on,
But tho' thro' all the body spread,
Still makes its cap'tal seat, the head.
In all diseases, 'tis expected,
The weakest parts be most infected."
Ed. 1794, Part I. p. 8.

AEGROTAT DEGREE. One who is sick or so indisposed that he cannot
attend the Senate-House examination, nor consequently acquire any
honor, takes what is termed an _AEgrotat degree_.--_Alma Mater_,
Vol. II. p. 105.

ALMA MATER, _pl._ ALMAE MATRES. Fostering mother; a college or
seminary where one is educated. The title was originally given to
Oxford and Cambridge, by such as had received their education in
either university.

It must give pleasure to the alumni of the College to hear of his
good name, as he [Benjamin Woodbridge] was the eldest son of our
_alma mater_.--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Univ._, App., p. 57.

I see the truths I have uttered, in relation to our _Almae
Matres_, assented to by sundry of their
children.--_Terrae-Filius_, Oxford, p. 41.

ALUMNI, SOCIETY OF. An association composed of the graduates of a
particular college. The object of societies of this nature is
stated in the following extract from President Hopkins's Address
before the Society of Alumni of Williams College, Aug. 16, 1843.
"So far as I know, the Society of the Alumni of Williams College
was the first association of the kind in this country, certainly
the first which acted efficiently, and called forth literary
addresses. It was formed September 5, 1821, and the preamble to
the constitution then adopted was as follows: 'For the promotion
of literature and good fellowship among ourselves, and the better
to advance the reputation and interests of our Alma Mater, we the
subscribers, graduates of Williams College, form ourselves into a
Society.' The first president was Dr. Asa Burbank. The first
orator elected was the Hon. Elijah Hunt Mills, a distinguished
Senator of the United States. That appointment was not fulfilled.
The first oration was delivered in 1823, by the Rev. Dr.
Woodbridge, now of Hadley, and was well worthy of the occasion;
and since that time the annual oration before the Alumni has
seldom failed.... Since this Society was formed, the example has
been followed in other institutions, and bids fair to extend to
them all. Last year, for the first time, the voice of an Alumnus
orator was heard at Harvard and at Yale; and one of these
associations, I know, sprung directly from ours. It is but three
years since a venerable man attend