Ammoniacum
a gum resin, called also gum ammoniac, which is imported into this country from Turkey and the East Indies in little lumps, or tears, of a strong and not very pleasing smell and a nauseous taste, followed by bitterness in the mouth. It is a stimulant, a deobstruent, an expectorant, an antispasmodic, a discutient, and a resolvent. Hence, it is internally employed in asthma and chronic catarrh, visceral obstructions, and obstinate colic, while it is used externally in scirrhous tumors and white swellings of the joints.
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Ammonium
the name given by Berzelius to a supposed monatomic radical (NH4)'.
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Amniomancy
Divination by means of the caul, or membrane which sometimes envelopes the head of a child at birth. From an inspection of this caul, the wise women predict the sort of future the baby will have. If it be red, happy days are in store for the child, or if lead-coloured, he will have misfortunes.
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Amomum
a genus of plants belonging to the order zingiberaceæ, or gingerworts. They are natives of hot countries. The seeds of A. granum parad A. maximum, and on the frontiers of Bengal of A. aromaticum, are the chief of the aromatic seeds called cardamoms. A pungent flavor is imparted to spirituous liquor by the hot acrid seeds of A. angustifolium, macrospermum, maxi mum, and clusii. It is also the specific name of the sison amomum, the hedge- Bastard stone-parsley.
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Amon
A great and powerful marquis of the infernal empire. He is represented as a wolf with a serpent's tail, vomiting flame. When he appears in human form, his head resembles that of a large owl with canine teeth. He is the strongest of the princes of the demons, knows the past and the future, and can reconcile, when he will, friends who have quarelled. He commands forty legions.
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Amorphism
This term expresses the opposite of the crystalline state. Diamond is crystalline carbon; charcoal and lamp-black are amorphous carbon. Amorphous bodies are without any regular form or trace of crystalline structure, as wrought-iron; they fracture irregularly, in any direction, and are generally more soluble and less hard and dense than in the crystalline form. See CRYSTALLIZATION.
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Amos
one of the so-called minor prophets of the Hebrews, was a herdsman of Tekoa, in the neighborhood of Bethlements exercising a respiratory function, hem, and also a dresser of sycamore trees. During the reigns of Uzziah in Judah, and Jeroboam II. in Israel (about AMPHIBIA 800 b. c.), he came forward to denounce the idolatry then prevalent.
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Amoy
a seaport town and one of the treaty ports of China; on a small island of the same name in the province of Fukien; 325 miles E. by N. E. of Canton, and directly opposite the island of Formosa. It was one of the earliest seats of European commerce in China, the Portuguese having had establishments here in the 16th and the Dutch in the 17th centuries. In 1841 it was taken by the British, and, by the treaty of Nankin, a British consul and British subjects were permitted to reside here. This port is especially important in its relations to the prospective trade of the United States with China, and already its trade with the United States leads that of all other Chinese ports. During the international military operations in China, in 1900, the city was occupied by the Japanese. Pop. (1917) of port, 300,000; city, 114,000.
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Amoymon
One of the four kings of Hades, of which the eastern part falls to his share. He may be invoked in the morning from nine o'clock till midday, and in the evening from three o'clock till six. He has been identified with Amaimon (q.v.) Asmodeus (q.v.) is his lieutenant, and the first prince of his dominions.
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Amphibia
in zoology, animals which can live indiscriminately on land 1 or water, or which at one part of their existence live in water and at another on land. It is used by Macleay, Swainson, Huxley, and other modern zoölogists for the fourth great class of aniorder batrachia. It is intermediate bemals corresponding to Cuvier's reptilian tween reptilia and pisces. They have no amnion. Their visceral arches during a longer or shorter period develop filaor branchiæ. The frog, the toad, and the newt are familiar examples of the amphibia.
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Amphictyon
The son of Helenus, who first established the celebrated Council of the Amphictyons, composed of the wisest and most virtuous men of some cities of Greece.
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Amphioxus
a genus of fishes of an organization so humble, that the first specimen discovered was believed by Pallas to be a slug, and was described by him as the limax lanceolatus. It is now called amphioxus lanceolatus.
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Amphipod
in zoölogy, an animal belonging to the crustaceous order amphipoda.
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Amplitude
The full extent or breadth. As applied to pendulums, the amplitude of a simple oscillation or vibration; properly the distance from the middle to the extremity of an oscillation, but the term is usually applied to the distance from one extremity of the swing to the other.
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Amulet
anything hung around the neck, placed like a bracelet on the wrist, or otherwise attached to the person, as an imagined preservative against sickness, witchcraft, or other evils, amulets were common in the ancient world, and they are so yet in nations where ignorance prevails.
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Amy
Grand President of Hades, and one of the princes of the infernal monarchy. He appears there enveloped with flame, but on earth, in human form. He teaches the secrets of astrology and of the liberal arts, and gives faithful servants. He reveals to those who possess his favour, the hiding-place of treasures guarded by demons. Thirtysix of the infernal legions are under his command. The fallen angels acknowledge his orders, and he hopes that at the end of 200,000 years, he shall return to heaven to occupy the seventh throne.
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Amy Robsart
in Scott's Kenilworth, the unacknowledged wife of Dudley, Earl of Leicester. From her place of concealment she fled to Kenilworth, but was induced to depart on promise of being joined by her husband. With the earl's consent she was murdered by the villain Varney. The chief incidents of the story are founded on fact. The Earl of Leicester, desiring to obtain the consent of the great nobles to his marriage with Queen Elizabeth, was believed to have procured the murder of the unfortunate Lady Amy, his wife. See Scott ; Kenilworth
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