Amade′us, Lake, a large salt lake or salt swamp in South Australia, and nearly in the centre of Australia. It was discovered by Giles in 1872, and is seldom visited, being in a dreary, arid region.
Am′adis, a name belonging to a number of heroes in the romances of chivalry, Amadis de Gaul being the greatest among them, and represented as the progenitor of the whole. The Spanish series of Amadis romances is the oldest. It is comprised in fourteen books, of which the first four narrate the adventures of Amadis de Gaul, this portion of the series having originated about the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century, and the subsequent books being added by various hands. An abridged English translation of Amadis of Gaul was published by Southey in 1803.
Amadou (am′a-dö), a name of several fungi, genus Polypŏrus, of a leathery appearance, growing on trees. See German Tinder.
Amager (a˙m′a-ger), a small Danish island in the Sound, opposite Copenhagen, part of which is situated on it. Rural pop. 25,000.
Amako′sa, one of the Kaffir tribes of S. Africa.
Amalasun′tha, daughter of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, and after his death regent of Italy for her son Athalarich. Athalarich died in 534, after which Amalasuntha married her cousin Theodahad, but retained the power in her own hands. Mainly on this account she was imprisoned and strangled in her bath by order of her second husband, A.D. 535.
Amal′ekites, an ancient tribe occupying the peninsula between Egypt and Palestine, named after a grandson of Esau. They were denounced by Moses for their hostility to the Israelites during their journey through the wilderness, and they seem to have been all but exterminated by Saul and David. The Kenites seem to have been a branch of the Amalekites.
Amal′fi, a seaport in Southern Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, 23 miles from Naples, the seat of an archbishop. In the early part of the Middle Ages it was a place of great commercial importance, and it long enjoyed a republican constitution of its own. Quarrels with its neighbours, encroachments of the sea, and other causes led to its downfall, but it is still much visited by tourists. The road from Salerno to Amalfi is a magnificent carriage-way, partly hewn in the cliffs, and affords charming views. Amalfi is surrounded by rocky heights, and its harbour was choked up by a landslip in 1900. Here arose the Amalfian Code of maritime law, composed in 1010 and containing 66 articles, which once had great influence in the maritime affairs of the Mediterranean trading peoples. The MS. was discovered by the Prince of Andorra, in 1844, in the imperial library at Vienna. Pop. 7472.
Amal′gam, a name applied to the alloys of mercury with the other metals. One of them is the amalgam of mercury with tin, which is used to silver looking-glasses. Mercury unites very readily with gold and silver at ordinary temperatures, and advantage is taken of this to separate them from their ores, the process being called amalgamation. The mercury dissolves and combines with the precious metal and separates it from the waste matters, and is itself easily driven off by heat. An amalgam made of cadmium and copper is frequently used in dentistry, and an amalgam of zinc and tin is used for the rubbers of frictional electric machines.