ALAS`TOR, an avenging spirit, given to torment families whose history has been stained by some crime.

A`LAVA (97), the southernmost of the three Basque provinces of Spain, largest, but least populous; rich in minerals, and fertile in soil.

ALAVA, RICARDO DE, a Spanish general, born in Vittoria, joined the national party, and was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, and became eventually ambassador to London and Paris (1771-1843).

ALBA LONGA, a city of Latium older than Rome.

ALBACETE (229), a province in Spain, with a capital (30) of same name, 173 m.  SE. of Madrid.

ALBAN LAKE, near Alban Mount, 6 m. in circuit, occupying the basin of an extinct volcano, its surface 961 ft. above the sea-level.

ALBAN MOUNT, a small mountain overlooking Alba Longa.

ALBAN, ST., the first martyr in Britain to the Christian faith in 303; represented in art as carrying his head between his hands, having been beheaded.

ALBA`NI, an Italian painter, a disciple of Caracci, born at Bologna; surnamed the Anacreon of painting; his pictures more distinguished for grace than vigour.

ALBA`NI, an illustrious Roman family, members of which attained the highest dignities in the Church, one, Clement XI., having been Pope.

ALBANI, MME., nee Emma la Jeunesse, a well-known and highly popular operatic singer of French-Canadian descent; b. 1847.

ALBA`NIA, a region in Balkan peninsula, on the Adriatic, extending from Servia to Greece.

ALBANO, LAKE OF, a small crater-like lake 15 m.  SE. of Rome, near which rises the Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope has a villa.

ALBANY, the old Celtic name for the Scottish highlands.

ALBANY, a town in W. Australia, on King George Sound, 261 m.  SE. of Perth, a port of call for Australian liners; also the capital (94) of the State of New York, on the Hudson River, a well-appointed city; seat of justice for the State, with a large trade and numerous manufactures.

ALBANY, COUNTESS OF, wife of English pretender, Prince Charles Stuart, a dissolute woman (1753-1824).

ALBANY, THE DUKE OF, a title formerly given to a member of the royal family, and revived in the present reign.

ALBANY, DUCHESS OF, daughter of Prince Waldeck Pyrmont and widow of Prince Leopold of England; b. 1861, widow since 1884.

ALBATEGNI, a distinguished Arabian astronomer, born in Mesopotamia in the 9th or 10th century of our era; his observations extended over 50 years; he so improved the methods and instruments of observation as to earn the title of the Ptolemy of the Arabs.

ALBATROSS, the largest and strongest of sea-birds, that ranges over the southern seas, often seen far from land; it is a superstition among sailors that it is disastrous to shoot one.

ALBERO`NI, an Italian of humble birth, became a Cardinal of the Church and Prime Minister to Philip V. of Spain, wrought hard to restore Spain to its ancient grandeur, was defeated in his project by the quadruple alliance of England, France, Austria, and Holland, and obliged to retire (1664-1752).