He studied at Oriel College, Oxford, where he obtained first-class honours
in classics, and was elected a fellow (1848). In the following year he took
orders, and was appointed for five years university professor of
Anglo-Saxon. In 1857 he became rector of Swanswick, near Bath, and in 1871,
a prebendary of Wells. The five years' rule having been rescinded, he was
re-elected professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford in 1876, and continued to
hold the position, together with the rectory of Swanswick, until his death.
Among his contributions to the study of Anglo-Saxon and modern English are
the following: _Two Saxon Chronicles Parallel_ (1865); _The Philology of
the English Tongue_ (1871); _A Book for the Beginner in Anglo-Saxon_
(1877); _English Plant Names from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century_
(1880); _Anglo-Saxon Literature_ (1884), a very useful and informing little
manual; _Handbook to the Land Charters and other Saxonic Documents_ (1888);
_English Prose: its Elements, History, and Usage_ (1890); _The Deeds of
Beowulf_ (1892), a translation of the well-known Anglo-Saxon epic; _The
Psalter of 1539_ (1894); and _A Simple Grammar of English now in Use_
(1898). He also wrote a book on _Bath, Ancient and Modern_ (1864).
EARLESTOWN, a town of Lancashire, England, 14 miles east of Liverpool.
There are here engineering-works, sugar-works, and other establishments.
Pop. 9020.
EARL-MARSHAL, a great officer of England, who had, anciently, several
courts under his jurisdiction, as the court of chivalry and the court of
honour. He is the head of the College of Arms (Heralds' College), grants
armorial bearings, and determines all claims in connection with them. Since
1672 the office is hereditary in the family of Howard (Dukes of Norfolk).
There was also an earl-marshal of Scotland, the office being hereditary in
the Keith family until 1716, when it was abolished.
EARLOM, Richard, English mezzotinto engraver, born 1743, died 1822. His
engravings from Reynolds, Hogarth, Van Huysum, &c., and from Claude's
_Liber Veritatis_, are exceptionally fine, and are standard works in their
department.
EARLSTON (originally ERCILDOUN), a village of Scotland in Berwickshire.
Near it are the ruins of the ancient tower, which belonged to the famous
Thomas the Rhymer. Pop. 1749.
[Illustration: Early English Architecture
Peterborough Cathedral. Part of the West Front Lincoln Cathedral. Early
English Pillars in the Eastern Transept]
[Illustration: Early English Capital, Salisbury]
EARLY ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE, the first of the Pointed or Gothic styles of
architecture that prevailed in England. It succeeded the Norman in the
reign of Richard I (1189), and continued to the end of the reign of Henry
II in 1272, a period of 123 years, when it gradually merged into the
Decorated style. One of the leading peculiarities in this style is the form
of the windows, which are narrow in proportion to their height, and
terminate in a pointed arch, resembling the blade of a lancet (and
therefore often called the _Lancet_ style). Throughout the early period of
the style they are very plain, particularly in small churches; but in
cathedrals and other large buildings the windows, frequently combined two
or more together, are carried to a great height, are richly and deeply
moulded, and the jambs ornamented with slender shafts. On the eastern and
western fronts of small churches the windows are often combined in this
manner, with a circular window above and a richly moulded door below; but
in large buildings there is often more than one range of windows, and the
combinations are very various. Though separated on the outside, these
lancets are in the interior combined into one design, thus giving the first
idea of a compound window. The doorways are in general pointed, and in rich
buildings sometimes double; they are usually moulded, and enriched with the
tooth-ornament. The buttresses are often very bold and prominent, and are
frequently carried up to the top of the building with but little
diminution, and terminate in acutely pointed pediments, which, when raised
above the parapet, produce in some degree the effect of pinnacles. In this
style, likewise, flying-buttresses were first introduced (see
_Buttresses_), and the buttresses themselves much increased in projection
owing to the comparative lightness of the walls, which required some
counter-support to resist the outward pressure of the vaulting. The roof in
the Early English style appears always to have been high pitched, and the
towers surmounted by lofty pointed spires, as at Salisbury Cathedral. In
the interior the arches are usually lancet-shaped, and the pillars often
reduced to very slender proportions. As if to give still greater lightness
of appearance, they are frequently made up of a centre pillar, surrounded
by slight detached shafts, only connected with the pillar by their capitals
and bases, and bands of metal placed at intervals. These shafts are
