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A L O 
A L V 
ALOE, in botany, a genus of plants with 
a liliaceous flower, consisting of only one tu- 
bular petal, divided into six deep segments 
at the edge : its fruit is an oblong capsule, 
divided into three cells, and containing a 
number of angulated seeds. It is one of the 
hexandria monogynia class and order of Lin- 
naius. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 12. 
Several species of this exotic plant are cul- 
tivated in the gardens of the curious, where 
they afford a very pleasing variety, as well by 
the odd shape of their leaves as by the dif- 
ferent spots with which they are variegated. 
The essential character is, cor. erect with an 
expanded mouth, and a neetareous base ; 
filaments inserted into the receptacle. 
Some aloes are arborescent, or divided 
into a number of branches, like trees ; others 
are very small, growing close to the ground. 
There are in all 14 species, with a great num- 
ber of varieties. It is from two varieties of 
one of tire tree aloes, or A. arborescens, the 
medicine of that name isproduced. r I lie hepatic 
aloe is from a variety called the Barbadoes 
aloe, though it grows in most of the W est India 
islands ; the succotrine, from the aloe of that 
name, or sweet aloe. We are, however, of 
opinion, that an extract having the same pro- 
perties might be prepared from most of the 
other species* The partridge-breasted or 
variegata, and the mitriformis, are the most 
elegant in their foliage. But the humilis pro- 
duces, in our opinion, the largest and hand- 
somest flowers. It is a native of the Cape 
of Good Hope, Most of the species are best 
treated as greenhouse plants ; and like all 
other succulent plants, must be sparingly 
watered, especially in winter. 
Aloe or Aloes, in pharmacy, the inspis- 
sated juice of the aloe, prepared in the fol- 
lowing manner : from the leaves fresh cut, is 
drained or pressed a juice, the thinner and 
purer part of which is poured off, and set in 
the sun to evaporate to a hard yellowish sub- 
stance or extract. 
This extract is famous for its purgative vir- 
tues, being frequently given in the form of a 
tincture in wine, which is called hiera picra ; 
in a solid form called pil. de ruli, &c. &c. 
and in the popular quack medicine, called 
Anderson’s Scotch Pills. 
Aloe rosata, a preparation of succotrine 
aloes, which being dissolved in the juice of 
roses, or violets, and exposed to the sun, or 
put upon a slow fire, thickens to a consistency 
proper for making pills. 
Aloes is accounted an excellent purging 
medicine, especially to cold constitutions, a 
good stomatic, and, applied outwardly, is ser- 
viceable in cicatrizing wounds. 
ALOEDARY, among antient physicians, 
a purging medicine, the chief ingredient of 
which was aloes. It is also used for a history 
of the class of plants, under the denomina- 
tion of aloes. 
ALOFT, a sea term, synonymous with 
“ up in the tops,” “ at the mast-head,” or 
any-where about the higher rigging. 
A LOG IAN S, in church-histor y, a sect of an- 
tient heretics, who denied that Jesus Christ was 
the logos or eternal word ; and consequently 
rejected the gospel of St. John, as spurious, 
ALOGOTROPHIA, among physicians, 
denotes an unequal nutrition, or growth in 
some part of the body, as is the case in the 
rickets. 
ALONG side , in sea language, express- 
A L P 
es side by side, or joined to a Ship, wharf, 
&c. 
Along shore, a phrase expressing along 
the coast, or a course which is in sight of and 
nearly parallel to the shore. 
Along, lying, the state of a ship that is 
pressed down sideways, by the weight of the 
sail. 
ALOOF, in the sea-language, a word of 
command to the man at the helm, to keep 
the ship near the wind, when sailing upon a 
quarter-wind. 
ALOPECIA, in medicine, denotes a fall- 
ing off of the hair, occasioned either by a 
defect of nourishment, or by a bad slate of 
the humours. 
Some make a distinction between the alo- 
pecia and defluvium eapitlorum : as in the 
former, certain spots are left entirely bald ; 
whereas, in the latter, the hair only grows 
excessively thin. They likewise distinguish 
it from the ophiasis, as the baldness in this last 
creeps in spiral lines about the head, like the 
windings of a serpent. The intention of cure, 
however, seems to be much the same in 
them all, viz. to supply proper nourishment, 
where that is wanting ; and to correct the 
bad qualities of the humours, where these are 
in fault. 
ALOPECURUS, fox- tail-grass, in 
botany, a distinct genus of plants, the flower 
of which consists of only one hollow valve, 
with a long awn or beard inserted on its back 
part, near the base : it is one of the triandria 
digynia of Linnaeus. The essential character 
is, calyx two-valved ; corolla one-valved. 
