1. He who bets on one of the players has a right to advise him in
playing the game.
2. He who wins a bet is bound to give his adversary his revenge, but the
loser is not obliged to take it.
3. The players have the privilege of accepting bets in preference to a
bystander.
4. Betting being optional and not arbitrary, the bets that are made must
be mentioned at every game.
5. Every case not provided for by the foregoing rules ought always to be
decided against the player who is in fault.—_Hoyle._
ECHINUS, _s._ A hedgehog; a shell-fish set with prickles. _Vide_
HEDGEHOG.
EDDY, _s._ The water that, by some repercussion, or opposite wind,
runs contrary to the main stream; generally a favourite cast in
fly-fishing.
EEL, _s._ A serpentine slimy fish, that lurks in mud.
Very little is yet known of the natural history of the eel; indeed, the
element in which they live almost precludes us from that access to them
which is necessary to enable us to observe their habits and economy. The
eel is evidently a link between the fish and serpent, but, unlike the
former, it can exist a long time out of water, which its nocturnal
migrations prove, though probably a certain degree of moisture on the
grass is necessary to enable it to do this.
The haunts of the eel are among weeds, under roots, stumps of trees, in
holes and clefts of the earth, both in the banks, and at the bottom in
the plain mud, where they lie with only their heads out, watching for
their prey; they are also to be found under great stones, old timber,
about bridges, flood-gates, weirs, and also mills, except when the water
is rendered thick by rains, for then they come out, and will bite
eagerly. They are in best season from May until July: a running line
should be used, which must be very strong, and the hook No. 3, or 4,
with a plumb or pistol bullet upon it. They are to be angled for on the
ground, and two or more rods may be employed (if ground bait be thought
necessary, it should be the same as for the barbel); the prime bait is
the lob-worm, and they bite eagerly all day, in dark cloudy weather,
after showers, attended with thunder and lightning, when the water is
high and discoloured; but those who venture upon night angling, will
have far greater success when the weather is warm and the night dark.
They are then to be angled for upon the shallows, where there is a
current, or by the side or tail of a stream, with a sandy or gravelly
bottom, with the bait on the ground; they will be felt to tug sharply
when they seize the bait, give time (which is necessary both in day and
night angling), and there will be no doubt of sport from night-fall
until day-break, when they directly flee to their hiding places.
The largest eels are caught by night lines. It is of little consequence
where they are laid, as they will succeed in streams (where the eels
rove in search of prey), as well as in still waters, and they will take
frogs, black snails, worms, roach, dace, gudgeon, minnows (which two
last are best), loaches, bleaks, and millers’ thumbs. A sufficient
quantity of links of twelve hairs should be doubled, and a hook tied to
each link; these are to be noosed at proper distances to pieces of cord
of fifteen feet long; bait the hooks by making an incision with the
baiting needle under the shoulder and thrusting it out at the middle of
the tail, drawing the link after it; the point of the hook should be
upright towards the back of the baitfish; fasten one end to the bank or
a stub, and cast the other into the water, but not to the extent of the
line (as eels will run a little before they gorge): the lines should be
taken up early in the morning; such of the lines as have eels at them
will be drawn very tight. Dark nights in July, August, and September,
are the best for this kind of fishing.
Another method of taking eels, when the water is clear and low, is
called snigling, and is performed with a stick about a yard long, with a
cleft at each end, and a strong needle well whipped to a small whipcord
line from the eye down to the middle. In baiting, run the head of the
needle quite up into the head of a lobworm, letting the point come about
the middle; then put the point of the needle into the cleft at either
end of the stick, and taking both stick and line together in one hand,
put the bait softly into holes under walls, stones, &c., where eels hide
themselves; if there be an eel there, he will take the worm and needle
out of the cleft. Draw back the stick gently (having slackened the
line), and give time for his swallowing the bait; then strike, and the
needle will stick across his throat. Let him tire himself with tugging,
previous to any attempt to pull him out, for he lies folded in his den,
and will fasten his tail round anything for his defence. The largest
eels are generally taken about the hollow stone-work of old bridges (the
angler being in a boat), and are sometimes caught in considerable
numbers.
