pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
AMETHYST, a transparent gem of a purple colour, which seems composed of a strong blue and a deep red; and, according as either of these prevails, affording different tinges of purple, sometimes approaching to violet, and sometimes even fading to a pale rose colour. Though the amethyst is generally of a purple colour, it is nevertheless sometimes found naturally colourless, and may at any time be easily made so by putting it into the fire; in which pellucid or colourless state it so resembles the diamond, that its want of hardness seems the only way of distinguishing it. Some derive the name amethyst from its colour, which resembles wine mixed with water; while others, with more probability, think it got its name from its supposed virtue of preventing drunkenness,—an opinion which, however imaginary, prevailed to that degree among the ancients, that it was usual for great drinkers to wear it about their necks. Be this as it may, the amethyst is scarcely inferior to any of the gems in the beauty of its colour, and in its purest state is of the same hardness, and at least of equal value, with the ruby and sapphire. It is found of various sizes, from the bigness of a small vetch to an inch and a half in diameter, and often to much more, than that in length. Its shape is extremely various, sometimes roundish, sometimes oblong, and at others flatted, at least on one side; but its most common appearance is in a crystalliform figure, consisting of a thick column composed of four planes, and terminated by a flat and short pyramid of the same number of sides; or else of a thinner and longer hexangular column; and sometimes of a long pyramid without any column. It makes the gayest figure in the last of these states, but is hardest and most valuable in the roundish and pebble-like form. The amethyst is found in the East and West Indies, and in several parts of Europe; the oriental ones, at least some of the finer specimens, being so hard and bright as to equal any of the coloured gems in value. However, by far the greater number of amethysts fall infinitely short of these; as all the European ones, and not a few of those brought from the East and West Indies, are very little harder than common crystal.

Counterfeit or Factitious AMETHYST. Spars and crystals tinged red and yellow, &c. are sold for amethysts. The false ones come from Germany, are tinged by vapours in the mines, and contain lead.

Amethysts may be counterfeited by glass, to which the proper colour or stain is given. There were fine ones made in France about the year 1690, which may even impose on connoisseurs, unless the stone be taken out of the collet.

Amethyst, in Heraldry, a term for the purple colour in the coat of a nobleman, in use with those who blazon with precious stones instead of metals and colours. This, in a gentleman’s escutcheon, is called Purpure; and in those of sovereign princes, Mercury.
AMETHYSTINE is applied, in Antiquity, to a kind of purple garment dyed of the hue of amethyst. In this sense amethystine differed from Tyrian as well as from hyacinthine purple, being a kind of medium between them.
AMHAR, or Amhara, a province of Abyssinia, said to extend 40 leagues from east to west. It is considered as the most noble in the whole empire, both on account of its being the usual residence of the Abyssinian monarchs, and having a peculiar dialect, which is become the language of the court. Here is the famed rock Amba-geshen, where the young monarchs were formerly confined.
AMHERST, a military post and commercial station established by the East India Company in 1826. It is situated on the eastern frontier of our Indian empire, in the Gulf of Martaban; and was fixed upon as a proper situation for a town in lieu of Martaban, which was restored by the treaty of 1826 to the Burmese. In January 1827 this new establishment contained 1600 inhabitants, and a great increase both of trade and population is anticipated, from its convenient position as a depot of British goods, from which they may be dispersed among the Burmese, Chinese, and the other nations beyond the Ganges. It has a spacious and secure harbour, with a depth of 3 fathoms at low water neap tides; and ships may lie within 100 yards of the shore. Long. 97. 25. E. Lat. 16. 5. N. (Hamilton’s East India Gazetteer.) (f.)
AMHURST, Nicholas, an English poet and political writer of the 18th century, was born at Marden in Kent, and entered of St John’s College, Oxford; from whence he was expelled for irregularity of conduct and libertine principles. Retaining great resentment against the university on this account, he abused its learning and discipline, and some of the most respectable characters in it, [7:2:656]in a poem published in 1724, called Oculus Brìtanniae, and in a book entitled Terrae Filius. He published a Miscellany of Poems, sacred and profane; and the Convocation, a poem in five cantos, which was a satire on the bishop of Bangor’s antagonists. But he is best known for the share he had in the political paper called The Craftsman ; though, after having been the drudge of his party for nearly 20 years, he was as much forgotten in the famous compromise of 1742 as if he had never been born; and, when he died in that year of a broken heart, was indebted to the charity of his booksellers for a grave.
AMIANTHUS, or Earth-flax, in Mineralogy, a fibrous, flexible, elastic, mineral substance, consisting of short, abrupt, and interwoven filaments. It is found in Germany, in the strata of iron ore, sometimes forming veins of an inch in diameter. Its fibres are so flexible that cloth has been made of them, and the shorter filaments that separate in the washing of the stone may be made into paper in the common manner.