generally of Purbeck marble, the pillar itself being of stone, and from
their extreme slenderness they sometimes appear as if quite inadequate to
support the weight above them. The earliest example of Early English
architecture is the choir of Canterbury, followed by the choir of Lincoln
Cathedral, but some of the best examples are to be seen in Salisbury
Cathedral. The architects of this style carried their ideas of lightness to
the utmost limits of prudence, and their successors have been afraid to
imitate their example. The abacus of the capitals is generally made up of
two bold round mouldings, with a deep hollow between. The foliage is
peculiar, generally very gracefully drawn, and thrown into elegant curves;
it is usually termed _stiff-leaved_, from the circumstance of its rising
with a stiff stem from the neck-mould of the capital. The trefoil is
commonly imitated, and is very characteristic of the style. The mouldings
of this style have great boldness, and produce a striking effect of light
and shade. They consist chiefly of rounds separated by deep hollows, in
which a peculiar ornament, called the _dog's-tooth_, is used, whenever
ornament can be introduced. This ornament is as characteristic of the Early
English as the zigzag is of the Norman. See _Dog's-tooth_.--Cf. F. Bond,
_An Introduction to English Church Architecture, from the 11th to the 16th
Century_.
EARNEST, in law, any sum paid in advance, to bind parties to the
performance of a verbal agreement, or something given by a buyer to a
seller as a pledge of adherence to a bargain. The party is then obliged to
abide by his bargain, and is not discharged upon forfeiting his earnest. In
England the general view is that the sum paid as earnest, however small, is
part of the price.
EAR-RING, an ornament for the ear, consisting of a ring or hook passing
through the lobe, with a pendant of diamonds, pearls, or other jewels
frequently attached. Ear-rings were commonly worn amongst the Oriental
nations, and by both sexes, especially in Babylonia and Assyria, from the
earliest times. Amongst the Greeks and Romans the wearing of ear-rings was
usually confined to women. In England the Romanized Britons and the
Anglo-Saxons wore them, but the fashion declined in the tenth century, and
was again introduced in the sixteenth century, in Queen Elizabeth's time.
EARSDON, an urban district or town of England, South Northumberland,
several miles north-west of Tynemouth, with productive collieries. Pop.
10,568.
EARTH, the planet which we inhabit, a nearly spherical body which every
twenty-four hours rotates from west to east round an imaginary line called
its axis--this axis having as its extremities the north and south
poles--while in the course of a year it completes a revolution round the
sun. To an observer whose view is not obstructed, the visible part of the
earth appears as a circular and horizontal expanse, on the circumference of
which the heavens appear to rest. Accordingly, in remote antiquity, the
earth was regarded as a flat, circular body, floating on the waters. But
even in antiquity the spherical form of the earth began to be suspected. It
is only on this supposition that we can explain how the horizon of vision
grows wider and wider the higher the position we choose, how the tops of
towers and mountains at a distance become visible before the bases, how the
hull of a ship first disappears as she sails away, and how, as we go from
the poles towards the equator, new stars become visible. Besides these
proofs there are many others, such as the circular contour of the earth's
shadow seen on the moon during an eclipse. The mere fact that the earth can
be circumnavigated does not, as is sometimes assumed, prove it to be
globular. But its surface, land and ocean, has been almost all explored and
accurately mapped, and the relative distances and directions found to
obtain between the places on its surface are consistent only with its
possessing such a shape.
The earth is not, however, an exact sphere, but is very slightly flattened
at the poles, so as to have the form known as an _oblate spheroid_. In this
way the _polar diameter_, or diameter from pole to pole, is shorter than
the diameter at right angles to this--the _equatorial diameter_. The most
accurate measurements make the polar diameter almost 27 miles less than the
equatorial, the equatorial diameter being found to be 7926.7 miles, and the
polar 7900 miles. The earth is regarded as divided into two halves--the
northern and the southern hemisphere--by the _equator_, an imaginary line
going right round it midway between the poles. In order to indicate with
precision the position of places on the earth additional circles are
imagined to be traced upon the surface in such a manner that those of the
one set all pass through both poles, while those of the other are drawn
parallel to the equator. The former are called _meridians_, the latter
_parallels of latitude_, and by reference to them we can state the latitude
and longitude, and thus the exact position, of any place.