A third plan for taking eels is by what is termed bobbing, which is best
managed in a boat. This is done by taking a quantity of well-scoured
lobworms; have a long needle, with three lengths of worsted slightly
twisted together; put the needle lengthways through the worms, and draw
them down on the worsted. When there is two yards thus prepared, then
fold them up in links, and tie them to about two yards of good twine,
and make a knot on it eight inches from the worms; and slipping a piece
of lead, with a hole in it (weighing from a quarter to three quarters of
a pound, according to the current fished in), down the line to the knot;
fasten the line to a manageable pole, and let the lead lie on the bottom
in thick, muddy water, when the tide runs up strong, or near the mouth
of some river. When the eels nibble at the bait, they can be felt; give
some little time before it is pulled up, which must be gently until near
the surface, and then hoist out quickly. The worsted sticking in the
eels’ teeth, prevents their loosening themselves until the line is
slackened by throwing them into the boat, or on the ground. So soon as
they are disentangled, throw the bait in again. Frequently great
quantities are thus caught, especially of grigs. Eels are also to be
snared in the same way as the pike, and in the fens numbers are speared
by an instrument with three or four forks, or jagged teeth, which is
struck at random into the mud.
* * * * *
The most extraordinary peculiarity in the natural history of the eel, is
its double migration, one up and one down rivers, one from and the other
to the sea; the first in spring and summer, and the second in autumn or
early in winter. The first, of very small eels, which are sometimes not
more than two or two and a half inches long; the second, of large eels,
which sometimes are three or four feet long, and weigh from ten to
fifteen, or even twenty pounds. There is great reason to believe, that
all eels found in fresh water are the results of the first migration.
They appear in millions, in April and May, and sometimes continue to
rise as late even as July and the beginning of August. I remember this
was the case in Ireland, in 1823. It had been a cold backward summer,
and when I was at Ballyshannon, about the end of July, the mouth of the
river, which had been in flood all this month, under the fall, was
blackened by millions of little eels, about as long as the finger, which
were constantly urging their way up the moist rocks by the side of the
fall. Thousands died, but their bodies remaining moist, served as the
ladder for others to make their way; and I saw some ascending even
perpendicular stones, making their road through wet moss, or adhering to
some eels that had died in the attempt. Such is the energy of these
little animals, that they continue to find their way, in immense
numbers, to Loch Erne. The same thing happens at the fall of the Bann,
and Loch Neagh is thus peopled by them: even the mighty Fall of
Schaffhausen does not prevent them from making their way to the Lake of
Constance, where I have seen many very large eels.
There are eels in the Lake of Neufchatel, which communicates, by a
stream, with the Rhine; but there are none in the Leman Lake, because
the Rhone makes a subterraneous fall below Geneva; and though small eels
can pass by moss or mount rocks, they cannot penetrate limestone, or
move against a rapid descending course of water, passing, as it were,
through a pipe. Again: no eels mount the Danube from the Black Sea; and
there are none found in the great extent of lakes, swamps, and rivers,
communicating with the Danube, though some of these lakes and morasses
are wonderfully fitted for them, and though they are found abundantly in
the same countries, in lakes and rivers connected with the ocean and
Mediterranean. Yet, when brought into confined water in the Danube, they
fatten and thrive there. As to the instinct which leads young eels to
seek fresh water, it is difficult to reason; probably they prefer
warmth, and, swimming at the surface in the early summer, find the
lighter water warmer, and likewise containing more insects, and so
pursue the courses of fresh water, as the waters from the land, at this
season, become warmer than those of the sea.
Mr. J. Couch, (_Lin. Trans._ t. xiv. p. 70) says, that the little eels,
according to his observation, are produced within reach of the tide, and
climb round falls to reach fresh water from the sea. I have sometimes
seen them, in spring, swimming in immense shoals in the Atlantic, in
Mount Bay, making their way to the mouth of small brooks and rivers.
