ALISON, ARCHIBALD, an Episcopal clergyman in Edinburgh, of which he
was a native, best known for his "Essay on the Nature and Principles of
Taste" (1757-1839).

ALISON, SIR ARCHIBALD, son of the preceding, a lawyer who held
several prominent legal appointments, and a historian, his great work
being a "Modern History of Europe from the French Revolution to the Fall
of Napoleon," afterwards extended to the "Accession of Louis Napoleon"
(1792-1867).

ALISON, W. PULTENEY, brother of the preceding, professor of medicine
in Edinburgh University, and a philanthropist (1790-1859).

ALIWAL`, a village in the Punjab, on the Sutlej, where Sir Harry
Smith gained a brilliant victory over the Sikhs, who were provided with
forces in superior numbers, in 1846.

AL`KAHEST, the presumed universal solvent of the alchemists.

ALKALIES, bodies which, combining with acids form salts, are soluble
in water, and properly four in number, viz., potash, soda, lithia, and
ammonia.

ALKALINE EARTHS, earths not soluble in water, viz., lime, magnesia,
strontia, and baryta.

ALKALOIDS, bodies of vegetable origin, similar in their properties,
as well as toxicologically, to alkalies; contain as a rule carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; many of them are poisonous and invaluable
in medicine.

ALKMAAR` (14), the capital of N. Holland, 25 m. NW. of Amsterdam,
with a large trade in cattle, grain, and cheese.

ALKMER, HENRIK VAN, the reputed author of the first German version
of "Reynard the Fox."

ALL THE TALENTS, ADMINISTRATION OF, a ministry formed by Lord
Grenville on the death of Pitt in 1806.

AL`LAH, the Adorable, the Arab name for God, adopted by the
Mohammedans as the name of the one God.

ALLAHABAD` (175), the City of God, a central city of British India,
on the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna, 550 m. from Calcutta, and
on the railway between that city and Bombay.

ALLAN, DAVID, a Scottish portrait and historical painter, born at
Alloa; illustrated Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd"; his greatest work is the
"Origin of Painting," now in the National Gallery at Edinburgh
(1744-1796).

ALLAN, SIR WILLIAM, a distinguished Scottish historical painter,
born at Edinburgh, many of his paintings being on national subjects; he
was a friend of Scott, who patronised his work, and in succession to
Wilkie, president of the Royal Scottish Academy; painted "Circassian
Captives" and "Slave-Market at Constantinop