originally founded by evangelical members of the Church of England and Nonconformists acting in harmony, became during Allon’s co-pastorate definitely Congregational in principle and fellowship, and exercised an ever-expanding influence. His chief service to Nonconformity was in Connexion with the improvement of congregational worship, and especially the service of praise. In 1852 Dr. H. J. Gauntlett became organist at Union Chapel and conductor of a psalmody class. To meet the wants of this class, Allon published the original edition of his well-known Congregational Psalmist. For many years his collection of hymns, chants and anthems was used in hundreds of churches throughout England. In 1860 Allon began to write, at first chiefly for the Patriot, then under the editorship of T. C. Turbeville. In 1864, at the age of forty-five, he was elected chairman of the Congregational Union, and in 1866 he undertook the editorship of the British Quarterly Review with H. R. Reynolds, the principal of Cheshunt. In 1877 he became sole editor, and in that capacity came into touch with such men as W. E. Gladstone, Matthew Arnold, F. D. Maurice and Dean Stanley. The magazine was discontinued in 1886. In 1871 he received the degree of D.D. from the university of Yale, U.S.A. In 1874 the congregation at Islington decided to erect new buildings. The church, which was built at a cost of £50,000, was specially adapted for congregational worship and was mentioned by an architectural journal as one of the hundred remarkable buildings of the century. The church had in its various departments about 300 teachers in charge of more than 3000 children, and was in its organization one of the earliest instances of the type known as the institutional church. In 1881, on the occasion of the jubilee of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, Allon was again elected chairman. In March 1892 he died suddenly from heart failure. His books were A Memoir of James Sherman (1863); the Sermons of Thomas Binney, with a biographical and critical sketch (1869); The Vision of God and other sermons (1876); The Indwelling Christ (1892). Allon was a man of sound judgment, strong will, great moral courage and personal kindness. His acquaintance with literature was wide, his own style lucid and decisive. In social and political affairs he was a convinced individualist. Both as leader of Union Chapel and in denominational affairs his courage and discretion, his simple faith, combined with a broad-minded sympathy with the intellectual movements of the time, made his ministry a widespread influence for good. (D. Mn.)
ALLONGE (from Fr. allonger, to draw out), a slip of paper affixed to a negotiable instrument, as a bill of exchange, for the purpose of receiving additional indorsements for which there may not be sufficient space on the bill itself. An indorsement written on the allonge is deemed to be written on the bill itself. An allonge is more usually met with in those countries where the Code Napoléon is in force, as the code requires every indorsement to express the consideration. Under English law, as the simple signature of the indorser on the bill, without additional words, is sufficient to operate as a negotiation, an allonge is seldom necessary.
ALLOPHANE, one of the few minerals known only in the amorphous state. It is a glassy substance, usually occurring as thin encrustations with a mammillary surface; occasionally, however, it is earthy and pulverulent. The colour varies considerably, from colourless to yellow, brown, blue or green. Specimens of a brilliant sky-blue colour, such as those found formerly in Wheal Hamblyn, near Bridestowe in Devonshire, and in Sardinia, are specially attractive in appearance; the colour is here due to the presence of the copper mineral chrysocolla. The hardness is 3, and the specific gravity 1⋅9. Chemically, it is a hydrous aluminium silicate, Al2SiO5. 5H2O. Allophane is always of secondary origin, resulting from the decomposition of various albuminous silicates, such as felspar. It is often found encrusting fissures and cavities in mines, especially those of copper and iron. It was first observed in 1809 in marl at Gräfenthal, near Saalfeld in Thuringia; and has been found in some quantity in the chalk pits at Charlton in Kent, where it lines fissures and funnel-shaped cavities. The name allophane was given by F. Stromeyer in 1816, from the Gr. ἄλλος, another, and φαίνω, to appear, in allusion to the fact that the mineral crumbles and changes in appearance when heated before the blowpipe. Other names for the species are riemannite and elhuyarite, whilst closely allied minerals are carolathine, samoite and schrötterite (opal-allophane).
ALLORI, ALESSANDRO (1535–1607), Italian painter of the
Florentine school, was brought up and trained in art by his uncle,
Angelo Bronzino (q.v.) whose name he sometimes assumed in
his pictures. Visiting Rome in his nineteenth year, he carefully
studied the works of Michelangelo; but the influence of that
great master can only be traced in the anatomical correctness
of his drawing of nude figures. He was successful as a portrait
painter. His son Cristofano Allori (1577–1621), born at
Florence, received his first lessons in painting from his father,
but becoming dissatisfied with the hard anatomical drawing and
cold colouring of the latter, he entered the studio of Gregorio
Pagani (1558–1605) who was one of the leaders of that later
Florentine school which endeavoured to unite the rich colouring
of the Venetians with the correct drawing of Michelangelo’s
disciples. Allori became one of the foremost of this school.
His pictures are distinguished by their close adherence to nature
and the delicacy and technical perfection of their execution.
His technical skill is proved by the fact that several copies he
made after Correggio have been taken to be duplicates by
Correggio himself. His extreme fastidiousness limited his power
of production, though the number of his works is not so small
as is sometimes asserted. Several specimens are to be seen at
Florence and elsewhere. The finest of all his works is his “Judith
and Holofernes,” in the Pitti Palace. The model for the Judith
was his mistress, the beautiful Mazzafirra, who is also represented
in his Magdalene; and the head of Holofernes is generally
supposed to represent himself.
ALLOTMENT (from O. Fr. à and loter, to divide by lot), the act of allotting; a share or portion assigned. In England, the term denotes a portion of land assigned on partition or under an inclosure award (see Commons); also a division of land into small portions for cultivation by a labourer or artisan at a small rent (see Allotments and Small Holdings). In company law, “allotment” is the appropriation to an applicant by a resolution of the directors of a certain number of shares in response to an application. The document sent to such an applicant, which announces the number of shares assigned and concludes the contract, is called a letter of allotment or allotment certificate. A letter of allotment in England requires a sixpenny stamp if the value of the shares amounts to £5 or over, and a penny stamp if less than £5. (See Company.)
Allotment note is a writing by a seaman authorizing his employers to make an allotment of part of his wages, while he is on a voyage, in favour either of a “near” relative (wife, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, child, grandchild, brother or sister of the seaman), or of a savings bank. Every allotment note must be in a form sanctioned by the Board of Trade.
ALLOTMENTS AND SMALL HOLDINGS. As the meaning
of these terms in agricultural tenure varies in different localities, it may be as well to say at once that for the present purpose they are definable as pieces of land detached from cottages, and hired or owned by labouring men to supplement their main income. We do not include any farm, however small, from which the occupier derives his entire support by dairying, market-gardening, or other form of la petite culture. So, also, no account is taken of the tiny garden plot, used for growing vegetables for the table and simple flowers, which is properly an appurtenance of the cottage. Clearing away what is extraneous, the essential point round which much controversy has raged is the labourer’s share in the land. The claim advanced depends upon tradition. In agriculture, the oldest of all industries, a cash payment is not even now regarded as discharging the obligations between master and servant. Mr Wilson Fox, in reporting to the Board of Trade on the earnings of agricultural labourers in Great Britain, gives, as a typical survival of an old custom, the case of a shepherd whose total income was calculated at £60 a year, but who got
