ELLIPSIS-ELLORA.

32.5d2 22.42.52

&c.), where d=

1

- (1

462

da 3d 23 22.42

the sum of the distances of every point in which the circumference of an ellipse is got by multiplying from two fixed points within the curve is always the same. These two fixed points are called the the major axis by the quantity foci; and the diameter drawn through them is the major axis; the minor axis bisects the major at right angles. The distance of either focus from the middle of the major axis is the eccentricity. The less the eccentricity is compared with the axis, the nearer the figure approaches to a circle; and a circle may be considered as an ellipse whose foci

coincide.

There are various contrivances for describing an ellipse, called ellipsagraphs or elliptic compasses. The simplest method of description is to fix on a plane the two ends of a thread with pins in the foci, and make a pencil move on the plane, keeping the thread constantly stretched. The end of the pencil will trace an ellipse, whose major axis is equal to the length of the thread.

The equation to an ellipse (see Co-ORDINATES), referred to its centre as origin, and to its major x2 y2 and minor axes as rectangular axes, is + = 1, a2 b2

where a and b are the semi-major and semi-minor axes respectively. From this equation, it may be shewn, by the integral calculus, that the area of an ellipse is equal to rab; or is got by multiplying the product of the semi-major and semi-minor axis by 31416. It may also be shewn that the length of

4a2

ELLI'PSIS (Gr. omission) is a term used in Grammar and Rhetoric, to signify the omission of a word necessary to complete the expression or sentence in its usual form. The object of ellipsis is shortness and impressiveness; accordingly, it prevails in proverbs. Ellipses are used in all languages, but the same forms of ellipses are not common to all. Thus, the house we saw,' instead of the house that we saw,' is a kind of ellipsis peculiar, so far as we know, to English.

ELLI'PSOID is a surface of the second order, of which the Spheroid (q. v.) is a species, and the most interesting, from the fact of the form of the earth being spheroidal. The equation to an ellipsoid referred to its centre and rectangular co-ordinates is 22 x2, y2 + = + a2 b2 ca

1.

ELLIPTICITY (of the Earth). See EARTH. ELLO'RA, a decayed town in the dominions of the Nizam, not far from the city of Dowlatabad, in lat. 20° 2′ N., and long. 75° 13′ E. It is celebrated for its wonderful rock-cut temples. Their number

has not been precisely ascertained, but Erskine, process was, first to sink a great quadrangular trench reckoned 19 large ones, partly of Hindu and partly or pit, leaving the central mass standing; and of Buddhist origin. Some are cave-temples proper then to hew and excavate this mass into a temple. -i. e., chambers cut out in the interior of the rock -but others are vast buildings hewn out of the solid granite of the hills, having an exterior as well as an interior architecture, and being, in fact, magnificent monoliths. In executing the latter, the

The most beautiful of these objects is the Hindu temple, Kailasa. At its entrance, the traveller passes into an antechamber 138 feet wide by 88 deep, adorned by numerous rows of pillars. Thence he proceeds along a colonnade over a bridge into

ELLORE-ELM.

a great rectangular court, which is 247 feet in cinally in cutaneous diseases; it is mucilaginous, length and 150 broad, in the centre of which and has a bitter astringent taste. The ELM BALSAM stands the temple itself, a vast mass of rock (Beaume d'orme), which was formerly in great repute, richly hewn and carved. It is supported by four is a brownish substance, which is found in dried rows of pilasters, with colossal elephants beneath, galls of the leaves in the south of Europe, Persia, and seems suspended in the air. The interior is &c. From these galls, in an earlier stage, flows a about 103 feet long, 56 broad, and 17 high, but the clear, viscid, sweetish liquid, called Elm Water (Eau entire exterior forms a pyramid 100 feet high, and d'orme), which is used for washing wounds, contuis overlaid with sculpture. In the great court are sions, and sore eyes.-The seeds of the elm are numerous ponds, obelisks, colonnades, sphinxes, and eagerly eaten by pigeons and common poultry. The on the walls thousands of mythological figures of all elm is one of the principal timber trees of Britain, kinds, from 10 to 12 feet in height. Of the other most extensively planted, and a chief ornament temples, those of Indra and Dumarheyna are little of English scenery.-The CORK-BARKED ELM (U. inferior to that of Kailasa. Regarding their anti- suberosa), by many regarded as a variety of U. quity and religious significance, authorities are not campestris, is distinguished by the corky wings of agreed; but at all events they must be subsequent to the bark of the branches. It is a taller and more the epic poems Ramayana or Mahabharata, because spreading tree, with much larger leaves. It is a they contain representations taken from these European tree, common in plantations in Britain, poems, and also to the cave-temples at Elephanta, but a doubtful native.-The DUTCH CORK-BARKED because they exhibit a richer and more advanced | ELM (U. major) is also looked upon by many as a style of architecture.