Amianthus is classed by Mr Kirwan in the muriatic genus of earth, because it contains about a fifth part of magnesia. Its other constituents are, flint, mild calcareous earth, barytes, clay, and a very small proportion of iron. It is fusible per se in a strong heat, and also with the common fluxes.
AMICABLE, in a general sense, denotes any thing done in a friendly manner, or to promote peace.

Amicable Benches, in Boman Antiquity, were, according to Pitiscus, lower and less honourable seats allotted for the judices pedanei, or inferior judges, who, upon being admitted of the emperor’s council, were dignified by him with the title amici. AMICABLE Numbers denote pairs of numbers, of which each of them is mutually equal to the sum of all the aliquot parts of the other. So the first or least pair of amicable numbers are 220 and 284; all the aliquot parts of which, with their sums, are as follows, viz.

of 220, they are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55, 110, their sum being - - ' - - - - 284; of 284, they are 1, 2, 4, 71, 142, and their sum is 220.

The 2d pair of amicable numbers are 17296 and 18416, which have also the same property as above.

And the third pair of amicable numbers are 9363584 and 9437056.

These three pairs of amicable numbers were found out by F. Schooten (sect. 9 of his Exercitationes MathematicaD, who, it is said, first gave the name of amicable to such numbers, though such properties of numbers, it seems, had before been treated of by Rudolphus, Descartes, and others.

To find the first pair, Schooten puts 4a? and 4yz, or a 2 # and α 2 yz for the two numbers, where α=2; then making each of these equal to the sum of the aliquot parts, of the other, gives two equations, from which are found the values of x and z, and consequently assuming a proper value for y, the two amicable numbers themselves 4# and ⅜ z '

In like manner for the other pairs of such numbers; in which he finds it necessary to assume 16# and 16yz or a 4 # and (ŕyz for the second pair, and 128# and 128τ∕z, or α i x and a i yz for the third pair.

Schooten then gives this practical rule, from Descartes, for finding amicable numbers, viz. assume the number 2, or some power of the number 2, such that if unity or 1 be subtracted from each of these three following quantities, viz.

from 3 times the assumed number, also from 6 times the assumed number, and from 18 times the square of the assumed number, the three remainders may be all prime numbers; then the last prime number being multiplied by double the assumed number, the product will be one of the amicable numbers sought, and the sum of its aliquot parts will be the other. That is, if a be put=the number 2, and n some integer number, such that 3α n —1, and 6α π —1, and 18α 2n —1, be all three prime numbers; then is 18α 2n —1 × 2α n one of the amicable numbers, and the sum of its aliquot parts is the other. On this subject see Euleri Opuscula vαrii Argumenti, tom. ii. p. 23-107.
AMICTUS, in Boman Antiquity, was any upper garment worn over the tunica.

