ALI 



ALK 



rails, or the art of numbering truly and 

 readily. 



ALIEN, in law, a person born in a 

 strange country, not within the king's al- 

 legiance, in contradistinction from a deni- 

 zen or natural subject. 



An alien is incapable of inheriting 

 lands in England, till naturalized by an 

 act of parliament. No alien is entitled to 

 vote in the choice of members of parlia- 

 ment, has a right to enjoy offices, or can 

 be returned on any jury, unless where an 

 alien is party in a cause ; and then the in- 

 quest of jurors shall be one half denizens 

 and the other aliens. 



Every alien neglecting the king's pro- 

 clamation, directing him to depart from 

 the realm within a limited time, shall, on 

 conviction, for the first offence, be impri- 

 soned for any time not exceeding one 

 month, and not exceeding twelve months 

 for the second; at the expiration of which, 

 he shall depart within a time to be limit- 

 ed : and if such alien be found therein 

 after such time so limited, he or she shall 

 be transported for life. 



ALIMENTARY duct, a name which 

 some call the intestines, on account of 

 the food's passing through them. See 



AlTATOMY. 



ALIMONY, alimoma, in law, denotes 

 the maintenance sued for by a wife, in 

 case of a separation from her husband, 

 wherein she is neither chargeable with 

 elopement nor adultery. 



ALIQUANT parts, in arithmetic, those 

 which will not divide or measure the 

 whole number exactly. Thus, 7 is an 

 aliquant part of 16, for twice 7 wants 2 of 

 16, and three times 7 exceeds 16 by 5. 



ALIQUOT part, is such part of a num- 

 ber as will divide and measure it exactly, 

 without any remainder. For instance, 2 

 is an aliquot part of 4, 3 of 9, and 4 of 16. 



To find all the aliquot parts of a num- 

 ber, divide it by its least divisor, and the 

 quotient by its least divisor, until you get 

 a quotient not farther divisible, and you 

 will have all the prime divisors or ali- 

 quot parts of that number. Thus, 60, 

 divided by 2, gives the quotient 30, which 

 divided by 2 gives 15, and 15 divided by 

 3 gives the indivisible quotient 5. Hence, 

 the prime aliquot parts are 1, 2, 2, 3, 5; 

 and by multiplying any two or three of 

 these together, you will find the com- 

 pound aliquot parts, viz. 4, 6, 10, 12, 15, 

 20, 30. 



Aliquot parts must not be confounded 

 with commensurable ones; for though 

 the former be all commensurable, yet 

 these are not always aliquot parts : thus, 



4 is commensurable with 6, but is not aa 

 aliquot part of it. 



ALISMA, /5-ratf -water plantain, in bota- 

 ny, a genus of the Hexandria Polyginia 

 class of plants, the calyx of which is a pe- 

 rianthium, composed of three oval, hollow, 

 permanent leaves ; the corolla consists of 

 three large, roundish, plane, and very pa- 

 tent petals; the fruit consists of capsules, 

 arranged together in a roundish or trigo- 

 nal form : the seeds are single and small. 

 There are nine species. 



ALKAHEST, or ALCAHEST, among 

 chemists, denotes a universal menstruum, 

 capable of resolving all bodies into theis 

 ens primiim, or first matter ; and that with- 

 out suffering any change, or diminution of 

 force, by so doing. See ALCHEMY. 



ALKALI, in chemistry, a word applied 

 to all bodies that possess the following 

 properties : they change vegetable blue 

 colours, as that of an infusion of violets, 

 to green : they have an acrid and peculiar 

 taste : they serve as intermedia between 

 oils and water : they are capable of com- 

 bining with acids, and of destroying theie 

 acidity: they corrode woollen cloth, and, 

 if the solution be sufficiently strong, re- 

 duce it to jelly : and they are soluble in 

 water. The alkalies at present known 

 are three ; viz. ammonia, potash, and so- 

 da : the two last are called fixed alkalies, 

 because they require a red heat to vola- 

 tilize them ; the other is denominated 

 volatile alkali, because it readily assumes 

 a gaseous form, and is dissipated by a 

 very moderate degree of heat. Barytes, 

 strontian, lime, and magnesia, have been 

 denominated alkalies by Fourcroy ; but 

 as they possess the striking character of 

 earths in their fixity, this innovation does 

 not seem entitled to general adoption. 



Since writing the above, some discove- 

 ries of great importance, on the subject 

 of alkalies, have been made known to the 

 philosophical world by Mr. Davy, Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry at the Royal Institu- 

 tion. We shall in this place give a sketch 

 of the two papers which he has just laid 

 before the Royal Society, referring to 

 some subsequent articles for further par- 

 ticulars. In a former discourse, read be- 

 fore this learned body, Mr. Davy, in 

 speaking of the agencies of electricity, 

 suggested the probability, that other bo- 

 dies not then enumerated might be de- 

 composed by the electric fluid, fn the 

 course of the last summer, this celebrat- 

 ed philosopher was employed in making 

 a number of experiments with this par- 

 ticular view, and by means of very pow- 

 erful galvanic troughs, consisting of a 



