[1] See _Der Bau des Elbe-Trave Canals und seine Vorgeschichte_
(Lubeck, 1900).
ELBERFELD, a manufacturing town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine
province, on the Wupper, and immediately west of and contiguous to
Barmen (q.v.). Pop. (1816) 21,710; (1840) 31,514; (1885) 109,218; (1905)
167,382. Elberfeld-Barmen, although administratively separate,
practically form a single whole. It winds, a continuous strip of houses
and factories, for 9 m. along the deep valley, on both banks of the
Wupper, which is crossed by numerous bridges, the engirdling hills
crowned with woods. Local intercommunication is provided by an electric
tramway line and a novel hanging railway--on the Langen mono-rail
system--suspended over the bed of the river, with frequent stations. In
the centre of the town are a number of irregular and narrow streets, and
the river, polluted by the refuse of dye-works and factories,
constitutes a constant eyesore. Yet within recent years great
alterations have been effected; in the newer quarters are several
handsome streets and public buildings; in the centre many insanitary
dwellings have been swept away, and their place occupied by imposing
blocks of shops and business premises, and a magnificent new town-hall,
erected in a dominant position. Among the most recent improvements must
be mentioned the Brausenwerther Platz, flanked by the theatre, the
public baths, and the railway station and administrative offices. There
are eleven Evangelical and five Roman Catholic churches (noticeable
among the latter the Suitbertuskirche), a synagogue, and chapels of
various other sects. Among other public buildings may be enumerated the
civic hall, the law courts and the old town-hall.
The town is particularly rich in educational, industrial, philanthropic
and religious institutions. The schools include the Gymnasium (founded
in 1592 by the Protestant community as a Latin school), the
Realgymnasium (founded in 1830, for "modern" subjects and Latin), the
Oberrealschule and Realschule (founded 1893, the latter wholly
"modern"), two girls' high schools, a girls' middle-class school, a
large number of popular schools, a mechanics' and polytechnic school, a
school of mechanics, an industrial drawing school, a commercial school,
and a school for the deaf and dumb. There are also a theatre, an
institute of music, a library, a museum, a zoological garden, and
numerous scientific societies. The town is the seat of the Berg Bible
Society. The majority of the inhabitants are Protestant, with a strong
tendency towards Pietism; but the Roman Catholics number upwards of
40,000, forming about one-fourth of the total population. The industries
of Elberfeld are on a scale of great magnitude. It is the chief centre
in Germany of the cotton, wool, silk and velvet manufactures, and of
upholstery, drapery and haberdashery of all descriptions, of printed
calicoes, of Turkey-red and other dyes, and of fine chemicals. Leather
and rubber goods, gold, silver and aluminium wares, machinery,
wall-paper, and stained glass are also among other of its staple
products. Commerce is lively and the exports to foreign countries are
very considerable. The railway system is well devised to meet the
requirements of its rapidly increasing trade. Two main lines of railway
traverse the valley; that on the south is the main line from
Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne and Dusseldorf to central Germany and Berlin,
that on the north feeds the important towns of the Ruhr valley.
The surroundings of Elberfeld are attractive, and public grounds and
walks have been recently opened on the hills around with results
eminently beneficial to the health of the population.
In the 12th century the site of Elberfeld was occupied by the castle of
the lords of Elverfeld, feudatories of the archbishops of Cologne. The
fief passed later into the possession of the counts of Berg. The
industrial development of the place started with a colony of bleachers,
attracted by the clear waters of the Wupper, who in 1532 were granted
the exclusive privilege of bleaching yarn. It was not, however, until
1610 that Elberfeld was raised to the status of a town, and in 1640 was
surrounded with walls. In 1760 the manufacture of silk was introduced,
and dyeing with Turkey-red in 1780; but it was not till the end of the
century that its industries developed into importance under the
influence of Napoleon's continental system, which barred out British
competition. In 1815 Elberfeld was assigned by the congress of Vienna,
with the grand-duchy of Berg, to Prussia, and its prosperity rapidly
developed under the Prussian Zollverein.
See Coutelle, _Elberfeld, topographisch-statistische Darstellung_
(Elberfeld, 1853); Schell, _Geschichte der Stadt Elberfeld_ (1900); A.
