A M S 



of our latter fpecies ; to the latter the Cardamom tnbe, 

 comprifing the fecond and all after it to the eighth iu- 

 clufive. 



AMPHIBOLE, or Hornblende. See Mineralogy, 



Addenda. 



AMPHIGENE. See Leucite. 



AMPHirOGON, in Botany, a/^?' and ^a-yiBy, as having 

 a beard, or awns, upon both valves of the corolla. — Brawn 

 Prodr. Nov. HoU. v. I. 175.— Clafs and order, Tnandria 

 Dlgynia. Nat. Ord. Gramina. 



Eir. Ch. Caly X of two nearly equal valves, fingle-flowered. 

 Corolla of two valves ; outer valve with three fegments ; 

 inner with two ; all the fegments fetaceous, avvned, 



uniform. 



A genus of graflcs, growing in patches, with creeping 

 roots. Maculated Jems, and fetaceous leaves. Tht Jovers 

 compofe an equal fjiiie, which fometimes aflumes the form 

 of i roundifh head. 



Seft. I. Sjiiie capitate, the otitermojl jloiucrs aborti've, 

 ivhorled, conjlituting a kind of involucrum. Calyx hairy. 

 . I. A. laguroidcs. Hare's-tail Amphipogon. — Head glo- 

 bofe. Calyx-glumes hifpid, with hairs dilated at the bafe ; 

 outer valve twice the length of its point. — Gathered by 

 Mr. Brown, on the fouth coaft of New Holland. 



2. A. lurbinatus. Turbinate Amphipogon. — Head 

 obovate. Calyx -glumes clothed with Ihaggy hairs, fimple at 

 the bafe ; outer valve fcarcely longer than its point. — From 

 the fame country. 



Seft. 2. Spike oblong. Calyx fmooth. 



a. A. Jlricliis. Stiff Amphipogon. — Calyx-glumes 

 fringed, undivided, fhorter than the Imooth corolla. Awns 

 and leaves ftraight. — Found by Mr. Brown, near Port 

 Jackfouj New South Wales. 



4. A. debilis. Weak Amphipogon. — Calyx-glumes three- 

 cleft, (horter than the fmooth corolla. Awns ftraight. 

 Leaves rather flaccid. — Gathered by the fame on the 

 fouthern coaft^ of New Holland. 



5. A. avenaceus. Oat Amphipogon. — Calyx-glumes 

 pointed, undivided, longer than the filky corolla. Awns 

 fpreading. — Native of the fame country as the laft. 



We have feen no fpecimcns, and therefore are indebted 

 to Mr. Brown for all the above information. We would 

 obferve that this genus affords an exemplification of what 

 fpecific characters ought to be, under the hand of a mafter, 

 with nothing ambiguous or fuperfluous, but fuch a contraft 

 of diftinftions between all the fpecies, as can leave no doubt 

 in the mind of a fiudent. 



AMPHORA. Add — As a wine meafure at Venice, 

 contains 4 bigoncia, and a bigoncia contains 4 quantari, 116 

 fecchie, or 2561bs. pefo grofo ; but a bigoncia of brandy 

 is only 14 fecchie, or 561bs. 