Many experiments by various methods have been made in order to determine
the average density of the earth, and the total quantity of matter it
contains. Amongst these methods may be mentioned: (1) that of measuring the
deflection of a plumb-line due to a mountain's attraction, and thereby
comparing the mass of the earth with that of the mountain; (2) that founded
on the difference of oscillation period of a pendulum when placed at the
summit of a mountain and when at the sea-level; (3) by the determination of
the difference of gravity at the top and the bottom of a deep mine, by
pendulum experiments; (4) Cavendish's experiment with the torsion balance,
which attempts to compare the attractive force of two large lead balls upon
two small lead balls with that exercised by the earth. From these and other
experiments it has been calculated that the mean density of the earth is to
that of water as about 5-1/2 to 1.
The earth, in common with the other planets, moves round the sun,
completing its revolution in about 365 days and 6 hours. The orbit of the
earth is an ellipse, with the sun in one of its foci. Hence the earth is
not equally distant from the sun throughout the year; it is over 3,000,000
miles nearer at one time than another, its least distance (_perihelion_
distance), according to recent calculations, being about 91,340,000 miles;
its greatest (_aphelion_ distance), 94,450,000; and the mean distance,
92,897,000 miles. From this it may be calculated that the velocity of the
earth in its orbit is about 18-1/2 miles a second. About 3rd Jan. the earth
is nearest the sun, and about 4th July farthest from it. This position of
matters, which is subject to slow alteration in the course of ages, at
present tends to moderate the seasonal variations in the northern
hemisphere, and to intensify them in the southern. The passage of the earth
round its orbit causes the sun to appear as if it described an annual
circuit of the heavens; and hence it is that at one time of the year one
group of stars is seen in the neighbourhood of the sun near sunrise or
sunset, and at another time another group. This apparent path of the sun is
the _ecliptic_, and corresponds with what would be the path of the earth as
seen from the sun; and the groups of stars through which the sun
successively passes form the _zodiac_.
[Illustration: The Hemispheres, showing the Greatest Masses of Land and
Water]
The earth's daily motion about its own axis takes place in twenty-three
hours, fifty-six minutes, and four seconds of mean time. This diurnal
revolution is the occasion of the alternation of day and night. As the axis
on which the earth performs its diurnal rotation is inclined towards the
plane of its path about the sun at an angle of 66-1/2deg, and the angle
between the plane of the ecliptic and the plane of the earth's equator is
therefore 23-1/2deg, the sun ascends in the heavens, as seen from our
northern latitudes, from 21st March to 21st June (the summer _solstice_),
to about 23-1/2deg above the celestial equator, and descends again towards
the equator from 21st June to 23rd Sept.; it then sinks till 22nd Dec. (the
winter _solstice_), when it is about 23-1/2deg below the equator, and
returns again to the equator by 21st March. This arrangement is the cause
of the seasons, and the inequality of day and night attending them. For all
places removed from the equator, day and night are equal only twice in the
year (at the _equinoxes_). At the summer solstice in the northern
hemisphere the north pole of the earth is turned towards the sun, and the
south pole away from it, and for places within 23-1/2deg of the former
there is a period of longer or shorter duration during which the sun is
continually above the horizon throughout the twenty-four hours of each day,
while round the latter there is an equal extent of surface within which the
sun for similar periods is below the horizon. (See _Day_.) The reverse
state of matters occurs at the winter solstice. The circles bounding these
regions are called respectively the _arctic_ and the _antarctic_ circle,
and the regions themselves the _polar_ or _frigid zones_. Throughout a
region extending to 23-1/2deg on each side of the equator the sun is
directly overhead at any place twice in the year. The circles which bound
this region are called the _tropics_, that in the northern hemisphere being
the tropic of _Cancer_, that in the southern the tropic of _Capricorn_,
while the region between is the _torrid zone_. The regions between the
tropics and the polar circles are respectively the _north_ and _south
temperate zones_.
