Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/461

 AMMONIUM AMNESTY 429 aqueous solution of ammonia. Davy produced it with sal ammoniac; and it has since been ob- tained by simply dropping an amalgam of so- dium and mercury into a strong solution of sal ammoniac. At a temperature of 82 F. it is a firm crystalline mass ; at 70 to 80 it is a soft solid. It is about three times the density of water. Gay-Lussac and The"nard consider it a mere combination of mercury and am- monia ; but Berzelius regards it as a real amal- gam of mercury with a metal composed of one .volume of nitrogen and four volumes of hydro- gen. Since the discovery of other compound radicals that are capable of neutralizing acids, the question of the metallic character of am- monium has lost its significance, and few chem- ists are now disposed to insist upon calling it a metal. AMMONIUM, Oasis of. See SIWA.H. AMMONIUS, a Grecian philosopher, surnamed Saccas or the Sack-carrier, because his offi- cial employment was that of public porter of Alexandria, died A. D. 243. By some he is regarded as the founder of the later Platonic school. He numbered among his pupils Lon- ginus, Plotinus, and Origen. According to his system of theological philosophy, God is prima- rily essence, and secondarily knowledge and power, the last two being developments of the first ; the world is committed to the care of inferior divinities ; and ascetic life leads to a knowledge of the infinite. AMMONOOSUCK, Upper and Lower or Great, two small rivers of New Hampshire, tributary to the Connecticut. The former is entirely in Coos county, and empties in the town of Northumberland. The latter rises in Coos county, flows "W. and S. W. through Grafton county, and empties opposite Wells Eiver, Vt. ; it has a branch called the Wild Ammonoosuck. AMMUNITION, military stores or provisions for attack or defence. In modern usage, the sig- nification of the term is confined to the articles which are used in charging firearms and ord- nance of all kinds, as gunpowder, balls, shot, shells, percussion caps, primers, and cartridges, prepared and ready for use. Small-arm am- munition comprises cartridges and percussion caps, the latter having replaced flints, and in turn been replaced by an arrangement of the fulminate or exploding materials in the base of the metallic cartridges now coming into general use throughout the world. Field artillery am- munition is composed of shot, loaded shell, case shot, shrapnel, cartridges, priming tubes, match- es, portfires, &c., with rockets for rocket bat- teries. In fortresses and for sieges, the powder is generally kept in barrels, and made up in cartridges when required for use; so are the various compositions required during a siege. The proportion of ammunition accompanying an army in the field varies according to circum- stances. Generally an infantry or cavalry sol- dier carries from 40 to 60 rounds, while a sim- ilar or larger quantity per man accompanies the army in wagons, or in exceptional cases, for the use of cavalry, is carried upon pack mules. For field artillery, from 100 to 200 rounds per gun are always kept with the bat- tery, partly in the limber boxes, and partly in separate wagons called caissons. Another 200 rounds are generally with the ammunition re- serve of the army, and a third supply follows in wagons, or is kept on hand at depots estab- lished at convenient points near the theatre of war. Ammunition for siege and seacoast guns, garrison and naval use, consists mainly of gun- powder, shot, and shell, and is supplied in large quantities proportioned to the probable require- ments in each case, the usual practice in time of war being to have from 50 to 150 rounds prepared and ready for use, and the magazines stored with materials for from 600 to 1,000 rounds more. The proportional weights of gunpowder and missiles used in compounding ammunition vary considerably, and are set forth in the manuals and regulations pertaining to that branch of the military service. After a few months of active campaigning, the sup- plies of ammunition are generally severely drawn upon ; and until the introduction of me- tallic cartridges for small-arms, as much was worn out and rendered useless by the troops while marching as was expended in battle. AMNESTY (Gr. afiv^arta, forgetting, oblivion), an act of oblivion; a general pardon of the offences of subjects against the government, or the proclamation of such pardon. Bouvier, in his Law Dictionary, distinguishes between amnesty and pardon. Amnesty, he says, is an act of the sovereign power, the object of which is to efface and cause to be forgotten a crime or misdemeanor ; while pardon is an act of the same authority which exempts the indi- vidual on whom it is bestowed from the pun- ishment which the law inflicts for the crime he has committed. Amnesty is the absolution and forgetfulness of the offence ; but pardon is pity and forgiveness. Pardon is given to one who is certainly guilty ; amnesty to those who may have been guilty. The two things differ further, he says, in their effects and application ; and as to the latter distinction, he observes, by way of illustration, that pardon is always given to individuals and after judgment, while am- nesty may be granted either before or after judgment, and it is in general given to whole classes of criminals or supposed criminals for the purpose of restoring tranquillity in the state. But it does not appear, after all, that there is any substantial difference between pardon and amnesty. The act of grace is the same, whether it be expressed in the pardon of an individual or in the amnesty of a class, and though the one be granted after conviction and the other before it. The distinctions which this author suggests seem to relate to the different occasions to which the two acts refer, and to the merely incidental results in either case, rather than to anything different in the essential nature of the acts. During the late civil war, and since it ended, the presidents of the United States