[Alimentary canal], a passage 5 or 6 times the length of the body, lined throughout with mucous membrane, extends from the mouth to the anus, and includes mouth, fauces, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines.
[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.