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
