country, 
o in the 
vich are 
eranium 
ral habit 
e of the 
veeds in 
an kino 
roat and 
nistered 
ingency 
r species 
um and 
o which 
LCand, a 
. order 
roperty. 
e petals 
arkably 
| with a 
ed, anc 
aggling. 
to form 
y earths 
1 (q. V), 
nature 
sociated 
y native 
\. L and 
one of 
vl other 
y exXpo- 
disinte- 
d rock, 
granite, 
> felspar 
s to be 
ith car- 
some of 
f silica 
owever, 
1ly cor- 
s have 
y. By 
scribed, 
. Clay 
hemical 
> quan- 
ariable. 
> see in 
I, which 
juently, 
of iron ; 
getable 
r to a 
as long 
s as a 
isting of 
‘When 
colour- 
ywn the 
precipi- 
earths, 
cipitate, 
ible in 
iteness, 
atly in 
made all 
ies and 
ydrated 
sses 1o 
's 3 bub 
el 1L 
water. 
v 
  
  
  
ALUMINIUM—ALURED. 
  
  
  
  
Tt is quite different, therefore, in properties from 
the alkaline earths, and is a much weaker base. 
In the anhydrous state it absorbs water with great 
readiness without combining with it, so that it 
adheres to the tongue, and is felt to parch it. 
Clay retains this property ; and the ends of tobacco- 
pipes are glazed, to prevent adhesion to the lips or 
tongue. A. is not fusible by a forge or furnace 
heat, but it melts before the oxyhydrogen blow-pipe 
into a clear globule, possessing great hardness. It 
occurs in nature in a similar state. The more 
coarsely crystallised specimens form the emery 
which is used for polishing ; the transparent crystals, 
when of a blue colour, owing to a trace of metallic 
oxide, constitute the precious gem the sapphire, and, 
when red, the ruby. A., in common with other 
sesquioxides, is a feeble base. The salts it forms 
with the acids have almost all a sour taste, and an 
acid action on colouring matter. 
ALUMI'NIUM is one of the metals present in 
clay, granite, and other rocky and earthy substances. 
It was discovered by Wohler in 1828, and was re- 
examined by him in 1846, when he obtained the 
metal in minute globules or beads, by heating a 
mixture of chloride of A. and sodium. Within the 
last five years, however, the subject has been re- 
investigated by Deville and others, and it appears 
probable that the metal A., recently so rare and 
costly, will soon rank among the more common 
metals both in use and price. The original experi- 
ments of Deville were made at the cost of Napoleon 
I11., who subscribed £1500, and was rewarded by 
the presentation of two bars of the metal. The 
process followed by Deville was the same as that 
suggested by Wihler, and appears to have been so 
successful, that the metal could, in 1857, be purchased 
in Paris at the price of 7s. 6d. an ounce. In 1855, 
2ose announced to the scientific world that A. 
could be more readily and cheaply prepared from a 
mineral called cryolite, found in Greenland in large 
quantity, and cargoes of which are regularly im- 
orted into Germany under the name of ¢ Mineral 
Soda,’ at the price of 9s. a cwt. This mineral is a 
double fluoride of A. and sodium, is used on the 
Rhine as a washing-soda, and also in the manu- 
facture of soap, and only requires to be mixed with 
an excess of sodium, and heated, when the metal 
A. at once separates. The latter process for the 
preparation of the new metal is about to be carried 
out on the large scale at works which are now in 
progress of erection at Battersea, London; and it 
is expected that the price will not exceed 3s. 9d. 
per ounce. Indeed, an order for 500 ounces at that 
sum has already been accepted. 
The properties of A. are, that it is a white metal, 
somewhat resembling silver, but possessing a bluish 
hue, which reminds one of zine. It is very malleable 
the same-sized eagle was reduced to one-fourth of its 
former weight. A. is very sonorous; and when a 
rod or small bell made of it, is struck, it gives out a 
very sweet clear ringing sound ; hence it has been 
suggested that the metal would be useful in making 
bells, gongs, &c. A. forms, with copper, several 
light, very hard, white alloys, which will doubtless 
soon find their way into our manufactures of spoons, 
tea-kettles, dish-covers, &c.; and also a yellow 
alloy, which, though much lighter than gold, is very 
similar to it in colour, and in being faintly acted on 
by acids. With iron, the new metal yields two 
alloys, one of which, though containing 75 per cent. 
of iron, yet will not rust when exposed to a damp 
atmosphere, and may therefore be useful in making 
steam-pipes, &c. Ornaments for the mantel-piece, 
the arm, and the neck, have been fashioned of 
A., but hitherto they have proved unacceptable to 
the public eye, on account of its peculiar blue or 
zine hue; but recently, Dr Stevenson Macadam, of 
Edinburgh, has suggested a process of immersing 
the A. in a heated solution of potash, which partially 
eats into the surface of the metal, and produces a 
fine white frosted appearance, like that of frosted 
silver. A number of medals of A. have been frosted 
in this way, and after a year’s exposure, have not 
lost their original beauty. 
ALUNNO, Niccoro, or Niccolo of Fuligno, one 
of the old Umbrian painters, whose works first 
indicated the qualities discermble in that school. 
His earliest known piece is a ¢ Madonna with Angels 
and Saints,’ 1458 A.D. There is also a gonfalon—a 
banner used in religious processions—of the year 
1466, in the church of Santa Maria Nuova at 
Perugia, which A. painted for the brotherhood, as 
the inscription testifies: °Sociclas Annunciamenta 
fecit fieri hoc opus.” It is a work of peculiar beauty, 
displaying deep religious feeling and exquisite sweet- 
ness. ~A. painted several of these gonfalons. Some 
of his pictures were carried off by the French, and 
sent to Paris; but at the restoration of artistic 
spoil, ¢ The Nativity, ¢The Resurrection,” &c., were 
returned, although * The Agony in the Garden’ still 
remains in the Louvre, There is also a ¢ Madonna, 
between Two Angels,’ of the year 1499, to be seen in 
the parish church of the village of Bastia. Frag- 
ments, too, are still in existence of an altar-piece 
for the cathedral of Assisi. The picture represented 
a Picta, with two angels bearing torches, and, 
according to Vasari, weeping so naturally, that ‘no 
one,” he thinks, ¢ could have painted them better.” 
A. is not so remarkable for the originality or fertility 
of his invention, as for his selection of details, warmth 
of feeling, purity, and devout faith. His earnestness, 
however, leads him at times into exaggeration. 
ALURED, or ALRED, of Beverley, in York- 
shire, an old English historian of the time of Henry 
  
