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EREBUS-ERGOT.

of his having plotted a insurrection involved him in a painful trial, and he had actually ascended the scaffold before his innocence was proved. Deeply wounded, the brave soldier and poet turned to Spain, but Philip treating him with great coldness and neglect, E. made a tour through France, Italy, Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary. For some time he held the office of chamberlain to the emperor Rudolf II., but in 1580 returned to Madrid, where he in vain exerted himself to realise an independence. The latter years of his life were spent in obscurity and poverty at Madrid, where he died, at what period has not been ascertained. His historic epos, written in the octo-syllabic measure, and entitled Araucana, is, with the exception of a few episodes, a faithful description of actual events. Cervantes, in his Don Quixote, compares it with the best Italian epics, and it has undoubtedly not a little of the epic style and spirit. The first part is the freshest in character, having been completed before the author's return to Europe, where it was first published separately (Madrid, 1569). The second part appeared nine years later. In it, E. by the introduction of episodes, yielded more to the taste of the time; and this was still more the case in the third part, which was first published, along with the two others, in 1590. In Spain, and likewise in other countries, many reprints of the poem appeared (the most elegant, 2 vols., Madrid, 1776; the most accurate, 2 vols., Madrid, 1828). A continuation was published by Don Diego Santistevan Osorio, of Leon (Salamanca, 1597). A German translation has been published by Winterling (2 vols., Nuremberg, 1831).

E'REBUS the name of one of the sons of Chaos -signifies darkness, and is used specially to denote the dark and gloomy cavern beneath the earth, through which the shades must pass in going to

Hades.

was

ERECHTHEUS or ERICHTHO'NIUS, AND ERECHTHE UM. Erechtheus, an Attic hero, is said to have been the son of Hephaestus and the Earth, and to have been reared by Athena. One form of the tradition states that when a child he was placed by Athena in a chest, which intrusted to Agraulos, Pandrosos, and Herse, the daughters of Cecrops, with the strict charge that it was not to be opened. Agraulos and Herse, however, unable to restrain their curiosity, opened the chest, and discovering a child entwined with serpents, they were seized with madness, and threw themselves down the most precipitous part of the Acropolis. Afterwards Erechtheus was the chief means of establishing the worship of Athena in Attica. He is regarded as the founder of the Erechtheum, the temple of Athena Polias, guardian of the city. This original Erechtheum, which contained Erechtheus's tomb after his death, and which was called by his name, was burned by the Persians, but a new and magnificent temple was raised upon the same site-north of the Parthenon, and near the northern wall of the Acropolis-in the beginning of the 4th c. B.C. The second Erechtheum was a splendid structure of the Ionic order, of an oblong shape, extending from east to west, abutting in side chambers at the western end, towards the north and south, and having porticoes adorned with columns at its eastern, its northern, and southern extremities. It is now a complete ruin.

ERECTION, LORDS OF, those of the nobility in Scotland to whom the king, after the Reformation, granted lands, or tithes, which formerly belonged to the church. They were also called Titulars of Tithes, the gifts being by no means confined to the

nobility. These titulars had the same rights to erected benefices, both in lands and tithes, which had formerly belonged to the monasteries and other religious houses. The grants were made under the burden of providing competent stipends to the reformed clergy-an obligation which was very little attended to by the grantees, prior to the decrees arbitral of Charles I., in 1629.* Ersk. B. ii. tit. 10, s. 18.

EREMACAU'SIS (Gr. erēmos, waste, and kausis, combustion) is a term originally proposed by Liebig to indicate the slow process of combustion at compounds, such as wood, are left exposed to the ordinary temperatures, which ensues when organic air, and gradually rot away or decay. The process consists in the oxygen (O) of the air combining with the hydrogen (H) of the wood forming water (HO), and in less quantity with the carbon (C) forming carbonic acid (CO), leaving a brown mould or powder, called by chemists ulmin, or humus, in which carbon preponderates.

