Modern scientific aural surgery and medicine (commonly known as Otology)
dates from the time of Sir William Wilde of Dublin (1843), whose work
marked a great advance in the application of anatomical, physiological
and therapeutical knowledge to the study of this organ. Less noticeable
contributions to the subject had not long before been made by Saunders
(1827), Kramer (1833), Pilcher (1841) and Yearsley (1841). The next
important event in the history of otology was the publication of J.
Toynbee's book in 1860 containing his valuable anatomical and
pathological observations. Von Troeltsch of Wuerzburg, following on the
lines of Wilde and Toynbee, produced two well-known works in 1861 and
1862, laying the foundation of the study in Germany. In that country and
in Austria he was followed by Hermann Schwartze, Politzer, Gruber,
Weber-Liel, Ruedinger, Moos and numerous others. France produced Itard,
de la Charriere, Meniere, Loewenberg and Bonnafont; and Belgium, Charles
Delstanche, father and son. In Great Britain the work was carried on by
James Hinton (1874), Peter Allen (1871), Patterson Cassells and Sir
William Dalby. In America we may count among the early otologists Edward
H. Clarke (1858), D.B. St John Roosa, H. Knapp, Clarence J. Blake,
Albert H. Buck and Charles Burnett. Other workers all over the world are
too numerous to mention.
_Various Diseases and Injuries._--Diseases of the ear may affect any of
the three divisions, the external, middle or internal ear. The commoner
affections of the _auricle_ are eczema, various tumours (simple and
malignant), and serous and sebaceous cysts. Haematoma auris
(othaematoma), or effusion of blood into the auricle, is often due to
injury, but may occur spontaneously, especially in insane persons. The
chief diseases of the _external auditory canal_ are as follows:--impacted
cerumen (or wax), circumscribed (or furuncular) inflammation, diffuse
inflammation, strictures due to inflammatory affections, bony growths,
fungi (otomycosis), malignant disease, caries and necrosis, and foreign
bodies.
Diseases of the _middle ear_ fall into two categories, suppurative and
non-suppurative (i.e. with and without the formation of pus).
Suppurative inflammation of the middle ear is either acute or chronic,
and is in either case accompanied by perforation of the drum head and
discharge from the ear. The chief importance of these affections, in
addition to the symptoms of pain, deafness, discharge, &c., is the
serious complications which may ensue from their neglect, viz. aural
polypi, caries and necrosis of the bone, affections of the mastoid
process, including the mastoid antrum, paralysis of the facial nerve,
and the still more serious intracranial and vascular infective diseases,
such as abscess in the brain (cerebrum or cerebellum), meningitis, with
subdural and extradural abscesses, septic thrombosis of the sigmoid and
other venous sinuses, and pyaemia. It is owing to the possibility of
these complications that life insurance companies usually, and rightly,
inquire as to the presence of ear discharge before accepting a life.
Patterson Cassells of Glasgow urged this special point as long ago as
1877. Acute suppurative disease of the middle ear is often due to the
exanthemata, scarlatina, measles and smallpox, and to bathing and
diving. It may also be caused by influenza, diphtheria and pulmonary
phthisis.
Non-suppurative disease of the middle ear may be acute or chronic. In
the acute form the inflammation is less violent than in the acute
suppurative inflammation, and is rarely accompanied by perforation.
Chronic non-suppurative inflammation may be divided into the moist form,
in which the symptoms are improved by inflation of the tympanum through
the Eustachian tube, and the dry form (including sclerosis), which is
more intractable and in which this procedure has little or no beneficial
effect. Diseases of the _internal ear_ may be primary or secondary to an
affection of the tympanum or to intracranial disease.
Injuries to any part of the ear may occur, among the commoner being
injuries to the auricle, rupture of the drum head (from explosions,
blows on the ear or the introduction of sharp bodies into the ear
canal), and injuries from fractured skull. Congenital malformations of
the ear are most frequently met with in the auricle and external canal.
