AMP ( 



it first appears. It seems to afford nou- 

 rishment to the embryo in its earlier 

 Stages. The term is commonly derived 

 from otu-tnof, a lamb, in reference to the 

 Boftness of the membrane. 



AMNIOTIC ACID, an acid formerly sup- 

 posed to be peculiar to the liquor amnii 

 of the cow, but now known to belong to 

 the liquor allantois. See ALLANTOIC. 



AMO'MUM, a genus of perennials, of 13 

 .'peeies, one of which (A. Granum Para- 

 disii), produces the Grains of Paradise or 

 Great Cardamom seeds: and the root of 

 another (A. Zingiber) is the ginger of 

 commerce. Class moiiandria, order mono- 

 vynia. Hot climates Africa and Asia. 

 Kame, XUA/UOV, from Ar. hamaatna, of 

 hamma, to warm, in reference to the 

 pungent aromatic qualities of the plants. 



AMO'KVHIA, false or bastard indigo. A 

 genus of American shrubaceous plants, of 

 ttn species, from some of which a coarse 

 kind of indigo is made. Class diadelphia, 

 order decandria. Name, from *, without, 

 and f&ogQvi, form, in reference to its irre- 

 gular stems. 



AMOR'PHOUS, shapeless, from et/Mtfof 

 of at, without, and pu^^r t , form. Applied 

 to bodies which have no determinate 

 form, or whose forms cannot easily be 

 denned. 



AMORTIZATION, \ Lat. ad, and mors, 



AMO'RTIZEMKNT, I death. The act or 

 tight of alienating property to corpora- 

 tions, which was formerly regarded as 

 transferring them to dead hands, as such 

 alienations were mostly made to religious 

 houses for superstitious purposes. 



AMORTISE, \ Lat. ad, and mors, death. 



AMORTIZE, ' To alienate in Mortmain. 

 See AMORTIZATION and MORTMAIN. 



AM'PAC, an East Indian tree which af- 

 fords an odoriferous resin. 



AMPELI'DE.E. In botany, another name 

 of the natural order Vitaceae. From 

 iiTAo?,a vine. 



AM'PELITE, a mineral of which there 

 are two varieties, the aluminous and 

 graphic. The first is the alum-slate, and 

 the latter the graphic-slate. The name is 

 sometimes applied to the species of slaty 

 coal which in England is called cannel- 

 cofil, and in Scotland parrot-coal. The term 

 if from a.u.TiXo;, a vine, being anciently 

 the name of a bituminous matter with 

 which husbandmen anointed their vines 

 to destroy worms. 



AMPELOSAO'RIA, the wild vine (Bryonia 

 alba), from ctu-ri^o;, a vine, and oty^tos, 



AMPHIARTHRO'SIS, from u^},both, and 

 a^B^trif, arthrosis. A mixed kind of 

 articulation, which partakes of the nature 

 loth of diarthrosis and synarthrosij : thi- 

 articular surfaces of the bones are united 



5 AMP 



by an intermediate substance, in a manner 

 which admits of a small degree of motion. 



AMPHiBiA,fromi^<, both, and /2/f, 

 life. In the system of Linnaeus, the third 

 class of animals. The lungs differ essen- 

 tially from those of animals of the classes 

 mammalia and a ves. Their heart has but 

 one ventricle ; their blood is red and cold, 

 and they can for a considerable time sus- 

 pend respiration , so as to live under water. 

 Their body is covered with a shell, with 

 scales, or is quite naked. They have 

 neither hair, mamma?, feathers, nor ra- 

 diated fins. They are divided into reptiles 

 and serpents, and are either oviparous, 

 or viviparous. In the system of Cuvicr, the 

 third tribe of carnivorous mammalia. 

 Their feet are so short and so enveloped 

 in the skin, that the only service they can 

 render them on land is to enable them to 

 crawl ; but as the intervals of the fingers 

 are occupied by membranes, they are 

 excellent oars ; and, in fact, these animals 

 pass the greater portion of their time in 

 the water, never landing, except for the 

 purpose of basking in the sun, and suck- 

 ling their young. Their elongated body ; 

 their very moveable spine, which is pro- 

 vided with muscles that very strongly 

 flex it ; their narrow pelvis, their short 

 hair that adheres closely to their skin, 

 all unite to render them good swimmers, 

 and all the details of their anatomy con- 

 firm these indiciae. \Ve have as yet dis- 

 tinguished two genera only, phoca (the 

 seal), and trichtchus (the morse). 



AMPHIBIOUS, et,/wpiSios, capable of two 

 modes of life. This term is variously 

 applied. 1. To animals which, at one 

 period of their existence, live entirely in 

 water, breathing by means of gills, and 

 at another respire air, and are frequently 



on land; e. g. frogs. 2. To animals 



which respire air, but are capable of re- 

 maining under water for a length of 



time; e.g. seals. 3. To animals of 



the class (Lin.) or tribe (Cuv.) amphibia 

 (q. v.). -4. To plants which grow in- 

 differently on dry laud or in the water ; 

 e. g. Polygonum amphibium. 



AM'PHIBOLE, otf^i^oKoi, the name given 

 by Hauy to the Hemi-prismatic Augite- 

 spar of Mohs. The varieties are Horn- 

 blende, Actinolite, and Tremolite. The 

 name is more particularly referable to 

 the first. 



AMPHIBOLITB, a general name for all 

 trap rocks, which have amphibole for 

 their bases. 



AMPHIBRA'CH, Lat. amphibrachus, from 

 a.u-$i, both, and /3a^oj, short. IK poetry, 

 a foot of three syllables, the middle one 

 long, and the first and third short, as la 

 the word h Hbtrt. 



AMPHICO'MA, a genus of anthoUi, from 

 xu , around, and r.ou.r., hair, in refer- 



