therae very many, folitary, within the hinder cell of the 
fpathe, in the upper part of the partition, digefted in a 
diftindi order. Nedtaries two, roundifli, concave, at the 
bafe of the antheras. II. Female. Calyx : fpathe com¬ 
mon with the males. Piflillum : germ in the anterior cell 
of the fpathe, and the lower part of the partition, foli¬ 
tary, roundifli ; rtyle cylindrical, Ihorter than the fpathe; 
flagma obtufe. Pericarpium : capfule roundifli, one- 
celled. Seeds very many, ovate, neftling .—EJfential Cha¬ 
racter. Spathe one-leafed, feparated by a partition ; fta- 
mens on the inner, piftils on the outer, fide of it. 
Defcription. Root perennial, tuberous, acrid. Leaves 
radical, petiolate, ovate, fliining. Spadix quite (imple, 
cylindrical. Spatlie flelhy, greenifh white on the outiide, 
deeper green on the inlide, with purple fpots, ending in 
a fharp recurved point. The leaves appear at the begin¬ 
ning of autumn, and decay in the fpring. It is a native 
of Sicily, near Palermo; and was firft found, defcribed, 
and figured, by Bocconi. It requires the protection of a 
green-houfe, and may be increafed from the root. There 
is but one fpecies. 
AMBRO'SIUS, Aurelianus, or Aurelius Am- 
brosius, a famous general of the ancient Britons, of 
Roman extraction. He was educated at the court of Al- 
droen of Amorica; who, at the requeft of the Britons, 
fent him over with ten thou land men, to aflilt them againfl 
the Saxons, whom Vortigern had invited into Britain. 
Ambrofius had fuch fuccels againfl the Saxons, that the 
Britons chofe him for their king, and compelled Vortigern 
to give up to him all the weftern part of the kingdom di¬ 
vided by the Roman highway called Watling-Jlrect. Some 
time after, the Britons being difcontented with Vortigern, 
and having withdrawn their allegiance from him, he re¬ 
turned to a caftle in Wales, where being befieged by Am- 
brofius, and the caftle taking fire, he perilhed in the 
flames, and left his rival foie monarch of Britain ; who 
now took upon him the imperial purple, after the manner 
of the Roman emperors. Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us, 
that Ambrofius built Stonehenge near Salifbury in Wilt- 
fliire. Ambrofius, according to this hiftorian, coming to 
a monaftery near Caercaradoc, now Salifbury, where three 
hundred Eritifti lords, maffacred by Hengift, lay buried, 
and refolving to perpetuate the memory of this adtion, he 
ordered his workmen to prepare a large quantity of ftones 
and other materials. But having, at the inftigation of 
Tremounus archbifhop of Caerleon, confulted the famous 
Merlin, this magician advifed him to fend over to Ireland 
for certain great ftones, called chorea gigantum, the giant’s 
dance, placed in a circle on a hill called Kil/air, having 
been brought thither by giants from the fartheft borders 
of Africa. A body of forces were accordingly fent into 
Ireland, under Pendragon, Ambrofuis’s brother, to fetch 
thefe ftones ; but were oppofed in their attempt by Gil- 
liomanus king of the country, who derided the folly of the 
Britons in undertaking fo ridiculous an expedition. Ne- 
verthelefs, the Britons, having vanquifhed this prince in 
battle, brought away the ftones ; and by the diredtion and 
afliftance of Merlin, who had accompanied them, thefe 
wonderful ftones, by order of Ambrofius, were placed 
over the graves of the Britifli lords, and are now what is 
called Stonehenge. Alexander Mecham celebrates this fable 
in his poem De divirnzfa pi entice laudibus. Polydore Virgil 
affigns another origin of Stonehenge ; he tells us it was 
erected by the Britons as a monument to their general 
Ambrofius, on the place where he fell in battle, to perpe¬ 
tuate the memory of his glorious actions and fervices done 
to his country. Both thefe ftories are rejected by our belt 
antiquaries; who, however, are by no means agreed as 
to the true origin of this famous piece of antiquity. See 
Stonehenge. 
After the Britons had defeated the Saxons, and obliged 
them to retire northward, Ambrofius is faid to have con¬ 
vened the princes and great men at York, where he gave 
orders for repairing the churches deftroyed by the Saxons, 
and reftoring the exercife of religion to its former luftre. 