_Methods of Examination._--The methods of examining the ear are roughly
threefold:--(1) Testing the hearing with watch, voice and tuning-fork.
The latter is especially used to distinguish between disease of the
middle ear (conducting apparatus) and that of the internal ear
(perceptive apparatus). Our knowledge of the subject has been brought to
its present state by the labours of many observers, notably Weber,
Rinne, Schwabach, Lucae and Gelle. (2) Examination of the canal and
drum-head with speculum and reflector, introduced by Kramer, Wilde and
von Troeltsch. (3) Examination of the drum-cavity through the Eustachian
tube by the various methods of inflation.
_Symptoms._--The chief symptoms of ear diseases are deafness, noises in
the ear (tinnitus aurium), giddiness, pain and discharge. Deafness (or
other disturbance of hearing) and noises may occur from disease in
almost any part of the ear. Purulent discharge usually comes from the
middle ear. Giddiness is more commonly associated with affections of the
internal ear.
_Treatment._--Ear diseases are treated on ordinary surgical and medical
lines, due regard being had to the anatomical and physiological
peculiarities of this organ of sense, and especially to its close
relationship, on the one hand to the nose and naso-pharynx, and on the
other hand to the cranium and its contents. The chief advance in aural
surgery in recent years has been in the surgery of the mastoid process
and antrum. The pioneers of this work were H. Schwartze of Halle, and
Stacke of Erfurt, who have been followed by a host of workers in all
parts of the world. This development led to increased attention being
paid to the intracranial complications of suppurative ear disease, in
the treatment of which great strides have been made in the last few
years.
_Effects of Diseases of the Nose on the Ear._--The influence of diseases
of the nose and naso-pharynx on ear diseases was brought out by
Loewenberg of Paris, Voltolini of Breslau, and especially by Wilhelm
Meyer of Copenhagen, the discoverer of adenoid vegetations of the
naso-pharynx ("adenoids"), who recognized the great importance of this
disease and gave an inimitable account of it in the _Trans. of the Royal
Medical and Chirurgical Society of London_, 1870, and the _Archiv fuer
Ohrenheilkunde_, 1873. Adenoid vegetations, which consist of an abnormal
enlargement of Luschka's tonsil in the vault of the pharynx, frequently
give rise to ear disease in children, and, if not attended to, lay the
foundation of nasal and ear troubles in after life. They are often
associated with enlargement of the faucial tonsils.
_Journals._--In 1864 the _Archiv fuer Ohrenheilkunde_ was started by
Politzer and Schwartze, and, in 1867, the _Monatsschrift fuer
Ohrenheilkunde_ (a monthly publication) was founded by Voltolini,
Gruber, Weber-Liel and Ruedinger. Appearing first as the _Archives of
Ophthalmology and Otology_, simultaneously in English and German, in
1869, the _Archives of Otology_ became a separate publication under
the editorship of Knapp, Moos and Roosa in 1879. Amongst other
journals now existing are _Annales des maladies de l'oreille et du
larynx_ (Paris), _Journal of Laryngology_ (London), _Centralblatt fuer
Ohrenheilkunde_ (Leipzig), &c.
_Societies._--The earliest society formed was the American Otological
Society (1868), which held annual meetings and published yearly
transactions. Flourishing societies for the study of otology
(sometimes combined with laryngology) exist in almost all civilized
countries, and they usually publish transactions consisting of
original papers and cases. The Otological Society of the United
Kingdom was founded in 1900.
_International Congresses._--International Otological congresses have
been held at intervals of about four years at New York, Milan, Basel,
Brussels, Florence, London and Bordeaux (1904). The proceedings of the
congresses appear as substantial volumes.