When the cold water from the autumnal floods begins to swell the rivers,
this fish tries to return to the sea; but numbers of the smaller ones
hide themselves during the winter in the mud, and many of them form, as
it were, in masses together. Various authors have recorded the migration
of eels in a singular way,—such as Dr. Plot, who, in his History of
Staffordshire, says, that they pass in the night, across meadows, from
one pond to another: and Mr. Arderon, (in _Trans. Royal Soc._) gives a
distinct account of small eels rising up the flood-gates and posts of
the water works of the city of Norwich; and they made their way to the
water above, though the boards were smooth planed, and five or six feet
perpendicular. He says, when they first rose out of the water upon the
dry board, they rested a little—which seemed to be till their slime was
thrown out, and sufficiently glutinous—and then they rose up the
perpendicular ascent with the same facility as if they had been moving
on a plane surface.—(_Trans. Abr._ vol. ix. p. 311.) There can, I think,
be no doubt, that they are assisted by their small scales, which, placed
like those of serpents, must facilitate their progressive motion: these
scales have been microscopically observed by Leuwenhoek.—(_Phil. Trans._
vol. iv.) Eels migrate from the salt-water of different sizes, but I
believe never when they are above a foot long—and the great mass of them
are only from two and a half to four inches. They feed, grow, and fatten
in fresh water. In small rivers they are seldom very large; but in large
deep lakes they become as thick as a man’s arm, or even leg; and all
those of a considerable size attempt to run to the sea in October or
November, probably when they experience the cold of the first autumnal
rains. Those that are not of the largest size, as I said before, pass
the winter in the deepest parts of the mud of rivers and lakes, and do
not seem to eat much, and remain, I believe, almost torpid. Their
increase is not certainly known in any given time, but must depend upon
the quantity of their food; but it is probable they do not become of the
largest size from the smallest in one or even two seasons: but this, as
well as many other particulars, can only be ascertained by new
observations and experiments. Block states, that they grow slowly, and
mentions, that some had been kept in the same pond for fifteen years.
As very large eels, after having migrated, never return to the river
again, they must (for it cannot be supposed they all die immediately in
the sea) remain in salt water; and there is great probability, that they
are then confounded with the conger, which is found of different colours
and sizes, from the smallest to the largest, from a few ounces to one
hundred pounds in weight. The colour of the conger is generally paler
than that of the eel; but, in the Atlantic, it is said, that pale
congers are found on one side of the Wolf Rock, and dark ones on the
other. The conger has breathing tubes, which are said not to be found in
the other eel; but to determine this, would require a more minute
examination than has yet been made. Both the conger and common eel have
fringes along the air-bladder, which are probably the ovaria; and Sir E.
Home thinks them hermaphrodite, and that the seminal vessels are close
to the kidneys. I hope this great comparative anatomist will be able to
confirm his views by new dissections, and some chemical researches upon
the nature of the fringes and the supposed melt. If viviparous, and the
fringes contain the ova, one mother must produce tens of thousands, the
ova being remarkably small; but it appears more probable, that they are
oviparous, and that they deposit their ova in parts of the sea near deep
basins, which remain warm in winter. This might be ascertained by
experiment, particularly on the coast of the Mediterranean. I cannot
find that they haunt the Arctic Ocean, which is probably of too low a
temperature to suit their feelings or habits; and the Caspian and Black
Sea are probably without them, from their not being found in the Volga
or Danube; these being shallow seas, are perhaps too cold for them in
winter. From the time (April) that small eels begin to migrate, it is
probable that they are generated in winter, and the pregnant eels should
be looked for in November, December, and January. I opened one in
December, in which the fringes were abundant, but I did not examine them
under the microscope, or chemically. I trust this curious problem will
not remain much longer unsolved.
* * * * *
An amazing number of eels are bred in the two large ponds in Richmond
Park, which is sufficiently evident from the very great quantity of
young ones which migrate from those ponds every year. The late
respectable head-keeper of that park assured me, that, at nearly the
same day in the month of May, vast numbers of young eels, about two
inches in length, contrived to get through the pen-stock of the upper
pond, and then through the channel which led into the lower pond, from
whence they got through another pen-stock into a water-course which led
them eventually into the River Thames. They migrated in one connected
shoal, and in such prodigious numbers, that no guess could be given as
to their probable amount.
