Almendralejo (-ā′hō), a town of Spain, province of Badajoz, in a district rich in grain, wine, and fruits, with many brandy distilleries. Pop. 12,587.
Almeria (a˙l-mā-rē′a˙), a fortified seaport of Southern Spain, capital of province of Almeria, near the mouth of a river and on the gulf of same name, with no building of consequence except a Gothic cathedral, but with a large trade, exporting grapes, iron ore, lead, esparto, &c. The province, which has an area of 3360 sq. miles, is generally mountainous, and rich in minerals. Pop. of town, 48,614; of province, 393,689.
Almodo′var, a town of Spain, province of Ciudad-Real (New Castile), near the Sierra Morena. Pop. 12,640.
Almohades (al′mo-hādz), a Moorish dynasty that ruled in Africa and Spain in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, founded by Mohammed Ibn Tumart, a religious enthusiast, who assumed the title of Mahdi. They overthrew the Almoravides in Spain, but themselves received a defeat in 1212 from which they did not recover, and in 1269 were overthrown in Africa, when Idris El-Wathik, their last emir, was murdered by a slave.
Al-mokanna. See Mokanna.
Almond (a˙′mund), the fruit of the almond tree (Amygdălus commūnis), a tree which grows usually to the height of 20 feet, and is akin to the peach, nectarine, &c. (ord. Rosaceæ). It has beautiful pinkish flowers that appear before the leaves, which are oval, pointed, and delicately serrated. It is a native of Africa and Asia, naturalized in Southern Europe, and cultivated in England for its beauty, as it seldom produces edible fruit even in the warmer portions of Southern England. The fruit is a drupe, ovoid, and with downy outer surface; the fleshy covering is tough and fibrous; it covers the compressed wrinkled stone enclosing the seed or almond within it. There are two varieties, one sweet and the other bitter; both are produced from A. communis, though from different varieties. Most of the sweet almonds imported into Britain come from Southern Europe, the Levant, and California, the finest being the Valencian, Jordan, and Malaga. They contain a bland fixed oil, consisting chiefly of olein. Bitter almonds come from Mogador, and besides a fixed oil they contain a substance called emulsin, and also a bitter crystalline substance called amygdalin, which, acting on the emulsin, produces prussic acid, whence the aroma of bitter almonds when mixed with water. Almond-oil, a bland fixed oil, is expressed from the kernels of either sweet or bitter almonds, and is used by perfumers and in medicine. A poisonous essential oil is obtained from bitter almonds, which is used for flavouring by cooks and confectioners, also by perfumers and in medicine. The name almond, with a qualifying word prefixed, is also given to the seeds of other species of plants; thus Java almonds are the kernels of Canarium commune.
Almondbury (a˙′mund-be-ri), a town of England, West Riding of Yorkshire, S.E. of Huddersfield, in which it is now included, with manufactures of woollens, cotton and silk goods.
Al′moner, an officer of a religious establishment to whom belonged the distribution of alms. The grand almoner (grand aumonier) of France was the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in that kingdom before the revolution. The lord almoner, or lord high almoner of England, is generally a bishop, whose office is well-nigh a sinecure. He distributes the sovereign's doles to the poor on Maundy Thursday.
Almo′ra, a town and fortress of India, in the United Provinces, capital of Kumaon, 170 miles E.N.E. of Delhi, a thriving little place. Pop. about 10,560.
Almo′ravides (-vīdz), a Moorish dynasty which arose in North-Western Africa in the eleventh century, and reigned from 1055-1147. The town of Marrakesh, built in 1062, became the capital of this dynasty. Having crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, the family gained possession of all Arabic Spain, but was overthrown by the Almohades in the following century.