_Hospitals._--The earliest record of a public institution for the
treatment of ear diseases is a Dispensary for Diseases of the Eye and
Ear in London, started by Saunders and Cooper, which existed in 1804;
the aural part, however, was soon closed, so that the actual oldest
institution appears to be the Royal Ear Hospital, London, which was
founded by Curtis in 1816. Four years later there was started the New
York Eye and Ear Infirmary. At the present time in every large town of
Europe and America ear diseases are treated either in separate
departments of general hospitals or in institutions especially devoted
to the purpose.
For a history of otology from the earliest times refer to _A Practical
Treatise on the Diseases of the Ear_, by D.B. St John Roosa, M.D.,
LL.D. (6th edition, New York, 1885), and for a general account of the
present state of otological science to _A Text-Book of the Diseases of
the Ear for Students and Practitioners_, by Professor Dr Adam
Politzer, transl. by Milton J. Ballin, Ph.B., M.D., and Clarence J.
Heller, M.D. (4th edition, London, 1902). (E. C. B.*)
EARL, a title and rank of nobility (corresponding to Lat. _comes_; Fr.
_comte_), now the third in order of the British peerage, and accordingly
intervening between marquess and viscount. Earl, however, is the oldest
title and rank of English nobles, and was the highest until the year
1337, when the Black Prince was created duke of Cornwall by Edward III.
The nature of a modern earldom is readily understood, since it is a rank
and dignity of nobility which, while it confers no official power or
authority, is inalienable, indivisible, and descends in regular
succession to all the heirs under the limitation in the grant until, on
their failure, it becomes extinct.
The title is of Scandinavian origin, and first appears in England under
Canute as _jarl_, which was englished as _eorl_. Like the _ealdorman_,
whose place he took, the _eorl_ was a great royal officer, who might be
set over several counties, but who presided separately in the county
court of each with the bishop of the diocese. Although there were counts
in Normandy before the Norman Conquest, they differed in character from
the English earls, and the earl's position appears to have been but
slightly modified by the Conquest. He was still generally entitled to
the "third penny" of the county, but his office tended, under Norman
influence, to become an hereditary dignity and his sphere was restricted
by the Conqueror to a single county. The right to the "third penny" is a
question of some obscurity, but its possession seems to have been deemed
the distinctive mark of an earl, while the girding with "the sword of
the county" formed the essential feature in his creation or investiture,
as it continued to do for centuries later. The fact that every earl was
the earl of a particular county has been much obscured by the loose
usage of early times, when the style adopted was sometimes that of the
noble's surname (e.g. the Earls Ferrers), sometimes that of his chief
seat (e.g. the Earls of Arundel), and sometimes that of the county.
Palatine earldoms, or palatinates, were those which possessed _regalia_,
i.e. special privileges delegated by the crown. The two great examples,
which dated from Norman times, were Chester and Durham, where the earl
and the bishop respectively had their own courts and jurisdiction, and
were almost petty sovereigns.
The earliest known charter creating an earl is that by which Stephen
bestowed on Geoffrey de Mandeville, in or about 1140, the earldom of
Essex as an hereditary dignity. Several other creations by Stephen and
the empress Maud followed in quick succession. From at least the time of
the Conquest the earl had a double character; he was one of the
"barons," or tenants in chief, in virtue of the fief he held of the
crown, as well as an earl in virtue of his "belting" (with the sword)
and his "third penny" of the county. His fief would descend to the heirs
of his body; and the earliest charters creating earldoms were granted
with the same "limitation." The dignity might thus descend to a woman,
and, in that case, like the territorial fief, it would be held by her
husband, who might be summoned to parliament in right of it. The earldom
of Warwick thus passed through several families till it was finally
obtained, in 1449, by the Kingmaker, who had married the heiress of the
former earls. But in the case of "co-heiresses" (more daughters than
one), the king determined which, if any, should inherit the dignity.
