Part 56

||Am`pe*lop"sis (m`p*lp"ss), n. [NL., fr. Gr. 'a`mpelos vine + 'o`psis appearance.] (Bot.) A genus formerly including the Virginia creeper.

Am*per"age (?), n. (Elec.) The strength of a current of electricity carried by a conductor or generated by a machine, measured in ampères.

Am`père" foot. (Elec.) A unit, employed in calculating fall of pressure in distributing mains, equivalent to a current of one ampère flowing through one foot of conductor.

Ampère hour. (Elec.) The quantity of electricity delivered in one hour by a current whose average strength is one ampère. It is used as a unit of quantity, and is equal to 3600 coulombs. The terms Ampère minute and Ampère second are sometimes similarly used.

Ampère turn. (Elec.) A unit equal to the product of one complete convolution (of a coiled conductor) into one ampère of current; thus, a conductor having five convolutions and carrying a current of half an ampère is said to have 2½ ampère turns. The magnetizing effect of a coil is proportional to the number of its ampère turns.

||Amt (?), n.; pl. Amter (#), E. Amts (#). [Dan. & Norw., fr. G.] An administrative territorial division in Denmark and Norway.

Each of the provinces [of Denmark] is divided into several amts, answering . . . to the English hundreds.

Encyc. Brit.

Am"vis (?), n. [Ammonium (nitrate) + L. vis strength, force.] An explosive consisting of ammonium nitrate, a derivative of nitrobenzene, chlorated napthalene, and wood meal.

||A*myg"da*la (*mg"d*l), n.; pl. -læ (-l). [L., an almond, fr. Gr. 'amygda`lh. See Almond.] 1. An almond.

2. (Anat.) (a) One of the tonsils of the pharynx. (b) One of the rounded prominences of the lower surface of the lateral hemispheres of the cerebellum, each side of the vallecula.

Am"yl al"co*hol. (Org. Chem.) Any of eight isomeric liquid compounds, C5H11OH; ordinarily, a mixture of two of these forming a colorless liquid with a peculiar cough-exciting odor and burning taste, the chief constituent of fusel oil. It is used as a source of amyl compounds, such as amyl acetate, amyl nitrite, etc.

Amyl nitrite. A yellowish oily volatile liquid, C5H11NO2, used in medicine as a heart stimulant and a vasodilator. The inhalation of its vapor instantly produces flushing of the face.

A*myl"o*gen (?), n. [Amylum + -gen.] (Chem.) That part of the starch granule or granulose which is soluble in water.

Am`y*lo*gen"e*sis (?), n. [Amylum + genesis.] The formation of starch.

Am`y*lo*gen"ic (?), a. 1. Of or pert. to amylogen.

2. Forming starch; -- applied specif. to leucoplasts.

Am`y*lol"y*sis (?), n. [Amylum + Gr. &?; a loosing.] (Chem.) The conversion of starch into soluble products, as dextrins and sugar, esp. by the action of enzymes. -- Am`y*lo*lyt"ic (#), a.

Am`y*lom"e*ter (?), n. [Amylum + -meter.] Instrument for determining the amount of starch in a substance.

Am`y*lo*plas"tic (?), a. [Amylum + -plastic.] Starch-forming; amylogenic.

Am`y*lop"sin (?), n. [Amylum + Gr. &?; appearance.] (Physiol. Chem.) The diastase of the pancreatic juice.

An"a*branch (?), n. [Anastomosing + branch.] A branch of a river that reënters, or anastomoses with, the main stream; also, less properly, a branch which loses itself in sandy soil. [Australia]

Such branches of a river as after separation reunite, I would term anastomosing branches; or, if a word might be coined, anabranches, and the islands they form branch islands.

Col. Jackson.

{ ||An*a`ër*o"bi*a (?), An*a"ër*obes (?) }, n. pl. [NL. anaerobia; an-not + aëro- + Gr.&?; life.] (Bacteriol.) Anaërobic bacteria. They are called facultative anaërobia when able to live either in the presence or absence of free oxygen; obligate, or obligatory, anaërobia when they thrive only in its absence.

An*a`ë*rob"ic (?), a. [Pref. an- not + aërobic.] (Biol.) Not requiring air or oxygen for life; -- applied especially to those microbes to which free oxygen is unnecessary; anaërobiotic; -- opposed to aërobic.

{ An*al"gen (?), An*al"gene (?) }, n.} [Gr. &?; painless.] A crystalline compound used as an antipyretic and analgesic, employed chiefly in rheumatism and neuralgia. It is a complex derivative of quinoline.

An`a*mor"pho*scope (?), n. [Anamorphosis + -scope.] An instrument for restoring a picture or image distorted by anamorphosis to its normal proportions. It usually consists of a cylindrical mirror.