ALMON ALNWICK. 



123 



AI.MOX, John, a political writer and pamphleteer 

 of the last century, was born at Liverpool about 

 1738; and went to London in 1758, where he be- 

 came bookseller, and published various pamphlets 

 tor the day, chiefly in support of John Wilkes, of 

 whom lie was a violent partisan. He also compiled 

 several large works, the best known of which are 

 liis Anecdotes of Eminent Persons. He retired 

 from business in 1782, but subsequently injured his 

 fortune in a newspaper speculation, and died ill de- 

 pressed circumstances in Hertfordshire, in 1805. 



ALMOND. The common or sweet almond is a 

 soft and pleasantly-flavoured kernel, contained in a 

 nut, which is of flattish shape, and has a tender shell, 

 with numerous small holes on the outside. The 

 almond tree (amygdalus communis) is usually twelve 

 "or fourteen feet high. Its beautiful pu,k flowers, of 

 five petals, grow in pairs, and appear very early in 

 spring. The leaves are oval, pointed, and delicately 

 serrated at the edges. Its flowers are remarkably 

 beautiful, and form a great ornament of the English 

 shrubberies, particularly as they appear in March 

 and April, a season when few other parts of the 

 vegetable creation have recovered from their wintry 

 state. Though known to the ancients from the most 

 remote period of antiquity, the almond tree has been 

 cultivated in England only since 1562, and this 

 almost wholly on account of the beautiful appearance 

 of its flowers, since the climate of Great Britain is 

 not sufficiently warm for tiie fruit to be perfected. 

 The almonds which are consumed in this country 

 and the United States, are imported, sometimes in 

 (lie shell, and often without, from France, Spain, 

 Italy, and the Levant; and they are packed in 

 casks, boxes, or bales. The Jordan almonds, which 

 i -wine from Malaga, are the best sweet almonds 

 brought to Britain. The province of Valencia 

 vas formerly much celebrated for its almonds, but 

 the cultivation of the trees in that part of Spain has 

 tor several years been much neglected. Almonds 

 are very higlily taxed in Britain. The duty on Jor- 

 don A., amounts to ninety-five shillings a cwt. ; on 

 sweet A., to forty-seven shillings and sixpence; and 

 on bitter A., to thirty-one shillings and eightpence. 

 Notwithstanding the enormity of these imposts, which 

 might almost exclude almonds altogether from the 

 i < niiitry, they yield a revenue of about ,18,000 a year. 

 The chief uses of sweet almonds are in confectionary 

 and cooking. They are also eaten with raisins in 

 dcs<-rts after dinner ; but they should be well chew- 

 ed, since every piece that is swallowed entire is in- 

 <ligc>iible. By pressure, they yield a considerable 

 proportion, sometimes nearly half their weight, of 

 oil. Some preparations of almonds are used in 

 medicine, particularly that called milk of almonds, 

 which is formed of pounded almonds, loaf sugar, and 

 water, well mixed together. In some parts of the 

 East Indies, it is said that almonds supply the place 

 of small money. Bitter almonds resemble, in all 

 respects, the sweet almonds, both in the appearance 

 of the kernels themselves, and of the trees which 

 produce them, excepting a slight difference in the 

 size of the flowers and fruit. Like the sweet al- 

 monds, they yield a large portion of oil. This has 

 no bitterness, but the substance that remains after the 

 pressure is intensely bitter. If these almonds be 

 eaten freely, they occasion sickness and vomiting ; 

 and, to many quadrupeds and birds, they are fatal 

 poNon. There was formerly a notion, but it is quite 

 erroneous, that the eating of them would prevent the 

 intoxicating effects of wine. They are frequently 

 used instead of apricot kernels in ratifia, and some- 

 times are employed in making a counterfeit cherry- 

 brandy. The oil and emulsions of bitter almonds 

 are used in medicine*, and a powder and paste" for 



washing the hands is made both from them and from 

 sweet almonds. By confectioners, they are much 

 used to give flavour to biscuits and other articles. 

 The substance which gives their peculiar flavour to 

 bitter almonds, and to the kernels of peaches, apri- 

 cots, &c., as also to the leaves of all the species of 

 cherry and peach, is the prussic acid, so well known 

 as a powerful medicine and poison. It is this which 

 renders a large draught of noyau, or other cordial of 

 a similar kind, so often injurious, or even fatal. The 

 Prussian medical police, therefore, which is remarka- 

 bly vigilant, is in the habit of examining liquors of 

 this sort exposed for sale. For a further account of 

 this substance, see Cherry Laurel and Prussic Acid. 



ALMONER, in its primitive sense, denoted an officer 

 of any religious establishment, to whom belonged 

 the distribution of alms. By the ancient canons, all 

 monasteries were to spend at least a tenth part of 

 their income in alms, a rule which is still followed 

 by several convents. Every bishop, also, was re- 

 quired to keep an almoner. The great almoner 

 (grand aumonier) of France was the highest eccle- 

 siastical dignitary in that kingdom before the revolu- 

 tion. Napoleon restored this office, and it has been 

 kept up by the Bourbons, but we do not know its 

 rank at present. To the almoner belonged the su- 

 perintendence of all hospitals and houses of charity. 

 The king received the sacrament from him, and he 

 said mass at all grand solemnities. He still officiates 

 at the performance of the mass called Vcni Spiritus, 

 before the cliamber of deputies. The lord almoner, 

 or lord high almoner of England, is an ecclesiastical 

 officer, generally a bishop, who formerly received all 

 deodanos and the goods of every felo de se, which he 

 was to distribute among the poor. He had, also, the 

 power of giving the first dish from the king's table to 

 whatever poor person he pleased. The emperors of 

 Germany, too, and most of the European monarchs, 

 had their almoners. The almoner of the pope is one 

 of the highest officers of his state. The name al- 

 moner has been given, by some writers, to the chap- 

 lains of ships, regiments, &c. 



ALNUS, in botany. See Alder. 



ALNWICK, the county town of Northumberland, is 

 situated partly in the southern division of Bambo- 

 rough ward, and partly in the eastern division of Co 

 quetdale ward, 84 miles south from Edinburgh, and 

 310 north from London. It is built irregularly on 

 the declivities of a hill, near the river Alne, over 

 which a handsome stone bridge was built by the 

 late Duke of Northumberland. This town has a 

 spacious market place, and a considerable town hall, 

 in which the sessions and county courts are held, 

 and the members of parliament for the county elected. 

 It is paved, watched, and lighted under an act pass- 

 ed in 1821. Although the county town, the assizes 

 are held at Newcastle. The town is governed by a 

 bailiff and four chamberlains, who are chosen every 

 year out of a common council of twenty-four. The 

 bailiff is nominated by the Duke of Northumberland, 

 by virtue of his ancient office of Constable of Aln- 

 wick castle. The latter, for many centuries a fortress 

 of great strength, and the family mansion of the 

 Percys, stands on an eminence on the south side of 

 the Alne, opposite to the town, and commands a 

 beautiful view of the country. The walls are flanked 

 with sixteen Gothic towers, the battlements of which 

 are ornamented with figures of ancient warriors. II 

 is very celebrated in border history, and peculiarly 

 fatal to the kings of Scotland, of whom Malcolm II. 

 and his son Edward fell before it, and William, sur- 

 named the Lion, was taken prisoner. The man- 

 sion has lately undergone a complete repair, great 

 attention having been paid to the restoration of 

 Uie Gothic ornaments in their original style. The 