Shadwell, _Industrial Efficiency_ (London, 1906); and Jorde, _Fuhrer
durch Elberfeld und seine Umgebung_ (1902).
ELBEUF, a town of northern France in the department of Seine-Inferieure,
14 m. S.S.W. of Rouen by the western railway. Pop. (1906) 17,800.
Elbeuf, a town of wide, clean streets, with handsome houses and
factories, stands on the left bank of the Seine at the foot of hills
over which extends the forest of Elbeuf. A tribunal and chamber of
commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, a lycee, a branch of the Bank of
France, a school of industry, a school of cloth manufacture and a museum
of natural history are among its institutions. The churches of St
Etienne and St Jean, both of the Renaissance period with later
additions, preserve stained glass of the 16th century. The
hotel-de-ville and the Cercle du Commerce are the chief modern
buildings. The town with its suburbs, Orival, Caudebec-les-Elbeuf, St
Aubin and St Pierre, is one of the principal and most ancient seats of
the woollen manufacture in France; more than half the inhabitants are
directly maintained by the staple industry and numbers more by the
auxiliary crafts. As a river-port it has a brisk trade in the produce of
the surrounding district as well as in the raw materials of its
manufactures, especially in wool from La Plata, Australia and Germany.
Two bridges, one of them a suspension-bridge, communicate with St Aubin
on the opposite bank of the Seine, and steamboats ply regularly to
Rouen.
Elbeuf was, in the 13th century, the centre of an important fief held by
the house of Harcourt, but its previous history goes back at least to
the early years of the Norman occupation, when it appears under the name
of Hollebof. It passed into the hands of the houses of Rieux and
Lorraine, and was raised to the rank of a duchy in the peerage of France
by Henry III. in favour of Charles of Lorraine (d. 1605), grandson of
Claude, duke of Guise, master of the hounds and master of the horse of
France. The last duke of Elbeuf was Charles Eugene of Lorraine, prince
de Lambesc, who distinguished himself in 1789 by his energy in
repressing risings of the people at Paris. He fought in the army of the
Bourbons, and later in the service of Austria, and died in 1825.
ELBING, a seaport town of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, 49 m. by
rail E.S.E. of Danzig, on the Elbing, a small river which flows into the
Frische Haff about 5 m. from the town, and is united with the Nogat or
eastern arm of the Vistula by means of the Kraffohl canal. Pop. (1905)
55,627. By the Elbing-Oberlandischer canal, 110 m. long, constructed in
1845-1860, Lakes Geserich and Drewenz are connected with Lake Drausen,
and consequently with the port of Elbing. The old town was formerly
surrounded by fortifications, but of these only a few fragments remain.
There are several churches, among them the Marienkirche (dating from the
15th century and restored in 1887), a classical school (Gymnasium)
founded in 1536, a modern school (Realschule), a public library of over
28,000 volumes, and several charitable institutions. The town-hall
(1894) contains a historical museum.
Elbing is a place of rapidly growing industries. At the great Schichau
iron-works, which employ thousands of workmen, are built most of the
torpedo-boats and destroyers for the German navy, as well as larger
craft, locomotives and machinery. In addition to this there are at
Elbing important iron foundries, and manufactories of machinery, cigars,
lacquer and metal ware, flax and hemp yarn, cotton, linen, organs, &c.
There is a considerable trade also in agricultural produce.
The origin of Elbing was a colony of traders from Lubeck and Bremen,
which established itself under the protection of a castle of the
Teutonic Knights, built in 1237. In 1246 the town acquired "Lubeck
rights," i.e. the full autonomy conceded by the charter of the emperor
Frederick II. in 1226 (see LUBECK), and it was early admitted to the
Hanseatic League. In 1454 the town repudiated the overlordship of the
Teutonic Order, and placed itself under the protection of the king of
Poland, becoming the seat of a Polish voivode. From this event dates a
decline in its prosperity, a decline hastened by the wars of the early
18th century. In 1698, and again in 1703, it was seized by the elector
of Brandenburg as security for a debt due to him by the Polish king. It
was taken and held to ransom by Charles XII. of Sweden, and in 1710 was
captured by the Russians. In 1772, when it fell to Prussia through the
first partition of Poland, it was utterly decayed.
