Chapter C: D E F G a B C' D' E' F' G' (9)

ALIEN IMMIGRATION. In various countries certain classes of aliens have long been prohibited from gaining admission. In the United States, for instance, admission is refused to such persons as idiots, epileptics, persons suffering from loathsome or dangerous contagious diseases, paupers, criminals (except political criminals), illiterate persons, &c. Chinese labourers as a whole are excluded, and even any persons coming to America under a definite agreement to engage in any kind of labour or service. Similar laws are in force in Australia, where there is a test that a person proposing to settle in the country must be able to write fifty words of a European language. Towards the end of last century the great influx of foreigners into Britain, and into London in particular, drew public attention to the matter. A select committee appointed in 1888 reported in favour of the exclusion of destitute aliens, in 1894 a bill was introduced into the House of Lords, while in 1898 a bill to regulate the immigration of aliens was passed in the Lords, but made no further progress. In 1902 a royal commission was appointed, and drew up a report, published in 1903, containing valuable information and various recommendations. Among these were the establishment of an immigration department, and the granting of powers to deport criminals, prostitutes, and other undesirable aliens, and to prevent the landing of persons mentally unfit or suffering from infectious or loathsome diseases. In 1904 an Aliens Immigration Bill was introduced and read a second time in the House of Commons. It was based on the recommendations of the commission, and in its favour it was argued that a large amount of British labour had been displaced by aliens, in London especially, that the prevalence of crime among aliens was out of proportion to their numbers, that many of them were paupers, criminals convicted in their own country, or other undesirables. In 1905 another bill on the subject was introduced by the Government, which succeeded in passing it, so that the matter can now be dealt with, and undesirable aliens kept out. Since the European War (1914-8) and the new passport regulations it is easy to ascertain the number of aliens that enter the country and settle. At the census of 1901 the whole alien population was set down at 286,925, as against 219,523 in 1891, but there has been a very large influx from 1901 to 1914, by far the largest number consisting of Russian and Polish Jews. The restrictions imposed upon aliens during the European War are still in force, so far as they prohibit landing by any alien, except at specified ports by leave of an immigration officer, and, in case of former enemy aliens, by special permission of the Home Secretary. Cf. J. M. Landa, _The Alien Problem_.

ALIGANJ (_a_-l[=e]-g_a_nj'), a town of Bengal, 54 miles from Dinapur, noted for its pottery. It has a trade in grain, indigo-seed, and cotton, and contains two mosques, and a large mud fort. Pop. 7436.

ALIGARH (_a_-l[=e]-g_a_r'), a fort and town in India, in the United Provinces, on the East Indian railway, 84 miles south-east of Delhi. The town, properly called Koel or Coel, is distant about 2 miles from the fort, and is connected with it by a beautiful avenue. It is handsome and well situated, and has a trade in cotton, &c. The fort, which had been skilfully strengthened by French engineers in the service of the Mahrattas, was taken by storm after a desperate resistance in 1803 by the British forces under Lord Lake, when the whole district was added to the British possessions. Pop. 64,825. The district has an area of 1946 sq. miles. Pop. 1,165,680.

ALIGN'MENT (a-l[=i]n'ment), a military term, signifying the act of adjusting to a straight line or in regular straight lines, or the state of being so adjusted.

AL'IMENT, food, a term which includes everything, solid or liquid, serving as nutriment for the bodily system. Aliments are of the most diverse character, but all of them must contain nutritious matter of some kind, which, being extracted by the act of digestion, enters the blood, and effects by assimilation the repair of the body. Alimentary matter, therefore, must be similar to animal substance, or transmutable into such. All alimentary substances must, therefore, be composed in a greater or less degree of soluble parts, which easily lose their peculiar qualities in the process of digestion, and correspond to the elements of the body. The food of animals consists for the most part of substances containing little oxygen and exhibiting a high degree of chemical combination, in which respects they differ from most substances that serve as sustenance for plants, which are generally highly oxidized and exhibit little chemical combination. According to the nature of their constituents most of the aliments of animals are divided into nitrogenous (consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen along with nitrogen, and also of sulphur and phosphorus) and non-nitrogenous (consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen without nitrogen). Water and salts are usually considered as forming a third group, and, in the widest sense of the word aliment, oxygen alone, which enters the blood in the lungs, forms the fourth. The articles used as food by man do not consist entirely of nutritious substances, but with few exceptions are compounds of various nutritious with indigestible and accordingly innutritious substances. The only nitrogenous aliments are albuminous substances, and these are contained largely in animal food (flesh, eggs, milk, cheese). The principal non-nitrogenous substance obtained as food from animals is fat. Sugar is so obtained in smaller quantities (in milk). While some vegetable substances also contain much albumen, very many of them are rich in starch. Among vegetable substances the richest in albumen are the legumes (peas, beans, and lentils), and following them come the cereals (wheat, oats, &c.). Sugar, water, and salts may pass without any change into the circulatory system; but albuminous substances cannot do so without being first rendered soluble and capable of absorption (in the stomach and intestines); starch must be converted into sugar and fat emulsified (chiefly by the action of the pancreatic juice). One of the objects of cooking is to make our food more susceptible of the operation of the digestive fluids.

The relative importance of the various nutritious substances that are taken into the system and enter the blood depends upon their chemical constitution. The albuminous substances are the most indispensable, inasmuch as they form the material by which the constant waste of the body is repaired, whence they are called by Liebig the substance-formers. But a part of the operation of albuminous nutriments may be performed equally well, and at less cost, by non-nitrogenous substances, that part being the maintenance of the temperature of the body. As is well known, the temperature of warm-blooded animals is considerably higher than the ordinary temperature of the surrounding air, in man about 98deg F., and the uniformity of this temperature is maintained by the heat which is set free by the chemical processes (of oxidation) which go on within the body. Now these processes take place as well with non-nitrogenous as with nitrogenous substances. The former are even preferable to the latter for the keeping up of these processes; by oxidation they yield larger quantities of heat with less labour to the body, and they are hence called the heat-givers. The best heat-giver is fat. Albuminous matters are not only the tissue-formers of the body; they also supply the vehicle for the oxygen, inasmuch as it is of such matters that the blood corpuscles are formed. The more red blood corpuscles an animal possesses, the more oxygen can it take into its system, and the more easily and rapidly can it carry on the process of oxidation and develop heat. Now only a part of the heat so developed passes away into the environment of the animal; another part is transformed within the body (in the muscles) into mechanical work. Hence it follows that the non-nitrogenous articles of food produce not merely heat but also work, but only with the assistance of albuminous matters, which, on the one hand, compose the working machine, and, on the other hand, convey the oxygen necessary for oxidation.