* * * * *
The winter retreat of eels is very curious. They not only get deep into
the mud, but in Bushy Park, where the mud in the ponds is not very deep,
and what there is is of a sandy nature, the eels make their way under
the banks of the ponds, and have been found knotted together in a large
mass.
* * * * *
Eel-weirs are common in almost all the rivers in Ireland. There are some
large ones at, or near Enniskillen, where great quantities of these fish
are caught; they are not natives of the lake, but come from the sea when
very young, and are intercepted in their return; they never take a bait,
nor are ever known to eat any kind of food. Lord Belmore has kept some
in boxes for a year, and found this to be the case.
The country people catch them by extending across the water a band of
hay, in which the eels get so entangled, as not to be able to disengage
themselves, and by these means are easily taken.
* * * * *
There is a very singular eel found in the river Barrow near Carlow. It
is like the gillaroo, has a gizzard. This eel is said to be particularly
delicious when introduced to table.
* * * * *
The common eel will grow to a large size, sometimes to weigh twenty
pounds, but that is extremely rare; in 1799 one was taken out of the
Kennet, near Newbury, which weighed fifteen pounds. As to instances
brought by Dale and others, of these fish increasing to a superior
magnitude, there is much reason to suspect them to have been congers;
since the enormous eels they describe, have all been taken at the mouth
of the Thames or Medway.
* * * * *
The following curious fact is recorded by Mr. Swallow, some years since
the British Consul-General in Russia:—Having occasion to go from
Petersburgh to Moscow, where eels are a great rarity, he ordered some,
to carry as a present; upon being taken out of the water, they were
thrown upon the ground to be frozen, and soon appeared quite dead, and
almost a piece of ice; they were then packed in snow, and when arrived
at Moscow, which was four days after, the eels being put into cold
water, and so thawed, discovered gradually signs of life, and soon
perfectly recovered!
* * * * *
The eel was anciently said to possess the power of enforcing sobriety
upon the most devoted subject of the jolly god. “If you would some
notorious drunkard and common swil-bowle to loth and abhorre his
beastlie vice, and for ever after to hate the drinking of wine, put an
eele alyue into some wyde mouthed potte with a couer, hauing in it
suche a quantitie of wine as may suffice of itselfe to suffocate and
strangle the eele to death; which doone, take out the dead eele, and
let the partie, whom you would have reclaymed from his bibacitie, not
knowing hereof, drinke of that wine onely, euen as much as he
listeth.”—_Jesse_—_Daniel_—_Sir H. Davy_, _&c._
EFT, _s._ A newt, an evet, a small lizard.
EGG, _s._ That which is laid by feathered animals, from which their
young is produced; the spawn or sperm of creatures.
_Eggs of Birds._—By experiment it appears that birds do not
instinctively know the necessary time of incubation.
Those who suppose a bird capable of producing eggs at will, or that any
bird is excited to lay more eggs than usual by daily robbing their nest,
are certainly mistaken. In a domesticated fowl it is probable the desire
of incubation may be prolonged by leaving little or nothing in the nest
to sit on. It will therefore lay the number allotted by nature, which is
determined before the first egg is produced.
It is but few birds, if any, that would produce a second lot of eggs in
the same season if unmolested; but if their nests are destroyed, it is
probable three or four separate lots may be produced.
The growth of an egg after impregnation is exceedingly rapid; the yolk
only is formed in the _ovarium_, where it remains till within
twenty-four hours of its being produced; when that part is fully
matured, it separates and falls down the _oviduct_ into the _uterus_,
where the egg is perfectly formed; first, the _vitellus_ or yolk is
surrounded by the _albumen_ or white; and lastly is covered with a
calcareous shell. The very expeditious growth of these last appear to be
an extraordinary exertion of nature. The calcareous covering of an egg
is concreted and formed in a most expeditious manner; a few hours only
seem necessary for this work. Only one _vitellus_ separates from the
_ovarium_ at a time, (except as we shall hereafter mention,) till the
exclusion of which no other succeeds. But this is a daily production,
with few exceptions, there is no more time allowed for perfecting the
_albumen_ and shell than twenty-four hours.