See Fuchs, _Gesch. der Stadt Elbing_ (Elbing, 1818-1852); Rhode, _Der
Elbinger Kreis in topographischer, historischer, und statistischer
Hinsicht_ (Danzig, 1871); Wernick, _Elbing_ (Elbing, 1888).
ELBOW, in anatomy, the articulation of the _humerus_, the bone of the
upper arm, and the _ulna_ and _radius_, the bones of the forearm (see
JOINTS). The word is thus applied to things which are like this joint in
shape, such as a sharp bend of a stream or river, an angle in a tube,
&c. The word is derived from the O. Eng. _elnboga_, a combination of
_eln_, the forearm, and _boga_, a bow or bend. This combination is
common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. _Ellbogen_. _Eln_ still
survives in the name of a linear measure, the "ell," and is derived from
the O. Teut. _alina_, cognate with Lat. _ulna_ and Gr. [Greek: olene],
the forearm. The use of the arm as a measure of length is illustrated by
the uses of _ulna_, in Latin, cubit, and fathom.
ELBURZ, or ALBURZ (from O. Pers. _Hara-bere-zaiti_, the "High
Mountain"), a great chain of mountains in northern Persia, separating
the Caspian depression from the Persian highlands, and extending without
any break for 650 m. from the western shore of the Caspian Sea to
north-eastern Khorasan. According to the direction, or strike, of its
principal ranges the Elburz may be divided into three sections: the
first 120 m. in length with a direction nearly N. to S., the second 240
m. in length with a direction N.W. to S.E., and the third 290 m. in
length striking S.W. to N.E. The first section, which is connected with
the system of the Caucasus, and begins west of Lenkoran in 39 deg. N.
and 45 deg. E., is known as the Talish range and has several peaks 9000
to 10,000 ft. in height. It runs almost parallel to the western shore of
the Caspian, and west of Astara is only 10 or 12 m. distant from the
sea. At the point west of Resht, where the direction of the principal
range changes to one of N.W. to S.E., the second section of the Elburz
begins, and extends from there to beyond Mount Demavend, east of
Teheran. South of Resht this section is broken through at almost a right
angle by the Safid Rud (White river), and along it runs the principal
commercial road between the Caspian and inner Persia,
Resht-Kazvin-Teheran. The Elburz then splits into three principal ranges
running parallel to one another and connected at many places by
secondary ranges and spurs. Many peaks of the ranges in this section
have an altitude of 11,000 to 13,000 ft., and the elevation of the
passes leading over the ranges varies between 7000 and 10,000 ft. The
highest peaks are situated in the still unexplored district of Talikan,
N.W. of Teheran, and thence eastwards to beyond Mount Demavend. The part
of the Elburz immediately north of Teheran is known as the Kuh i Shimran
(mountain of Shimran, from the name of the Shimran district on its
southern slopes) and culminates in the Sar i Tochal (12,600 ft.). Beyond
it, and between the border of Talikan in the N.W. and Mount Demavend in
the N.E., are the ranges Azadbur, Kasil, Kachang, Kendevan, Shahzad,
Varzeh, Derbend i Sar and others, with elevations of 12,000 to 13,500
ft., while Demavend towers above them all with its altitude of 19,400
ft. The eastern foot of Demavend is washed by the river Herhaz (called
Lar river in its upper course), which there breaks through the Elburz in
a S.-N. direction in its course to the Caspian, past the city of Amol.
The third section of the Elburz, with its principal ranges striking S.W.
to N.E., has a length of about 290 m., and ends some distance beyond
Bujnurd in northern Khorasan, where it joins the Ala Dagh range, which
has a direction to the S.E., and, continuing with various appellations
to northern Afghanistan, unites with the Paropamisus. For about
two-thirds of its length--from its beginning to Khush Yailak--the third
section consists of three principal ranges connected by lateral ranges
and spurs. It also has many peaks over 10,000 ft. in height, and the
Nizva mountain on the southern border of the unexplored district of
Hazarjirib, north of Semnan, and the Shahkuh, between Shahrud and
Astarabad, have an elevation exceeding 13,000 ft. Beyond Khush Yailak
(meaning "pleasant summer quarters"), with an elevation of 10,000 ft.,
are the Kuh i Buhar (8000) and Kuh i Suluk (8000), which latter joins
the Ala Dagh (11,000).
