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nointed it with ambrosia readied for its dreamlike return to sarpedon s native lycia the classical scholar arthur woollgar verrall however denied that there is any clear example in which the word ambrosios necessarily means immortal and preferred to explain it as fragrant a sense which is always suitable if so the word may be derived from the semitic mbr amber compare ambergris to which eastern nations attribute miraculous properties in europe honey colored amber sometimes far from its natural source was already a grave gift in neolithic times and was still worn in the seven th century ce as a talisman by druidic frisians though st eligius warned no woman should presume to hang amber from her neck w h roscher thinks that both nectar and ambrosia were kinds of honey in which case their power of conferring immortality would be due to the supposed healing and cleansing power of honey which is in fact aseptic and because fermented honey mead preceded wine as an entheogen in the aegean world the great goddess of c |
rete on some minoan seals had a bee face compare merope and melissa see also ichor one of the impieties of tantalus according to pindar was that he offered to his guests the ambrosia of the deathless ones a theft akin to that of prometheus karl kerenyi noted in heroes of the greeks circe mentioned to odysseus that a flock of doves brought the ambrosia to olympus derivatively the word ambrosia neuter plural was given to certain festivals in honour of dionysus probably because of the predominance of feasting in connection with them ambrosia is related to the hindu amrita a drink which conferred immortality on the gods in greek mythology one of the hyades many modern scholars including danny staples relate ambrosia to the hallucinogenic mushroom amanita muscaria references ruck carl a p and danny staples the world of classical myth one nine nine four p two six et seq encyclop dia britannica one nine one one ambrosia greek mythologyfictional beverages saint ambrose mosaic in church st ambrogio milan saint ambrose |
latin sanctus ambrosius italian sant ambrogio c three four zero four april three nine seven bishop of milan was one of the most eminent bishops of the four th century together with augustine of hippo jerome and gregory i he his counted one of the four doctors of the west of antique church history life worldly career statue of st ambrose ambrose was a citizen of rome born about three three seven three four zero in trier germany into a christian family his father was prefect of gallia narbonensis his mother was a woman of intellect and piety there is a legend that as an infant a swarm of bees settled on his face while he lay in his cradle leaving behind a drop of honey his father considered this a sign of his future eloquence and honeyed tongue for this reason bees and beehives often appear in the saint s symbology after the early death of his father ambrose was destined to follow his father s career and was accordingly educated in rome studying literature law and rhetoric praetor anicius probus first gave him |
a place in the council and then made him about three seven two consular prefect of liguria and emilia with headquarters at milan which was then beside rome the second capital in italy ambrose made an excellent administrator in this important position and became soon very popular bishop of milan the diocese of milan was at the time like the rest of the church deeply divided in the contest between trinitarians and arians in three seven four auxentius bishop of milan died and the nicene and arian parties contended for the succession the prefect went personally to the basilica where the election should take place to prevent an uproar which was probable in this crisis his address was interrupted by a call ambrose for bishop which was taken up by others upon which he was univocally elected bishop ambrose was a likely candidate in this situation because he was known to trinitarians as sympathizer but also acceptable to arians due to the theologically neutral position he took as politician he himself refused at firs |
t energetically the office for which he was in no way prepared he was so far only catechumen with no theological training only by intervention of the emperor he gave in and got within a week baptism and ordination and was duly installed as bishop of milan as bishop he immediately adopted an ascetic lifestyle apportioned his money to the poor settled his land on the church making only provision for his sister marcellina and committed the care of his family to his brother according to legend saint ambrose immediately and forcefully stopped heresy in milan actually he moved more realistically and deliberately as he had not many arguments against arianism which dominated especially among the clerics and higher levels of society he started to study the basics of theology with simplician a presbyter of rome using to advantage his excellent knowledge of greek which was then rare in the west he studied the bible and greek authors like philo origenes athanasius and basil of caesarea with whom he was also exchanging le |
tters see letter of basil to ambrose he applied his new knowledge as preacher concentrating especially on exegesis of the old testament and his impressive rhetorical abilities impressed augustine of hippo who hitherto had thought poorly of christian preachers ambrose and arians in the confrontation with arians ambrose applied theological and political means using his eloquence as effectively as his political experience and his excellent political connections gratian the son of the elder valentinian i was trinitarian but the younger valentinian who had now become his colleague in the empire adopted the opinions of the arians and all the arguments and eloquence of ambrose could not reclaim the young prince to the orthodox faith theodosius i the emperor of the east also professed the nicene belief but there were many adherents of arius throughout his dominions especially among the higher clergy in this distracted state of religious opinion two leaders of the arians palladius and secundianus confident of numbers |
prevailed upon gratian to call a general council from all parts of the empire this request appeared so equitable that he complied without hesitation but ambrose foreseeing the consequence prevailed upon the emperor to have the matter determined by a council of the western bishops a synod composed of thirty two bishops was accordingly held at aquileia in the year three eight one ambrose was elected president and palladius being called upon to defend his opinions declined insisting that the meeting was a partial one and that all the bishops of the empire not being present the sense of the christian church concerning the question in dispute could not be obtained a vote was then taken when palladius and his associate secundianus were deposed from the episcopal office the increasing strength of the arians proved a formidable task for ambrose in three eight four the young emperor and his mother justina along with a considerable number of clergy and laity especially military professing the arian faith requested from |
the bishop the use of two churches one in the city the other in the suburbs of milan ambrose refused and was required to answer for his conduct before the council he went attended by a numerous crowd of people whose impetuous zeal so overawed the ministers of valentinian that he was permitted to retire without making the surrender of the churches the day following when he was performing divine service in the basilica the prefect of the city came to persuade him to give up at least the portian church in the suburbs as he still continued obstinate the court proceeded to violent measures the officers of the household were commanded to prepare the basilica and the portian churches to celebrate divine service upon the arrival of the emperor and his mother at the ensuing festival of easter perceiving the growing strength of the prelate s interest the court deemed it prudent to restrict its demand to the use of one of the churches but all entreaties proved in vain and drew forth the following characteristic declara |
tion from the bishop if you demand my person i am ready to submit carry me to prison or to death i will not resist but i will never betray the church of christ i will not call upon the people to succour me i will die at the foot of the altar rather than desert it the tumult of the people i will not encourage but god alone can appease it circumstances never actually tried ambrose s courage to this degree ambrose and emperors van dyck saint ambrose and emperor theodosius if the imperial court was displeased with the religious principles and conduct of ambrose it respected his great political talents and when necessity required his aid was solicited and generously granted when magnus maximus usurped the supreme power in gaul and was meditating a descent upon italy valentinian sent ambrose to dissuade him from the undertaking and the embassy was successful on a second attempt of the same kind ambrose was again employed and although he was unsuccessful it cannot be doubted that if his advice had been followed the |
schemes of the usurper would have proved abortive but the enemy was permitted to enter italy and milan was taken justina and her son fled but ambrose remained at his post and did good service to many of the sufferers by causing the plate of the church to be melted for their relief ambrose was equally zealous in combating the attempt made by the upholders of the old state religion to resist the enactments of christian emperors the pagan party was led by quintus aurelius symmachus consul in three nine one who presented to valentinian ii a forcible but unsuccessful petition praying for the restoration of the altar of victory to its ancient station in the hall of the roman senate the proper support of seven vestal virgins and the regular observance of the other pagan ceremonies to this petition ambrose replied in a letter to valentinian arguing that the devoted worshippers of idols had often been forsaken by their deities that the native valour of the roman soldiers had gained their victories and not the pretende |
d influence of pagan priests that these idolatrous worshippers requested for themselves what they refused to christians that voluntary was more honourable than constrained virginity that as the christian ministers declined to receive temporal emoluments they should also be denied to pagan priests that it was absurd to suppose that god would inflict a famine upon the empire for neglecting to support a religious system contrary to his will as revealed in the holy scriptures that the whole process of nature encouraged innovations and that all nations had permitted them even in religion that heathen sacrifices were offensive to christians and that it was the duty of a christian prince to suppress pagan ceremonies in the epistles of symmachus and of ambrose both the petition and the reply are preserved the turn of mind of ambrose and his rhetorical application of apparently logical processes are well displayed in his four zero th and four one st epistles a bishop was accused of instigating the burning of a synagog |
ue by an anti semitic mob and emperor theodosius was preparing to order the bishop to rebuild it ambrose discouraged the emperor from taking this step not that the bishop in question had never encouraged fanatic destruction but on the grounds that it would appear to show favoritism to the jews he adduces recent instances of inaction when houses of various wealthy individuals were burned in rome when the house of the bishop of constantinople was burnt when several christian basilicas were burnt during the reign of julian some of which were still not rebuilt an action ambrose attributes to the jews ambrose asks that christian monies not be used to build a place of worship for unbelievers heretics or jews and he reminds theodosius that some christian laity had said of emperor maximus he has become a jew because of the edict maximus issued regarding the burning of a roman synagogue ambrose did not oppose punishing those directly responsible for burning the synagogue to support the logic of his argument ambrose ha |
