Various methods of preserving this valuable liquor from turning sour on long voyages, have been proposed; of which the following appears to be the most effectual: it was first published by Dr. Stubbs, in the 27th Number of the Philosophical Transactions. For its discovery we are indebted to an ale-seller at Deal; and it was tried with success in a voyage to Jamaica—"To every runlet of five gallons, after being placed in a cask on ship-board, not to be stirred any more, put in two new-laid eggs whole, and let them lie in it; in a fortnight, or little more, the whole egg shells will be dissolved, and the become like, wind-eggs, inclosed only in a thin skin; after this, the white is preyed on, but the yolks are not touched or corrupted, by which means the ale was so well preserved, that it was found better at Jamaica than at Deal."
ALE-HOUSE, a public place of resort for drinking ale or beer.—Houses of this description are licensed by justices of the peace, who take recognizance of the landlord, and sureties in ten pounds each, that he will suffer no unlawful gaming, nor other disorderly practices in his house.—This license is renewed every year, upon producing a certificate of his character and conduct. Any person neglecting to procure a license, is liable to certain penalties, adequate to the frequency of the offence.
The utility of ale-houses has been much questioned; they certainly, in some degree, encourage habits of intemperance and dissipation; yet, we must acknowledge, that by the subsistence which they afford to a considerable part of the community, the facility with which they enable those who cannot brew for themselves, to procure their liquors at intervals, and in small quantities; and the social relaxation they procure for the weary traveller, as well as the industrious peasant, they materially contribute to the ease and enjoyment of a portion of society, over whom the moralist may be safely allowed to exert the sober influence of persuasion, but with whose amusements the legislature should cautiously interfere.
ALIMENT. By this term is understood the nutritive quality of such substances as are dissolved and mixed in the stomach, and converted into chyle, by the digestive process. It may be considered rather as the consequence of food taken by a healthy individual, than as an article of food itself; for all kinds of animal and vegetable bodies do not furnish an alimentary supply, or at least, not in the same proportion.
Of those articles which afford it in the highest degree, animal food is the principal; being most easily digested, and furnishing a greater quantity of that milky fluid, called chyle. For this purpose, however, a due mixture of vegetables must be added, in order to correct its high luxuriance, and to render it more congenial to our nature.
Fresh air is one of those agents which are necessary to the digestion of food, and the consequent production of aliment: as, without a renewal of this salutary medium, the most wholesome diet will be productive of but little benefit.
It is asserted that substances have been discovered, which have enabled men to exist without proper food, for a considerable length of time: and as a proof of this assertion, the following instance of an extraordinary powder, which was given to six pensioners of the Royal Hospital of Invalids at Paris, is re-