and ductile, and in tenacity it approaches iron. 
When heated in a furnace, it fuses, and can then be 
cast in moulds into ingots. Exposed to dry or moist 
air, it is unalterable, and does not oxidise so much 
as lead and zinc do. Cold water has certainly no 
action upon it, and in the majority of experiments, 
hot water has not sensibly affected it. Sulphuretted 
hydrogen, the gas which so readily tarnishes the 
gilver in households, forming a black film on the 
surface, does not act on A. When fused and cast 
into moulds, it is a soft metal like pure silver, and 
has a density of 2:56; but when hammered or rolled, 
it becomes as hard as iron, and its density increases 
to 2:67. It is therefore a very light metal, being 
lighter than glass, and only one-fourth as heavy as 
silver. This property has been taken advantage of 
by Napoleon IIL, who some time ago ordered the 
eagles surmounting the standards of the French 
army to be made of A. instead of silver; and thus 
  
I. Little is known regarding him ; but he is said 
to have been educated at Cambridge, and to have 
greatly distinguished himself by the variety of his 
learning. It is also stated that he had enriched 
his mind by travel, both in France and Italy, 
and that at Rome he became domestic chaplain to 
Cardinal Othoboni. His permanent office, however, 
appears to have been that of canon and treasurer of 
the church of St John in his native town of Beverley, 
where he wrote his Annals. This work commences 
with a. fabulous period of British history, and 
extends down to the twenty-ninth year of Henry 1. 
Tt was published at Oxford in 1716 by Thomas 
Hearne, and is a remarkable production, for various 
reasons. Its Latin is extremely good, and even 
elegant, while its accuracy, especially in dates, is 
unusual for the age in which its author lived. He 
is said, though it is very doubtful, to have \\{g:itton, 
  
  
  
  
  
e