A L G (

ALCANTARA, knights of, a Spanish military order, who gained great honourduring the wars with the Moors .

ALDER, an aquatic tree well known;still much esteemed for such parts ofworks as lie continually under water.

Vitruvius tells us, that the morassesabout Ravenna , in Italy , were piledwith alder timber, in order to build upon.

The Rialto at Venice is built uponpiles of this wood.

ALERT, originally derived from theFrench word alerte , which is formed ofa and airte. The French formerly saidairte for air; so that alerte means some-thing continually in the air, and alwaysready to be put in action. A general issaid to be alert when he is particularlyvigilant.

To be kept upon the Alert is to be incontinual apprehension of being sur-prized. Alerte , among the French , is anexpression which is used to put soldiersupon their guard. It is likewise used bya post that may be attacked in the night,to give notice to the one that is destin-ed to support it; and by a sentry to givewarning when any part of the enemy isapproaching.

ALETTE, Fr. in architecture, theside of a pier between two arcades:alettes also signify jaumbs, or piedroits.

ALGARIE, Fr. a catheter which sur-geons use to draw off the urine.

ALGEBRA , the science of numbersin general, in which, by general marksfor numbers, and others for operationswith them, the properties of numbersare demonstrated, aud questions relativeto them are solved in an easy and concisemanner. This science has been renderedobscure by an affectation of mystery,and the supposition, that numbersmight he less than nothing, and impos-sible. But as number is definite in it-self, and one of the clearest ideas, when-ever such a mysterious expression oc-curs, it must he owing to the negligenceof the person using it, not to any faultin the science. The study of this easybranch of knowledge might be recom-mended to officers in general, from theexample set them by Descartes , the greatphilosopher of France , who when a youngman, aud encamped near an university,solved a difficult problem, which exer-cised the talents of their deepest stu-dents. To’officers in the ordnance de-partment the knowledge of Algebra isindispensably necessary. See Mr.

0 ) ALL

Freud’s very able publication on thisscience.

ALIDADE, Fr. a small instrumentwhich is used in making the grooves ofa rifle barrel equal; a cross-staff; alsothe index of a nocturnal or sea qua-drant.

ALIEN, in law, implies a personborn in a foreign country, not withinthe king’s dominions, in contradistinc-tion to a denizen, or natural-horn sub-ject.

Alien-Office. See Office.

ALIGNEMENT implies any thingstraight: for instance, the alignement of abattalion means the situation of a bodyof men when drawn up in line. Thealignement of a camp signifies the rela-tive position of the tents, &c. so as toform a straight line from given points.

AL/E, in the ancient military art, thetwo wings or extremes of an army rangedin order of battle.

ALIQUANT, (aliquante, Fr.) partsof a number, which, however repeated,will never make up the number exactly;as, 3 is an aliquant of 10, thrice 3 being9, four times 3 making 12.

ALIQUOT, (atiquotes 9 Fr.) aliquotparts of any number or quantity, such aswill exactly measure it without any re-mainder; as three is an aliquot part of12, because being taken four times, itwill just measure it. Thus also, thealiquot parts of 18 are 2, 3, 6, 9.

ALLEGIANCE, in law, implies theobedience which every subject ought topay to his lawful sovereign.

Oath of Allegiance is that takenby the subject, by which he acknow-ledges the king his lawful sovereign. Itis also applied to the oath taken by offi-cers, non-commissioned officers, and sol-diers in pledge of their fidelity to themonarch, prince, or state, under whichthey serve.

A ELEGI ANT, loyal.

ALLER a Vennemi , Fr. to meet theenemy; to march against him.

ALLEZER, Fr. to cleanse the mouthof a cannon or other piece of ordnance,and to increase the bore, so as to pro-duce its determined calibre.

ALLEZ01R, Fr. a frame of timberfirmly suspended in the air with strongcordage, on which is placed a piece ofordnance with the muzzle downwards.In this situation the bore is rounded andenlarged by means of an instrumentwhich has a very sharp and strong