theory of the beautiful in music, is of exceptional value. His compositions include pianoforte pieces, songs, two masses, and a national opera, Bretislav a Jitka.
AM'BROSE, Saint (c. 340-397). One of the most celebrated of the ancient Fathers of the Church, and one of the four doctors of the Western Church. He was born about the year 340, at Trèves, where his father, as prefect of Gaul, was wont to reside. According to his earliest biographer, Ambrose received a fortunate omen even in his cradle: a swarm of bees covered the slumbering boy, and the astonished nurse saw that the bees clustered round his mouth without doing him any harm. His father, perhaps remembering a similar wonder related of Plato, foretold from this a high destiny for Ambrose. He received an excellent education in Rome with his brother Satyrus, who died early, and his sister Marcellina, who became a nun. Ambrose studied law and entered the civil service, and soon distinguished himself so much that he became, about 370, a consular magistrate in upper Italy, with his court at Milan. In this office his gentleness and wisdom won for him the esteem and love of the people, whose prosperity had been much injured by the troubles caused by Arianism. Accordingly, he was unanimously called, by both Arians and Catholics, to be Bishop of Milan in 374. He long refused to accept this dignity, and even left the city; yet he soon returned, was baptized, as hitherto he had been only a catechumen, and was consecrated eight days afterward. The anniversary of this event is still celebrated as a fête by the Catholic Church. As a bishop, Ambrose won universal reverence by his mild and gentle, though, toward wickedness of every kind, severe and unbending character. Thus he defended the churches of Milan against the proposed introduction of Arian worship by the Empress Justina (385-86), and brought to repentance and public penance the Emperor Theodosius himself, who had caused the rebellious Thessalonians to be cruelly massacred by Rufinus (390). He is best remembered, however, not as the faithful bishop and wise counselor, nor as the fluent preacher and learned theologian, but as the sympathizing friend of Monica, the mother of Augustine, when she deplored his rejection of orthodox Christian teaching, and as the one whom Augustine heard with pleasure and who received him into the Church. Ambrose died in Milan, April 4, 307. The best edition of his works, in which he followed in many things the Greek theological writers, is that published by the Benedictines (2 volumes, Paris, 1686-90), reprinted in Migne, Patr. Lat., XIV.-XVII., later edited by Ballerini (Milan, 1875-86: 6 volumes); by C. Schenkle in Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna, 1896 sqq.). English translation of some of his principal works by H. de Romestin (New York. 1896). For his biography consult Barry (London, 1896). His fifteenth centenary was observed in Milan in 1897. Consult Il Quindici Centenario della morte di S. Ambrogio (Milan, 1897). The hymn Te Deum Laudamus is ascribed to Ambrose, but it is proved to have been written one hundred years later. The Ambrosian ritual has also received his name only because Ambrose had made some changes in it. which are retained at the present day in the Milanese Church. A commentary on the Epistles of Paul, which was formerly ascribed to Ambrose, is now frequently ascribed to the Roman deacon Hilarius, and is usually quoted as the "Commentary of the Ambrosiaster." Ambrose is the patron saint of Milan, and the large Ambrosian Library, established by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo in 1602-09, which now contains the famous cartoon by Raphael for his school of Athens, received its name in honor of him.
AM'BROSE'S TAVERN. An old tavern in Edinburgh, noted as the scene of the Noctes Ambrosianæ (q.v.) by Christopher North (John Wilson). It is no longer standing; its site is occupied by the new register house.
AMBRO'SIA (Gk. afi(}pnaia; a/ii3poTO(, ain-
hrofof:. immortal, from d, a, priv. -|- PpoTor,
brotos. for * fipord^, *))irotof<, mortal). In the
classical mythology, with nectar (q.v.), the food
and drink of the gods. The word is etymologi-
cally identical with the Sanskrit a-mrta, immor-
tal, drink of immortality, and the same root ap-
pears in the Latin, im-mortalis. Naturally the
gods not only eat ambrosia, but also bathe and
anoint themselves with it; and the adjective
ambrosial may be applied to any of their pos-
sessions. Without ambrosia the gods lose their
strength, and if given to mortals it confers age-
less immortality. It also preserves bodies from
decay. The conception of the nature of ambrosia
varied, according to its use. As a food it was
like bread: as nectar, like wine. In some of the
later writers, nectar becomes the food and am-
brosia tile drink of the gods.
AMBRO'SIA BEE'TLES. Beetles of the family Scolytidæ, which differ from the bark-borers by pushing their galleries deeply into timberwood and feeding upon a substance called "ambrosia." They include the genera Xyleborus, Platypus, Corthylus, and their allies, and are common and often injurious throughout North America. All are very small, elongate, compact beetles, of the form shown in the illustrations of their work on the Plate illustrating Army-Worm and Ambrosia Beetles, and their
cylindrical galleries rarely exceed a tenth of an inch in diameter. These galleries penetrate the solid wood deeply, ramify widely, are uniform and free from dust, and have many short branches, serving as brood-cells; their walls are stained, and the perforations and stain injure the wood for many uses, although not sufficient to harm the life of the tree perceptibly. The most interesting feature of their history is the care given to their young, and the cultivation of fungi — acts unique among beetles, and comparable to those of the social hymenoptera. Habits and methods vary among the different genera, but in general are as follows: Within their galleries is found a substance, taking various forms, most usually that of a cluster of chains of beads, which has been named "ambrosia," and which is shown by the microscope to be a fungus. This fungus is succulent, and forms the food of the insects and their young, and it is planted and cultivated by these beetles, which regard its safety with the apparently anxious solicitude that bees feel toward their stores of honey food. It is started by the mother insect upon a carefully prepared bed of wood dust, some species devoting special chambers to this purpose, others starting a bed anywhere near the larvæ, using the excrement of the larvæ as an aid to its propagation. Sap must be present, however, in order to secure its growth, and in most species the sap must be in a condi-
