Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/505

AMBAKISTA. traders orininally, Init were ruined by the Portu- guese, and dispersed to other regions.

AMBALA, anihii'lA. or UMBALLA. A city in India, lapital of the district of Anil)ala in the Punjab (Map: India. C 2), and an important station on the Sindli, Punjab, and Dellii Railway, 150 miles northwest of Delhi. It is a large, walled town, in a level, well-watered, and cultivated country, and has an extensive trade. It contains a fine Gothic church, a Presbyterian church, dispensary, hospital, and leper asylum. The town was founded in the fourteenth century. Here, at a grand durbar, in 1809, Shere Ali, Ameer of Afghanistan, concluded a treaty with Lord Mayo, Governor-General of India. Popu- lation, 79,.'!00. including the English military station or cantonment near by.

AMBALEMA, iim'ba-la'ma. A city in the department of Tolima. Colombia, on the left bank of the Magdalena (Map: Colombia, B 2). The city lies 28 miles above Honda in the midst of an excellent tobacco-growing district, and is one of the most modern as well as one of the most thriving towns of Colombia. Pop., 8000.

AM'BARI HEMP. See.

AMBAS'SADOR, (Med. Lat. ambasciator, agent, from atnbanciare, to go on a mission, earlier ambactiare, from Lat. ambacius, vassal; according to Festus, of Celtic origin; compare Welsh aitiacth, hiisbandnian, and Goth, aiidhalits, servant; Ger. Ami, office). The highest rank of public minister accredited to a foreign court. Though used popularly and sometimes by writers on public law in a loose sense as the equivalent of minister (q.v), the term is strictly appropriately used only of the highest of the four orders of diplomatic agents established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and that of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818. The classification then adopted, which has been generally accepted, is as follows: (1) Ambassadors, and legates and nuncios of the Pope. (2) Envoys and ministers plenipotentiary. (3) Ministers resident, accredi- ted to the sovereign. (4) Charges d'affaires. The ambassador is supposed to represent directly the person of his sovereign, who signs his credentials, or letters of credence, and the ambassador, therefore, enjoys of ri^'ht the privilege of personal communication willi the sovereign to whom he is accredited. Ministers and charges d'all'aires do not, in theory, possess this right, though in the case of the minister, at least, the privilege is not usually denied. The charge d'atlaires is, in fact, not accredited to the sov- ereign, but to the minister of foreign affairs, and is regarded merely as an agent of his government to transact the business intrusted to him. Mod- ern methods of carrying on the diplomatic inter- course of states have greatly diminished the relative importance of ambassadors, as compared with other diplomatic agents, and little remains of their prinurcy excepting a superior dignity and impressiveness and certain rights of precedence on ceremonial occasions. Prior to 1893 the Gov- ernment of the United States had been repre- sented abroad by no agents of higher rank than ministers resident, who were, in the case of the great Powers, accredited as envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary. But in that year, in order to give our diplomatic representatives at foreign courts an equal dignity and importance with that enjoyed by the representatives of other great Powers, Congress passed an act authorizing the President to accredit ambassadors to represent the United States at certain European courts. The jirivilcges and immunities of ambassadors, which are shared by them with other interniitional representatives, will be dealt with in the article on niiM.oM.vnt' Agents. See also AsYHM.Eic.iiT OF: Extehritoriality; Legatio>.'.

AMBATO,:im-ba't6, or AsiEXTO DE AiiBATO, A-sy."in't6 dfi >un-b;i't6. A town in the province of Leon, Ecuador, on the northeastern slope of Chimborazo, 78 miles south of Quito, and 8859 feet above the sea (Map: Ecuador, B 4). It was destroyed in 1698 by an eruption of Cotopaxi, but was soon rebuilt, and became more flourishing than before. It carries on an active trade in grain, sugar, and cochineal, the products of i.he surrounding country. Pop., about 10,000.

AM'BER (From .r. 'anbni; ambergi'is; called so from its resemblance to ambergi-is). A fossil resin of vegetable origin. It is usually of a pale-yellow color, sometimes reddish or brownish; it is sometimes transparent, sometimes almost opaque. It occurs in round irregular lumps, grains, or drops; has a perfectly conchoidal fracture, is slightly brittle, emits an agreeable odor when rubbed, melts at 550° F., and burns with a bright flame and pleasant smell. Thales of Miletus was the first to notice that when amber is rubbed it becomes capable of attracting light bodies; this was the first electric phenomenon produced by man. An acid called succinic iicid (named from the Lat. succinum, amber) is obtained from it by distillation. Amber had formerly a high reputation as a medicine, but the virtues ascribed to it, were almost entirely imaginary. It is employed in the arts for the manufacture of many ornamental articles, and for the preparation of a kind of varnish. Great quantities are consumed in Mohannnedan worship at IIecca, and it is in gieat demand throughout the East. It was obtained by the ancients from the coasts of the Baltic Sea, where it is still found, especially between Kiinigsberg and Jlemel, in greater abundance than anywhere else in the world. It is there partly cast up by the sea, partly obtained by means of nets, and partly dug out of a bed of carbonized wood. Limited quantities of it are found in the United States. It sometimes occurs in diluvial deposits, as in the gravel near London; but it is very rare in Great Britain. It is obtained in small quantities from the coasts of Sicily and the Adriatic, and is found in ditferent parts of Europe, in Siberia, Greenland, etc. It sometimes incloses insects of species which no longer exist. Leaves have also been found inclosed in it. Specimens which contain insects or leaves being much valucil, artificial substitutes are often manufactured and imposed upon collectors. According to an ancient fable, amber is the tears of the sisters of Phaethon, who, after his death, were changed into poplars. The ancients set an immense value upon it. Pieces of amber have occasionally been found of twelve or thirteen pouTuls weight, but such pieces are extremely rare.

AMBER-FISH. Any of several carangoid fishes of the genus Scriola. numerous on both coasts of North America, which are of moderate size, graceful form, often brightly colored and excellent to eat. The commonest species of the Atlantic coast is Seriola lalandi. On the Pacific coast an allied species (Seriola dorsalis), the yellowtail, is highly valued as a food-fish, and" by