A M I 
O grace ferene! oh virtue heav’nly fair, 
Divine oblivion of low-thoughted care ! 
Frefti blooming hope, gay daughter of the (ky! 
And faith, our early immortality ! 
Enter each mild, each amicable, gueft; 
Receive and wrap me in eternal reft. Pope. 
Amicable Benches, in Roman antiquity, were, ac¬ 
cording to Pitilcus, lower and lefs honourable feats allot¬ 
ted for the judices pcdanei, or inferior judges, who, upon 
being admitted of the emperor’s council, were dignified 
by him with the title amici. 
Amicable Numbers, denote pairs of numbers, of 
which each of them is mutually equal to the fum of all 
the aliquot parts of the other. So the firftor leaft pair of 
amicable numbers are 220 and 284; all the aliquot parts 
of w hich, with their fums, are as follow, viz. 
of 220, they are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55, 
no, their fum - 284; 
of 284, (hey are r, 2, 4, 7 r, 142, and their fum is 220. 
The fecond pair of amicable numbers are 17296 and 
18416, which have alfo the fame property as above. 
And the third pair of amicable numbers are 9363584 and 
9437 ° 5 6 - 
Thefe three pairs of amicable numbers were found out 
by F. Schooten, fe£t. 9 of his Exercitationes Mathema¬ 
tics, who I believe firft gave the name of amicable to fuch 
numbers, though fuch properties of numbers it feems had 
before been treated of by Rudolphus, Defcartes, and 
others. To find the firft pair, Schooten puts 4* and 4 yz, 
or a 2 ir and for the two numbers where a— 2; then 
making each of thefe equal to the fum of the aliquot parts 
of the other, gives two equations, from which are found 
the values of w and z, and consequently,' affuminga pro¬ 
per value for j’, the two amicable numbers themfelves 4.V 
and 4 yz. In like manner for the other pairs of fuch num¬ 
bers; in which he finds it neceflary to afilime 1 6 .x and 
1 6 yz, or a'x and cryz for the fecond pair, and 12 8v and 
siKyz, or a’x and dyz for the third pair. Schooten then 
gives this practical rule, from Defcartes, for finding ami¬ 
cable numbers, viz. Afilime the number 2, or fome power 
otf the number 2, fuch that if unity, or 1, be lubtracted 
from each of thefe three following quantities, viz. 
From 3 times theaflumed number, 
Alfo from 6 times the alfumed number. 
And from 18 times the fquare of the alfumed number, 
the three remainders may be all prime numbers; then, the 
laft prime number being multiplied by double the afiluned- 
number, the product will be one of the amicable numbers 
fought, and the fum of its aliquot parts will be tire other. 
That is, if a be put — the number 2, and n fome inte¬ 
ger number, fuch that 3 a" —1, and 6 a n —1, and 18 a 2 " —1, 
be all three prime numbers; then is 18 a ‘ n — 1 x 2 a n one of 
the amicable numbers ; and the fum of its aliquot 'parts 
is the other. 
A'MICABLENESS,yi The quality of being amicable; 
friendlinefs; good-will. 
A'MICABLY, aclv. In an amicable manner; in a 
friendly wiiy; with good-will and concord : 
T hey fee 
Through the dun milt, in bloOming beauty frelh, 
Two lovely youths, that amicably walkt 
O’er verdant meads, and pleas’d, perhaps, revolv’d 
Anna’s late conquefts. Philips. 
A'MICE ,f. [amipus, Lat. amiEl, Fr.J The firft or un- 
dermoftpart ofaprieft’s habit, over which he wears the alb : 
Tims pafs’d the night fo foul, till morning fair 
Came forth with pilgrim fteps in amice grey. Milton. 
On fome a prieft, fuccinft in amice white, 
Attends. p 0 p e . 
A'MICUS CU'RI.'iE, in lav/. If a judge is doubtful 
or miftaken in matter of law, a ftander-by may inform the 
court as amicus curice. 2 Co, Irrjl. 178. 
