AME 
soils on which they grow, more fertile, by 
producing a confined or stagnant state of 
the air. The improvement of lands by 
what are called ameliorating crops, proba- 
bly depends upon the culture which the 
ground receives while they are growing, 
and the returns which they make to it in 
the way of manure, after they are con- 
sumed by animals. 
AMEN, in the scripture language, a so- 
lemn formula, or conclusion to all prayer, 
signifying so be it. 
The term amen is Hebrew, being derived 
from the verb aman, i. e. to be true, faith- 
ful, Sfc. so that, strictly speaking, it signifies 
truth; and, used adverbially, as is fre- 
quently done in the gospels, truly or verily. 
Sometimes it is repeated twice together, 
and then it stands for the superlative, as 
amen, amen, dico vobis. 
The word, in music, forms the usual con- 
clusion of anthems, hymns, and other sa- 
cred compositions; and has so long been 
one of the principal themes of choral har- 
mony, as to have given birth to a distinct 
appellation for music adapted to its expres- 
sion : as when, using the word adjectively, 
we say, such an oratorio or anthem con- 
cludes with an Amen chorus. 
AMEND, or Amende, in the French cus- 
toms, a pecuniary punishment imposed by 
a judge for any crime, false prosecution, or 
groundless appeal. 
Amende honorable, an infamous kind of 
punishment inflicted in France upon trai- 
tors, parricides, or sacrilegious persons, in 
the following manner : the offender being 
delivered into the hands of the hangman” 
his shirt is stripped off, and a rope put about 
his neck, and a taper in his hand ; then he 
is led into court, where he must beg par- 
don of God, the King, the Court, and his 
Country. Sometimes the punishment ends 
here, but sometimes it is only a prelude to 
death, or banishment to the galiies. 
Amende honorable is a term also used for 
making recantation in open court, or in pre- 
sence of the person injured. 
AMENDMENT, in law, the correction 
of an error committed in a process, which 
may be amended after judgment, unless the 
error lies iu giving judgment, for in that 
case it is not amendable, but the party must 
bring a writ of error. 
A bill may be amended on the file at any 
time before the plea is pleaded ; but not af- 
terwards, without motion and leave of the 
court. 
AMERCEMENT, or Amerciament, in 
A M E 
law, a pecuniary punishment imposed upon 
offenders at the mercy of the court. Amer- 
cements differ from fines, the latter being 
certain punishments growing expressly from 
some statute, whereas the former are im- 
posed arbitrarily in proportion to the fault. 
Besides, fines are assessed by the court, 
but amercements by the country. 
A court of record only can fine, all others 
can only amerce. 
Sheriffs are amerciable for the faults of 
their officers, and clerks of the peace may 
be amerced in the King’s-bench for gross 
faults in indictments removed to that court. 
A town is subject to amercement for the 
escape of a murderer in the day-time, and 
if the town is walled, it is subject to amer- 
cement whether the escape happens by day 
or night. 
The statute of Magna Charta ordains, that 
a freeman is not to be amerced for a small 
fault, but in proportion to the offence, by 
his peers and equals. 
AMERIMNUM, or Amerimnon, in bo- 
tany, a genus of the Diadelphia Decandria 
class and order, of the natural order of Papi- 
lionaceae or Leguminos® ; the characters of 
which are, that the calyx is a one-leafed 
perianthium ; tube bell shaped, five-toothed, 
the teeth sharp ; the corolla papillionaceous, 
standard with an oblong claw, roundish, 
heart-shaped, expanding and convex, wings 
lanceolate, shorter than the standard, and 
keel short ; the stamina have 10 filaments 
conjoined, anthers roundish ; the pistillum 
has a gum pedicelled, oblong, compressed, 
leafy, varicose, with lateral veins, within 
woody, not gaping ; cells disposed longitu- 
dinally within ; the seeds solitary, kidney- 
shaped, thicker at the base, appendicted at 
the top./ There are two species, viz 1. A. 
Brownei : this shrub rises commonly to the 
height of ten feet, and supports itself on 
other shrubs. It is a native of Carthagena, 
Jamaica, and Domingo. 2. A. ebenus, 
Jamaica ebony, which is common in Ja- 
maica and several other parts of the West 
Indies, where the wood is cut, and sent into 
England under the name of ebony, though 
the true ebony is a native of the eastern 
country, and of a different genus. This 
wood is of a fine greenish brown colour, 
admits of polishing well, so that it is much 
valued by the instrument makers, and 
it is of a very hard durable nature. Dr. 
Browne says, that the trunk seldom exceed* 
three or four inches in diameter ; that the 
slender branches, being very tough and flex- 
ible, are used for riding switches, and kept 
