keep almoners. LORD ALMONER, or LORD HIGH ALMONER OF ENGLAND, is an ecclesiastical officer, generally a bishop, who has a right to the forfeiture of all deodands and the goods of a felo de se, which he is to distribute among the poor. He has also, by virtue of an ancient custom, the power of giving the first dish from the king s table to whatever poor person he pleases, or, instead of it, an alms in money. See MAUNDAY THURSDAY. ALMORA, the principal town in the British district of Kumaon, within the lieutenant-governorship of the North- Western Provinces, is situated in 29 35 N. lat., and 79 42 E. long. The town is built on the crest of a ridge of the Himalayas, running east and west, and 5337 feet above sea-level. It consists chiefly of a single street, about 50 feet wide and three-quarters of a mile long, closed by a gate at each end. A few detached houses, inhabited by Europeans, are scattered along the face of the mountain below the town. The town was captured by the Gurkhas in 1790, who constructed a fort on the eastern extremity of the ridge. Another citadel, Fort Moira, is situated on the other extremity of the ridge. AlmorA is also celebrated as the scene of the British victory which terminated the war with Nepal in April 1815, and which resulted in the evacuation of Kumaon by the Gurkhas, and the annexa tion of the province by the British. According to the census of 1872, the town contains a population of 5900 souls. It has been constituted a municipality, the revenue and expenditure of which, in 1871-72 is returned as fol lows : Revenue Receipts from octroi, 29, 16s.; house- tax, 211, 8s.; other sources of income, 30, 14s.: total, 271, 18s. Expenditure Establishment, including cost of collection, police, and conservancy, 182; repairs, 90, 16s.; other items, 3, 16s. : total, 276, 12s. ALMORA VIDES, a family of Mahometan princes who reigned in Africa and in Spain between 1073 and 1147 A.D. This appellation was derived from the sect of Al- Morabethun (Dedicated to the service of God), which arose about the middle of tho llth century, among a poor ignorant tribe of Berbers inhabiting the mountains of Atlas, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. At the request of a sheik of Lamtouna, who had acquired some taste for learning by travelling in the East, Abdallah-ben-Yazim, an Arabian of extraordinary erudition, consented to instruct the people in the truths of Islam. The enthusiasm of Abdallah created & like zeal in the hearts of his ignorant hearers ; and by the energy and novelty of his discourses he so inflamed the minds of his disciples that they com pelled those whom persuasion could not move to embrace the new religion. Thus Abdallah found himself at the head of a numerous sect, who soon began to regard him as their leader both in temporal and spiritual matters. Under the name of Almorabethun or Almoravides, they overran the country of Daza, lying between the desert of Sahara and the ancient Getulia, and ultimately extended their conquests from the shores of the Mediterranean to the frontiers of Nigritia. Abdallah died on the field of battle in the year 1058. He was succeeded by Abu-Bekr-Ibn-Omar, a man whose abilities were scarcely equal to the difficulties of the position in which he was placed. In 1072 he was supplanted by Yussef-Ibn-Tashfyn, to whom he had entrusted the government on setting out for Atlas to quell .an insurrection of the Berbers. Yussef completely established the Almoravide power inAl-Magreb in 1073. On the invitation of Mohammed of Seville, he crossed to Algeciras in 1086, and at once marched against Alphonso VI., the most powerful prince in Christendom. They met in the plains of Zalaca (23d Oct. 1086), and Alphonso was defeated with terrible slaughter. The news of Yussef s success induced many of the Arabs of Spain to enlist under his victorious banner. In a third expedition to Spain (1091), he attacked Mohammed, and after a protracted siege became master of Seville. This conquest was followed by the subjugation of Almeria, Deuia, Xativa, and Valen cia. The acquisition of the Balearic Isles was the com pletion of this vast empire, which extended from the Ebro and the Tagus to the frontiers of Soudan. Although Marocco was his capital, he frequently visited his Spanish dominions ; and on the last occasion, having assembled the governors of the province at Cordova, he appointed Ali, the youngest of his sons, as his successor. He then re turned to Marocco, where he died at a very advanced age, 1106 A.D. (500 of the Hegira), after a reign of forty years.