ALLIGATOR ALLO A. 



119 



tunity of repeating similar exploits, which have been 

 compared to an Indian warrior rehearsing his acts of 

 bravery, and exhibiting his strength by gesticulation. 

 The females make their nests in a curious manner, 

 upon the banks of rivers or lagoons, generally hi the 

 marshes, along which, at a short distance from the 

 water, the nests are arranged somewhat like an en- 

 campment. They are obtuse cones, four feet high, 

 and about four feet in diameter at the base, built of 

 mud and grass. A floor of such mortar is first spread 

 upon the ground, on which a layer of eggs, having 

 hard shells, and larger than those of a common hen, 

 are spread. Upon these another layer of mortar, 

 seven or eight inches in thickness, is deposited, and 

 then another bed of eggs ; and this is repeated nearly 

 to the top. From 100 to 200 eggs are found in one 

 nest. It is not ascertained whether each female 

 watches her own nest exclusively, or attends to more 

 than her own brood. It is unquestionable, however, 

 that the females keep near the nests, and take the 

 young under their vigilant care as soon as they are 

 hatched, defending them with great perseverance and 

 courage. The young are seen following the mother 

 through the water like a brood of chickens following 

 a hen. When basking in the sun on shore, the 

 young are heard whining and yelping about the mo- 

 ther, not unlike young puppies. In situations where 

 alligators are not exposed to much disturbance, the 

 nesting-places appear to be very much frequented, 

 as the grass and reeds are beaten down for several 

 acres around. The young, when first hatched, are 

 very feeble and helpless, and are devoured by birds 

 of prey, soft-shelled turtles, &c., as well as by the 

 male alligators, until they grow old enough to de- 

 fend themselves. As the eggs are also eagerly 

 sought by vultures and other animals, the race would 

 become speedily extinct, but for the great fecundity 

 of the females. The A. is generally considered as 

 disposed to retire from man, but this is only to be 

 understood of alligators frequenting rivers or waters 

 where they are frequently disturbed, or have learned 

 to dread the injuries which man inflicts. In situa- 

 tions where they are seldom or never interrupted, 

 they have shown a ferocity and perseverance in at- 

 tacking individuals in boats, of the most alarming 

 cliaracter ; endeavouring to overturn them, or rear- 

 ing their heads from the water, and snapping their 

 jaws in a fearful manner. Bartram, who lias made 

 more interesting and valuable observations on the A. 

 than any other naturalist, gives numerous instances 

 of their daring and ferocious disposition, and himself 

 very narrowly escaped with his life on several occa- 

 sions. At present, alligators, though still numerous 

 in Florida and Louisiana, are no longer regarded as 

 very dangerous. Their numbers annually decrease, 

 as their haunts are intruded upon by man, and at no 

 distant period they must be nearly, if not quite, ex- 

 terminated. In the winter, the alligators spend 

 great part of their time in deep holes, which they 

 make in the marshy banks of rivers, &c. They feed 

 upon fish, various reptiles, or carrion flesh which is 

 thrown into the streams, and, though very voracious, 

 are capable of existing a long time without food. 

 The barking of a dog, it is said, will at any time 

 cause them to forsake their holes, and come on shore, 

 as they prey upon any small quadruped or domestic 

 animal which comes within their reach. They have 

 a very small brain, and live a long time even after it 

 is destroyed. Titian Peale, a naturalist distinguished 

 for practical acquaintance with the works of nature, 

 informed the writer that he destroyed the whole 

 superior part of the head and brain of a large A. by 

 a ball from his gun, in the morning of a long day, 

 and, on parsing the same place in the evening, he 

 found the animal had crawled off. Following his 



trail through the marsh for a considerable distance, 

 he found him still alive, and, though dreadfully 

 mangled about the head, ready to give battle. In 

 the economy of nature, alligators are of very con- 

 siderable importance. They abound most where fish 

 and other creatures are found in the greatest num- 

 bers. Their voracity tends to repress exuberant 

 increase in the beings upon which they feed ; while 

 themselves are exposed to very numerous enemies in 

 early life, and gradually pass away, as man usurps 

 the sway over their peculiar dominions. The pecu- 

 liarities of construction, c. will be given under the 

 title Crocodile, which see. 



ALLIONI, Charles, an esteemed physician and pro- 

 fessor of botany at Turin, was born in 1725, and died 

 in 1804. He published various works, which tended 

 to the advancement of medical and botanical science. 



ALLITERATION ; a figure or embellishment of 

 speech, which consists in the repetition of the same 

 consonants, or of syllables of the same sound, in one 

 sentence. Such alliteration sometimes happens 

 without the intention of the writer or speaker, and 

 may be disagreeable to the ear, in the same way as a 

 rhyme occurring involuntarily. Alliteration is pleas- 

 ing when skilfully managed, so as to produce what 

 the French have called harmonie imitative ; but by 

 too frequent use, it becomes trivial and ridiculous. 

 An excellent instance of imitative harmony and 

 happy alliteration is afforded by the line of Virgil, 

 describing the measured gallop of the horse 



Quadrupedante pedum sonitu quatit ungula camputn ; 



or another verse of the sane poet 



Luctantes ventos tempestatesque sonoras 



in which the continual recurrence of the t reminds 

 us of the uninterrupted noise of the winds. Greek 

 literature affords many instances of this imitative 

 harmony. English poetry furnishes many beautiful 

 specimens of alliteration, but instances of an unliappy 

 use of this figure are not wanting even in good 

 writers. Gray has many alliterations, e. g. 



Weave the warp and weave the woof, 



Ruin seize thee, ruthless king ! 

 Among the French, a line of Racine 

 Pour qui sont ces serpens qui sifflent BUT YOS tetes ? 



is thought to represent very happily the hissing of 

 the serpent. In German literature, Burger, per- 

 haps, has made the most use of alliteration ; but he 

 often carries it too far. A sonnet of A. W. Schlegel 

 finishes with the following': 



Wo Liebe lebt und labt ist lieb das Leben. 



Among modern languages, alliteration is altogether 

 more used in those belonging to the Teutonic stock, 

 than in those of Latin origin. So far has A. some- 

 times been carried, that whole treatises have been 

 composed, each word of which commenced with the 

 same letter. Not the least successful specimen of 

 burlesque A. are the lines on Cardinal Wolsey 



Begot by butchers, but by bishops bred, 



How high his honour holds his haughty head ! 



AI.I.UA, a sea-port town, situated pleasantly on 

 the north side of the Forth, five miles from Stirling, 

 and in the county of Clackmannan, Scotland. It 

 has been long a place of some note, and contains 

 within its vicinity a massy tower, which was erected 

 in the 13th century, and at one period occupied as a 

 royal residence. It has an excellent harbour, from 

 which it exports great quantities of coal, the chief 



