Note 102 — HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS.

Aloi, the quality of the substance of a metal. The battle of French etymologists is very instructive over this word, as may be seen in Littré. Of course, however, it comes from à loi, conformable to law. But I think there is a misprint, and that we ought to read toute loi = toute la loi. Guynaud (p. 122) reads loi in the second line for foy. We might suppose that that variant had been introduced to correct the fourth line, and was only by a “devil” carried to the second instead, by which that imp of mischief contrived to leave two errors in place of one. In confirmation somewhat of this, the texte-type reads tout à loy.