34 <J A L I 
i. Alifma flava ; leaves ovate, acute, peduncles um¬ 
bellate, capfules gkjbofe. It grows in Jamaica, Barba- 
does, and feveral .other places in the warm parts of Ame¬ 
rica, in ftagnant,waters and fw-ampy places ; it would be 
difficult to preferve this plant .in?. England, tince it will 
not live in tlie ,op^n air, and requires a bog' to make it 
thrive ; but, as it haf no great beauty, or life, it is not 
worth the trouble of cultivating in this country. 
3. Alifma damafotftum, or ftar-headed water plantain : 
leaves cordate-oblong, flowers fix-pdintalled, capfules 
awl-ffiaped. It is a native of France, England, and Si¬ 
beria ; and is found in handing waters, which are not very 
deep ; but is by no means to common as the firft fort. It 
it is wanted as a medicine, it mull be gathered in its natu¬ 
ral place of growth, fince it is never cultivated in gardens, 
4. Alifma cordifolia: leaves heart-ffiaped, obtufe, flow¬ 
ers twelve-framencd, capfules hook-pointed. This fpecies 
is the conneCling link between this genus and that of Sa- 
gittaria. It is found both in South and North America. 
5. Alifma natans, or creeping water plantain : leaves 
ovate, obtufe ; peduncles folitary. The leaves which 
fwim on the furface are ovate, but. thofe which are under 
water are linear: this is this the cafe with many aquatic 
plants, the motion of the water lengthening the leaves. 
It is found in ditches in France, Sweden, Germany, and 
Siberia ; alfo in a lake or two in Wales ; it flowers in July 
and Augulf. 
6. Alifma ranunculoides, or finall water plantain : leaves 
lineal -lanceolate, capfules globole and fquarrofe. In a fitu- 
ation where the water is nearly dried up, this plant is from 
two to fix inches high, the Items and proliferous-umbels 
hardly longer than the leaves, and fome of the flow ering 
branches procumbent; but on the edge of old turf-pits, 
where there is plenty of water, it grow's with an upright 
naked Hem, from one to two feet high, bearing umbels of 
numerous rays, and thefe again others. The root-leaves, 
in this Hate, are on very long foot-ftalks, linear-lanceolate, 
not greatly exceeding the foot-Halk in breadth, and are 
extremely like the paddles of the canoes of fome of the 
South Sea iflands. The corolla is bluilh white, and opens 
about noon. It is a native of Sweden, Holland, France, 
Germany, Italy, and England, in marlhes and moors : as 
on Gigglelwick-tarn, Yorklhire ; between Burton and 
Derby ; Bungay, Suffolk-; and Ellingham-fen, Norfolk. 
7. Alifma fubulatu: leaves avyl-lhaped. This is a Vir¬ 
ginian plant. 
8. Alifma parnaflifolia: leaves heart-ffiaped, acute; 
petioles jointed. A native of Italy; found in the marffies 
under the Apennines. 
9. Alifma repens: Hems creeping, leaves lanceolate 
petioled acute. A native of Spain, on the fandy banks of 
the river Manzanares ; flowering in Auguft. It feems to 
be the fame (though much fmaller) with the alifma which 
Abbe Poiret found on the northern coafl of Africa, and 
which is deferibed by Lamark. 
Propagation and Culture. It anyone be defirous of cul¬ 
tivating tile European fpecies, he limit have a piece of 
w ater on purpofe, or keep’them in pots or tubs perpetu¬ 
ally hnmerfed in water, unlefs he has frames of wood 
with partitions filled with earth, which he can water large¬ 
ly at his pleafure. 
Ai,is'MA,yt in botany. See Arnica, Primula, and 
Senecio. 
ALISON'TlA, or Ai.isun'tia, a river of Belgic 
Gaul/ now called Alftzg, which riling on the borders of 
Lorraine, and running through the duchy, waters the.city 
of Luxemburg, and, fuelled by other rivulets, falls into 
the Sur. 
A'LITES; f. in Roman antiquity, a delignation given 
to fuch birds as afforded matter of auguries by their flight. 
A'LITURE./i [ alitura, Lat.J Nourilhment, or the re¬ 
paration of the body by the addition of new nutritious juices. 
A LITU'RGESY, f [ aliturgefia , I,at, of a.^urveyvicnce^ 
Gr.J A franchifernent, or exemption from any public of¬ 
fice or charge. 
