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 ALMONDE ALMQUIST 345 gay appearance. The common almond (A. communis) is a native of Barbary, but has long been cultivated in the south of Europe and the temperate parts of Asia. The fruit is pro- duced in very large quantities, and exported into northern countries. It is also pressed for oil, and used for various domestic purposes. There are numerous varieties of this species, but the two chief kinds are the bitter almond and the sweet almond. The sweet almond af- fords a favorite article for dessert, but it con- tains little nourishment, and, of all nuts, is one of the most difficult of digestion. The highly prized Jordan almonds are brought from Ma- laga. The tree has been cultivated in Eng- land for about three centuries, for the sake of its beautiful foliage, as the fruit will not ripen without a greater degree of heat than is found in that climate. The bitter almond con- tains less fixed oil than the sweet almond. It has a strong narcotic power, derived from the presence of hydrocyanic (prussic) acid, and is said to act as a poison on dogs and some other of the smaller animals. The distilled water of the bitter almond is highly injurious to the human species, arid when taken in a large dose produces almost instant death. The leaves of all the varieties of amygdalecs contain hydro- cyanic acid, and are often dangerous, while the fruit may be used with entire impunity. ALMONDE, Philippns van, a Dutch vice admi- ral, born at Briel in 1646, died near Leyden, Jan. 6, 1711. He served under Admiral Euy- terin the memorable sea fights of July, 1666 ; and after Ruyter's death, at Syracuse, Sicily, in 1676, the duty of taking the command of the Dutch fleet on its way home from the Med- iterranean devolved upon him. He covered himself with glory at the battle of La Hogue in 1692, and assisted Cornelius van Tromp in reducing the naval power of Sweden. ALMONER (anciently written amner), an offi- cer appointed to distribute alms to the needy, generally an ecclesiastic. Such officers were from very early times in Europe attached to the households of sovereigns, nobles, and prelates, to monastic, educational, and chari- table institutions, &c. In England there was a lord high almoner before the time of Edward I., and in modern times the title has been held by the archbishop of York. There is also a hereditary grand almoner in the person of the marquis of Exeter ; and there is an almonry in Westminster. In France the grand aumo- nier was" the chief ecclesiastic of the king's household, generally of high birth, and had several subordinates with great power and pe- culiar privileges. Since 1792 the office has been several times abolished and restored; it existed under Napoleon I. (Cardinal Fesch) and III. There are also almoners of the army and navy, &c. In the church, deacons have some- tunes been called almoners (eleemosynarii). ALMONTE, Joan Nepomneeno, a Mexican gen- eral and diplomatist, born in Valladolid in 1804, died in Paris, March 22, 1869. He was of partly Indian origin and the reputed son of Morelos. He held diplomatic posts at various times in Washington, London, Lima, and Paris. With Santa Anna, on whose staff he was then serving, he was captured by Gen. Houston at the battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Released after six months, he became minister of war under Bustamente. During the war with the United States he fought under Santa Anna, with whom he never ceased to hold friendly re- lations. He was ambassador to Paris in 1857- '60, and was one of the principal instigators of the French invasion of Mexico and the election of Maximilian. With the assistance of the im- perial forces, he was appointed dictator of Mex- ico in 1862 ; but all parties distrusted him, and the French themselves removed him in Septem- ber of the same year. In June, 1863, he was president of a junta styled the regency of the Mexican empire. In 1864 Maximilian con- ferred upon him the titles of regent and grand marshal, and in 1866 sent him as ambassador to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life. ALMORA, a town of N. India, capital of the British district of Kumaon, Northwestern Prov- inces, situated among the Himalayas, 5, 337 feet above the sea level, 90 m. N. by E. of Bareilly. It is built along a mountain ridge, in the midst of a barren and desolate region, and approached by a single long, zigzag road. It was captured by the Gorkhas in 1790, and held till 1815, when the town was attacked and stormed on the 25th of April by the British forces under Col. Nicholls, after which the district was an- nexed to the British territory. ALMORAVIDES, a Moslem dynasty in N. Afri- ca and Spam, which owed its origin to Abdallah ibn Yasim, who preached Islam among the Arabian tribes of northern Morocco, became the chieftain of the Al-Murabathin (the devoted, hence the word Marabout), and died in battle about A. D. 1058. Abubekr ibn Omar suc- ceeded him, but during his absence on a war- like expedition, his lieutenant, Yusuf ibn Tash- fyn, seized the supreme power. Abubekr, on his return, finding his rival too strong, resigned the crown, and Yusuf acknowledged his for- bearance by magnificent presents, which he repeated annually during Abubekr's life. Yu- suf now founded the city and empire of Moroc- co. Invited to Spain by the Moorish prince of Seville to aid him against the Christians, he sent an embassy to Alfonso of Castile announ- cing his arrival in the peninsula, and summon- ing that monarch to an unconditional surrender, and to embrace Mohammedanism. A desperate battle was fought in the plains of Zalaca in 1086, in which the Christians were worsted. Yusuf, however, retired, but the following year returned, conquered the Moorish kings in detail, and, having proclaimed his son as his successor, retired to Morocco, where he died in 1106. About 40 years later the dynasty of the Almo^ ravides was overthrown by the Almohades. ALMQUIST, Karl Jonas Lndrig, a Swedish au* thor, born in 1793, died in Bremen, Oct. 26,