AMY 



AMY 



tion of the compass. If the magnetical 

 amplitude be found'to be .... 61 55' 

 at the time it is computed :xs above 



to be . . 39 47' 



then the difference 22 8' 



is the variation westward. - 



A MiT.iTrnK nf the range of a 



the horizontal line subtending the path in 



whirl) the projectile moved. See Pno- 



.IECTII,]-.. 



AMPUTATION, in surgery, the cut- 

 ting off a limb, or other part of the body, 

 with an instrument. 



AMULET, a charm, or preservative 

 .igainst. mischief, witchcraft or diseases. 

 's were made of stone, metal, sim- 

 ples, animals, and, in a word, of every 

 thing- which fancy or caprice suggested ; 

 and sometimes they consisted of words, 

 characters, and sentences, ranged in a 

 particular order, and engraved upon 

 wood, &c. and worn about the neck, or 

 some other part of the body. At other 

 times tlu-v were neither written nor en- 

 graved, but prepared with many super- 

 stitious ceremonies, great regard being 

 usua!!} paid to the influence of the stars. 

 The Arabians have given to this species 

 of amulet the name of talisman. 



All nations have been fond of amulets ; 

 the Jews were extremely superstitious in 

 the use of them, to drive away diseases : 

 and the. Misna forbids them, unless re- 

 ceived from an approved man, who had 

 < iired at least three persons before, by 

 the same means. 



Even among the Christians of the 

 early times, amulets were made of the 

 wood of the cross, or ribbands with a text 

 of scripture written in them, as preserva- 

 tives against diseases; and therefore the 

 council of Laodicea forbids ecclesiastics 

 to make such amulets, and orders all 

 such as wore them to be cast out of the 

 church. 



AMYGDALOID. See TRAPS THAN - 

 SITlojr. 



\\1VGDALUS, in botany, a genus of 

 the Polyandria Monogynia class and or- 

 der ; its characters are, that the calyx is 

 a perianthium, one-leaved, tubulous, in- 

 ferior, quinquefid, deciduous, divisions 

 spreading and obtuse ; the corolla of live 

 petals, oblong-ovate, obtuse, concave, in- 

 serted into the calyx ; the stamina have 

 filaments about 30, filiform, erect, shorter 

 by half than the corolla, inserted into the 

 rah \ ; anthers simple ; the pistillum has 

 a. roundish, villose germ, simple style, of 

 the length of the stamens, and headed 

 stigma; the pericarpium is a roundish, 



villose, large drupe, with a longitudinal 

 furrow; the seed is a nut, ovate, com- 

 prewed, acute, with prominent sutures on 

 each side, reticulated with furrows, and 

 dotted with small holes. The nut of the 

 almond is covered with a dry skin ; that 

 of the peach with a small pulp. There 

 are seven species, of which we shall no- 

 tice, 1. A ptrs:ca, with all the serratures 

 of the leaves acute, and the flowers ses- 

 sile and solitary. There are two varie- 

 ties, viz. the peach-tree, with downyfruit, 

 and the nectarine, with smooth fruit. 2. 

 A. communis, the almond tree, with the 

 lower serratures of the leaves glandulous, 

 and the flowers sessile and in couplets. 

 The common almond has leaves which re- 

 semble those of the peacli ; but the lower 

 serratures are glandular ; they proceed 

 from buds, both above and below the 

 flowers, and not, as in tae peach, from 

 the ends of the shoots above and not be- 

 low the flowers. The form < 

 is not very different ; but t 1 

 come out in pairs, and vary m" 

 colour from the fine blush c.t 

 blossom to a snowy whiteness i 



obvious distinction is in the fru: ./ :i 



is flatter, with a coriaceous cove) 

 stead of the rich pulp of the p. 

 nectarine, opening spontaneous!;, 

 the kernel is ripe. T). 

 hard as in the first species, and is some- 

 times tender and very brittle ; itis flatter, 

 smoother, and the furrows or holes are 

 more superficial. This tree is a great 

 object in some parts of Italy, and in the 

 south of France ; and there are large 

 plantations of it in Provence and Dau- 

 phine. It is common in China, and most 

 of the eastern countries ; and also in Bar- 

 bary, where it is a native. In the time of 

 Cato it seems not to have been cultivated 

 in Italy ; for he calls the fruit nuces Grx- 

 cx, or Greek nuts. With us itis valuable 

 as an ornamental tree in clumps, shrub- 

 beries, &c. within view of the mansion ; 

 for it displays its delicate red-purple 

 bloom in the month of March, when few 

 other trees have either leaves or flowers. 

 An almond tree, covered with its beauti- 

 ful blossoms, is one of the most elegant 

 objects in nature. In a forward spring 

 they often appear in February ; but in 

 this case the frost generally destroys 

 them, and they bear little or no fruit ; but 

 when they flower in March, they seldom 

 fail to bear plenty of fruit, very s\vi-rt, 

 and fit for the table when green ; but they 

 will not keep long. The amygdalus, or 

 almond-tree is cultivated both for the ad- 

 vantage of the fruit, and as being highly 