Amictus, among ecclesiastical writers, the uppermost .garment anciently worn by the clergy; the other five being the alba, cingulum, stola, manipulus, and planeta. The amictus was a linen garment, of a square figure, covering the head, neck, and shoulders, and buckled or clasped before the breast. It is still worn by the religious abroad.
AMICULUM, in Bσman Antiquity, a woman’s upper garment, which differed from the palla. It was worn both by matrons and courtesans.
AMICUS Curiae, a law term, to denote a by-stander who informs the court of a matter in law that is doubtful or mistaken.
AMIDA, a god worshipped by the Japanese, who has many temples erected to him in the Island of Japan, of which the principal is at Jeddo. The Japanese have such a confidence in their idol Amida, that they hope to attain eternal felicity by the frequent invocation of his name. One of the figures of this idol is represented at Rome.
AMIENS, an arrondissement in the department of the Somme, in the north of France. Its extent is 652 square miles, or about 423,280 English acres. It comprehends thirteen cantons, viz. Amiens, Conti, Corbie, Homoy, Moliens-Bibame, Oisemont, Piquigny, Poix, Soins, and Villers-Bocage, with 250 communes or parishes. It contains 161,275 inhabitants.

Amiens, a city, the capital as well of the department of the Somme as of the circle of its own name. It is a fortified place, with a strong citadel, on the Somme, which receives here the water of the Seille, and passes through the town in three branches. It has access to the sea, but only for small craft. It is a well-built ancient town, containing a cathedral, fourteen churches, two hospitals, 5980 dwelling-houses, and 40,106 inhabitants. The cathedral is a venerable object, both for its beauty and extent. The town-house is a large, handsome stone building, and contains a fine collection of pictures of the French school. Amiens is the seat of the prefect, of a bishop, and of the departmental courts of justice. There is a commercial board, a society of agriculture, a botanic garden, a lyceum, and public library. Amiens was always a manufacturing city. Though it suffered much during the revolution, it has since revived; and at present produces considerable quantities of woollen cloths, cassimeres, and worsted stuffs. There are also some moderate establishments for making cotton goods, the yam of which, for all but the finer kinds, is spun in the city. It has also trade in tanneries and in making soap. This city is distinguished as the birth-place of Peter the Hermit, the preacher of the first crusade, and of Voiture the poet, as well as for the treaty of peace of 1802. Long. 2. 23. E. Lat. 49. 53. N.
AMILCAR, the name of several Carthaginian captains. The most celebrated of them is Amilcar Barcas, the father of Hannibal, who during five years infested the coast of Italy; when the Romans sending out their whole naval strength, defeated him near Trapani, 242 [7:2:657]years before Christ; and this put an end to the first Punic war. Amilcar began the second, and landed in Spain, where he subdued the most warlike nations; but as he was preparing for an expedition against Italy, he was killed in battle, 218 years before the Christian era. He left three sons, whom he had educated, as he said, like three lions, to tear Rome in pieces; and made Hannibal, his eldest son, swear an eternal enmity against the Romans.
AMILICTI, in the Chaldaic theology, denote a kind of intellectual powers, or persons in the divine hierarchy. The amilicti are represented as three in number, and constitute one of the triads in the third order of the hierarchy.
AMIRANTE, in the Spanish polity, a great officer of state, answering to our lord high admiral.
AMISUS, in Ancient Geography, the chief city of the ancient kingdom of Pontus. It was built by the Milesians, and peopled partly by them and partly by a colony from Athens. It was at first a free city, like the other Greek cities in Asia; but afterwards subdued by Pharnaces, king of Pontus, who made it his metropolis. It was taken by Lucullus in the Mithridatic war, who restored it to its ancient liberty. Close by Amisus stood another city, called Eupatoria, from Mithridates Eupator, its founder. Amisus is now called Samsoon.
AMITTERE Legem Terrae, among lawyers, a phrase importing the loss of liberty of swearing in any court: the punishment of a champion overcome or yielding in battle,—of jurors found guilty in a writ of attaint,—and of a person outlawed.
AMLWICH, a sea-port town in the hundred of Twrce-lyn, in the county of Anglesey, North Wales. It has a harbour, cut out of the rocks with great labour and cost, capable of containing 30 vessels of about 200 tons burden. It has risen from a very low state in a few years, owing to the extension of the great copper mines in its vicinity, more especially of the Parys mine, which was opened in 1767. It is 275 miles from London, and 25 from Beaumaris. The population in 1801 was 4977; in 1811, 4629; and in 1821, 5292.
AMMA, among ecclesiastical writers, a term used to denote an abbess or spiritual mother.
