ALSACE-LORRAINE ALSTROMER 357 the war of 1870, and formally ceded to Ger- many by the treaty of Frankfort, May 10, 1871. It passed by the terms of its cession into the possession of the whole empire, and not of any one division of Germany, and it is under the immediate control of the imperial government. The territory originally occupied by the Ger- mans in 1870, and formed in August of that year into a district under the temporary gov- ernment of a governor general, included the French province of Alsace with its two depart- ments Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin, two arrondis- sements (Kaufmanns-Saarbruck and Salzburg) of the department of Meurthe, and three arron- dissements (Saargemtind, Metz, and Dieden- hofen, Fr. Thionville) of the department of the Moselle. The canton of Schirmeck and a part of the canton of Saales, both from the de- partment of Vosges, were added in December. The treaty of peace made important changes in the extent of these districts. The Germans restored to France the following portions of the conquered territory : 1. From the depart- ment of Haut-Rhin. Arrondissement of Bel- fort: the cantons Belfort, Delle, Giromagny, and 21 out of the 29 communes composing the canton of Fontaine. Arrondissement of Alt- kirch : three communes of the canton of Alt- kirch. Arrondissement of Colmar : four com- munes of the canton Masmilnster. 2. From the department of Meurthe. Arrondissement of Saarburg : eight communes of the canton of Saarburg, and nine of the canton of Vic. Ar- rondissement of Salzburg : three communes of the canton of Salzburg. 3. From the depart- ment of Moselle. Arrondissement of Metz: 11 communes of the canton of Gorze. By an additional article, ratified in Berlin, Oct. 20, the comparatively unimportant communes of Raon-les-Leaux, Raon-sur-Plaine, and Igney, with a part of Avricourt, were also restored to France. By the treaty, however, there were ceded to Germany 12 communes of the cantons of Audun and Longwy, arrondissement of Briey, department of Moselle. The entire Keichsland, as permanently organized by Ger- many after these complicated changes, is bound- ed by Luxemburg, Rhenish Prussia, Rhenish Bavaria, Baden (from which it is separated by the Rhine), Switzerland, and the French de- partments of Haute-Saone, Vosges, and what remains of those of Meurthe and Moselle ; area, 5,594 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 1,549,459. The natural features of the country, and its history to 1870, are described in the articles ALSACE and LORRAINE. The government, as organized by the Germans, centres in the provincial diet (Landtag). The Reichsland is divided into 23 circles (Kreise), each having a Kreisdirector at the head of its local government an officer nearly corresponding to the sub-prefect of a French arrondissement. The old French di- vision into communes (Ger. G-emeinderi) and cantons (Ger. Cantone) is retained with some unimportant changes. Before its cession to Germany, the territory belonged to five French departments, namely, Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, Vosges, Meurthe, and Moselle ; it is now divided into three Bezirke (districts), called Ober-Elsass (generally corresponding to the former Haut- Rhin), Nieder-Elsass (Bas-Rhin), and Deutsch- Lothringen (German Lorraine). The educa- tional establishments have been reestablished on the plan of similar German institutions, and education has been made by law independent of all sectarian influence. The language of the common people is generally German in Alsace ; in Lorraine more French is spoken. Both lan- guages are commonly understood, and near the former frontier both are used. ALSEN, a Baltic island in the Little Belt, in lat. 55 N., Ion. 10 E. It was taken from the Danes by the Prussians, June 29, 1864, and now constitutes, together with a portion of the opposite mainland (joined by a draw- bridge), the circle of Sonderburg, in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein ; area, about 125 sq. m. ; pop. in 1868, 34,551. The island is fertile, and contains fine woods and fresh-water lakes, which abound with fish. "ALSTED, Johann Heinrieh, a German Protest- ant divine and author, born in 1588, died in 1 638. He was for some time professor of phi- losophy and divinity at Herborn in Nassau, and afterward at Carlsburg in Transylvania. Among his writings are an Encyclopedia, in two large folios (Herborn, 1630), the most complete work of the kind that had then ap- peared ; Thesaurus Chronologies ; and Tri- umphus Bibliorum Sacrorum, intended to prove that the principles of all arts and sci- ences are contained in the Scriptures. His Tractatus de Mille Annis (1627) maintains that the millennium was to commence in 1694. ALSTON, John, a merchant of Glasgow, and director of the asylum for the blind in that city, died in 1846. In 1832 the society for the encouragement of the useful arts in Scotland offered a gold medal for the best form of letter adapted to relief printing for the blind. Mr. Alston and Mr. Taylor of Norwich were consti- tuted referees. An alphabet in Roman capitals was, after some modification by Mr. Alston, adopted by the society. From this time Mr. Alston devoted himself to the work of supply- ing the blind with books. The cost of preparing these is very great, yet Mr. Alston, aided by con- tributions, succeeded in publishing the Scrip- tures in 19 volumes, and 23 volumes of miscel- laneous works, besides maps and cards. ALSTRdMER. I.- Jonas, a public-spirited Swede, born of poor parents at Alingsas in West Gothland, Jan. 7, 1685, died June 2,1761. He made a fortune in England by commercial speculations, and introduced into Sweden im- proved breeds of sheep, the culture of potatoes and of dye plants, established woollen and other manufactories at Alingsas, and contributed to the formation of the Levant and East India companies. He was ennobled and had a statue erected to him on the Stockholm exchange. II. Rlas, a botanist, son of the preceding, born
