distinct languages, besides a large number of dialects. Both linguistic and traditional evidence point to the north Atlantic coast, from the St. John to the Delaware River, as the region from which the various cognate tribes migrated westward and southward. From the fact that the earliest settlements in Canada, New England, New York, New Jersey, and Virginia were all made within the Algonquian area, the history of these tribes is better known, and their languages have been more studied, than those of any others north of Mexico. For full two centuries they opposed the advance of the white man step by step, under such leaders as Opechancano, Pliilip, Pontiae, and Tecumseh, with the final and inev- itable result of defeat, suppression, and swift decay. The numljer of the Algonquian stock (1902) is about 82.000 souls, of whom about 43.000 are in the United States, the remainder being in Canada, with the exception of a few hundred refugees in Mexico.
The principal Algonquian tribes were the Al- gonquin, Amalecite, Micmae. Nascopi, Cree, Ab- naki, Pennacook, Massachuset, Wampanoag, Nar- raganset, Mohegan, Mahican, Montauk. Lenape or Delaware, Nanticoke, Powhatan, Paiulico. Shawano, Ojibwa, Ottawa. Menominee, Potawa- tami. Sack, Fox, Kickapoo. Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. See these titles; also Indians.
ALGON'QUIN. An important Indian tribe
formerly centring about Nipissing Lake and the
middle Ottawa River, Ontario. The name (more
properly Algomekin) signifies people "on the
other side" of the river. French missionaries
began work among the Algonquins early in the
seventeenth century, and soon discovered their
language to be the key to all the numerous dia-
lects now included by philologists under the Al-
gonquian stock. In consequence of destructive
wars waged against them by the Iroquois, the
tribe rapidly declined, some ileeing to the Upper
Lakes, where, with other refugees, they became
known later as Ottawas (q.v.); while others,
retaining the old name, were gathered into
mission villages under French protection. There
are now about 900 Algonquins settled in sev-
eral villages in Quebec and Ontario, exclusive of
those confederated with Iroquois at the Lake of
Two Mountains, in Quebec, and at Gibson, On-
tario, to the number of perhaps 250 more.
AL'GORISM. A word variously used in
aritlnnetic. Primarily it referred to the system
of Hindu numerals, concerning which European
scholars received nnich of their early information
through the work of AlKhuwarizmi (q.v.), or
Algoritmi, as the name appeared in the medisEval
Latin. Those scholars who adopted the Hindu
numerals were called, from his name, Algorists,
as distinct from the Abacists, who used the
abacus in their computations. The word appe.irs
in various forms, as algorithmus, algrim. augrim
(Chaucer). At present the word is generally
used to designate any particular arrangement of
numerical work, as the algorism for square root
or the algorism for division. See Arithmetic.
ALGUACIL, al'gwathel', or ALGtTAZIL
(Sp. alguacil, for Ar. aJ-iroffr, the vizier). The
general name in Spain of the officers intrusted
with the execution of justice. There are al-
gnaciles maijorex, who either inherit the office
of executing justice in a town as a hereditary
right belonging to their families, or are chosen
to the office by the municipality; formerly the
name was also given to the officers that executed
the sentences or orders of tribunals, such as the
tribunal of the Inquisition, and of the various
orders of knights. But usually, under the name
of Alguacil, IS understood the alguaciles me-
norcs. or "ordinarios," that is to say. the at-
tendants or officers of the courts of justice, gens-
d'armes, bailiti's — in short, all the inferior officers
of justice and police who are appointed to their
office by the judges, alguaciles mayorcs, or town
council.
ALHAGI, al-haj'i. See Manna.
ALHAMA, al-a'ma (Ar.. the bath ; the Roman
Astigia Juliensis). A town of Andalusia, Spain,
in the province of Granada, 25 miles southwest of
Granada (ilap: Spain, C 4) . Its situation is wild
and romantic in the extreme. The town is built,
terrace above terrace, upon a hill on either side
of which rise naked limestone crags, while the
Sierra Albania towers to the height of 8000 feet
in the background. Albania is notable for its
baths, which are much frequented in the spring
and fall. They are situated in the valley of the
Marchan, and are of a sulphurous character, and
reach a temperature of from 107° to 113° F. The
Baiia de la Reina is a Roman building of great
antiquity: the Baiio Fuerte is a Moorish struc-
ture. An earthquake in 1884 wrought much de-
struction to the upper town. Albania was a
watering-place and fortress in the time of the
Romans. Its name in .rabic means "The Bath,"
and the Moors valued highly its medicinal
springs. It was, however, chiefly as a fortress
and outpost to Granada that it was important
to them, and when it was captured by the Chris-
tians, February 28, 1482, it caused the wide-
spread mourning expressed in the famous ballad,
".•)i/ de mi Alhama!" well known in the English
translation. Pop., 1900, 7083.
ALHAMA. A town of Murcia. Spain, situated
at the foot of the Sierra de Espaua, on the
southern slope, 13 miles southwest of Murcia
(Map: Spain, E 4.). It is celebrated for its sul-
phur springs and warm mineral waters, 102°
to 108° F., and is a favorite resort of invalids
and holiday-seekers in spring and early summer.
It has a ruined castle. Alhama figured in the
Moorish wars. Pop., 1900, 8410.
ALHAM'BRA (Ar. al, the + hamra, red). The fortified palace citadel of the Moorish kings of Granada. As early as the Ninth Century a citadel was located here with the name al-Hamra, which was rebuilt when Granada became the capital of what was left of the Moorish dominions in Spain, by King Mohammed Ibn-el-Ahmar and his successors (1248, 1270, 1300, 1354). The citadel stands on a hill north of Granada, on a terrace about 2500 by 075 feet, and is surrounded by a wall with is'square towers, over a mile in circuit, built of the red brick which gave it the name of KaTnt el-Bainra. "The Red Castle." Inside the citadel were beautiful gardens, a don-jon citadel, a gate of justice, a watch tower, and, finally, the palace itself, as sombre and plain on the outside as it was smiling and decorative within. Charles V. destroyed a large part of it (especially the Winter Palace) to make room for a tasteless Renaissance building, and Philip
V. still further mutilated it. Mutilated as it is,
it remains the best proof of the artistic character
of the Moorish dominion in Spain, even though in details the work may not be so exquisite as earlier work in Egypt and the East. What re-
