Besides these uses of altars, the ancients swore upon them, and swore by them, in making alliances, confirming treaties of peace, and other solemn occasions. Altars also served as places of refuge to all those who fled to them, whatever crime they had committed.

Altars are doubtless as ancient as sacrifices them selves; consequently their origin is not much later than that of the world, Gen. ch. iv. Some attribute their origin to the Egyptians; others to the Jews; others to the patriarchs before the flood. Some carry them as far back as Adam, whose altar is much spoken of by Jewish, and even Christian writers. Others are contented to make the patriarch Enoch the first who consecrated a public altar. Be this as it will, the earliest altars we find any express testimony of are those erected by Abraham.

Altars, in the patriarchal times, were very rude. The altar which Jacob set up at Bethel was nothing but a stone, which served him instead of a bolster; that of Gideon, a stone before his house and the first which God commanded Moses to erect was probably of earth or unpolished stones, without any iron; for if any use was made of that metal, the altar was declared impure. The principal altars of the Jews were, The altar of incense; that of burnt-offering; and the altar, or table, for the shew bread.

The altar of incense was a small table of shittim wood, covered with plates of gold, of one cubit in length, another in width, and two in height. At the four corners were four kinds of horns, and all round a little border or crown over it. This was the altar hidden by Jeremiah before the captivity; and upon it the officiating priest offered, every morning and evening, incense of a particular composition. See Plate XVII. The altar of burnt-offerings was made of shittim wood, and carried upon the shoulders of the priests by staves of the same wood overlaid with brass. In the time of Moses, this altar was five cubits square and three high; but in Solomon's temple it was much larger, being 20 cubits square and 10 in height. It was covered with brass; and at each corner was a horn or spire, wrought out of the same wood with the altar, to which the sacrifices were tied. Within the hollow was a grate of brass, on which the fire was made; through it fell the ashes, which were received in a pan below. At the four corners of the grate were four rings and four chains, which kept it up at the horns. This altar was placed in the open air, that the smoke of the burntofferings might not sully the inside of the tabernacle. See Plate XVII.

The altar or table for the shew-bread was likewise of shittim wood, covered with plates of gold, having a little border round it adorned with sculpture. It was two cubits long, one wide, and one and a half in. height. Upon this table, which stood in the holy of holies, were put, every Sabbath day, 12 loaves, with salt and incense.

The Jewish altars, after their return from the captivity, and the building of the second temple, were in some respects different from those described above. That of burnt offerings was a large pile, built of unhewn stone, 32 cùbits square at the bottom, and 24 square at the top. The ascent was by a gentle rising, 32 cubits in length, and 16 in breadth.

ALTAR, is also used among Christians for the com. munion-table.

Altar

In the primitive church, the altars were only of Altenberg. wood; as being frequently to be removed from place to place. But the council of Paris, in 509, decreed that no altar should be built but of stone. At first there was but one altar in each church; but the number soon increased; and from the writings of Gregory the Great, who lived in the sixth century, we learn, that there were sometimes in the same church twelve or thirteen. In the cathedral of Magdeburg there are no less than 49 altars.

The altar is sometimes sustained on a single column, as in the subterraneous chapels of St Cecilia, at Rome, &c.; and sometimes by four columns, as the altar of St Sebastian of Crypta Arenaria; but the customary form is, to be a massive of stone work, sustaining the altar table. These altars bear a resemblance to tombs: to this purpose, we read in church-history, that the primitive Christians chiefly held their meetings at the tombs of the martyrs, and celebrated the mysteries of religion upon them for which reason, it is a standing rule to this day in the church of Rome, never to build an altar, without inclosing the relics of some saint in it.

ALTAR-THANE, or ALTARIST, in old law-books, an appellation given to the priest or parson of a parish, to whom the altarage belonged. See ALTARAGE.

ALTARAGE, in Law, altars erected in virtue of donations, before the Reformation, within a parochial church, for the purpose of singing of mass for deceased friends.

ALTARAGE likewise signifies the profits arising to the priest on account of the altar.

AL-TAYEFF, a town of Hejaz, a district of Arabia Felix. It is situated about 60 miles east of Mecca, behind Mount Gazwan, where the cold is more intense than in any other part of the district, but the air very wholesome. Its territory abounds in fountains, and produces excellent raisins. The town is surrounded with a wall, but is not very large.

ALTDORF, a large handsome town in Swisserland, and the chief of the canton of Uri. It is situated below the lake of the Four Cantons, in a plain, at the foot of a mountain whose passages are difficult, and serve instead of fortifications. It has four churches and two convents; St Martin's church and that of the Holy Cross are the finest. The town-house and the arsenal are also worth seeing. E. Long. 8. 30. N. Lat. 46. 50.

ALTEA, a sea-port town of Valencia in Spain. It was taken in 1705, in favour of the archduke Charles; but lost after the battle of Almanza. W. Long. o. 15. N. Lat. 46. 34.

ALTEMBURG, a town of Transylvania, 17 miles south-west of Wisemburg, and 35 south of Clausenbourg, E. Long. 23. 5. N. Lat. 46. 25.

ALTENA, or ALTONA, a sea-port town of Germany, in the duchy of Holstein in Lower Saxony. It is a modern town, built by the king of Denmark, and was burnt by the Swedes in 1712; but has since been beautifully rebuilt. The number of inhabitants is about 30,000; and it has a considerable trade. E. Long. 10. o. N. Lat. 53. 51.

