Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/572

AMSTERDAM. ' S. and long. 77° 37' E. It covers an area of 25 square miles, and, together with the adja- cent island of St. Paul, forms a dependency of Mauritius. Both islands lie about midway be- tween the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania. It was discovered by Van Diemen in 1663.

AMSTERDAM. A city in Montgomery Co., New York, 33 miles northwest of Albany ; on the Mohawk River, the Erie Canal, and the New York Central and Hudson River and the West Shore railroads (Map: New York, F 3). Among numerous industrial establishments, it has fac- tories producing knit goods, carpets, rugs, wagon springs, silk, paper boxes, etc., and foundries and machine shops. An academy, a hospital, and a board of trade are features of the city. First settled about 1778, and known as Veeders- burg until 1804, Amsterdam was incorporated as a village in 1830, and as a city in 1885. Pop., 1890, 17,330; 1900, 20,929.

AMSTERDAM,. A Dutch university founded by the city in 1632 as the Athenanim lUustre. After a checkered existence it was reorganized in 1867, and in 1877 was raised to the dignity of a royal university, rank- ing with Leyden, Groningen, and Utrecht. It has an income of 372,000 florins, and about 1000 students. Its faculties include law, medicine, mathematics and science, arts, and theologj'. Its administration is in the hands of a "Curatorium" of five members and a secretary, chosen by the crown. The professors form the Senate, with a Rector Magnificus as their head, and a Secretary of the Senate. The library is large, and includes a number of special collections, particularly in Hebrew and in medicine.

AMU, a-moo', or AMU DARYA, a-moo' diir'ya (ancient Oxts). A large river of Central Asia, which has its source in the Pamirs be- tween India and Bokhara, flowing thence north- west into the Aral Sea. In its course through the mountains it is joined by the Surkhab from the region of the Alai and Trans-Alai Mountains, by the Kafirnahan and Surkhan from the Hazrot Sultan chain, and by numerous smaller streams, but after emerging from the outer slopes it re- ceives no important tributaries. The Zerafshan on the north and the Murghab on the south, which formerly drained into the Amu, now lose their waters in the desert regions at some dis- tance from its bed. It is navigable by light draught boats for nearly one-half of its .total length of about 1600 miles, but its chief im- portance is as a reservoir for irrigation, rather than as a commercial highway. A remarkable feature of the Amu is that its course has been frequently changed within historic times. At the beginning of the present era it flowed into the Caspian Sea, and records show that since that time the course has been changed twice to the .'ral Sea. As late as the first half of the sixteenth century, it was a feeder of the Caspian Sea. Consult Sir H. C. Rawlinson, "The Road to Merv," in the Proceedings of the Royal Geo- graphical Societif, new series 1. 161 (London, 1879) ; Krapotkin, "The Old Beds of the Amu- Daria," OroqrapMcal Journal, Volume XII. (London, 189S).

AMUCK', or AMOK', Running (Javanese amonk, to kill). A practice in Java among those in whom a ferocious madness is produced by long use of opium. The sufi'erer rushes abroad armed with some weapon, usually a kris, or large dirk, striking indiscriminately at all whom he encounters. When one is seen to start on hi» madness, the people cry "amok," and immedi- ately hunt the maniac to death. Probably in many cases this is deliberate on the victim's part, as a means of suicide.

AM'ULET (Lat. amuletum, from Ar. hama- let, that which is suspended). Any object worn as a charm, or sometimes placed in a building to ward oil evil. Amulets originated at an early date in the Orient, and regard for them is among the earliest superstitions of the Babylonians and Egyptians. The magical formulas connected with them are frequent in early Babylonian texts. Their religion included belief in a multi- tude of spirits present everywhere and influ- encing every act. Hence the necessity of pre- serving the house, property, and person by images and formulas, and these were from the beginning connected with medicine. Even the monotheistic Hebrews v.-ere not tree from the taint, and the so-called pitylacterics, with passages from sacred writ, were an adaptation of these magical be-, liefs. The C4rceks and Romans inherited the same beliefs in a modified degree. Perhaps the most general evil to be guarded against by amu- lets at all times was the Evil Eye, which is still so firmly believed in throughout Latin countries. There w'ere various classes of amulets. First came certain precious or other stones supposed to possess mysterious helpful properties: agates for spiders' and scorpions' stings, and for protection against thunderstorms; diamonds for melan- choly: jasper for the tongue-tied and to bring on rain ; amethyst against drunkenness, and, with certain inscriptions and figures, as antidotes to poisons, hail, and locusts, etc. One of the most permanent of all suih beliefs is that in the bene- ficial effects of coral. Metals, also, and plants, were used as amulets. So were various parts of certain animals, such as hyena teeth or marrow, wolves' fat, rats' ears, foxes' tongues, and bats' heads. !Most eflScacious of all are the teeth of different animals. After these natural objects come artificial ones. A large proportion of an- cient jewelers' work was undoubtedly made in con- nection with the wearing of amulets, especially necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, and other pendants. Other ways of carrying anuilet material Avas in gold balls or lullw, or in sachets. The formulas carried were usually inscribed, not on paper, but on some durable substance — metal, terra eotta, ivory, precious stones. Trinkets of every variety and shape — crescents, disks, pendants" — were hung about the necks of children and adults as charms; and few went without them. Figures of gods and genii had magic virtue as well : so did verbal formula^. (See, and .) Many of such tiny images are found on necklaces. Anchors and horseshoes, heads and ligiu'cs of animals, votive hands and feet, thunderbolts, vases, and many other objects, all had their specific values. The amulets not only were suspended around the neck, worn in jewelry, and sewed in the clothing, but also were affixed" to furniture and walls, painted or carved on doors and walls, and buried in the ground. They even followed the deceased to his grave. Christianity was as unable as Judaism to eradicate the practice; so it sought to mitigate it by legislation and by offering devotional substitutes in the form of sacred relics or formulas from the Bible, These substitutes were carefully distinguished from the heathen amulets