ELLO'RE, a town of the district of Masulipatam,

in the presidency of Madras, stands in lat. 16° 42′ N., and long. 81° 10' E. In an official report, the place has been indefinitely styled 'populous.' Independently of its population, properly so called, E., as a military station, has a considerable garrison. It occupies both banks of the Jummulair, a torrent of the Eastern Ghauts, which, instead of reaching the Bay of Bengal, loses itself three miles further down, in the land-locked Colair Lake. In fact, for about 50 miles to the westward of the sea, the neighbouring country is depressed below the level of the maritime belt, the stagnant pool above mentioned not only having independent feeders of its own, but also receiving supplies, in the season of high-water, from the Kistnah or Krishna, and the Godavery. Under such circumstances, the climate of E. is at once unpleasant and unhealthy. During the south-west monsoon, bringing with it, of course, the accumulated heats of the whole breadth of the peninsula, the temperature is more particularly oppressive, having been known to rise, in the night, to 120° F.

E'LLSWORTH, a small but flourishing town of North America, in the state of Maine, on both sides of the navigable river Union, 30 miles south-east of Bangor, and about 4 miles west of Frenchman's Bay. It exports 50,000,000 feet of timber annually, carries on cod and mackerel fisheries, and had, in 1854, 5000 inhabitants.

Common English Elm (Ulmus campestris).

variety of U. campestris. It is still more corky in its bark, and has still larger leaves. It is of very quick growth, but the wood is very inferior.-The ELM (Ulmus), a genus of trees of the natural BROAD-LEAVED or WYCH ELM (U. montana) is the order Ulmacea, natives of temperate climates, with only species that can with certainty be regarded as serrated leaves unequal in their two sides, and indigenous to Scotland. It has rough and broad small flowers growing in clusters appearing before leaves, a stem less upright than the English elm, the leaves, and containing 4-12 stamens and one and large spreading branches. The wood is used germen. The fruit is a samara, or compressed one- for all the purposes of the English elm. The tree seeded little nut, winged all around. One of the is of very quick growth. Protuberances of gnarled most important species is the COMMON SMALL- wood are not unfrequently produced, which are LEAVED or ENGLISH ELM (U. campestris), a tree of finely knotted and richly veined; they are much 60-80 feet in height, with ovato-elliptic, doubly esteemed for veneering, and are sometimes very serrated leaves, and flowers almost destitute of valuable. Varieties of this species are known stalks. The wood is compact, and very durable as the GIANT ELM and CHICHESTER ELM.-The in water. The tree is diffused all over Europe; is SMOOTH-LEAVED ELM (U. glabra) is by some found also in the west of Asia and north of Africa, regarded as a variety of U. montana, but is distinand is used for a great variety of purposes by wheel-guished, besides other characters, by smooth leaves, wrights, machine-makers, ship and boat builders, which are much smaller. It is a native of Eng&c.; it is also prized by joiners for its fine grain, land. A variety called the HUNTINGDON ELM is and the mahogany colour which it readily assumes on the application of an acid. It is reckoned superior to the wood of any other species of elm. The bark is used in dyeing and in sugar-refining, and, in times of scarcity, has been used in Norway for grinding into meal and mixing in bread, which has a less disagreeable taste than that made from meal mixed with fir-bark. The inner bark is used medi

much esteemed.-The CORNISH ELM (U. stricta), found in the south-west of England, is remarkable for its rigid, erect, and compact branches.-Very different is the habit of U. effusa, a continental species with a large spreading head and smooth bark, distinguished also by the long stalks of its flowers and its ciliated fruit.-The AMERICAN or WHITE ELM (U. Americana), which abounds in the

ELMINA-EL PASO DEL NORTÉ.

