A M B
A M B
feffion of faith, and bifhops their defence againft accufa- tions brought againft them. Here treaties of peace were fome- times alfo concluded, and coronations of kings and emperors performed, &c.
Divers antiquaries hold, that the Ambo was antiently the place from whence the bifhops and prelbyters made their fer- mons ; pulpits for that purpofe having only been introduced by the mendicants, at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Jour, des Scav. T. 16. p. 126. Bona, Rer. Liturg. 1. 2. c - 6. n- 3.
A late writer combats this opinion, and fhews, that the ufual place from whence the antients preached was the fteps of the altar i not but St. Chryfoftom and St. Auguftin both appear to have preached from the Ambo ; but this was looked on as a thing fomewhat extraordinary. Bingh. ubi fupra. See alfo Suic. Thef. Ecclef. T. 1. p. 217. feq. There is fome difpute concerning the part of the church, which is faid to be behind the Ambo, 'Wia^a.^m. — Properly fpeaking, the Ambo was immediately behind the folea, or door of the bema. Hence that part next behind the Ambo, was, in refpect of the bema, called iw~§a.p@m<&, which was that wherein the catechumens and penitents were placed be- fore the mijfa catechumenorum, after which they left it, and repaired into the narthex, or Trgoi-a®-. Du Cange, GlofT. Graec. T. r. p. 58. feq.
M. de Thiers has a learned diflertation on the ufe of Ambos ; Sur les Jubez des Eglifes, ext. ap. ejufd. DifTert. Ecclefiaft. 1688. Par. i2mo. V. Jour, des Scav. T. 16. p. 125. feq. AMBONOCLASTES, a name given, by a late writer, to the demolifhers of the ambos ufed in the primitive church. See| Ambo.
The word is formed in imitation Of Iconotiajles. See IcoNo- clastes, Cycl.
M. Thiers declaims feverely againft the Ambonoclafies', as overturners of an inftitution which was the fruit of the piety of the pureft ages ; as having maimed and disfigured churches, abolifhed feveral ceremonies antiently performed there, and annihilated the myfteries which the Ambos exhibited. DirT. fur les Jubez. Jour, des Scav. T. 16: p. 128. AMBONUM, in natural hiftory; a term ufed, by fome of the old writers, to exprefs the prominent tubercles on certain frones. We fee fuch, in irregular figures, very common on our flints ; and the oculus belt among the gems (hews an in- stance of them, its pupil being fometimes prominent. It feems only a corruption of the word umbo. AMBRA, in natural hiftory, amb'ergfeafe. See Amber- grease. AMBROSE. — St. Ambrose in the wood, by the Italians called, al nemo, is an order of religious, confirmed in 1^31, under the rule of St. Augiiftine.
The monks of St. Ambrofe al nemb weat the image of the feint engraven on a little plate, and make ufe of the Am- brofian office.
In the province of Berry in France^ the title fathers of St. Ambrofe is alfo given to the canons regular of St. Auguftine, by reafon their abbey at Bourges is dedicated to St. Ambrofe de Cahors. Trev. Di&. Univ. T. 1. p. 331. AMBROSIA (Cycl.)— The Ambrofia is commonly reprefcnted as the folid food of the gods, by way of contradiftinction from the fluid, which was called neSfar : but the appella- tions are fometimes inverted^ and the name Ambrofia given to the drink of the dieties, as that of nedtar to the meat. Rkod'tg. Antiq. Lect. 1. 7. c. 13.
Wedelius has a diflertation on Ambrofia and rieetar, wherein he fhews, that the term is fometimes ufed to denote honey, fometimes wine, fometimes perfumes, and particularly amber- greafe ; fometimes the method or ingredients for embalming or preferving dead bodies from putrefaction, and fometimes alfo for a ftate of unchangeablenefs, or immortality. Wedel. Exerc. Phil. Med. Dec. 5. Ex. 5. de Nedt. & Ambrofia. Ambrosia is alfo a fplendid kind of title given, by fome phy- ficians, to certain alexipharmic compofitions, of extraordinary virtue. Galen, de Loc. Affea. 1. 4.. c. 8. Caji. Lex. Med. p. 38.
In this fenle, Ambrofia, A^oe-ia, amounts to much the fame with ABavacrK*, Athanafia, as being fuppofed to conduce to immortality. ■---:-
This name was particularly given to a famous antidote of Philip of Macedon againft all' poifons, bites and flings of venomous creatures, as well as many internal difeafes. Galen, de Antidot. 1. 2. c. 8. Ambrosia is alfo ufed for a pure fpirituous kind of medicine, artfully extracted from the grofs elementary parts of a body, and which being adminiftred in the fmalleft dofe is of con- siderable virtue, and may be taken without difguft, or incon- venience. Caji. Lex. Med. p. 38.
In this fenfe, Ambrofia amounts to much the fame with what we otherwife call quinteiTence. See Quintessence, Cycl.
Nic. Abr. Frambefa has a treatife exprefs on the preparation of thefe Ambrofia. Ambrofiopcea, Lugd. Bat. 1628. i2mo. Francof. 1629. 4-to.