The wholesome or unwholesome character of any aliment depends, in a great measure, on the state of the digestive organs in any given case, as also on the method in which it is cooked. Very often a simple aliment is made indigestible by artificial cookery. In any given case the digestive power of the individual is to be considered in order to determine whether a particular aliment is wholesome or not. In general, therefore, we can only say that that aliment is healthy which is easily soluble, and is suited to the power of digestion of the individual. Man is fitted to derive nourishment both from animal and vegetable aliment, but can live exclusively on either. The nations of the North incline generally more to animal aliments; those of the South, and the Orientals, more to vegetable. The inhabitants of the most northerly regions live almost entirely upon animal food, and very largely on fat on account of its heat-giving property. See _Dietetics_, _Digestion_, _Adulteration_, &c.

ALIMENTARY CANAL, a common name given to the oesophagus, stomach, and intestines of animals. See _Oesophagus_, _Intestine_, _Stomach_.

ALI-MIRZA, Shah of Persia, son of Muzaffar-ed-Din, born in 1872. He succeeded his father on 8th Jan., 1907. Although his European education had given him sympathies for Western civilization, he showed himself despotic, and became very unpopular. He was deposed by the National Assembly or Mejliss in July, 1909, and his son proclaimed Shah in his place.

AL'IMONY (Lat. _alere_, to nourish), in law, the allowance to which a woman is entitled while a matrimonial suit is pending between her and her husband, or after a legal separation from her husband, not occasioned by adultery or elopement on her part. It is either temporary or permanent, the former being the provision made by the husband pending the suit, the latter after the decree.

AL'IQUOT PART is such part of a number as will divide and measure it exactly without any remainder. For instance, 2 is an aliquot part of 4, 3 of 12, and 4 of 20.

ALISMA'CEAE, the water-plantain family, a natural order of endogenous plants, the members of which are herbaceous, annual or perennial; with petiolate leaves sheathing at the base, hermaphrodite (rarely unisexual) flowers, disposed in spikes, panicles, or racemes. They are floating or marsh plants, and many have edible fleshy rhizomes. They are found in all countries, but especially in Europe and North America, where their rather brilliant flowers adorn the pools and streams. The principal genera are _Alisma_ (water-plantain) _Sagittaria_ (arrow-head), _Damasonium_ (star-fruit), and _Butomus_ (flowering-rush).

AL'ISON, Rev. Archibald, a theologian and writer on aesthetics, born at Edinburgh in 1757; died there in 1839. He studied at Glasgow and at Balliol College, Oxford, entered the English Church, and finally (1800) settled as the minister of an Episcopal chapel at Edinburgh. He published 2 volumes of sermons, and a work entitled _Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste_ (1790), in which he maintains that all the beauty of material objects depends upon the associations connected with them.

AL'ISON, Sir Archibald, lawyer and writer of history, son of the above, was born in Shropshire in 1792, and died in 1867, near Glasgow. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1814 was admitted to the Scottish bar. He spent the next eight years in Continental travel. On his return he was appointed advocate depute, which post he held till 1830. In 1832 he published _Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland_, and in 1833 _The Practice of the Criminal Law_. He was appointed sheriff of Lanarkshire in 1834, and retained this post till his death. He was made a baronet in 1852. His chief work--_The History of Europe, from 1789 to 1815_--was first issued in 10 vols., 1833-42, the narrative being subsequently brought down to 1852, the beginning of the second French Empire. This work displays industry and research, and is generally accurate, but not very readable. It has been translated into French, German, Arabic, Hindustani, &c. Among Sir Archibald's other productions are _Principles of Population_; _Free-trade and Protection_; _England in 1815 and 1845_; _Life of the Duke of Marlborough_, &c.

AL'ISON, General Sir Archibald, G.C.B., son of the above, was born 1826, entered the army in 1846, and served in the Crimea, in India during the mutiny, and in the Ashantee expedition of 1873-4. In Egypt, in 1882, he led the Highland Brigade at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, and in 1882-3 remained in command of the army of occupation (of 12,000 men). He retired from the army in 1893, and died in 1907.

ALIWAL', a village of Hindustan in the Punjab, on the left bank of the Sutlej, celebrated from the battle fought in its vicinity, 28th Jan., 1846, between the Sikhs and a British army commanded by Sir Harry Smith, resulting in the total defeat of the Sikhs.

ALIWAL NORTH, a town in the eastern part of Cape Province, on the Orange River, which here forms the boundary with the Orange Free State, and is crossed by a fine bridge--the Frere Bridge. It stands at the height of 4350 feet, in a locality said to be highly suitable for consumptives, and the warm sulphur springs in the neighbourhood also attract many invalids. It is a well-built place, with churches, hotels, golf links, race-course, &c.; and has railway connection with East London, Port Elizabeth, &c. Pop. 5557.--_Aliwal South_ was a name formerly given to Mossel Bay, the small seaport midway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

ALIZ'ARINE, a substance contained in the madder root (_Rubia tinctorum_), and largely used in dyeing reds of various shades, as Turkey red, &c. Until 1868 it was obtained entirely from madder root, but the use of the root has been almost superseded by the employment of alizarine itself, prepared artificially from one of the constituents of coal-tar. It forms yellowish-red prismatic crystals, nearly insoluble in cold, but dissolved to a small extent by boiling water, and readily soluble in alcohol and ether. It possesses exceedingly strong tinctorial powers.

AL'KAHEST, the so-called universal solvent or menstruum of the alchemists. The word is believed to have been invented by Paracelsus.