E'RFURT, a town and fortress of Prussian

Saxony, capital of old Thuringia, stands in a highly cultivated plain, on the right bank of the Gera, It is surrounded by 14 miles west of Weimar. walls, pierced by six gates, and is strengthened by two citadels, the Petersberg and the Cyriaksburg, both formerly monasteries. Among the numerous churches, the cathedral and the Church of St Severus are the finest. The cathedral is one of the most venerable Gothic buildings in Germany, and possesses, besides a very rich portal, sculptures dating from the 11th to the 16th century. Of the convents, only that of the Ursuline nuns remains. The monastery of St Augustine, famous as the residence of Luther, and in which his cell is still pointed out, was converted in the year 1820 into an asylum for deserted children. The other remarkable buildings are, the university, founded in 1378, and suppressed in 1816; the royal academy; the library, containing 50,000 volumes; numerous educational establishments, a hospital, two infirmaries, &c. Pap. 33,000. Horticulture, and an extensive trade in seeds, are carried on. The principal manufactures are woollen, silk, cotton, and linen goods, yarn, shoes, stockings, tobacco, leather, &c.

E. is said to have been founded in the beginning of the 5th c. by one Erpes, from whom it took its original name of Erpesford. During the middle ages, at the time of its highest prosperity, E. was strongly fortified, and contained 60,000 inhabitants. In 740, St Boniface founded a bishopric at E., and in the year 805 it was converted into an entrepôt of commerce by Charlemagne. It afterwards belonged to the Hanse-league, then to the elector of Mainz, from 1801-1806 to Prussia, and from that time until 1813 it was under French rule. E. was finally restored to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna. In the spring of 1850, the parliament of the states, which had combined together for union, held its sittings at Erfurt.

E'RGOT, a diseased condition of the germen of grasses, sometimes also observed in some of the Cyperaceae. It begins to shew itself when the germen is young; different parts of the flower assume a mildewed appearance, and become covered with a white coating composed of a multitude of minute spore-like bodies mixed with delicate cobweb-like filaments; a sweet fluid, at first limpid, afterwards viscid and yellowish, is exuded; the anthers and stigmas become cemented together; the ovule swells till it greatly exceeds the size of the proper seed, bursts its integuments, and becomes elongated and frequently curved, often carries on its apex a cap formed of the agglutinated anthers and stigmas

ERGOTISM-ERIC.

Ergot of rye consists of 35 per cent. of a peculiar fixed oil, 14 of ergotin, 46 of fungin, the remainder being gum, fat, albumen, salts, &c. Ergot burns with a yellow-white flame, and treated with water, yields a reddish coloured liquid with acid properties. In considerable quantities, it is a poison to the lower animals as well as to man.

E'RGOTISM, the constitutional effect of Ergot of Rye (q. v.). See also RAPHANIA.

and assumes a gray, brown, purple, violet, and at It is the ergot of rye which is always employed; length a black colour, as the viscid exudation dries also called SPURRED RYE, or Secale cornutum. It and hardens. The structure differs very much from has been employed also as a sedative of the circulathat of the properly developed seed; the qualities tion, to check various kinds of hæmorrhage. Ergot are not less different, almost one-half of the whole is administered in various forms-powder, decoction, substance consists of fungin; and the cells contain, extract, tincture, oil of ergot, &c.-In large or fre instead of starch, globules of a peculiar fixed oil-quent doses, ergot is a poison, sometimes producing OIL OF ERGOT, to which the remarkable qualities of convulsions, followed by death; sometimes ganergot are supposed to be chiefly or entirely due. grene of the extremities, resulting in mutilation Oil of ergot forms about 35 per cent. of the ergot of or in death. rye. Ergot appears to have been first observed in rye, in which it becomes very conspicuous from the large size it attains, sometimes an inch or even an inch and a half in length. It is, however, not uncommon in wheat and barley, although in them it is not so conspicuous, from its general resemblance to the ordinary ripened grain. Rye-grass is often affected with ergot, as are many other grasses; and it is of frequent occur rence in maize, in which also it attains its greatest size. Ergot has been supposed to be merely a disease occasioned by wet seasons or other climatic causes. But it appears now to be fully ascertained, that it is a disease occasioned by the presence of the mycelium of a fungus; the spores of which may perhaps be carried to the flower through the juices of the plant, for there is reason to think that ergot in a field of grain may be produced by infected seed. Mr Quekett, in 1838, described a fungus, a kind of MoULD (q. v.), which he found in ergot, and to which he gave the name of Ergotatia abortifaciens. Link and Berkeley afterwards referred it to the genus Oidium; and they, as well as others, believed it to be the true ergot fungus. The spores of this ergot mould, however, vegetate readily, under proper conditions of warmth and moisture, in situations very different from that in which ergot is produced; and its presence is perhaps a consequence rather than the cause of ergot. The true ergot fungus seems to have been discovered by Tulasne, who published a description of it in 1853. That of the ergot of rye is called Cordiceps (or Claviceps) purpurea; its mycelium alone exists in ergot, but if the ergoted grains are sown, the fungus develops itself in its perfect form, growing in little tufts from the surface of the ergot, with stem about half an inch long, and subglobular head. Allied species appear to produce the ergot of other grasses.