Some alfo ufe Ambrofia for a medicine agreeable to take, and which does not ruffle or difturb the patient in the opera- Suppl. Vol. I.
tion. Such are thofe made up for delicate perfons and tender; conftitutions, to purge them, according to Hippocrates's rule,, cito, tuto, znAjucunde. Trev'. Diet. Univ. T. 1. p. 4V
Ambrosia, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe. The flower is of the flofcu T lous kind, being compofed of feveral fmall flofcules, which are barren, and are contained in great numbers in the fame common cup. The embryo's grow in other parts of the fame plant, and finally become fruits, of the fhape of a club s containing oblong feeds.
The fpecies of Ambrofia, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe.
1. The fea Ambrofia. 1. The tall (ca. Ambrofia, with leaves like mugwort, and without fcent. 3. The tall hairy Am- brofia of America, with leaves like the platanus. Tournef. Inft. p. 4.39.
However determinate we may be in thefe ages in the names of plants, we are not to exped the fame precifion in the an- tients ; they frequently applied the fame name to feveral very different plants ; and it is neceflary to be informed of this^ and to know the nature and characters of the plants, thus in- cluded in the fame name, before we can profit by the ac- counts they have left us of the virtues or ufes of them. ... ,■ The Ambrofia of the moderns is not at all like the plant fa called by the generality of the antients. Strabo tells us, that in his time the plant cultivated in gardens, under the name of Ambrofia, did not appear to be the fame with the Ambrofia of antient writers^
It is plain from Pliny, that even in his time the word Am- brofia was a name given by authors to many different plants. It is not eafy to fay what two plants, are more unlike than the lifly and the houfeleek, yet both thefe are called Ambrofia, by authors of thofe times.
Diofcorides tells us, that the Ambrofia of his time was an elegant and beautiful plant, and was ufed by the Cappadocians in their garlands, and other ornaments made of flowers. Our Ambrofia has ho title to a place among thefe, nor any recom- mendation as an ornamental plant, meander tells us, that the Ambrofia ufed in thefe garlands was the lilly ; and Athenteus ventures to tranflate the Ambrofia, lilly, oh this occafion ; but it does not appear evident that the lilly is the Ambrofia here meant by Diofcorides, it is much more likely to have been fome fmaller garden flower.
Diofcorides, among the fynonyrria of the fe'dum, or great houfeleek, tells us, that fome called it buphthalmus, others zoopbthahnu's, two names taken from the refemblance of its round clutters to the eyes of large animals ; and that others called it Ambrofia. ,
Ambrosia is alfo ufed, by fome of the antient writers, to ex*. prefs what they judged to be the food of the bees, and what probably is fo, though that has not been the opinion of the generality of late writers. They called by this name the lumps of yellow matter found oh the third joint of the hinder legs of bees,' when returning to their hive ; this is called by the French cire brute, or rough wax, and has been commonly fuppofed to be really wax ; but, on examination, it appears to be a very different fubftance. It has not the properties of wax, and is indeed ho other than a congeries of the farina of flowers, which ftill retains the globular or oval figure of the granules of that farina, though collected into manes. It is neither fufible nor ductile, as common wax is, but is brittle, and burns to a coal over the fire. It is very probable, that the bees actually feed upon this fubftance, according to the old opinion, and that, after having ferved as nourifhment to their little bodies, it becomes altered in their bowels into what we call wax j no experiment of any kind having been able to produce true wax from it. Reaumur, Hift. Infect. Vol. 1 oJ p. 50. See the article Bee.
This fubftance is, by fome, taken to be a grofs or folid honey ; and is contradiftinguifhed from the liquid or purer fort, which is denominated netlar.
The Ambrofia will not keep, and, if not fpeedily fpent, cor- rupts and turns fowr, making what is fometime called coom, or flopping^ or, after the Greeks, fandarak, highly offenfive and pernicious to the hive. Butler, Hift. of Bees, c. 6*
Ambrosia, in antiquity, denotes a feaft celebrated by the Aco- nians, in honour of Bacchus.
The Ambrofia were alfo denominated Choa arid Lenaa. They were held in the month called Lenjeon. Vid. Rofin. Antiq. Rom. 1. 4. c. 15. Rhodig. Antiq. Left. 1. 27. c. 24. It. 1. 28. c. 25.
AMBROSIN, in middle aged Writers, denotes a coin ftruclrby the lords or dukes of Milan, whereon was reprefcnted St. Am- brofe on horfeb2ck, with a whip in Iris right-hand. The oc- cafion of this coinage is faid to have been a vifion of that faint, who appeared to the Milanefe general, in 1339, during the time of a battle. Du Cange, Glofl". Lat. T. 1. p. 165.
AMBUBAJiE, in antiquity, a kind of wanton minftrels about Rome, who lived by playing and dancing in places of refort, and proftituting their bodies for hire.
Authors fpeak as if there had been a regular college, or com- munity of Ambitbajte, and that thefe were the fkme with what were otherwife called tibuince, Horat, 1. I. Sat. 2.
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