ALTENBERG, an ancient town of Germany,

situated.

Alternate.

ALTERNATION, in its primary sense, denotes a Alternation succession by turns.

Altenburg situated on the river Pleiss, with a good castle placed on A a rock, in Misnia, in the circle of Upper Saxony. It was formerly an imperial city, but at present belongs to the house of Saxony. Here is a college which has always been in a flourishing condition. In 1705, there was a nunnery founded for women of a high rank, who are Protestants. E. Long. 15. 8. N. Lat. 50.59.

ALTENBURG, a small fortified town of Hungary, in the territory of Moson, near the Danube, about fifty miles from Vienna. E. Long. 17. 20. N. Lat. 48. 15.

ALTENBURG, or OWAR, a small but strong town of Hungary, seated in a marsh, with wide streets. It is near the river Danube, and is surrounded with deep ditches. It is 15 miles south of Presburg, 40 southeast of Vienna, and 65 south-west of Buda. E. Long. 17. 56. N. Lat. 46. 50.

ALTERANTS, or ALTERATIVE Medicines, such as correct the bad qualities of the blood, and other bumours, without occasioning any sensible evacuation.

ALTERATION, in Physics, the act of changing the circumstances and manner of a thing; its general nature and appearance remaining the same. Or, it is an accidental and partial change in a body; without proceeding so far as to make the subject quite unknown, or to take a new denomination thereupon. Or, it may be defined, the acquisition or loss of such qualities as are not essential to the form of the body. Thus, a piece of iron, which before was cold, is said to be altered, when it is made hot; since it may still be perceived to be iron, is called by that name, and has all the properties thereof. By this, alteration is distinguished from generation and corruption; those terms expressing an acquisition or loss of the essential quali ties of a thing. The modern philosophers, after the ancient chemists and corpuscularians, hold all alteration to be effected by means of local motion. According to them, it always consists either in the emission, accession, union, separation, or transposition, of the component particles.

ALTERCATION, a debate or contest between two friends or acquaintance. The word comes from altercari, which anciently signified to converse or hold discourse together. Thus we say, They never come to an open quarrel, but there is continually some little altercation or other.

ALTERN-BASE, in Trigonometry, a term used in contradistinction to the true base. Thus in oblique triangles, the true base is either the sum of the sides, and then the difference of the sides is called the altern-base; or the true base is the difference of the sides, and the the sum of the sides is called the altern-base.

ALTERNATE, in a general sense, a term applied to such persons or things as succeed each other by turns. Thus, two who command each his day, are said to have an alternate command, or to command alternately.

ALTERNATE, in Heraldry, is said in respect of the situation of the quarters. Thus the first and fourth quarters, and the second and third, are usually of the same nature, and are called alternate quarters.

ALTERNATE, in Botany, when the leaves or branches of plants arise higher on opposite sides alternately.

ALTERNATION is sometimes used to express the different changes or alterations of orders in any number of things proposed. This is also called permutation, &c. and is easily found by a continual multiplication of all the numbers, beginning at unity. Thus, if it be required to know how many changes or alternations can be rung on six bells, multiply the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, continually into one another; and the last product gives the number of changes.

ALTERNATIVE, is particularly used for the choice of two things proposed. In this sense we say, to take the alternative of two propositions.

ALTHÆA, MARSHMALLOW. See BOTANY Index. · ALTHEA Frutex. See HIBISCUS, BOTANY Index. ALTIMETRY, the art of measuring altitudes or heights, whether accessible or inaccessible. See GEO

METRY.

ALTIN, a money of account in Muscovy, worth three copecs: 100 of which make a ruble, worth about 4s. 6d. sterling.

ALTIN, a lake in Siberia, from whence issues the river Ob, or Oby, in N. Lat. 52. o. E. Long. 85. 55. This lake is called by the Russians Teloskoi Osero, from the Telessi, a Tartarian nation, who inhabit the borders of it, and who give it the name of Altin-Kul. By the Calmucks it is called Altinnor. It is near 90 miles long and 50 broad, with a rocky bottom. The north part of it is sometimes frozen so hard as to be passable on foot, but the southern part is never covered with ice. The water in the Altin lake, as well as in the rivers which run through the adjacent places, only rises in the middle of summer, when the snows on the mountains are melted by the heat of the sun.

ALTINCAR, among mineralists, a species of factitious salt used in the fusion and purification of metals. The altincar is a sort of flux powder. Divers ways of preparing it are given by Libavius.

ALTING, HENRY, a German divine, was born at Embden, in 1583. His father was minister of the church of Embden, and early destined his son to the same profession. In the year 1602, after a grammatical course he was sent to the university of Herborn: there he studied with so much assiduity and success, that he soon had the honour of being a preceptor. Qualified by the vigorous exertions of his talents, he was appointed tutor to the three young counts of Nassau, Solms, and Isenburg, who studied with the elector prince palatine, first at Sedan, and afterwards at Heidelberg. A proper discharge of the duties of a lower station generally paves the way for a higher. For he was appointed preceptor to the prince in 1608: and in consequence of his assiduity and success, he was chosen to accompany the elector into England. Among the number of celebrated men to whose acquaintance he was introduced in England, was the famous Dr Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury. In 1613, Alting returning to Heidelberg after the marriage of the elector with the princess of England, received his degree of doctor of divinity, and was appointed director of the college of Wisdom. The increased knowledge and invigorated talents of Alting, were always receiving renewed opportunities of exertion; thus his elo

quence

N

Alting.