There are seven species. The A. pratensis, 
or meadow fox-tail, is esteemed by some 
farmers, but in our opinion its. value has been 
overrated. The A. arvensis, or field fox-tail, 
is a smaller plant of the same description, 
and f lowers early ; but it is even less valuable 
than the preceding, and we believe is never 
cultivated. 
ALOUCPII, a sweet scented gum, which 
runs from the tree that produces white cinna- 
mon. 
ALPHABET, in matters of literature, the 
natural or accustomed series of the several 
letters of a language. 
All the alphabets extant are charged by 
bishop W ilkins with great irregularities, with 
respect both to order, number, power, figure, 
&c. 
As to the order, it appears (says he) inarti- 
ficial, precarious, and confused, as the vowels 
and consonants are not reduced into classes, 
with such order of precedence and subse- 
quence as their natures will bear. Of this 
imperfection the Greek alphabet, which is 
one of the least defective, is far from being 
free: for instance, the Greeks should have 
separated the consonants from the vowels; 
after the vowels they should have placed the 
diphthongs, and then the consonants ; where- 
as, in fact, the order is so perverted that we 
find the o the fifteenth letter, in order of the al- 
phabet, and the a, or long o, the twenty-fourth 
and last ; the e the fifth, and the n the seventh. 
With respect to number they are both re- 
dundant and deficient ; redundant, by allot- 
ing the same sound to several letters, as in 
the Latin c and k, f and ph ; or by reckoning 
double letters among the simple elements of 
speech, as in the Greek % and the Latin 
rj or cu, x or ex, and the j consonant ; defi- 
cient in many respects, particularly with re- 
gard to vowels, of whirl; seven or eight 
kinds are commonly used, though the Latin 
alphabet takes notice only of five. Add to 
this, that the difference among them, with 
regard to long and short, is not sufficiently- 
provided against. 
Rhe powers again are not more exempt, 
from confusion ; the vowels, for instance, are 
generally acknowledged to have each of them 
.several different sounds ; -and among the 
consonants we need only bring as evidence 
of their different pronunciation, the letter c 
in the word circa, and g in the word negli- 
gence. Hence it happens, that some words 
are differently written, though pronounced in 
the same manner, as cessio and sessio ; and 
others are different in pronunciation which are 
the' same in writing, as give, dare, and give, 
vinculum. 
Finally, the figures are but ill-concerted, 
there being nothing in the characters of the 
vowels answerable to the different degrees of 
apertion ; nor in the consonants analogous to 
their agreements or disagreements. 
Alphabets of different nations vary in the 
number of their constituent letters. The 
English alphabet contains twenty-four letters, 
to which if/’ and v consonant are added, the 
sum will be twenty-six ; the French twenty- 
three ; the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and 
Samaritan twenty-two each ; the Arabic 
twenty-eight ; the Persian thirty-one ; the 
Turkish thirty-three; the Georgian thirty- 
six ; the Coptic thirty-two ; the Muscovite 
forty-three ; the Greek twenty-four ; the La- 
tin twenty-two ; the Sclavonic twenty-seven ; 
the Dutch twenty-six ; the Spanish twenty- 
seven ; the Italian twenty ; the Ethiopic, asf 
well as Tartarian, two hundred and two ; the 
Indian of Bengal twenty-one; the Baramos 
nineteen ; the Chinese, properly speaking, 
have no alphabet, except w r e call their whole 
language their alphabet; their letters are 
words, or rather hieroglyphics, and amount to 
about 80,000. 
If alphabets had been constructed by able 
persons, after a full examination of the sub- 
ject, they would not have been filled with 
such contradictions between the manner of 
writing and reading, as we have shewn above, 
nor with those imperfections that evidently 
appear in the alphabets of every nation. Mr, 
Lodowic, however, and bishop Wilkins, have 
endeavoured to ob viate all these, in their uni- 
versal alphabets or characters. 
ALPllERATZ, a fixed star of the third 
magnitude, in Aquarius. 
ALPHONSIN, in surgery, an instrument 
for extracting bullets out qf gun-shot wounds. 
r i his instrument derives its name from the 
inventor, Alphonsus Ferrier, a physician of 
Naples. It consists of three branches, which 
are dosed by a ring. When closed and in- 
troduced into the wound, the operator draws 
back the ring towards the handle, upon which 
the branches opening take hold ot the ball ; 
and then the ring is pushed from the haft, 
by which means tfte branches grasp the ball 
so firmly as to extract the bail from the 
wound. See Surgery. 
ALPINIA, a genus of the monandria mo- 
nogynia class and order. The corolla is mo- 
nopetalous and tubulose ; and the essential 
character is, calyx three-toothed, equal, tu- 
bulose ; corolla three-parted, equal ; nect. 
two-lipped, the lower lip spreading. 
There is but one species, called after Pros- 