The northern slopes of the Elburz and the lowlands which lie between
them and the Caspian, and together form the provinces of Gilan,
Mazandaran and Astarabad, are covered with dense forest and traversed by
hundreds (Persian writers say 1362) of perennial rivers and streams. The
breadth of the lowlands between the foot of the hills and the sea is
from 2 to 25 m., the greatest breadth being in the meridian of Resht in
Gilan, and in the districts of Amol, Sari and Barfurush in Mazandaran.
The inner slopes and ranges of the Elburz south of the principal
watershed, generally the central one of the three principal ranges which
are outside of the fertilizing influence of the moisture brought from
the sea, have little or no natural vegetation, and those farthest south
are, excepting a few stunted cypresses, completely arid and bare.
"North of the principal watershed forest trees and general verdure
refresh the eye. Gurgling water, strips of sward and tall forest trees,
backed by green hills, make a scene completely unlike the usual monotony
of Persian landscape. The forest scenery much resembles that of England,
with fine oaks and greensward. South of the watershed the whole aspect
of the landscape is as hideous and disappointing as scenery in
Afghanistan. Ridge after ridge of bare hill and curtain behind curtain
of serrated mountain, certainly sometimes of charming greys and blues,
but still all bare and naked, rugged and arid" ("Beresford Lovett,
_Proc. R.G.S._, Feb. 1883).
The higher ranges of the Elburz are snow-capped for the greater part of
the year, and some, which are not exposed to the refracted heat from the
arid districts of inner Persia, are rarely without snow. Water is
plentiful in the Elburz, and situated in well-watered valleys and gorges
are innumerable flourishing villages, embosomed in gardens and orchards,
with extensive cultivated fields and meadows, and at higher altitudes
small plateaus, under snow until March or April, afford cool camping
grounds to the nomads of the plains, and luxuriant grazing to their
sheep and cattle during the summer. (A. H.-S.)
ELCHE, a town of eastern Spain, in the province of Alicante, on the
river Vinalapo. Pop. (1900) 27,308. Elche is the meeting-place of three
railways, from Novelda, Alicante and Murcia. It contains no building of
high architectural merit, except, perhaps, the collegiate church of
Santa Maria, with its lofty blue-tiled dome and fine west doorway. But
the costume and physiognomy of the inhabitants, the narrow streets and
flat-roofed, whitewashed houses, and more than all, the thousands of
palm-trees in its gardens and fields, give the place a strikingly
Oriental aspect, and render it unique among the cities of Spain. The
cultivation of the palm is indeed the principal occupation; and though
the dates are inferior to those of the Barbary States, upwards of 22,500
tons are annually exported. The blanched fronds are also sold in large
quantities for the processions of Palm Sunday, and after they have
received the blessing of the priest they are regarded throughout Spain
as certain defences against lightning. Other thriving local industries
include the manufacture of oil, soap, flour, leather, alcohol and
esparto grass rugs. The harbour of Elche is Santa Pola (pop. 4100),
situated 6 m. E.S.E., where the Vinalapo enters the Mediterranean, after
forming the wide lagoon known as the Albufera de Elche.
Elche is usually identified with the Iberian _Helike_, afterwards the
Roman colony of _Ilici_ or _Illici_. From the 8th century to the 13th it
was held by the Moors, who finally failed to recapture it from the
Spaniards in 1332.
ELCHINGEN, a village of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, not far from
the Danube, 5 m. N.E. from Ulm. Here, on the 14th of October 1805, the
Austrians under Laudon were defeated by the French under Ney, who by
taking the bridge decided the day and gained for himself the title of
duke of Elchingen.
ELDAD BEN MAHLI, also surnamed had-Dani, Abu-Dani, David-had-Dani, or
the Danite, Jewish traveller, was the supposed author of a Jewish
travel-narrative of the 9th century A.D., which enjoyed great authority
in the middle ages, especially on the question of the Lost Ten Tribes.