From the evidence furnished by volcanoes, hot springs, sinking of mines,
&c., it is known that the earth has a high internal temperature. Taking the
average of the various observed rates of increase this temperature seems to
increase 1deg F. for every 60 feet of descent. Assuming this to continue,
the rocks at a depth of 2 miles would be as hot as boiling water, and at a
depth of 50 miles the heat would be such as at the surface would melt every
known solid. This being so, various theories as to the internal condition
of the earth have been proposed: (1) that a thin envelope or crust
surrounds a molten interior. It can be shown, however, that as tides must
be produced in such a molten mass the cool outer crust would be unable to
withstand the enormous force of these unless it were about 2000 miles
thick. (2) That the interior is solid, with spaces here and there filled
with liquid or gaseous material. This theory assumes that there are within
the earth enormous cavities filled with molten rock, which escapes, when
local pressure is removed, in the form of volcanic outbursts. (3) That the
earth consists of a thin crust, a large solid nucleus, and a liquid film
between the nucleus and the crust. (4) That the earth is solid to the
centre, but any part may become liquid if local pressure is removed. On
this theory it is supposed that if water should percolate to liquefied
rocks, it would be converted into steam, and produce the various volcanic
phenomena.
The question of the constitution of the earth's interior has in recent
years been much investigated by means of seismographic records. These
appear to indicate that there are three distinct divisions. The outer crust
has a thickness of from 20 to 40 miles. It possesses a high power of
resistance to all kinds of stress. Beneath it is a large shell possessing a
density and elasticity resembling fine steel. This shell has a high
rigidity against changing forces of shorter duration, like tidal action,
but in its outer parts at least yields in time to unvarying long-continued
stress. The third or innermost division of the earth is probably molten, as
it can transmit compressional waves, but yielding immediately to
distortional or twisting forces, is unable to transmit distortional waves.
This innermost portion appears to be a sphere of radius approximately
one-half that of the earth as a whole. The transition between the crust and
intermediate shell is abrupt, but that between the latter and the central
portion is more gradual.
The earth (like the other planets) is believed to have condensed and
solidified from a gaseous or nebular condition, and to have once had a far
higher temperature than now. If such were the case, the outer surface,
losing heat by radiation, would be the first part to cool quickly; while
the interior, losing its heat by conduction, would not cool so rapidly,
and, therefore, would naturally have a higher temperature than the portion
at the surface. This is what all observations indicate the condition of the
earth to be, and the shape of the earth also indicates that it must once
have been in a fluid state. Calculations have been made of the time which
has elapsed since solidification commenced, the estimates being in general
of the order of hundreds of millions of years. See _Nebular Hypothesis_.
Another feature that the earth as a whole presents is its magnetism. When a
magnetic needle is balanced on a point, it remains at rest in one position
only, pointing then nearly due north and south. This can be explained only
on the supposition that the earth acts as a great magnet. It has, in fact,
two poles--a north and a south magnetic pole--which are not very far from
the geographical poles. The magnetic equator, where the vertical force is
zero and the dipping needle takes a horizontal position, does not diverge
greatly from the geographical equator. The earth acts upon all magnets as
they act upon each other, and it is for this reason that they point north
and south.
The surface of the earth contains over 196,000,000 sq. miles, of which
about two-sevenths is dry land, the remaining five-sevenths being water.
The land is arranged into masses of irregular shape and size, the greatest
connected mass being in the eastern hemisphere. The chief masses receive
the name of continents, detached masses of smaller size being islands. The
surface of the land is variously diversified, exhibiting mountains,
valleys, plains, plateaus, deserts, &c. The water area of the earth is
divided into oceans, seas, bays, gulfs, &c., while rivers and lakes may be
regarded as features of the land surface. The great phenomena of the oceans
are currents and tides. The population of the whole earth is estimated at
from 1600 to 1700 millions. The earth is attended by the moon as a
subordinate or secondary planet. See also such articles as _Climate_,
_Currents_, _Ocean_, _Earthquake_, and _Seasons_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. von
Humboldt, _Cosmos_; E. Reclus, _The Earth and its Inhabitants_; T. G.
