AMI' 



.iiometers, hygrometers, fi-ietion, 

 rhines, heat, cold, rarefactions, pun 



, ma- 

 pumps, 



&c. I'll' -a 'in- \ olmnes 



1696, 1699, 1702, 1703, 

 1704, and 1705. The diameter of Arnon- 

 tons for integrity, modesty, and candour, 

 no Irs* distinguished than his talents 

 and genius in philosophical pursuits. 

 , ins death in 1705, M. Fontenclle 

 delivered an eleg-mt and impressive culo- 

 i on his ment>. See MtMiURS of the 



1 1 iy for tliat year. 



\\1<>U1'I( \, in botany, battard imlign, 

 IMS of plants belonging to the Dia- 

 delphia Decandria class of Linnaeus ; the 

 flower of which consists of one petal, 

 vertically ovated, hollow, and erect ; and 

 the fruit is a hmulated pod, of a com- 

 pressed form, and covered with tuber- 

 cles, in which are contained two seeds, of 

 an oblong kidney -like shape. There are 

 two species. 



This shrub grows naturally in Carolina, 

 where formerly the inhabitants math :i 

 coarse sort of indigo, which occasioned 

 its name of the bastard indigo. It rises 

 with many irregular stems to the height 

 of twelve or fourteen feei, with very long 

 winged leaves. It was observed by Tlmn- 

 bcrg in the island of Niphon, belonging 

 to Japan, but is now become very com- 

 mon in the gardens and nurseries near 

 London, where it is propagated as a 

 flowering shrub, it is propagated by 



from America. 



AMI'ELIS, in natural history, the chat- 

 terer, a genus of birds of the order 

 I'asseres, bill straight, convex, subincur- 

 ved, each mandible notched : nostrils 

 covered with bristles : tongue sharp, car- 

 tilaginous, bifid: middle toe connected at 

 the. base to the outside. There are, ac- 

 cording to Gmclin, fourteen species . we 

 shall notice the following: A. garrulus, 

 or waxen chatterer; a beautiful bird 

 about eight inches long. Its bill is black, 

 and has a small notch at the end ; its 

 eyes are placed in a band of black, which 

 -in the bas< of the bill to the 

 liinder part of the. head. Its throat is 

 black; its featlu r.- on the head are long, 

 forming I the upper parts of 



the bod) are of a reddish ash colour ; 

 the breast and belly inclining to purple ; 

 the tail feathers are black, tipped with 

 pale jello\v ; tin- quills are black, the 

 third and fourth tipped on their outer 

 edges with white : the five following with 

 straw colour, but in some bright yellow; 

 the secondaries are tipped with white, 

 'i being pointed with a flat horny sub- 

 ice of a bright \crmilion colour. 

 VOL. I. 



AMP 



i appendages vary in different sub- 



Tliis rare bird mil .nd 



only at uncertain inU-rv.ils. Their sum- 

 mer rcsi<! ./,osed to be in the 

 northern parts of Europe, within the arc- 

 tic circle, wln-;i ives 

 into other countries, nain 

 during the winter, and return in the 

 spring to their usual haunts. The food 

 of this bird is berries of various kinds; 

 in some countri extreme- 

 ly fond of grapes. On! .esofthe 

 chatterer is found in Europe, (he others 

 are natives of America. Sec plate I. 

 Aves, fig. 5. A. carunculata, has a black 

 bill, with a pendulous, expansile, movea- 

 ble caruncle at the base, inhabits Cayenne 

 and Brazil, and is about twelve inches 

 long. The bill is an inch and a half long, 

 and black ; at the base is a fleshy carbun- 

 cle hanging over it, like that of :t turkey 

 cock. The female is furnished with one 

 as well as the male. These birds are 

 said to have a very- loud voice, to be heard 

 half a league off', which is composed of 

 merely two syllables in, an, uttered in a 

 drawling tone ; but some have compared 

 it to the sound of a bell. A. Americana, 

 cedar bird : this has been considered by 

 the European naturalists as a mere va- 

 riety of their chatterer; but Mr. Wilson 

 has shewn it to be a distinct spe< 



AMPELITES, cawiel-coat, a hard, 

 opaque, fossil, inflammable substance, of 

 a black colour. The ampelites, examined 

 by a microscope, appears composed of in- 

 numerable very small thin plates, laid 

 closely and firmly upon one another, and 

 full of very small specks, of a blacker and 

 more shining matter than the rest. There 

 is a large quarry of it in Alenqon. in 

 France. It is dug also in many parts of 

 England; but the most beautiful is found 

 in Lancashire and Cheshire.: it lies usu- 

 ally at considerable depth. It is capable 

 of a very line polish, and is made into 

 trinkets, and will pass for jet . Husband- 

 men dress their vines \\iih it, as it kills 

 the vermin which infest them: it is like- 

 wise used for dying the hair black. 



AMI'IIIBIA, in natui-.il history, a class 

 of animals that live either on land or in 

 water. The title Amphibia, applied to 

 this class of animals In l.inna-iis. ma> 

 iiaps be considered as not ab-ohitely 

 unexceptionable, the power of living with 

 equal fac'diu both in land and vater be- 

 ing not granted to all the animals which 

 ..pose it ; \et.since it is certain that 

 the major part are found to possess that 

 faculty in a considerable decree, the title 

 may be allowed to continue. The Am- 

 T 