Ergot of Rye.

Ergot is inflammable; the fixed oil which it contains, indeed, makes it burn readily if brought into contact with the flame of a candle. It is a valuable medicine, exercising a specific action on the womb, particularly during labour, and by the greater frequency and force of the contractions which it causes when cautiously administered, often most beneficially hastening delivery. Its employment for this purpose is said to have originated-in consequence, probably, of an accidental discovery-with a provincial female practitioner in France. Its introduction into British practice dates only from 1824.

ERIC is the Scandinavian form of the name Henricus, Enrico, and Henry of southern nations. Many kings of the name reigned separately in Denmark and Sweden, and some ruled over the whole of Scandinavia after the union of Calmar. The memory of the two earliest rulers of the name in Denmark merits our notice from their associa tion with the introduction of Christianity. Eric I., who died in 860, protected the Christians in the latter part of his reign, and, under the direction of the missionary Ansgar or Anscharius, founded the cathedral of Ribe, the first Christian church in the land. In his time, the Northmen began those incursions into more southern countries, which were destined to exercise so permanent an influence on European history. Eric II. followed in the steps of his father, and permitted Ansgar to prosecute the labour of converting and civilising the people, which won for him the title of the Tutelar Saint of the North. To Eric II. is ascribed the reorganisation of those guilds which finally merged in the munici pal corporations of the middle ages, but which were, at first, a mere modification of the heathen brotherhoods of the Scandinavian heroic ages, and constituted associations, whose members were a privileged class, separated by distinct laws, rights, and duties from the rest of the people. Denmark suffered in the 12th c. in an equal degree from the two Erics who ruled over her, for while Eric, surnamed Emun, exhausted the strength of the land by the indomitable pertinacity with which he endeavoured, by force of arms, to compel the Vandals and other piratical neighbours to accept the Christianity which he thrust upon them, Eric the Lamb' crippled the powers and resources of the crown by his pusillanimous subserviency to the clergy. The three Erics (Eric VI., VII., and VIII.) who occupied the throne, with only the intermission of a few years, from 1241 to 1319, are associated with one of the most disastrous periods of Danish history. Long minorities, the suicidal practice of dismembering the crown-lands in favour of younger branches of the royal house, and futile attempts to restrain the ever-increasing encroachments of the church, combined to bring the country to the brink of destruction. Eric VI. (Plogpenning) and Eric VII. (Glipping) were both assassinated, the former at the instigation of a brother, and the latter in revenge for a private injury. Eric VIII., the last of the name before the union of Calmar, died childless, and was succeeded, in 1319, by his ambitious brother Christopher, who saw himself compelled to repay his partisans at the expense of almost all the prerogatives and appanages which still belonged to the crown.

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In Sweden, the first of the name who merits our notice is King Eric, surnamed the Saint, who was

ERICEE-ERICSSON.