lted the celebration of the eucharist essentially holding the christian community hostage until theodosius agreed to abort the investigation without requiring reparations to be made by the bishop theodosius i the emperor of the east espoused the cause of justina and regained the kingdom theodosius was threateded with excommunication by ambrose for the massacre of seven zero zero zero persons at thessalonica in three nine zero and was bidden imitate david in his repentance as he had imitated him in guilt ambrose readmitted the emperor only after several months of penance to the eucharist this incident shows the strong position of a bishop in the western part of the empire even when facing a strong emperor the controversy of john chrysostom with a much weaker emperor a few years later in constantinople lead to a crushing defeat of the bishop ambrose s influence upon theodosius is credited with eliciting the enactment of the theodosian decrees of three nine one see entry theodosius i which are more characteristi |
c of the constant agenda of ambrose than of theodosius in three nine two after the assassination of valentinian ii and the usurpation of eugenius ambrose fled from milan but when theodosius was eventually victorious he supplicated the emperor for the pardon of those who had supported eugenius soon after acquiring the undisputed possession of the roman empire theodosius died at milan in three nine five and two years later april four three nine seven ambrose also passed away he was succeeded as bishop of milan by simplician ambrose s body may still be viewed in the church of s ambrogio in milan where it has been continuously venerated along with the bodies identified in his time as being those of sts gervase and protase and is one of the oldest extant bodies of historical personages known outside egypt character many circumstances in the history of ambrose are characteristic of the general spirit of the times the chief causes of his victory over his opponents were his great popularity and the reverence paid to |
the episcopal character at that period but it must also be noted that he used several indirect means to obtain and support his authority with the people he was liberal to the poor it was his custom to comment severely in his preaching on the public characters of his times and he introduced popular reforms in the order and manner of public worship it is alleged too that at a time when the influence of ambrose required vigorous support he was admonished in a dream to search for and found under the pavement of the church the remains of two martyrs gervasius and protasius the applause of the people was mingled with the derision of the court party theology though ranking with augustine jerome and gregory the great as one of the latin doctors of the church he is most naturally compared with hilary whom he surpasses in administrative excellence as much as he falls below him in theological ability even here however his achievements are of no mean order especially when we remember his juridical training and his compar |
atively late handling of biblical and doctrinal subjects his great spiritual successor augustine whose conversion was helped by ambrose s sermons owes more to him than to any writer except paul ambrose s intense episcopal consciousness furthered the growing doctrine of the church and its sacerdotal ministry while the prevalent asceticism of the day continuing the stoic and ciceronian training of his youth enabled him to promulgate a lofty standard of christian ethics thus we have the de officiis ministrorum de viduis de virginitate and de paenitentia writings in matters of exegesis he is like hilary an alexandrian in dogma he follows basil of caesarea and other greek authors but nevertheless gives a distinctly western cast to the speculations of which he treats this is particularly manifest in the weightier emphasis which he lays upon human sin and divine grace and in the place which he assigns to faith in the individual christian life de fide ad gratianum augustum de spiritu sancto de incarnationis dominicae |
sacramento de mysteriis homiletic commentaries on the early old testament narratives e g the hexaemeron creation and abraham some of the psalms and the gospel according to luke several funeral orations nine one letters ambrosiaster or the pseudo ambrose is a brief commentary on paul s epistles which was long attributed to ambrose see ambrosiaster church music catching the impulse from hilary and confirmed in it by the success of arian psalmody ambrose composed several hymns marked by dignified simplicity which were not only effective in themselves but served as a fruitful model for later times each of these hymns has eight four line stanzas and is written in strict iambic tetrameter deus creator omnium aeterne rerum conditor jam surgit hora tertia veni redemptor gentium a christmas hymn text of some ambrosian hymns st ambrose is considered as the first who introduced the antiphonant method of chanting or one side of the choir alternately responding to the other from whence that particular mode obtained the n |
ame of the chant while the plainsong introduced by st gregory still practised in the romish service is called the gregorian or romish chant the works of st ambrose continue to be held in much respect particularly the hymn of te deum which he is said to have composed when he baptised saint augustine his celebrated convert ambrose and reading ambrose is the subject of a curious anecdote in augustine s confessions which bears on the history of reading when ambrose read his eyes scanned the page and his heart sought out the meaning but his voice was silent and his tongue was still anyone could approach him freely and guests were not commonly announced so that often when we came to visit him we found him reading like this in silence for he never read aloud the extraordinary aspect of this passage of course is that augustine felt it noteworthy that ambrose could read silently implying that hardly anyone else could at the time alvin toffler also quotes this story in powershift saint augustine writing in the five th |
century refers to his mentor saint ambrose the bishop of milan who was so learned that he could actually read without moving his lips for this astonishing feat he was regarded as the brainiest person in the world for more on silent reading see a history of reading by albert manguel chapter two posted on line here see also ambrosians several religious brotherhoods which have sprung up in and around milan at various times since the one four th century have been called ambrosians their connection to ambrose is tenuous external links early christian writings letters of st ambrose of milan christian classics ethereal library works of ambrose of milan hymni ambrosii latin earlychurch org uk extensive bibliography references church fathers three four zero s births three nine seven deaths saints ancient roman christianity late antiquity doctors of the church ambracia more correctly ampracia was an ancient corinthian colony situated about seven miles from the ambracian gulf in greece on a bend of the navigable river a |
racthus or aratthus in the midst of a fertile wooded plain it was founded between six five zero and six two five bc by gorgus son of the corinthian tyrant cypselus after the expulsion of gorgus s son periander its government developed into a strong democracy the early policy of ambracia was determined by its loyalty to corinth for which it probably served as an entrepot in the epirus trade its consequent aversion to corcyra and its frontier disputes with the amphilochians and acarnanians hence it took a prominent part in the peloponnesian war until the crushing defeat at idomene four two six crippled its resources in the four th century it continued its traditional policy but in three three eight surrendered to philip ii of macedon after forty three years of autonomy under macedonian suzerainty it became the capital of pyrrhus king of epirus who adorned it with palace temples and theatres in the wars of philip v of macedon and the epirotes against the aetolian league two two zero two zero five ambracia passed |
from one alliance to the other but ultimately joined the latter confederacy during the struggle of the aetolians against rome it stood a stubborn siege after its capture and plunder by m fulvius nobilior in one eight nine it fell into insignificance the foundation by augustus of nicopolis into which the remaining inhabitants were drafted left the site desolate in byzantine times a new settlement took its place under the name of arta some fragmentary walls of large well dressed blocks near this latter town indicate the early prosperity of ambracia corinthian colonies amber pendants the oval pendant is five two by three two mm two by one three inches amber is a fossil resin much used for the manufacture of ornamental objects although not mineralized it is sometimes considered and used as a gemstone most of the world s amber is in the range of three zero nine zero million years old semi fossilized resin or sub fossil amber is called copal history the name comes from the arabic anbar probably through spanish but |
this word referred originally to ambergris which is an animal substance quite distinct from yellow amber true amber has sometimes been called kahroba a word of persian derivation signifying that which attracts straw in allusion to the power which amber possesses of acquiring an electric charge by friction this property first recorded by thales of miletus suggested the word electricity from the greek elektron a name applied however not only to amber but also to an alloy of gold and silver by latin writers amber is variously called electrum sucinum succinum and glaesum or glesum the old hebrew hashmal seems to have meant amber although modern hebrew uses arabic inspired inbar the german word is bernstein amber which has no primitive uses has been found at neolithic sites far from its source on the shores of the baltic sea mute witness like obsidian to long distance trade routes established before the bronze age there is strong evidence for the theory that the baltic coasts during the advanced civilization of t |
he nordic bronze age was the source of most amber in europe for example the amber jewelry found in graves from mycenaean greece has been found to originate from the baltic sea amber was mentioned by homer aristotle plato and others pliny the elder complains that a small statue of amber costs more than a healthy slave tacitus in his germania talks about the aesti people as the only ones to gather amber from the baltic sea during the one four th century the teutonic knights controlled the production of amber in europe forbidding its unauthorised collection from beaches on the baltic coastline under their jurisdiction and punishing breakers of this ordinance with death composition amber is heterogeneous in composition but consists of several resinous bodies more or less soluble in alcohol ether and chloroform associated with an insoluble bituminous substance amber is a macromolecule by free radical polymerization of several precursors in the labdane family communic acid cummunol and biformene labdanes are tetram |
eric terpenes c two zero h three two and trienes which means that the organic skeleton has three alkene groups available for polymerization as amber matures over the years more polymerization will take place as well as isomerization reactions crosslinking and cyclization the average composition of amber leads to the general formula c one zero h one six o heating amber will soften it and eventually it will burn which is why the german word for amber is bernstein heated rather below three zero zero c amber suffers decomposition yielding an oil of amber and leaving a black residue which is known as amber colophony or amber pitch when dissolved in oil of turpentine or in linseed oil this forms amber varnish or amber lac true amber yields on dry distillation succinic acid the proportion varying from about three to eight and being greatest in the pale opaque or bony varieties the aromatic and irritating fumes emitted by burning amber are mainly due to this acid true baltic amber is distinguished by its yield of suc |
cinic acid for many of the other fossil resins which are often termed amber contain either none of it or only a very small proportion hence the name succinite proposed by professor james dwight dana and now commonly used in scientific writings as a specific term for the real prussian amber succinite has a hardness between two and three which is rather greater than that of many other fossil resins its specific gravity varies from one zero five to one one zero an effective tool for amber analysis is ir spectroscopy it enables the distinction between baltic amber and non baltic varieties because of a specific carbonyl absorption and it can also detect the relative age of an amber sample amber in geology the baltic amber or succinite is found as irregular nodules in a marine glauconitic sand known as blue earth occurring in the lower oligocene strata of sambia in kaliningrad oblast where it is now systematically mined it appears however to have been partly derived from yet earlier tertiary deposits eocene and it |
