Al′lia, a small affluent of the Tiber, joining it about 12 miles from Rome, famous for the victory won by the Gauls, under Brennus, over the Roman army. This battle resulted in the capture and sack of Rome in 390 B.C.
Allia′ceous Plants, plants belonging to the genus Allium (ord. Liliaceæ), that to which the onion, leek, garlic, shallot, &c., belong, or to other allied genera, and distinguished by a certain peculiar pungent smell and taste characterized as alliaceous. This flavour is also found in a few plants having no botanical affinities with the above, as in the Alliaria officinālis, or Jack-by-the-hedge, a plant of the order Cruciferæ.
Alli′ance, a league between two or more Powers. Alliances are divided into offensive and defensive. The former are for the purpose of attacking a common enemy, and the latter for mutual defence. An alliance often unites both of these conditions. Offensive alliances, of course, are usually directed against some particular enemy; defensive alliances against anyone from
whom an attack may come. Among the more famous alliances in history are: The Triple Alliance of 1688 between Great Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands; The Grand Alliance of 1689 between the Emperor, Holland, England, Spain, and Saxony; The Quadruple Alliance of 1814 between Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia; The Triple Alliance of 1882 between Germany, Austria, and Italy; and The Dual Alliance between Russia and France.
Alliance, Holy. See Holy Alliance.
Alliance Israélite Universelle, an association founded in Paris in 1860 for the protection of the Jews all over the world, but particularly with a view to advocating by various means the emancipation of the Jews in those countries where they did not enjoy equal civil and political rights with the other inhabitants. It was established by six Jews of Paris: Aristide Astruc, Isidore Cahen, Jules Carvallo, Narcisse Leven, Eugène Manuel, and Charles Netter. Adolphe Crémieux and Salomon Munk were among the first presidents of the association. It is managed by a central committee resident in Paris, and consisting of 62 members, 23 of whom live in Paris. The Alliance has done a great deal towards raising the status of the Jews in the East by establishing educational institutions and industrial and agricultural schools, especially in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Persia, Bulgaria, Tunis, and Abyssinia. The chief sources of its income are the subscriptions and donations of the members. Its annual income amounts to about 200,000 francs. It also manages a fund of about £400,000 founded by Baron and Baroness de Hirsch for the establishment of Jewish Schools in Turkey. The Alliance Israélite works in unison with the Anglo-Jewish Association and the Board of Deputies in London, two organizations pursuing the same aims.
Allia′ria, a genus of plants, ord. Cruciferæ, containing two species, one of which (A. officinālis), commonly called Jack-by-the-hedge, is widely spread in Europe, and often used as a pot-herb. See Alliaceous Plants.
Al′libone, Samuel Austin, LL.D., American author, born 1816, died 1889. He compiled a most useful Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors (3 vols., 1859, 1870, 1871, containing 50,000 biographies, 2 vols. of supplement by J. F. Kirk, 1891).
Allice, a name of the common shad.
Allier (a˙l-lē-ā), a central department of France, intersected by the River Allier, and partly bounded by the Loire; its surface is diversified by offsets of the Cevennes and other ranges, rising in the south to over 4000 feet, and in general richly wooded. It has extensive beds of coal as well as other minerals, which are actively worked, there being several flourishing centres of mining and manufacturing enterprise; mineral waters at Vichy, Bourbon, L'Archambault, &c. Large numbers of sheep and cattle are bred. Area, 2848 sq. miles. Capital, Moulins. Pop. (1921), 370,950.—The River Allier flows northward for 200 miles through Lozère, Upper Loire, Puy de Dôme, and Allier, and enters the Loire, of which it is the chief tributary.