AL'KALI (from Ar. _al-qali_, the ashes of the plant from which soda was first obtained, or the plant itself), a term first used to designate the soluble parts of the ashes of plants, especially of seaweed, and designated _fixed alkali_, as marking a distinction from ammonia, which was termed _volatile alkali_. Now the term is applied to various classes of bodies having the following properties in common: (1) solubility in water; (2) the power of neutralizing acids, and forming salts with them; (3) the property of corroding animal and vegetable substances; (4) the property of altering the tint of many colouring matters--thus, they turn litmus, reddened by an acid, into blue; turmeric, brown; and syrup of violets and infusion of red cabbages, green. The alkalies may be regarded as water in which part of the hydrogen is replaced by a metallic radicle. The caustic alkalies are strong alkalies which have a powerful corrosive action on the skin, and the common ones are potassic hydroxide or caustic potash, sodic hydroxide or caustic soda, and lithic hydroxide. _Volatile Alkali_, or ammonic hydroxide, is a much feebler alkali than the others, and when the solution is heated all the ammonia is driven off. Other alkalies are calcic hydroxide or slaked lime, a solution of which in water is known as _lime-water_; baric hydroxide and strontic hydroxide, derived from the metals barium and strontium. Quicklime is the only alkali extensively used in agriculture.

ALKALIM'ETER, an instrument for ascertaining the quantity of free alkali in any impure specimen, as in the potashes of commerce. These, besides the carbonate of potash, of which they principally consist, usually contain a portion of foreign salts, as sulphate and chloride of potassium, and as the true worth of the substance, or price for which it ought to sell, depends entirely on the quantity of carbonate, it is of importance to be able to measure it accurately by some easy process. This process depends on the neutralization of the alkali by an acid of known strength, the point of neutralization being determined by the fact that neutral liquids are without action on either red or blue litmus solution. The alkalimeter is merely a graduated tube--a burette--with a stopcock at the lower extremity, from which the standard acid is dropped into water in which a known weight of the substance is dissolved. The quantity required to produce neutralization being noted, the strength of the liquid tested is easily arrived at. A process of neutralization, exactly the same in principle, may be employed to test the strength of acids by alkalies, the one process being called _alkalimetry_ the other _acidimetry_.

AL'KALOID, a term applied to a class of nitrogenous compounds having basic properties, found in living plants, usually in combination with organic acids. They are usually given names ending in _-ine_, as _morphine_, _quinine_, _aconitine_, _nicotine_, _caffeine_, &c. Most alkaloids occur in plants, but some are formed by decomposition. Most natural alkaloids contain carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, but a few contain no oxygen. The nitrogen they contain imparts to them basic properties--they are organic bases--and hence they all form salts with acids. They all possess a pronounced bitter taste, and the poisonous nature of many plants, e.g. hemlock, yew, deadly nightshade, &c., are due to the alkaloids they contain. Although formed originally within the plant, it has been found possible to prepare several of these alkaloids by artificial means.

AL'KANET, a dyeing drug, the bark of the root of the _Anch[=u]sa_ or _Alkanna tinctoria_, a plant of the order Boraginaceae, with downy and spear-shaped leaves, and clusters of small purple or reddish flowers. The plant is sometimes cultivated in Britain, chiefly on the east coast of England, but most of the alkanet of commerce is imported from the Levant or from southern France. It imparts a fine deep-red colour to all unctuous substances and is used for colouring oils, plasters, lip-salve, confections, &c.; also in compositions for rubbing and giving colour to mahogany furniture, and to colour spurious port-wine.

ALKAN'NA, a name of henna. See also _Alkanet_.

ALKAR'SIN, an extremely poisonous liquid containing kakodyle, together with oxidation products of this substance, and formerly known as _Cadet's fuming liquor_, characterized by its insupportable smell and high degree of spontaneous combustibility when exposed to air.

AL-KATIF, a town of Arabia, on the Persian Gulf, carrying on a considerable trade. Pop. 6000.

ALKMAAR ([.a]lk'm[:a]r), a town of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, on the North Holland Canal, and 20 miles N.N.W. of Amsterdam; regularly built, with a fine church (St. Lawrence) and a richly decorated Gothic town-house; manufactures of salt, sail-cloth, vinegar, leather, &c., and an extensive trade in cattle, corn, butter, and cheese. Pop. 22,685.

AL-KO'RAN, or QU`RAN. See _Koran_.

ALLA BREVE (br[=a]'v[=a]), a musical direction expressing that a breve is to be played as fast as a semibreve, a semibreve as fast as a minim, and so on. It is also called a capella, as it is employed in church music.

AL'LAH, in Arabic, the name of God, a word of kindred origin with the Hebrew word _Elohim_. _Alla Akbar_ (God is great) is a Mahommedan war-cry.

ALLAHAB[=A]D' ('city of Allah'), an ancient city of India, capital of the United Provinces, on the wedge of land formed by the Jumna and the Ganges, largely built of mud houses, though the English quarter has more of a European aspect. Among the remarkable buildings are the fort, occupying the angle between the rivers, and containing the remains of an ancient palace, and now also the barracks, &c.; the mausoleum and garden of Khosru, the tomb being a handsome domed building; the Government offices and courts; Government house; the Roman Catholic cathedral; the Central College for the United Provinces; the Mayo Memorial and town hall. Allahabad is one of the chief resorts of Hindu pilgrims, who have their sins washed away by bathing in the waters of the sacred rivers Ganges and Jumna at their junction; and is also the scene of a great fair in December and January. There are no manufactures of importance, but a large general and transit trade is carried on. The town is as old as the third century B.C. In the mutiny of 1857 it was the scene of a serious outbreak and massacre. Pop. 171,697.--The division of _Allahabad_ contains the districts of Cawnpur, Futtehpur, Hamirpur, Banda, Jaunpur, and Allahabad; area, 17,265 sq. miles. Pop. 5,535,803.--The district contains an area of 2852 sq. miles, about five-sixths being under cultivation. Pop. 1,487,904.

ALLAMAN'DA, a genus of American tropical plants, ord. Apocynaceae, with large yellow or violet flowers; some of them are grown in European greenhouses. _A. cathartica_ has strong emetic and purgative properties.

