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 264 ALCMAN ALCOHOL ter in marriage, new quarrels broke out, and Pisistratus was again banished. Collecting an army, he defeated and again expelled the Alcmaeonids. During this period of renewed exile, the family magnificently re- stored the temple of Apollo at Delphi, which had been burned. Aided by the popularity given them by this great work, and by the friendship of the Spartans, they were in 510 restored for the second time to Athens, where many members of the family became illustrious. Among these were Clisthenes, Pericles, and Al- cibiades. ALCMAN, or Alemtton, a Spartan lyric poet, flourished about 650 B. C. He is said to have been by birth a Lydian, and originally a slave, and to have died at a very advanced age. He wrote chiefly in Spartan Doric. His poems, of which some fine fragments are extant, were mostly erotic. ALCMENA, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Electryon, king of Mycenae. She had ten brothers, who, save one, were slain by the sons of Pterelaus. Alcmena had been betrothed to Amphitryon, but she never- theless declared that the man who avenged the death of her brothers should be her hus- band. Amphitryon, in order to prove him- self worthy of her hand, undertook the en- terprise. During his absence, Jupiter visited Alcmena, and by assuming the likeness of Am- phitryon, and pretending to have avenged the death of her brothers, obtained her favor. She thus became the mother of Hercules, almost at the same time that she bore Iphicles to Am- phitryon. After her death, Jupiter sent Mer- cury to transport her body to the Elysian isles. ALCOCK, Sir Rutherford, a British diplomatist, born in London in 1809. He was a surgeon in the navy in Portugal in 1833-'4, inspector of hospitals under Sir de Lacy Evans in Spain, in 1835-7, and auditor of accounts of the English- Spanish legion in 1839-'44. He was afterward consul successively at Foo-Chow, Shanghai, and Canton, China. In 1859 he held the joint offices of consul general and minister in Japan. As a result of his energy in resenting Japanese outrages upon Europeans, attempts were made upon his life in 1860 and 1862. On his return to England he published " The Capital of the Tycoon, or Narrative of Three Years' Resi- dence in Japan " (2 vols., London, 1863). He was made K. C. B. in 1863. From 1865 to 1871 he was envoy extraordinary and minister plen- ipotentiary and chief superintendent of British commerce in China. He is also the author of "Medical History of the British Legion in Spain" (1838), "Life's Problems" (2d ed., 1862), and other works. ALCOHOL, in popular language, the intoxicat- ing principle of fermented liquors. The word is of Arabic origin, and means "to paint," probably in reference to the use of this com- pound to dissolve pigments which are insoluble in water. Chemists understand by alcohol the hydrate of a hydrocarbon radical, and include a numerous class of bodies under this designa- tion. Ordinary vinic alcohol is formed in the decomposition of glucose (grape sugar) by fer- mentation. One part of grape sugar, repre- sented by the formula CHuO, is split up by a ferment into two parts of alcohol and two parts of carbonic acid: 2(CaHeO) + 2CO s. Hennel so long ago as 1828 (see "Philosoph- ical Transactions ") says : " By combining olefiant gas with sulphuric acid, we may form sulpho-vinic acid, from which we may obtain at pleasure, by varying the circumstances of decomposition, either alcohol or ether." This observation has since been confirmed by M. Berthelot, who has succeeded in making alco- hol synthetically, by combining water with olefiant gas: CJI +^0=0^,0. Alcohol for commercial purposes is obtained by dis- tilling wine and other liquors that have un- dergone vinous fermentation; carbonate of soda is sometimes added to keep back acetio acid, and fusel oil is removed by charcoal. The alcohol of the London Pharmacopoeia contains about 82 per cent, of alcohol and 18 of water. Its specific gravity is required to be 0-838, water being I'OOO. It is thus seen that the less water it contains, the less is its specific gravity ; and this property is therefore a con- venient test of its purity. In consequence, however, of condensation of the two fluids when mixed, this test cannot be applied except in connection with tables of reference prepared for this purpose. To prepare absolute or anhydrous alcohol, some substance must be placed in it which shall retain the water. Fused carbonate of potash is such a substance. It absorbs the water, and the alcohol nearly anhydrous occupies the upper part of the ves- sel, whence it is distilled off nearly pure. Its specific gravity is now reduced to 0'815, and its percentage of water to about 5. Quick- lime, well powdered, and thoroughly mixed and shaken with the alcohol, is sometimes used instead of the carbonate of potash ; but chlo- ride of calcium is said by some to be more effective than either. The salt is first fused to free it from water, and is then mixed with an equal weight of the spirit in a well stoppered bottle. When the solution is effected, it is poured into a retort or still, and distilled at a moderate heat. The product of the first half is absolute alcohol. Its specific gravity at a tem- perature of 60 is 0'794. Rectified spirit may be deprived of a portion of water merely by being left in a bladder, or in a wide-mouthed bottle tied over with bladder, and kept at a temperature of 105 to 120. By the principle of exosmose, the water evaporates in part through the membrane. Alcohol has thus been brought from sp. gr. 0*867 to 0-817. Pure alcohol is a colorless fluid, of an agreeable odor and strong pungent taste. It has a great aflinity for water, absorbing it from the atmosphere, and increas- ing in specific gravity with the amount it re- ceives. Mixed with water, heat is at first evolved, showing that a chemical union has