Vol. I. No. 26. 
This is confirmed by Matthew of We firm after ; who 
highly applauds the great zeal of Ambrofius in repairing 
the churches, encouraging the clergy, and reftoring the 
honour of religion. The Monmouth hiftorian gives this 
prince a very high character: l: He was a man,” fays he, 
“ of fuch bravery and courage, that when he was in Gaul 
no one durft enter the lifts with him ; for he was fare to 
unhorfe his antagonift, or to break his fpear into Ihivers. 
He was, moreover, generous in bellowing, careful in per¬ 
forming religious duties, moderate in all things, and more 
efpecially abhorred a lie. He was ftrong on foot, ftronger 
on horleback, and perfectly qualified to command an 
army.” The fame author tells us he was poifoned at 
Winchefter by one Eopa a Saxon, difguifed as a phyficfan, 
and hired for that purpofe by Pafcentius one of the fons of 
Vortigern : but the generally-received opinion is, that he 
was killed in a battle which he loft in the year 508, againlt 
Cerdric, one of the Saxon generals. 
AM'BRY, / [a word corrupted from almonry. ] The 
place where the almoner lives, or where alms are diftri- 
buted. The place where plate, and utenlils for houle- 
keeping, are kept ; alfo a cupboard for keeping cold vic¬ 
tuals : a word obfolete, though ftill ufed in the northern 
counties, and in Scotland. In the ancient abbeys and 
priories, there was an office under this denomination, 
wherein were laid up all charities for the poor. 
AM'BS-Ace, f. [from ambo, Lat. and ace.] A double 
ace ; fo called when two dice turn up the ace.—I had 
rather be in this choice, than throw ambs-ace for my life. 
Shakefpeare. 
AMBUBA'J^D, in Roman antiquity, were immodeft: 
women, who came from Syria to Rome, where they lived 
by proftitution, and by playing on the flute : the word is 
derived from the Syriac abub, which fignifies a flute; al¬ 
though others make it to come from am and Baice, becaufe 
thefe proftitutes often retired to Baiae. According to 
Cruquius, thefe women ufed likewife to fell paint for or¬ 
namenting the face, &c. fo that the prefent fafhion among 
the females may ftielter itfelf under the authority of the 
remotell antiquity. 
AM'BULANT, or Ambulatory, f They formerly 
gave in France the name of ambulant commijjioncrs to thofe 
commillioners, or clerks of the king’s farms, who had no 
fettled office; but vilited all the offices within a certain 
diftrict, to fee that nothing were done in them againfl: the 
king’s righuand the interell of the farm. 
Ambulant, is alfo ufed to denote thofe brokers at 
Amfterdam, or. exchange agents, who have not been fworn 
before the magiftrates. They tranfaft brokerage bufinefs, 
but their teftimony is not received in the courts of jultice. 
AMBULA'TION, J. [ambulatio , of ambtilo, Lat. to 
walk.] The act of walking.—From the occult and invifi- 
ble motion of the mufcles, in ftation, proceed more often ■ 
live laflitudes than from ambulation. Brown. 
AM'BULATORY, adj. \_ambulo, Lat.] That which 
has the power and faculty of walking. ‘ That which hap¬ 
pens during a paflage or walk. Moveable ; as, an ambu¬ 
latory court; a court which moves from place to place for 
the exercife of its jurifdiCtion. 
AMBUL'LI, a name given to Jupiter, Minerva, and 
the Tyndarides. It fignifies prolongation, for they thought 
thefe gods prolonged life. 
AM'ilU LO, /l The name of a difcafe, called alfo furio- 
fusjlatulentus, and alfo Jlatusfuriofus. It is a diftention or 
inflation attended with pain, and varioully periodical. It 
is caufed by vapours (hooting through various parts of 
the body. 
AMBUR'BIUM,y. in Roman antiquity, a procelfion 
made by the Romans round the city and pomoerium, in 
which they led a victim, and afterwards facrificed it, to 
avert fome calamity that threatened the city. 
AM'BURY, or Anbury, /! among farriers, denotes a 
tumour, wart, or fuelling, which is foft to the touch, and 
full of blood. This is cured by tying a horfe-hair very 
hard about its root; and, when it has fallen off, which 
5 M commonly 