occurs also as a derivative mineral in later formations such as the drift relics of an abundant flora occur as inclusions trapped within the amber while the resin was yet fresh suggesting relations with the flora of eastern asia and the southern part of north america h r goppert named the common amber yielding pine of the baltic forests pinites succiniter but as the wood according to some authorities does not seem to differ from that of the existing genus it has been also called pinius succinifera it is improbable however that the production of amber was limited to a single species and indeed a large number of conifers belonging to different genera are represented in the amber flora amber inclusions an insect trapped in amber the amber piece is one zero mm zero four inches long in the enlarged picture the insect s antennae are easily seen the resin contains in addition to the beautifully preserved plant structures numerous remains of insects spiders annelids crustaceans and other small organisms which became |
enveloped while the exudation was fluid in most cases the organic structure has disappeared leaving only a cavity with perhaps a trace of chitin even hair and feathers have occasionally been represented among the enclosures fragments of wood frequently occur with the tissues well preserved by impregnation with the resin while leaves flowers and fruits are occasionally found in marvellous perfection sometimes the amber retains the form of drops and stalactites just as it exuded from the ducts and receptacles of the injured trees the abnormal development of resin has been called succinosis impurities are quite often present especially when the resin dropped on to the ground so that the material may be useless except for varnish making whence the impure amber is called firniss enclosures of pyrites may give a bluish colour to amber the so called black amber is only a kind of jet bony amber owes its cloudy opacity to minute bubbles in the interior of the resin in the dominican republic exists a type of amber know |
n as the blue amber locations and utilization although amber is found along the shores of a large part of the baltic sea and the north sea the great amber producing country is the promontory of samland now part of russia pieces of amber torn from the sea floor are cast up by the waves and collected at ebb tide sometimes the searchers wade into the sea furnished with nets at the end of long poles by means of which they drag in the sea weed containing entangled masses of amber or they dredge from boats in shallow water and rake up amber from between the boulders divers have been employed to collect amber from the deeper waters systematic dredging on a large scale was at one time carried on in the kurisches haff by messrs stantien and becker the great amber merchants of k nigsberg at the present time extensive mining operations are conducted in quest of amber the pit amber was formerly dug in open works but is now also worked by underground galleries the nodules from the blue earth have to be freed from matrix a |
nd divested of their opaque crust which can be done in revolving barrels containing sand and water the sea worn amber has lost its crust but has often acquired a dull rough surface by rolling in sand amber is extensively used for beads and other ornaments and for cigar holders and the mouth pieces of pipes it is regarded by the turks as specially valuable inasmuch as it is said to be incapable of transmitting infection as the pipe passes from mouth to mouth the variety most valued in the east is the pale straw coloured slightly cloudy amber some of the best qualities are sent to vienna for the manufacture of smoking appliances in working amber it is turned on the lathe and polished with whitening and water or with rotten stone and oil the final lustre being given by friction with flannel during the working much electricity is developed when gradually heated in an oil bath amber becomes soft and flexible two pieces of amber may be united by smearing the surfaces with linseed oil heating them and then pressing |
them together while hot cloudy amber may be clarified in an oil bath as the oil fills the numerous pores to which the turbidity is due small fragments formerly thrown away or used only for varnish are now utilized on a large scale in the formation of ambroid or pressed amber the pieces are carefully heated with exclusion of air and then compressed into a uniform mass by intense hydraulic pressure the softened amber being forced through holes in a metal plate the product is extensively used for the production of cheap jewellery and articles for smoking this pressed amber yields brilliant interference colours in polarized light amber has often been imitated by other resins like copal and kauri as well as by celluloid and even glass true amber is sometimes coloured artificially amber was much valued as an ornamental material in very early times it has been found in mycenaean tombs it is known from lake dwellings in switzerland and it occurs with neolithic remains in denmark whilst in england it is found with int |
erments of the bronze age a remarkably fine cup turned in amber from a bronze age barrow at hove is now in the brighton museum beads of amber occur with anglo saxon relics in the south of england and up to a comparatively recent period the material was valued as an amulet it is still believed to possess a certain medicinal virtue rolled pieces of amber usually small but occasionally of very large size may be picked up on the east coast of england having probably been washed up from deposits under the north sea cromer is the best known locality but it occurs also on other parts of the norfolk coast as well as at great yarmouth southwold aldeburgh and felixstowe in suffolk and as far south as walton on the naze in essex whilst northwards it is not unknown in yorkshire on the other side of the north sea amber is found at various localities on the coast of the netherlands and denmark on the shores of the baltic it occurs not only on the german and polish coast but in the south of sweden in bornholm and other isla |
nds and in southern finland amber has indeed a very wide distribution extending over a large part of northern europe and occurring as far east as the urals some of the amber districts of the baltic and north sea were known in prehistoric times and led to early trade with the south of europe amber was carried to olbia on the black sea massilia today marseille on the mediterranean and hatria at the head of the adriatic and from these centres it was distributed over the hellenic world the amber room was a collection of chamber wall panels commissioned in one seven zero one for the king of prussia then given to tsar peter the great the room was hidden in place from invading nazi forces in one nine four one who upon finding it in the cathrine palace disassembled it and moved it to k nigsberg what happened to the room beyond this point is unclear it is presumed lost it was re created in two zero zero three the amber room was reconstructed from the kaliningrad amber amber and certain similar substances are found to |
a limited extent at several localities in the united states as in the green sand of new jersey but they have little or no economic value a fluorescent amber occurs in the southern state of chiapas in mexico and is used extensively to create eye catching jewellery blue amber is recorded in the dominican republic these central american ambers are formed from the resins of legume trees hymenea and not conifers varieties besides succinite which is the common variety of european amber the following varieties also occur gedanite or brittle amber closely resembling succinite but much more brittle not quite so hard with a lower melting point and containing no succinic acid it is often covered with a white powder easily removed by wiping the name comes from gedanum the latin name of gda sk at the baltic sea stantienite a brittle deep brownish black resin destitute of succinic acid beckerite a rare amber in earthy brown nodules almost opaque said to be related in properties to gutta percha glessite a nearly opaque brow |
n resin with numerous microscopic cavities and dusty enclosures named from glesum an old name for amber krantzite a soft amber like resin found in the lignites of saxony allingite a fossil resin allied to succinite from switzerland roumanite or romanian amber a dark reddish resin occurring with lignite in tertiary deposits the nodules are penetrated by cracks but the material can be worked on the lathe sulphur is present to the extent of more than one whence the smell of sulphuretted hydrogen when the resin is heated according to gheorghe murgoci the romanian amber is true succinite simetite or sicilian amber takes its name from the river simeto or giaretta it occurs in miocene deposits and is also found washed up by the sea near catania this beautiful material presents a great diversity of tints but a rich hyacinth red is common it is remarkable for its fluorescence which in the opinion of some authorities adds to its beauty amber is also found in many localities in emilia especially near the sulphur mines o |
f cesena it has been conjectured that the ancient etruscan ornaments in amber were wrought in the italian material but it seems that amber from the baltic reached the etruscans at hatria it has even been supposed that amber passed from sicily to northern europe in early times a supposition said to receive some support from the fact that much of the amber dug up in denmark is red but it must not be forgotten that reddish amber is found also on the baltic though not being fashionable it is used rather for varnish making than for ornaments moreover yellow amber after long burial is apt to acquire a reddish colour the amber of sicily seems not to have been recognized in ancient times for it is not mentioned by local authorities like diodorus siculus burmite is the name under which the burmese amber is now described until the british occupation of burma but little was known as to its occurrence though it had been worked for centuries and was highly valued by the natives and by the chinese it is found in fiat rolle |
d pieces irregularly distributed through a blue clay probably of miocene age it occurs in the hukawng valley in the nangotaimaw hills where it is irregularly worked in shallow pits the mines were visited some years ago by dr fritz noetling and the mineral has been described by dr otto helm the burmese amber is yellow or reddish some being of ruby tint and like the sicilian amber it is fluorescent burmite and simetite agree also in being destitute of succinic acid most of the burmese amber is worked at mandalay into rosary beads and ear cylinders many other fossil resins more or less allied to amber have been described schraufite is a reddish resin from the carpathian sandstone and it occurs with jet in the cretaceous rocks of the lebanon ambrite is a resin found in many of the coals of new zealand retinite occurs in the lignite of bovey tracey in devonshire and elsewhere whilst copaline has been found in the london clay of highgate in north london chemawinite or cedarite is an amber like resin from the saskat |
chewan river in canada see also list of minerals ammolite dominican amber amber in british place names spirit of amber oil of amber references assignment of vibrational spectra of labdatriene derivatives and ambers a combined experimental and density functional theoretical study manuel villanueva garc a antonio mart nez richa and juvencio robles arkivoc ej one five six seven c pp four four nine four five eight online article external links the world of amber a comprehensive website maintained by the earth science department of emporia state university emporia kansas accessed two nine may two zero zero five visit to an amber mine in the dominican republic dominican amber information about amber from poland gdansk german facts about baltic amber fossils arabic words amalaric or amalarico in spanish died five three one king of the visigoths son of alaric ii was a child when his father fell in battle against clovis i king of the franks in five zero seven gesalec was chosen king and the child amalaric was carried |
