Allied Powers or Allies Nations allied in opposition to the Central Powers in World War I or to the Axis Powers in World War II. The origi¬ nal Allies in World War I—the British Empire, France, and the Russian Empire—were later joined by many other countries, including Portugal, Japan, and Italy. Other nations joining the Allies, including the U.S. after 1917, were called Associated Powers, a term emphasized by Pres. Woo¬ drow Wilson to preserve the U.S.’s free hand in the war. In World War II the major Allied Powers were Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the U.S., and China. More generally, the Allies included all the wartime members of the United Nations, the 1942 signatories to the Declaration of the UN.
alligator Either of two species of long-snouted reptiles constituting the genus Alligator (family Alligatoridae, order Crocodilia). Alligators differ from crocodiles in snout shape and tooth placement. Living in large bod¬ ies of water such as lakes, swamps, and rivers, these lizardlike carnivores use their powerful tail for defense and swimming. The eyes, ears, and nostrils, located on top of the long head, project above the water’s sur¬ face. Alligators dig burrows in which they shelter from danger and hiber¬ nate in cold weather. The once-endangered American alligator of the southeastern U.S. may grow to 19 ft (5.7 m) long but usually ranges from 6 to 12 ft (1.8 to 3.7 m) long. The Chinese alligator of the Chang (Yangtze) River region, which grows to 5 ft (1.5 m), is critically endangered.
Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
P. MORRIS/WDODFIN CAMP AND ASSOCIATES
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Allingham ► Almaty I 51
Allingham Val-iq-snA, Margery (Louise) (b. May 20, 1904, Lon¬ don, Eng.—d. June 30, 1966, Colchester, Essex) British detective-story writer. She published her first story at age 8, her first novel at 19, and her first detective story in her early 20s. Her stories about the fictional detec¬ tive Albert Campion became very popular, and such novels as Tiger in the Smoke (1952) and The China Governess (1962), with their intellectual style and psychological insight, helped win detective fiction consideration as a serious literary genre. The BBC produced adaptations of eight of her novels in the late 1980s.
alliteration or head rhyme Repetition of consonant sounds in two or more neighbouring words or syllables. A frequently used poetic device, it is often discussed with assonance (the repetition of stressed vowel sounds within two or more words with different end consonants) and con¬ sonance (the repetition of end or medial consonants).
allium Any plant of a large genus ( Allium ) of bulbous, onion- or garlic- scented herbs of the lily family, including the onion, garlic, chive, leek, and shallot. Allium species are found in most regions of the world except the tropics and New Zealand and Australia. Some are cultivated as ornamen¬ tal border plants.
allocation of resources Apportionment of productive assets among different uses. The issue of resource allocation arises as societies seek to balance limited resources (capital, labour, land) against the various and often unlimited wants of their members. Mechanisms of resource alloca¬ tion include the price system in free-market economies and government planning, either in state-run economies or in the public sectors of mixed economies. The aim is always to allocate resources in such a way as to obtain the maximum possible output from a given combination of resources.
Allosaurus X.al-o-'sor-osV Large carnivorous dinosaur of a group simi¬ lar to the tyrannosaurs, found as fossils primarily in Late Jurassic rocks of North America. It weighed 2 tons (1,800 kg) and grew to 35 ft (10.5 m) long. Its well-developed tail, half of its total body length, probably functioned as a counterbalance for the body. Allosaurus walked on its two hind limbs and probably used the much smaller forelimbs for grasping. Equipped with powerful, flexible jaws, allosaurs likely preyed on medium-sized dinosaurs; they were possibly scavengers that hunted in groups. Some related allosaurs ( Giganotosaurus, Carcharodonotosaurus) may have been larger than Tyrannosaurus rex.
allosteric control \,a-lo-'ster-ik\ Inhibition or activation of an enzyme by a small regulatory molecule that interacts with the enzyme at a site (allosteric site) other than the active site (at which catalytic activity occurs). The interaction changes the shape of the enzyme, thus affecting the active site of the usual complex between the enzyme and its substrate (the substance on which the enzyme acts). As a result, the enzyme’s abil¬ ity to catalyze a reaction (see catalysis) is either inhibited or enhanced. If the regulatory molecule inhibits an enzyme in the pathway of its own synthesis, the control is said to be feedback inhibition. Allosteric control enables the cell to regulate needed substances rapidly.
allotrope Va-lo-.tropX Any of two or more forms of the same chemical element. They may have different arrangements of atoms in crystals of the solid—for example, graphite and diamond for carbon —or different num¬ bers of atoms in their molecules —for example, ordinary oxygen (0 2 ) and ozone (0 3 ). Other elements that have allotropes include tin, sulfur, anti¬ mony, ARSENIC, SELENIUM, and PHOSPHORUS.
alloy Metallic substance composed of two or more elements, as either a mixture, compound, or solid solution. The components of alloys are ordi¬ narily themselves metals, though carbon is an essential nonmetal compo¬ nent of steel. Alloys are usually produced by melting the mixture of ingredients. The value of alloys was discovered in very ancient times; brass (copper and zinc) and bronze (copper and tin) were especially impor¬ tant. Today the most important are the alloy steels, which have a wide range of special properties, including hardness, toughness, corrosion resis¬ tance, magnetizability, and workability.
Allport, Gordon W(illard) (b. Nov. 11, 1897, Montezuma, Ind., U.S.—d. Oct. 9, 1967, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. psychologist. He taught at Harvard University (1930-67), becoming noted for his theory of per¬ sonality, which focused on the adult self rather than on childhood or infantile emotions and experiences, set forth in books such as Personal¬ ity (1937). In The Nature of Prejudice (1954) he made important contri¬ butions to the analysis of prejudice.
allspice Tropical evergreen tree ( Pimento dioica) of the myrtle family, native to the West Indies and Central America and valued for its berries, the source of a highly aromatic spice.
Allspice was so named because the flavour of the dried berry resembles a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It is widely used in bak¬ ing. The name is applied to several other aromatic shrubs as well, including Carolina allspice ( Caly - canthus floridus ), Japanese allspice (Chimonanthus praecox), and wild allspice, or spicebush.
Allston, Washington (b. Nov. 5, 1779, Allston plantation. Brook Green Domain on Waccamaw River, S.C., U.S.—d. July 9, 1843, Cam- bridgeport, Mass.) U.S. painter and writer. He studied at Harvard Uni¬ versity and at London’s Royal Academy (with Benjamin West). He settled in Massachusetts in 1830 and became the most important first-generation U.S. Romantic painter. His large landscapes depict the mysterious and dramatic aspects of nature. He later relied on mood and reverie in smaller, more dreamlike images. He also wrote poetry and fiction, and his theo¬ ries on art were published posthumously as Lectures on Art (1850).
alluvial deposit Material deposited by rivers. It consists of silt, sand, clay, and gravel, as well as much organic matter. Alluvial deposits are usually most extensive in the lower part of a river’s course, forming floodplains and deltas, but they may form at any point where the river overflows its banks or where the flow of a river is checked. They yield very fertile soils, such as those of the deltas of the Mississippi, Nile, Ganges and Brahmaputra, and Huang (Yellow) rivers. They contain most of the world’s supply of tin ore, as well as, in some regions, gold, plati¬ num, and gemstones.