AMI'DA, a god worlhipped by the Japanefe, who has 
A M I ^.7^ 
many temples credited to him in the ifiand of Japan, of 
which the principal is at Jedo. The Japanefe have fuch a 
confidence in their idol Amida, that they hope to attain 
eternal felicity by the frequent invocation of his name. 
One of the figures of this idol ife reprefented at Rome. 
Amida, a principal city of Mefopotamia; fituated on 
a high mountain, on the borders of Aftyria, on the Ti¬ 
gris, where it receives the Nymphius. It was taken from 
the Romans, in the time of the emperor Confirms, by Sa- 
pores king of Perfia. The fiege is faid to have coft him 
30,000 men; however, lie reduced it to fuch ruin, that the 
emperor afterwards wept over it. According to Ammia- 
nus Marcellinus, the city was rafed ; the chief officers were 
crucified; and the reft, with the foldiers and inhabitants, 
either put to the fword or carried into captivity. The in¬ 
habitants of Nifibis, however, being obliged to leave their 
own city by Jovian’s treaty with the Perfians, foon reftored 
Amida to its former (Irength; but it was again taken by 
CavadeS in 501, but was reftored to the Romans in 503. 
On the declenfion of the Roman power, it fell again into 
the hands of the Perfians; but was taken from them by 
the Saracens in 899. It is now in tiie poifellion of the 
Turks. Here are above 20,coo Chriftians, who are better 
treated by the Turks than in other places. A great trade 
is carried on in this city, of red Turkey leather, and cot¬ 
ton cloth of the fame colour. The Arabian name of 
Amida is Diarbekir, and the Turkifii one Kara-Amed. Lat. 
36. 5S.N. Ion. 39. o. E. 
AMI'DST, or Ami'd, prep, [from a and mid, ovmidjl.j 
In the midft; equally diftant from either extremity. Ming¬ 
led with; furronnded by; in the ambit of another thing. 
Amongft; conjoined with : 
What though no real voice nor found 
Amid their radiant orbs be found i 
In reafon’s ear they all rejoice, 
And utter forth a glorious voice. 
For ever finging, as they fliine, 
“ The.hand that made us is divine.” Addifon. 
A'MIENS, a large handfome city of France, in the 
department of Somme, and late province of Picardy. It 
is a place of great antiquity ; being mentioned by Caelar 
as a town that had made a vigorous refiftance againft the 
Romans, and where he convened a general afiembly of 
the Gauls after having made himfelf mailer of it. The 
emperors Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius enlarged it ; 
and Conftantine, Conftans, Julian, and feveral others, refided 
here a confiderable time. The river Somme enters A- 
miens by three dift’erent channels, over which are as many 
bridges; and thefe channels, after wafhing the town in 
feveral places, unite at the other end by the bridge of St. 
Michael. The houfesare well built; the ftreets fpacious, 
embeliifhed with handfome fquares and good buildings ; 
and the number of inhabitants between forty and fifty 
thoufand. The cathedral is one of the largeft and mo ft 
magnificent churches in France ; adorned with handfome 
paintings, fine pillars, chapels, and tombs ; particularly 
the nave is greatly admired. , Amiens. was taken by the 
Spaniards, in 1597, by the following llratagem : foldiers, 
difguifed like peafants, conduced a cart laden, with, nuts, 
and let a bag of them fall juft as the gate was opened. 
While the guard was bufy in gathering up the nuts, the 
Spaniards entered and became mailers- of the town. It 
was retaken by Henry IV. who built a'citadel here.. 
Here are manufactures of linen and woollen cloth, which 
employ in the city and adjacent country 30,000 people- 
It is on the road from Calais to Paris,, twenty miles S. E. 
of Abbeville, and 75 N.. of Paris. Lat. 49. 54. N. long. 
2. 2S. E. 
AMIL'CAR, the name of feveral -Carthaginian- cap¬ 
tains. The molt celebrated of them is Amilcar Barcas, 
the father of Hannibal, who during five years infefted the 
coaft of Italy ; when the Romans lending out their whole 
naval ftrength, defeated him near Trapani, 242 years be¬ 
fore Chrift ; and this .put an end to the firft Punic, war. 
Amilcar began the fecond, and landed in Spain, where lie 
iubdu.ed. 