_Colours of Eggs._—It was a notion of Darwin’s that the variety in the
colours of eggs, as well as in the colours of many animals, is adapted
to the purposes of concealment from their natural enemies. Thus, he
remarks, that the eggs of the hedge-chanter (_Accentor modularis_) are
greenish blue, as are those of magpies and crows, which are seen from
beneath in wicker nests, between the eye and the blue of the firmament.
M. Glöger, a German naturalist, has followed up this singular theory
into some detail, and considers it to be a remarkable provision of
nature, that birds whose nests are most exposed, and whose eggs are most
open to the view of their enemies, lay eggs of which the colour is the
least distinguishable from that of surrounding objects, so as to deceive
the eye of birds, or other plundering animals; while birds, the eggs of
which have a bright decided colour, and are consequently very
conspicuous, either conceal their nests in hollows, or only quit their
eggs during the night, or begin to sit immediately. It is also to be
remarked that in the species of which the nest is open, and the female
brings up the brood without the assistance of the male, these females
are generally of a different colour from the male, less conspicuous, and
more in harmony with the objects around.
* * * * *
_Eggs of Game._—Taking or wilfully destroying the eggs of game, subjects
the offender to the following penalties for each egg:—
Pheasant, partridge, swan £1 0 0
Any wild-fowl, crane, bustard
(and one year’s imprisonment
for the offence) 0 1 8
Bittern, heron, shoveller 0 0 8
_Rennie_—_Montagu_, _&c._
EGRET (_Ardea garzetta_, LINN.; _Egretta_, BUFF.), _s._ A fowl of
the heron kind.
[Illustration]
The egret is one of the smallest, as well as the most elegant of the
heron tribe: its shape is delicate, and its plumage as white as snow;
but what constitute its principal beauty are the soft, silky, flowing
plumes on the head, breast, and shoulders: they consist of single
slender shafts, thinly set with pairs of fine soft threads, which float
on the slightest breath of air. Those which arise from the shoulders are
extended over the back, and flow beyond the tail. These plumes were
formerly used to decorate the helmets of warriors: they are now applied
to a gentler and better purpose, in ornamenting the headdresses of the
European ladies, and the turbans of the Persians and Turks.
The egret seldom exceeds a pound and a half in weight, and rarely a foot
and a half in length. A bare green skin is extended from the beak to the
eyes, the irides of which are pale yellow: the bill and legs are black.
Like the common heron, they perch and build their nests on trees, and
live on the same kinds of food.
This species is found in almost every temperate and warm climate, and
must formerly have been plentiful in Great Britain, if it be the same
bird as that mentioned by Leland in the list or bill-of-fare prepared
for the famous feast of Archbishop Nevil, in which one thousand of these
birds were served up. No wonder the species has become nearly extinct in
this country.—_Bewick._
EGYPTIACUM, _s._ Liniment of verdigris. It is useful in diseases of
the frog and heel, and is formed by boiling five ounces of
powdered verdigris, one pound of honey, and seven ounces of
vinegar, until they are incorporated.