ALLAN, David, a Scottish painter, born 1744, died 1796. He studied in Foulis's academy of painting and engraving in Glasgow, and for sixteen years in Italy; finally establishing himself at Edinburgh, where he succeeded Runciman as master of the Trustees' Academy. His illustrations of the _Gentle Shepherd_, _The Cotter's Saturday Night_, and other sketches of rustic life and manners in Scotland are his best-known works.

ALLAN, Sir William, a distinguished Scottish artist, born in 1782, died in 1850. He was a fellow student with Wilkie in Edinburgh, afterwards a student of the Royal Academy, London. After residing in Russia for ten years, he returned to Scotland, and publicly exhibited his pictures, one of which (_Circassian Captives_) made his reputation. He now turned his attention to historical painting, and produced _Knox admonishing Mary Queen of Scots_, _Murder of Rizzio_, _Exiles on their way to Siberia_, _The Slave Market at Constantinople_, &c.; and afterwards also battle scenes, as the _Battle of Prestonpans_, _Nelson boarding the San Nicolas_, and two pictures of _The Battle of Waterloo_, the one from the British, the other from the French position, and delineating the actual scene and the incidents therein taking place at the moment chosen for the representation. One of these Waterloo pictures was purchased by the Duke of Wellington. He travelled extensively, visiting Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Spain, and Barbary. In 1835 he became a Royal Academician, in 1838 president of the Scottish Academy, and in 1842 he was knighted.

ALLAN'TOIS, a structure appearing during the early development of vertebrate animals--Reptiles, Birds, and Mammalia. It is largely made up of blood-vessels, and, especially in Birds, attains a large size. It forms the inner lining to the shell, and may thus be viewed as the surface by means of which the respiration of the embryo is carried on. In Mammalia the allantois is not so largely developed as in Birds, and it enters largely into the formation of the placenta.

ALLEGHANY (al-le-g[=a]'ni), a river of Pennsylvania and New York, which unites with the Monongahela at Pittsburg to form the Ohio; navigable nearly 200 miles above Pittsburg.

ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS, or the ALLEGHANIES, a name sometimes used as synonymous with Appalachians, but also often restricted to the portion of those mountains that traverses the states of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania from south-west to north-east, and consists of a series of parallel ridges for the most part wooded to the summit, and with some fertile valleys between. Their mean elevation is about 2500 feet; but in Virginia they rise to 4473.

ALLEGHENY (al-le-gen'i), a city of the United States, in Pennsylvania, on the River Allegheny, opposite Pittsburg, of which it may be considered virtually to be a suburb, and with which it is connected by six bridges. The principal industries are connected with iron and machinery. Pop. 132,283. Also called Allegheny City.

ALLE'GIANCE (from mid-Eng. _ligeaunce_, formed from _liege_), according to Blackstone, is "the tie or _ligamen_ which binds the subject to the sovereign in return for that protection which the sovereign affords the subject", or, generally, the obedience which every subject or citizen owes to the Government of his country. It used to be the doctrine of the English law that natural-born subjects owe an allegiance which is intrinsic and perpetual, and which cannot be divested by any act of their own (_Nemo potest exuere patriam_); but this is no longer the case since the Naturalization Act passed in 1870, A British subject, however, or a child who has acquired a British domicile by the naturalization of an alien parent, cannot in time of war divest himself of British nationality for the purpose of becoming an enemy alien. Aliens owe a temporary or local allegiance to the Government under which they for the time reside. Usurpers in undisturbed possession of the Crown are entitled to allegiance; and thus treasons against Henry VI were punished in the reign of Edward IV, though the former had, by Act of Parliament, been declared a usurper.

AL'LEGORY, a figurative representation in which the signs (words or forms) signify something besides their literal or direct meaning. In rhetoric, allegory is often but a continued simile. Parables and fables are a species of allegory. Sometimes long works are throughout allegorical, as Spenser's _Faerie Queene_ and Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_. When an allegory is thus continued it is indispensable to its success that not only the allegorical meaning should be appropriate, but that the story should have an interest of its own in the direct meaning apart from the allegorical significance. Allegories are frequent in the Old Testament, whilst in the New they take the form of parables. One of the best-known allegories in classical literature is the story of the stomach and the members of the body in the speech attributed to Menenius Agrippa by Plutarch and Livy. (Cf. Shakespeare, _Coriolanus_, i, 1.) Allegory is often made use of in painting and sculpture as well as in literature.

ALLEGRI ([.a]l-l[=a]'gr[=e]), Gregorio, an Italian composer, born at Rome in 1560 or 1585, died there about 1650; celebrated for his _Miserere_, a setting of the fifty-first psalm (the fiftieth in the _Vulgate_), which in the Latin version begins with that word. Allegri's _Miserere_ is annually performed in the Sistine Chapel at Rome.

ALLEGRO (It., [.a]l-l[=a]'gr[=o]), a musical term expressing a more or less quick rate of movement, or a piece of music or movement in lively time. _Allegro moderato_, moderately quick; _allegro maestoso_, quick but with dignity; _allegro assai_ and _allegro molto_, very quick; _allegro con brio_ or _con fuoco_, with fire and energy; _allegrissimo_, with the utmost rapidity.

ALLEIN (al'en), Joseph, English Nonconformist divine; born 1633, died 1668; the author of a popular religious book entitled, _An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners, or The Sure Guide to Heaven_ (1672).

ALLEIN (al'en), Richard, English Nonconformist divine; born in 1611, died 1681; rector for twenty years of Batcombe (Somerset); deprived of his living at the Restoration, and imprisoned for preaching. He wrote, among other things, _Vindiciae Pietatis_ ('A Vindication of Godliness'), published in 1660, which was condemned to be burned in the royal kitchen.

ALLELUIA. See _Halleluia_.

ALLEMANDE ([.a]l-m[.a][n.]d), a kind of slow, graceful dance, invented in France in the time of Louis XIV, and again in vogue in the time of the First Empire. The name is also given to pieces of music based on the dance movement. Bach and Handel have composed a great number of Allemandes, and Beethoven has written twelve for orchestra.