AMSTERDAM, in Geography, an illand in the Indian 

 fea, lying in S. lat. 38° 42'. E. long. 76° 54'. This 

 illand is of volcanic origin, and ftill in a ftate of inflamma- 

 tion. The great crater on the eaftern fide, now full of 

 water, is by far the largcft here, or, perhaps, elfewhere, and 

 is of an allonifhing fi/.e, confiderably exceeding in diameter 

 thofe of Etna or Veiuvius. Its length from N. to S. is 

 upw-ards of four miles ; its breadth from E. to W. about 

 2^ miles ; and its circumference 1 1 miles, comprehending a 

 furface of about eight fquare miles, or 5120 acres, almoft 

 the whcle of which is covered with a fertile foil. The ifland 

 is inacceffible, except on the call fide, where the great crater 

 forms a harbour, the entrance into which is deepening 

 annually, and might, by the aid of art, be made fit for the 

 paffage of large (hips. The tides run in and out- at the rate 

 of three miles an hour, and rife perpendicularly eight or 



AMU 



nine feet on the full and change of the moon. Their 

 direftion is S.E. by S., and N.E. by N. A northerly 

 wind makes the higheft tide. The water is eight or ten 

 fathoms deep almoit clofe to the edge of the crater. The 

 fea fupphes this illand with excellent filh, particularly a 

 kind of cod, and cray-fifh in abundance. Neverthelefs, 

 Iharks and dog-fi(h, of uncommon fize, were very numerous 

 in the fame place. The penguin, diftinguilhed in the 

 Linncean fyftem by the name of " Chrj'focoma," having 

 large yellow feathers, forming two femi-circlcs over the 

 eyes, like eyebrows, is found here in great abundance. Of 

 the larger birds, here are alfo feveral fpecies of the albatrofs, 

 and alfo the large black petrel, or " procellaria equinoc- 

 tialis" of Linnxus ; the blue petrel, or " procellaria 

 Forfteri ;" and the ftormy petrel. The fmalleft of the 

 feathered tribe, inhabiting or vifiting this illand, was the 

 filver kind, or " fterna hirundo," about the fize of a large 

 fwallow or fwift, with a forked tail. The illand St. Paul's, 

 lying to the northward of Amfterdam, prefented no very 

 high land, or any rifmg in a conic form. In fir George 

 Staunton's Embafly to China, we have a view and plan of 

 the ifland of Amfterdam, and of the great crater on its 

 eaftern fide. 



AMUL, an ancient city of the Perfian empire, in the 

 province of Mazanderan, fituated in an agreeable plain at 

 the foot of a mountain, on the banks of a river, and cele- 

 brated for a handfome bridge of twelve arches, an old for- 

 trefs, and a palace of Shah Abbas the Great. 



AMURATH (or Morab) III., in Biography, fuc- 

 cecded his father fultan Selim II. in 1575, Commencing his 

 reign with cauiing his five brothers to be ftrangled in his 

 prefence. His reign was eventful in military tranfaftions ; 

 but as he took no part in them, he is not much noticed by 

 the Turkifh hiftorians. Amurath contributed to the elec- 

 tion of Stephen Battori, as king of Poland ; and this cir- 

 cumftance favoured his own defigns againft Perfia. The 

 invafion of this empire by the Turks began in 1578, and 

 after much flaughter, terminated in Amurath's pofleflion of 

 Tauris, and three contiguous provinces of Perfia. The 

 Krim Tartars, who revolted from the Turkifh dominion, 

 were reduced. In 1590, Amurath being at peace with the 

 other powers declared war againft the emperor of Germany, 

 which was the caufe of much devaftation and bloodfhed ; and 

 the Turks triumphed in the capture of the important town 

 of Raab, in Upper Hungary. During this war, Amurath 

 died, in January 1596, at the age of 52. Chriftian authors 

 reprefent him as of a m.ild dilpofition, a lover of juftice, 

 zealous in his religion, and a friend to temperance and 

 order. Mod. Univ. Hift. 



Amurath (or Morad) IV., furnamed Gha%i, or the 

 Valiant, was fon of Achmet I., and fucceeded his depofed 

 uncle Muftapha in 1622, in his 13th year. He loft 

 Bagdad at the beginning of his reign ; and after many 

 imfuccefsful attempts to retake it, he marched, in 1637, at 

 the head of a numerous army, and after thirty days continual 

 aflault, and an immenfe lofs of lives, ftormed the place. On 

 this occafion he ftiewed the brutal ferocity of his temper, 

 not only by driving on his men with a fcymetar to the 

 attack, but by ftaughtering 30,000 Perfians who had fur- 

 rendered at discretion after the capture of the town. It is 

 faid, that the only perfon who efcaped was a famous harp- 

 player, who requefted the executioners to permit him to 

 fpeak to the fultan before his death. When introduced 

 into his prefence, and ordered to give a fpecimen of his 

 powers, he touched his inftrument fo fweetly, accompanying 

 the ftrains with pathetic lamentations on the tragedy of 

 Bagdad, and artful praifes of Amurath, that the tyrant was 



• foftencd 



