resort for tourists on account of its scenery and its nearness to points of historic interest, the homes of Wordsworth, Dr. Arnold, and others. Fragments of Roman buildings have been found in the neighborhood. Stock Gill Force is a waterfall in the hills near the town. Pop., 1901, 2536.
AMBLETEUSE, ax'hl'-tPz'.
A seacoast village of France, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, on the English Channel, about 15 miles southwest of Calais and six miles north of Boulogne. It is famous as the landing place of James II. after his flight from England in 1689. There is a monument erected by Napoleon to the Grand Army in 1805. Pop., 1901, 685.
AM'BLYO'PIA (Gk. ἀμβλυωπία, dim-sightedness, from ἀμβλύς, amblys, blunt, dull + ὤψ, ōps, eye). A name given to diminished acuteness of vision not relieved by the use of glasses, and not accompanied by any visible ocular changes. The term is, however, sometimes more loosely used to include other forms of imperfect sight. Congenital amblyopia of one or both eyes is often due to hyperopia, myopia, or astigmatism. These prevent perfect vision, and although the use of proper glasses may eventually cause an improvement in young persons, this is impossible if the lack of proper vision has lasted long. Congenital amblyopia for colors (see Color Blindness) may occur with a contraction of the field. Hysterical amblyopia, usually unilateral, may amount to total blindness. There is contraction concentrically of the field of vision for white and colors, and the fields for colors do not maintain the relative sizes which they normally possess. There are generally other hysterical symptoms. Simulated amblyopia is simply a pretense of blindness in one or both eyes, and is usually readily detected. Toxic amblyopia is produced at times by large doses of quinine, or excessive and continual use of tobacco, alcohol, opium, and other drugs. If the drug is entirely given up recovery usually occurs after a long time. Malarial amblyopia of one or both eyes is usually relieved by quinine. Uræmic amblyopia sometimes appears suddenly in both eyes during an attack of uræmia, without retina! changes, though at times accompanying an albuminuric retinitis. It is generally very transitory. See Sight, Defects of.
AM'BLYOP'SIDÆ (Gk. ἀμβλύς, amblys, dull + ὄψις, opsis, the look, eyesight). A family of small fishes allied to the cyprinodonts, mostly living underground, and having their eyes in varying degrees of degeneration. See Cave Animals.
AMBLYS'TOMA (Gk. ἀμβλύς, amblys, blunt, dull + στόμα, stoma, mouth). A genus of salamanders ranging over Mexico and the United States. They generally prefer damp climates, for the fifteen or more species are grouped in the watered regions on either side of the arid plains. Only one species (Amblystoma tigrinum) ranges over all of the United States and into Mexico. The eastern examples transform early and while yet small. The larval or "axolotl" stage of the western forms grows large, transforms late, and may even become sexually mature while still bearing external gills. One Mexican form has never been observed to metamorphose. See Axolotl, and Salamander.
AM'BO (Lat. ambo, Gk. ἄμβων, from avajiai-
var. to ascend). The pulpit or reading-desk
used in the early Christian churches. There were usually two of them, placed on either side of the raised choir for the lower clergy, which occupied the upper part of the middle nave, below the altar. These ambones were entered from within the choir, and stood on its outside edge, toward the aisles, connected with the encircling parapet or screen. They had usually a double staircase on either side, and three levels; the upper for the reading of the Gospels and for preaching, confessions of faith, and important ecclesiastical announcements; the middle one for the reading of the Epistles; the lower for other parts of the Bible. Usually one ambo was devoted to the reading of the Gospels, and near it stood the paschal candlestick, while the second ambo was for the Epistles. The earliest ambones are at Ravenna (cathedral and Sant' Apollinare). Those at Rome are mediæval (San Clemente, San Lorenzo), but are better preserved. They were of marble, merely carved in the earliest examples; inlaid with mosaics in later times. To the form with a single stairway the term "pulpit" is more appropriate. See Pulpit.
AMBOISE, iix'bwiiz'.
A town on the left bank of the Loire, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, France (Map: France, H 4). It is 15 miles by railway east of Tours, and lies in a region so rich in vineyards that it has been called "the garden of France." The town has considerable steel manufactures and a trade in leather and cloth. It possesses a castle, in which several of the French kings have resided. Charles VIII. was born here. It was also the scene of his death. The town owes much of its importance to the renown of the great churchmen and statesmen, Cardinal Georges and François Charles d'Amboise. The town is memorable as the place in which the religious wars which devastated the kingdom during the sixteenth century broke out, and where the word "Huguenot" was first applied to the Protestant Party. The castle of Amboise was much improved by Louis Philippe, and was the residence of the Arab chief Abd-el-Kader during his captivity in France. Pop., 1901, 4538. Consult Chevalier, Inventaire analytique des archives communales d'Amboise, 1421-1789. (Tours, 1874).
AMBOISE, Georges d' (1460-1510). Cardinal and Prime Minister under Louis XII. of France. He was born at Chaumont-sur-Loire. At a very early age he became almoner to Louis XI. It is generally stated that he became Bishop of Montauban at fourteen; but he did not attain to the dignity till the age of twenty-four. In 1493 he was made Archbishop of Rouen, and in 1499 Cardinal. Initiated in early years into the intrigues of the court, he soon, by his zealous services, secured the confidence of Louis of Orleans (Louis XII.), by whom he was made Premier in 1498. From this time Amboise became the prime mover in all the political affairs of France. By his advice the King undertook the conquest of Milan, which had such great influence on the fortunes of France. After the death of Pope Alexander VI., Amboise endeavored to raise himself to the Papal see, and, having failed, became the dangerous enemy of the succeeding popes, Pius III. — who occupied the Papal chair only twenty-seven days — and Julius II. To secure his own election, Amboise encouraged a schism between the French Church and the see of Rome, and convoked a separate council, held first at Pisa, afterward at
