8*2 



A M A R Y L L I S A M B E K. 



about the aspect of this gorgeous flower, which admi- 

 rably fits it for association with the lighter produc- 

 tions of the green-house. It is a native of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, where it harmonises very finely with 

 the delicate heaths, which in immense multitudes 

 cover its arid plains. Miller first cultivated it in this 

 country in 17:51. 



They are all herbaceous, bulbous-stemmed plants. 

 The flowers of all are conspicuous; and the ease and 

 safety with which they can be transported from place to 

 place, and from one distant country to another, has led 

 to their more general diffusion from their native habi- 

 tats than any other order of plants whatever. The con- 

 stitutional structure of Awaryllidece shows that they 

 are adapted to sandy districts of the earth ; and where 

 they would be liable to destruction from drought, 

 were it not from their concentrated body of vitality 

 existing in and protected by the encrassated stem. 

 So that in the burning plains of Africa, the bulbs, 

 whether upon or beneath the surface, remain unin- 

 jured, while every greon or thin expansion of vege- 

 table tissue is withered up. Doryanthcs and crinum 

 are the Goliaths of the tribe ; and though magnificent 

 plants, with their long linear leaves, and ample tresses 

 of flowers, they are far outshone in gaudy beauty by 

 the Hcemantlnis, the Amarylli, and even by the far 

 more common Narcissi. Lilies, of whatever size or 

 hue, are attractive. They are often chosen as em- 

 blems by the poet. Many are harbingers of -returning 

 spring : even the most lowly of the tribe, the humble 

 snow-drop, meets a kindly welcome. 



AMARYLLIS. This is a splendid family of bulb- 

 ous plants, chiefly natives of the more southern 

 parts of Africa and America. They are hexandrious 

 polypetalous flowers, and from their strongly-marked 

 character have given a name to the extensive order 

 described above in the system of Jussieu, viz. Amaryl- 

 lidcae. The generic character is, a spatha generally 

 containing several flowers ; germenon a long footstalk, 

 clubbed ; perianthium in six parts, somewhat gaping ; 

 throat scaly (rarely membranous), crowned, or naked ; 

 limb spreading ; stamens inserted in the tube, and 

 declining ; anthers leaning ; capsule three-lobed, three- 

 celled, each many -seeded ; the seeds flat, with winged 

 margins. 



There are above a hundred species and varieties 

 of this fine family, which are supposed to be the 

 " lilies of the field" mentioned in sacred writ. 

 Throughout the winter and spring months they are 

 among the most resplendent ornaments of the green- 

 house and conservatory. One circumstance makes 

 them particularly valuable to the florist, viz. the faci- 

 lity with which they hybridise wifh each other by ma- 

 nual impregnation, by which their various forms and 

 colours are admirably blended : thus giving at once 

 an endless variety, and a source of amusement to the 

 cultivator, and profit to the commercial florist. The 

 arnaryllis may be raised from seeds or from offsets. 

 The}' require (particularly the stove species) a pretty 

 rich loamy soil, and should be kept in large pots to 

 flower them in perfection. The greenhouse species 

 also like rich soil ; and after they have done flower- 

 ing should be kept quite dry, either in the pots, or laid 

 for a month or two on a shelf in a dry airy place. 

 Here they will often present -the point of their 

 flowers while yet on the shelf; which is a sure 

 sign that they require repotting. The blanda, bella- 

 donna, regintt; vittata, with its numerous varieties, and 

 the firwosissima, are among the finest flowerers. The 



flower of the last mentioned is a bright crimson, or 

 deep scarlet, and continues a good while iu bloom. 



AMATH1A (Lamouroux). Celluliferous polypi- 

 doms. It is a branching polypidom ; the cells long 

 and cylindrical, united in one or many groups. The 

 amathias, by their numerous cells, tneir horny and 

 hollow stem, filled in a living state with a gelatinous 

 and irritable substance, exhibit the general character 

 of the order ; they differ, however, from their neigh-' 

 bouring genera, by their aspect, their ramifications, 

 and also the form and respective situations of their 

 cells. In some species these are united in isolated 

 groups, resembling Pan's pipes, with reeds varying in 

 length; in others all the groups touch, but can easily 

 be distinguished by the unequal length of their cells'; 

 some of them have their polypous cavities united at 

 the sides, forming spiral and projecting lines round 

 the steins, to which they adhere by their base ; and 

 there are some in which these lines cea?e to project 

 forward, and are attached to the stem by the back 

 part of the cells; therefore, notwithstanding the appa- 

 rent difference between the A. k-ndegira and the A. 

 spiralig, it is impossible to place them in separate 

 genera, on account of the intermediate species which 

 imperceptibly link together beings at first sight ex- 

 ceedingly dissimilar. 



The amathias are of a horny substance, very slight- 

 ly chalky ; their colour is a fawn brown, more or less 

 deep ; they vary in height from one-eighth of an 

 inch to six inches. They are frequently found para- 

 sites on the Thalassurphytes ; sometimes they adhere 

 to rocks or other hard substances by a fibrous base, 

 and they appear more common in the equatorial and 

 temperate seas, than in the cold or icy regions of 

 either pole. Six species are described. 



AMBER. A resinous body, called electrum by the 

 Greeks. Some naturalists refer its origin to the vege- 

 table, others to the mineral, and some even to the 

 animal kingdom. It is described by Pliny as a 

 resinous juice, oozing from aged pines and firs, and 

 discharged thence into the sea. He adds, that it was 

 on this account that the ancients gave it the name of 

 succinum. 



One of the most singular peculiarities of some am- 

 ber is the existence of insects of various kinds enclosed 

 beneath its surface? An instance of this occurs in the 

 accompanying figures, copied from a specimen iu the 

 British Museum. 



Many of the yellow transparent masses containing 

 insects, and sold under the name of amber, are iu 

 reality only concretions of the common copal; and in 

 the cabinet from whence the above specimens were 

 taken, the right-hand figure is marked copal and the 

 other amber', although there are no external marks 

 which would enable an observer to distinguish the 

 one from the other. 



Germany affords great quantities of amber, obtained 

 from the beds of lignite, as well as thrown on the 

 shores of its seas and rivers. Saxony, Misniu, and 

 Sweden, and numerous other places in this part of 

 Europe, abound with it ; and it is found on the shores 



