Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/137

 AMN

A M O

thus; or frankincenfe. Serapio fuppofes, that he meant this likenefs of the fmell ; but it rather appears, that he meant it only ot the colour : he fays it was of a dufky colour without, and of a reddiftl brown within ; and fuch they defcribe fome °? t,,e ' r. frankincenfe of that time to have been. Diofcorides diftinguifties this by the name of cucbrous, well coloured. They had, beiide this, another fort, which they called Am- mimacum pbyraton. This was foft as wax, and might be moulded between the fingers ; but this was ufually foul'd with dirt, ftones, and other kinds of filth. This was the only kind in ufe in the (hops, in the time of the later Greeks. But neither this nor the other feem perfectly to agree with our gum Ammoniacum, though this laft comes neareft it. Another unanfwerable objection to this being the fame witii ours, is, that the Arabian writers, who copy their accounts from the Greeks, and therefore certainly mean the fame gum, by the fame name, call this alfo lezoc aldebtb, that is, cbryfocolla, or golden glue.

Avifenna tells us, that they gave it this name, becaufe books and papers were coloured with it, and that the colour it yielded was a fine yellow, like that of gold, and duck fo firmly to the paper, that it never came off again : thus golden glue became a good name for it ; but this is fo far from being applicable to our Ammoniacum, that fome have fuppofed it •was meant of the gamboge ; but the virtues attributed to both contradict this.

Neophytus has endeavoured to reconcile the accounts given by Diofcorides, of the two forts of Ammoniacum ufed in thofe times, to the one fort ufed in his ; but he has forced the fenfe of the words, and his interpretation of Diofcorides's meaning will by no means bear. Pliny gives us the fame account that Diofcorides does of the two kinds ; and it is very natural to agree with them, that the hard kind mull be purer than the foft, Which would naturally take up every thing that came in the way of it, and fo be fouled with earth, ftones, &c. Ammoniacum regeneratum, in chemiftry, the hame given to a fort of fal armor.iac, procured by chemilt ry from its prin- ciples. See Armoniac, Cycl.

The method of preparing it is this : take four ounces of alka- line fpirit offal armoniac, dilute it with three times its weight of water, in a tall glafs, and drop in fpirit of fea-falt, till the alkali is faturated, and no more effervefcence happens. The faturation being nicely hit, the liquor will be fcentlefs, and of the tafte of fal armoniac, let it be filtrated and evapo- rated, and it will moot out a fine woolly fait ; or if it be evaporated to a drynefs, a white fait will remain, and either one or the other of thefe will be found to be true genuine fal armoniac, capable of rifing in flowers, and (landing all the tefls of the common ya/ armoniac.

The volatile alkali of animal and vegetable fubftances, which of itfelf indifferently receives all acids, is here determined, by the acid of fea-falt, into a femi-volatile fea-falt ; hence the chemical rule, that acids are capable of determining alcali's into their own nature, fcems to receive confirmation, while the alkali either gives fixednefs, or volatility, as itfelf is fixed, or volatile \ and therefore, as a large quantity of volatile al- kali is continually generated from putrified animals and vege- tables, if there was in nature a fpirit of fea-falt floating about in feveral places, fal ammoniac would, in thefe places, be continually produced j and the fame fpirit meeting with a fixed alkali, produced from the aftles of vegetables, would immediately produce a true fixed fea-falt, as appears by the procefs of the regenerated fea-falt.

But though it is eafy to manifeft thefe fixed alkali's by experi- ments, yet it is very difficult to (hew the exiftence of fuch acids in nature, unlcfs we had the fecret of Mr. Boyle, who, in his treatife of mechanical experiments, declares, that, by a fecret and long continued digeilion, fea-falt may be fo dif- pofed as to part with its acid, by a gentle heat, and that be- fore its water, and without any addition of any other fub- (lance. Bocrb. Chem. P. 2. p. 261. AMMONITjE, in natural hiftory. See Sx AKE-Jlone. AMNA, in phyfical writers, denotes the water found in limy foils, and which confequently is tinged with a whitilh colour, as in many places of England. Caji. Lex. Med. p. 40. In this fenfe, Paracelfus fpeaks of the medical virtues and ufes of Amna. Paracelf. de Tartar. 1. 1. trac. c, c 2 Schol. 3 '

AMNIMODAR, in aftrology, the planet that reSifies a gem- ture, or rather a method of rectifying a nativity, and findi the precifc degree in the horofcope at the time of an infant's birth, from the condition of the planet, which had the rule in the lall preceding conjunction, or oppofition of the lumi- naries. Vital. Lex. Math. p. 30. AMNIOS (Cycl.)— Authors differ widely as to the quantity and quality of the liquor of the Amnios. Vid. Medic. Ed Edinb. Vol. 2. art. 9.

The liquor of the Amnios, according to Mr. Monro, ferves to keep the fcetus and its membranes foft and extenfible, hin- ders them from cohering, and defends the fcetus from pref- fure, or other violence, which it needs moll to be protected from, while its parts are very tender. V. Medic. Eff. Edinb. Vol. 2. art. 9.

SUFPL. VOl. I.

