[Ambassador], "an honest man sent to lie abroad for the commonwealth" (Wotton).
[Amber], a fossil resin, generally yellow and semi-transparent, derived, it is presumed, from certain extinct coniferous trees; becomes electric by friction, and gives name to electricity, the Greek word for it being electron; has been fished up for centuries in the Baltic, and is now used in varnishes and for tobacco pipes.
[Amberger], a painter of Nürnberg in the 16th century, a disciple of Holbein, his principal work being the history of Joseph in twelve pictures.
[Ambergris], an ashy-coloured odorous substance used in perfumery, presumed to be a morbid fragment of the intestines of the spermaceti whale, being often found floating on the ocean which it frequents.
[Amberley, Lord], son of Lord John Russell, wrote an "Analysis of Religious Belief," which, as merely sceptical, his father took steps to secure the suppression of, without success.
[Ambleside], a small market-town near the head of Lake Windermere, in the Wordsworth or so-called Lake District.
[Amblyopsis], a small fish without eyes, found in the Mammoth Cave, U.S.
[Amboise] (5), a town on the Loire, 14 m. E. of Tours, with a castle, once the residence of the French kings. The Conspiracy of A., the conspiracy of Condé and the Huguenots in 1560 against Francis II., Catharine de Medici, and the Guises. The Edict of A. (1563) conceded the free exercise of their worship to the Protestants.
[Amboise, George de, Cardinal], the popular Prime Minister of Louis XII., who, as such, reduced the Public burdens, and as the Pope's legate in France effected a great reform among the religious orders; is said to have died immensely rich (1460-1510).
[Amboyna] (238), with a chief city of the name, the most important of the Moluccas, in the Malay Archipelago, and rich before all in spices; it belongs to the Dutch, who have diligently fostered its capabilities.