Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/317

ALACOQUE. levelatioiis, and held <lireft lommunication with God and the angels. She foretold the day of her death (t)i-tober 17, lti!)0), and cut the name Jesus Christ on her bosom with a knife. She was beatified by Pius IX. in 18-l(i.

ALACBANES, ii'la-kra'nes. A group of small islands, surrounded by dangerous reefs in the tiulf of Mexico, 100 miles north of Sisal, in tne State of Yucatan, Mexico.

ALA-DAGH, a'la-dJig' (Turk. Mottled Jloun- tain). A mountain chain in Asiatic Turkey, over 11,000 feet hinh, with the Mount of Euphrates on its northern slope (Map: Turkey in Asia, K 3). The chief portion of the chain is above the basin of Lake Van, between 39" and 40° N. lat. and 42° and 44° E. long., forming part of the water-shed between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

ALAD'DIN. The hero of the Arabian Nights talc of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. He is a poor boy in China, who, through a strange adventure, gets possession of an old lamp and ring of magical properties. A chance rubbing of the former calls to his service a mighty genius Idjinn), the "slave of the lamp," who quickly brings him to wealth, and, having given him the princess for his bride, builds him a magnificent palace in a single night. Later the lamp is lost, in the absence of Aladdin, through the trick of the African magician who had formerly owned it, and who now, as a peddler, offers the princess "new lamps for old." He by its agency carries off the whole establishment to Africa, but the "'slave of the ring" enables Aladdin to follow, and in the end the nuigician is slain, the lamp recov- ered, and Aladdin, with his home and bride, re- turned to prosperity in China. Aladdin's lamp has become a proverbial expression.

ALADJA DAGH, a-lii'ji daG. A mountain region of Russian Transcaucasia, occupying the eastern part of the province of Kars. It is noted as the ]ilace of a decisive engagement between the Eus^iian forces under the Grand Duke Jlichael and the Turks under Mukhtar Pasha on October 15, 1877. The Russians surrounded the Turkish force, which was entrenched .at Aladja Dagh, with the result that a part of them fled toward Kars, while about 7000 surrendered. This vic- tory had a decisive effect on the course of the war.

ALAGOAS, ii'la-go'as. The former capital of the State of Alagoas, Brazil, situated on the south side of the Lake of Manguaba ( Lagoa Man- guaba (Map: Brazil, K 5). Its chief trade is in hides, rum, sugar, cotton, and iron. Pop., 4000.

ALAGOAS. A State of Brazil, formerly a district of the State of Pernambuco, which sur- rounds it on the north and west. Its southern and eastern boundaries are formed by the River S:~io Francisco and the Atlantic Ocean, respec- tively. Its area is 22..')80 square miles. In spite of the fertile soil and abundance of water, the province is very sparsely settled and agricul- ture is pursued only on a limited scale, owing to the deadly climate and prevalence of cholera and fever. The chief agricultural products are sugar, tobacco, cotton, and some coffee. Pop., 1800. ."ill. 000. Capital, Maceio (q.v.). Consult Rerenseamcnto do estado das Alagoas (Rio de Janeiro, 1898).

ALAI (a-li'l MOUNTAINS. A mountain range of Russian Transcaucasia, in the territory of Ferghana, north of the Pamirs. It consists of a number of parallel ranges, :ind is separated by the valley of the Waksh River from the Trans- Alai chain. Its average altitude is nearly 10,000 feet, while a few peaks rise beyond 20,000 feet.

ALAIN DE LILLE, a'lri.x' de lei' (1114?- 1203 ?). A Flemish Cistercian monk, called "the universal doctor;" distinguished in philosophy, theology, history, science, and poetry. He was appointed bisliop, but soon resigned to enter a monastery. He wrote chiefly in verse on al- chem}', natural philosophy, and doctrinal sub- jects. There is confusion about his identity and (omparatively little is known of his life; but he received his name from Lille, in Flanders, probably his birthplace.

ALAIS, a'la'. A town of the department of Gard, France, situated in a fertile plain on the right bank of the Gardon at the base of the Cevennes Mountains. 23 miles northwest of Nlnies, with which it is connected by railway (Map: France, L 7). Alais is a very flourish- ing town, and owes its prosperity chiefly to the mineral wealth of the surrounding district, which produces coal, iron, lead, zinc, and manganese. The blast furnaces, mines, and factories of vari- ous kinds give employment to large numbers of men, and Gard may be justly called the Black Country of France. Pop., 1901, 18,108. Alais sided with the Protestants in the religious wars of the seventeenth century, and Louis XIII. in person, accompanied by the Cardinal de Riche- lieu, besieged it, and having taken it in 1029, demolished its walls. Three years later, the Baron of Alais having taken jiart in the re- bellion of Montmorency, the castle was destroyed. Protestantism still prevails to a considerable ex- tent. Consult Memoirs ct Comptes-rendus du la Societe Heientiliiiue ct Litteraire d'Alais.

ALAIS, PEACE OF. A treaty which ended the Huguenot wars in France. It was signed June 28, 1629, after the taking of Alais by the royal forces. La Rochelle having fallen by the policy of Richelieu the year before. By its terms the fortifications of the Protestant towns were razed and the Catholic worship reestablished in them, but amnesty and freedom of conscience were giaiited to the rebels.

ALAJUELA, ii'lii-Hwii'la. The largest city of the province of Alajuela. Costa Rica, 13 miles west of San .Jose, and a little on the western side of the water-shed between the Atlantic and the Pacific (Map: Central America, E 5). The city is very prosperous, because of the neighboring coffee and sugar plantations and the large cattle ranches. Here many of the insurrections against the republic had their rise, notably the dar- ing attempt in 1824 of the Spaniard Jose Za- mora to bring the State once more under Span- ish rule. Pop., 1897, about 15,000.

ALA-KUL, ii'la-kooK (Kirghiz, Turk.. Mottled Lake). The name of two lakes in the territory of Semiryetchensk, on the Russian-Chinese frontier, 04 miles east of the lake of Balkash, Central Asia (Map: Asia. H 4), The Greater, or Eastern Ala-Kul. called also AIsh-Kul. covers an area of 790 square miles, is 39 miles long, 28 miles wide, and has an average depth of about 13 or 14 feet. Its banks are low and sandy, and it is fed by six insignificant streams. The western Ala-Kul or Sassyk-Kulya, separated from the eastern lake by a marshy neck of land 14 miles wide, is but 28 miles long and 11 miles