Eldad first set out to visit his Hebrew brethren in Africa and Asia. His
vessel was wrecked, and he fell into the hands of cannibals; but he was
saved by his leanness, and by the opportune invasion of a neighbouring
tribe. After spending four years with his new captors, he was ransomed
by a fellow-countryman, a merchant of the tribe of Issachar. He then
(according to his highly fabulous narrative) visited the territory of
Issachar, in the mountains of Media and Persia; he also describes the
abodes of Zabulon, on the "other side" of the Paran Mountains, extending
to Armenia and the Euphrates; of Reuben, on another side of the same
mountains; of Ephraim and Half Manasseh, in Arabia, not far from Mecca;
and of Simeon and the other Half of Manasseh, in Chorazin, six months'
journey from Jerusalem. Dan, he declares, sooner than join in Jeroboam's
scheme of an Israelite war against Judah, had migrated to Cush, and
finally, with the help of Naphthali, Asher and Gad, had founded an
independent Jewish kingdom in the Gold Land of Havila, beyond Abyssinia.
The tribe of Levi had also been miraculously guided, from near Babylon,
to Havila, where they were enclosed and protected by the mystic river
Sambation or Sabbation, which on the Sabbath, though calm, was veiled in
impenetrable mist, while on other days it ran with a fierce
untraversable current of stones and sand.
Apart from these tales, we have the genuine Eldad, a celebrated Jewish
traveller and philologist; who flourished c. A.D. 830-890; to whom the
work above noticed is ascribed; who was a native either of S. Arabia,
Palestine or Media; who journeyed in Egypt, Mesopotamia, North Africa,
and Spain; who spent several years at Kairawan in Tunis; who died on a
visit to Cordova, and whose authority, as to the lost tribes, is
supported by a great Hebrew doctor of his own time, Zemah Gaon, the
rector of the Academy at Sura (A.D. 889-898). It is possible that a
certain relationship exists (as suggested by Epstein and supported by
D.H. Muller) between the famous apocryphal _Letter of Prester John_ (of
c. A.D. 1165) and the narrative of Eldad; but the affinity is not close.
Eldad is quoted as an authority on linguistic difficulties by the
leading medieval Jewish grammarians and lexicographers.
The work ascribed to Eldad is in Hebrew, divided into six chapters,
probably abbreviated from the original text. The first edition
appeared at Mantua about 1480; the second at Constantinople in 1516;
this was reprinted at Venice in 1544 and 1605, and at Jessnitz in
1722. A Latin version by Gilb. Genebrard was published at Paris in
1563, under the title of _Eldad Danius ... de Judaeis clausis eorumque
in Aethiopia ... imperio_, and was afterwards incorporated in the
translator's _Chronologia Hebraeorum_ of 1584; a German version
appeared at Prague in 1695, and another at Jessnitz in 1723. In 1838
E. Carmoly edited and translated a fuller recension which he had found
in a MS. from the library of Eliezer Ben Hasan, forwarded to him by
David Zabach of Morocco (see _Relation d'Eldad le Danite_, Paris,
1838). Both forms are printed by Dr Jellinek in his _Bet-ha-Midrasch_,
vols. ii. p. 102, &c., and iii. p. 6, &c. (Leipzig, 1853-1855). See
also Bartolocci, _Bibliotheca magna Rabbinica_, i. 101-130; Furst,
_Bibliotheca Judaica_, i. 30, &c.; Hirsch Graetz, _Geschichte der
Juden_ (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1895), v. 239-244; Rossi, _Dizionario degli
Ebrei_; Steinschneider, _Cat. librorum Hebraeorum in bibliotheca
Bodleiana_, cols. 923-925; Kitto's _Biblical Cyclopaedia_ (3rd
edition, _sub nomine_); Abr. Epstein, _Eldad ha-Dani_ (Pressburg,
1891); D.H. Muller, "Die Recensionen und Versionen des Eldad
had-Dani," in _Denkschriften d. Wiener Akad._ (Phil.-Hist. Cl.), vol.
xli. (1892), pp. 1-80.
