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_.