It is a queftion whether the liquor of the Amnios be a proper food for the fcetus. Vid. Medic. Eff. Edinb. abridg. Vol. I. p. 310. Where Mr. Monro is of opinion, that whether the liquor of the Amnios be in a found or in a morbid (late, it appears to be very ill calculated for ferving as food to be taken into the (lomach of a fcetus.

It is alfo controverted, whether the liquor of the Amnios pafies into the (lomach of the foetus. Mr. Monro afferts, that the liquor of the Amnios does not pafs into the (lomach of the fcetus ; and anfwers the arguments brought by feveral learned men for the contrary opinion. V. Medic. Eff. Edinb. abrid. ib. p. 314. feq. See Nutrition and Foetus. AMNIS alcalifatus, among chemifts, denotes water impreg- nated with an alcalious quality, by paffing through a limy or other alcaline fubllance under-ground. Ruland. Lex. Alchem. p. 40.

This amounts to much the fame with what Paracelfus calls amna. See Amna. AMNITES, in natural hiftory, a name ufed by fome for the bammites, or fpawn-ftone, a (lone fuppofed to be compofed of the petrified fpawn of fifties. Raczynlki, in his hiftory of Poland, tells us of thefe ftones found, in great abundance, in fome of the fubterranean caverns, and other places in that kingdom. He very accurately defcribes them, and is much nearer the truth in his judgment of their nature and origin, than thofe who fuppofe them the fpawn of fifties : he fuppofes them to be formed of grains of fand, naturally combined toge- ther in that form ; but they are, in reality, a congeries of fmall jlalagmitx, or drop-ftones. See Staiagmitje. AMOEBi'EUM, in the antient poetry, denotes a kind of poem, or compofition, wherein two parties fpeak alternately in the fame number of verfes, but fo, as that he who anfwers either goes beyond, or contradicts the other. Fejl. de Verb, fignif. Baxt. Gloff. in voc.

The word is originally Greek, A^oijSa.oc, fignifying mutual, or alternate. Hence alfo we meet with epiftola amcebax. Such, e. gr. are thofe of Pliny and Trajan. AMOGABARI, a kind of antient Spanifti foldiery, in great repute for their bravery.— Thefe are otherwife denominated, in fome writers, Almugavciri. Du Cange, Trev. Diet. AMOGLOSSUS, in zoology, a name of a peculiar kind of flat fifli, fomewhat refembling the foal, and called in fome parts of England, the lantern. It is of a very (lender, pellucid and white body, and never exceeds three inches in length, and is exceeding fmooth to the touch, being covered only with a number of very thin fcales, which fall off on touching it. Its flefti is very finely tailed, and requires very little drefling, being enough almoft as foon as put on the fire. fPillugbby, Hilt. Pifc. p. 102. AMOMI is ufed, by the Dutch traders, for what we other- wife call Jamaica pepper. Savar. Diet. Comm. T. I. p. 94. AMOMUM (Cycl.)— The feed of that kind of Jlum, which is called by many by this name, is a powerful diuretic, and is good in all nephritic cafes. It is alfo commended as an ape- rient in general, and prefcribed in obllructions of the liver and fpleen, and in fuppreflions of the menfes. The people in fome parts of England bruife the feeds, and give them in warm ale, in cholics ; but thofe of caraway, or anife, are better.

The antient Amomum was of divers kinds ; but the Armenian mod efteemed. It was a heater, dryer, and aftringent ; ufed as a narcotic, to appeafe pain, cure poifonous bites, inflam- mations of the eyes, &c.

It was fometimes adulterated with another plant not unlike it, called amomis. Pliny a and Diofcorides b are the authors who fpeak fulleft of the Amomum ; but their defcriptions are fo im- perfect, as to leave room for twenty different modern plants to be taken for the Amomujn c. — [* Plin. Hid. Nat. T. 1. 1. 12. c. 13. p. 662. feq. b Diofcor. 1. 1. c. 14. c Bur- grav. Lex. Med. T. 1. p. 599.]

A late gloflarift is fatisfied the Amomum was no other than the cinnamomum, both being defcribed, in antient poets, as of great ufe in embalming. Baxt. Gloff. p. 100. feq. See the article Cinnamon.

Hence abb all medicines and unguents ufed in the embalming and preferving of dead bodies, were called Amomia. Hoffm. Lex. Univ. T. 1. p. 183. AMOR/EANS, a fed or order of gemaric doctors, or com- mentators on the Jerufalem Talmud.

The word is otherwife written Amoral, and Amoraites, Amo- raim. — The Amorcsans are alfo called, by Scaliger % fopbifice ; by Alting, ?wf*aoy., or fpeakers of fentences ; by Bartaloc- cius, dicentes, or difceptantes, by reafon they conferred and difputed together in a fcholaftic manner b. — [ a Seal, de Emen- dat. Temp. p. 614, " Bibl. Rabbin. T. 3. p. 663.] The Amoresans fucceeded the Mifchnic doctors. They fub- fifted 250 years ; and were fucceeded by the Seburaans. Vid. Wolf. Bibl. Hebr. T. 2. 1. 4. c. 4. §. 1. p. 914. AMORE, in zoology, the name of a genus of fifties, of which there are three fpecies. 1. The Amore piuxma. 2. The Amore guacu. And, 3. The Amore tinga. The Amore piuxma has a very broad head, and a very large mouth, but has no teeth. Its body is oblong, and its back 2 L and