ALT
ALf
erected to perpetuate the memory of fome blefling, or other extraordinary event which happened in the place ; anointed, or confecrated Altars, thofe fet apart or devoted to the Deity, by a regular form or ceremony, whereof un£tion made the thief part ; votive Altars, thofe vowed to fome deity, in confideration of fome benefit received ; private, or domejiic Altars, thofe erected by private perfons, in or about their own houfes, for family purpofes ; public Altars, thole con- fecrated for the public ufe, in a Iblemn manner ; funeral Al- tars, thofe erected at the tombs of perfons defun6t, infcribed to their manes ; eucbarijlic Altars, thofe whereon the com- munion, or Chriftian facrifice is offered ; low Altars, thofe flat on the ground, or at moft raifed but little above the fur- face of it j high Altars, thofe elevated a confiderable height above the ground ; jubterraneous Altars, thofe let down fome depth under ground ; proper Altars, whofe which anfwer the characters and ufe fpecified in the definition 3 improper, or figurative Altars, thofe which only bear the denomination, by way of refemblance or analogy, ei gir. the aftronomical and poetical Altars j idolatrous Altars, thofe erected to fome idol, or falfe god ; principal Altar, the chief Altar of a place where there are fcveral ; horny Altars, thofe formed only of horns; ajhen, or cineritious, thofe of afhes ; wooden^ thofe of timber j bloody, thofe whereon animals are offered ; unbloody, thofe whereon plants, fruits, fpices, or the like, are of- fered.
Altars are doubtlefs as antient as facrifkes themfelves j con- sequently their origin is not much later than that of the world. Gen. c. iv.
Some attribute their origin to the Egyptians ; others to the Jews ; others to the patriarchs before the flood d . Some carry them as far back as Adam, whofe Altar is much fpoken of by Jewifh, and even Chriftian writers c . — Others are contented to make the patriarch Enoch the firft who confecrated a public Altar { . Be this as it will, the carlieft Altars we find any exprefs teftimony of, are thofe erected by Abraham g . — [ d Rbodig. Left. Ant. 1. 18. c. 37. e Fabric. Cod. Pfeudepig. Vet. Teft. T. 1. p. 89. ' Gen. c. iv. v. 26. s Hift. Acad. Infcrip. T. 3. p. 20.]
Altar of Adam, in antiquity, is pretended, by forme Rabbins, and others, to have been erected by the firft man, foon after the fall ; when being overwhelmed with forrow, a promife was made him, by the miniftry of the angel Haziel, that a redeemer fhould be fent. In gratitude for this news, and for a perpetual remembrance thereof, Adam is faid to have built an Altar, and facrificed on it a heifer. The reliques of this Altar have been mentioned by feveral writers of late ages. It is pretended, that the Altar whereon Abraham facrificed on mount Moriah, was only a reparation of the Altar of Adam. It is added, that Cain and Abel of- fered facrifice on the fame ; that Noah, after the flood, re- paired it, &c. Vid. Hilfcher. de Adam Relig. ap. Fabric. Cod. Pfeudepig. Vet. Teft. T. 1. p. 89.
AtTAR-thane, in our antient law books, denotes a prieft, or parfon of a parifh. Johnf. Ecclef. Law, T. 1. In this fenfe, the word is fynonymous with church-thane.
ALTARIST, Altar'tjla^ properly denotes the vicar of a church, who ferves the altar, and to whom the altarage, or pro- duce of the altar, is afligned for his maintenance. Du Cange, GIofT. Lat. T. 1. p. 154.
The Altarijl is fometimes alfo called Altarar'ms, fometimes altar-prieji .
Altarist is alfo ufed for chaplain. Du Cange, loc. cit.
ALTASRIF, in literary hiftory, the title of a medicinal book, written in Arabic, defcribing the method of pra&ice in ufe among the Arabs.
It was written by Alfaharavius, an author in the fifteenth century, and tranflated into Latin by P. Ricius, in 1519. It confifts of thirty-two treatifes. Its chief excellency is fuppofed to lye in the diagnoftic part, and the defcriptions of the Symp- toms of the difeafes. The book is indeed methodical, and doubtlefs deferves a good character ; but the greateft part of it feems to be tranferibed from Rhazes. Concerning the hiftory and contents of the Al-Tafrif, fee Friend* Hift. Phyf. P. 2. p. 124. feq.
ALTAVELA, in zoology, the name of a flat cartilagineous fifti, of the aquila marina kind ; but with its wings, as they are called, that is, its thin and flat fides, broad and obtufe toward their lower part. The fifhermen, from the refem- blance thefe flat fides have to wings, have an opinion that this nth can fly. The tail is very fhort, fcarce being of half the length of the body. Its flefh is folid, and well tafted, and it always fells well in the markets. It is caught in the Medi- terranean, and is frequently brought to market at Rome. Fab. Columna, p. 43.
ALTE 1 C5" bafse, in middle age writers, denotes fovereignty, or a thing done with the Supreme power. Du Cange, in voc.
ALTERANT (Cycl.)— The term Alterant is ufed for fuch remedies as correct the morbid or diforderly qualities of the animal fluids, without any particular, fenfible evacuation. Thefe are otherwife called Alteratives. Alterants, in this fenfe, make one of the capital fpecies, or divifions of medicines. They ftand oppofed to evacuants j and are alfo contradiitinguifhed from ftrengtheners, &c.