slain in battle in 1161, after a short reign, which was signalised, in that age of anarchy, by the foundation of many churches and monasteries, and by the promulgation of an excellent code of laws, known as St Eric's Lag. This law contained provisions by which a higher status in society was secured to women, by granting them a fixed proportion of the heritage of their male relatives, and certain definite privileges within their house holds. St Eric waged frequent war with the Finns, and compelled them to adopt the outward forms of Christianity. The two namesakes and descendants of St Eric, who ruled in Sweden during the 13th c., and Eric XII., who reigned from 1350 to 1359, have little claim to our notice, for internal disturbances and wars with their neighbours brought about the same fatal results as those which are associated with the reigns of the Erics in Denmark during the middle ages. In 1412, on the death of the great Margaret, her relative, Eric of Pomerania, succeeded to the triple crown of Scandinavia, in accordance with the articles of the famous treaty of Calmar. The noble heritage that had been bequeathed to Eric required a firmer hand and a braver spirit than his to keep it in check; and his reckless disregard of treaties and oaths, his neglect of his duties, and his misdirected ambition, led, after years of dissensions, maladministration, and disaffection, to the inevitable result that Eric was declared to have forfeited the respective thrones of the several kingdoms, which proceeded to elect rulers of their own. The intestine wars to which this condition of things gave rise, plunged the whole of Scandinavia into anarchy, and sowed seeds of dissension among the three kindred nations, which bore fatal fruits in subsequent ages. The last ten years of Eric's life were spent in the exercise of piracy in the island of Gothland, whither he had retired with his mistress and a band of followers, and from whence he sent forth piratical expeditions to pillage both friends and foes. Eric married Philippa, daughter of Henry IV. of England, whose memory is still cherished in the north, on account of the many noble deeds with which local tradition associates her name. Eric XIV., the last of the name who reigned in Sweden, had the distinction of being at once one of the worst and one of the most unhappy of the name. He succeeded, in 1560, to the throne of his father, Gustaf Vasa, who was perhaps the greatest and worthiest monarch that ever reigned over Sweden, and immediately on his accession, he made known the difference that was so unfavourably to distinguish his reign from that of his father, by quarrelling with his brothers, thwarting the nobles, and opposing the lower orders. His fickleness and extravagance were displayed in a succession of embassies, which were in turn sent to almost every European court to demand a consort for this vacillating monarch, who usually changed his mind before his envoys had time to fulfil their missions. Elizabeth of England and Mary of Scotland were more than once the objects of his matrimonial schemes; but when the resources of the country had been seriously crippled by these costly and absurd expeditions, Eric married a Swedish peasant-girl, who ultimately acquired an influence over him which was ascribed by the superstitious to witchcraft, since she alone was able to control him in the violent paroxysms of blind fury to which he was subject. It is probable that Eric laboured under remittent attacks of Insanity, and that to this cause may be attributed the blood-thirsty cruelty with which he persecuted those of his own relatives or attendants who fell under his suspicion. His capricious cruelties at length alienated the minds of his subjects, who, wearied with the continuous wars and disturbances in which

164

his evil passions involved them, threw off their allegiance in 1568, and solemnly elected his brother John to the throne. For nine years, the unhappy Eric suffered every indignity at the hands of the keepers appointed by his brother to guard him, and in 1577, he was compelled to terminate his miserable existence by swallowing poison, in obedience to his brother's orders. Singular to say, this half madman was a person of cultivated understanding, and he solaced his captivity with music and the composition of psalms, and in keeping a voluminous journal.

ERICEÆ, or ERICA'CEÆ, a natural order of but containing also some trees. exogenous plants, consisting chiefly of small shrubs, The leaves are opposite or in whorls, entire, destitute of stipules, often small, generally evergreen and rigid. The flowers are sometimes solitary in the axils of the leaves, sometimes grouped in different modes of inflorescence, and are often of great beauty, in which respect no order of plants excels this; the beauty of the smallest species, and of those which have very small flowers, rivalling that of others which are trees profusely covered with magnificent clusters. About 900 species of this order are known, of which the greater number are natives of South Africa, which particularly abounds in the genus Erica, and its allies-the true Heaths (q. v.)-although some of them are also found to the utmost limits of northern vegetation. They are rare within the tropics, and only occur at considerable elevations. Few species are found in Australia. Many of the E. are social plants, and a single species sometimes covers great tracts, constituting their principal vegetation. This is most strikingly exemplified in the heaths of Europe and the North of Asia. Medicinal properties exist in some of the E., as the BEARBERRY (see ARBUTUS), and the GROUND LAUREL of North America (Epigau repens), a popular remedy in the United States for affections of the bowels and urinary organs. Narcotic and poisonous qualities are of not unfrequent occurrence. ANDROMEDA, AZALEA, KALMIA, LEDUM, RHODODEN DRON. The berries of some species are edible (see ARBUTUS and GAULTHERIA), although_none much esteemed.-The RHODODENDREÆ have some. times been regarded as a distinct order, but are generally considered a suborder of E., containing the genera Rhododendron, Azalea, Kalmia, Ledum, &c. The larger leaves and flowers, and generally also the larger plants of the order, belong to this suborder; which, however, contains also many small shrubs of subarctic and elevated mountainous regions.

