Amatit′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 the same name close to the town. Pop. 12,000.
Amauro′sis (Gr. 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, overfulness of blood, disease of the brain, &c. If taken in time it may be cured or mitigated; but, unless caused by loss of blood, by lead-poisoning, or debility, it is usually incurable.
Amaxichi (a˙-ma˙ks′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.
Am′azon, or 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 Ucayali, both rising in Peru, the former from Lake Lauricocha, in lat. 10° 29′ S., the latter formed by the Apurimac and Urubamba, the headwaters 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, 2,500,000 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, Ucayali, Javari, Jutay, Jurua, Coary, Purus, Madeira, Tapajos, Xingu, &c. At Tabatinga, where it enters Brazilian territory, the breadth is 1½ miles; below the mouth of the Madeira it is 3 miles wide, and where there are islands often as much as 7; from the sea to the Rio Negro, 750 miles in a straight line, the depth is nowhere less than 30 fathoms; up to the junction of the Ucayale there is depth sufficient for the largest vessels. The Amazonian water system affords some 50,000 miles of river suitable for navigation. The rapidity of the river is considerable, especially during the rainy season (Jan. to June), when it is subject to floods; but there is no great fall in its course. The tides reach up as far as 400 miles from its mouth. The singular phenomenon of the bore, or as it is called on the Amazon the pororoca, occurs at the mouth of the river at spring-tides on a grand scale. The river swarms with alligators, turtles, and a great variety of fish. The country through which it flows is extremely fertile, and is mostly covered with immense forests; it must at some future time support a numerous population, and be the theatre of a busy commerce. Steamers and other craft ply on the river, the chief centre of trade being Para, at its mouth. The Amazon was discovered by Vicente Yañez Pinzon in 1500, but the stream was not navigated by any European till 1541, when Francis Orellana descended it. Orellana stated that he found on its banks a nation of armed women, and this circumstance gave the name to the river.
Amaz′onas, the largest state of Brazil, traversed by the Amazon and its tributaries; area, 731,000 sq. miles. Pop. 459,309.
Am′azons, according to an ancient Greek tradition, the name of a community of women, who permitted no men to reside among them, fought under the conduct of a queen, and long constituted a formidable State. They were said to burn off the right breast that it might not impede them in the use of the bow—a legend that arose from the Greeks supposing the name was from a, not, mazos, breast. It is probably from a, together, and mazos, breast, the name meaning therefore sisters. Several nations of Amazons are mentioned, the most famous being those who dwelt in Pontus, who built Ephesus and other cities. Their queen, Hippolyta, was vanquished by Hercules, who took from her the girdle of Mars. They attacked Attica in the time of Theseus. They came to the assistance of Troy under their queen, Penthesilēa, who was slain by Achilles.
Amazu′lu, a branch of the Zulu Kaffir race. See Zulus.
Amba′la, or Umball′a, a town of India, in the Punjab, in an open plain 3 miles from the Ghaggar, consisting of an old and a new portion, with a flourishing trade in grain and other commodities. The military cantonment is several miles distant. Total pop. 80,131.
Ambale′ma, a town of S. America, Colombia, on the Magdalena; the centre of an important tobacco district. Pop. 6285.