grandfather on the father's side was a British subject, may
claim the same character unless at the time of his birth
his father was an attainted traitor, or in the service of
a state engaged in war against the British empire (4th Geo.
II. c. 21). Owing to this exceptional provision some sons of
Jacobite refugees born abroad, who joined in the rebellion of
1745, were admitted to the privilege of prisoners of war.
It has been enacted in the United Kingdom with regard to the
national status of women and children that a married woman
is to be deemed a subject of the state of which her husband
is for the time being a subject; that a natural-born British
woman, having become an alien by marriage, and thereafter
being a widow, may be rehabilitated under conditions slightly
more favourable than are required for naturalization; that
where a father or a widow becomes an alien, the children in
infancy becoming resident in the country where the parent
is naturalized, and being naturalized by the local law,
are held to be subjects of that country; that those of a
father or of a widow readmitted to British nationality or
who obtains a certificate of naturalization, becoming during
infancy resident with such parent in the British dominions
in the former case or in the United Kingdom in the latter,
become readmitted or naturalized (Naturalization Act 1870,
s. 10). The nationality of children not covered by these
enactments is not affected by the change of their parents'
nationality. The same statute provides that a declaration of
alienage before a justice of peace or other competent judge,
having the effect of divesting the declarant of the character
of a British subject, may be made by a naturalized British
subject desiring to resume the nationality of the country
to which he originally belonged, if there be a convention
to that effect with that country; by natural-born subjects
who were also born subjects of another state according to
its law; or by persons born abroad having British fathers.
Naturalization, which means conferring the character of a subject,
may now, under the act of 1870, be obtained by applying to the
home secretary and producing evidence of having resided for not
less than five years in the United Kingdom, or of having been
in the service of the crown for not less than five years, and
of intention to reside in the United Kingdom or serve under the
crown. Such a certificate may be granted by the secretary
of state to one naturalized previously to the passing of the
act, or to a British subject as to whose nationality a doubt
exists, or to a statutory alien, i.e. one who has become
an alien by declaration in pursuance of the act of 1870.
In the United States the separate state laws largely determine
the status of an alien, but subject to Federal treaties. (For
further particulars see ALLEGIANCE and NATURALIZATION.)
Many of the disabilities to which aliens were subject in the
United Kingdom, either by the common law or under various acts
of parliament, have been repealed by the Naturalization Act
1870. It enables aliens to take, acquire, hold and dispose
of real and personal property of every description, and to
transmit a title to it, in all respects as natural-born British
subjects. But the act expressly declares that this relaxation of
the law does not qualify aliens for any office or any municipal,
parliamentary or other franchise, or confer any right of a
British subject other than those above expressed in regard to
property, nor does it affect interests vested in possession
or expectancy under dispositions made before the act, or by
devolution of law on the death of any one dying before the
act. A ship, any share in which is owned by an alien, shall
not be deemed a British ship (Merchant Shipping Act 1894, s.
i.) By the Juries Act 1870, s. 8, aliens who have been domiciled
for ten years in England or Wales, if in other respects duly
qualified, are liable to serve on juries or inquests in England
or Wales; and by the Naturalization Act 1870, s. 5, the ahens'
old privilege of being tried by a jury de medietate linguae
(that is, of which half were foreigners), was abolished.
It seems to be a rule of general public law that an alien
can be sent out of the realm by exercise of the crown's
prerogative; but in modern English practice, whenever it seems
necessary to expel foreigners (see EXPULSION), a special
act of parliament has to be obtained for the purpose, unless
the case falls within the extradition acts or the Aliens Act
1905. The latter prohibits the landing in the United Kingdom
of undesirable alien steerage passengers, called in the act
``immigrants,'' from ships carrying more than twenty alien
steerage passengers, called in the act ``immigrant ships'';
nor can alien immigrants be landed except at certain ports
at which there is an ``immigrant officer,'' to whom power of
prohibiting the landing is given, subject to a right of appeal
to the immigration board of the port. The act contains a number
of qualifications, and among these empowers the secretary of
state to exempt any immigrant ship from its provisions if he
is satisfied that a proper system is maintained to prevent
the immigration of undesirable persons. The principal test of
undesirableness is not having or being in a position to obtain
the means of supporting one's self and one's dependents, or
appearing likely from disease or infirmity to become a charge
on the rates, provided that the immigrant is not seeking to
avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political
grounds, or persecution, involving danger of imprisonment
or danger to life or limb, on account of religious belief.