for safety into hispania which country and provence were thenceforth ruled by his maternal grandfather theodoric the ostrogoth acting through his vice regent theudis an ostrogothic nobleman in five two two the young amalaric was proclaimed king and four years later on theodoric s death he assumed full royal power in hispania and that part of languedoc called septimania relinquishing provence to his cousin athalaric he married chrotilda daughter of clovis but his disputes with her he being an arian and she a catholic brought on him the penalty of a frankish invasion by childebert i king of paris in which he lost his life in five three one konami has twice included flying angelic archers enemies in its castlevania series of games tying them to the story of amalaric s demise in castlevania symphony of the night there is a blue tinted angelic enemy known as sniper of goth whose description reads slew amalaric of the goths in castlevania dawn of sorrow the enemy appears again and is functionally identical although |
its name is now amalaric sniper and its description now reads a fearsome archer and a fallen angel references edward gibbon history of the decline and fall of the roman empire chapter three nine width two five align center preceded by gesalec width two five align center king of the visigoths five one one five three one width two five align center succeeded by theudis five three one deaths kings of the visigoths d die ner alphorn players alpenhorn or alphorn a wind instrument consisting of a natural wooden horn of conical bore having a cup shaped mouthpiece used by mountain dwellers in switzerland and elsewhere the alphorn is carved from solid softwood generally spruce but sometimes pine in former times the alphorn maker would find a tree bent at the base in the shape of an alphorn but modern makers piece the wood together at the base a cup shaped mouthpiece carved out of a block of hard wood is added and the instrument is complete the alpenhorn has no lateral openings and therefore gives the pure natural har |
monic series of the open pipe the harmonics are the more readily obtained by reason of the small diameter of the bore in relation to the length an alpenhorn made at rigi kulm schwyz and now in the victoria and albert museum measures eight ft in length and has a straight tube a swiss playing alphorn near a mountain lake the well known ranz des vaches is the traditional melody of the alpenhorn from french switzerland the song describes the time of bringing the cows to the high country at cheese making time rossini introduced the melody into his opera william tell brahms was clear that the inspiration for the great melody that opens the last movement of his first symphony played in the orchestra by the horn was an alphorn melody he heard in the rigi area of switzerland the swiss alpenhorn varies in shape according to the locality being curved near the bell in the bernese oberland michael praetorius mentions the alpenhorn under the name of holzerni trummet in syntagma musicum wittenberg one six one five one six o |
ne nine this is the horn featured in ricola cough drop commercials references music for alphorn among music composed for the alphorn sinfonia pastorella for alphorn and string orchestra by leopold mozart concerto for alphorn and orchestra by jean daetwyler concertino rustico by ference farkas external links jacaranda ensemble swiss alphorn players in german rocky mountain alphorns in english wind instruments proper image alpaca two jpg image width two zero zero px regnum animalia phylum chordata classis mammalia ordo artiodactyla familia camelidae genus vicugna species v pacos binomial vicugna pacos binomial authority linnaeus one seven five eight the alpaca vicugna pacos is one of two domesticated breeds of south american camel like ungulates derived from the wild guanaco it resembles a sheep in appearance but is larger in size and has a long erect neck with a handsome head alpacas are kept in large flocks that graze on the level heights of the andes of southern peru northern bolivia and northern chile at an |
altitude of between three five zero zero and five zero zero zero meters above sea level throughout the year they are not used as beasts of burden like llamas but are valued only for their fiber of which indian blankets and ponchos are made the alpaca comes in two two natural colours in stature the alpaca is considerably inferior to the llama but has the same unpleasant habit of spitting in the textile industry alpaca is a name given to two distinct things it is primarily a term applied to the wool or rather hair obtained from the peruvian alpaca it is however more broadly applied to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca fiber but now frequently made from a similar type of fiber such as mohair icelandic sheep wool or even some high quality english wool in trade distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohairs and lustres however as far as the general purchaser is concerned little or no distinction is made background alpacas have been domesticated for thousands of years and origi |
nate from peru chile and bolivia there are no wild alpacas it is believed that they are descended from the vicuna which is also native to south america they are closely related to llamas which are descended from the guanaco these four species of animals are collectively called camelids of the four the alpaca and the vicu a are the most valuable wool bearing animals the alpaca because of the quality and quantity of its wool and the vicu a because of the softness fineness and quality of its coat alpacas and llamas can and do successfully cross breed the resulting offspring are called huarizo there are two types of alpaca huacaya with crimpy sheep like wool and suri with silky dreadlocks suris are much rarer than huacaya estimated to make up between six and one zero of the alpaca population the suri is probably rarer because it is less hardy in the harsh south american mountain climates as the style of its fleece offers less insulation against the cold the suri fleece parts along the spine exposing the animal to |
the cold unlike the huacaya fleece which provides excellent cover over the backbone alpaca fleece is a luxurious fibre similar to sheep s wool in some respects although it is lighter in weight silkier to the touch warmer and not as prickly a big trade of alpace fleece exists in the countries where alpacas live from very simple and not so expensive garments made by the aboriginal communities to sophisticated products industrially made that can have significantly high prices white is the predominant colour of alpacas both suri and huacaya this is because selective breeding has favoured white bulk white fleece is easier to market and can be dyed any colour however alpacas come in two two natural colours from a true blue black through browns and fawns to white and there are silver greys and rose greys as well traditionally alpaca meat has been eaten fresh fried or in stews by andean inhabitants there is a resurgent interest in alpaca meat in countries like peru where it is relatively easy to find it at upscale r |
estaurants behaviour alpacas are social herd animals and should always be kept with others of their kind they are gentle and elegant inquisitive and observant as they are a prey animal rather than a predator they are cautious and will understandably be nervous if they feel threatened they like their own space and don t appreciate another alpaca or human getting too close especially from behind they will warn the intruder away by threatening to spit or by spitting or by kicking some alpacas kick some don t but yes they all spit spitting is reserved for other alpacas not for humans but sometimes the human can get in the line of fire or the alpaca aims badly and misses the intended target the spit is not pleasant it is the contents of the stomach green regurgitated grass and smells foul alpacas don t like their heads being touched once they know their owners and feel confident around them they will probably allow their backs and necks to be touched but they won t appreciate being grabbed especially by boisterous |
children if an owner need to catch an alpaca the neck offers a good handle and holding the neck firmly between the arms is the best way to restrain the animal to help alpacas control their internal parasites they have a communal dung pile which they do not graze generally males have much tidier dung piles than females who tend to stand in a line and all go at once sheep baa cows moo and alpacas hum different animals have different voices but basically it is a mmm sound however they make other sounds as well as humming when danger is present they sound the alarm call a high pitched shriek for instance some breeds are known to make a sound similar to a wark noise when excited and they stand proud with their tails sticking out and their ears in a very alert position strange dogs and even cats can trigger this reaction they recognise domestic cats for what they are a relation of the puma a natural predator of the alpaca in south america when males fight they also scream a warbling bird like cry presumably intend |
ed to terrify the other combatant fighting is to determine dominance and therefore the right to mate the females in the herd and it is triggered by testosterone this is why males are often kept in separate paddocks when two dominant males get together war breaks out a male in the act of mating or hoping for a chance to mate will orgle this orgling will help to put the female in the mood and it is believed that it also helps her to ovulate after the act of mating very necessary for a pregnancy to take place pregnancies last eleven and a half months and the young are called crias soon after the cria is born the female will be ready to mate again babies are therefore an annual event a female is usually ready to mate for the first time at a year of age but a male can often not work until he is two or even three years old alpacas generally live for more than two zero years we think conditions and nutrition are better in the usa australia new zealand and europe than in south america so animals live longer and are h |
ealthier one of the oldest alpacas in new zealand fondly known as vomiting violet died at the end of two zero zero five at the ripe old age of two nine history of the scientific name in one seven five eight the four south american camelid species were assigned scientific names at that time the alpaca was assumed to be descended from the llama ignoring similarities in size fleece and dentition between the alpaca and the vicu a classification was complicated by the fact that all four species of south american camelid can interbreed and produce fertile offspring it was not until the advent of dna technology that a more accurate classification was possible miss great aunt edds started the first out of continent farm she established the first canadian alpaca farm outside of kingston ontario originally started with only four alpacas the farm grew to no less than two four alpacas by two zero zero five the alpacas originally raised for their fleece now also serve the local restaurant industry providing them with deli |
cious alpaca steaks in two zero zero one the alpaca genus classification changed from lama pacos to vicugna pacos following the presentation of a paper genetic analysis reveals the wild ancestors of the llama and the alpaca on work by dr jane wheeler et al on alpaca dna to the royal society showing that the alpaca is descended from the vicu a not the guanaco the relationship between alpacas and vicu as was disputed for many years but wheeler s dna work proved it however many academic sites have not caught up with this so it is something well known to alpaca breeders who have read dr hoffman s book and to royal society members who have access to the current classification data but not more widely known fiber alpaca alpaca fiber is warmer than sheeps wool and lighter in weight it is soft and luxurious and lacks the prickle factor however as with all fleece producing animals quality varies from animal to animal and some alpaca produce fibre which is less than ideal alpaca have been bred in south america for hund |
reds of years mainly peru but also chile and bolivia but in recent years have been exported to other countries in countries such as the usa australia and new zealand breeders shear their animals annually weigh the fleeces and test them for fineness with the resulting knowledge they are able to breed heavier fleeced animals with finer fibre fleece weights vary with the top stud males reaching annual shear weights up to six kg two types of fleece are produced huacaya and suri it has been proposed that in fact these are two different breeds of animal and that camelids come in five types guanaco vicuna llama huacaya alpaca and suri this view is not commonly accepted however in physical structure alpaca is somewhat akin to human hair being very glossy but its softness and fineness enable the spinner to produce satisfactory yarn with comparative ease alpaca alpaca fiber industry history the history of the manufacture of this fiber into cloth is one of the romances of commerce the indians of peru used this fibre in |