EIDER DUCK, ST. CUTHBERT’S DUCK, or GREAT BLACK AND WHITE DUCK
(_Anas mollissima_, LINN.; _L’Eider_, BUFF.), _s._
[Illustration]
This wild but valuable species is of a size between the goose and the
domestic duck, and appears to be one of the graduated links of the chain
which connects the two kinds. The full-grown old males generally measure
about two feet two inches in length, and two feet eight in breadth, and
weigh from six to above seven pounds. The head is large; the middle of
the neck small, with the lower part of it spread out very broad, so as
to form a hollow between the shoulders, which while the bird is sitting
at ease, seems as if fitted to receive its reclining head. The bill is
of a dirty yellowish horn colour, darkish in the middle, and measures,
from the tip to the corners of the mouth, two inches and a half: the
upper mandible is forked in a singular manner towards each eye, and is
covered with white feathers on the sides, as far forward as the
nostrils. The upper part of the head is of a soft velvet black, divided
behind by a dull white stroke pointing downwards: the feathers from the
nape of the neck to the throat, are long, or puffed out, overhanging the
upper part of the neck, and look as if they had been clipped off at the
lower ends; they have the appearance of pale pea-green velvet shag, with
a white line dropping downward from the auriculars on each side. The
cheeks, chin, upper part of the neck, back, and lesser wing coverts, are
white; the scapulars, and secondary quills, next the body, dirty white:
bastard wings, and primary quills, brown; the secondaries and greater
coverts are the same, but much darker: the lower broad part of the neck,
on the front, to the breast, is of a buff colour; but in some specimens
tinged with rusty red: the breast, belly, vent, rump, and tail coverts,
are of a deep sooty black: tail feathers hoary brown: legs short and
yellow: webs and nails dusky. The female is nearly of the same shape,
though less than the male, weighing only between five and six pounds;
but her plumage is quite different, the ground colour being of a reddish
brown, prettily crossed with waved black lines: and in some specimens
the neck, breast, and belly, are tinged with ash: the wings are crossed
with two bars of white: quills dark: the neck is marked with
longitudinal dusky streaks, and the belly is deep brown, spotted
obscurely with black.
The eider duck lays from three to five large, smooth, pale
olive-coloured eggs; these she deposits and conceals in a nest, or bed,
made of a great quantity of the soft, warm elastic down, plucked from
her own breast, and sometimes from that of her mate. The groundwork or
foundation of the nest is formed of bent grass, sea weeds, or such like
coarse materials, and it is placed in as sheltered a spot as the bleak
and solitary place can afford.
In Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, Lapland, and some parts of the coast
of Norway, the eiders flock together, in particular breeding places, in
such numbers, and their nests are so close together, that a person in
walking along can hardly avoid treading upon them. The natives of these
cold climates eagerly watch the time when the first hatchings of the
eggs are laid: of these they rob the nest, and also of the more
important article, the down with which it is lined, which they carefully
gather and carry off. These birds will afterwards strip themselves of
their remaining down, and lay a second hatching, of which also they are
sometimes robbed; but, it is said, that when this cruel treatment is too
often repeated, they leave the place, and return to it no more.
The eider birds build their nests on little islands, not far from the
shore, and sometimes even near the dwellings of the natives, who treat
them with such kindness and circumspection as to make them quite tame.
In the beginning of June they lay five or six eggs, and it is not
unusual to find from ten to sixteen eggs in one nest, with two females,
who agree remarkably well together. The whole time of laying continues
six or seven weeks, during which time the natives visit the nest, for
the purpose of taking the down and eggs, at least once a week. They
first carefully remove the female, and then take away the down and part
of the eggs; after which she lays afresh, covering her eggs with new
down plucked from her breast; this being taken away, the male comes to
her assistance, and covers the eggs with his down, which is left till
the young are hatched. One female, during the whole time of laying,
generally gives half a pound of down. The down from the dead birds is
accounted of little worth, having lost its elasticity. There are
generally exported fifteen hundred or two thousand pounds of down on the
company’s account, exclusive of what is privately sold.—The young ones
quit the nest soon after they are hatched, and follow the female, who
leads them to the water, where, having taken them on her back, she swims
with them a few yards, and then dives, and leaves them floating on the
water: in this situation they soon learn to take care of themselves, and
are seldom afterwards seen on the land, but live among the rocks, and
feed on insects and sea-weed.
* * * * *
“In my way hither,” says Major C., “I measured the flight of the eider
ducks by the following method; viz., on arriving off Duck Island, six
miles distant from Henly Tickle, I caused the people to lay on their
oars; and when I saw the flash of the guns, which were fired at a flock
of ducks as they passed through the latter, I observed by my watch how
long they were in flying abreast of us. The result of very many
observations, ascertained the rate of their flight to be ninety miles in
an hour.”
