Agent AGENT is a deputy, broker, or procurator. He is a person entrusted with the management of property by a firm, public company, or, in the case of army agents, by private individuals. He is expected to execute the instructions of his employer to the letter, and if these are left open he must be guided by the practice at the place where he resides. His remuneration is usually by commission, the amount of which varies from 1 to 4 per cent. AGGOUED-BUND, a description of fine silk produced in India. Aguardiente AGIO, a Venetian word signifying aid, which is used in commercial matters to express the difference in value between cash and paper money. It is similar to exchange and, in assur-order or directions of the said. And also ance, premium. AGITO or GIRO, a small weight of Pegu: two agitos make a half biza, and the biza weighs a hundred tecalis, equal to two pound five ounces heavy, or three pound nine ounces light weight of Venice. tween embezzle purloin wilfully waste destroy or misspend any of the goods money moneys merchandize or effects of the said- or his correspondents or any of them. And also that he the said his executors or administrators shall and will from time to time and at all times during the said term upon request make and give unto the said his executors or administrators a full just true and perfect account and reckoning in writing of and for all money which he shall receive in or pay out and of all goods which he shall at any time during the said term receive in or deliver out upon the account and for the use of the said or any of his correspondents or by the that the said his executors or administrators shall and will and truly pay or cause to be paid unto the said his executors or administrators, all such sum or sums of money as shall appear to be due upon the foot of every such account or accounts. And also that the said shall not nor will at any time or times during the said term trust or deliver forth upon credit any of the moneys goods, wares and merchandize of the said or any of his correspondents to any person or persons whatsoever without the special license and consent of him the said. And the said doth for himself, his executors, and administrators covenant promise and agree to and with the said his executors and administrators that he the said shall and will in consideration of the said services so to be done and performed by him the said -- as aforesaid pay and allow or cause to be paid and allowed unto him the said the yearly salary of — by even and equal portions &c. And it is hereby declared and agreed by and between the said parties that if the said-his executors or administrators after the arrival of the said at Madras aforesaid shall find him not capable or if the said —— shall not be diligent and faithful in the doing and performing of the service and business of keeping the books and accounts of the said -- or such other business wherein he shall employ him in his trade and merchandise as aforesaid that then and in any of the said cases the said his executors or administrators - AGREEMENT for a clerk to go to abroad.Articles of agreement indented made &c. beand of of the one part, and of of the other part, witness that the said -for the consideration hereinafter mentioned doth hereby for himself his executors and administrators, covenant, promise, and agree, to and with the said his executors, administrators and assigns, by these presents, that he the said shall and will when required by the said -go on board and sail in and with such ship or vessel as shall be provided by the said — for Madras aforesaid, and immediately on his arrival there will enter into service of the said — for and during the term of three years to be accounted from his arrival at Madras aforesaid, and shall and will dwell continue and abide with the said at Madras aforesaid or elsewhere and him diligently and faithfully serve during the said term in keeping the books of account of him the said and in such other employment business and affairs as the said shall think proper to employ him during the said term, and herein shall from time to time and at all times during the said term do observe perform and fulfil the lawful and reasonable commands and directions of the said without disclosing the same or any of his correspond-after a month's notice or warning in writing ence or the secrets of his employment busi- for that purpose given to the said shall ness, or dealings, to any person or persons and may discharge the said from his said whatsoever, and shall not or will not during service, he paying him for his service up to the said term correspond with any person or and in full to the time of his discharge, and persons corresponding with the said nor use the sum of for his passage to England. any traffic or dealings for himself or on ac- And the said his executors or administracount of any other person or persons without tors or either or any of them shall not from the consent of the said first had and ob- such the said discharge of the said -- be tained for that purpose in writing. And the chargeable to allow or pay to the said all or said- doth for himself his executors and ad- any part of the said yearly sums aforesaid for ministrators further covenant and promise and such time of the