AMMAN, John Conrad, a physician, and one of the earliest writers on the instruction of the deaf and dumb, was born at Schaffhausen, but in what year is uncertain. In 1687 he graduated at Basle; and, his religious principles not permitting him to settle in his native country, he retired to Holland, where he appears to have devoted his time and attention chiefly to the cure of the defects and imperfections of speech. He first called the attention of the public to his method, in a paper which was inserted in the Philosophical Transactions ; and which appeared in a separate form in the year 1692, under the title, Surdus Loquens, sive Methodus qua qui surdus natus est loqui possit; and afterwards, with much additional matter, in 1702 and 1728, under the title, Dissertatio de Loquela, qua non solum vox humana ct loquendi artificium ex originibus suis eruuntur, sed et traduntur media, quibus ii qui ab incunabulis surdi et mutx fuerunt, loquelam adipisci, quique difficulter loquuntur, vitia sua emendare possint. In this work, which Haller terms “vere aureum,” he developes, with great ability, the mechanism of language, and describes the process which he employed in teaching its use to the unfortunate class of persons committed to his care. This consisted principally in exciting the attention of his pupils to the motions of his lips and larynx while he spoke, and then inducing them by gentle means to imitate these movements, till he brought them to repeat distinctly letters, syllables, and words. As his method was excellent, we may readily give him credit for the success to which he lays claim. In a long course of practice, he says that he never failed in his endeavours but in two instances; one of which was that of a girl who was an idiot, and the other that of a Jew, from whose father he foresaw that he would not get any thanks for his trouble. The edition of Caelius Aurelianus, which was undertaken by the Wetsteins in 1709, and which still ranks as one of the best editions of that author, was superintended by Amman.
AMMAN, Paul, a physician and botanist, was born at Breslau in 1634. In 1662 he received the degree of doctor of physic from the university of Leipsic, and in 1664 was admitted a member of the society Naturae Curiosorum, under the name of Dryander. Shortly afterwards he was chosen extraordinary professor of medicine in the above-mentioned university; and in 1674 he was promoted to the botanical chair, which he again, in 1682, exchanged for the physiological. He died in 1691. Paul Amman seems to have been a man of an acute mind and extensive learning; but a restless and irritable disposition led him to engage too much in controversy, and to indulge in a degree of raillery in his writings, which the nature of the subjects hardly warranted. By his first work, which was published in 1670, under the title Medicina Critica, seu Centuria Casuum in Facultate Lipsiensi resolutorum variis discursibus aucta, he drew down upon himself the displeasure of the faculty, who had certainly no cause’ to rejoice at this exposure of their decisions. In the Parcenesis ad docentes occupata circa Institutionum medicarum Emendationem, which appeared three years afterwards, and in the Irenicum Numae Pompilii cum Hippocrate, which he published in 1689, he showed his independent turn of thinking, by boldly attacking the systems of Galen and Hippocrates, and the abuses to which the implicit adoption of them had given rise. But it is chiefly on his botanical writings that his fame ought to rest. The Supellex Botanica, et Manuductio ad Materiam Medicam, which he committed to the press in 1675, contains a full but somewhat prolix catalogue of the plants of the botanic garden of Leipsic and its environs, with their synonyms; followed by a brief introduction to the study of the Materia Medica, which proves an accurate knowledge of the science he was then employed in teaching. His next publication was entitled, Character Naturalis Plantarum; to the second edition of which, in 1685, he prefixed a dissertation on the true classification of plants. In this work he adopted the arrangement of Morison, endeavouring to show, as the title imports, that the genera of plants were only to be distinguished by their parts of fructification, and illustrating his method by the description of 1476 different genera and species, in alphabetical order. An enlarged edition of this book was published by Daniel Nebel in 1700, with the addition of the characters of Tournefort and Hermann. For the complete list of Paul Amman’s writings, see Haller, Bibl. Med., and Eloy, Diet. Hist. Αμμακ, or Ammant, in the German and Belgic polity, a judge who has the cognizance of civil causes. It is also used among the French for a public notary, or officer, who draws up instruments and deeds.
AMMIANUS Marcellinus, a Roman historian of the fourth century, was a native of Greece, born in the city of Antioch. Having served several years in the early part of his life in the army, he was afterwards promoted to the honourable station of protector domesticus. In the year 350 he entered the service of Constantius, the emperor of the East, and under the command of Ursi-cinus, a general of the horse, he served during several expeditions. According to his own modest relation, it [7:2:658]appears that he acquired considerable military fame, and that he deserved well of his sovereign. He attended the emperor Julian in his expedition into Persia, but history is silent respecting any higher military promotion than that which has already been mentioned. He was either in the city or the vicinity of Antioch when the conspiracy of Theodorus was discovered, under the reign of Valens, and was an eye-witness of the severe torments to which many persons were exposed by the emperor on that account.

