ALEXANDER. 



variety of ailments and " griefs," operating as 

 a diuretic, and being excellent in disorders of 

 the lungs and breast.] It obtained its name of 

 Alehoof among the poor, who infuse it in ale 

 or beer, and drink it warm for all internal ail- 

 ments. (L. Johnson.) 



ALEXANDER (Hipposelinum). This gar- 

 den vegetable has been superseded by celery, 

 yet it is an excellent vegetable, and grows 

 abundantly wild almost everywhere in Eng- 

 land. The seeds and root are hot and dry like 

 those of parsley, and preparations of them are 

 much in use as a popular medicine. 



[Some wild species of Alexander are known 

 in the United Stares. (See F/or. Ces.)] 



ALIMENT (Lat. alimentum). That which 

 nourishes, nutriment or food. 



Of alimentary roots, some are pulpy and 

 very nutritious, as turnips and carrots. These 

 have a fattening quality. (Arbutft. on Aliments.) 

 See GASES, EARTH, WATER, &c. 



The food of animals, whether of a solid or 

 liquid kind, should be adapted to their different 

 organs both in quantity and quality, in order 

 that they may exist in the most perfect state. 

 It is observed, that nature directs every animal, 

 instinctively, to choose such substances for food 

 as are best adapted to its health and support ; 

 but as some are withdrawn from their natural 

 condition for the convenience of man, and, in 

 their domesticated state, are fed on artificial 

 productions, not of their own choice, it be- 

 comes a matter of serious importance to the 

 owners of cattle, horses, &c., to make them- 

 selves acquainted with their nature and habits, 

 and also with the qualities of those substances 

 which are usually designed as food for them, 

 since there is no doubt but errors in the choice 

 of the latter must be a fruitful source of disease. 

 Besides, in the view of the grazier, some sorts 

 of food may be much more advantageous in 

 the quality of fattening animals than others 

 a circumstance of vast importance. See 

 FOOD. 



ALKALI. The word alkali comes from an 

 herb called by the Egyptians kali,- by us glass- 

 wort. This herb they burnt to ashes, boiled 

 the ashes in water, and after having evaporat- 

 ed the water, there remained at the bottom a 

 white salt this they called sal kali or alkali. 

 (Toad's Johnson.") The word is of Arabic ori- 

 gin ; according to Albertus Magnus it signifies 

 "the dregs of bitterness." (Thomson, vol. ii. 

 p. 49.) 



The chief alkalies found in plants are potash 

 and soda ; ammonia, it is true, is produced by 

 the distillation of certain vegetables, but it is 

 a product of the distillation ; and again, mor- 

 phia is obtained from opium, quinia from the 

 Peruvian bark, 1 &c. ; but these alkaline sub- 

 stances are but rarely met with by the cultivator, 

 and do not involve any very important facts of 

 vegetable chemistry. 



Potash is found in all vegetables growing at 

 a distance from the sea; that of commerce is 

 procured by merely burning the vegetable, 

 washing the ashes in water, and evaporating 

 the solution of potash thus obtained to dryness. 

 In this manner the potash of commerce is 

 made. The proportion, however, of potash, 

 existing in plants varies very considerably, as 

 62 



ALKALI. 



Thomson's Chem. iv. 189. 



The potash thus obtained, however, must 

 not be regarded as a pure alkali, for it contains 

 almost always a small portion of various salts, 

 such as the sulphate of potash, muriate of pot- 

 ash, sulphate of lime, phosphate of lime, &c. 



Soda abounds in marine plants generally to 

 a much greater extent than potash does in the 

 vegetables of inland districts ; the barilla of 

 Spain is extracted from the salsola sativa and 

 vermiculata, and some of these plants yield 

 nearly 20 per cent, of ashes, which contain 

 about 2 per cent, of soda. 



The union of alkalies with acids forms the 

 class of bodies known as the alkaline salts. 



[Plants, in their growth, derive certain ele- 

 ments for their subsistence from the atmos- 

 phere, namely, carbonic acid, water, and am- 

 monia, the decomposition of the last furnish- 

 ing their nitrogen. They, however, require other 

 materials for the perfection of certain organs 

 or parts appropriated to the performance of 

 special functions, such, for example, as the 

 perfection of the seed, which is destined to re- 

 new the plant. These elements are furnished 

 by the soil, and consist of salts or alkaline 

 substances, such as potash, soda, lime, alumine, 

 magnesia, metallic oxids, and phosphates. The 

 proportion of these contained in soils regulate, 

 in a great degree, their capacities for the pro- 

 duction of different plants. 



Connected with agricultural philosophy, the 

 alkalies are subjects of the deepest interest. 



The salts of potash and soda, and of the al- 

 kaline earths or minerals, lime, alumine, and 

 even magnesia, can be obtained, by burning 

 and certain chemical processes, from parts of 

 the structure of all plants. This shows the 

 reat importance of alkalies, and alkaline sub- 

 stances, to the growth and welfare of every pro- 

 duct of the soil. It follows also that with every 

 crop removed, a portion of the potash, etc., 

 must be removed from the land. To compen- 

 sate for such losses, ashes, farm-yard manure, 

 &c., supply alkalies to the soil, along with 

 other fertilizing substances. In rocky districts 

 of country natural sources exist from whence 

 the soil derives a regular supply of potash, 

 namely, the disintegration of granite, and de- 

 composition of its felspar and mica, both of 

 which contain this alkali. 