See

are

ERICHT or E'RROCHT, LOCH, lies in the north-west of Perthshire and south of Invernessshire, in an uninhabited district, the wildest and most inaccessible in Scotland, amid the Grampian mountains. Its banks rise steeply from the water's edge. It is fourteen miles long and nearly one mile broad, and it extends in a south-west direction from near Dalwhinnie on the Dunkeld and Inverness road. By one outlet it joins Loch Rannoch, and by another it runs into Loch Lydoch, its waters ultimately reaching the Tay. Its surface is about 1500 feet above the sea, and it never freezes. In a cave at the south end of the loch, Prince Charles lay hid

in 1746.

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ERIE ERIOCAULACEA

he ha lived since, and has brought out numerous mechanical inventions. His name is chiefly known in connection with efforts to substitute heated air for steam as a motive power. See CALORIC ENGINE. E'RIE, one of the five great lakes which empty themselves by the St Lawrence, separates Upper Canada on its left from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York on its right. It is the most southern of the five, receiving at its south-western extremity the waters of Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron by the river Detroit, and discharging them at its north-east by the Niagara into Lake Ontario. With a length of 240 miles, E. has a breadth varying from 30 to nearly 60 miles, with an area of 9600 square miles. It is 16 feet below the Huron, and 322 and 555 respectively above the Ontario and the Atlantic. At its south-western extremity are several wooded and partly cultivated islands, the largest of which is about 14 miles in circumference. It is by far the shallowest of the five great lakes. Its mean depth is stated at 120 feet; and from this comparative shallowness and the consequent liability to a heavy ground-swell, as well as on account of the small number of good harbours, the navigation is peculiarly difficult and dangerous. The chief harbours on the south, or United States shore, besides the natural harbour of Erie itself or Presque Isle, are those of Cleveland, Sandusky City, and Toledo; and on the north or Canadian shore, Ports Dover, Burwell, and Stanley. Lake E. receives no rivers of any consequence. Its commercial importance, however, has been largely increased by art. It is connected by one canal with the Hudson, and by more than one with the Ohio; while, on the British side, it communicates with the Ontario by means of a still more available work, the ship-channel of the Welland. Its navigation generally closes in the beginning of December, and the lake remains more or less frozen till March or April. The annual value of its commerce is estimated at 200,000,000 dollars. In 1858, no fewer than 136 vessels were built at the American dockyards of the lake. On the Canadian side are 10 light-houses and beacons; on the American, 26. The fisheries are of little value. Lake E. was the scene of a naval engagement between the British and Americans, September 10, 1813, in which the latter were victorious.

ERIE, a port on the lake of its own name in the state of Pennsylvania, stands in lat. 42° 8' N., and long. 80° 10' W. Its harbour, one of the largest and best on the coast, is formed by an island of four miles in length, which, under the appellation of Presque Isle, still preserves the memory of its having been a peninsula. The belt of water, which is thus sheltered, is known as Presque Isle Bay, and forms a natural harbour for the city. It is now protected by a breakwater. It is about a mile in width, and varies in depth from 9 feet to 25. While much has been done to improve the natural advantages of its position, E. has been connected by means of a canal with the Beaver, a feeder of the Ohio; and this work, independently of its navigable facilities, affords extensive water-power to mills of different kinds. Being, moreover, the terminus of railways converging from every quarter but the north, the place has advanced rapidly in trade and population. The imports and exports amount to fully 5,000,000 dollars; and, by the census of 1860, the inhabitants were 9419, having been, in 1850, only 5850.

