A L O 



\}\e citad>;l. A light and ck<;int ftaircafc, fpi'cadlng In llic 

 form of a fan, i;itroduce5 to t!ie grand rangi; <jf apartnieiits, 

 which me admirably contrived. The diuing-:x)om, draw- 

 iiig-rooni, faloon, and library, are very noble rooms ; and 

 they are fitted up in a llyle which admirably corvefponds 

 wild the llrufture. The richly oniameiUed chapel forms a 

 fl)lei;did appendage to the calUe. The ground in front of 

 tliis building is well difpofcd, on each fide of the Alne, 

 which is crofled in fight by two handfome bridges, and the 

 neighbouring hills are cloth.d with woods of the Duke's 

 crtation. On one of the higheft tminences he has eitcled 

 Bridey tower, commanding an txlcnfivc profpect over a bleak 

 country towards the Cheviot hills on one fide, and the coall 

 on the other. Hulne Abbey hangs beautifully over the 

 river, and feveral neat apartments arc intermixed, with judg- 

 ment and tafte, among the ruins. This town has been noted 

 for a fiiigular cuilom, which thofe who take up their freedom 

 are faid to be under a necefiity of obferving, which is that 

 of jumping into a muddy well, called Freeman's Well ; and 

 this ceremony is condudcd in a manner as fmgular. The 

 freemen, on their return from this whimfical exourilon, are 

 received into the town by a proctfTion of women drelTed in 

 ribbons, with bells and garlands, iinging and dancing. This 

 ceremony is faid to be eltablilhed by king John, who was 

 mired in this well, as a puniflmient for their not keeping the 

 roads in good order, and made a part of their charter. In 

 this town'Malcolm, king of Scotland, in his incuifion into 

 Northumberland, \^as killed, together with Edward his fon, 

 when his arn-.y \vas defeated by Robert Mowbray, earl of 

 this county, A. D. 1092 > and William, king of Scotland, 

 when he invaded England in 1 174 with an army of 80,000 

 men, was routed in this place, and made prifoner. The 

 weekly market is on Saturday. The diftance of Alnwick 

 from London is 308 miles, from Moi-pcth 19, and from 

 Berwick 30 miles. N. lat. 55° 24', E. long. 1° io'._ 



ALO, a place fuuate, 'according to Ptolemy, in the 

 Marmarica. 



ALO A, in Jiilijuity, a Grecian feaft, celebrated in the 

 month Pofidason by the Athenian hu/bandmen, in honour of 

 Ceres, as inventrefs and proteftrefs of corn and tillage, or 

 in honour of Ceres and Bacchus, by whofe bleffing the huf- 

 bandmen received the recompence of their labour. Their 

 oblation was the fruits of the earth. Some fay it was in 

 comniemoration of the primitive Greeks, who lived £v rait 

 a.Xiio-1, in their corn fields and vineyards. Harwood's Gre- 

 cian Ant, p. 217. 



The word is tx/jxx, and formed of a?.i.;, grange, or lurn ; 

 it being in thefe places that much of the folemnity palled. 



Authors are not agreed as to the time or occafion of the 

 celebration of the aloa. Some fuppofe it to have been be- 

 fore the beginning of harvell ; others will have it to have 

 been a rejoicing after harveft, not unhkc our harvest- 

 hoinc. 



ALOCIV^ INSULjTl, in Geography, iflands placed by 

 Ptolemy to the north of the Cimbric Cherfonefus, or Jutland. 



ALOE, a town of India on this fide of the Ganges. 



ALOE, in Botany, a genus of the hexandr'ia monogyma 

 clafs and order, of the natural order of Lilia or Ltliace.t, 

 Coronaria of Linn, and JfpbocMi of Juflieu. Its charafters 

 are, that it has no calyx ; the corolla is one-petalled, ereft, 

 IVxfid and oblong, tube gibbous, border fpreading and 

 fniall, neetareons at the bottom ; the Jlamina have awl- 

 fhnped filaments, as long as the corolla or longer, inferted 

 into the receptacle, the anthers oblong and incumbent ; 

 the pyiilhim is an ovate germ, the ftyle fimple, of the 

 length of the (lamina, the fligma obtufe and trifid ; the 

 prricarpiiim is an oblong capfule, three-furrowed, three- 



ALO 



celled, and threc-valvcd ; xhefteJs art? feveral and angular, 

 Martyn emimcrales 14 Ipecies with leveral varieties, Gme- 

 lin 16, and Willdcnow 17. Tiicy are as follow, ws. 1. 

