VO 
rere 
| In potassa. 
120 ALKANET. 
as the greater number of the vegetable acids. The 
alkaloids have the same general properties as 
the alkalies; they bear a considerable resem- 
blance to one another in both ccnstitution and 
chemical action ; they consist of various, though 
in each instance, definite proportions of carbon, 
hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; they have a 
chemical behaviour similar to that of ammonia ;. 
they combine with the hydrates of the oxacids, 
and, when deprived of their water of crystalliza- 
tion, they fix the hydracids without losing weight; 
they are, for the most part, either but slightly 
soluble, or not soluble at all, in water; yet all 
are soluble in alcohol; and some of them are 
sufficiently volatile to be capable of distillation. 
Among the most remarkable are morphia and 
narcotine, found in opium ; quina and cinchonia, 
in Peruvian bark ; atropia, in deadly nightshade ; 
digitalia, in foxglove ; hyoscyamia, in henbane ; 
picrotoxia, in Coceulus Indicus ; solania, in woody 
nightshade ; strychnia, in Vue vomica ; and vera- 
tria, in white hellebore. The curious reader willfind 
full notices of these, and of many more, in Thom- 
son’s Vegetable Chemistry. The alkaloids have 
been very extensively adopted into medical prac- 
tice, and already make a prominent figure, and 
play a powerful part, as drugs. 
ALKANET, or Buatoss,—botanically Anchusa. 
A genus of herbaceous plants of the Borage tribe. 
The number of species is twelve; and of these, 
the common and the evergreen are natives of 
Great Britain, the panicled is from Madeira, the 
Cape from the Cape of Good Hope, the pale- 
flowered from the Caucasus, the Italian, the nar- 
row-leaved and Barrelier’s, from the south of 
Hurope, the rock from Siberia, the wave-leaved 
from Spain, the dyer’s from the south of France, 
and the pink from the Levant. ‘The evergreen, 
the common, the Cape, and the narrow-leaved, 
are evergreen; and all the others are deciduous. 
The panicled, the Cape, and the Italian, are bien- 
nials; and all the others are perennials. The 
Cape is a greenhouse plant, and all the others 
are hardy. All the species are ornamental plants. 
The dyer’s—A nchusa tenctoria—is used by British 
druggists for colouring drugs, by British vintners 
for colouring and flavouring adulterated wines, 
and by the inhabitants of the south of France for 
colouring alcohol, wax, oils, and unguents. The 
common—A nehusa officinalis—grows wild in Kent 
and Cornwall, but is cultivated as a garden plant 
in other counties. It flowers from June till 
autumn ; and its roots, in their dormant or ripe 
state, arered and astringent. Asanalyzed by John, 
it gave 5:5 colouring matter, 6°5 gum, 1:0 soluble 
extractive matter, 65°0 extractive deposit soluble 
This plant has a close resemblance, 
in its properties, to borage; and it abounds in 
honey, and is very attractive to bees. The her- 
balists say that an ointment made from its roots 
is good for bruises ; that a decoction of the whole 
plant, mixed with honey, and taken in large 
ALL-HEAL. 
kidneys ; that a hot decoction of it in beer is 
good for measles and small-pox ; that its leaves, 
applied with honey and meal, heal luxations ; 
that the leaves and the root in wine correct dis- 
orders of the womb ; and that an infusion of the 
leaves and of hyssop kills intestinal worms. The 
colouring matter is after all the only important 
principle in this plant. 
ALLANTOIC FLUID. The space between 
the allantois and amnium of most mammalia 
contains the urine of the foetus, called the allan- 
toic fluid. The allantoic fluid of the cow con- 
tains allantoine, albumen, lactate of alkali, am- 
monia, phosphates, and common salt. Alcohol 
extracts allantoine and a yellowish brown sub- 
stance ; the former is obtained by evaporation and 
crystallization. 
urea. 
ALLEY. The vacant space between two par- 
allel beds of corn; also a straight walk in gar- 
dens or pleasure-grounds, and between two rows 
or ranges of shrubs or trees. 
ALL-HALLOWS, or Aut-Satnts. An ecclesi- 
astical festival in honour of the whole hierarchy 
of Romish saints; and, by a metonymy, the first 
day of November, that being the day on which 
the festival is held. All-Hallows is the old Eng- | 
lish form of the name; and is still extensively, 
though not classically, inuse. High mass having 
been appointed in the church of Rome as a chief | 
feature in the observance of the festival, the | 
name all-hallows took the form of all-hallowmas, | 
in exactly the same manner as the festivals in 
honour of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the arch- 
angel Michael, took the names of Christmas and 
Michaelmas; and this designation, all-hallowmas 
—sometimes in the abbreviated form of hallowmas | 
—is still retained in the popular phraseology of | 
the northern counties of England. The original | 
festival decidedly appears to have been heathen ; 
and it was transferred to the church of Rome on 
occasion of the Roman Pantheon, or temple of | 
all the pagan deities at Rome, being set apart to 
the purposes of Roman Catholic worship, and 
dedicated to the whole hierarchy of Roman Cath- 
olic saints. The eve of the festival, or the 31st 
day of October, usually called All-Halloweven, or 
abbreviatedly Hallowe’en, has long been regarded 
by the rural population of Great Britain as one | 
of the greatest epochs of the year, and observed | 
with many rejoicings as a sort of general harvest 
home, and with not a few curious, superstitious, 
heathenish, and most censurable rites as a sea- 
son for prying into futurity. Some of the ob- 
servances in England amount to little more than 
cheerful merry-making; but most of those in 
Scotland are an outrage upon common sense, 
upon good morals, and upon the Christian reli- 
gion. 
ALL-HEAL, or Grnsrene,—botanically Panar. 
A genus of plants of the Angelica-tree tribe. The 
number of species is probably about sixteen ; but 
| doses, cures jaundice, ague, and diseases of the only four seem to have been introduced to Bri- 
It has not been examined for 
