Books › The New twentieth century cyclopaedia and dictionary; biography, history, art, science; dictionary and gazetteer of the world, 1903 › scan 136
Scan 136
The New twentieth century cyclopaedia and dictionary; biography, history, art, science; dictionary and gazetteer of the world, 1903
20 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 126. See the scan on archive.org.
1crimson flowers; and A. hypochondriacus, or princes' feather. The blossoms keep their bloom after being plucked and dried (hence the name: Gr. a, not, and marainō, to wither.)
3Amarapura (a-ma-ra-pö'ra), a deserted city, once the capital of the Burmese Empire, on the left bank of the Irawaddy, 10 miles north-east of Ava. In 1810 it was completely destroyed by fire, in 1839 it was visited by a destructive earthquake. In 1857 the seat of government was removed to Mandalay. The population in 1800 was 175,000.
5Amaryllida'ceae, an order of monocotyledonous plants, generally bulbous, occasionally with a tall, cylindrical, woody stem (as in Agave); with a highly coloured flower, six stamens, and an inferior three-celled ovary; natives of Europe and most of the warmer parts of the world. The order includes the snowdrop, the snow-flake, the daffodil, the belladonna-lily (belonging to the typical genus Amaryllis), the so-called Guernsey-lily (probably a native of Japan), the Brunsvigias, the blood-flowers (Haemanthus) of the Cape of Good Hope, different species of Narcissus, Agave (American aloe), &c. Many are highly prized in gardens and hothouses; the bulbs of some are strongly poisonous.
7Amasia (à-mà-sē'ā), a town in the north of Asia Minor, on the Irmak, 60 miles from the Black Sea, surmounted by a rocky height in which is a ruined fortress; has numerous mosques, richly-endowed Mohammedan schools, and a trade in wine, silk, &c. Amasia was a residence of the ancient kings of Pontus. Pop. 25,000.
9Amā'sis, king of Egypt from 569 to 526 B.C., obtained the throne by rebelling against his predecessor Apries, and is chiefly known from his friendship for the Greeks, and his wise government of the kingdom, which, under him, was in the most prosperous condition.
11Amati (à-mä'tē), a family of Cremona who manufactured violins in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Andrea (about 1540–1600) was the founder of the business, which was carried on by his sons Geronimo and Antonio, and by Niccolo the son of Geronimo. Most of the violins made by them are of comparatively small size and flat model, and the tone produced by the fourth or G string is somewhat thin and sharp. Many of Niccolo Amati's violins are, however, of a larger size and have all the fulness and intensity of tone characteristic of those manufactured by Stradivario and Guarnerio.
13Amatit'lan, a town in Central America, state of Guatemala, about 15 miles south of the city of Guatemala, a busy modern town, the inhabitants of which are actively engaged in the cochineal trade. There is a small lake of same name close to the town. Pop. 12,000.
15Amauro'sis (Greek amauros, dark), a species of blindness, formerly called gutta-serena (the 'drop serene,' as Milton, whose blindness was of this sort, called it), caused by disease of the nerves of vision. The most frequent causes are a long-continued direction of the eye on minute objects, long exposure to a bright light, to the fire of a forge, to snow, or irritating gases, overfullness of blood, disease of the brain, &c. If taken in time it may be cured or mitigated; but confirmed amaurosis is usually incurable.
17Amaxichi (à-mäks'ē-hē), the chief town and seaport of Santa Maura (Leukadia), one of the Ionian Isles, the seat of a Greek bishop; manufactures cotton and leather. Pop. 5500.
19Am'azon, AM'AZONS, 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 Marañon 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 head-waters of which are between lat. 14° and 16° s.; general course north of east; length including windings between 3000 and 4000 miles; area of drainage basin 2,300,000 sq. 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 Marajo, and a number of smaller islands. In its upper course navigation is interrupted by rapids, but from its mouth upwards for a distance of 3300 miles (mostly in Brazil) there is no obstruction. It receives the waters of about 200 tributaries, 100 of which are navigable, and seventeen of these 1000 to 2300 miles in length; northern tributaries: Santiago, Morona, Pastaça, Tigre, Napo, Putumayo, Japura, Rio Negro (the Cassiquiare connects this stream with the Orinoco), &c.; southern: Huallaga, Ucayale, Javari, Jutay, Jurua, Coary, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, &c. At Tabatinga where it enters
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