ALLEN, Bog of, the name applied to a series of bogs in Ireland (not to one continuous morass), dispersed, often widely apart, with extensive tracts of dry cultivated soil between, over a broad belt of land stretching across the centre of the country, the bogs being, however, all on the east side of the Shannon.

ALLEN, Ethan, an American revolutionary partisan and general; born 1737, died 1789. He surprised and captured Ticonderoga Fort (1775); attacked Montreal, and was captured and sent to England, being exchanged in 1778; wrote against Christianity, _Reason, the only Oracle of Man_ (1784).--His younger brother, Ira (1751-1814), was also prominent in the revolutionary era.

ALLEN, Grant, writer on scientific subjects and novelist, was born at Kingston, Canada, 1848, died in 1899. His earlier education he received in America, but he also studied in France and graduated at Oxford with honours in 1870. From 1873 to 1879 he was connected with Queen's College, Jamaica, but afterwards resided chiefly in England, and became well known as an exponent of evolutionary science, and as a novelist. His first important work, _Physiological Aesthetics_, appeared in 1877; his other scientific or semi-scientific works include _The Colour Sense_; _The Evolutionist at Large_; _Colin Clouts Calendar (the record of a summer)_; _Vignettes from Nature_; _The Colours of Flowers_; _Flowers and their Pedigrees_; and _Force and Energy, a Theory of Dynamics_. Other works by him are: _Anglo-Saxon Britain_; _Charles Darwin_; and _The Evolution of the Idea of God_. His novels, about thirty in number, include: _The Devil's Die_; _The Woman Who Did_, &c.

ALLEN, John, a Scottish political and historical writer; born in 1771, died in 1843. He studied medicine, and became M.D. of Edinburgh University. In 1801 he went abroad with Lord Holland and family, and henceforth he maintained this connection, being long an inmate of Holland House (London) and a member of the brilliant society that assembled there. He contributed many articles to the _Edinburgh Review_; and wrote _An Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in England_; _Vindication of the Ancient Independence of Scotland_; &c.

ALLEN, Ralph, celebrated as a philanthropist, and as the friend of Pope, Fielding, and the elder Pitt, was born in 1694, died in 1764. He lived mostly at Bath, where he made a large income as farmer of a system of posts and as owner of quarries. He is the prototype of Squire Allworthy in Fielding's _Tom Jones_; and after the novelist's death he took charge of his family. Pope, who received many kindnesses at his hands, referred to him in the lines:

Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame,
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.

With Pitt he was on intimate terms, and left him L1000 in his will. Hurd, Sherlock, and Warburton were also his friends.

ALLEN, Thomas, an English mathematician, philosopher, antiquarian, and astrologer, born in 1542, died in 1632. He studied at Oxford, and lived the greater part of his life in learned retirement, corresponding with many of the famous men of his time. In his own day he was generally reputed a dealer in the black art.

ALLEN, William, cardinal, an English Roman Catholic of the time of Queen Elizabeth. Influenced by the Jesuit Robert Parsons, he became a strenuous opponent of Protestantism and supporter of the claims of Philip II to the English throne; born 1532, died 1594. It was by his efforts that the English college for Catholics at Douai was established. He was made cardinal in 1587. His numerous writings include: _The Declaration of the Sentence of Sixtus V_, and _An Admonition to the Nobility and People of England_.

ALLEN, William, D.D., American clergyman and author; born 1784, died 1868. He was president of Bowdoin College, 1820-39; author of _American Biographical and Historical Dictionary_; _Junius Unmasked_; &c.

ALLENBY, VISCOUNT, Edmund Henry Hynman, British soldier, born on 23rd April, 1861, and educated at Haileybury. He joined the Inniskilling Dragoons, and in 1884 served with that regiment in the Bechuanaland Expedition. He was with the British forces in Zululand in 1888, took part in the South African war, and commanded the 4th Cavalry Brigade, 1905-10. In the European War he at first commanded the British Third Army, contributing largely to the victories of the Somme and the Aisne. After a reverse, south of Gaza, suffered on 26th March, 1917, by the British troops under the command of Sir Archibald Murray, the latter was relieved, and General Allenby was placed in command of the operations. He made thorough preparations for the next offensive, and his progress was very rapid. Beersheba and Gaza were captured, and on 9th Dec., 1917 Jerusalem, the Holy City, was surrendered to the general by the mayor. His formal entry took place on the 11th. He was awarded the G.C.M.G. on 16th Dec., 1917, and is a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. In Aug., 1919, he was voted a sum of L50,000 and created a viscount, adopting the title of Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and of Felixstowe in Suffolk. In Oct., 1919, he was appointed High Commissioner for Egypt.

ALLENSTEIN ([.a]l'len-st[=i]n), a town in East Prussia, 65 miles south of Koenigsberg, on the Alle, with breweries and manufactures of iron and lucifer matches. Pop. 24,295.

ALLENTOWN, a town in the United States, Pennsylvania, on Lehigh River, 18 miles above its junction with the Delaware. It has an important trade in coal and iron ore, with large blast-furnaces, rolling-mills, &c. Pop. (1920), 73,502.

ALLEP'PI. See _Aulapolay_.

ALLEYN (al'len), Edward, an actor and theatre proprietor in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I, friend of Ben Jonson and Shakespeare; born 1566, died 1626. Nashe called him "the famous Ned". Having become wealthy, he built Dulwich College, under the name of "The College of God's Gift", between 1613-17, at a cost of L10,000. See _Dulwich_.

ALL-FOURS, a game at cards, which derives its name from the four chances of which it consists, for each of which a point is scored. These chances are _high_, or the ace of trumps, or next best trump out; _low_, or the deuce of trumps, or next lowest trump out; _jack_, or the knave of trumps; _game_, the majority of pips collected from the tricks taken by the respective players. The player who has all these is said to have _all-fours_. It is played by two or four persons with the full pack. The ace counts four, the king three, queen two, knave one, ten ten. The game is known in America as _Seven-up_, _Old-sledge_, or _High-low Jack_.

ALL-HALLOWS, or ALL-HALLOWMAS, a name for All-saints' Day.