basin of the Mississippi, and attains its loftiest and shoes are made at E., and are sold at all the stature between lat. 42° and lat. 46°, is a magnifi- fairs in the duchies of Slesvig and Holstein. Many cent tree, sometimes 100 feet in height, the trunk Jews reside here, as this is one of the few places in reaching 60 or 70 feet before it separates into the duchies in which they are allowed to settle branches, and the widely diffused pendulous branches without having previously obtained permission. E. floating gracefully in the air; but the timber is not has an important annual cattle-market. Pop. 4461. much esteemed.-The RED or SLIPPERY ELM (U. EL OBEID. See IL OBEID, or LOBEID. fulva) is also common in the basin of the Mississippi as far south as lat. 31°, and in the western ELOCUTION (Lat. for speaking out), the art of parts of Canada. It attains a height of 50 or 60 feet. effective speaking, more especially of public speak The wood is more valuable than that of the lasting. It regards solely the utterance or delivery; species, but much inferior to the English elm. The while the wider art of oratory, of which elocution is leaves and bark yield an abundant mucilage, which a branch, takes account also of the matter spoken. is bland and demulcent, and esteemed a valuable The art of elocution held a prominent place in remedy in catarrh, dysentery, and other complaints. ancient education, but has been greatly neglected -The WAHOO or WINGED ELM (U. alata) is a small in modern times. See READING and SPEAKING. tree, found from lat. 37° to Florida, Louisiana, and Arkansas, remarkable for the branches being furnished on two opposite sides with wings of cork. The wood is fine-grained, compact, and heavy.-U. Chinensis is a Chinese species of elm, the leaves of which often bear galls used by the Chinese in tanning and dyeing.

ELPHIN-ELSINORE.

Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo del Norte, about 1420 miles from its mouth. It is remarkably fertile, yielding, in particular, considerable quantities of wine and brandy. It contains about 5000 inhabitants, nearly all of them of mixed blood. In fact, the people are little better than the aboriginal savages, being almost destitute of the most ordinary appliances of civilised life. The place is worthy of notice chiefly as the main thoroughfare between New Mexico and Mexico Proper.

E'LPHIN, a bishop's see in Ireland, united to Kilmore in 1833.

ELSSLER-ELY.

salt, that the lake seems covered with snow and ice. E. yields about 100,000 tons of salt annually, in the collection of which about 10,000 persons are employed.

the crest of a hill, are open to the public. From the grounds of Marienlist, magnificent views may be had of the Sound, of Helsingborg, and of the plains of Sweden. The harbour of E., formed by a wooden pier, is accessible to ships of light draught. E. has ELUTRIATION is the term applied to the a brisk foreign trade, and has, besides, manufactures process of separating, by means of water, the finer of straw-hats, arms, sugar, brandy, &c., also cotton-particles of earths and pigments from the heavier printing and fisheries. The Sound Dues (q. v.) were portions. The apparatus generally used is a large collected here. Pop. 9097. vat, in which grinding wheels revolve, and the substance to be reduced to powder being placed in the vat along with water, the wheels in revolving not only pulverise the material, but from their motion being communicated to the water, the latter is enabled to retain in mechanical suspension the finer particles of the clay, &c. By allowing a stream of water to flow in and out of the vat, the finer particles can be constantly floated away, and the liquid being run into settling vats, the fine powder settles to the bottom, when the water can be run off from the surface. This process is much employed in the manufacture of the materials used in pottery, and in the preparation of pigments.

Saxo Grammaticus, a famous writer of the 12th c., was born here. Here Shakspeare laid the scene of his Hamlet, a perversion of history on the part of the great dramatist, as Jutland, not Seeland, was Hamlet's country. The vaults under the castle of Kronborg were supposed to be the residence of Holger Danske, the mythic hero of Denmark, who never appeared above ground save when the country was in danger, and was then supposed to march at the head of the Danish armies. In severe winters the Sound is frozen over at E., so that one can walk over the ice from Denmark to Sweden.

