AME 



AME 1 



amercement, whether the escape hap- 

 pens by day or night. 



The statute of Magna Charta ordains, 

 that a free-man is not to be amerced for a 

 small fault, but in proportion to the of- 

 fence by ti : s peers and equals. 



AMKimiXl.M. or AMF.UMIM.V, in 

 botu!is a geir is of the DiadelphiaDecan- 

 dria rhss and order; of the natural order 

 of 1'apilionacez orLeguminosse ; the cha- 

 racters of which are, that the calyx is 

 acnc'-leafi-d perianthium; tube bell shap- 

 ed, five toothed, the teeth sharp ; the co- 

 rolhi papilionaceous standard with an ob- 

 IOMLT claw, roundish, heart-shaped, ex- 

 panding and convex, wings lanceolate, 

 shorter than the standard, and keel short; 

 the stamina have ten filaments conjoined, 

 anthers roundish ;the pistillum has a srum 

 pedicelled, oblong, compressed, leafy, va- 

 ricose, with lateral veins, within woody, 

 no 1 gaping; cells disposed longitudinally 

 within : the seeds solitary, kidney-shaped, 

 thicker at the base, appendicted at the 

 top. There are two species, viz. 1. A. 

 Brownei : this shrub rises commonly to 

 the height of ten feet, and supports itself 

 on ether shrubs. It is a native of Cartha- 

 grna. Jamaica, and Domingo. 2. A. ebe- 

 iris. Jamaica ebony, which is common in 

 Jamaica and several other parts of the 

 ~\V< st ln<Vn.-s. where the wood is cut, and 

 sent into England under the name of ebo- 

 ny, though the true ebony is a native of 

 th<- i-astern country, and of a different 

 genus. This wood is of a fine greenish 

 brown colour, admits of polishing well, 

 so that it is much valued by the instru- 

 ment makers, and it is of a very hard du- 

 rable nature. Dr. Browne says, that the 

 trunk seldom exceeds three orfour inches 

 in diameter; that the slender branches, 

 being very tough and flexible, are used 

 for riding switches, and kept at all the 

 wharfs about Kingston, to scourge the re- 

 fractory slaves. 



AMETHYST, in mineralogy, is one of 

 the Quart/, family; it occurs massive and 

 in rolled pieces, but most frequently crys- 

 tallized. The crystals are six-sided pyra- 

 mids : colour violet blue, passing on the 

 one hand to plum blue, brown, brownish 

 black; on the other to pearl and ash grey, 

 greyish white,greenish white, olive green, 

 and in some rare cases pistachio green. In 

 massive varieties several colours appear 

 together in stripes : in this state they are 

 composed of thick prismatic distinct con- 

 cretions, often shooting into crystals at 

 their extremities. Specific gravity 2.75. 

 It is found in veins, and in the hollow ca- 

 vities of agate. It is composed of 



Silica 97.50 



Alumina 0.25 



Oxide of iron .... 0.50 

 and a 



Trace of manganese 



98.25 



It is found abundantly in different parts 

 of Saxony : also in the Hartz, in the Ura- 

 lian mountains, and in the East Indies 

 The most beautiful varieties are found at 

 Catharinaburg in Russia. It is cut into 

 rings, seals, and boxes, but it is not very 

 highly valued. The green is the chryso- 

 lite of some authors: the oriental amethyst 

 is the sapphire : it is sometimes covered 

 with capillary crystals of iron mica, and 

 when viewedin certain pos : tions appears 

 red ; this variety is named the hair ame- 

 thyst. 



AMETHYST, in heraldry, a term for the 

 purple colour in the coat of a nobleman, 

 in use with those who blazon by precious 

 stones instead of metals and colours. 

 This in a gentleman's escutcheon is called 

 purpure, and in those of sovereign princes 

 mercury. 



AMETHYSTEA, amethyst, so called 

 from the amethystine colours of the flow- 

 ers, in botany, a genus of the Diandria 

 Monogynia class ; the characters are, that 

 the calyx is a perianthium one-leafed, 

 tube bell-shaped, angular, semiquinque- 

 fid, subequal, acuminate, and permanent; 

 the corolla is one-petalled, ringent, little 

 longer than the calyx; border five-parted 

 and subequal ; upper lip erect, roundish, 

 concave, two-parted, gaping; lower three- 

 parted ; the sides rounded, erect, shorter; 

 the middle quite entire, concave, the 

 length of the upper lip ; the staminahave 

 filaments, filiform, approximating, under 

 the upper lip, and longer than it; anthers 

 simple and roundish ; the pistillum is a 

 quadritid germ, style size of the stamens, 

 stigmas two, and acute ; no pericarpium, 

 but the calyx becomes more bell-shaped 

 and spreading ; the seeds are four, short- 

 er than the calyx; obtuse, and angular 

 within. There is one species, viz. A. 

 cocrulia, mountain upright A. which is a 

 native of the mountains in Siberia, from 

 whence the seeds were sc-nt to the Impe- 

 rial garden at Petersburg!!, and in 1759 

 to Chelsea garden, where the plants annu- 

 ally produce seeds. It is annual, and 

 hath an upright stalk, which rises abouta 

 foot high, and towards the top puts out 

 two or three small lateral branches; these 

 are garnished with small trifid leaves, 

 sawed on their edges, and of a very dark 

 green colour; at the extremity of the 