the manufacture of many styles of fabrics for centuries before its introduction into europe as a commercial product the first european importations were into spain spain transferred the fibre to germany and france apparently alpaca yarn was spun in england for the first time about the year one eight zero eight it does not appear to have made any headway however and alpaca fiber was condemned as an unworkable material in one eight three zero benjamin outram of greetland near halifax appears to have reattempted the spinning of this fibre and for the second time alpaca was condemned these two attempts to use alpaca were failures owing to the style of fabric into which the yarn was woven a species of camlet it was not until the introduction of cotton warps into the bradford trade about one eight three six that the true qualities of alpaca could be developed in the fabric where the cotton warp and mohair or alpaca weft plain cloth came from is not known but it was this simple yet ingenious structure which enabled |
titus salt then a young bradford manufacturer to use alpaca successfully bradford is still the great spinning and manufacturing centre for alpaca large quantities of yarns and cloths being exported annually to the continent and to the united states although the quantities naturally vary in accordance with the fashions in vogue the typical alpaca fabric being a very characteristic dress fabric alpacas on show in the uk owing to the success in the manufacture of the various styles of alpaca cloths attained by sir titus salt and other bradford manufacturers a great demand for alpaca wool arose and this demand could not be met by the native product for there seems to never have been any appreciable increase in the number of alpacas available unsuccessful attempts were made to acclimatize the alpaca in england on the european continent and in australia and even to cross certain english breeds of sheep with the alpaca there is however a cross between the alpaca and the llama a true hybrid in every sense producing a |
material placed upon the liverpool market under the name huarizo crosses between the alpaca and vicu a have not proved satisfactory current attempts to cross these two breeds are underway at farms in the united states according to the alpaca owners and breeders association alpacas are now being bred in the united states canada australia new zealand uk and numerous other places the preparing combing spinning weaving and finishing process of alpaca and mohair are similar to that of wool farmers commonly quote the alpaca with the phrase love is in the fleece which describes their love for the animal prices the price for alpacas can range from two zero zero to three six zero zero zero zero depending on breeding history sex and color one can raise up to one zero alpacas on one acre four zero four seven m as they have a designated area for waste products and keep their eating area away from their waste area to avoid diseases to get an idea of alpaca prices around the world see alpacaseller trivia major league base |
ball player billy wagner owns three eight alpacas an alpaca has three stomaches references genetic analysis reveals the wild ancestors of the llama and the alpaca paper by dr jane wheeler presented to the royal society in two zero zero one the complete alpaca book dr eric hoffman bonny doon press california two zero zero three external links elevage de garenne breeding of alpacas huacaya and suri in france the alpaca owners and breeders association http www surifarm de alpaca library fauna of chile camelids army from french arm e can in some countries refer to any armed force more commonly however it is only used specifically to refer to a land force of the military within a national army an army can also refer to a large formation usually comprising one or more corps army is also often used in the description or title of military or paramilitary organisations which are not part of a country s official armed forces and may well be illegal such as the irish republican army and also in some non military organis |
ations organised on a quasi military basis such as the salvation army and the church army field army a field army is composed of a headquarters army troops a variable number of corps and a variable number of divisions a battle is influenced at the field army level by transferring divisions and reinforcements from one corps to another to increase the pressure on the enemy at a critical point national land forces a national army is usually the arm of the military service which conducts land based warfare for example the united states army or the french arm e de terre most armed forces make considerable distinction between the army or land forces the navy and the air force often maintaining three independent organizations many air forces were formerly part of an army historically the united states air force originated as part of the united states army for example modern armies comprise several branches also called services or administrative corps these may include the combat branches infantry armoured artillery |
and combat engineers as well as the support branches communications intelligence medics supply and army aviation as opposed to a national air force formations an army can also be a large military organization formation comprising one or more corps a particular army is named or numbered to distinguish it from military land forces in general for example the u s first army and the army of northern virginia in the british army it is normal to spell out the ordinal number of an army e g first army whereas lower formations use figures e g one st division armies as well as army groups and theaters are large formations which vary significantly between armed forces in size composition and scope of responsibility in the soviet red army armies were actually corps sized formations subordinate to an army sized front in wartime in peacetime a soviet army was usually subordinate to a military district for the hierarchy of land force organizations see military organization see also ex police army personnel association of mal |
aysia list of armies list of armies by name list of armies by number list of countries without an army war military history military science marines citizen army murder military unit types armies types of military applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with the application of mathematical knowledge to other domains such applications include numerical analysis mathematical physics mathematics of engineering linear programming optimization and operations research continuous modelling control theory mathematical biology and bioinformatics information theory game theory probability and statistics mathematical economics financial mathematics actuarial science cryptography and hence combinatorics and even finite geometry to some extent graph theory as applied to network analysis and a great deal of what is called computer science the question of what is applied mathematics does not answer to logical classification so much as to the sociology of professionals who use mathematics the math |
ematical methods are usually applied to the specific problem field by means of a mathematical model of the system engineering mathematics describes physical processes and so is often indistinguishable from theoretical physics important subdivisions include fluid dynamics acoustic theory maxwell s equations that govern electromagnetism mechanics numerical relativity etc fundamental applied mathematics is taught at second level in some countries such as ireland where it is a minority option at leaving certificate see also pure mathematics external links the society for industrial and applied mathematics is a professional society dedicated to promoting the interaction between mathematics and other scientific and technical communities applied mathematics alligators and caimans are reptiles closely related to the crocodiles and forming the family alligatoridae sometimes regarded instead as the subfamily alligatorinae together with the gharial family gavialidae they make up the order crocodilia alligators differ fr |
om crocodiles principally in having wider and shorter heads with more obtuse snouts in having the fourth enlarged tooth of the under jaw received not into an external notch but into a pit formed for it within the upper one in lacking a jagged fringe which appears on the hind legs and feet of the crocodile and in having the toes of the hind feet webbed not more than half way to the tips in general the more dangerous crocodilians to human beings tend to be crocodiles rather than alligators alligator alligators proper occur in the fluvial deposits of the age of the upper chalk in europe where they did not die out until the pliocene age the true alligators are now restricted to two species a mississippiensis in the southern united states which grows up to four m one two ft in length and the small a sinensis in the yangtze river people s republic of china their name derives from the spanish el lagarto the lizard in central and south america alligators are represented by five species of the genus caiman which diffe |
rs from the alligator by the absence of a bony septum between the nostrils and the ventral armour is composed of overlapping bony scutes each of which is formed of two parts united by a suture some authorities further divide this genus into three splitting off the smooth fronted caimans into a genus paleosuchus and the black caiman into melanosuchus c crocodilus the spectacled caiman has the widest distribution from southern mexico to the northern half of argentina and grows to a modest size of about seven feet the largest attaining an enormous bulk and a length of two zero ft is the near extinct melanosuchus niger the jacare assu large or black caiman of the amazon the black caiman is the only member of the alligator family posing the same danger to humans as the larger species of the crocodile family although the caiman has not been studied in depth it has been discovered that their mating cycles previously thought to be spontaneous or year round are linked to the rainfall cycles and the river levels in ord |
er to increase their offspring s chances of survival some crocodiles can be found in salty water but most alligators stay in fresh water species order crocodilia family alligatoridae genus leidyosuchus extinct genus deinosuchus extinct subfamily diplocynodontinae genus tadzhikosuchus extinct genus baryphracta extinct genus diplocynodon extinct subfamily alligatorinae genus akantosuchus extinct genus albertochampsa extinct genus chrysochampsa extinct genus hassiacosuchus extinct genus navahosuchus extinct genus ceratosuchus extinct genus allognathosuchus extinct genus hispanochampsa extinct genus arambourgia extinct genus procaimanoidea extinct genus wannaganosuchus extinct genus alligator alligator prenasalis extinct alligator mcgrewi extinct alligator olseni extinct chinese alligator alligator sinensis alligator mefferdi extinct american alligator alligator mississippiensis subfamily caimaninae genus necrosuchus extinct genus eocaiman extinct genus paleosuchus extinct cuvier s dwarf caiman paleosuchus palpeb |
rosus smooth fronted caiman paleosuchus trigonatus genus parussaurus extinct genus mourasuchus extinct genus orthogenysuchus extinct genus caiman yacare caiman caiman yacare spectacled caiman caiman crocodilus crocodilus rio apaporis caiman c c apaporiensis brown caiman c c fuscus caiman lutescans extinct broad snouted caiman caiman latirostris genus melanosuchus melanosuchus fisheri extinct black caiman melanosuchus niger cultural aspects in native american and african american folklore the alligator is revered especially the teeth which can be worn as a charm against witchcraft and poison often it is the butt of practical jokes by tricksters like brer rabbit an urban legend states that people buy baby alligators after visiting florida or other places where they are native and flush them down the toilet once they get big the story goes that full grown alligators exist in the sewers of cities like new york city this is impossible however because without uv rays from sunlight alligators cannot properly metabol |
ize calcium resulting in metabolic bone disease and eventually death small released alligators and caimans though are occasionally found in northern lakes alligator skin was once a highly prized leather and was farmed in some areas as pictured in the panoramic image below alligator is sometimes eaten as an exotic meat south beach alligator farm five mb uncompressed tif pop culture references a top hit from one nine five six was see you later alligator as sung by bill haley his comets crocodiles looking down the aleutians from an airplane the aleutian islands possibly from chukchi aliat island are a chain of more than three zero zero small volcanic islands forming an island arc situated in the northern pacific ocean occupying an area of six eight two one sq mi one seven six six six sq km and extending about one two zero zero mi one nine zero zero km westward from the alaska peninsula toward the kamchatka peninsula crossing longitude one eight zero they are the westernmost part of the united states and technica |