E'LSSLER, FANNY, a celebrated dancer, was born at Vienna in the year 1811, and educated at Naples for the ballet, along with her elder sister Theresa. The first triumph of the sisters took place at Berlin, where they appeared in 1830. The reputation acquired by Fanny in Berlin preceded her to Italy, America, England, and St Petersburg, where her beauty, amiability, and mastery in her art, charmed all classes of society. In 1841, the two sisters went to America, where they excited unwonted enthusiasm. After Fanny had earned laurels in St Petersburg, she returned, in 1851, to Vienna, to take a final leave of the stage. She then retired to Hamburg, where she still resides on a small estate purchased by her beyond the Dammthore. Theresa was less grace ful in her motions than her sister, but exhibited great strength, boldness, and agility. On the 25th April 1851, she became the wife of Prince Adalbert of Prussia, and was ennobled by the king of

Prussia.

E'LSTER, the name of two rivers of Germany, the White and the Black Elster. The White E. rises at the foot of the Elster mountains, on the north-western boundary of Bohemia, flows in a northerly direction, and falls into the Saale three miles south of the town of Halle, in Prussia. Its chief affluent is the Pleisse from the right. Total length, 110 miles. The Black E. rises in the kingdom of Saxony, within two miles of Elstra, flows northwest, enters Prussia, and joins the Elbe eight miles south-east of Wittenberg. Length, 105 miles.

ELSTRACKE, REGINALD or RENOLD, an English engraver, who flourished about 1620. He worked chiefly for the booksellers, and his plates, which are executed with the graver, without etching, are almost entirely confined to portraits. Prints from his plates are much sought after, not only from their scarcity, and as illustrating English history, but as works of art, in which much character is expressed in a firm and forcible manner. When he did not sign his plates with his name, he marked them with his initials, R. E.

ELVANS are veins of a granular crystalline mixture of felspar and quartz, probably proceeding from a granite mass, which are found in granite rocks and fossiliferous slates in Cornwall, Devon, and the south of Ireland.

E'LVAS, an episcopal city and fortress of Portugal, stands in a very fruitful district on the eastern frontier of the province of Alemtejo, 10 miles west of Badajoz, and 40 miles north-east of Evora. It is the strongest fortress in Portugal, and one of the strongest in Europe. It is built upon a precipitous hill; is surrounded by walls, and by a glacis and covered-way. Besides these, E. has other defences in two formidable forts, Fort Sta. Lucia, and Fort Lippe, the former to the south, and the latteralmost entirely shell-proof-to the north of the city. E. is an old town; many of its houses are badly built. Its most striking architectural feature is an enormous aqueduct, which conveys water to it from a distance of three miles. This aqueduct consists of four tiers of arches built upon one another, and rising to the height of about 250 feet. The chief manufactures of E. are arms and jewellery. There are here extensive store-houses filled with British manufactures, and the inhabitants, by illegally selling these goods within the Spanish frontier, realise considerable wealth. Pop. 12,400.

E. has undergone many sieges, but has never been taken. The Spaniards besieged it in 1385, and again in 1659, when a famous battle took place called the Lines of Elvas, in which the Portuguese, though greatly inferior in numbers, drove the Spaniards from their lines in front of the town. E. was raised to the rank of a city by D. Manoel, king of Portugal, in 1513.

ELVES. See FAIRIES.

latter in the town.

E'LY, so called from a Saxon word, elig, an eel, or helig, a willow, may be called a cathedral town rather than a city, and is situated on an eminence in that part of the fen-country of Cambridgeshire called the Isle of Ely. Pop. about 6000. The ELTO'N, a famous salt lake of Russia, is situated Eastern Counties and the Great Northern Railin the government of Saratov, 170 miles south-south-ways have each stations, the former outside, the east from the town of that name, the lat. of its centre being 48° 56′ N., and the long. 46° 40′ E. Its longest diameter is eleven miles, and its shortest about nine miles. It has a superficial extent of 45,500 English acres, but at no place is it more than about 15 inches in depth. It is of an oval form, and can be easily reached from the south, but the northern banks rise so rapidly that access to it from that quarter is difficult. In the hottest season, so wonderful is the illusion produced by the crystallised

Ely Cathedral.-About the year 673, Etheldreda, daughter of the king of East Anglia, and wife of Oswy, king of Northumberland, founded a monastery here, and took on herself the government of it. Two hundred years afterwards (870), the Danes ravaged the Isle, and destroyed the monastery, which was rebuilt in 970 by St Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester; and this continued till 1081, when a new church was begun, which was converted