But his lasting reputation was not to be acquired from military exertions. He left the army and retired to Rome, where he employed his time and talents in writing the history of that empire during the period of three centuries. Though a native of Greece, he wrote in the Latin language; but, according to the remark of Vossius, his Latin shows that he was a Greek, and also a soldier. His history begins with the reign of Nerva, and continues to the death of Valens; and the work was originally divided into thirty-one books. Of these the first thirteen have perished, and the eighteen which remain commence with the seventeenth year of the reign of Constantius, and terminate at the year 375. But there are several facts mentioned in the history which prove that the author was alive in the year 390. Of this number are the accession of Theodosius to the eastern empire, the character of Gratian, and the consulate of Neothorius. Similar to the manner in which Herodotus, the father of Grecian history, read his history, Marcellinus read his books in public with general approbation. Some have reckoned the style harsh and redundant, but this may easily be excused, from his education and military life; and the valuable information communicated abundantly compensates for that defect. Candour and impartiality are leading features in his history. The character given him by Mr Gibbon appears to be accurate, when he says that he is “an accurate and faithful guide, who composed the history of his own times without indulging the prejudices and passions which usually affect the mind of a contemporary.”

A difference of opinion has obtained, whether or not our historian was a Christian or a pagan. But the respectful manner in which he speaks of pagan deities, and of the advantage of heathen auguries to foretell future events, renders it abundantly evident that he was a heathen. The favourable account which he gives of the religion, manners, and fortitude of Christians, are the result of his candour and impartiality as an historian. The work of Marcellinus has passed through several editions, of which the best are the Leyden edition of 1693, and that of Leipsic, published in 1808.
AMMIRATO, Scipio, an eminent Italian historian, born at Lecca in Naples in 1531. After travelling over great part of Italy without settling to his satisfaction, he was engaged by the great duke of Tuscany to write the History of Florence, for which he was presented to a canonry in the cathedral there. He wrote other works while in this station, and died in 1600.
AMMOCHRYSOS, from aμμος sand, and χϱυσ ος gold, a name given by authors to a stone very common in Germany, and apparently composed of a golden sand. It is of a yellow gold-like colour, and its particles are very glossy, being all fragments of a coloured talc. It is usually so soft as to be easily rubbed to a powder in the hand; sometimes it requires grinding to powder in a mortar, or otherwise. It is used only as sand to strew over writing. There is another kind of it less common, but much more beautiful, consisting of the same sort of glossy spangles; not however of a gold colour, but of a bright red like vermilion.