Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/393

 ALUMNUS ALVA 369 scribed. The chloride, A1 2 C1 8, can be prepared I by passing dry chlorine gas through a heated mixture of alumina and charcoal. It is a vol- atile compound, and is used as above described in the manufacture of the metal aluminum. The hydrated chloride of alumina is easily prepared by dissolving aluminum in hydro- chloric acid. It is sold in commerce, under the name of chloralum, as a disinfectant and anti- septic, and is also recommended for salting paper in photography. Sulphate of aluminum is known in a crude state as alum cake, and is prepared on a large scale by roasting aluminous shales as described under ALTJM. It can be prepared in a small way by dissolving the hydrate of alumina in sulphuric acid. Acetate of aluminum is prepared by precipitating ace- tade of lead with sulphate of aluminum or with a solution of alum. It is extensively used as a mordant in calico printing, especially in pro- ducing madder reds, whence it is called " red liquor." ALUMNUS (Lat., from alere, to nourish), origi- nally the designation of a student who was supported and educated at the expense of the alumnat, an institution which, especially after the reformation, was endowed for the particu- lar purpose of extending hospitality and educa- tion to youths who could not afford to pay for their living and tuition. Maurice of Saxony endowed three such institutions in Pforte, Meissen, and Grimma, which are to this day in active operation. The alumni have to adhere to the rules of the establishment and to perform various services for the school and the church, such as singing in the choir and .the like, while the exl/raneers, the name given to students who pay for then* board and tuition, are not bound to perform such services. In ordinary par- lance, every graduate of a university or college is now an alumnus. In jurisprudence, the term alumnat is the generic expression for the gen- eral responsibilities attached in the eyes of the law to the relationship of the foster-father (nutritor) toward the child whom he has un- dertaken to support and educate. ALUMO, Nieold, of Foligno, an Italian painter of the 15th century, one of the masters of the Umbrian school, which was the forerunner of the Eoman. His earliest known work bears the date of 1458, and his latest that of 1499. His Pietct, in the cathedral of Assisi, of which only a portion remains, was regarded by Vasari as his master work. His other works are chiefly found in Perugia and Foligno. ALURED, Aired, or Alfred of Bevcrley, an Eng- lish historian, died probably in 1129. He is said to have been a native of Yorkshire and one of the canons and treasurer of the church of St. John in Beverley. He left an " Epitome of British History " from the time of the fabu- lous Brutus to the 29th year of Henry I., writ- ten hi good Latin, and compiled with a care unusual for that day. It was published by Hearne at Oxford in 1716. The work bears a strong resemblance to that of Geoffrey of Mon- 25 VOL. i. 25 mouth, both having probably been drawn from the same sources. ALUTA, Alt, or Olt, a northern affluent of the Danube, which rises in the Carpathians of east- ern Transylvania, and, after flowing S. and then W., crosses the Carpathians S. of Hermann- stadt, traverses Wallachia, and empties near Turna, opposite Nicopolis. Its entire course is about 330 m. Its principal tributary is the Oltetz, in Wallachia. ALVA, or Alba, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, duke of, a Spanish general and statesman, horn in 1508, died Jan. 12, 1582. He was descended from a family which boasted its ex- traction from Byzantine emperors ; and one of his ancestors, a Palseologus, conquered Toledo, and transmitted its appellation as a family name. From his earliest years he was trained to arms, and imbibed a hatred of infidels, which was afterward naturally transferred to those at enmity with the church of Rome. At 16 years of ago he fought at Fontarabia, and in 1530 he accompanied the emperor Charles V. in his campaign against the Turks. At this period he seemed like one of the romantic heroes of chivalry. On one occasion he rode as fast as his steed could bear him from Hungary to Spain and back again, merely for a hurried visit to his young bride. In 1535 he took part in Charles's expedition to Tunis. In 1546-'7 he was generalissimo in the war against the Smal- caldian league, winning his greatest honors at the battle of Miihlberg, in which he totally routed the Protestant forces. In 1554 he went with the Spanish crown prince to England, and shortly before that prince's accession to the throne as Philip II. on the abdication of Charles V. was made generalissimo of the army in Italy, engaged in a war with Pope Paul IV. Although he reverenced the successor of St. Peter, he was greatly displeased with Philip for obliging him to make peace with the pontiff, whose capital he had seized. To patience and cunning he united ferocity and a thirst for blood scarcely human ; he hardly knew the meaning of pity, though frequently alluding to his clem- ency in his letters to Philip. The personal ap- pearance of this extraordinary man well merits description. He was tall, thin, erect, with a small head, dark sparkling eyes, cavernous cheeks, and a stern expression, rendered more striking by a long, thin, waving, and silvered beard. In manners he was cold and haughty, and was even more inaccessible than his royal master. The spoliation of the churches in the Netherlands by the iconoclasts had enraged Philip more than any of the other troubles in his Flemish provinces ; and their armed invasion having been determined on, 10,000 picked vet- erans were placed under the command of the duke of Alva. Refused a passage through the French dominions, the force embarked at Cartagena, May 10, 1567, and landed at Ge- noa. The whole army was under the most per- fect discipline, and attached to it was a force of 2,000 prostitutes, enrolled and distributed,