AL'LIA, a small affluent of the Tiber, joining it about 12 miles from Rome, famous for the victory won by the Gauls, under Brennus, over the Roman army. This battle resulted in the capture and sack of Rome in 390 B.C.

ALLIA'CEOUS PLANTS, plants belonging to the genus Allium (ord. Liliaceae), that to which the onion, leek, garlic, shallot, &c., belong, or to other allied genera, and distinguished by a certain peculiar pungent smell and taste characterized as _alliaceous_. This flavour is also found in a few plants having no botanical affinities with the above, as in the _Alliaria officin[=a]lis_, or Jack-by-the-hedge, a plant of the order Cruciferae.

ALLI'ANCE, a league between two or more Powers. Alliances are divided into offensive and defensive. The former are for the purpose of attacking a common enemy, and the latter for mutual defence. An alliance often unites both of these conditions. Offensive alliances, of course, are usually directed against some particular enemy; defensive alliances against anyone from whom an attack may come. Among the more famous alliances in history are: The Triple Alliance of 1688 between Great Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands; The Grand Alliance of 1689 between the Emperor, Holland, England, Spain, and Saxony; The Quadruple Alliance of 1814 between Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia; The Triple Alliance of 1882 between Germany, Austria, and Italy; and The Dual Alliance between Russia and France.

ALLIANCE, HOLY. See _Holy Alliance_.

ALLIANCE ISRAELITE UNIVERSELLE, an association founded in Paris in 1860 for the protection of the Jews all over the world, but particularly with a view to advocating by various means the emancipation of the Jews in those countries where they did not enjoy equal civil and political rights with the other inhabitants. It was established by six Jews of Paris: Aristide Astruc, Isidore Cahen, Jules Carvallo, Narcisse Leven, Eugene Manuel, and Charles Netter. Adolphe Cremieux and Salomon Munk were among the first presidents of the association. It is managed by a central committee resident in Paris, and consisting of 62 members, 23 of whom live in Paris. The Alliance has done a great deal towards raising the status of the Jews in the East by establishing educational institutions and industrial and agricultural schools, especially in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Persia, Bulgaria, Tunis, and Abyssinia. The chief sources of its income are the subscriptions and donations of the members. Its annual income amounts to about 200,000 francs. It also manages a fund of about L400,000 founded by Baron and Baroness de Hirsch for the establishment of Jewish Schools in Turkey. The Alliance Israelite works in unison with the Anglo-Jewish Association and the Board of Deputies in London, two organizations pursuing the same aims.

ALLIA'RIA, a genus of plants, ord. Cruciferae, containing two species, one of which (_A. officin[=a]lis_), commonly called Jack-by-the-hedge, is widely spread in Europe, and often used as a pot-herb. See _Alliaceous Plants_.

AL'LIBONE, Samuel Austin, LL.D., American author, born 1816, died 1889. He compiled a most useful _Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors_ (3 vols., 1859, 1870, 1871, containing 50,000 biographies, 2 vols. of supplement by J. F. Kirk, 1891).

ALLICE, a name of the common shad.

ALLIER ([.a]l-l[=e]-[=a]), a central department of France, intersected by the River Allier, and partly bounded by the Loire; its surface is diversified by offsets of the Cevennes and other ranges, rising in the south to over 4000 feet, and in general richly wooded. It has extensive beds of coal as well as other minerals, which are actively worked, there being several flourishing centres of mining and manufacturing enterprise; mineral waters at Vichy, Bourbon, L'Archambault, &c. Large numbers of sheep and cattle are bred. Area, 2848 sq. miles. Capital, Moulins. Pop. (1921), 370,950.--The River Allier flows northward for 200 miles through Lozere, Upper Loire, Puy de Dome, and Allier, and enters the Loire, of which it is the chief tributary.

ALLIGA'TION, a rule of arithmetic, chiefly found in the older books, relating to the solution of questions concerning the compounding or mixing together of different ingredients, or ingredients of different qualities or values. Thus if a quantity of tea worth 10d. the pound and another quantity worth 18d. are mixed, the question to be solved by alligation is, what is the value of the mixture by the pound?

ALLIGA'TOR (a corruption of Sp. _el lagarto_, lit. the lizard--Lat. _lacertus_), a genus of reptiles of the family Crocodilidae, differing from the true crocodiles in having a shorter and flatter head, in having cavities or pits in the upper jaw, into which the long canine teeth of the under jaw fit, and in having the feet much less webbed. Their habits are less perfectly aquatic. They are confined to the warmer parts of America, where they frequent swamps and marshes, and may be seen basking on the dry ground during the day in the heat of the sun. They are most active during the night, when they make a loud bellowing. The largest of these animals grow to the length of 18 or 20 feet. They are covered by a dense armour of horny scales, impenetrable to a bullet, and have a large mouth, armed with strong, conical teeth. They swim with wonderful celerity, impelled by their long, laterally-compressed, and powerful tails. On land their motions are proportionally slow and embarrassed because of the length and unwieldiness of their bodies and the shortness of their limbs. They live on fish, and any small animals or carrion, and sometimes catch pigs on the shore, or dogs which are swimming. They even sometimes make man their prey. In winter they burrow in the mud of swamps and marshes, lying torpid till the warm weather. The female lays a great number of eggs, which are deposited in the sand or mud, and left to be hatched by the heat of the sun, but after this has taken place the mother alligator is very attentive to her young. The most fierce and dangerous species is that found in the southern parts of the United States (_Alligator Lucius_), having the snout a little turned up, slightly resembling that of the pike. The alligators of South America are there very often called _Caymans_. _A. sclerops_ is known also as the _Spectacled Cayman_, from the prominent bony rim surrounding the orbit of each eye. The flesh of the alligator is sometimes eaten, the tail being considered a great delicacy by the negroes. Among the fossils of the south of England are remains of a true alligator (_A. Hantoniensis_) in the Eocene beds of the Hampshire basin.

ALLIGATOR-APPLE (_An[=o]na palustris_), a fruit allied to the custard-apple, growing in marshy districts in Jamaica, little eaten on account of its narcotic properties.

