ALUMO-CALCITK. 



AMAKYI.I.IHACEA 



140 



Nrwhaven in Sussex. It has a white or yellowiah-white colour. It 

 si soft and friable, and has an earthy fracture. It is occasionally 

 translucent, but more frequently opaque. It has a specific gravity of 

 17. It is a hydrous sulAmlphate of alumina, and ban the following 

 composition : 



Sulphuric Acid 23-27 



Alumina -'' -~ 



Water 46-86 



100-00 



ALUMO-CALCITK. a mineral belonging to the group of Clays con- 

 taining a large quantity of water. It occurs in the clefts of ironstone 

 veins at Eybeostoek, in the Engebirge. It is massive, and has a white 

 colour inclining to blue. It lias a white streak, a com-lioidul fracture, 

 and U so soft that it may be crushed between the fingers. It adheres 

 strongly to the tongue. The specific gravity U 2714. Its analysis by 

 Kenten gires 



.Silica 86-60 



Alumina 2-25 



Lime 6.25 



Water 4-90 



[ALUM- 



100-00 



AI.l" X1TK, in Mineralogy, s name for the Alum-Stone. 

 STOKE.] 



ALVEOLITES (Lamarck), a genus of Fossil Pvlypiaria, from the 

 Cretaoeouii and Tertiary Strata. 



AMADO'U, the name of an inflainmablo substance occasionally 

 used as tinder. It it prepared from the dried plant of the linlitit* 

 igniaritu, steeped in a strong solution of saltpetre, and cut into thin 

 slices. This plant grows horizontally from the sides of the cherry, 

 the ash, and other trees. When it first makes it.s nppearuncu it is :i 

 little round wart-like body, the size of a pea of a yellow colour, and 



linlrlu* ifttiariia. 



of a soft yielding substance ; it gradually increases in size and hardness 

 till it becomeg of a darkish-brown, and is as large as an apple. It 

 afterwards takes a horizontal direction, forms a border and becomes 

 covered with numerous closely-packed tubes on its under Hiirl'a.-,-. 

 which are exceedingly minute. When the plant is full grown the 

 tubes are of a reddish-brown colour, and of a hard woody textmv: 

 and the upper surface is of various colours disposed in gray, In-own. 

 or clouded concentric elevated circles. The plant i perennial, ami 

 increases yearly in 



AMAKANTA'CEjE, Amaranths, a natural order <>f A]nt:'l.,n- 

 Dicotyledonous plants, remarkable for the dry coloured scales of 

 which all tlirir bract* and flm-.il i-nvrlnpes are composed a character 

 by which they are principally known from ''/< Thrir 



essential distinction is Lin-fly this : calyx, dry, coloured, not falling 

 away; petals, wanting; stamens, tiv.- or more ; Marina, quit*, simple, 

 superior; fruit, an utricle, containing a single seed, which has an 

 embryo curved round a central farinaceous albumen; leaves, destitute 

 of stipules. 



The species are found chiefly in tropical countries, where they are 

 often troublesome weeds. The Cock's-Comb, the Globe-Amaranth, the 

 Princes-Feather, the Lure-Lies-Bleeding, of our gardens, belong to 

 thin order. 



Many of the specie* are used in the countries where they grow as 

 pot-herbs, and indeed none of them present any unwholesome 

 properties. TbeKsefaotAmaranthtufrtimtatacciuiuulA.Anardlutna 

 are gathered as corn crops in India. A large number of the species 

 bare a reputation for possessing medicinal pro|M!rties, but, as is the 

 case with tin; majority of such remedies, they seldom I war out tin- 

 encomiums bestowed upon them by the ignorant, (landley, ' Vegetable 

 Kingdom.') 



Aiitartuitlius 

 1. A calyx nd bract with stnmciu. 



3. The pistil oppninp. 

 5. A seed cut down, showing the embryo. 



AMARYLLIDA'CE.E, Amoryllids, the > T arcissB Tribe, a natural 



2. The aamc with the pintil. 



4. A ecctl. 

 6. The embryo. All ma? 1 ' 



Amaryllis relirulala, ilimillli-linl in 

 1. The Dover cut upm. 2. A ntunu-n the naturul 



order of Monocotyledonous plant*, to which the DaQodil, the Belladonna 



