386 AMBULANCE library ; some of them are exceedingly rare and valuable, among which may be mentioned Ci- cero's De Republic^ fragments of his orations, and the letters of Marcus Aurelius and Fronto. The palimpsests were mostly obtained from the monastery of Bobbio, and were discovered by the librarian, Angelo Mai, in 1814. There is a MS. of Virgil, valuable for its marginal notes by Petrarch, among which is one relative to his first meeting with Laura. The library at pres- ent contains about 90,000 printed volumes and more than 15,000 MSS., besides a large collec- tion of statuary, antiques, medals, and pictures. Among these are Raphael's cartoon of the " School of Athens " and the studies of Leonar- do da Vinci. Many of the treasures of this library were carried to France during Napo- leon's campaigns in Italy, and some of them have never been returned. A printing press is connected with the library, and several profes- sors and editors are constantly engaged in col- lating and translating the MSS. AMBULAME (Lat. ambulare, to walk), a tem- porary and movable military hospital, formed on the field of battle for the immediate succor of the sick and wounded. The word is tech- nically applied to covered wagons on springs, and to such other vehicles as are used for mov- ing wounded men from the field of battle to the temporary hospitals, or for carrying the sick and wounded with the moving columns or to the permanent hospitals. The ambulance is a comparatively modern invention, due mainly to the French. Military surgery was formerly but little understood, and those who were wounded on the field of battle were left to the care of those around them, without any selection of fit persons for the duties of sur- gery. Nor do we find any trace of a regularly organized system of military hospitals, moving with the army, until the time of Henry IV. of France. The movable ambulances at first consisted of a cumbrous depot of surgical and medical appliances, kept with the baggage at a distance. At present two kinds of ambulances are recognized : one fixed or general, the other movable and light. The larger and reserved ambulances remain with the heavy baggage at some distance from the field of battle, and may be established either in permanent buildings or in large tents or temporary structures. In the late war in France the temporary hospitals fitted up in the palace of Versailles and in the public buildings of Paris were called ambu- lances. The lighter and more strictly movable ambulances accompany the soldiers on the field. The system was brought to its highest state of efficiency in the United States army during the civil war. The surgeons accom- panying the troops are supplied with abundant means, such as lint, plaster, and bandages, for dressing wounds, and with the necessary in- struments for surgical operations. Ambu- lances, or small spring wagons drawn by one or two horses (to which the term is in the United States commonly confined), and con- AMENOPHIS taining all the necessary appliances, including beds, for transporting two or more patients, follow close after the troops on the march and in approaching the field of battle. The ambu- lances of each division or corps d'armee are or- ganized into a corps under the command of a subaltern of the line, styled ambulance officer. Railway cars and steamboats have been pro- vided with beds and all other conveniences for carrying sick and wounded soldiers to the permanent and more distant hospitals. The American ambulance system, with local modifi- cations, is now used by most civilized nations. AMELIA, a S. E. county of Virginia, drained by the branches of the Appomattox river, which almost encircles it ; area, 300 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 9,878, of whom 6,823 were colored. It is intersected by the Richmond and Danville railroad. The surface is somewhat diversified. The productions in 1870 were 64,607 bushels of wheat, 70,509 of corn, 62,688 of oats, and 1,037,721 Ibs. of tobacco. Capital, Amelia Court House. AMELOT DE LA HOISSAVE, Abraham Nicolas, a Frencli author, born in Orleans in 1634, died in Paris, Dec. 8, 1706. After his return from Venice, whither he went in 1669 as secretary of an embassy, he devoted himself to history, politics, and philosophy. His principal work was a " History of the Government of Venice," besides which he wrote several volumes of miscellaneous memoirs, and translated four books of Tacitus, Machiavelli's "Prince," in the notes to which he spoke of his author as a great satirist, and Paolo Sarpi's " History of the Council of Trent," with very free annotations. This translation of Fra Paolo was attacked by the ultramontanists, who presented three memo- rials for its suppression, while it was defended and eulogized by the Gallicans. The " History of Venice," by its exposure of the secret policy of that republic, raised a great outcry there; and it is said that, through the intervention of the Venetian senate, Amelot was thrown into the Bastille. AMKLOTTE, Denis, a French writer, born in Saintes in 1606, died in Paris, Oct. 7, 1678. His life of Charles de Coudren, second general of the congregation of the Oratory, of which he was a member, contained some strictures on Duvergier de Hauranne, which brought him into collision with the Port Royalists. His influence with the chancellor Seguier prevented the publication of their translation of the New Testament, and in 1666-'8 a translation of his own in 4 vols. 8vo, with annotations, was published, which, although imperfect, wne superior to any of its predecessors, and is still extensively used. AMEKOPHIS, Amnnopb, or Amen-hotep, a name borne by three Egyptian kings belonging to the 18th dynasty, which commenced with Amasis or Aahmes I., about 1525 B. C. I. The second Pharaoh of that dynasty, who married the widow of Aahmes, continued the conquests begun by his predecessor, after the expulsion
