nection between disease and destitution; and the famine of 1846, which was severe not only in Ireland but in the highlands of Scotland, confirmed in his eyes the lesson. On the former occasion he wrote ‘Observations on the Epidemic Fever in 1843 in Scotland, and its Connection with the Destitute Condition of the Poor,’ 1844. The ultimate triumph of his cause was the more satisfactory to him, that it implied a change in public opinion, and not merely improvements in legislation.
Other public questions which engaged Alison's attention were the best methods of registration, with a view to an act for the registration of births, deaths, and marriages in Scotland, and the reclamation of waste lands, a subject on which he wrote a dissertation (Edinburgh, 1850).
Such were the public works of Dr. Alison. A few words must be said of his character. He seems to have been one of those men whose moral superiority is such as to cause their intellectual powers to appear of secondary importance. Nevertheless, these powers were in Alison very considerable. His scientific works show a firm grasp of the subjects dealt with, and were conscientiously brought up to the state of knowledge at the time. He was a vigorous writer and an acute thinker. But his moral worth was what impressed his contemporaries most profoundly. His worst fault was that in works of charity he might carry generosity to an extreme. A characteristic remark of his was, ‘If we reserve our charity until we meet with human beings exempt from sinful propensities or indulgences on whom to bestow it, we may reserve it for the next world; for assuredly we shall not find fitting subjects for it in this.’
He wrote, besides works mentioned above:
- ‘On Vital Affinity’ (Trans. Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. xvi.).
- ‘Defence of the Doctrine of Vital Affinity’ (ibid. vol. xx.).
- ‘On the History of Medicine’ (Encyclopædia of Practical Medicine, London, 1834).
- ‘On Inflammation’ (Tweedie's Library of Medicine, vol. i. London, 1840).
- ‘Supplement to Outlines of Physiology,’ Edinburgh, 1836.
- ‘Reply to Dr. Chalmers's Objections to the Improvement of the Legal Provisions for the Poor in Scotland,’ 1841.
- ‘Remarks on a Report on the Poor Law for Scotland,’ 1844; and several other pamphlets on that subject.
- ‘Observations on the Famine of 1846–7 in Scotland and Ireland’ (Blackwood's Magazine, 1847).
- ‘Letter to Sir John McNeill, G.C.B., on Highland Destitution,’ Edinburgh, 1851.
He was likewise the author of numerous papers on Physiology, Pathology, and the Etiology of Disease, in ‘Edinburgh Medical and Chirurgical Transactions,’ ‘Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,’ ‘Monthly Journal of Medicine,’ ‘London British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review,’ ‘London Statistical Journal.’
[Medical Directory for Scotland, 1856, &c.; Edinburgh Medical Journal, November 1859, p. 469, and January 1860, p. 597.]
ALKEN, HENRY (fl. 1816–1831), draftsman and engraver, is said to have been originally huntsman, stud-groom, or trainer to the Duke of Beaufort. His earliest productions were published anonymously under the signature of ‘Ben Tallyho;’ but in 1816 he issued with his name ‘The Beauties & Defects in the Figure of the Horse comparatively delineated.’ From this date until about 1831 he produced many sets of etchings of sporting subjects, mostly coloured, and sometimes humorous in character, the principal of which were ‘Humorous Specimens of Riding,’ 1821-3; ‘Symptoms of being amazed,’ 1822; ‘Symptoms of being amused,’ 1822; ‘Flowers from Nature,’ 1823-5; ‘A Touch at the Fine Arts,’ 1824; and ‘Ideas,’ 1830. Besides these, he published in 1821 ‘The National Sports of Great Britain,’ ‘Illustrations for Landscape Scenery,’ and ‘Scraps from the Sketch-Book of Henry Alken;’ in 1823, ‘New Sketch-Book;’ in 1824, ‘Sporting Scrap-Book’ and ‘Shakespeare's Seven Ages;’ in 1827, ‘Sporting Sketches;’ and, in 1831, ‘Illustrations to Popular Songs’ and ‘Illustrations of Don Quixote,’ the latter engraved by John Christian Zeitter. The fertility of Alken's pencil was amazing; but the idea of it might be fictitiously enhanced if the fact were not borne in mind that he left two or three sons——one of whom was named Henry——all artists, and all sporting artists, who have been incessantly painting, lithographing, aquatinting, and etching for the sporting publishers and for private patrons of the turf. In all Alken's works there is a freedom of handling and a happy choice of subject which rendered them very popular in their day. One of his drawings in water-colours, ‘Fox-Hunting,’ is in the South Kensington Museum.
[Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. xi. 516, xii. 155; Blackwood's Edin. Mag. 1824, xv. 219; Alken's works in Print-Room, British Museum.]
ALKEN, SAMUEL (fl. 1780–1796), was a draughtsman and engraver, and his aquatint engravings are of high merit. Alken produced plates after Morland, Richard Wil-
