A M B 



L 



A M E 



Bell, and so named from their ob- 

 tusely truncated head and short 

 snout. " The amblyrrhynchus 

 eristatus, (says Mr. Darwin) is ex- 

 tremely common on all the islands 

 throughout the archipelago. It 

 lives exclusively on the rocky sea- 

 beaches : its usual length is about 

 a yard, but some attain to four feet 

 long. It is of a dirty black colour, 

 sluggish in its movements on the 

 land ; but when in the water, it 

 swims with perfect ease and quick- 

 ness, by a serpentine movement of 

 its body and flattened tail, the legs 

 at this time being motionless and 

 closely collapsed on its sides." "On 

 a comparison of this animal with 

 the true iguanas, (says Mr. Bell) 

 the most striking and important 

 discrepancy is in the form of the 

 head. Instead of the long, pointed, 

 narrow muzzle of those species, we 

 have a short, obtusely truncated 

 head, not so long as it is broad, the 

 mouth, consequently, only capable 

 of being opened to a very short 

 space. These circumstances, with 

 the shortness and equality of the 

 toes, and the strong cur vat are of 

 the claws, evidently indicate some 

 striking peculiarity in its food and 

 general habits." Mr. Barwin says, 

 " I opened the stomachs of several, 

 and in each case found it largely 

 distended with minced sea-weed, of 

 that kind which grows in thin foli- 

 aceous expansions of a bright green 

 or dull red colour. The stomach 

 contained nothing but the sea-weed. 

 The intestines were large, as in 

 other herbivorous animals." 



The only existing marine lizard 

 now known. Lyell. 

 AMBLYBBR'YNCHTTS STTBCBISTATUS. A 

 species of lizard, thus named by 

 Gray. This is a terrestrial species, 

 confined, says Mr. Davison, to the 

 central islands of the Galapagos 

 Archipelago. "These lizards/' says 

 that naturalist, "like their brothers 

 the sea-kind, are ugly animals ; and 



from their low facial angle, have a 

 singularly stupid appearance. The 

 colour of their belly, front legs, and 

 head, (excepting the crown, which 

 is nearly white), is a dirty yellowish 

 orange ; the back is a brownish 

 red, which in the younger speci- 

 mens is darker. In their move- 

 ments they are lazy and half torpid. 

 When not frightened, they slowly 

 crawl along, with their tails and 

 bellies dragging on the ground. 



They inhabit burrows. The in- 

 dividuals which inhabit the lower 

 country, can scarcely taste a drop 

 of water throughout the year ; but 

 they consume much of the succu- 

 lent cactus, the branches of which 

 are occasionally broken off by the 

 wind. They eat very deliberately, 

 but do not chew their food. I 

 opened the stomachs of several, and 

 found them full of vegetable fibres, 

 and leaves of different trees, especi- 

 ally of a species of acacia. 



The meat of these animals when 

 cooked is white, and by those whose 

 stomachs rise above all prejudices, 

 it is relished as very good food." 

 AME'NT. | (amentum, Lat.) A cat- 

 AME'NTUM. ) kin, one kind of inflor- 

 escence. "When the bracteaB on the 

 principal stalk are close, and over- 

 lap one another, or are imbricated 

 with the flowers sessile in their 

 axillae, the spike is termed an amen- 

 tum, or catkin, and the peduncle is 

 always articulated with the main 

 stem of the plant. Aments, or 

 catkins, are generally pendent, 

 while spikes are for the most part 

 erect. 



A'METHYST. (apeOvffros, Gr. contrary 

 to wine, or drunkenness, so called, 

 from a supposed virtue it possessed 

 of preventing inebriation.) Called 

 also, Violet Quartz. The Gemeiner 

 Amethyst of Werner ; Quartz hy- 

 alin violet of Haiiy ; Quartz hyalin 

 Amethyste of Brouginart. Quartz, 

 coloured by a minute portion of 

 iron and manganese. The finest 



