A MA 



58 



A MB 



or force : diacratescence that quality 

 virtue of which it does so, &c.Hir J. 

 Herschel, Phil. Trans. 1840. 

 AM'ADOU, ) A species of boletui, or agaric, 

 AM'ADOW. (found in the trunks of 

 trees, especially in Germany, where it is 

 called nunderschtcamm. According to 

 some, it is B. ianarius ; according to 

 others, the Ji. fomentarius. Boiled in 

 water, dried, beaten with a mallet, and 

 finally impregnated with a solution of 

 nitre and dried, it constitutes spunk, pyro 

 teehnic spjtnge. or German tinder names 

 significant of it: i-ti'.mmability. Slack 

 amadou is the Snore diaterial impregnated 

 with gunpowder: this is black-match ; the 

 common amadou is red-match. It is used 

 on the Continent extensively instead of 

 tinder. 



AMAI'N (Sax. a, and mseyi, force) 

 A nautical term, signifying to yield or let 

 go suddenly. Thus, to let go amain, is to 

 let fall or lower at once ; and to strike 

 amain, is to let fall the topsails in token 

 of surrender. To wave amain, is to make 

 a signal to a vessel to strike its topsails. 



AMAL'GAM, a compound produced by 

 mixing a metal, in a state of fusion, with 

 mercury : any metallic alloy, of which 

 mercury forms an essential constituent. 

 The term is usually derived from oifMt,, 

 together, and 'ya./^iu, to marry ; but Web- 

 ster, with more probability, supposes it 

 to be from f^x'Aoe.'yu.tx,, of u^i/.ciya-M, to 

 soften, as medallists commonly apply the 

 term to soft alloys. 



AMALGAMA'TION, a process by which an 

 amalgam is formed. 



Amalgamation is extensively em- 

 ployed in extracting gold and silver 

 from certain of their ores, founded on 

 the property which mercury has of 

 readily dissolving these metals as dis- 

 seminated in the minerals, and thus to 

 separate them from the earthy matters. 

 The mercury is afterwards driven off 

 from the amalgam by heat. 

 AMALTHJE'A. In mythology, a goat of 

 Crete alleged to have suckled Jupiter. 

 The horn of this goat was the magic Cornit 

 Copia, or horn of plenty. 



AMANI'TA, a genus of fungi, some species 

 of which are edible, others poisonous. 



AM'ARANTH. 1. TheAmaranthus(q.v.'). 

 2. A colour inclined to purple. 



AMARANTHA'CE.S, an order of plants in 

 the Natural System of Jussieu : typical 

 genus, Amaranthus. The order compre- 

 hends some other dry-flowered genera. 



AMARAN'THINE. 1. Resembling the ama- 

 ranth. 2. Purplish. 



AMARAN'THUS, the Amaranth, or Flower- 

 Gentle: a genus of annuals, of about fifty 

 epecies, only one of which (and that a bad 

 specimen) is a native of England. Class 

 mon<*:.ia, order pmtandria. Xame, from 



at., not, and u.tx.*oc.ivM, to fade ; or flowers 

 which do not fade, commonly called 

 " Everlasting Flowers." Love-lies-bleed- 

 ing, Prince's-fcather, &c. are well known 

 in our gardens. 



AMA'RINE, a name given by some to the 

 bitter principle of vegetables, from ama- 

 rus, bitter. 



AMARYLLIDA'CE.I, a natural order of 

 beautiful endogenous plants, named from 

 its typical genus antaryllis. The greater 

 part of its species are bulbous plants, in- 

 habiting the Cape of Good Hope and the 

 tropical parts of both hemispheres. The 

 snow-drop is the most northern example. 



AMARYI/LIS, the lily daffodil ; a genus of 

 liliaceous perennials, of about forty spe- 

 cies, much cultivated in flower-gardens. 

 Class hexandria, order monogynia. Named 

 from Amaryllis, a peasant girl, celebrated 

 by Theocritus and Virgil for her beauty. 



AMA'TiA,3Subgenusofpolypi,belonging 

 to the Sertularia of Linnaeus; it is the 

 name given by Lamouroux to the Sertu- 

 laria of Lamarck. 



AMATORY, from amo, to love. - 2. In 

 anatomy, the oblique muscles of the eye 

 have been called muscvli amatorii, that is, 

 amatory muscles, from their use in ogling. 

 Hooper. 



AMAURO'SIS, AfMtv^utrn ,from a/wzv%0f, 

 obscure. A diminution or total loss of 

 sight, arising from a paralysis of the retina 

 or optic nerve, and which may exist in- 

 dependently of any visible lesion of the 

 structure of the eye, or complicated with, 

 cataract or other affection. The disease 

 is usually characterised by dilatation of 

 the pupil and immobility of the iris, but 

 these are not constant symptoms. It is 

 also called gtitta serena , the " drop serene" 

 of Milton. 



AM'AZON, from , without, and fActo{, 

 breast. The Amazons are said to have 

 been a race of female warriors, who 

 founded an empire on the river Thenno- 

 don, in Asia Minor, on the coast of the 

 Euxine, and that they cut off their right 

 breast that it might not incommode them 

 in shooting and throwing the javelin. 

 The name was latterly conferred on some 

 American females, who joined their hus- 

 bands in attacking the Spaniards who 

 first visited the country. This occurred on. 

 the banks of the Maranon ; and trivial as 

 the circumstance is, it gave the name 

 Amazon to that mighty river, and Ama- 

 zonia to the country on its banks. 



AMAZOJJB-STOXE, i a beautiful variety 



AMAZO'NIAX-STOXE, ) of prismatic fel- 

 spar of a bluish green colour, found in 

 rolled masses near the river Amazon. 



AMBARVA'LIA, religious fetes among the 

 Romans, to propitiate Ceres, and so called 

 from ambire arva, to go round the field*, 

 the victim being carried round the field* 



