ALGAROTH, POWDER OF, a basic chloride of antimony. It was known to Basil Valentine, and was used medicinally by the Veronese physician Victor Algarotus about the end of the i6th century. It may be prepared by the addition of much water to a solution of antimony chloride, a bulky amorphous precipitate being formed, which, on standing, gradually becomes crystalline. It is soluble in hydrochloric acid and tartaric acid, but insoluble in alcohol ; its possible composition is represented by ALGAROTTI, FRANCESCO, COUNT (I 712-1764), Ital ian philosopher and writer on art, was born on Dec. I1, 1712, at Venice and died at Pisa on May 3, 1764. He studied at Rome and Bologna, and at the age of 20 went to Paris, where he en joyed the friendship of Voltaire and produced his Neutonianismo per le dame, a work on optics. Voltaire called him his cher cygne de Padoue. Frederick the Great made him a count of Prussia (1740) and court chamberlain (1747). Augustus III. of Poland honoured him with the title of councillor. In after seven years' residence partly in Berlin and partly in Dresden, he returned to Italy, living at Venice and then at Pisa. He was a man of wide knowledge, a connoisseur in art and music, and the friend of most of the leading authors of his time. His chief work on art is the Saggi sopra le belle arti ("Essays on the Fine Arts").
The best complete edition with biography was published by D. Michelessi (I 791-94) •