Amadis of Gaul
an ancient Spanish or Portuguese romance, comparable with the British tales of Arthur and his Round Table Knights. It is thought to have taken form in the hands of a Portuguese writer, himself a knight, about a hundred years before the discovery of America. For the story itself, it is impossible to give a summary of it--the plot being too disconnected; but he who has read one such tale, or even a few chapters of one, may have a general impression of all--hacking and hewing in every page, knights always at war and seeking adventures, giants in the path, lions in the forest, damsels in durance, castles to be attacked, wizards and witches with hate in their hearts, kings everywhere plentiful as blackberries, and lovely ladies abounding in tenderness.--Southey. 2026 Editor's Note: Amadis was the runaway bestseller of the sixteenth century — and the very kind of chivalric romance that so addled Don Quixote's wits . Cervantes has the priest spare Amadis when he burns the deluded knight's library, calling it the best of its kind. (Ed: BR 2026-06-12)
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Amaimon
One of the four spirits who preside over the four parts of the universe. Amaimon, according to the magicians, was the governor of the eastern part.
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Amaithea
The nurse of the infant Zeus ( Jupiter ) in Crete , was, according to some traditions, the goat which suckled Zeus, and was rewarded by being placed among the stars. According to others, Zeus broke off one of the horns of the goat, and endowed it with the wonderful power of becoming filled with whatever the possessor might wish. Hence this horn was commonly called the horn of plenty, or cornucopia, and it was used in **later times as the symbol of plenty in general. Amastris.Wife of Xerxes and mother of Artaxerxes I.
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Amalfi
a city and seaport, in the province of Salerno, Italy; on the Gulf of Salerno; 22 miles S. E. of Naples. It was founded in the 4th century; was the birthplace of Flavio Gioja, the inventor of the mariner's compass; became the capital of the republic; and attained very large commercial importance. It contained a cathedral with bronze doors cast in Constantinople in 1066, and a Capuchin monastery. On Dec. 24, 1899, a portion of the rocks and land facing the Gulf suddenly slid into the water, carrying down the ancient monastery building and other structures. Pop. about 7,000.
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Amalia
Important: Safety Warning This page offers rules for telling edible mushrooms from poisonous ones. No such rules are reliable, and these identifications predate modern mycology. Deadly species closely resemble edible ones, and mistakes are regularly fatal. Never eat a wild mushroom on the strength of this text. This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon. ANNA, Duchess of Saxe- Weimar, was born in 1739, and, left a widow in the second year of her marriage (1758), by her judicious rule as guardian of her infant son, she enabled the country to recover from the effects of the Seven Years' War. She attracted to Weimar such men as Herder, Goethe, Musæus, Schiller. The battle of Jena is said to have broken her heart; she died (1807) six months after that event. AMANA and AMANUS, a chain of lofty mountains separating Cilicia from Syria. This name was given by the Greek and Roman geographers, and is also sometimes applied by modern geographers to the branch of Mount Taurus, which, beginning at the mountain of Cape Hynzyr, on the Gulf of Scanderoon, runs in a N. E. direction into the interior.
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Amalthea
am-al-the a, in Greek mythology, the nurse of the infant Zeus, in Crete. According to one story Amalthea was a nymph and fed the child with goat's milk. Another legend gives the name of Amalthea to the goat itself, and says she suckled the infant. Zeus broke off one of the horns of this goat and endowed it with the power of being filled with whatever the possessor might wish. This horn was called the horn of plenty, or cornucopia, and it was used in later times as a symbol of plenty. There is another story which connects the origin of the cornucopia with Achelous. See Achelous 2026 Editor's Note: Amalthea's broken horn became the cornucopia — the 'horn of plenty' still overflowing on Thanksgiving tables and harvest emblems everywhere. The nurse of Zeus also lent her name to a moon of Jupiter, discovered in 1892, just before this volume. (Ed: BR 2026-06-03)
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Amanita
a genus of hymenomycete fungi, nearly allied to the mushrooms agaricus. Several of the species are edible, notably the delicious orange (A. cæsarea), but the majority are poisonous. A. muscaria, which is quite common in woods, especially of fir and beech, in Great Britain, is one of the most dangerous fungi. It is sometimes called fly agaric, being used in Sweden and other countries to kill flies and bugs, for which purpose it is steeped in milk. The pileus or cap is of an orange-red color, with white warts, the gills white, and the stem bulbous. It is used by the Kamchadales to produce intoxication. AMARAN- AMARANTACEÆ, or THACEÆ, a natural order of plants, consisting of "chenopodal exogens, with separate sepals opposite the stamens, usually one-celled anthers, a single ovary containing several seeds, and scarioften ous flowers buried in imbricated bracts." The order is divided into three sub-orders -gomphreneæ, achyrantheæ, and celosex. About 500 species are known. They occur chiefly in the tropics of America and Asia; a number also are Australian. The cockscomb, the globe amaranth, the prince's feather, and love-lies-bleeding are found in gardens. Many amaranthaceæ are used as pot herbs.
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Amarantus
or AMARANTHUS, genus of plants, the typical one of the a order amarantaceæ. It is placed under the sub-order achyrantheæ. It has green, purplish or crimson flowers in large spiked clusters, which are very ornamental. A. melancholicus and tri-color are tender annuals, and A. sanguineus and caudatus common border flowers. The leaves of A. viridis are employed externally as an emollient poultice. A. obtusifolius is said to be diuretic. A. debilis is used in Madagascar as a cure for syphilis. The seeds of A. frumentaceus and A. anardana are used as corn in India.
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