AMYItIS, a genus of the Octandria Monoginia class and order ; its charac ters are, that the calyx is a perianthium, one-leafed, four-toothed, acute, erect, small, and permanent ; the corolla con sists of four oblong, concave, and spread ing petals ; the stamina have awl-shaped, erect filaments ; anthers oblong-, erect, of the length of the corolla ; the pistillum has a germ, superior, ovate, style thick ish, of the length of the stamens, and stig ma four-cornered; the pericarpium is a drupaceous and roundish berry ; and the seed is a round, shining nut. There are thirteen species, ofwhich we shall notice sylvatica, with leaves ternate, crinate, ancl acute. This is an erect, leafy shrub, from two to fifteen feet high, according to the soil and situation, abounding with a turpentine of a strong disag-reeable smell; it is found plentifully about Carthagena, in woods near the sea, and flowers in Au gust N. maritima., small, shrubby, sweet wood, with leaves ternate, crenulated and obtuse. This is a dwarf shrub, yielding a juice like that of the former, but more agreeable, and smelling like rue : the ber ry is of the size of black pepper, black when ripe, inclosing a globular, brittle nut, in which is a white kernel. Swartz doubts whether the preceding be a dis tinct species from tliis. It grows in very barren coppices, in a calcareous rocky soil, both near the sea, and on the interi or mountains of J amaica, Hispaniola, and Cuba, and flowers from June to Septem ber. A. gileadensis, balsam of Gilead tree, with leaves ternate, quite entire, and peduncles one-flowered and lateral. This species is a shrub with purplish branches, having protuberant buds loaded with bal samic rosin : the flowers proceed from the same buds by threes ; the bracte minute, and slightly bifid. It has been doubted whether this be a distinct species in itself. A. ambrosiaca, with leaves pinnate and petiolate, and panicles crowded and axil lary. This is a tree, with a trunk thirty feet high, branching at the top, with branchlets leafy and flowery : leaves al ternate, with two or three opposite, ovate leaflets on each side, ending in long points, smooth, entire, on short petioles, gibbous at the base ; flowers yellowish white, axillary, and corymbed ; perianth very small and four-toothed ; petals lanceolate, spreading at the tip ; filaments filiform, half as long as the calyx, inserted into the tube ; germ superior, subglobose, style cylindrical ; stigma capitated, depressed, and four-cornered ; fruit ovate, oblique, four-celled, resembling that of the laurel, the nucleus involved in a brittle covering-, four-celled, with fotir stones wrapped up in a viscid red pulp, having a balsamic smell and taste, hardening into a grey rosin, and used for burning as a perfume The whole tree is sweet-scented, and yields a very odoriferous balsam from the wounded trunk or branches which is used in the dysentery ; the dose is one drain in red wine ; it is also used in hou ses and churches for burning as a per.
fume. lt grows in the woods of Guiana, and by the sea-shore; flowering and fruit ing in September A. balsamifera, sweet amyris, white candle-wood, or rose-wood, with leaves two-paired. This grows to a considerable size, and is one of the most valuable trees in the island of Jamaica ; the wood is white, and of a curled grain when young, but grows of a dirty cloud ed ash colour with age, bearing a fine polish, and having, a pleasant smell; it is heavy, and much esteemed among cabi nct-makers. All the parts of this tree are full of warm aromatic particles, and may be used in baths and fomentations : the berries are oblong, and have the taste of the balsam copaiba. An infusion of the leaves has a pleasant flavour, is highly ce phalic, strengthens the nerves, and is par ticularly restorative to weak eyes. In Jamaica there are several species of amy ris, the leaves and bark of which yield a fine balsamic juice ; and if the body were tapped at the proper season, a thick liquor would transude, resembling that of the Gilead balsam, to which the taste of the bark and wood of the smaller branch es bears a very exact relation. Dr. Wright apprehends that this wood, by distillation, would. yield a perfume equal to the oleum rhoclii.
ANA, among physicians denotes an equal quantity of' the ingTedients which immediately precede it in prescriptions it is written by abbreviation a or a i; thus, 133 Ilmr. mirth. alum.; Dcl: that is, take frankincense, myrrh, an alum, each a scruple.
ANA, in matters of literature, a Latin termination added to the titles of sever.al books in other languages.
'I'hey are collections of' the conversa tion and memorable say ings of men of wit and learning ; the Scaligeriana was the first book that appeared with a title in alai, and was afterwards followed by the Perroniana, Thuana, Nudmana, Wenagi ana, and even by Awlequiniana, in ridicule of all books in ana. The Menagiana are accounted the best.
ANA, among occult philosophers; a term used to denote the human mind. ; from whence some will have anasapta, a clitmon invoked by sick persons, to be derived.