AMETHYST 



235 



AMHERSTBURG 



prosperous enterprises include the manufac- 

 ture of shoes, hats, rattan goods and carriages. 

 Dories, power-launches and skiffs have been 

 built at Amesbury since 1805. 



Amesbury was the home of the poet Whit- 

 tier from 1836 until his death, and some of his 

 later works describe the surrounding country. 

 Whittier Park (thirty acres), named in his 

 honor, is one of the recreation spots of the 

 city. Amesbury is also noted as being the 

 birthplace of Josiah Bartlett, one of the sign- 

 ers of the Declaration of Independence. R.W.B. 



AMETHYST, am'ethist, a semi-precious 

 stone of a beautiful violet or purple color, 

 Kiven its name (which means without wine) 

 by the Greeks because they believed that it 

 was a sure protection against the evil effects 

 of strong drink. It is a variety of quartz, 

 which usually occurs in crystals, and the col- 

 oring is supposed to be due to manganese. 

 Amethyst occurs in Siberia, India and Ceylon, 

 and in the United States it is found in large 

 quantities and of excellent quality around 

 Thunder Bay on Lake Superior. The oriental 

 amethyst, a beautiful and costly gem, is a 

 variety of corundum. Because it makes the 

 skin look white, amethyst is a popular stone 

 for rings and for necklaces, the dark purple 

 varieties being especially sought after. 



AMHERST, am' erst, JEFFREY, Baron (1717- 

 17'.<7), an English soldier, whose victories over 

 the French at Crown Point, Ticonderoga and 

 Montreal in 1759 and 1760 won Canada for 

 Great Britain. He entered the army in 1731 

 and served in various European campaigns 

 until Pitt promoted him from lieutenant- 

 colonel to major-general in 1758, and gave him 

 'ommand of the expedition against Louis- 

 burg, which surrendered after a short siege. 

 In September, 1758, he became commander- 

 in-rliief of the British forces in America, and 

 in the next year led his army to victory at 

 Crown Point and Ticonderoga. For his serv- 

 ices in winning Canada for Great Britain he 

 was made Governor-General and was formally 

 thanked by Parliament. Aft. r \n< r.-tnrn to 

 ni in 1763 he held a number of impor- 

 offices, including that of absentee gov- 

 of Virginia from 1763 to 1768. I - 

 1772 to 1795, with the exr.pt ion of a single 

 . he acted as commander-in-chief of th< 

 I'nti-h army. He was raised to the peerage 

 m 177C, MTU! was made field marshal in 1796. 



AMHERS'I . rt, N. 8., the county town 



of Cumberland, at the head of Chignecto Bay, 

 an arm of the Bay of Fundy. Situated on the 



Intercolonial Railway at the narrowest point 

 on the isthmus which connects the Nova 

 Scotia peninsula with the mainland, it has 

 naturally become an important center of trade 

 and manufactures, and is the largest town in 

 the western part of the province. It is 138 

 miles by rail north of Halifax, and ninety-five 

 miles northeast of Saint John, N. B. Popula- 

 tion in 1911, 8,973; in 1916, estimated, 10200. 



Industrially Amherst is of great importance. 

 The neighborhood supplies coal, lumber and 

 agricultural produce in large amounts, and also 

 some gypsum. Boots and shoes, woolen goods, 

 cars, malleable iron, engines and boilers, leather 

 and wood products, including trunks, pianos, 

 caskets and carriages, are the principal manu- 

 factures. 



AMHERST, am' erst, COLLEGE, at Am- 

 herst, Mass., one of the foremost of the smaller 

 colleges in the United States. Though its 

 faculty numbers only about fifty-five and its 

 student body averages 500 to 550, its high 

 standards are conspicuous, and from its foun- 

 dation it has consistently aimed to be a small 

 college of the best type. Fraternities play an 

 important part in the student life, practically 

 every undergraduate being a member of a 

 fraternity. 



During its early years Amherst had a hard 

 struggle for existence, but the college is singu- 

 larly fortunate in its location. The town of 

 Amherst, twenty-three miles north of Spring- 

 field, lies in the beautiful Connecticut Valley, 

 within sight of Mount Holyoke. Here the 

 earnest Presbyterians and Congregationalists 

 of western Massachusetts founded an academy 

 in 1815, six years later changing it to a college. 

 Here also is the State Agricultural College, 

 opened in 1867, and not far away are Smith 

 College and Mount Holyoke College. Popu- 

 lation of the town in 1910, 5,112. 



AMHERSTBURG, am' erf I burg, ONT., pop- 

 ularly called "The Burg," a town in Essex 

 County, on the eastern bank of the Detroit 

 r, seventeen miles south of Windsor and 

 eighteen miles south of Detroit. It has steam- 

 >hip and rail (Michigan Central) connection 

 witii both cities, and is also the terminus of 

 an electric railway running from Windsor 

 through Sandwich, the county town. It is the 

 center of a prosperous agricultural section 

 noted for its production of com, tobacco, 

 ti and hogs, and there are limestone quar- 

 ries a short distance from the town. A grist 

 mill, knitting factory and several lumber yards 

 are noteworthy. Amherstburg, one of the old- 



