Alsberg
CARL LUCAS, an American biochemist, born in New York in 1877.
He graduated from Columbia University in 1896 and later studied in Germany. He was in the chemical department of Harvard University from 1905 to 1908. In the latter year he became chemical biologist for the Bureau of Plant Industry, serving until 1912, when he became Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry in the United States Department of Agriculture. He was a member of many chemical societies.
ALSTREMERIA (al-stra-mērē-a), a genus of South American plants, order amaryllideæ, some of them cultivated in European greenhouses and gardens. A. salsilla and A. avata are cultivated for their edible tubers.
ALTAR ALTAI MOUNTAINS (al'tī), an important Asiatic system on the borders of Siberia and Mongolia, partly in Russian and partly in Chinese territory, lying between lat. 46° and 53° N., long. 83° and 91° E., but having great eastern extensions. The Russian portion is comprised in the governments of Tomsk and Semipalatinsk, the Chinese in Dsungaria.
The rivers of this region are mostly headwaters of the Obi and Irtish. The highest summit is Byeluka, height 11,000 feet. The vegetation is varied and abundant. The mountain forests are composed of birch, alder, aspen, fir, larch, stone pine, etc. The wild sheep has here its native home and several kinds of deer occur. The Altai are exceedingly rich in minerals, including gold, silver, copper, and iron. The inhabitants consist chiefly of Russians and Kalmuks.