Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/298

 274 ALESSANDRIA ALEUTIAN ISLANDS party of young Roumania, and produced bal- lads and plays which are popular in Moldo- Wallachia. His principal works have been published at Jassy, Bucharest, and -Paris (1852 -'63). After the death of his father he eman- cipated all his serfs, and his example was fol- lowed by nearly 1,000 other serf-holders pre- vious to the act of general emancipation pro- mulgated by Prince Gregory Ghika. In 1859 -'60 he was minister of foreign affairs. He published in French a collection of Ballades et chants populaires de la Roumanie (Paris, 1855). ALESSANDRIA. I. A N. W. province of Italy, in Piedmont, embracing the former duchy of Montferrat; area, 1,952 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 683,473. It is traversed E. and W. by the Turin and Stradella, and N. and S. by the Genoa and Lago Maggiore railroad. The principal rivers flowing through it are the Tanaro, Bormida, and Scrivia. Among the chief products are maize, wine, silk, madder, and flax. The east- ern part is an extensive, fertile plain; the centre consists partly of barren hills, and partly of excellent table bind; the western portion is hilly, and produces the best wine of Pied- mont. It is divided into the districts of Tortona, Alessandria, Asti, Casale, Acqui, and Novi. II. A fortified city (Ital. Ales- sandria delta Paglia, of the straw, from its houses having originally been thatched), capi- tal of the above province, near the confluence of the Bormida and Tanaro, a few miles from the Po, and 46 m. E. S. E. of Turin ; pop. in 1872, including suburbs, 57,079. It was founded in 1168 by the Lombard league, as a bulwark against the German emperors, and in modern times again received significance as a national Italian fortress against Austria. Though up Alessandria. to the beginning of this century its defences were indifferent, the French in vain besieged it in 1657, and Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1707 only took it after a protracted defence. Na- poleon I. strengthened it, after the annexation of Piedmont to France, with casemated bat- teries for the defence of the ditch, great addi- tions to the citadel, and a bridge-head on the opposite side of the Bormida. It is now the strongest fortified city of Italy, after Verona. During the war of 1848-'9 it was the prin- cipal arsenal of the Italians, and after the battle of Novara it was temporarily occupied by an Austrian force during the truce. It was the headquarters of Napoleon III. and Victor Emanuel in the campaign of 1859. The city has a college, a theological seminary, about 20 churches, including a cathedral, an academy of science and arts, several palaces, and manu- factories of linen, silks, cloths, and wax can- dles. It is an important railway centre. ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, a chain of islands sit- uated between Alaska and Kamtchatka, and separating Behring sea from the North Pacific ocean, between lat. 51 and 56 N., and Ion. 163 and 188 W. The origin of the nume ia unknown, but is believed to be Russian. Al- though- the Aleutian chain is usually regarded as co-extensive with the Catharine archipel- ago, an appellation applied to all the islands of this region in honor of Catharine It. of Russia, some geographers do not include in it Behring island and Copper island, near the Asiatic coast. These are known as the Komandorski or Commander's islands, and are situated in about Ion. 193 "W. ; the Russian explorer Behring died upon that which bears his name. Omitting them, the Aleutian islands consist of