said three years which shall agree to and with the said --his executors be then to come and unexpired anything and administrators that he the said shall therein contained to the contrary thereof in and will from time to time during the said any wise notwithstanding. In witness, &c. term write and keep a true and perfect account ÁGUARDIENTE, a Spanish liquor distilled and accounts for him the said and will not | from the grape, and of ordinary quality. A Hull A HULL, on board ship, is an expression used when a vessel lies over against the wind and sea with fasted canvas in the teeth of a storm. AIGRIS, a peculiar stone of a greenish blue colour, without lustre, hard, but does not polish well, which serves as current coin on the Gold Coast of Africa. The natives break it up into small pieces, and bore holes through the centre of these for the purpose of wearing a string of them as ornaments round the neck. AIPY, a Brazilian liquor made from a species of manico, and consumed in the country. AIZEN, a liquor of Tartary, prepared from cows' milk. AKKAD, manufactures of silk cords in Cairo. AKYAB is a town in the province of Arakan, of great importance as a rice port. Pop. 15,536. ALABAMA ("here we rest"), one of the United States of N. America, bounded N. by Tennesse, E. by Georgia, S. by Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and W. by Mississippi. Area, 50,722 square miles, or 32,462,080 acres. p. 1,002,240. Lat. between 30° 10′, and 35" N. Lon. between 85° and 88° 30′ W. Counties 52, viz., Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Benton, Blount, Bibb, Butler, Chambers, Clark, Choctaw, Cherokee, Coffee, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Dale, Dallas, De Kalb, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hancock, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lowndes, Lauderdale, Limestone, Macon, Madison, Marion, Marengo, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pirkens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, and Wilcox. Cities and Towns. The capital is Montgomery. Commercial metropolis, Mobile. The other important towns are Hunsville, Tuscaloosa, Florence, Marion, Talladega, Athens, and Jacksonville. Minerals. Coal, iron, lime, and marble; red ochre, lead, and manganese are met with. Iron is found in abundance in Shelby, Bibb, Jefferson, and Tuscaloosa counties; also bituminous coal of a good quality. "There are salt, sulphur, and chalybeate springs in different sections of the State. Gold has been found in St. Clair county." Variegated marbles are found on the rivers, particularly on the Cahawba and in Talladega county. Products. Cotton, Indian corn, oats, wheat, rye, rice, wool, hay, peas, and beans; barley, buckwheat, tobacco, sugar, butter, potatoes, wine, cheese, hops, flax, and silk; fruit, live stock, honey, molasses, &c. Timber. Oak, poplar, hickory, chestnut, mulberry, cypress, loblolly, and pine. Manufactures. Eight cotton mills, 25,196 spindles, using 2,820,506 lb. of cotton yearly. The average yarn is 17, and the average per spinner 112; 14 forges furnaces, producing 2,537 tons of castings; pig and wrought iron value £280,876; distilling inconsiderable; 149 tanneries, producing £335,911 worth of leather yearly. Produce. Cotton principally,crop about 400,000 bales, averaging 105 dollars per Aleppo bale, aggregating £42,000,000 dollars, or £7,499,922 10s. ; at exchange 5 dollars 60 c. per. Trade. See MOBILE, the only seaport of the State. ALABASTER [Ger. Du. Da. Sw. Aabaster, It. Sp. and Port. Alabastro, Fr. Albâtro, Rus. Alabastr] a stone not unlike marble but softer, used by sculptors in executing small statues, vases, columns, &c., &c. ALAMODE, a thin glossy black silk, chiefly used for hoods, mourning scarves, &c. ALB, a Turkish coin, more commonly known as asper. ALBA FLORA, a dry wine similar to Rhenish, the produce of Minorca. ALBACETE, a Spanish wine of ordinary quality, the produce of New Castile. ALBERNUD, a kind of camlet made in the Levant. ALCANNA is a drug brought from the Levant for dyeing purposes. ALCAVALA was a tax at one time levied in Spain on the transfer of property whether movable or immovable. ALCOHOL [Fr. Esprit de vin, Ger. Weingeist, It. Spirito di vins] is a liquid which forms the intoxicating principle of fermented liquors. It is by the distillation of such liquors that ardent spirits are obtained, and they receive the names of brandy, rum, gin, and whisky, according to the nature of the substance employed, but in every case consist almost entirely of three ingredients, viz., alcohol, water, and a little oil or resin, to which they owe their flavour and colour. When these liquids are redistilled, the first portion that comes over is a fine light transparent fluid, known in commerce by the name of rectified spirit. When as highly rectified as possible, the specific gravity of the liquid obtained does not appear to be less than 820 and is generally more. Alcohol cannot by this process be deprived of the whole of the water with which it is combined, but by redistillation with hot muriate of lime it is procured of the specific gravity 791 at 63° or 796 at 60° Fah. In this state it is the strongest that can at present be produced, and it is therefore called pure or absolute alcohol. The alcohol of commerce is never so strong as this, the specific gravity is seldom under 837. In this state it is fragrant, limpid, colourless, volatile, inflammable, and of a pungent agreeable taste.