ERI'GENA, JOANNES SCOTUS, a famous philosopher of the middle ages, was born probably in Ireland, and flourished during the 9th century. Very little is known regarding his history. He appears to have resided principally in France, at

E. held that

the court of Charles the Bald. In the controversies of his time, regarding predestination and transubstantiation, he took part. His philosophic opinions were those of a Neo-Platonist rather than of a old Alexandrian philosophers was shewn by his scholastic. His love for the mystic doctrines of the translation of the writings ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, which proved to be a well-spring of God is the essential ground of all things, from whom mysticism during the middle ages. all things emanate, and into whom they return again. Pantheism, therefore, lurks in his system. lished by Gale, Oxford, 1681). One of its leading His principal work is De Divisione Nature (pubthoughts is the identity of philosophy and religion, when both are properly apprehended. E. uttered his opinions with great boldness, and he exhibited no less subtlety and strength of intellect in their He expressed his contempt for theological dogmatism, and vindicated the authority of reason over all other authority. His words are: Authority is derived from reason, and not reason from authority; and when the former is not confirmed by the latter, it possesses no value.' Consult Hjort's Joh. E. oder vom Ursprunge einer Christlichen Philosophie (Copenh. 1823), Standenmayer's Joh. E. und die Wissenschaft seiner Zeit (Frankfurt, 1834), and Taillandier Scot. E. et la Philosophie Scholastique (Strasburg and Paris, 1843).

defence.

ERI'GERON, a genus of plants of the natural order Composite, suborder Corymbifera, having heads (flowers) of many florets, the florets of the ray numerous, in several rows, of a different colour from those of the disc. Two or three species are natives of Britain, the most common of which, E. acris, has a stem 16-18 inches high, narrow entire leaves, flower-stalks forming a kind of corymb, flowers with yellow disc and pale-blue ray. It has a powerful odour, which is said to keep away fleas, and the name FLEA-BANE is sometimes given to the plant. Its ashes contain about 5 per cent. of potash, for the sake of which it is sometimes collected and burned. E. Philadelphicum, a native of North America, with pale-purple ray, and a fetid smell, is valued in the United States as a diuretic.

ERINA'CEUS and ERINACE ADÆ. HEDGEHOG.

See

of whose birth the most different statements are ERI'NNA, a Greek poetess, concerning the date friend of Sappho (hence she is likewise called the advanced. According to some, she was the intimate Lesbian singer), and was born at Rhodes, or on the little island of Telos, situated west of Rhodes; while others maintain that she lived in the age of Demosthenes; and others again, perplexed by such a wide difference in point of time, have recourse to the hypothesis of two poetesses of this name. E. acquired such celebrity by her epic, epigrammatic, and lyric poems, that her verses were compared with those of Homer, although she died at the early age of 19. The genuineness of the fragments that still exist These have been collected by Schneidewin in the under her name, has been disputed on good grounds. Delectus Poesis Graeca Elegiaca (Göttingen, 1838). Compare Malzow De Erinna Lesbia vita et Reliquiis (Petersburg, 1836).

ERIOBO'TRYA. See Loquat.

ERIOCAULA CEÆ, a natural order of endogenous plants, nearly allied to Restiacea, and containing about 200 known species, many of which are aquatic or marsh plants. The E. are chiefly natives of the tropical parts of America and Australia. One species, Eriocaulon septangulare, JOINTED PIPEWORT, is found in the west of Ireland, and in some of the

ERIODENDRON-ERLKONIG.

Hebrides; a little grass-like plant, growing in lakes which have a muddy bottom, and exhibiting small globular heads of flowers. From its botanical affinities, and with reference to geographical distribution, no British plant is more interesting. The E. form a remarkable feature of the vegetation of some parts of South America; but many of the species bear little resemblance to their humble northern congener, being almost shrubby, 4-6 feet high, with leafy, much-branched stems, 'each branchlet terminated by a large white ball, composed of a vast number of smaller heads, placed on peduncles of unequal length.' Many of them also grow on arid mountainous regions; others in flat sandy grounds, which are flooded in the wet season.-Gardner's Travels in Brazil.

a

Jointed Pipewort (Eriocaulon septangulare):

last war between Russia and Persia, E. was stormed by the Russian general, Paskewitsch, who .eceived the surname of Eriwanski; and by the treaty of peace concluded at Turkmanjai, 22d February 1828, it was given up by Persia to Russia, along with the province of the same name. It is now an important Russian post, as in former times it formed the bul wark of Persia against the Turks, and afterwards against Russia. In the year 1840, it was much devastated by an earthquake.

