Ambulance
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Ambulance. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a vehicle for the conveyance of the sick and wounded. During the wars of the French revolutionary period the term was applied to a field hospital on wheels. It was fitted up with cots, linen, and surgical tables, and was in charge of a surgeon. In the American Civil War the name was applied rather to large wagons used to gather up the wounded and to convey them to field hospitals. In many cities the ambulance service is admirably organized. If a fireman or other person is injured, a telephone call brings an automobile ambulance in an incredibly short time. The Red Cross Society maintains an ambulance service. Like the fire engine the ambulance has the right of way over ordinary vehicles. Rubber tires are of service in lessening the jolting which must be inflicted on patients while being conveyed to the hospital. 2026 Editor's Note: The horse-drawn wagon this describes evolved into a mobile emergency room: today's ambulances carry paramedics , defibrillators and drugs, summoned by a single emergency number, and the sickest are flown by helicopter — a chain of survival unimaginable when the wounded were merely 'gathered up.' (Ed: BR 2026-06-14)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a hospital establishment which accompanies an army in its movements in the field for the purpose of AMENEMHAT providing assistance and surgical treatment to the soldiers wounded in battle. The name is also given to one of the carts or wagons used to transfer the wounded to the hospital. Americans of both sexes volunteered for ambulance service in France almost from the begin ning of the World War of 1914-1918. Thousands of American ambulances, devices, drivers, and attendants were employed on the battle fields of France, Italy, and Russia after America entered the war. See RED CROSS.