ALLIGATOR-PEAR (_Pers[=e]a gratissima_), an evergreen tree of the nat. ord. Lauraceae, with a fruit resembling a large pear, 1 to 2 lb. in weight, with a firm marrow-like pulp of a delicate flavour; called also avocado-pear, or subaltern's butter. It is a native of tropical America and the West Indies.

AL'LINGHAM, William, an Irish poet, born in Ireland in 1824 or 1828, died in 1889. He published his first volume (_Poems_) in 1850; _Day and Night Songs_ in 1855; _Lawrence Bloomfield in Ireland_, narrative poem, in 1864; _Songs, Poems, and Ballads_ in 1877 (including a number of new poems). He was a frequent contributor to periodicals, and for some time edited _Fraser's Magazine_.

ALLITERA'TION, the repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as "_m_any _m_en _m_any _m_inds"; "_d_eath _d_efies the _d_octor". "_A_pt _a_lliteration's _a_rtful _a_id" (_Churchill_). "_P_uffs, _p_owders, _p_atches, _b_ibles, _b_illet-doux" (_Pope_). "_W_eave the _w_arp and _w_eave the _w_oof" (_Gray_). In the ancient German and Scandinavian and in early English poetry alliteration took the place of terminal rhymes, the alliterative syllables being made to recur with a certain regularity in the same position in successive verses. In the _Vision of William Concerning Piers the Ploughman_, for instance, it is regularly employed as in the following lines:--

Hire _r_obe was ful _r_iche . of _r_ed scarlet engreyned,
With _r_ibanes of _r_ed gold . and of _r_iche stones;
Hire a_rr_aye me _r_avysshed . such _r_icchesse saw I nevere;
I had _w_ondre _w_hat she _w_as . and _w_has _w_yf she _w_ere.

Alliteration was known to the Latin authors: "O _T_ite _t_ute, _T_ati, _t_ibi _t_anta, _t_yranne _t_ulisti" (_Ennius_). In the hands of some English poets and prose writers of later times alliteration became a mere conceit. It is still employed in Icelandic and Finnish poetry. So far has alliteration sometimes been carried that long compositions have been written every word of which commenced with the same letter. It may also be employed in the middle of words: "Un _f_rais par_f_um sortait des tou_ff_es d'as_f_odile" (_Victor Hugo_).

AL'LIUM, a genus of plants, ord. Liliaceae;, containing numerous well-known species of pot-herbs. They are umbelliferous, and mostly perennial, herbaceous plants, but a few are biennial. Among them are garlic (_A. sat[=i]vum_), onion (_A. Cepa_), leek (_A. Porrum_), chives (_A. Schoenopr[)a]sum_), shallot (_A. ascalon[)i]cum_). The peculiar alliaceous flavour that belongs to them is well known.

AL'LOA, a river port of Scotland, on the north bank of the Forth (where there is now a bridge), 7 miles from Stirling, county of Clackmannan. It carries on brewing, distilling, and shipbuilding; has manufactures of woollens, bottles, &c., and a shipping trade. Pop. (1921), 12,421.

ALLOCU'TION, an address, a term particularly applied to certain addresses on important occasions made by the Pope to the cardinals, and through them to the Church in general.

ALLO'DIUM (probably derived from _all_ and _odh_, property), land held in one's own right, without any feudal obligation to a superior or lord. In England, according to the theory of the British constitution, all land is held of the crown (by _feudal_ tenure); the word _allodial_ is, therefore, never applied to landed property there.

ALLOGAMY (from the Gr. _allos_, other, and _gamos_, wedding), meaning the transfer of the pollen of one flower to the pistil of another. The opposite of allogamy is _autogamy_, or self-pollination.

ALLOPHANE, a hydrous aluminium silicate, with the composition Al_2SiO_5 + 5H_2O, forming crusts in the cavities of various rocks and commonly of a delicate blue colour.

ALLOT'MENT SYSTEM, the system of allotting small portions of land (an acre or less) to farm-labourers or other workers, to be cultivated after their regular work by themselves and their families, a system believed by many to be calculated greatly to improve their condition. An Allotment Act for England, passed in 1887, authorizes the sanitary authorities in any locality to determine if there is a sufficient demand for allotments there, and to acquire land to be let to the labouring population resident in their district. Such land may be compulsorily acquired, due compensation being given; but land belonging to a park, pleasure-ground, &c., is not to be so acquired. No person is to hold more than 1 acre as an allotment; and the rents are to be fixed at such amount as may reasonably be deemed sufficient to guarantee the sanitary authority from loss. No building is to be erected on any allotment other than a tool-house, pig-sty, shed, or the like. In the Allotment Acts of 1887 and 1892 (Scotland) the definition is applied to a plot of land not exceeding 1 acre, but the Local Government Act of 1894 authorized the letting of an allotment up to the area of 4 acres to one person, while the Small Holdings and Allotments Act of 1907 definitely extends the limit of an allotment to 5 acres. The distinction between allotments and small holdings has therefore been obliterated, at least as far as England and Wales are concerned. County councils will let plots of 1 to 5 acres as small holdings, and parish councils as allotments. During the European War 183,000 allotments were registered under the Cultivation of Lands Order, and the number of allotments in Great Britain not exceeding 1 acre now amounts to over 1,000,000. In proportion to the total agricultural area or population it is much smaller in Scotland than in England. The rents of allotments vary greatly, and near towns, or even villages, they are very high, often from L4 to L8 per acre. A measure corresponding to the English Small Holdings and Allotments Act of 1907 was passed for Scotland in 1911, and came into operation in 1912. In recent years a large number of co-operative allotment associations have come into existence.

ALLOT'ROPY (Gr. _allos_, other, _tropos_, manner), a term used by Berzelius to express the fact that one and the same element may exist in different forms, differing widely in external physical properties. Thus carbon occurs as the diamond, and as charcoal and plumbago, and is therefore regarded as a substance subject to allotropy.

AL'LOWAY, a parish of Scotland, now included in Ayr parish. Here Burns was born in 1759, and the "auld haunted kirk", near his birthplace, was the scene of the dance of witches in _Tam o' Shanter_.