E'RLANGEN, a town of Bavaria, is situated in the midst of a well cultivated district, on the right bank of the Regnitz, 10 miles north of Nürnburg. It is a handsome town, and is surrounded by walls of which were erected after the year 1706, when a pierced by seven gates; its streets-a great number fire consumed a large portion of the town-are and New Towns, the latter founded in 1686 by straight and regular. It is divided into the Old Christian, markgraf of Bayreuth. E. is the seat of a university, of a gymnasium, of agricultural and industrial schools, and other institutions. The university, however, is the chief building. It was founded in 1742, and is celebrated as a school of Protestant theology, is attended by between 400 and 500 students, has a library containing 100,000 vols. and 1000 manuscripts, and also zoological and mineralogical collections, &c. E. owes its prosperity to the migration thither of a number of refugees from France, who were compelled to flee on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and who introduced many new branches of manufacture at Erlangen. Besides its extensive stocking and glove manufactories, which provide the greater part of Germany with their goods, E. has great mirror and tobacco factories, and manufactures of combs and horn-ware. E. became a Bavarian possession by the treaty of 1809. Pop. 10,709.

ERIODENDRON, a genus of trees of the natural order Sterculiaceae, natives of tropical countries, the thick woody capsules of which a, tuft of leaves, flower-stalk with contain a kind of wool flowers, and part of creeping surrounding the seeds. root; b, seed; c, bract or scale; These trees are there- Hungary, in the county of Heves, of which it is E'RLAU (Hung. Eger), an episcopal city of d, female flower; e, pistil; ƒ, male flower. fore sometimes called capital, is situated on both banks of the river WOOL-TREES. The wool Erlau, in a delightful valley skirted with vine-clad of E. Samanna is used in Brazil for stuffing pillows. hills. It is surrounded by old walls, pierced by E. anfractuosum, of which one variety, found in the six gates; has four suburbs, in which the greater East Indies, is sometimes called E. Indicum, and portion of the inhabitants dwell; and although in another found in Africa, E. Guineense, is a tree of general its streets are narrow and have a neglected great height, 150 feet or more. The African variety appearance, it is rich in fine public buildings. The or species is called RIMI and BENTANG. Park men-principal of these are the Lyceum, with a valuable tions it by the latter name. Barth says it is generally to be seen growing near the principal gate of large towns in Hansa. Its wood is soft and spongy, chiefly used for making canoes. The seeds of E. Indicum are eaten in Celebes. They are roundish, and of the size of peas. The trees of this genus have palmate leaves. The flowers are large and beautiful.

ERIWA'N (Persian, Rewán), the fortified capital of Russian Armenia, situated to the north of Ararat, in the elevated plain of Aras or Araxes, lat. 40° 10' N., long. 44° 32′ E., 3312 feet above the level of the sea. It consists of the town, properly so called, and the fortress, which is surrounded on three sides by high walls, and provided with aqueducts; a stone bridge over the Zenga, which here falls into the Araxes; a barracks, three mosques, one of which has been converted into a Russian church, the palace of the Sardar, and a bazaar. Pop. (1854) 13,567, who are engaged in agriculture and commerce. E. was formerly the capital of the Persian province of Aran, celebrated for its silk. In the beginning of the 16th c., the khan Rewan, at the command of Ismael, the shah of Persia, erected a strong fortress, which he called after his own name. An Armenian school was established at E. in 1629, but transferred to Ejmiadzin in 1631. During the

library, and an observatory 172 feet high; the recently built cathedral, the episcopal palace, the Franciscan and the Minorite monasteries, a richly embellished Greek church, a county hall, and the new barracks. E. has also a gymnasium, an episcopal seminary, a normal and drawing school, a hospital founded in 1730, which possesses a capital of nearly 400,000 guilders, and other important institutions. The two baths, the Turkenbad and the Bischofsbad, both of which are much resorted to during the bathing-season, are supplied from two warm springs which rise from the bank of the Erlau. The cultivation of the vine is the principal occupation of the inhabitants. The E. wine, the best red wine of Hungary, is produced in considerable quantities, and is in request even in foreign countries.

There are also manufactures of

linens, woollens, hats, &c., and an important weekly market, which has a beneficial effect upon the industry of the town. Pop. 16,900, most of whom are Roman Catholic in religion, and Magyar in race.

owes its importance to the very old bishopric founded here by St Stephen in the beginning of the C., and which, in 1804, was raised to an archbishopric.

11th

ERLKONIG, in German, is the name applied to a poetical, personified, natural power which, according

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