ELDER (Gr. [Greek: presbuteros]), the name given at different times to a
ruler or officer in certain political and ecclesiastical systems of
government.
1. The office of elder is in its origin political and is a relic of the
old patriarchal system. The unit of primitive society is always the
family; the only tie that binds men together is that of kinship. "The
eldest male parent," to quote Sir Henry Maine,[1] "is absolutely
supreme in his household. His dominion extends to life and death and is
as unqualified over his children and their houses as over his slaves."
The tribe, which is a later development, is always an aggregate of
families or clans, not a collection of individuals. "The union of
several clans for common political action," as Robertson Smith says,
"was produced by the pressure of practical necessity, and always tended
towards dissolution when this practical pressure was withdrawn. The only
organization for common action was that the leading men of the clans
consulted together in time of need, and their influence led the masses
with them. Out of these conferences arose the senates of elders found in
the ancient states of Semitic and Aryan antiquity alike."[2] With the
development of civilization there came a time when age ceased to be an
indispensable condition of leadership. The old title was, however,
generally retained, e.g. the [Greek: gerontes] so often mentioned in
Homer, the [Greek: gerousia] of the Dorian states, the _senatus_ and the
_patres conscripti_ of Rome, the sheikh or elder of Arabia, the alderman
of an English borough, the seigneur (Lat. _senior_) of feudal France.
2. It was through the influence of Judaism that the originally political
office of elder passed over into the Christian Church and became
ecclesiastical. The Israelites inherited the office from their Semitic
ancestors (just as did the Moabites and the Midianites, of whose elders
we read in Numbers xxii. 7), and traces of it are found throughout their
history. Mention is made in Judges viii. 14 of the elders of Succoth
whom "Gideon taught with thorns of the wilderness and with briers." It
was to the elders of Israel in Egypt that Moses communicated the plan of
Yahweh for the redemption of the people (Exodus iii. 16). During the
sojourn in the wilderness the elders were the intermediaries between
Moses and the people, and it was out of the ranks of these elders that
Moses chose a council of seventy "to bear with him the burden of the
people" (Numbers xi. 16). The elders were the governors of the people
and the administrators of justice. There are frequent references to
their work in the latter capacity in the book of Deuteronomy, especially
in relation to the following crimes--the disobedience of sons; slander
against a wife; the refusal of levirate marriage; manslaughter; and
blood-revenge. Their powers were gradually curtailed by (a) the
development of the monarchy, to which of course they were in subjection,
and which became the court of appeal in questions of law;[3] (b) the
appointment of special judges, probably chosen from amongst the elders
themselves, though their appointment meant the loss of privilege to the
general body; (c) the rise of the priestly orders, which usurped many of
the prerogatives that originally belonged to the elders. But in spite of
the rise of new authorities, the elders still retained a large amount of
influence. We hear of them frequently in the Persian, Greek and Roman
periods. In the New Testament the members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem
are very frequently termed "elders" or [Greek: presbyteroi], and from
them the name was taken over by the Church.
3. The name "elder" was probably the first title bestowed upon the
officers of the Christian Church--since the word deacon does not occur
in connexion with the appointment of the Seven in Acts vi. Its universal
adoption is due not only to its currency amongst the Jews, but also to
the fact that it was frequently used as the title of magistrates in the
cities and villages of Asia Minor. For the history of the office of
elder in the early Church and the relation between elders and bishops
see PRESBYTER.
4. In modern times the use of the term is almost entirely confined to
the Presbyterian church, the officers of which are always called elders.
According to the Presbyterian theory of church government there are two
classes of elders--"teaching elders," or those specially set apart to
the pastoral office, and "ruling elders," who are laymen, chosen
generally by the congregation and set apart by ordination to be
associated with the pastor in the oversight and government of the
church. When the word is used without any qualification it is
understood to apply to the latter class alone. For an account of the
duties, qualifications and powers of elders in the Presbyterian Church
see PRESBYTERIANISM.
See W.R. Smith, _History of the Semites_; H. Maine, _Ancient Law_; E.
Schurer, _The Jewish People in the Time of Christ_; J. Wellhausen,
_History of Israel and Judah_; G.A. Deissmann, _Bible Studies_, p.
154.