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ALE

certain Queries, concerning the Abuses of the Mass; also, aboutreceiving the Sacrament .

ALDROVANDA, a genus of the pentandria order, and penta-gvnia class of plants; there is but one species. •Calyx five-cleft;petals live; capsule iive-valved, with ten seeds. It is a native ofItaly and the Indies.

A LDROVAN DUS, Ulysses, professor of philosophy andphysic at Bologna , the place of his nativity. He was a most curiousinquirer into natural history, and travelled into the most distantcountries, on purpose to inform himself of their natural produc-tions. Minerals, plants, and animals, were the objects of. his cu-rious researches; but he applied himself chiefly to birds, and wasat a great expence to have figures of them drawn from the life ;this ruined his fortune, and at length reduced him to the utmostnecessity; so that it is said,- he died blind in an hospital at Bo-logna , at a great age, in 1(305. lie himself published his Historyof Birds, in 3 folio volumes, in 1599; and his 7 books of Insects ,which make another volume of the same size. One volume of Ser-pents ; three of Quadrupeds; one of Fishes; one of ExsanguinousAnimals ; a History of Monsters, with the Supplement to that ofAnimals; a Treatise of Metals; and the Dendrology , or Historyof Trees, were published at different times, after the death ofAldrovandus , under the rare of different persons: and Aldro-vandus is the sole author only of the lirst six volumes of this work,the rest having been finished and compiled by others, upon his plan,which is so extensive, that lie not only relates what he has readin naturalists, but remarks also what historians have written, le-gislators ordained, and poets feigned: explaining also the dilf'er-ent uses which may be made of the thing lie treats ot, in commonlife, in medicine, architecture, and other arts ; in short, he speaksof moralitv, proverbs, devices, riddles, hieroglyphics, and manyother things which relate to his subject.

ALDUAB1S, or ALDUASDUB1S, a branch of the Saone .It was also called Jiubis: now Ic Doux.

ALE, [talc, Sax.] a fermented liquor obtained from an in-fusion of malt, differing from beer chiefly in having a less propor-tion of hops. See Brewing. This liquor, the natural substituteof wine in such countries as could not produce the grape, wasoriginally made in Egypt, the first planted kingdom , on the dis-persion from the east, that was supposed unable to producegrapes, 'l he natives of Spain, the inhabitants of France , and theAborigines of Britain , all used an infusion of barley for their or-dinary liquor: and it was called by the various names of I'a liaand Ctriu in the lirst country, Ctrtvtsia in the second, and Cur-ini in the last; all literally importing only the strong Hater. Themethod in which the ancient Britons, and other Celtic nations,made their ale, is thus described by Isidores and Orosius : “ Thegrain is steeped in water and made to germinate, by which its spi-rits are excited and set at liberty ; it is then dried and grinded ;after which it is infused in a certain quantity of water; which be-jng fermented, becomes a pleasant, warming, strengthening, andintoxicating liquor.” This ale was most commonly' made of bar-ky ; but sometimes of wheat, oats, and millet. There are va-rious sorts of ale known in Britain , particularly pule and brown:B}e former is brewed from malt slightly dried; and is esteemed morev tsoid than the latter, which is made from malt more highly dried orroasted. Pale ale brewed with hard waters, such as those of pump"ells, is judged the most wholesome, in regard the mineral particlestl ‘nd to prevent the cohesion of those drawn from the grain, andenable them to pass the proper secretions the better; softer waters,

"i those of rivers, and rain, seem better suited to draw out the sub-stance of high-dried malts, which retain many igneous particles,best absorbed in a smooth-vehicle. In Staffordshire , thev havea secret of fining ale in a very short time. Plot conjectures it tone done by adding alum, or vinegar, in the working. Ale is“atulent ; and hence sometimes produces colics, and ttie cholerariiorbus: it is acescent; hut it does not produce calcareous dis-uses, as has been asserted. If malt liquor, of any degree ofstrength, is become flat and tarlish, as it is used, it should hedrawn out of the cask into a jug, in which as many drams of pow-dered chalk is put as there are to be pints of liquor; thus a newferment will be raised, and a sprightly taste will be restored tofne liquor, and its acidity will be destroyed. Tart liquors of this*.uid are apt to produce y dvsury, stranguary, or gonorrluca; in"hich cases, a small quantity of brandy may be taken. The con-sumption of ale in these kingdoms is incredible. It was com-

puted 30 years ago at the value of 4,000,000 yearly, includingGreat Britain and'Ireland. The duties on ale and beer were lirstimposed by the 12th ot Gar. II. and have been continued by se-veral subsequent acts of parliament to 1st Geo. III. which lays anadditional duty of 3d. per barrel. In the w hole, the brewer ofale and beer for sale shall pay 8s. for every barrel of either, aboveCs. a barrel; and for every barrel of 0s. or under, the sum of Is.4d. Additional duties were required in 1803.