The 14th century saw some changes introduced. The earldom of March,
created in 1328, was the first that was not named from a county or its
capital town. Under Edward III. also an idea appears to have arisen that
earldoms were connected with the tenure of lands, and in 1337 several
fresh ones were created and large grants of lands made for their
support. The first earldom granted with limitation to the heirs male of
the grantee's body was that of Nottingham in 1383. Another innovation
was the grant of the first earldom for life only in 1377. The girding
with the sword was the only observance at a creation till the first year
of Edward VI., when the imposition of the cap of dignity and a circlet
of gold was added. Under James I. the patent of creation was declared to
be sufficient without any ceremony. An earl's robe of estate has three
bars of ermine, but possibly it had originally four.
Something should be said of anomalous earldoms with Norman or Scottish
styles. The Norman styles originated either under the Norman kings or at
the time of the conquest of Normandy by the house of Lancaster. To the
former period belonged that of Aumale, which successive fresh creations,
under the Latinized form "Albemarle" have perpetuated to the present day
(see ALBEMARLE, EARLS AND DUKES OF). The so-called earls of Eu and of
Mortain, in that period, were really holders of Norman _comtes_. Henry
V. and his son created five or six, it is said, but really seven at
least, Norman countships or earldoms, of which Harcourt (1418), Perche
(1419), Dreux (1427) and Mortain (? 1430) were bestowed on English
nobles, Eu (1419), and Tankerville (1419) on English commoners, and
Longueville (1419) on a foreigner, Gaston de Foix. Of these the earldom
of "Eu" was assumed by the earls of Essex till the death of Robert, the
parliament's general (1646), while the title of Tankerville still
survives under a modern creation (1714). An anomalous royal licence of
1661 permitted the earl of Bath to use the title of earl of Corbeil by
alleged hereditary right. Of Scottish earldoms recognized in the English
parliament the most remarkable case is that of the Lords Umfraville, who
were summoned for three generations (1297-1380), as earls of Angus;
Henry, Lord Beaumont, also was summoned as earl of Buchan from 1334 to
1339.
The earldom of Chester is granted to the princes of Wales on their
creation, and the Scottish earldom of Carrick is held by the eldest son
of the sovereign under act of parliament.
The premier earldom is that of Arundel (q.v.), but as this is at present
united with the dukedom of Norfolk, the oldest earldom not merged in a
higher title is that of Shrewsbury (1442), the next in seniority being
Derby (1485), and Huntingdon (1529). These three have been known as "the
catskin earls," a term of uncertain origin. The ancient earldom of
Wiltshire (1397) was unsuccessfully claimed in 1869 by Mr Scrope of
Danby, and that of Norfolk (1312), in 1906, by Lord Mowbray and
Stourton.
The premier earldom of Scotland as recognized by the Union Roll (1707),
is that of Crawford, held by the Lindsays since its creation in 1398;
but it is not one of the ancient "seven earldoms." The Decreet of
Ranking (1606) appears to have recognized the earldom of Sutherland as
the most ancient in virtue of a charter of 1347, but the House of Lords'
decision of 1771 recognized it as having descended from at least the
year 1275, and it may be as old as 1228. It is at present united with
the dukedom of Sutherland. The original "seven earldoms" (of which it
was one) represented seven provinces, each of which was under a
"_mormaer_." This Celtic title was rendered "_jarl_" by the Norsemen,
and under Alexander I. (c. 1115) began to be replaced by earl (_comes_),
owing to Anglo-Norman influence, which also tended to make these
earldoms less official and more feudal.
In Ireland the duke of Leinster is, as earl of Kildare, premier earl as
well as premier duke.
An earl is "Right Honourable," and is styled "My Lord." His eldest son
bears his father's "second title," and therefore, that second title
being in most cases a viscounty, he generally is styled "Viscount";
where, as with Devon and Huntingdon, there is no second title, one may
be assumed for convenience; under all circumstances, however, the eldest
son of an earl takes precedence immediately after the viscounts. The
younger sons of earls are "Honourable," but all their daughters are
"Ladies." In formal documents and instruments, the sovereign, when
addressing or making mention of any peer of the degree of an earl,
usually designates him "trusty and well-beloved cousin,"--a form of
appellation first adopted by Henry IV., who either by descent or
alliance was actually related to every earl and duke in the realm. The
wife of an earl is a countess; she is "Right Honourable," and is styled
"My Lady." For the earl's coronet see CROWN AND CORONET.