lly also the easternmost see extreme points of the united states nearly all of the archipelago is part of alaska and usually considered as being in the alaskan bush but the extreme western end is in russia the islands with their five seven volcanoes are located in the northern part of the pacific ring of fire geography aleutians seen from space the islands known before one eight six seven as the catherine archipelago comprise four groups the fox andreanof rat and near islands they are all located between five two degrees and five five degrees north latitude and one seven two degrees east and one six three degrees west longitude the axis of the archipelago near the mainland of alaska has a southwest trend but near the one two nine th meridian its direction changes to the northwest this change of direction corresponds to a curve in the line of volcanic fissures which have contributed their products to the building of the islands such curved chains are repeated about the pacific ocean in the kuril islands the ja |
panese chain and in the philippines all these island arcs are at the edge of the pacific plate and experience lots of seismic activity but are still habitable the aleutians lie between the pacific and north american tectonic plates the general elevation is greatest in the eastern islands and least in the western the island chain is really a western continuation of the aleutian range on the mainland active aleutian volcanoes the great majority of the islands bear evident marks of volcanic origin and there are numerous volcanic cones on the north side of the chain some of them active many of the islands however are not wholly volcanic but contain crystalline or sedimentary rocks and also amber and beds of lignite the coasts are rocky and surf worn and the approaches are exceedingly dangerous the land rising immediately from the coasts to steep bold mountains the volcano makushin five six nine one ft one seven three five m is visible from unalaska and the volcanic islets bogoslof and grewingk which rose from the |
sea in one seven nine six and one eight eight three respectively lie about three zero miles four eight km west of the bay climate aleutian islands the climate of the islands is oceanic with moderate and fairly uniform temperatures and heavy rainfall fogs are almost constant the summers are much cooler than on the mainland at sitka but the winter temperature of the islands and of the alaska panhandle is very nearly the same the mean annual temperature for unalaska the most populated island of the group is about three eight degrees fahrenheit three four degrees celsius being about three zero f one one c for january and about five two f one one one c for august the highest and lowest temperatures recorded on the islands are seven eight f two six c and five f one five c respectively the average annual amount of rainfall is about eight zero in two zero three zero mm and unalaska with about two five zero rainy days per year is said to be the rainiest place within the territory of the united states economy the grow |
ing season lasts about one three five days from early in may till late in september but agriculture is limited to the raising of a few vegetables with the exception of some stunted willows the islands are practically destitute of trees but are covered with a luxuriant growth of herbage including grasses sedges and many flowering plants on the less mountainous islands the raising of sheep and reindeer was believed to be practicable people living in the aleutian islands developed fine skills in hunting and basketry hunters made their weapons and watercraft the baskets are noted for being finely woven with carefully shredded stalks of beach rye demographics the people refer to themselves as unangan and have been called aleut the aleut language is one of the two main branches of the eskimo aleut language family this family is not known to be related to any others in the two zero zero zero census there was a population of eight one six two on the islands of which four two eight three were living in the main settle |
ment of unalaska history because of the location of the islands stretching like a broken bridge from asia to america many anthropologists believe they were a route of the first human occupants of the americas the earliest known evidence of human occupation in the americas is much further south in new mexico and peru the early human sites in alaska have probably been submerged by rising waters during the current interglacial period explorers traders colonists and missionaries arrived from russia beginning in one seven four one in one seven four one the russian government sent out vitus bering a dane in the service of russia and alexei chirikov a russian in the ships saint peter swiatoj pietr and saint paul on a voyage of discovery in the northern pacific after the ships were separated by a storm chirikov discovered several eastern islands of the aleutian group and bering discovered several of the western islands finally being wrecked and losing his life on the island of the komandorski islands commander island |
s that now bears his name bering island the survivors of bering s party reached the kamchatka peninsula in a boat constructed from the wreckage of their ship and reported that the islands were rich in fur bearing animals siberian fur hunters flocked to the commander islands and gradually moved eastward across the aleutian islands to the mainland in this manner russia gained a foothold on the northwestern coast of north america the aleutian islands consequently belonged to russia until that country transferred all its possessions in north america to the united states in one eight six seven the russians were ruthless in their expansion using technology and cruelty to demand tribute and labor from the aleuts especially for sea otter hunting the russians captured otter pelts from the aleutian islands through the gulf of alaska along the alaska panhandle and south even to california some aleuts were moved to the pribilof islands so that fur seals could be captured there as well by one seven six zero the russian me |
rchant adriian tolstykh had made a detailed census in the vicinity of adak and extended russian citizenship to the aleuts despite some attempts to eliminate slavery and reduce cruel treatment in the one seven nine zero s the shelikov company depended on the labor of aleut hunters to collect sea otter pelts during his third and last voyage in one seven seven eight captain james cook surveyed the eastern portion of the aleutian archipelago accurately determined the position of some of the more important islands and corrected many errors of former navigators one of the first christian missionaries to arrive in the aleutian islands was a monk named herman who arrived in one seven nine three with nine other russian orthodox monks and priests within two years he was the only survivor of that party he settled on spruce island near kodiak island and often defended the rights of the aleuts against the russian trading companies he is now known in the orthodox church as st herman of alaska another early christian missio |
nary of the russian orthodox church was father veniaminov who arrived in unalaska in one eight two four he was named bishop innokentii in one eight four zero and moved to sitka he is now known in the orthodox church as saint innocent of alaska in one nine zero six a new volcanic cone rose between the islets of bogoslof and grewingk near unalaska followed by another in one nine zero seven these cones were nearly demolished by an explosive eruption on one september one nine zero seven the principal settlements were on unalaska island the oldest was iliuliuk also called unalaska settled in one seven six zero one seven seven five with a customs house an orthodox church and a methodist mission and orphanage and the headquarters for a considerable fleet of united states revenue cutters which patrol the sealing grounds of the pribilof islands the first public school in unalaska opened in one eight eight three adjacent is dutch harbor so named it is said because a dutch vessel was the first to enter it which is an im |
portant port for bering sea commerce the u s congress extended american citizenship to all indians and this law has been held to include the indigenous peoples of alaska in one nine two four a hospital was built in unalaska in one nine three three by the us bureau of indian affairs during world war ii small parts of the aleutian islands were occupied by japanese forces when attu and kiska were invaded in order to divert american forces away from the main japanese attack at midway atoll the u s navy having broken the japanese naval radio codes knew that this was just a diversion and it did not expend large amounts of effort in defending the islands a few americans were taken to japan as prisoners of war most of the civilian population of the aleutians were interned by the united states in camps in the alaska panhandle american forces invaded japanese held attu defeated the japanese there and subsequently regained control of all the islands see battle of the aleutian islands monday june three two zero zero two |
was celebrated as dutch harbor remembrance day the governor of alaska ordered state flags lowered to half staff to honor the seven eight soldiers who died during the two day japanese air attack in one nine four two the aleutians world war ii campaign national historic area visitors center opened in june two zero zero two the alaska native claims settlement act ancsa became law in one nine seven one in one nine seven seven the ounalashka corporation from unalaska declared a dividend this was the first village corporation to declare and pay a dividend to its shareholders miscellaneous the aleutian islands would likely be an important part of the national missile defense system proposed to defend the united states from small ballistic missile attacks see also list of aleutian islands list of aleutian island volcanoes aleutians west census area alaska aleutians east borough alaska peter the aleut image aleutianislands jpegwestern aleutian islands from a one nine one six map of the alaska territory references init |
ial text from one nine one one encyclopedia has had some updating revision and wikifying but more is needed especially on post one nine four five history have added some civil history total area of six eight two one sq mi from encyclop dia britannica online islands of alaska archipelagoes alderfly is the name given to neuropterous insects of the family sialidae related to the ant lions with long filamentous antennae and four large wings of which the anterior pair is rather longer than the posterior the females lay a vast number of eggs upon grass stems near water the larvae are aquatic active armed with strong sharp mandibles and breathe by means of seven pairs of abdominal branchial filaments when full sized they leave the water and spend a quiescent pupal stage on the land before metamorphosis into the sexually mature insect sialis lutaria is a well known british example in america they are called fishflies and there are two genera sialis and chauliodes megaloptera insects alder is the common name of a genu |
s of flowering plants alnus belonging to the birch family family betulaceae the genus comprises about three zero species of monoecious trees and shrubs few reaching large size distributed throughout the north temperate zone and in the new world also along the andes southwards to chile the leaves are deciduous evergreen or nearly so in a few species alternate simple and serrated the flowers are catkins with elongate male catkins on the same plant as shorter female catkins often before leaves appear they are mainly wind pollinated but also visited by bees to a small extent they differ from the birches betula the other genus in the family in that the female catkins are woody and do not disintegrate at maturity opening to release the seeds in a similar manner to many conifer cones the best known species is the common or black alder a glutinosa native to most of europe and widely introduced elsewhere the largest species is red alder a rubra reaching three five m the tallest is three two m on the west coast of nort |