Ale Gill, is that in which the dried leaves of gill or ground-ivy have been infused. It is esteemed abstersive and vulnerary,and consequently good in disorders of lire-breast and obstructionsof the viscera.

Alf. medicated, ale wherein medicinal herbs have been in-fused, or added during the fermentation.

ALEA, in antiquity, denotes in general all manner of gamesof chance; but, in a more restricted sense, was used for a parti-cular game played with dice and tables, not unlike our back-gammon.

Ai.ea, in the mythology, an epithet of Minerva.

ALEANDER , Jerome, cardinal and archbishop of Brindisi,was born in 14S0; and distinguished himself at the beginning ofthe Reformation, by the opposition lie made to Luther, againstwhose doctrines he declaimed three hours together, before thediet at Worms, hut could not prevent-that celebrated reformerbeing heard in that diet. He published several works, and diedat Rome in 1541.

ALEATORIUM, in Roman antiquity, the place where theyplayed at alea.

ALECONNER, [from ale and coil] an officer in the city ofLondon , whose business it is to inspect the measures of publichouses. Their places are now regarded only as sinecures for de-cay ed citizens.

ALEC'TO, in mythology, one of the three furies; the daugh-ter of Acheron and Night; or, as others have it, of Pluto andProserpine. She is represented with vipers about her head and herwings, and armed w ith scourges, and torches. See a line descrip-tion of this Fury in Virgil, iEn. viii.

ALECTOROMANTIA, in antiquity, a kind of divinationperformed by means of a cock.'

ALECTRA, in botany, a genus of the didynamia angiosper-mia class and order. Calyx two-lipped, upper lip cloven, lowerthree-deft; corolla funnel-shaped; capsule two-celled, with solitaryseeds. It has but one known species, indigenous at the Cape.

A-LEE, in sea-language, a term only used when the windpresses upon the masts and sales of a ship, so as to make her in-cline to the lee-side: hence, when the helm is moved over to thisside, it is said to he a-lee, or hard-a-lee.

ALEFCJ11MO, a district of the island Corfu .

ALEGAMBE, Philii-, a celebrated Jesuit , horn at Brussels in1 >92. lie distinguised himself hvpublishing a Bibliotheque of thewriters of his order, and died at Rome in lt>52.

A L EGER, an interior sort of vinegar, made of ale, or maltliquor, instead of w ine.

ALEGRETTE, a town of Portugal, in Alentejo , seven milesS. E. of I’ovt Allegre, Long. 7. -5. \Y. Lat. 39. ‘2. N.

ALF.UOOF, [from ale and hoot'd, head.] Ground-ivy, socalled by our Saxon ancestors, as being their chief ingredient inale. Six* Gi.ecfioma.

ALEHOUSE, a house where ale is publicly sold; a tipling-house. It is distinguished from a tavern, where thev sell wine.

ALE-HousEs.must be licensed by justices of the peace, whotake recognizances of the persons licensed, and of their sureties,viz. 11)1. each, that thev will not suffer unlawful gaming, norother disorderly practices in their houses. Everv person, except-ing those who sell ale in fairs, neglecting to procure a licence, isliable to a penalty of 40s. for the lirst otience, 41. for the second,and til. for the third, with all costs. The licence is granted on the1st September, or within 20 days after, at a general meeting ofthe justices tor the division to which he t dongs, upon his produ-cing a certificate to his character, unless, by'living ir a city ortown-corporate, this last circunutunce is dispensed with, and con-tinues in force for one year only. Alehouse-keepers, selling alein short measure, are liable to a penalty not exceeding 40s. andnot less than 10s.; and likewise to a line of 10s. for permittingtippling, See.

ALEI, a river in Asiatic Russia.

ALEIPIIAj