See Lord's _Reports on the Dignity of a Peer_; Pike's _Constitutional_
_History of the House of Lords_; Selden's _Titles of Honour_; G.E.
C(okayne)'s _Complete Peerage_; Round's _Geoffrey de Mandeville_.
(J. H. R.)
EARLE, JOHN (c. 1601-1665), English divine, was born at York about 1601.
He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, but migrated to Merton, where
he obtained a fellowship. In 1631 he was proctor and also chaplain to
Philip, earl of Pembroke, then chancellor of the university, who
presented him to the rectory of Bishopston in Wiltshire. His fame
spread, and in 1641 he was appointed chaplain and tutor to Prince
Charles. In 1643 he was elected one of the Assembly of Divines at
Westminster, but his sympathies with the king and with the Anglican
Church were so strong that he declined to sit. Early in 1643 he was
chosen chancellor of the cathedral of Salisbury, but of this preferment
he was soon deprived as a "malignant." After Cromwell's great victory at
Worcester, Earle went abroad, and was named clerk of the closet and
chaplain to Charles II. He spent a year at Antwerp in the house of Isaac
Walton's friend, George Morley, who afterwards became bishop of
Winchester. He next joined the duke of York (James II.) at Paris,
returning to England at the Restoration. He was at once appointed dean
of Westminster, and in 1661 was one of the commissioners for revising
the liturgy. He was on friendly terms with Richard Baxter. In November
1662 he was consecrated bishop of Worcester, and was translated, ten
months later, to the see of Salisbury, where he conciliated the
nonconformists. He was strongly opposed to the Conventicle and Five Mile
Acts. During the great plague Earle attended the king and queen at
Oxford, and there he died on the 17th of November 1665.
Earle's chief title to remembrance is his witty and humorous work
entitled _Microcosmographie, or a Peece of the World discovered, in
Essayes and Characters_, which throws light on the manners of the time.
First published anonymously in 1628, it became very popular, and ran
through ten editions in the lifetime of the author. The style is quaint
and epigrammatic; and the reader is frequently reminded of Thomas Fuller
by such passages as this: "A university dunner is a gentlemen follower
cheaply purchased, for his own money has hyr'd him." Several reprints of
the book have been issued since the author's death; and in 1671 a French
translation by J. Dymock appeared with the title of _Le Vice ridicule_.
Earle was employed by Charles II. to make the Latin translation of the
_Eikon Basilike_, published in 1649. A similar translation of R.
Hooker's _Ecclesiastical Polity_ was accidentally destroyed.
"Dr Earle," says Lord Clarendon in his _Life_, "was a man of great piety
and devotion, a most eloquent and powerful preacher, and of a
conversation so pleasant and delightful, so very innocent, and so very
facetious, that no man's company was more desired and loved. No man was
more negligent in his dress and habit and mien, no man more wary and
cultivated in his behaviour and discourse. He was very dear to the Lord
Falkland, with whom he spent as much time as he could make his own."
See especially Philip Bliss's edition of the _Microcosmographie_
(London, 1811), and E. Arber's Reprint (London, 1868).
EARLE, RALPH (1751-1801), American historical and portrait painter, was
born at Leicester, Massachusetts, on the 11th of May 1751. Like so many
of the colonial craftsmen, Earle was self-taught, and for many years was
an itinerant painter. He went with the Governor's Guard to Lexington and
made battle sketches, from which in 1775 he painted four scenes,
engraved by Amos Doolittle, which are probably the first historical
paintings by an American. After the War of Independence, Earle went to
London, entered the studio of Benjamin West, and painted the king and
many notables. After his return to America in 1786 he made portraits of
Timothy Dwight, Governor Caleb Strong, Roger Sherman, and other
prominent men. He also painted a large picture of Niagara Falls. He died
at Bolton, Connecticut, on the 16th of August 1801.
