Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/459

ALNWICK. was at an early period a fortified town, and some fragments of the ancient walls even yet remain. Alnwick Castlo, the residence of the dukes of Northumberland, stands at the north entrance of the town, and is considered one of the most magnificent baronial structures in England. During the Middle Ages it was a bulwark against the invasions of the .Scots, who thrice besieged it. Population, including Canongate, in 1891, about 6700; 1901, (5700. Consult: F. G. Hal- leck, Ahnrick Castle, and Other Poems (New York, 1836): O. H. Hartshorne, Alnwick, etc. (London. ISfiO). ALO'ADÆ, or ALO'IDÆ (Gk. AZurito, Aloadai, or 'A?^uet6ai, Aloeidai), Otus and Eph- lALTES. The sons of Aloeus, or of Poseidon, and Ipliimedea, wife of Aloeus. They were celebrated for their great size and extraordinary strength. Every year they grew an ell in breadth and a fathom in height, and at the end of nine years were thirty-six feet broad and fifty-four feet .30 feet. They have permanent succulent leaves. The negroes of the west coast of Africa make cords and nets of the fibres of their leaves, and stockings are woven from the fibres of a species found in Jamaica. Aloes are chiefly valuable for their medicinal properties, which are laxative, drastic, emmenagogue, and vermifuge. The well- known drug called Aloes (q.v. ) is the in- spissated juice of the leaves of several almost tree-like species, and particularly of Aloe soco- trina, a native of the island of Socotra; Aloe purpurescens. Aloe spicata. and Aloe arbores- cens, which principally yield the Cape aloes; Aloe arabiea. Aloe linguiformis, Aloe mitrifor- mis, and Aloe vera; which latter, found in the East and West Indies, in Italy, and in some of the islands of the Mediterranean, is the only species which can be reckoned European, al- though it also is probably an introduced plant. The extract prepared from. its leaves is known as Hepatic aloes, or as Barbadoes aloes. The

COMMON ALOES. high. They are fabled to have chained the god Ares, and to have kept him in a bronze cask for thirteen months. They also threatened the Olympian gods with war, and would have piled I'elion and Ossa on Olympus had they not been destroyed by Apollo before their beards were gi'own. It is further said that they fell in love, the one with Hera and the other with Artemis; but Artemis appearing to them in the form of a hind and running between them, they shot at the supposed animal and killed each other. They were worshiped as heroes in some places.

AL'OE, Lat. pron. al'o-e; Engl. pron. al'6 (Gk. aXoji, aloe). A genus of plants belonging to the natural order Liliacea>. The species are numerous, natives of warm countries, especially of the southern parts of Africa. About 50 miles from Cape Town is a mountainous tract completely covered with aloes, and the hills on the west side of Socotra exhibit them in similar profusion. The species vary in height from a few inches to Socotrine or Zanzibar aloes is the product of Aloe Perryi. The bitter principle of aloes has been called aloin. With oxygen aloin forms several compounds that possess acid properties. The juice of aloes was anciently used in embalming, to preserve dead bodies from putrefaction. In the East Indies it is eniplo3'ed as a varnish to prevent the attacks of insects; and has even been applied to bottoms of ships to protect them from marine worms. A beautiful violet color which does not require a mordant to fix it, is obtained from the leaves of the Socotrine aloe. It also affords a fine transparent color for minia- ture painting. Mohammedan pilgrims suspend an aloe over their doors on their return from Mecca, to signify that they have performed the pilgrimage. The American aloe is a different plant. See Agave, and Plate of Acacia.

A. L. O. E. The initials of "A Lady of England," the pseudonym of Charlotte Maria Tucker.