ambiguity is that ambiguity which is apparent on the face of an instrument to any one perusing it, even if he be unacquainted with the circumstances of the parties. In the case of a patent ambiguity parol evidence is admissible to explain only what has been written, not what it was intended to write. For example, in Saunderson v. Piper, 1839, 5 B.N.C. 425, where a bill was drawn in figures for £245 and in words for two hundred pounds, evidence that “and forty-five” had been omitted by mistake was rejected. But where it appears from the general context of the instrument what the parties really meant, the instrument will be construed as if there was no ambiguity, as in Saye and Sele’s case, 10 Mod. 46, where the name of the grantor had been omitted in the operative part of a grant, but, as it was clear from another part of the grant who he was, the deed was held to be valid. (2) Latent ambiguity is where the wording of an instrument is on the face of it clear and intelligible, but may, at the same time, apply equally to two different things or subject matters, as where a legacy is given “to my nephew, John,” and the testator is shown to have two nephews of that name. A latent ambiguity may be explained by parol evidence, for, as the ambiguity has been brought about by circumstances extraneous to the instrument, the explanation must necessarily be sought for from such circumstances. (See also Evidence.)
AMBIORIX, prince of the Eburones, a tribe of Belgian Gaul. Although Caesar (q.v.) had freed him from paying tribute to the Aduatuci, he joined Catuvolcus (winter, 54 B.C.) in a rising against the Roman forces under Q. Titurius Sabinus and L. Aurunculeius Cotta, and almost annihilated them. An attack on Quintus Cicero (brother of the orator), then quartered with a legion in the territory of the Nervii, failed owing to the timely appearance of Caesar. Ambiorix is said to have found safety across the Rhine.
Caesar, Bell. Gall. v. 26-51, vi. 29-43, viii. 24; Dio Cassius xl. 7-11; Florus iii. 10.
AMBLESIDE, a market-town in the Appleby parliamentary division of Westmorland, England, a mile from the head of Windermere. Pop. of urban district (1901) 2536. It is most beautifully situated, for though the lake is hardly visible from the town, the bare, sharply rising hills surrounding the richly wooded valley of the Rothay afford a series of exquisite views. The hills immediately above this part of the valley are Wansfell on the east, Loughrigg Fell on the west, and Rydal Fell and the ridge below Snarker Pike (2096 ft.) to the north. At the head of Windermere is Waterhead, the landing-stage of Ambleside, which is served by the lake steamers of the Furness Railway Company. The chief roads which centre upon Ambleside are—one from the town of Windermere, following the eastern shore of the lake; one from Ullswater, by Patterdale and Kirkstone Pass; one from Keswick, by Dunmail Raise and Grasmere, and the two lovely lakes of Grasmere and Rydal Water; and one from the Brathay valley and the Langdales to the west. Ambleside is thus much frequented by tourists. In its vicinity is Rydal Mount, for many years the residence of the poet Wordsworth. The town has some industry in bobbin-making, and there are slate quarries in the neighbourhood.
Close by the lake side the outlines are still visible of a Roman fort, the name of which is not known. It appears to have guarded a route over the hills by Hardknott and Wrynose Pass to Ravenglass on the coast of Cumberland.
AMBLYGONITE, a mineral usually found as cleavable or columnar, and compact masses; it is translucent and has a vitreous lustre, and the colour varies from white to pale shades of violet, grey, green or yellow. There are good cleavages in two directions. The hardness is 6 and the specific gravity 3·0. The mineral is thus not unlike felspar in general appearance, but it is readily distinguished from this by its chemical characters, being an aluminium and lithium fluophosphate, Li(AlF)PO4, with part of the lithium replaced by sodium and part of the fluorine by hydroxyl. Crystals, which are rarely distinctly developed, belong to the anorthic system, and frequently show twin lamellae.
The mineral was first discovered in Saxony by A. Breithaupt in 1817, and named by him from the Greek ἀμβλύς, blunt, and γωνία, angle, because of the obtuse angle between the cleavages. Later it was found at Montebras, dep. Creuse, France, and at Hebron in Maine; and on account of slight differences in optical character and chemical composition the names montebrasite and hebronite have been applied to the mineral from these localities. Recently it has been discovered in considerable quantity at Pala in San Diego county, California, and at Cáceres in Spain. Amblygonite occurs with lepidolite, tourmaline and other lithia-bearing minerals in pegmatite-veins. It contains about 10% of lithia, and, since 1886, has been utilized as a source of lithium salts, the chief commercial sources being the Montebras deposits, and later the Californian. (L. J. S.)
AMBLYPODA, a suborder of primitive ungulate mammals, taking its name from the short and stumpy feet, which were furnished with five toes each, and supported massive pillar-like limbs. The brain-cavity was extremely small, and insignificant in comparison to the bodily bulk, which was equal to that of the largest rhinoceroses. These animals are, in fact, descendants of the small ancestral ungulates which have retained all the primitive characters of the latter accompanied by a huge increase in bodily size. They are confined to the Eocene period, and occur both in North America and Europe. The cheek teeth are short crowned (brachyodont), with the tubercles more or less completely fused into transverse ridges, or cross-crests (lophodont type); and the total number of teeth is in one case the typical 44, but in another is reduced below this. The vertebrae of the neck unite by nearly flat surfaces, the humerus has lost the foramen, or perforation, at the lower end, and the third trochanter to the femur may also be wanting. In the fore-limb the upper and lower series of carpal bones scarcely alternate, but in the hind-foot the astragalus overlaps the cuboid, while the fibula, which is quite distinct from the tibia (as is the radius from the ulna in the fore-limb), articulates with both astragalus and calcaneum.
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| Restored skeleton of Uintatherium (Dinoceras) mirabile. (After O. C. Marsh.) |
The most generalized type is Coryphodon, representing the family Coryphodontidae, from the lower Eocene of Europe and North America, in which there were 44 teeth, and no horn-like excrescences on the long skull, while the femur had a third trochanter. The canines are somewhat elongated, and were followed by a short gap in each jaw, and the cheek-teeth were adapted for succulent food. The length of the body reached about 6 ft. in some cases.
In the middle Eocene formations of North America occurs the more specialized Uintatherium (or Dinoceras), typifying the family Uintatheriidae, which also contains species sometimes