EARL MARSHAL, in England, a functionary who ranks as the eighth of the
great officers of state. He is the head of the college of arms, and has
the appointment of the kings-of-arms, heralds and pursuivants at his
discretion. He attends the sovereign in opening and closing the session
of parliament, walking opposite to the lord great chamberlain on his or
her right hand. It is his duty to make arrangements for the order of all
state processions and ceremonials, especially for coronations and royal
marriages and funerals. Like the lord high constable he rode into
Westminster Hall with the champion after a coronation, till the
coronation banquet was abandoned, taking his place on the left hand, and
with the lord great chamberlain he assists at the introduction of all
newly-created peers into the House of Lords.
The marshal appears in the feudal armies to have been in command of the
cavalry under the constable, and to have in some measure superseded him
as master of the horse in the royal palace. He exercised joint and
co-ordinate jurisdiction with the constable in the court of chivalry,
and afterwards became the sole judge of that tribunal till its
obsolescence. The marshalship of England was formerly believed to have
been inherited from the Clares by the Marshal family, who had only been
marshals of the household. It was held, however, by the latter family,
as the office of chief (_magister_) marshal, as early as the days of
Henry I. Through them, under Henry III., it passed to the Bigods, as
their eldest co-heirs. In 1306 it fell to the crown on the death of the
last Bigod, earl of Norfolk, who had made Edward I. his heir, and in
1316 it was granted by Edward II. to his own younger brother, Thomas "of
Brotherton," earl of Norfolk. As yet the style of the office was only
"marshal" although the last Bigod holder, being an earl, was sometimes
loosely spoken of as the earl marshal. The office, having reverted to
the crown, was granted out anew by Richard II., in 1385, to Thomas
Mowbray, earl of Nottingham, the representative of Thomas "of
Brotherton." In 1386 the style of "earl marshal" was formally granted to
him in addition. After several attainders and partial restorations in
the reigns of the Tudors and the Stuarts, the earl marshalship was
granted anew to the Howards by Charles II. in 1672 and entailed on their
male line, with many specific remainders and limitations, under which
settlement it has regularly descended to the present duke of Norfolk.
Its holders, however, could not execute the office until the Roman
Catholic emancipation, and had to appoint deputies. The duke is styled
earl marshal "and hereditary marshal of England," but the double style
would seem to be an error, though the Mowbrays, with their double
creation (1385, 1386) might have claimed it. His Grace appends the
letters "E.M." to his signature, and bears behind his shield two batons
crossed in saltire, the marshal's rod (_virga_) having been the badge of
the office from Norman times. There appear to have been hereditary
marshals of Ireland, but their history is not well ascertained. The
Keiths were Great Marischals of Scotland from at least the days of
Robert Bruce, and were created earls marischal in or about 1458, but
lost both earldom and office by the attainder of George, the 10th earl,
in 1716. (See also MARSHAL; STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF.)
See "The Marshalship of England," in J.H. Round, _Commune of London
and Other Studies_ (London, 1899); G.E. C(okayne)'s _Complete
Peerage_. (J. H. R.)
EARLOM, RICHARD (1742-1822), English mezzotint engraver, was born and
died in London. His natural faculty for art appears to have been first
called into exercise by admiration for the lord mayor's state coach,
just decorated by Cipriani. He tried to copy the paintings, and was sent
to study under Cipriani. He displayed great skill as a draughtsman, and
at the same time acquired without assistance the art of engraving in
mezzotint. In 1765 he was employed by Alderman Boydell, then one of the
most liberal promoters of the fine arts, to make a series of drawings
from the pictures at Houghton Hall; and these he afterwards engraved in
mezzotint. His most perfect works as engraver are perhaps the fruit and
flower pieces after the Dutch artists Van Os and Van Huysum. Amongst his
historical and figure subjects are--"Agrippina," after West; "Love in
Bondage," after Guido Reni; the "Royal Academy," the "Embassy of
Hyderbeck to meet Lord Cornwallis," and a "Tiger Hunt," the last three
after Zoffany; and "Lord Heathfield," after Sir Joshua Reynolds. Earlom
also executed a series of 200 facsimiles of the drawings and sketches
of Claude Lorraine, which was published in 3 vols. folio, under the
title of _Liber veritatis_ (1777-1819).