Alterants are fuppofed to exert their power chiefly on" the humours of the body; fweetening the four, foftening the acid, abating their heat, or tempering their too great cold- nefs, and the like. Zwlng. Specim. Med. c. 1. f. 18 Some define Alterants to be remedies which correct the pra- vity of the juices; whether acid or bilious, reftoring to their natural ftate the bitter, faline, fwcet, and acid, which Hip- pocrates, and other phyficians, difcover in the human body. Medic. Euporift. c. 4. jour, des Scav. T. 5. p. 47. When the blood is in its due temperature, it is fa'id to be of a fweet tafte; if the bile prevail a little too much in it, it becomes falme ; if this bile be increafed, it turns acrid, &c Some object to the jejuits-bark, that it only acts as an Al- terant, without producing any fenfible evacuation, and that of confequence it leaves the caufe of the diftemper {till in the body, by which means many of thofe, who have been cured by it, afterwards relapfe. Jour, des Scav. T. 54. p. I7 8. We meet with medicines of the purgative kind, reprefented- by pradical writers as Alterants ; the colocynth particularly by Helmont : for all medicines which operate in the fartheft paffages, they frequently include under that appellation. Phil. Tranf. N°. 365. p. 75.
Accordingly, 'tis found of fervice to give fuch medicines as are properly cathartic, by way of Alteratives, in ftubborn, chronical cafes ; thus, tmclur'a facra, for inftance, given in the quantity of half a fpoonful for a dofe, has no immediate effea upon the inteftines, fo as to difchargc their contents, but pafles into the further Stages of circulation. ®uinc Lex Med. p. 17. ^"
Dr. Woodward enquires into the efficacy of feveral of the moft celebrated Alterants, and endeavours to fhew on what little foundation their great ufe is eftablifhed. Of this num- ber s according to him, are the abforbents, cortex peruvianus, bitters, falts, fteel and its preparations, mineral waters, &c. Woodw. State of Phyf. Jour, des Scav. T. 70. p. 64. The more efficacious and ufeful Alterants, according to the fame writer, are cordials, Stomachics, attenuants, mercurius dulcis, vegetable oils, mucilages, certain abforbents, and fome preparations of opium.
According to this learned phyfician, all that is commonly alledged concerning the change of the principles, or ferments of difeafes, by alterant remedies, is merely chimerical and imaginary, that there is no change made to the advantage of the human body, without a fucceflive renovation, and dis- charge of what is hurtful, and a Supply of its place by Some- thing innocent. Woodw. State of Phyf. P. r. Mem. de Trev. 1723. p, 796. Jour, des Scav. T. 69. p. 596. The primitive or conftituent elements of bodies never change their figure, magnitude, Solidity, or gravity, but remain fttll the Same as at the creation. Hence Some infer, 1. The va- nity of all pretences to the tranfmutation of metals. And, 2. The folly of pretending to change the mafs of blood, by thofe remedies called Alterants. Woodw. Idea of Natur. of Man, p. 8. Mem. de Trev. 1725. p. 986. The mixtures and combinations of the primitive elements are almoft infinite, and their alterations as to fenfe and external appearance is fo too. It may be added, that among alterant medicines, there are feveral which change the fcene of the fymptoms ; others fufpend the action of the morbific matter for a time j and others diminifh the fenfibilky of the organs. But thefe remedies, which hold the morbific principles cap- tive for a time, are only palliatives, and even, on fome ac- counts, dangerous, Since they may as well captivate other principles neceffary to life. Woodward gives the preference to evacuants, as being the only medicines capable of freeing the machine from what incommodes it. Woodw. loc. cit. Some take a contrary courfe, and afcribe even the Salutary effects of evacuants to their alterative nature. This has been alledged of mercury in the venereal difeafe ; the like is urged concerning minoratives, which fome maintain do not work a cure by evacuation, fo much as by alteration. The like is alledged of ipecacuanha in the cure of the dyfenteries, and in divers other emetics, in cafes of apoplexies. In effect, evacuating medicines, as they do not Separate the good from the bad, feem indifferently difpofed, either to do harm or good. Stahl, Negot. Otiof. pr. 3, Jour, des Scav. T. 69. p. 90, Seq.
Alteranis are divided, by Some, into abforbents, calmers, in- cidents or attenuants, emollients, and demulcents a . Others divide them into odorata, or things which yield a quick Scent, and iwdorata, things which have little or no Scent. The firft of thefe likewife may be further divided into dulcia, acriora, and fa?tida t and the latter into emollicnt'ta, aggluti- nantia, ajlr'ingeyitia, and abforbentia b . -— [ * Hojfm. Med* Ration. T. 3. fee. 2. c, 4. Act. Erud. LipS. 1728. p. 374, b %idnc. Praelect. Pharm. 1. p. 2.] _
A Safe and powerful Alterant is readily and eafily prepared in the following manner. Take an ounce of purified nitre and two fcruples of cochineal, in fine powder j boil thefe in five or fix ounces of water ; filter the liquor, and afterwards eva- porate it to a drynefs, keeping it continually ftiring as it thickens, and a fine purple powder will be thus produced, very fit to be given in the form of bolus, pills, powder. &c. Shaw's Lectures, p. 229.