-Waterson. A-LEE, on board ship, is a term only used when the wind crossing or flanking the line of a ship's course presses upon the masts and sails so as to make her lie over on one side which is called the lee side, hence when the wheel is moved round to this side it is said to be a-lee or hard-a-lee. ALEGAR, used in dyeing, is sour ale. ALENQUER, a second-class wine of Estremadura, Portugal, of a quality resembling an inferior Bordeaux brand. ALEPPO, an inland city of Asiatic Turkey, in the North of Syria, and situated_on_the Kuweek. Lat. 36° W. Lon. 37° 10° E. Pop. Alexandria 100,000. Exports (from Alexandretta and Mersyna). Cotton, wool, gall-nuts, silk, cereals, tobacco, camlets, gold and silver tissues, &c. Imports. Coffee, sugar, grey and printed calicoes, hardware, &c. &c. Aleppo is one of the great centres of Turkish commerce, whence caravans convey European merchandize to Bagdad, Bussorah, and the Persian seats of trade. For details of trade see ALEXANDRETTA and MERSYNA. ALEXANDRIA (Iskenderyeh), a seaport of Egypt on the Mediterranean, 14 miles W. of the most westerly branch of the Nile, and 112 miles N.W. of Cairo. Lat. 31° 12' 9" N. Lon. 29° 51' 40" E. Pop. 170,000. Ports. Rosetta and Damietta, situated on the E. and W. of the Nile. Manufactures. Coarse white cotton clothing for soldiers, cotton and wool stuff for the women, dyeing, Manchester grey calico, and gold and silver work; agricultural labour, railways, and canals absorb a great portion of the lower class. Agriculture. Good crops of grass and grain of all kinds and an important yield of cotton, which is the principal production of the country. There are about 4,000,000 feddans or acres of land under cultivation in Egypt. The best land is that adjoining the Nile on account of the water supply. The ordinary land tax is of 117 piastres of 97 to the per acre for first quality of inherited ground, for second quality 100 piastres, and third quality go piastres. Albadies or grants of land pay half. Nearly all the land in Lower Egypt is rated as first quality. The aggregate sum payable per acre is about £1 8s. The taxation is so oppressive that many of the fellahs and many of the large sheikhs are being rapidly reduced to a state of beggary from a condition of comparative prosperity. In many villages, the men fly on the approach of the taxgatherer, having already parted with everything belonging to them, including even their wives' jewelry. The cotton of Egypt is that known as "Jumel" or 'Maho," a fine clean staple, which was discovered in 1820 by a Frenchman named Jumel then on a visit to Cairo. The plant is cultivated in a rich strong soil retentive of moisture; where the shrub can acquire an abundant sap and furnish well filled pods. "In Lower Egypt the earth in which it is intended to sow the cotton is only once laboured. In the Saeed, or upper provinces, if the soil be friable or light it is worked twice; furrows are then traced at a distance of forty or fifty Alexandria inches. Generally, in all the provinces the earth is worked to a depth of about 15 inches, but if strong and humid the depth is less great. Holes are then made of about three or four inches in diameter and as many in depth. From two to four grains of cotton seed are then dropped, after these seeds have been soaked in water for twenty-four hours to soften them and to hasten the germination. The seed is always sown in March and April. About a yard is left between these holes, and the plants are allowed to grow up in the same hole from the height of one foot to three without injury thereby to the growth."-E. R. Gleddon. The plants are weeded when four inches high, and during the first, second, and third years they are pruned to increase their productiveness. The height attained in the first year is three feet to six, after which the tree diminishes in size. "The cotton crop commences the first year, as it does in others, in the month of July, and when the weather is not too cold it finishes in January; but if the winter sets in early the gathering is over in December..... The pods are picked off the shrub and collected chiefly by women and children, who may each gather in one day about 18 pounds of cotton. After being stored in the villages it undergoes the process of drying in the sun and in ovens, so that the seed may be separated from the cotton with greater facility.... The crop of a single plant is about a pound and a quarter, gross weight, the first year; in the second it gives from a pound and a quarter to two pounds, and the same quantity in the third year. A man cultivates as much as four feddans of ground (fully equal to four acres), each feddan containing about a thousand cotton trees." After being ginned and packed the gross weight of a bale averages 230 rottles, equivalent to 228 lb. or 219 lb. nett weight, after allowing for weight of sacking and cordage. The cantar, by which the cotton is bought is now equal to 96 lb. Exports. Of the shipments of cotton from Egypt in 1867, England received 188,550 bales against 246,438 bales in 1866; France received 25,836 bales against 34,707 in 1866, and Austria received 23,674 bales against 16,851 in 1866. The total amount of cereals exported in 1867 was 1,048,687 against only 172,682 in 1866. The following table shows the comparative amounts and values in 1863 and 1867: Alexandretta The pilncipal buyers of the cereal shipments are France and England. The other exports are sugar, incense, gums, mother-of-pearl, horns, ostrich feathers, hides, wool, drugs, rags, &c. Imports. Manchester grey, white, and printed calicoes, unbleached yarns, cop Silk Total... Cereals The above goods, where exported to, with respective amounts : per, coals, hardware, earthenware, woollens, Cotton............ Countries. Italy.. ..... Total.. Consul and Lloyd's agent, J. H. Skene. Postage. Letters not exceeding oz., 6d. ALEYOR, a red wine of Spain, the produce of Minorca. ALFANDIGA, the name of the custom-house at Lisbon. ALGERIA [Fr. Algerie], a French colony on the W. coast of Africa, formerly a subordinate part of the Turkish Empire. The country is situated between Lat. 35° 37' 5" N.; extending from Lon. 2° 11' W. to 80 53 E., bounded on the N. by the Mediterranean, on the E. by Tunis, on the S. by Sahara, and W. by Morocco. Pop. 2,921,246. European pop. French born or naturalized, 122, 119; Spaniards, 58,510; Italians, 16,655; Anglo-Maltese, 10,627; Germans, 5,436; other nationalities, 4,643. Mussulman рор. In civil territory and centres of colonization in military territory, 217,098; in military territory, 2,434,974. Israelites, 33,952. The European population has increased 35,169 since 1861, and the Mahomedan has diminished 80,779 during the same time. Colonization. Government lands are sold at prices fixed by the Governor-General in Council, according to estimates made on the spot. The various descriptions of land are classed as follows: 1st class. Land irrigable, fitted for high cultivation and the establishment of hydraulic machinery. 2nd class. Land arable, fitted for pasturage. 3rd class. Land bad soil, rocky, access diffi cult. Algeria The following are the conditions of the sale: Ist. Payment to be made by annual instalments, the first being payable at the moment of the sale. Registration is made at the expense of the acquirer, who receives his title within a month. 2nd. The purchaser is put in possession on payment of the first instalment. 3rd. No charge is made for the valuation of the land. 4th. The sale is cancelled in case of nonpayment of the instalments. Algiers 5th. The legal rate of interest is payable on the instalments not paid at once. This rate was originally fixed at £10 per cent., but it has since been reduced to £5 per cent. This system was commenced in 1866. During that year 33,825 acres of land were sold, and realised £36,718. During 1867 the sales amounted to 12,750 acres, valued at £3,563. Finance and Trade. The following summary of the finance and trade of Algeria every tenth year, since 1830, will show the rapid progress made by this colony : The aggregate amount of every decade from 1830 to 1860, and 5 years to 1865, was: 1840-50. 760,993,908 60,581,154 These figures show that Algeria has cost France 2,423,245 during the 35 years succeeding the conquest, and for which the commercial advantages have amounted to nearly £160,000,000. The rate of importance of the countries trading with the colony will be found in the following statement : Per cent. 89 53 2'01 1850-60. 3,009,800,000 1860-5. 763,700,000 Total Trade (35 years) 3,773,500,000 Banks. The bank of Algeria has branches at Oran, Constantine, and Bone. The business transacted in 1865 amounted to £3,132,985, in 1866 £3,853,168, and in 1867 £3,900,132. The dividends of the head office on each share of 500 francs were for the same periods respectively 60, 62, and 63 francs. ALGIERS, the capital of Algeria, on the Mediterranean coast. Lat. 36° 47′ 20′′ N. Lon. 3° 4' 32" E. Pop. 52,455. Industries. Silks, stuffs, woollens, and small wares. AGRICULTUKE OF THE PROVINCE. Cereals. Grain re177 turns amount to 80,000 quarters. Cotton. Its 46 cultivation is on a very limited scale. In 1867 0'72 only 50 acres were planted, producing 8,786 of o'47 the staple. Flax. 4,370 acres are under culti0.24 vation, producing about 2,512,838 lb. of linseed, o'09 3,529,988 lb. of straw, and 210,653 lb. of flax. 0'07 Tobacco. The amount produced in 1867 is not o'06 given, further than that it surpassed that of 0'03 1866 by 293,836 lb., valued at £6,783. The o'or quantity exported in 1867 was 36,800 cwts. of o'02 raw and manufactured tobacco. Oil seeds. The exports of Algeria have been exported at the following rate : Per cent. ........ 1,750 acres of colza and other oil-producing plants returned about 9,680,000 lb. of seeds. Olives. The principal crop is that of Kabylia. 1105 mills are employed in expressing the oil. 79 28 The amount exported is estimated at 64,000 9'03 cwts. Vines. The vine disease shows a ten4'50 dency to disappear in Algiers. The superficies 355 planted in 1867 were 19,377 acres, or 4,297 2'08 acres more than the previous year. This pro1'17 duced 880,000 imperial gallons of wine besides 0'24 fruit. Silk. 95 persons engaged in rearing o'12 silkworms realized 7,656 lb. of cocoons in o'02 1867, the average price of which was about o'or 3s. 5d. per lb. Forests. In this province the |