Bonney, _The Story of our Planet_; T. M. Reade, _The Evolution of Earth
Structure_; _Theory of Geomorphic Changes_; A. T. Swaine, _The Earth: its
Genesis and Evolution, considered in the Light of the most Recent
Scientific Research_.
EARTHENWARE, a name applied to the commoner sorts of pottery-ware. The
older kinds of earthenware, such as Majolica, Delft-ware, Faience, and
Palissy-ware, are not only glazed, but are besides elaborately coloured and
enamelled and ornamented with raised figures of various kinds. See
_Pottery_.
EARTH-HOUSES, a name generally given throughout Scotland to underground
buildings, also known as 'Picts' houses' or 'Picts' dwellings'. The
earth-house in its simplest form consists of a single irregular-shaped
chamber, formed of unhewn stones, the side walls gradually converging
towards the top until they can be roofed by stones of 4 or 5 feet in width,
all covered in by a mound of earth rising slightly above the level of the
adjacent ground. In the more advanced form of these structures two or three
chambers are found. Earth-houses are frequent in the north-east of
Scotland, occasionally thirty or forty being found in the same locality.
Querns, bones, deers' horns, earthen vessels, cups and implements of bone,
stone celts, bronze swords, and the like, are occasionally found in
connection with them. Very similar structures, known as beehive-houses,
occur also in Ireland and Cornwall.
EARTH-NUT, the _Conopodium denudatum_, an umbelliferous plant common in
woods and fields in Britain. The leaves are ternately divided, and the
small white flowers are in terminal umbels. The tuber or nut is about 4 or
6 inches below the surface, at the termination of a long slender root. It
is brown, the size of a chestnut, of a sweetish farinaceous nature,
resembling in taste the common chestnut. Swine are very fond of the nuts,
and fatten rapidly where they are abundant. The name is frequently applied
to _Carum Bulbocast[)a]num_, which has a similar tuber. See _Ground-nut_.
EARTHQUAKE, a shaking of the earth's surface, propagated from place to
place by a wave motion. It may vary in intensity from the slightest
perceptible tremor to a violent shock which bursts open chasms and changes
the appearance of the ground. Earthquakes originate in the crust of the
earth, generally at only a very few miles depth, and probably never lower
than about 30 miles. The point of origin is called the centre or seismic
focus, and the place on the surface vertically over it the epicentre. It is
rather difficult to tell the depth of the focus. Mallet estimated this by
projecting backward the direction of travel of the wave at different
points, as judged from the inclinations of the rents in buildings, &c.,
assumed to be at right angles to the line of propagation. The accuracy of
this method has been improved by substituting evidence of direction as
given by seismographs. The focus of an earthquake is often submarine, and
subsequent to the shock transmitted through the solid earth a great
sea-wave may invade the land and produce far more disastrous effects.
In some cases an earthquake may be caused by a fall of rock in some
subterranean cavity. This gives only a minor and local shock. The vast
majority of earthquakes are certainly _tectonic_, originating from the
snapping of strata under great strain, or the further slipping of portions
of the earth's crust along previously existing fault planes. Such
dislocations probably arise sometimes from the variations of weight
supported by the earth's crust in neighbouring regions, due to the
transport by rivers of material, which they erode at one place and deposit
at another. A further cause is the contraction undergone by the earth in
its secular cooling. There are also earthquakes of _volcanic_ origin,
accompanying eruptions, but these are not usually of any great violence,
nor do they involve any large area. The coasts of the Pacific
Ocean--American, Asiatic, and East Indian--are much visited by earthquakes,
in especial the Japanese Islands. The other band of greatest frequency has
a direction outlined by the Azores, Alps, Mediterranean, and the Caucasus
and Himalaya Mountains. It may be noted that all the regions specially
affected are distinguished by steep gradients of the earth's surface.
[Illustration: Diagram of Earthquake
AB, Surface of earth. F, Focus. E, Epicentre. 1-4, Successive positions of
earthquake wave. S, S, Cracked walls; the cracks being at right angles to
CF and DF give some indication of the depth of focus.]