A L O * 
Command thy flaves: my free-born foul difdains 
A tyrant’s curb, and reltive breaks the reins. 
Take this along ; and no difpute flia.ll rife 
(Though mine the woman) for my ravifh’d prize. Dryden. 
Forward; onward. In this fenfe it is derived from allons, 
French : 
Come then, my friend, my genius, come along, 
Thou rnafter of the poet.and the fong. Pope. 
ALOO'F ,adv. [all off, that is, quite off '.] Atadiftance; 
with the particle from. It generally implies a fmall dif- 
tance, fuch as is within view or obfervation. Applied to 
perfons, it often inlinuates caution or circumfpedtion. In 
a figurative fenfe, it is tiled to import art or cunning in 
converfation, by which a man holds a principal queftion 
at a difiance. It is ufed metaphorically of perfons that 
will not be feen in a defign; and it is applied to things not 
properly belonging to each other: 
Love’s not love, 
When it is mingled with regards that ftand 
Aloof from th’ entire point. Shakcfpeare. 
A'LOPE, the daughter of Cercyon, who had a child 
by Neptune, called Hippothoon. It is alfo the name ot 
one of the Harpies. 
ALQPE'CE, Alope'cia, an ifiand placed by Ptolemy 
at the mouth of the Tanais, and called the ifiand Tanais: 
now, l’lfle des Renards. Alfo an ifiand of the Bofphorus 
Cimmerius ; and another in the Aigean Sea, over-againit 
Smyrna. 
ALOPE'CIA, f [from a\um^ a fox, becaufe a fox 
is fubjebt to a diftemper which refembles it.] Baldnefs, 
the falling off of the hair; called alfo capillorum dejluvium. 
Athrix, Dtpilis, P/ialacrotis ; when particularly on the fin- 
ciput, Calvities and Calvitium: which Galen lays, is owing to 
a defeff of moifture. When the bald part is fmooth and 
w inding, like the track of a ferpent, it is called ophiafis ; 
but the general name of all the different appearances of 
bald places is area, which name is taken from the area in 
a garden, a fpot on which not any thing grows; though 
Blanchard fays, that the hair falls off areatim, by fhed- 
ding; whence, in general, this difeafe is called area. 
Thefe diforders Teem to have been more common among 
the ancients than they are in our days. Celfus fays, that 
the alopecia comes at any age, but the ophiafis only aff’efts 
infants ; and Sennertus obferves, that they both are com¬ 
mon to all ages, though they are molt frequently met with 
in childhood, and often fucceed the tinea, achores, and 
favi. The caufe is a faulty humour that defiroys the roots 
of the hair, and that fometimes only perverts the humour 
that nourilhes them, in which cafe the hair turns white, 
yellow, &c. according to the different quality of the mor¬ 
bid humour. Galen fays, that eating mufhrooms may 
caufe that bad quality in the humours which produce thefe 
diforders; and alfo that malignant and contagious difeafes 
of various kinds may produce the fame effect. 
The alopecia fpreads itfelf on the beard, as well as on 
the hairy fcalp, and is irregularly formed. The ophiafis 
afually begins at the back part of the head, and creeps 
about the breadth of two fingers, till it hath extended its 
two heads to both the ears, and fometimes to the forehead, 
till both heads meet in one. The ophiafis feems to be 
more malignant than the alopecia, fince that in it not only 
the roots of the hair, but alfo the cuticle is corroded as far 
as the roots reach; the fkin alfo changes its colour, and 
is fometimes pale; at others, darker coloured; and, if 
pricked, a ferous blood ifiues out. Thefe diforders differ 
from the tinea: in the latter the excoriations and ex- 
ulcerations are deeper, and often the hair does not grow 
again. In infants thefe diforders commonly go oft' as age 
advances; but in adults, the cure, efpecially of the ophias, 
*Ss very difficult. If the part does not grow red by friftion, 
a cure is vainly attempted; but, in proportion as a rcdnefs 
Vol. I. No. 23. 
A L O 365 
appears readily on rubbing the part, the cure may be ex¬ 
pedited to be eafy and foon effedted. If a leprofy is the 
caufe, the cafe is incurable. The befit prognoftic is when 
hairs begin to pufti out on the edges of the areas. 