 A. clichotoma, finooth-ftem'd tree aloe, with branches dicho- 

 tomous, and leaves fwurd-lhaped, and ferrate, paniculated 

 flowers, and ftamina longer than the ovated corolla. The 

 trunk is round, upright, very lUiF, a(h-coloured and imooth, 

 two fathoms in height, and of the thicknefso'a man's thigh, 

 This is a native of the Cape of Good Hope on the moim- 

 tain culled Dockland, and was introduced hito Kew Garden 

 in 1780, by Mr. William Eorfyth. 2. A. perfoliata, per- 

 foliate A. with item-leaves toothed, embrncing, fliaathiiig, 

 flowers in cor)-ml)S, drooping, pcdimcled, and iubcyUudric : 

 of this fpeeies there are the following varieties ; •vi~. a. A. 

 arborejccr.s of Miller, with leaver embracing, reflex, toothed, 

 flowers cylindrical and Hem ftuubby. This grows to the 

 height of 10 or 12 feet, with a. llrong naked ftem, em- 

 braced by the leaves which grow at the top, and are of a 

 fea-green colour, and very liicculent. The flowers are in 

 pyramielal fpikcs, of a bright red colour, and are in beauty 

 in Novembei- and December. /3. A. Afr'scana of Miller, 

 broad-leaved fword A. with leaves broader, embracing, 

 thorny on the edge and back, flowers in fpikes, and ftcia 

 flirubTJy. y. A. Barhadenjts, Barbadoes A. with leaves 

 toothed, upright, iucculent, and fubulate, flowers yellow, 

 hanging down in a thyrfe. The leaves are about four 

 inches broad at their bafe, and near two inches thick, of a 

 fea green colour, and when young, fpotted with wliite. 

 The flower fl;em rifes near three feet in height, and the 

 flowers form a flender loofe fpike, and are of a bright 

 yellow colour. This, though generally known in the 

 fhops by the name of Barbadoes aloe, is very common in 

 the other iflands of America, where the plants are propa- 

 gated on the poorefl land for obtaining the Hepatic aloes. 

 o. A. fuccotnna, A. vera of Miller, with leaves very long 

 and narrow, thorny at the edge, and flowers in fpikes. This 

 is the true fuccotrine aloe, which yields the bell fort of 

 aloes ufed in medicine. It grows in India, and particularly 

 in tlie ifland of Socotora, in the Straits of Babelmandel. 

 Its leaves are long, narrow, and fucculent, and form large 

 heads, about eighteen inches long, and an inch and a half 

 at their bafe ; the ilalks rife to the height of three or 

 four feet, and have two, three, and fometimes four of 

 thefe heads branching out from them ; the flowers grow 

 in long fpikes upon Ilalks about two feet high ; they are 

 of a bright red colour, tipped with green, and generally 

 appear in the winter fealon. e. A. purpurafciiu, white 

 fpined glaucous A. with leaves purplifh beneath, with fmall 

 roundifli fpots, at bottom, f. A. glauca of Miller, red- 

 fpined glaucous A. with fl;em ftiort, leaves embracing. 

 Handing two ways, fpines on the edges ereft, and flowers 

 growing in a head. »i. A. Uneata, red-fpined flriped A. 

 5. A. ferox, great hedge-hog A. with leaves embracing, 

 very dark green, befet with fpines on every fide. I^a 

 Marck makes this a diilinft fpeeies. It rifes to the height 

 of eight or ten feet, with a ftrong ftem ; the leaves grow 

 on tiie top, and clofely embrace the ftalk ; four inches 

 broad at the bafe, and diminilhing gradually till they ter- 

 minate in a fpine ; they are of a dark green colour, and be- 

 fet with fpines, which are red or purple. This plant grows 

 naturally in Africa, but has not flowered in England, and 

 as it does not put out fuckers, it does not admit eaCly of in- 

 creafe. 1. A. fuponnrla, great foap A. feldom rifes above 

 two feet high ; the leaves are broad at their bafe, clofely 

 embracing the flalk, and gradually decreafing to a point ; 

 their edges are befet with fpines ; the under leaves are ho- 

 rizontal, of a dark green colour, fpotted on the fide, re— 

 \ feinbhng 