h america with black alder and italian alder a cordata both reaching about three zero m by contrast the widespread green alder a viridis is rarely more than a five m shrub the common name alder is derived from an old germanic root the botanic name alnus is the original latin name classification the genus is divided into three subgenera subgenus alnus trees shoot buds stalked male and female catkins produced in autumn fall but staying closed over winter pollinating in late winter or early spring about one five two five species including a acuminata andean alder andes mountains south america a cordata italian alder italy alnus formosana formosan alder a glutinosa black alder europe a incana grey alder europe fallen alder leaves make very rich compost alder catkins are one of the first sources of pollen for bee species especially honeybees which use it for spring buildup alder is a preferred wood for charcoal making formerly used in the manufacture of gunpowder or for smelting metal ores now used primarily for c |
ooking the wood is also traditionally used for smoking fish and meat though this usage has often been replaced by other woods such as oak and hickory it is popular as a material for electric guitar bodies alders are sturdy and fast growing even in acidic and damaged sites such as burned areas and mining sites italian alder is particularly useful on dry infertile sites alders can be used as a producer of simple bio mass growing quickly in harsh environments alders are sometimes made into bonsai alder is used as a food plant by some lepidoptera species see list of lepidoptera which feed on alders green alder alnus viridis speckled alder alnus incana subsp rugosa leaves external links alder the nitrogen fix from the monday garden section eclectic herbal information alnus serrulata tag alder king s american dispensatory henriette s herbal alder tree common alnus glutinosa mrs grieve s a modern herbal botanical com alder tag alnus serrulata mrs grieve s a modern herbal botanical com fagales a bronson alcott amos b |
ronson alcott november two nine one seven nine nine march four one eight eight eight was an american teacher and writer he is remembered for founding a short lived and unconventional school as well as a utopian community known as fruitlands and for his association with transcendentalism alcott was born on spindle hill in the town of wolcott new haven county connecticut his father joseph chatfield alcox was a farmer and mechanic whose ancestors then bearing the name of alcocke had settled in eastern massachusetts in colonial days the son adopted the spelling alcott in his early youth self educated and early thrown upon his own resources he began in one eight one four to earn his living by working in a clock factory in plymouth connecticut and for many years after one eight one five he peddled books and merchandise chiefly in the southern states he began teaching in bristol connecticut in one eight two three and subsequently conducted schools in cheshire connecticut in one eight two five one eight two seven aga |
in in bristol in one eight two seven one eight two eight in boston massachusetts in one eight two eight one eight three zero in germantown now part of philadelphia in one eight three one one eight three three and in philadelphia in one eight three three as a young teacher he was most convinced by the educational philosophy of the swiss pedagogue johann heinrich pestalozzi in one eight three zero he married abby may the sister of samuel j may one seven nine seven one eight seven one the reformer and abolitionist alcott himself was a garrisonian abolitionist and pioneered the strategy of tax resistance to slavery which thoreau made famous in civil disobedience alcott publicly debated with thoreau the use of force and passive resistance to slavery along with thoreau he was among the financial and moral supporters of john brown and occasionally helped fugitive slaves escape on the underground railroad in one eight three four he opened the temple school in boston which became famous because of his original methods |
alcott s plan was to develop self instruction on the basis of self analysis with an emphasis on conversation rather than the lecture and drill which were prevalent in u s classrooms of the time the subject matter was often the gospels religious and moral principles some of the school s conversations were published in alcott s conversations with children on the gospels alcott refused corporal punishment as a means of disciplining his students instead he offered his own hand for an offending student to strike saying that any failing was the teacher s responsibility the shame and guilt this method induced he believed was far superior to the fear instilled by corporal punishment as assistants in the school alcott had two of nineteenth century america s most talented women writers elizabeth palmer peabody who published a record of mr alcott s school in one eight three five and margaret fuller as students he had the children of the boston intellectual classes including josiah quincy grandson of the president of ha |
rvard alcott s methods were not well received many in the church found his conversations on the gospels close to blasphemous and many in the public found his disciplinary measures ridiculous the school was denounced in the press and rejected by most public opinion and was not pecuniarily successful as the controversy caused many parents to remove their students finally alcott alienated many of the remaining parents by admitting an african american child whom he then refused to expel from his classes in one eight three nine the school was closed although alcott had won the affection of many of his pupils his pedagogy was a forerunner of progressive and democratic schooling the wayside home in turn to the alcott family nathaniel hawthorne and margaret sidney in one eight four zero alcott removed to concord massachusetts after a visit to england in one eight four two he started with two english associates charles lane and henry c wright at fruitlands in the town of harvard massachusetts a utopian socialist exper |
iment in farm living and nature meditation as tending to develop the best powers of body and soul the experiment quickly collapsed and alcott returned in one eight four four to his concord home hillside later renamed the wayside by hawthorne near that of ralph waldo emerson alcott removed to boston four years later and again back to concord after one eight five seven he spoke as opportunity offered before the lyceums then common in various parts of the united states or addressed groups of hearers as they invited him these conversations as he called them were more or less informal talks on a great range of topics spiritual aesthetic and practical in which he emphasized the ideas of the school of american transcendentalists led by emerson who was always his supporter and discreet admirer he dwelt upon the illumination of the mind and soul by direct communion with the creative spirit upon the spiritual and poetic monitions of external nature and upon the benefit to man of a serene mood and a simple way of life a |
lcott s philosophical teaching was and is still often thought inconsistent hazy or abrupt but though he formulated no system of philosophy and seemed to show the influence now of plato now of kant or of german thought as filtered through the brain of coleridge he was like emerson steadily optimistic idealistic and individualistic the teachings of dr william ellery channing a little before had laid the groundwork for the work of most of the concord transcendentalists and contributors to the dial of whom alcott was one in his last years his daughter the writer louisa may alcott provided for him alcott was gratified at being able to become the nominal and at times the actual head of a concord summer school of philosophy and literature which had its first session in one eight seven nine and in which in a building next to his house listeners were addressed during a part of several successive summers on many themes in philosophy religion and letters alcott s published books all from late in his life included tablet |
s one eight six eight concord days one eight seven two and sonnets and canzonets one eight eight two earlier he had written a series of orphic sayings which were published in the dial as examples of transcendentalist thought the sayings though called oracular were considered sloppy or vague by contemporary commentators as well as twentieth century ones he left a large collection of personal jottings and memorabilia most of which remain unpublished he died in boston on four march one eight eight eight references alcott amos bronson conversations with children on the gospels geraldine brooks orpheus at the plough the new yorker january one zero two zero zero five pp five eight six five the new yorker article is reproduced on author s website one seven nine nine births one eight eight eight deaths alternative education tax resisters teachers transcendentalism this article is about the bird family for other uses see albatross disambiguation the albatrosses are seabirds in the family diomedeidae which is closely a |
llied to the procellarids storm petrels and diving petrels in the order procellariiformes the tubenoses they range widely in the southern ocean and the north pacific they are absent from the north atlantic although fossil remains show they once occurred there too albatrosses are amongst the largest of flying birds and the great albatrosses from the genus diomedea have the largest wingspans of any extant birds albatrosses are highly efficient in the air using dynamic soaring and slope soaring to cover great distances with little exertion they feed on squid fish and krill by either scavenging surface seizing or diving albatrosses are colonial nesting for the most part on remote oceanic islands often with several species nesting together breeding pairs form over several years and will remain together for life a breeding season can take over a year from laying to fledging with a single egg laid in each breeding season nineteen of the two one species of albatrosses are threatened with extinction numbers of albatro |
sses have declined in the past due to harvesting for feathers but today the albatrosses are threatened by introduced species such as rats and feral cats that attack eggs chicks and nesting adults by pollution and by long line fishing long line fisheries pose the greatest threat as feeding birds are attracted to the bait and become hooked on the lines and drown governments conservation organisations and fishermen are all working towards reducing this by catch albatross biology taxonomy and evolution the albatrosses comprise two one species in four genera the four genera are the great albatrosses diomedea the mollymawks thalassarche the north pacific albatrosses phoebastria and the sooty albatrosses or sooties phoebetria of the four genera the north pacific albatrosses are considered to be a sister taxon to the great albatrosses while the sooty albatrosses are considered closer to the mollymawks the taxonomy of the albatross group has been a source of a great deal of debate the sibley ahlquist taxonomy places s |
eabirds birds of prey and many others in a greatly enlarged order ciconiiformes whereas the ornithological organisations in north america europe south africa australia and new zealand retain the more traditional order procellariiformes within the family the assignment of genera has been debated for over a hundred years originally placed into a single genus diomedea they were split into four different genera in one eight five two then lumped back together and split again several times acquiring one two different genus names in total though never more than eight at one time by one nine six five diomedea phoebastria thalassarche phoebetria thalassageron diomedella nealbutrus rhothonia julietata galapagornis laysanornis and penthirenia by one nine six five in an attempt to bring some order back to the classification of albatrosses they were lumped into two genera phoebetria the primitive sooty albatrosses which most closely seemed to resemble the procellarids and diomedea the rest though there was a case for the |
simplification of the family particularly the nomenclature the classification was pretty much the same as suggested by elliott coues in one eight six six paid little attention to more recent studies and even ignored some of coues s suggestions more recent research by gary nunn of the american museum of natural history one nine nine six and other researchers around the world studied the mitochondrial dna of all the one four accepted species finding that there were four not two monophyletic groups within the albatrosses they proposed the resurrection of two of the old genus names phoebastria for the north pacific albatrosses and thalassarche for the mollymawks with the great albatrosses retaining diomedea and the sooty albatrosses staying in phoebetria both the british ornithologists union and the south african authorities split the albatrosses into four genera as nunn suggested and the change has been accepted by the majority of researchers as well while there is some agreement on the number of genera there is |
