AMSTERDAM 



240 



AMUNDSEN 



States Museum, and the New Church, in 

 which the sovereigns of Holland are crowned. 

 The palace belongs to the city, and when the 

 Queen is in residence there, she is literally ;i 

 guest of the city. In the States Museum is a 

 wonderful collection of pictures by artists of 

 the Flemish and Dutch schools, and there are 

 several other collections of great value, making 

 Amsterdam one of the great art centers of the 

 world; it is particularly famous for its Rem- 

 brandt's, for it was here that the great painter 

 lived. There are also many educational institu- 

 tions, including two universities, colleges, hos- 

 pitals and homes for the aged, poor, blind and 

 infirm, supported chiefly by voluntary contribu- 

 tions. 



The most important industry is diamond cut- 

 ting, for which Amsterdam has been noted 

 since the fifteenth century. Diamonds were in- 

 troduced into Europe at a time when the 

 Dutch controlled the oversea commerce of the 

 world, and naturally found their way first to 

 Amsterdam. In the Jewish quarter of the city 

 the cutting industry sprang up and the su- 

 premacy of its diamond cutters has never been 

 disputed. Other industries include the manu- 

 facture of tobacco, glass, soap, jewelry, linen, 

 silk and machinery, but the city is of more im- 

 portance as a trading than as a manufacturing 

 center. During the days of Napoleon's power 

 the trade of Amsterdam suffered considerably 

 from its forced alliance with France, but since 

 the fall of the emperor it has steadily increased. 

 Population, 1912, 587,876. 



AMSTERDAM, N. Y., a manufacturing city 

 in the famed Mohawk Valley, in the eastern 

 part of the state, about midway between its 

 northern and southern borders. Troy and Al- 

 bany are thirty-four miles southeast, and Utica 

 is fifty-two miles northwest. It is situated in 

 Madison County, on the Mohawk River and 

 on the Erie Canal, and is served by the New 

 York Central and West Shore railroads. Trol- 

 ley lines afford communication with neighbor- 

 ing towns. The population is largely Amer- 

 t ican; it was 31,627 in 1910; the local census of 

 1914 showed an increase to 35,223. Amsterdam 

 was known as Veedersburg from the time it 

 was settled in 1778 until 1804, when the pres- 

 ent name was adopted. It was incorporated as 

 a village in 1830 and as a city in 1885. The 

 area is nearly five and one-half square miles. 



Of the city's varied products, carpets and 

 rugs rank first, although its output of pearl 

 buttons is claimed to be the largest in the 

 world. There are also extensive manufactures 



of knit goods, wagon-springs, paper, silk and 

 brooms. The annual output of the half hun- 

 dred factories is $25,000,000. Amsterdam has 

 a Children's Home, a home for elderly women, 

 an Elk's Home and two hospitals. A good pub- 

 lic school system, two business colleges, Saint 

 Mary's Catholic Institute and a Carnegie Li- 

 brary supply the educational needs. Two large 

 parks on the outskirts of the city provide 

 recreation grounds. R.N.B. 



AM'ULET, an object usually of stone, metal 

 or animal skin, with or without figures and 

 words, and worn by superstitious people as a 

 charm to ward off sickness, ill fortune, witch- 

 craft, etc. Relics of the saints and herbs and 



(a) A medieval amulet. 



(&) The rabbit's-foot amulet worn by many 

 superstitious people. (See SUPERSTITION.) 



precious gems have also been used, and the 

 Mohammedans use a tiny copy of the Koran, 

 hung round the neck, as an amulet. The peo- 

 ples of Asia have from ancient times believed 

 in these charms, and still have great faith in 

 their powers. The use of amulets was early 

 forbidden by the Christian Church. See 

 TALISMAN. 



AMUNDSEN, 

 ah' mun sen, 

 RoALD(1872- ), 

 the discoverer of 

 the South Pole, 

 one of the most 

 careful and suc- 

 cessful explorers 

 of modern times. 

 His great voyage 

 was begun in 

 1910, when he set 

 out from Norway 



ROALD AMUNDSEN 

 The discoverer of the South 



in Nansen's ship, I 



the Fram, intending to drift for several years 



across the Arctic seas; but shortly after sail- 



