The Alhambra is a palace and fortress of the Moors, founded about 1253 by Mohammed I. Celebrated as the palace of the kings of Granada, its two courts, that of the Myrtles and that of the Lions, are beautiful examples of Arabian art in Spain. The Alhambra was surrendered to the Christians by the Moors about 1491.

In 1818, Captain John Cleves Symmes propounded the theory that the earth is a hollow sphere, habitable within, and open at the poles for the admission of light, containing within six or seven concentric hollow spheres, also open at the poles. This theory in ridicule has always been spoken of as Symmes' or Symmes's Hole.

Burritt (Elihu) made himself acquainted with ten languages while plying his trade as a village blacksmith (Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Spanish, Bohemian, Polish, Danish, Persian, Turkish and Ethiopic). His father was a village cobbler, and Elihu had only six months' education, and that at the school of his brother (1811-1879).

The Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill, London, is composed of the greater part of the buildings used for the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was opened by the Queen, June 10, 1854. There is another crystal palace in New York City which was erected on Reservoir Square, July 14, 1853, as a universal industrial exhibition. This was destroyed by fire October 5, 1858.

The famous French stronghold, the Bastille, was originally built by Charles V. as a chateau, in 1369. The high wall around it was subsequently erected by Philippe-Auguste. Louis XI. first used it as a State prison, and it was eventually demolished by the people during the Revolution, July 14, 1789. The "Man in the Iron Mask" was imprisoned there, and died in 1703.

The Rubicon is a river of Italy, flowing into the Adriatic, which formed the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy proper. The passage of this river by Julius Caesar was necessarily the signal for civil war, the issue of which could not be foreseen, as Roman generals were forbidden to cross this river at the head of an army.

The Smithsonian Institution is the name of a celebrated Institution in Washington, D. C, founded (1846) for the encouragement of scientific research and the diffusion of scientific knowledge, under the will of James Smithson (natural son of the third Duke of Northumberland), who bequeathed over $500,000 for this purpose.

The highest summit of the Harz mountains in Prussian Saxony is called the Brocken. It occupies an important place in the folklore of North Germany. Here annually assemble the witches on Walpurgis night to hold their revels on its summit. It is also interesting for the phenomenon known as the "Spectre of the Brocken."

Corso is an Italian word used to express not only the racing of riderless horses, but also the slow driving in procession of handsome equipages through the principal streets of a town, such as almost always takes place in Italy on festivals. Hence the name has been applied to many such Italian thoroughfares, notably the Corso in Rome.

The population of Chicago in 1830, was 70; 1840, 4,853; 1845, 12,088; 1850, 29,963; 1855, 60,227; 1860, 112,172; 1865, 178,900; 1870, 298,977; 1872, 364,377; 1880, 503,185; 1884 (estimated), 675,000; 1885 (estimated), 727,-000; 1886 (estimated), 750,000; 1887 (estimated), 760,000; 1889 (estimated), 1,000,000; 1890, 1,099,133; 1892 (school census), 1,438,010.

The Ghetto is the Jews' quarter in Italian cities, to which they used to be strictly confined. The ghetto of Rome, instituted in 1556 by Pope Paul IV., was removed in 1885 and following years, its demolition having been rendered necessary by the new Tiber embankment. The term is also employed to indicate the Jews' quarters in any city.

Croesus, the last king of Lydia, succeeded his father, Alyattes, in 560 B.C. He made the Greeks of Asia Minor his tributaries, and extended his kingdom eastward from the Aegean to the Halys. From his conquests, his mines and the golden sand of the Pactolus he accumulated so much treasure that his wealth has become a proverb.

Temple Bar is the name of a London gateway which formerly stood at the junction of Fleet street and the Strand. It was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672-73; was removed, having become an obstruction in 1878-79, and was re-erected at Theobald's Park, near Chestnut, in 1888. The memorial which marks the site was erected in 1880.

The fair of Nijni-Novgorod is the greatest in the world, the value of goods sold being as follows: 1841, $35,000,000; 1857, $60,000,000; 1876, $140,000,000; the attendance in the last named year including 150,000 merchants from all parts of the world. In that of Leipsic the annual average of sales is $20,000,000, comprising 20,000 tons of merchandise, of which two - fifths is books.

Kara George Petrovitsch, known as Black George, of Servia, was a Servian peasant who, in 1804, revolted against the Porte. Having defeated several armies sent against him, in 1807 he took Belgrade, and formed a military government in Servia. In 1811, Turkey acknowledged him " hospodar of Servia," but, in 1814, the Turks recovered the country, Black George fled to Austria, was imprisoned, and died.

Caledonia is the name given by the Romans to that part of Scotland lying between the Forth and the Clyde; so called from the tribe of Cale-donii. The name disappears in the fourth century, and the people of Scotland began to be called Picts (to the east) and Scots (to the west). In more modern times Caledonia is a poetical name for Scotland.

Delphi was an ancient northern Greek town, celebrated for the oracles pronounced by the Pythian priestess in the temple of Apollo. The oracle was known as early as 900 b. c. , and the temple became the repository of immense treasures. It was plundered by the Phocians and Nero, the latter taking away three hundred costly statues in 67 A. D.

Alsatia is a cant name applied to the precinct of Whitefriars, which, until 1697, enjoyed the privilege of a debtors' sanctuary, and hence was crowded with swindlers and bullies. The name is first met with in 1623, and we have Shadwell's comedy, "The Squire of Alsatia" (1688), Scott's authority for some of the finest scenes in the " Fortunes of Nigel."