Das Rheingold, and Siegfried, in the music drama of that title. Alvary returned to America for the season of 1894-95, and again in 1896. March 21, 1895, at the Metropolitan Opera House, he sang Siegfried for the one hundredth time. In November, 1896, he was afflicted with cancer of the stomach, resulting, it is supposed, from bruises received by a fall through an open trap on the Mannheim stage. He went to his beautiful country seat, Datenberg, the building of which, and his enforced absence from the stage, had impoverished him. Here he died, November 8, 1898.
ALVENSLEBEN, lil'vens-la'bcn, Konstantin von (1809-02). A Prussian general. He was born in Prussian Saxony, was trained in the cadet corps, served through the Danish War and the war with Austria, and commanded the third army corps in the Franco-German War. He retired in 1873. One of the forts at Metz was named in his honor.
ALVIN, al'van', Louis Joseph (1806-87). A Belgian poet and art critic. He was born at Cambrai; in 1830 was appointed secretary, and subsequently chief of division in the ministry of education. In 1850 he was appointed librarian of the Royal Library, Brussels. He was a member of the Belgian Academy (elected 1845), and, besides numerous contributions to periodicals, wrote a variety of works, including a tragedy, Sardanapale (1834); the comedy Le folliculaire anonyme (1835); the satire Les recontemplations (1856), and the two studies, Les académies et les autres écoles de dessin de la Belgique en 1864 (1866), and André von Hasselt (1877).
ALVINCZY, ol'vin-tsp, Joseph, Baron von (1735-1810). An Austrian field-marshal. He fought in the Seven Years' War at Torgau and Teplitz, and in 1789 he led the force which unsuccessfully attempted to capture Belgrade by storm. Between 1790 and 1793 he fought bravely in the Netherlands. Though oftener losing than winning, he was selected to lead the Austrian army against Bonaparte; but having lost the important battles of Areola and Rivoli, he was recalled. In 1798 he received the chief command in Hungary, and reorganized the army. He became field-marshal in 1808.
AL'VIS (All-wise). In Norse mythology, the dwarf, a suitor for the hand of Thor's daughter, who answers Thor's questions in the lay (song) of Alvis.
AL'VORD, Benjamin (1813-84). An American soldier and writer. He was born at Rutland, Vt,. and graduated at West Point in 1833. After serving in the second Seminole War (1835-37), he participated in the War with Mexico, and attained the brevet rank of major. During the march from Vera Cruz to Mexico he was chief of staff to Major Lally's column. He was paymaster of the Department of Oregon from 1854 to 1862, and brigadier-general of volunteers from 1862 until his resignation of this grade in 1865. He then became paymaster at New York City, a position which he held until 1867, and from 1867 to 1872 he held the same post in the district of Omaha and Nebraska. From 1876 until his retirement (1881) he was Paymaster-General of the United States Army, with the rank of brigadier-general. Among his publications are: Tangencies of Circles and of Spheres (1855), and The Interpretation of Imaginary Roots in Questions of Maxima and Minima (1860).
ALVORD, Corydon A. ( 1812-74). An American printer. He was born at Winchester, Conn., and in 1845 removed to New York, where he became widely known as a printer of illustrated books. His establishment on Vandewater Street was one of the largest in the country. It contained fonts of old-style type and of ancient and Oriental letters which enabled him to make remarkable facsimiles of old books and papers. After retiring from business in 1871 he removed to Hartford, where he devoted most of his time to the preparation of a history of Hartford and Winchester.
ALWAR, äl'wär. One of the feudatory States
of Rajputana (q.v.), British India (Map: India, C 3).
ALWAR. Capital of the native Rajputana State of the same name, India, on the North-Western Railway, 60 miles northeast of Jaipur. It is the residence of the Maharaja and of a British political agent. The town, dominated by an imposing fort, built on a rock 1200 feet high, is picturesquely situated on undulating ground. Its chief building is the Royal Palace, with its marble durbar room, jewel house, valuable library, armory, and extensive stables. Other noteworthy features are temples and tombs, and churches of the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian missions. The town has a fine water supply from the artificial Siliser Lake, nine miles southwest of the city. Pop., 1891, 52,398; 1901, 56,740.
AL'WATO. See Andrews, Stephen Pearl.
ALYATTES, al'i-at'tez (Gk. Ἀλυάττης). A king of Lydia, who ascended the throne about 618 B.C. He took Smyrna, drove the Cimmerians from Asia, and attacked Clazomenæ, but was repulsed. A six years' war was waged between him and Cyaxares, King of Media. He died about 562 B.C., and was succeeded by his son, the historic Crœsus. His tomb, situated north of Sardis, and not far from Lake Gygæa, was one of the wonders of antiquity.
ALYS'SUM (Gk. ἄλυσσον, alysson, a plant used to check hiccough, from ἀ, a, neg. + λύζειν, lyzein, to hiccough). A genus of low-growing mostly perennial plants of the natural order Cruciferæ. There are a number of species and many cultivated varieties, mostly of European origin. The plant is used largely for rock-work. The flowers are small, white or yellow, and borne in racemes. The sweet alyssum (Alyssum maritimum), grown in low borders, window gardens, and baskets, and fenced in greenhouses, is an annual.
ALZEY, äl'tsi. An old city in Rhenish Hesse, on the Selz, 18 miles southwest of Mainz (Map: Prussia, C 4). Its chief industries are the manufacture of shoes, leather ware, and furniture. Population in 1890, about 6000; in 1900, 6900. The town was known as early as the fourth century, and was built on the site of an earlier Roman settlement. Volker the Fiddler, one of the heroes of the Nibelungenlied, is supposed to have come from Alzey.
ALZOG, al'tsriG, Johann Baptist (1808-78). A Roman Catholic theologian. He was born at Ohlau, Silesia, June 20, 1808, and was professor of church history in the University of Freiburg from 1853 till his death there, March 1, 1878.
