Ampsanctus

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Ampsanctus, or Amsanctus (modern: Sorgente Mefita), a small lake in the territory of the Hirpini, 10 m. S.E. of Aeclanum, close to the Via Appia. There are now two small pools which exhale carbonic acid gas and hydrogen sulfide. Close by was a temple of the goddess Mephitis, with a cave from which suffocating vapors rose, and for this reason the place was brought into connection with the legends of the infernal regions. Virgil's description (Aeneid, vii. 563) is not, however, very accurate.

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• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.