* * * * *
The extraordinary elasticity of the down appears from what I have
already said of three quarters of an ounce filling a large hat; and
Pontoppidan says, that two or three pounds of it, though pressed into a
ball, which may be held in the hand, upon being allowed to expand, will
fill the foot-covering of a large bed. It is worthy of notice, however,
that it is only the down taken from the nests which has this great
elasticity, for what is taken from the dead birds is much inferior,
being, as Pontoppidan says, “fat, subject to rot, and far from as light
as what the female plucks to form a bed for its young.” It is on this
account that it is prohibited by the laws of Norway to kill the eiders
for their down.
The young have been taken from the Farn Islands, in hopes of their
becoming domesticated, but all attempts have proved ineffectual;
probably for want of proper food, which is said principally to consist
of shell-fish.
The native regions of this bird extend from 45° north, to the highest
latitudes yet discovered, both in Europe and America; some wandering
pairs have been known to breed on the rocky islands beyond Portland, in
the district of Mayne, which is, perhaps, the most southern extent of
their breeding place. Greenland and Iceland abound with them, and they
are numerous on the coast of Labrador. They associate together in
flocks, generally in deep water, diving for shell-fish, retiring
frequently to the rocky shore to rest themselves, particularly on the
approach of a storm. Their flesh is much esteemed by the inhabitants of
Greenland, but tastes strongly of fish. Wilson says, that several
attempts have been made to domesticate them, but hitherto without
effect.—_Bewick_—_Von Troil_—_Montagu._
ELK, _s._ A large and stately animal of the stag kind.
ELL, _s._ A measure containing a yard and a quarter.
ELM, _s._ The name of a tree.
ELOPS, _s. obs._ A fish, reckoned by Milton among the serpents.
EMACIATE, _v._ To lose flesh, to pine.
EMBROCATION, _s._ The act of rubbing any part diseased with
medicinal liquors; the lotion with which any diseased part is
washed.
Embrocations are of a stimulating nature, and are greatly assisted by
friction. Of this kind are opodeldoc, soap liniment, &c.
MUSTARD EMBROCATION.
_For inflammation of the Lungs._
Flour of mustard 4 oz.
Liquid ammonia 1½ oz.
Oil of turpentine 1 oz.
Water, a sufficient quantity to bring it to the consistence of cream.
Flour of mustard mixed into a thin paste with water only is a powerful
stimulant, and may be employed with good effect in cases of internal
inflammation either of the bowels or lungs.
EMBROCATIONS.
_For hard indolent Tumours._
No. 1. Olive oil 4 oz.
Camphor 4 dr.—Mix.
2. Mercurial ointment 2 oz.
Olive oil and camphor, of each 2 dr.
Embrocations of a more stimulating kind are sometimes employed in
swellings of the joints, old strains or other local affections, such as
soap liniment with liquid ammonia, olive oil, oil of turpentine, and
liquid ammonia, but blisters in such cases are generally more effectual.
Embrocations are often improperly employed, as in recent strains, or
inflamed tumours, and other cases where emollient or cooling
applications are required. Both strains and bruises are, at first,
attended with a degree of inflammation, proportionate to the violence of
the injury, and the susceptibility of the injured part; therefore they
require, at first, such treatment as is calculated to subdue
inflammation, that is, bleeding and purging with a suitable diet, and in
strains, rest. The local or topical remedies in the inflammatory stage,
are poultices, but in these cases bleeding and purging, immediately
after their occurrence, are an essential part of the treatment.—_White._
EMERY, _s._ An iron ore, useful in cleaning and polishing steel.
EMMET, _s._ An ant, a pismire.
EMOLLIENT, _a._ Softening, suppling.
EMOLLIENTS, _s._ Such things as sheathe and soften the asperities of
the humours, and relax and supple the solids. _Vide_ POULTICE
and FOMENTATION.
EMULSION, _s._ A form of medicine, by bruising oily seeds and
kernels.
Emulsions are pectoral medicines, generally mixtures of oil and water,
by the intervention of an alkali or mucilage, given alone in coughs.