ALLOY' is the substance produced by melting together two or more metals. Sometimes a chemical compound is formed, but more generally one metal is interspersed throughout the other, much as sugar is through water in which it is dissolved. In this case the alloy is called a 'solid solution' of one metal in another. Many metals mix together in all proportions, others only in certain proportions, while some will not mix in any proportion.

Scientific research has led to great advances in the use of alloys industrially. An alloy differs from its components in most of its physical properties, such as its hardness, ductility, strength, melting-point, and colour. The minutest trace of certain metals frequently produces an extraordinary change in the property of the body with which it is mixed. For instance, if bismuth is present in copper to the extent of more than 0.5 per cent, the copper cannot be used successfully in the construction of electrical machinery. Frequently the addition of a small proportion of a metal produces highly-desirable effects in one direction, but is deleterious in other directions. For instance, the presence of a small amount of manganese in cast-iron gives clean castings, but the magnetic qualities of the material are impaired.

Alloys are classified as ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.

_Ferrous Alloys._--These alloys are of great industrial importance, as they include cast irons and steels. Pure iron is very little used in industry. Ordinary _cast iron_ contains iron and about 3 per cent of carbon. The ordinary wrought iron of the blacksmith contains less than 0.25 per cent of carbon. Cast iron is brittle, and unreliable when used to sustain tensile stresses, and it cannot be forged; but wrought iron can be safely used in tension, is not brittle, and can be forged. The raw material from which steel is made is cast iron or wrought iron. (For manufacture of steel see _Steel_.) The properties of steel can be varied within very wide limits by adding to it traces of certain metals. For instance, the addition of nickel up to 5 per cent makes the steel much stronger and tougher; the addition of tungsten up to about 19 per cent makes it hard (tool-steel, magnet steel), while molybdenum has a similar effect. Chromium and vanadium have a 'stabilizing' effect, i.e. tend to make large masses of the alloy homogeneous, and to make the alloy retain its hardness over wide ranges of temperature. Cobalt has a similar stabilizing effect. Molybdenum high-speed steel is more expensive than tungsten high-speed steel, but is said to wear better.

_Non-ferrous Alloys._--Of the non-ferrous alloys the most important have copper as the basic metal. They do not become rusty on exposure. Copper, when used for electrical purposes, must be nearly pure. It is deposited electrolytically (see _Electrolysis_) and then made into bars (electrolytic copper).

_Brass_ is an alloy of copper and zinc and varies much in composition. The best-known varieties are:--

Best brass Copper 70%, Zinc 30%.
Admiralty brass Copper 70%, Zinc 29%, Tin 1%.
Ordinary brass Copper 67%, Zinc 30%, Lead 3%.

Gun-metal is a mixture of copper, tin, and zinc. The standard Admiralty mixture is copper 88, tin 10, zinc 2. It possesses a tensile strength of 14 tons per sq. inch.

_Bronzes._--The bronzes are alloys of copper, with zinc or tin mainly. They can be cast easily, and when heated to a dull red the metal can be forged, stamped, rolled, pressed, or extruded. They are largely free from corrosion.

_Phosphor Bronze._--This is a specially strong bronze. A typical composition is copper 89.5, tin 10, phosphorus 0.5. The tensile strength is higher than that of pure copper or brass (about 15 tons per sq. inch), and it has about one-half the electrical conductivity of pure copper. It is used for small castings, and it can be drawn into wire, which is used in alternating-current electric-railway construction for the overhead conductor.

_Delta metals_ are bronzes of specially high tensile strength (30-50 tons per sq. inch).

_Manganese bronzes_ are bronzes of high tensile strength and ductility, and are largely used for marine propellers. Manganese bronze is not affected by sea-water. It usually contains copper, zinc, and manganese, with a little aluminium and tin.

A recently-discovered copper alloy is known as _monel metal_. It is a naturally-occurring alloy of copper, nickel, iron, and manganese (copper 27-29 per cent, nickel 68-70 per cent, iron and manganese 4-5 per cent), and possesses, roughly, the qualities of a mild steel and copper. It has a high tensile strength, which it retains over a wide range of temperature change. It is ductile, is not affected by immersion in sea-water, and can be machined. It is used for pump-valves, pump-pistons, turbine blading, &c.

In the British silver coinage silver is alloyed with 7.5 per cent copper, which renders it harder and more durable. British gold coinage contains 8.3 per cent of copper.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Law, _Alloys_; Osmond and Stead, _Microscopic Analysis of Metals_; Mellor, _Crystallization of Iron and Steel_; Desch, _Metallography_.

ALL SAINTS' DAY, a festival of the Christian Church, instituted in 835, and celebrated on 1st Nov. in honour of the saints in general.

ALL SOULS' COLLEGE, a college of Oxford University, founded in 1437 by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury. Attached to it are the Chichele Professorship of International Law and the Chichele Professorship of Modern History.

ALL SOULS' DAY, a festival of the Roman Catholic Church, instituted in 998, and observed on 2nd Nov. for the relief of souls in purgatory.

ALLSPICE ([a:]l'sp[=i]s), or PIMENTA, is the dried and ground berry of a West Indian species of myrtle (_Myrtus Pimenta_), a beautiful tree with white and fragrant aromatic flowers and leaves of a deep shining green. The tree is often 30 feet high, and may yield 150 lb. of raw berries, equivalent to 100 lb. of dried spice. Pimenta is thought to resemble in flavour a mixture of cinnamon, nutmegs, and cloves, whence the popular name of _allspice_; it is also called Jamaica pepper, the trees being cultivated there extensively. It is employed in cookery, also in medicine as an agreeable aromatic, and forms the basis of a distilled water, a spirit, and an essential oil.

ALL'STON ([:a]l'stun), Washington, an American painter, born 1779, died 1843. He studied in London and Rome, and is most celebrated for his pictures on scriptural subjects. Among his pictures _The Angel Uriel_ is at Stafford House; _The Prophet Jeremiah_ at Yale College, Newport. A portrait of Coleridge by Allston is in the National Gallery. He also wrote poems and a tragical romance (_Monaldi_).