Caracalla first fought with them in 213, but did not conquer them; Severus was likewise unsuccessful. About 250 they began to cross the Rhine westward, and in 255 they overran Gaul along with the Franks. In 259 a body of them was defeated in Italy at Milan, and in the following year they were driven out of Gaul by Postumus. In the 4th century they crossed the Rhine and ravaged Gaul, but were severely defeated by the Emperor Julian and driven back. Subsequently they occupied a considerable territory on both sides of the Rhine; but at last Clovis broke their power in 496 and deprived them of a large portion of their possessions. Part of their territory was latterly formed into a duchy called Alemannia or Suabia. It is from the Alemamni that the French have derived their names for Germans and Germany.
ALEMBIC, a simple apparatus sometimes used by chemists for distillation. The body contains the substance to be distilled, and is like a bottle, bulging below and narrowing toward the top; the head, of a globular form, with a flat under-ring, fits onto the neck of the cucurbit, condenses the vapor from the heated liquid, and receives the distilled liquid on the ring inclosing the neck of the lower vessel, and thus causes it to find egress by a discharging pipe into the third section, called the receiver.
ALENÇON (al-an-sôn'), an ancient countship of France; united to the crown in 1212 by Philip Augustus. Later it became a duchy, dependent on the house of Valois. JEAN IV., born in 1409, in 1417 lost the duchy to the King of England. He distinguished himself in the wars against England and, when they were driven out, received his duchy back. Twice he was condemned to death on account of supposed intrigues in favor of England against Charles VIII. and Louis XI., but was pardoned, and died in 1476. RENÉ, son of Jean IV., aroused suspicion, and Louis XL, in 1481, had him confined three months in an iron cage. After the death of Louis XI. he received his freedom, title, and estates back from Charles VIII., and died Nov. 1, 1492. The son of René, Duke CHARLES IV., born in 1489, married MARGUERITE DE VALOIS, sister of Francis I. At the battle of Pavia he was commander of the left wing. At a decisive moment he and his troops took to flight and caused the misfortune of the day, the capture of King Francis I. He died April 11, 1525, and with him perished the house of Alençon. His wife, MARGUERITE, remained in possession of the duchy until her death in 1549. From 1549 to 1566 CATHERINE DE MEDICI was Duchesse d'Alençon, and Charles IX, presented it to his younger brother, FRANCIS OF ANJOU. After his death it was reunited to the crown. Henry IV. transferred the duchy in 1595 to the Duke of Württemberg, who willed it in 1608 to his son, from whom, in 1612, Marie de Medici purchased it back for the crown. The title is now borne by a grandson of Duke Philippe de Nemours. See BOURBON.
ALENÇON, a city of France, and capital of the department of Orne, on the Sarthe. Its Cathedral of Notre Dame, built between 1553 and 1617, is in the Gothic style. The Hôtel de Ville was built in 1783 on the site of the ancient castle of the dukes of Alençon, two of the towers of which are still preserved and used as prisons. There are manufactories of muslin, linen, leather, and a lace called point d'Alençon. It has also a lively trade in horses. During the Franco-Prussian War the city was captured by the Grand-Duke of Mecklenburg. Pop. about 17,500.
ALEPPO, a city of Turkey in Asia, in northern Syria, on the Koeik river, 71 miles E. of the Mediterranean. The foundation of Aleppo dates back to about 2,000 years B. C. Its first name was Khaieb, which the Greeks called Chlybon. After the fall of Palmyra, it became of great importance. Seleucos Nikator beautified the city and called it Beroyia, which name it bore till its conquest by the Arabs; then the name was Haleb,
