AMY 



AMY 



tion of the compass. If the magnetical 

 amplitude be found to be . . 61 55' 

 at the time it is computed as above 



to be . . 39 47' 



th'en the difference 22 8' 

 is the variation westward. 



AMPLITUDK of the range of a projectile, 

 the horizontal line subtending the path in 

 which the projectile moved. See PRO- 

 JECTILE. 



AMPUTATION, in surgery, the cut- 

 ting off a limb, or other part of the body, 

 with an instrument. 



AMULET, a charm, or preservative 

 against mischief, witchcraft or diseases. 

 Amulets were made of stone, metal, sim- 

 ples, animals, and, in a word, of every 

 thing which fancy or caprice suggested ; 

 and sometimes they consisted of words, 

 characters, and sentences, ranged in a 

 particular order, and engraved upon 

 wood, Sec. and worn about the neck, or 

 some other part of the body. At other 

 times they were neither written nor en- 

 graved, but prepared with many super- 

 stitious ceremonies, great regard being 

 usually paid to the influence of the stars. 

 The Arabians have given to this species 

 of amulet the name of talisman. 



All nations have been fond of amulets ; 

 the Jews were extremely superstitiows in 

 the use of them, to drive away diseases : 

 and the Misna forbids them, unless re- 

 ceived from an approved man, who had 

 cured at least three persons before, by 

 the same means. 



Even among the Christians of the 

 early times, amulets were made of the 

 wood of the cross, or ribbands with atext 

 of scripture written in them, as preserva- 

 tives against diseases; and therefore the 

 council of Laodicea forbids ecclesiastics 

 to make such amulets, and orders all 

 such as wore them to be cast out of the 

 church. 



AMYGDALOID. See TRAPS THAN- 



SITI03V. 



AMYGDALUS, in botany, a genus of 

 the Polyandria Monogynia class and or- 

 der; its characters are, that the calyx is 

 a perianthium, one-leaved, tubulous, in- 

 ferior, quinquefid, deciduous, divisions 

 spreading and obtuse ; the corolla of five 

 petals, oblong-ovate, obtuse, concave, in- 

 serted into the calyx ; the stamina have 

 filaments about 30, filiform, erect, shorter 

 by half than the corolla, inserted into the 

 calyx; anthers simple ; the pistillum has 

 a roundish, viilosc germ, simple style, of 

 the length of the stamens, and headed 

 stigma: the pericarpium is a roundish, 



villose, large drupe, with a longitudinal 

 furrow ; the seed is a nut, ovate, com- 

 pressed, acute, with prominent sutures on 

 each side, reticulated with furrows, and 

 dotted with small holes. The nut of the 

 almond is covered with a dry skin ; that 

 of the peach with a small pulp. There 

 are seven species, of which we shall no- 

 tice, 1. A persica, with all the serratures- 

 of the leaves acute, and the flowers ses- 

 sile and solitary. There are two varie- 

 ties, viz. the peach-tree, with downy fruit, 

 and the nectarine, with smooth fruit. 2. 

 A. communis, the almond tree, with the 

 lower serratures of the leaves glandulous, 

 and the flowers sessile and in couplets. 

 The common almond has leaves which re- 

 semble those of the peach, but the lower 

 serratures are glandular; they proceed 

 from buds, -both above and below the 

 flowers, and not, as in the peach, from 

 the ends of the shoots above and not be- 

 low the flowers. The form of the flower 

 is not very different; but they usually 

 come out in pairs, and vary more in their 

 colour from the fine blush of the apple- 

 blossom to a snowy whiteness. The chief 

 obvious distinction is in the fruit, which 

 is flatter, with a coriaceous covering in- 

 stead of the rich pulp of the peach and 

 nectarine, opening spontaneously when 

 the kernel is ripe. The shell is not so 

 hard, as in the first species, and is some- 

 times tender and very brittle ; it is flatter, 

 smoother, and the furrows or holes are 

 more superficial. This tree is a great 

 object in some parts of Italy, and in the 

 south of France ; and there are large 

 plantations of it in Provence and Dau- 

 phine. It is common in China, and most 

 of the eastern countries ; and also in Bar- 

 bary, where it is a native. In the time of 

 Cato it seems not to have been cultivated 

 in Italy ; for he calls the fruit nuces Grae- 

 cae, or Greek nuts. With us it is valuable 

 as an ornamental tree in clumps, shrub- 

 beries, &c. within view of the mansion; 

 for it displays its delicate red-purple 

 bloom in the month of March, when few 

 other trees have either leaves or flowers. 

 An almond tree, covered with its beauti- 

 ful blossoms, is one of the most elegant 

 objects in nature. In a forward spring 

 they often appear in February ; but in 

 this case the frost generally destroys 

 them, and they bear little or no fruit; but 

 when they flower in March, they seldom 

 fail to bear plenty of fruit, very sweet, 

 and fitfor the table when green; but they 

 will not keep long. The amygdalus, or 

 almond-tree is cultivated both for the ad- 

 vantage of the fruit, and as being highlv 



