Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/371

 ALOID^E ALP ARSLAN 347 Hepatic aloes, known in India as Bombay aloes, has a dark liver color, and is probably an inferior kind of drug, manufactured from the dregs of other sorts. Aloes contains a neu- tral bitter principle called aloine, which acts as a cathartic in the dose of from one half to one or two grains, and insoluble matter called apo- theme. It yields its virtues to water and alco- hol, and is often administered, in its natural form or in combination with other substances, in pills. It is an irritant purgative, slow in operation, and acting chiefly on the lower bow- el and the rectum. A peculiarity of its action is that an increase of the quantity administered,. beyond the medium dose, is not attended with a corresponding increase of effect. When used for a long time, the dose may be rather dimin- ished than increased. It is rarely used alone, but is combined with soap, rhubarb, colocynth, and iron in substance and hi tincture. It forms an ingredient of a great number of empirical preparations. From 2 to 5 grains form a laxa- tive dose ; from 5 to 10 grains, a strong purga- tive. It is supposed to produce or irritate piles. Its tendency is to produce congestion of other pelvic organs, and it is therefore some- times used as an emmenagogue. The processes of preparing the drug are various. Sometimes the leaves are cut off" at the stem, then cut in pieces, and the juice drained off in iron vessels. It is then suffered to stand for 48 hours, during which time the dregs are deposited, and the remaining portion is poured off into broad flat vessels, and becomes inspissated. In other places, the leaves are pulled, and after being cut in pieces, the juice is extracted by pressure. The aloes or lign aloes (i. <?., wood aloes, Lat. lignum) mentioned in the Bible as a perfume was an entirely different substance. It was probably the product of the aquilaria agallo- chum of tropical Asia, which yields the highly aromatic aloe wood or eagle wood of commerce. There are many other species, the wood of which, like that of the preceding, is rendered more or less resinous and odoriferous by decay, with a bitter quality which gives it the name of aloes. ALGID!;, in classical mythology, the gigantic sons of Neptune by the wife of Aloeus. Their names were Otus and Ephialtes. At the age of 9 their bodies measured 9 cubits in breadth and 27 in height, and they alarmed the gods by waging war on Olympus and piling Pelion upon Ossa. They put Mars in chains and kept him so 13 months. Before their beards be- gan to grow Apollo destroyed them. iLOMPRA, the founder of the reigning dynasty of Burmah, born about 1710, died May 15, 1760. He was originally chief of a small village. The king of Burmah having been captured and the country conquered by the Peguans, Alompra in 1753 headed an insurrection which, after a series of brilliant victories on his part with inferior means, ended in 1757 with the conquest of Pegu and the establishment of his power over both countries. His reign was short, but was distinguished by great improve- ments in the laws and administration of gov- ernment. He founded the city and port of Rangoon. ALOST, or Aelst, a town of Belgium, province of East Flanders, about half way between Brussels and Ghent ; pop. in 1866, 18,978. The Dender, an affluent of the Scheldt, which has been made into a canal for the accommodation of trade, passes through the town. It has consid- erable trade and manufactures, and was for- merly the capital of Austrian Flanders. Cap- tured by Turenne in 1667, the town was for a time in the hands of Louis XIV. It is well built and clean. In the church of St. Martin is a picture by Rubens representing u The Plague of Alost." ALPACA, a species of the genus lama of Fr. Cuvier (properly llama), and auchenia of Illiger, which with the genus camelw consti- tutes the family of camelidce, of the order of lisulca ruminantia. The alpaca is found in the mountainous regions of Peru, and subsists on the coarse and scanty forage which grows on the sterile soil of that quarter. The upper part and the sides of the body of this animal are covered with light chestnut-brown wool, which hangs down in slightly curled meshes nearly a foot in length, and is very soft and elastic, almost as fine as that of the Cashmere goat ; the face up to the posterior margin of the jaws, and also the legs, have short, smooth hair ; from the forehead a stiff silky hair falls down upon the face. The shearing of the wool takes place at irregular times annually or bien- nially. From 10 to 12 Ibs. are obtained from one animal. ALP ARSLAN (valiant lion), sultan of the Sel- jukian Turks, born in Turkistan about 1028, assassinated in 1072. He was descended from Seljuk, succeeded his uncle Togrul in 1063, and was also appointed by the caliph as emir-el- omra or commander-in-chief. He conquered Ar- menia in 1065 and Georgia in 1068, and though repeatedly repulsed by the troops of the Byzan- tine empress Eudocia, he eventually carried his victorious arms from Antioch to the Black sea. After the capture and death of Eudocia's hus- band and general, the emperor Romanus Di- ogenes (1071), he planned an expedition against Turkistan, the cradle of his dynasty, and