Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/180

LEFT AMAUROSIS 138 AMBASSADOR come one of the leading baritone singers. He sang in German and South American theaters and in 1909 he became a mem- ber of the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York, appearing in each succes- sive season from that date. He also toured the country as a concert singer and became widely and favorably known. AMAUROSIS, a disease of the eye, arising from impaired sensibility of the retina. Amaurosis arises from inflam- mation or turgescence of the retina, from derangement of the digestive or- gans, from exercise of the eye on min- ute objects, and from injury or disease of the fifth nerve or its branches, or from injury of the eye itself. AMAZON, a river of South America, the largest in the world, formed by a great number of sources which rise in the Andes; the two head branches being the Tunguragua or Maraiion and the Ucayale, both rising in Peru, the former from Lake Lauricocha, in lat. 10° 29' S., the latter formed by the Apurimac and Urubamba, the headwaters of which are between lat. 14° and 16° S.; general course N. of E.; length, including wind- ings, between 3,000 and 4,000 miles; area of drainage basin, 2,300,000 square miles. It enters the Atlantic under the equator by a mouth 200 miles wide divided into two principal and several smaller arms by the large island of Marajo, and a number of smaller islands. In its upper course, navigation is interrupted by rapids, but from its mouth upward for a distance of 3,300 miles (mostly in Brazil) there is no obstruction. It re- ceives the water of about 200 tributaries. Northern tributaries: Santiago, Morona, Pastaca, Tigre, Napo, Putumayo, Ja- pura, Ria Negro (the Cassiquiare con- nects this stream with the Orinoco), etc. Southern: Huallaga, Ucayale, Javari, Jutay, Jurua, Coary, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, etc. At Tabatinga, where it enters Brazil- ian territory, the breadth is 1^/4 miles; below the mouth of the Madeira, it is 3 miles wide, and where there are islands often as much as 7; from the sea to the Rio Negro, 750 miles in a straight line, the depth is nowhere less than 30 fath- oms; up to the junction of the Ucayale there is depth sufficient for the largest vessels. The Amazonian water system affords some 50,000 miles of river suit- able for navigation. The singular phe- nomenon of the bore, or, as it is called on the Amazon, the pororoca, occurs at the mouth of the river at spring-tides on a grand scale. The river swarms with alligators, turtles, and a great va- riety of fish. It is a great highway of commerce. The Amazon was discovered by Yanez Pingon in 1500, but the stream was not navigated by any European till 1540, when Francis Orellana descended it. He stated that he found on its banks a nation of armed women, and this cir- cumstance gave the name to the river. AMAZON, or AMAZONE (from a = without, and -wiazos^the breast, from the story that the Amazons cut off their right breast to prevent its interfering with the use of the bow), a nation on the river Thermodon, the modern Ter- meh in Pontus, in Asia Minor, said to consist entirely of women renowned for their love of manly sports, and as war- riors. Men were excluded from their territory, and commerce was held only with strangers, while all male children born among them were killed. They are mentioned by Homer. Also the females of an Indian tribe on the banks of the great river Maranon, in South America, who assisted their husbands when fighting against the Spaniards, and caused the Maranon to receive the new name of the Amazon, and any female soldiers, such as the band of female warriors kept by the King of Dahomey in Africa. In entomology, Huber's name for the neuters of a red ant (polyergus), which are accustomed to sally forth in large numbers from their nests, in military array, and, proceeding to some neigh- boring anthill belonging to another spe- cies, plunder it of the larva of its neu- ters. These, when hatched, become a kind of pariah caste in the habitation of the Amazons. AMBALA or UMBALLA, a city of India, the capital of the district of the same name in the Punjab. It is a well built town and contains a handsome Gothic church, several hospitals and asy- lums. It is also an important military station. Pop. about 90,000. AMBASSADOR, a diplomatic officer of the highest rank, sent by a sover- eign or nation to another power to treat on affairs of state, representing not only the affairs, but also the person, of his sovereign or executive and entitled to al- most equal respect. Anciently ambas- sadors were sent only on special mis- sions, after the performance of which they returned, their functions corre- sponding to those of the modem ambas- sador extraordinary; only in modern times did there originate the employment of an ambassador residing permanently at the seat of a foreign government, who is expected to familiarize himself with its politics and to exert his influence