liturgical writers, such, e. g. as Rabanus Maurus, were inclined to regard the amice as derived from the ephod of the Jewish priesthood, but modern authorities are unanimous in rejecting this theory. They trace the origin of the amice to some utilitarian purpose, though there is considerable difference of opinion whether it was in the beginning a neck cloth introduced for reasons of seemliness, to hide the bare throat; or again a kerchief which protected the richer vestment from the perspiration so apt in southern climates to stream from the face and neck, or perhaps a winter muffler protecting the throat of those who, in the interests of church music, had to take care of their voices. Something may be said in favour of each of these views, but no certain conclusion seems to be possible (see Braun, Die priesterlichen Gewander, p. 5). The variant names, humerale (i. e. "shoulder cloth", Germ. Schultertuch), superhumerale, anagologium, etc., by which it was known in early times do not help us much in tracing its history.
As in case of the alb, so for the amice, linen woven from the fibre of flax or hemp is the only permissible material. A little cross must be sewn to, or worked upon the amice in the middle, and this the priest is directed to kiss in putting it on. Approved authorities (e. g. Thalhofer, Liturgik, I, 864) direct that the amice ought to be at least 32 inches long by 24 inches broad. A slight lace edging seems to be permitted by usage in case of amices intended for use on festal occasions, and the strings may be of white or coloured silk (Barbier de Montault, Costume Eccl., II, 231). In the Middle Ages when the amice was turned back over the chasuble, and thus exposed to view, it was commonly ornamented by an "apparel", or strip of rich embroidery, but this practice is no longer tolerated.
Braun, Die pruaUrtichm Gewlinder (FreiburR. 1897). 1-15. supplies by far the best historical account, with appropriate illu-strations; ItoHAUi.r de Klki'RY. La Mcsge, VII. al-w gives (Jrawinffs of ancient amicey; THrB.sTO.N in Thr Month (Sept., 1898). 205 sqq. See aI.so the works mentioned above in the biblioRraphy of .lb; GitiK, The Holy Sacrifice of the Maas, (tr.. rit. Louis. Mo., 1902), 273-277, which supplies a full account of the .•^ymboli.Hm attributed to this and other ve-stments by medieval liturgists. Herbert Thurston. Amico, ..VTO.vio, canon of Palermo, and ecclesiasti- cal historian of Syracuse and Messina (d. 1641). He wrote also on the royal house and the admirals of Sicily. Among his works is a "Brevis et exacta narratio .... Sicilia; regum annales ab anno 1060 usque ad pnesens sa;culum" (Giraud, liihl. Sacr., I, 438). — Ber-.rdino (d. 1.590), a Neapolitan Fran- ciscan, prior of his convent at Jerusalem, and author of a "Trattato delle piante ed imniagini do' sacri edifizi in Jerusalemme " (Rome, 1609; 2d cd., Flor- ence, 1620), of value for the appearance of the Holy Places in the sixteenth centiir'. The tirawings are by Callot (VioouROUX, Diet, ilc'la liible, I, 483). Tho.m.^s J. Sh.h. . Amico, Fu.*.NCESCo, one of the gre«tcst theologians of his time, b. at Cosenza, in Naples, 2 April, 1.578. He entered the Society of Jesus in 159(5. P"or twenty- four years he was professor of theology at Naples, Aquila, and Gratz, and, for five years, chancellor in the academy of the last named place. To his emi- nent .science he united a profound humility. He was scholastic in his method, adapting his treatises to a four years' course of teaching. He wrote " De Deo Uno et Trino"; "De Natuni Angclomni"; " De Ultimo Fine"; " De Fide, Spe, et Charitate"; " De Justitiii et Jure", which was prohibited, l.S Juno, 1651 "donee corruiahir", on account of three proposi- tions in it, which Alexander VII and Innocent XI objected to. The corrected edition of 1649 was per- mitted. He wrote also on the Incarnation, and the sacraments. In a complete edition, it is said, in the preface, that "his doctrine is according to St. Thomas, and is brief, clear, subtle, and solid." HuRTER, Somenclator, I, 384; de Backer, BMiolhique de la c. de J.. I. 280. T. J. C.MPBELL. Amida (l)i.RnEKiR), The Diocese of (.rmenian Rite) in Mesopotamia, Asiatic Turkey. — The founda- tion of the city of Aniida has been wrongly attributed to Tigranes I, or Tigranes III (the Great), Kings of Armenia; it has been identified with either Tigraiio- certe or Dikranagiierd. It got from the (!reeks and the Romans the name of Amida, and Ls known in Turkish as Kara-.mid, i. e. "Amida the Black." but goes more generally by its Arabic name of Diar- bekir (Land of the Virgin). The town rises on the left bank of the Tigris, about 75 miles from its source anil about 9(X) miles from the mouth of that river. An interior citadel overlooks the double enclosure of the town with its seventy-two towers, and dates back undoubtedly to the Armenian epoch; it was repaired by Valens (.. d. 364-378) and was finished by Anasta.sius I (491-518). In this citadel is the old Byzantine church of St. John, now used for Mu.ssul- man worship, and known as Olou Djarai, the Long Mos(iue. In 638, Aniida was taken by the Arabs who called it Diarbekir. Later on it pa.s.sed under Persian domination. Since 1514 it belongs to the Ottoman empire and is the chief city of the vilayet of the same name. It has about 35,000 inhabi- tants, of whom 20,000 are Mussulmans (.Arabians, Turks, Kurds, etc.), 2,300 Catholics (Chaldeans, Armenians, Syrians, Melchites, Latins), 8,500 Gre- gorian Armenians, 9(K) Protestant Armenians. 9.')0 Jacobite Syrians, 900 Orthodox Greeks, and 300 Jews. Diarbekir posses.scs an Armenian Catholic bishop, a SjTian Catholic bishop, a Syrian Jacobite bishop, a Chaldean Catholic archbishop, and a Greek Orthodox metropolitan under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch. The Latin Mission of Diarbekir, founded by P^re Jcan-Baptiste de Saint Aignan (1667), remained in the hands of the French Capuchins during nearly a century and a half. Its founder converted (1671) the Nestorian Bishop Joseph, with whom Innocent XI inaugurated (1681) the series of the Chaldean Catholic patriarchs. The mission suffered much during the French Revolution. In 1803, at the death of the last French Capuchin, it was entrusted to Italian religious. In 1841, Span- ish missionaries took charge of it, but eventually it pa.s-sed again into the hands of Italian missionaries. The Capuchin Fathers direct a school for boys. Near them the I'ranciscan nuns of Lons-le-Saunier have opened (since 1882) a school for girls. .
American Protestant mission, working especially among the .rmenians, keeps up three schools; two for boys and one for girls. Besides these foreign establishments Diarbekir possesses fifty-four others. The Turks have 4 mearesses, 3 secondary and 33 elementary scho<ils, one of which is for girls. The Ciregorian Armenians have 5 elenientarj' schools, one of which is for girls. The Cathohc Armenians have an elementary school for boys, the Catholic Chaldeans 3 elementary schools, one of which is for girls. The Catholic Syrians have an elementary school for bovs, and the Israelites an elementary school for girls. S. PetridLs. Amideus of Amidei. See Servites.
Amiens, Diocese of (Ambianum) comprises the department of Somme. It was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Reims during the old regime, of Paris, 1802 to 1822, and of Reims again, since 1822. Abbé Duchesne denies any value to the legend of two Saints Firmin, honoured on the first and twenty-fifth of September, as the first and third Bishops of Amiens. The legend is of the eight century and full of incoherences. Even on the sup-