less agreement on the number of species after his work on albatross genera nunn went on to propose two four different species in one nine nine eight compared to the one four then accepted these changes were not universally accepted some of his splits have been accepted while others have been rejected and for the most part two one species is the number accepted by the iucn and many others though by no means not all two authors have called for the number of species to be returned to one four the molecular study of the evolution of the bird families by sibley and ahlquist has put the radiation of the procellariiformes in the oligocene period three five three zero million years ago though the group has an older history with a fossil attributed to the order a seabird known as tytthostonyx being found in late cretaceous rocks seven zero mya the molecular evidence suggests that the storm petrels were the first to diverge from the ancestral stock and the albatrosses next with the procellarids and diving petrels the |
earliest fossil albatross was found in south carolina in rocks dating from the upper oligocene though it is uncertain which genus it should be attributed to the four genera are believed to have split more recently a fossil albatross attributed to the north pacific albatrosses phoebastria californica was found in mid miocene rocks in california showing the split between the great albatrosses and the north pacific albatrosses occurred by one five mya similar fossil finds in the southern hemisphere put the split between the sooties and mollymawks at one zero mya the fossil record of the albatrosses in the northern hemisphere is more complete than that of the southern and many fossil forms of albatross have been found in the north atlantic which today has no albatrosses the remains of a colony of short tailed albatrosses have been uncovered on the island of bermuda and the majority of fossil albatrosses from the north atlantic have been of the genus phoebastria the north pacific albatrosses one phoebastria anglic |
a has been found in deposits in both north carolina and england morphology and flight unlike most procellariiformes albatrosses like this black footed albatross can walk well on land the albatrosses are a group of large to very large birds amongst the largest of the seabirds with very long narrow wings which are aerodynamically highly efficient the bill is large strong and sharp edged the upper mandible terminating in a large hook this bill is composed of several horny plates and along the sides are the two tubes long nostrils that give the order its name the tubes of all albatrosses are along the sides of the bill unlike the rest of the procellariiformes were the tubes run along the top of the bill these tubes allow the albatrosses to have an acute sense of smell an unusual ability for birds like other procellariiformes they use this olfactory ability while foraging in order to locate potential food sources the feet have no hind toe and the three anterior toes are completely webbed the legs are strong for pr |
ocellariiformes in fact uniquely amongst the order in that they and the giant petrels are able to walk well on land the adult plumage of most of the albatrosses is usually some variation of dark upper wing and back white undersides often compared to that of a gull at one extreme the wandering albatross is almost completely white except for the ends of the wings at the other the amsterdam albatross has an almost juvenile like breeding plumage with a great deal of brown particularly a strong brown band around the chest several species of mollymawks and north pacific albatrosses have face and head markings like eye patches or are grey or yellow instead of white three albatross species the black footed albatross and the two sooty albatrosses vary completely from the usual patterns and are almost entirely black or dark grey in the case of the sooty albatross albatrosses take several years to get their full adult breeding plumage the wingspans of the largest great albatrosses genus diomedea are the largest of any b |
ird exceeding three four zero cm although the other species wingspans are considerably smaller the wings are cambered with thickened streamlined leading edges albatrosses travel huge distances with two techniques used by many long winged seabirds dynamic soaring and slope soaring dynamic soaring enables them to minimise the effort needed by gliding across wave fronts gaining energy from the vertical wind gradient slope soaring is more straightforward the albatross turns to the wind gaining height from where it can then glide back down to the sea albatross have high glide ratios around two two two three meaning that for every metre they drop they can travel forwards two two metres they are aided in soaring by a shoulder lock a sheet of tendon that locks the wing when fully extended allowing the wing to be kept up and out without any muscle expenditure a morphological adaptation they share with the giant petrels slope soaring and dynamic soaring allow albatrosses to travel great distances with little exertion a |
lbatrosses combine these soaring techniques with the use of predictable weather systems albatrosses in the southern hemisphere flying north from their colonies will take a clockwise route and those flying south will fly anticlockwise albatrosses are so well adapted to this lifestyle that their heart rates while flying are close to their basal heart rate when resting this efficiency is such that the most energetically demanding aspect of a foraging trip is not the distance covered but the landings takeoffs and hunting they undertake having found a food source this efficient long distance travelling underlies the albatross s success as a long distance forager covering great distances and expending little energy looking for patchily distributed food sources distribution and range at sea all albatrosses range in the southern hemisphere except for the four north pacific albatrosses of which three occur exclusively in the north pacific from hawaii to japan california and alaska and one the waved albatross breeds on |
the equator in the galapagos islands and feeds off the coast of south america the need for wind in order to glide is the reason albatrosses are for the most part confined to higher latitudes since they are unsuited to sustained flapping flight and are usually incapable of crossing the doldrums the exception to this rule is the waved albatross which breeds and feeds in the equatorial waters around the galapagos islands it is able to live there because of the cool waters of the humboldt current it is not known for certain why the albatrosses became extinct in the north atlantic although rising sea levels due to an interglacial warming period are thought to have submerged the short tailed albatross colony found in bermuda some southern species that have occasionally turned up as vagrants in the north atlantic have essentially become exiled and can remain there for decades one of these exiles a black browed albatross returned to gannet colonies in scotland for many years in a lonely attempt to breed the use of s |
atellite tracking is teaching scientists a great deal about the way albatrosses forgae across the ocean in order to find food they undertake no annual migration but disperse widely after breeding in the case of southern hemisphere species often undertaking circumpolar trips there is also evidence that there is separation the ranges of different species at sea comparing the foraging niches of two related species that breed on campbell island the campbell albatross and the grey headed albatross the campbell albatross primarily fed over the campbell plateau whereas the the grey headed albatross fed over oceanic waters wandering albatrosses also react strongly to bathymetry feeding only in waters deeper than one zero zero zero m so rigidly did the satellite plots match this contour that one scientist remarked it almost appears as if the birds notice and obey a no entry sign where the water shallows to less than one zero zero zero m there is also evidence of differing ranges for the sexes of the same species one s |
tudy showed that male wandering albatrosses forage further south than females diet the albatross diet is dominated by cephalopods fish and crustaceans although they will also scavenge carrion and feed on other zooplankton it should be noted that for most species a comprehensive understanding of diet is only known for the breeding season when the albatrosses are on land and study is possible the importance of each of these varies from species to species and even from population to population some concentrate on squid alone others take more krill or fish of the two albatross species found in hawaii one the black footed albatross takes mostly fish while the laysan feeds on squid the use of dataloggers at sea that record ingestion of water against time providing a likely time of feeding suggest that albatross predominantly feed during the day analysis of the squid beaks regurgitated by albatrosses has shown that many of the squid eaten are too large to have been caught alive and include mid water species likely t |
o be beyond the reach of albatross suggesting that for some species like the wandering albatross scavenged squid may be an important part of the diet the source of these dead squid is a matter of debate some certainly comes from squid fisheries but in nature it probably came from the die off that occurs after squid spawning and the vomit of squid eating whales sperm whales pilot whales and southern bottlenose whales or possibly some other source the diet of other species like the black browed albatross or the grey headed albatross is rich with smaller species of squid that tend to sink after death and scavenging is not assumed to play a large role in their diet until recently it was thought that albatross were predominantly surface feeders swimming at the surface and snapping up squid and fish pushed to the surface by currents other predators or death the deployment of capillary depth recorders which record the maximum dive depth undertaken by a bird between attaching it to a bird and recovering it when it re |
turns to land has shown that while some species like the wandering albatross do not dive deeper than a metre some species like the light mantled sooty albatross have a mean diving depth of almost five m and can dive as deep as one two five m in addition to surface feeding and diving they have now also been observed plunge diving from the air to snatch prey breeding southern royal albatrosses nest on remote islands as well as on the otago peninsula in the city of dunedin new zealand albatrosses are colonial usually nesting on isolated islands where colonies are on larger landmasses they are found on exposed headlands with good approaches from the sea in several directions like the colony on the otago peninsula in dunedin new zealand colonies vary from the very dense aggregations favoured by the mollymawks black browed albatross colonies on the falkland islands have densities of seven zero nests per one zero zero m to the much looser groups and widely spaced individual nests favoured by the sooty and great alba |
trosses all albatross colonies are on islands that historically were free of land mammals albatrosses are highly philopatric meaning they will usually return to their natal colony to breed this tendency to return is so strong that a study of laysan albatross showed that that average distance between hatching site and the site a bird established its own territory was two two m bill clashing is one of the stereotyped actions of waved albatross breeding dances like most seabirds albatrosses are k selected with regard to their life history meaning they live much longer than other birds they delay breeding for longer and invest more effort into fewer young albatrosses are very long lived most species survive upwards of six zero years the oldest recorded being a northern royal albatross that was ringed as an adult and survived for another five one years giving it an estimated age of six one given that most albatross ringing projects are considerably younger than that is seems likely that other species will prove to |
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