Lunatics, idiots, persons who from disease or infirmity
appear likely to become a detriment to the public otherwise
than through the rates, and persons sentenced in a foreign
country for crimes for which they could be surrendered to that
country, are also enumerated as undesirable. Power is also
given to the secretary of state to expel persons sentenced
as just mentioned, or, if recommended by the court in which
they have been convicted, persons convicted of felony or some
offence for which the court has power to impose imprisonment
without the option of a fine, or of certain offences against
the police laws; and persons in receipt of any such parochial
relief as disqualifies for the parliamentary franchise, or
wandering without ostensible mean of subsistence, or living
under insanitary conditions due to overcrowding. (JNO. W.)
ALIENATION (from Lat. alienus, belonging to another), the
act or fact of being estranged, set apart or separated. In
law the word is used for the act of transfer of property by
voluntary deed and not by inheritance. In regard to church
property the word has come to mean, since the Reformation, a
transfer from religious to secular ownership. ``Alienation''
is also used to denote a state of insanity (q.v..)
ALIEN-HOUSES, religious houses in England belonging to
foreign ecclesiastics, or under their control. They generally
were built where property had been left by the donors to
foreign orders to pray for their souls. They were frequently
regular ``priories,'' but sometimes only ``cells,'' and even
``granges,', with small chapels attached. Some, particularly
in cities, seem to have been a sort of mission-houses.
There were more than 100 in England. Many alien-houses
were suppressed by Henry V. and the rest by Henry VIII.
ALIENIST (Lat. alienus, that which belongs to another,
i.e. is external to one's self), one who specializes
in the study of mental diseases, which are often included
in the generic name ``Alienation.'' (See INSANITY.)
ALIGARH, a city and district of British India in the Meerut
division of the United Provinces. The city, also known as
Koil, was a station on the East Indian railway, 876 m. from
Calcutta. Sir Sayad Ahmad Khan, K.C.S.I., who died in 1898,
founded in 1864 the Aligarh Institute and Scientific Society
for the translation into the vernacular of western literature;
and afterwards the Mahommedan Anglo-Oriental College, under
English professors, with an English school attached. The
college meets with strong support from the enlightened portion
of the Mussulman community, whose aim is to raise it to the
status of a university, with the power of conferring degrees.
The population (1901) 70,434, showed an increase of 14% in the
decade. There are several flour-mills, cotton-presses and a dairy
farm. Aligarh Fort, situated on the Grand Trunk road, consists
of a regular polygon, surrounded by a very broad and deep
ditch. It became a fortress of great importance under Sindhia
in 1759, and was the depot where he drilled and organized
his battalions in the European fashion with the aid of De
Boigne. It was captured from the Mahrtatas under the
leadership of Perron, another French officer, by Lord Lake's
army, in September 1803, since which time it has been much
strengthened and improved. In the rebellion of 1857 the
troops stationed at Aligarh mutinied, but abstained from
murdering their officers, who, with the other residents
and ladies and children, succeeded in reaching Hathras.
The district of Aligarh has an area of 1857 sq. m. It is
nearly a level plain, but with a slight elevation in the centre,
between the two great rivers the Ganges and Jumna. The only
other important river is the Kali Nadi, which traverses the
entire length of the district from north-east to south-west.
The district is traversed by several railways and also by the
Ganges canal, which is navigable. The chief trading centre is
Hathras. In 1901 the population was 1,200,822, showing an
increase of 15% in the decade, due to the extension of irrigation.
There are several factories for ginning and pressing cotton.
ALIGNMENT (from Fr. a and ligne, the Lat. linea, a
line), a setting in line, generally straight, or the way
in which the line runs; an expression used in surveying,
drawing, and in military arrangements, the alignment of
a regiment or a camp meaning the situation when drawn
up in line or the relative position of the tents. The
alignment of a rifle has reference to the way of getting the
sights into line with the object, so as to aim correctly.
ALIMENT (from Lat. aliment-um, from alere to nourish),
a synonym for ``food,'' literally or metaphorically.
The word has also been used in the same legal sense as
ALIMONY (q.v..) Aliment, in Scots law, is the sum paid
or allowance given in respect of the reciprocal obligation
of parents and children, husband and wife, grandparents and
grandchildren, to contribute to each other's maintenance.
The term is also used in regard to a similar obligation
of other parties, as of creditors to imprisoned debtors,
the payments by parishes to paupers, &c. Alimentary funds,
whether of the kind above mentioned, or set apart as such
by the deed of a testator, are intended for the mere support
of the recipient, and are not attachable by creditors.
ALIMENTARY CANAL, in anatomy. The alimentary canal, strictly
speaking, is the whole digestive tract from the mouth to the
anus. From the one orifice to the other the tube is some
25 to 30 ft. long, and the food, in its passage, passes
through the following parts one after the other:--mouth,
pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, small intestines, caecum, large
intestines, rectum and anus. Into this tube at various
points the salivary glands, liver and pancreas pour their
secretions by special ducts. As the mouth (q.v.) and
pharynx (q.v.) are separately described, the detailed