As to the cure, if any other difeafe attends, begin by 
removing it; which done, it often falls out that the alo¬ 
pecia, &rc. depending thereon, is removed alfo. Before 
the hair falls off, if ligns of the approaching difeafe at¬ 
tend, gentle repellents and corroborants may be ufed ; but 
if the difeafe is formed, repellents mult be omitted ; the 
head mu ft be fhaved, then walhed with ley in which is in¬ 
filled the abrotanum and fuch-like herbs, after which let 
the part be rubbed with a flannel or other coarfe cloth 
until the Ikin grows red; this done, applications of muf- 
tard, white lily roots, nitre, tar, the allies of fouthern- 
wood, maybe directed; or, wafh the head every night at 
going to bed with a ley prepared by boiling the allies of 
vine-branches in red wine. A powder made by reducing 
hermodactyls to fine flour, is alfo recoin mended for the 
fame purpofe. I11 cafes where the baldnefs is total, a 
quantity of the fined burdock-roots are to be bruifed in a 
marble mortar, and then boiled in white wine until there 
remains only as much as will cover them. This liquor, 
carefully drained oft', is faid to cure baldnefs, by walking 
the head every night with fome of it warm. A ley made 
by boiling allies of vine-branches in common water is alfo 
recommended with this intention. A frefh-cut onion, 
rubbed on the part until it be red and itch, is iikevvife 
faid to cure baldnefs. A multitude of fuch remedies are 
every where to be found in the works of Valefcus de Ta- 
ranta, Rondeletius, Hollerius, Trincavellius, Celfus, Se- 
nertay, and other practical phyficians. 
ALOPECU'RO-Veronica, f in botany. See MeW- 
tha. 
ALOPECU'ROS, f in botany. See Betonica. 
ALOPECU'RUS,y. [aXwTrsv.o; fox-tail.] In bo¬ 
tany, a genus of the triandria digynia clafs, ranking in the 
natural order of gramina or grades. The generic charac¬ 
ters are—Calyx : glume one-flowered, two-valved; valves 
ovate-lanceolate, concave, comprefled, equal, connate at 
the bale. Corolla : one-valved ; valve ovate-lanceolate, 
concave, the edges united at the bafe, a little fhorter than 
the calyx ; awn tw ice as long, with a bent joint, infertc-d 
into the back of the valve near the bafe. Stamina : fila¬ 
ments three, capillary, fiattifii at the bafe, longer than the 
calyx: anthene forked at each end. Piftillum: germ 
roundilh ; ftyles two, capillary, united at the bafe, longer 
than the calyx ; ftigmas villous. Pericarpium: none. Co¬ 
rolla inverting the feed. Seed ovate, covered.— Effential 
CharaBer. Calyx: two-valved. Corolla: one-valved. 
Species. 1. Alopecurus Indicus, or Indian fox-tail 
grafs : fpike cylindrical; involucres fetaceous, fafciculate, 
two- flowered ; peduncles villous. Native of the Eafi Indies. 
2. Alopecurus bulbofus, or bulbous fox-tail grafs : 
culm eredl, fpike cylindrical, root bulbous. Mr. Hudfon 
affirms, that this, planted in watery places, becomes the 
fame with flote fox-tail, No. 5. According to him, there¬ 
fore, it is only a variety, arifing from the difference of foil. 
3. Alopecurus pratenfis, or meadow fox-tail grafs: 
culm fpiked, eredt; glumes villous, corollas awnlefs. The 
meadow fox-tail grafs is a native of moft parts of Europe, 
from Italy, through France, Germany, Holland, Great 
Britain, to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Ruffia: alfo 
in Siberia. It is moft abundant in moift meadows, where 
the foil is good ; neither very wet nor dry grounds agree 
with it. Ray affirms, that it is extremely common all over 
England : in many counties it is by no means the predo¬ 
minant! grafs ; and in fome places it is even fcarce. About 
London, in the beft paftures, it is certainly very common. 
It is one of the earlieft of the grades, producing the fpike 
in Ap r d or May, with the vernal grafs and the ladies’ 
fmqck. It frequently flowers twice in one feafon, and 
therefore ftiould feem to be proper for fuch lands as will 
admit of a fecond crop being taken. It undoubtedly pof- 
5 A f files 