A L IC 
ALI'VE, adj. [of a and lyf. Sax. life.] In the Hate 
of life ; not dead. In a figurative fenfe, unextinguilhed ; 
undellroyed ; active ; in full force. Cheerful; fprightly ; 
full of alacrity. In a popular fenfe, it is ufed only to add 
an emphafis, like the French du monde\ as, the hcjl man 
alive ; that is, the brjl, w ith an emphafis. This fenfe has 
been long in ufe, and was once admitted into ferious wri¬ 
tings, but is now merely ludicrous.—The earl of Northum¬ 
berland, who was the proudefl man alive, could not look 
upon the deftruffion of monarchy with any pleafure. Cla¬ 
rendon. —John was quick and underflood bufinefs, but no 
man alive was more carelefs in looking into his accounts. 
Arbuthnot . 
AL'KAHEST, f. in clicmillry, the univerfal men- 
fhuuni,. or dilfolvent. A name firft ufed by Paracelfius, 
and derived from the -.German words al and gccjl, i. e. all 
fpirit.- Van He’lmont borrowed the word, and applied it 
to his ! invention, w hich he called the univerfal dilfolvent. 
As It is difficult to fay'whether tlie falfity or folly of what 
is handed down to us witli relpeiff to this article be the 
greateft, the curious are referred to the writers them- 
felves, to whom we are obliged for what is faid concern¬ 
ing it. See Paracelfus de Viribus Membranortim, lib. ii. 
cap. vi. Eph. Germ. D. xi. aim. 8. app. 3. Hclmont Com- 
-plexiorum atque Miftonium elementalium figmentum; 
feff. 27—29. Helmont Poteft. Medic, feff. 3—24. Hel- 
mont Arbor Vitae. Boerliaave’s Chemiftry. Alcaheft is 
alio a name of the liquor of flints. 
ALKALFPSCENT, adj. [from alkali. ] That which 
has a tendency to the properties of an alkali.—All animal 
diet is alktilefcent or anti-acid. Arbuthnot. 
AL'K ALI,./! [of al and kali, i. e. of ox from kali. 2 Al • 
kaline fait is called a/afi, alafor, alafort, alkahef glauberi; 
according to fome calcadis. Alkali, becaufe a great quan¬ 
tity of that kind of fait is obtained from a plant called by 
the Egyptians kali, by us glafs-wort. The name alkali 
hath been given to the fixed halt of all plants ; and that 
becaufe an effervefcence arifes upon mixing an acid liquor 
with the fait; all volatile or fixed falts, and all terreftrious 
matters which ferment with acids, have come to be called 
alkalies. 
Alkaline falts are divided into two kinds, the fixed arid 
volatile ; and the former into two fpecies, vegetable, and 
mineral, or foffil. All of thefe pofi’efs fome properties in 
common, and fome peculiar to each. Thofe which they 
have in common are, 1. An acrid and pungent tafte, which, 
when the falts are very pure and ftrong, degenerates into 
abfolute caufticity, and would entirely deftroy the organ 
of fenfation if long applied to it. 2. A tendency to dif- 
folve animal fubftances, and reduce them to a gelatinous 
fubftance. 3. An attraction for acids, witli a power of 
feparating earths and metals from them. 4. They change 
the blue vegetable juices to greeny the green to yellow ; 
the yellow to orange ; the orange to red; and the red to 
purple. 5. They unite with oils ; and deftroy or caufe to 
fadealmolt all kinds of colours that can be put upon cloth, 
whence their ufe in bleaching, See. 
The properties common to both kinds of fixed alkalies 
are, 1. They refill the affion of fire to a great degree, lb 
that they can ealily be reduced to a folid form by evapo¬ 
rating any liquid in which they happen to be dmblved. 
2. By an intenfe fire, they flow into a liquid w hich con¬ 
cretes into a folid mafs when cold. 3. If mixed in cer¬ 
tain proportions with vitrifiable earths, they melt, in a 
heat ftill more intenfe, intoglafs. .5. Mixed with ammo- 
niacal falts, with animal fubftances, on with foot, they ex¬ 
tricate a volatile alkali. 
The volatile alkali differs from the other two in being 
unable to refill the fire, and being entirely refolvable into 
an invifible and permanently elaftic fluid, called alkaline an. 
In confequence of its volatility,'it always afleffs the olfac¬ 
tory nerves,- and its fmell is the general criterion by which 
its ftrength may be judged of. Its attraffion for acids, 
power of changing colours, See. are alfo confiderably 
weaker than thole of the fixed alkalies. 
Effervefcence 
