WILLIAM, an eminent botanist and gardener, was born at a village near Hamilton in Scotland in 1731. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to England in the year 1754, and soon obtained the notice of the celebrated Philip Miller, then superintendent of the physic garden at Chelsea, who engaged him as an assistant. His industry and abilities recommended him to the princess-dowager of Wales as a fit person to manage the botanical garden at Kew. In 1759 he was appointed to this office, in which he continued during life, and which was the source of his fame and fortune. The garden at Kew, under the auspices of his Majesty George III., was destined to be the grand repository of all the vegetable riches which could be accumulated by regal munificence, from researches through every quarter of the globe. These treasures were fortunately committed to the hands of Mr Aiton, whose care and skill in their cultivation, and intelligence in their arrangement, acquired him high reputation among the lovers of the science, and the particular esteem of his royal patrons. Under his superintendence many improvements took place in the plan and edifices of Kew gardens, which rendered them the principal scene of botanical culture in the kingdom. In 1783 his merit was properly rewarded with the lucrative office of managing the pleasure and kitchen gardens of Kew, which he was allowed to retain with the botanical department. In 1789 he published his *Hortus Kewensis*, or a Catalogue of the Plants cultivated in the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew, in 3 vols. 8vo, with 13 plates; a work which had been the labour of many years. The number of species contained in this work amounted to between five and six thousand, many of which had not before been described. A new and curious article in it relates to the first introduction of particular exotics into the English gardens. The system of arrangement adopted is the Linnean, with improvements, which the advanced state of botanical science required. Mr Aiton, with candour and modesty, acknowledges the assistance he received in this work from the two Swedish naturalists, Dr Solander and Mr Jonas Dryander. Indeed, his character was such as secured him the friendship and good offices of the most distinguished names in science of his time. He was for many years honoured with the friendship of Sir Joseph Banks, the president of the Royal Society. The *Hortus Kewensis* was received with avidity by the botanic world, and a large impression was soon disposed of. The best edition is in 5 vols.

Notwithstanding his great activity and temperance, Mr Aiton fell into that incurable malady, a scirrhus liver, of which he died in 1793, in his 62d year. His eldest son, devoted to the same pursuits, was, by the king's own nomination, appointed to all his father's employments. Mr Aiton's private character was highly estimable for mildness, benevolence, piety, and every domestic and social virtue. He was interred in the churchyard of Kew.

**Aius Locutius**, the name of a deity to whom the Romans erected an altar. The following circumstance gave occasion to this. One M. Ceditius, a plebeian, acquainted the tribunes that, in walking the streets by night, he had heard a voice over the temple of Vesta announcing to the Romans that the Gauls were coming against them. The intimation was, however, neglected; but after the truth was confirmed by the event, Camillus acknowledged this voice to be a new deity, and erected an altar to it under the name of *Aius Locutius*.

**Aix**, an ancient city of France, the chief place of the arrondissement of the same name, in the department of the Mouths of the Rhone. It was, before the revolution of 1789, richly endowed with ecclesiastical establishments, which have since then been secularized. It stands on a plain surrounded by hills, which produce abundance of most excellent olives, which, with wine and fruits, form the most important branches of agricultural industry. There are manufactories of various rich silk goods, linen, and hardware. The ancient springs, known to the Romans, and disused till again discovered in 1704, are slightly warm, but their efficacy is not now highly valued. In 1846 the inhabitants amounted to 24,165. This city is celebrated for having given birth to two famous naturalists, Adanson and Tournefort, and to the painter Vanloo.

The arrondissement of the same name comprehends 846 square miles, or about 541,740 acres, divided into ten cantons and 59 communes, with, in 1846, 112,254 inhabitants.

**Aix**, a small island on the coast of France, between the isle of Oleron and the Continent. It is twelve miles north-west of Rochefort, and eleven south-south-west of Rochelle. Long. 1.4. W. Lat. 46.5. N.

**Aix**, a river of France, in the department of the Lower Loire, which joins the Ysable, and falls into the Loire.