EARLSTON (formerly ERCILDOUNE, of which it is a corruption), a parish
and market town of Berwickshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 1049. It is
situated on Leader Water in Lauderdale, 721/2 m. S.E. of Edinburgh by the
North British railway branch line from Reston Junction to St Boswells,
and about 4 m. N.E. of Melrose. When the place was a hamlet of rude huts
it was called Arcioldun or "Prospect Fort," with reference to Black Hill
(1003 ft.), on the top of which may yet be traced the concentric rings
of the British fort by which it was crowned. It is said to be possible
to make out the remains of the cave-dwellings of the Ottadeni, the
aborigines of the district. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Lindsays
and the earls of March and Dunbar were the chief baronial families. The
particular link with the remote past, however, is the ivy-clad ruin of
the ancient tower, "The Rhymer's Castle," the traditional residence of
Thomas Learmont, commonly called Thomas of Ercildoune, or Thomas the
Rhymer, poet and prophet, and friend of the Fairies, who was born here
about 1225. Rhymer's Tower was crumbling to pieces, and its stones were
being used in the erection of dykes, cottages and houses, when the
Edinburgh Border Counties Association acquired the relic and surrounding
lands in 1895, and took steps to prevent further spoliation and decay.
The leading manufactures are ginghams, tweeds and shirtings, and the
town is also an important agricultural centre, stock sales taking place
at regular intervals and cattle and horse fairs being held every year.
Some 3 m. away is the estate of Bemersyde, said to have been in the
possession of the Haigs for nearly 1000 years. The prospect from
Bemersyde Hill was Sir Walter Scott's favourite view. The castle at
Bemersyde was erected in 1535 to secure the peace of the Border.
EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894), American soldier and lawyer, was born
in Franklin county, Virginia, on the 3rd of November 1816, and graduated
at the U.S. Military Academy in 1837. He served in the Seminole War of
1837-38, after which he resigned in order to practise law in Franklin
county, Va. He also engaged in state politics, and served in the Mexican
War as a major of Virginia volunteers. He was strongly opposed to
secession, but thought it his duty to conform to the action of his
state. As a colonel in the Confederate army, he rendered conspicuous
service at the first battle of Bull Run (q.v.). Promoted
brigadier-general, and subsequently major-general, Early served
throughout the Virginian campaigns of 1862-63, and defended the lines of
Fredericksburg during the battle of Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg he
commanded his division of Ewell's corps. In the campaign of 1864 Early,
who had now reached the rank of lieutenant-general, commanded the
Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley. The action of Lynchburg
left him free to move northwards, his opponent being compelled to march
away from the Valley. Early promptly utilized his advantage, crossed the
Potomac, and defeated, on the Monocacy, all the troops which could be
gathered to meet him. He appeared before the lines of Washington, put
part of Maryland and Pennsylvania under contribution, and only retired
to the Valley when threatened by heavy forces hurriedly sent up to
Washington. He then fought a successful action at Winchester, reappeared
on the Potomac, and sent his cavalry on a raid into Pennsylvania. A
greatly superior army was now formed under General Sheridan to oppose
Early. In spite of his skill and energy the Confederate leader was
defeated in the battles of Winchester and Fisher's Hill. Finally, on the
19th of October, after inflicting at first a severe blow upon the
Federal army in its camps on Cedar Creek, he was decisively beaten by
Sheridan. (See SHENANDOAH VALLEY CAMPAIGNS.) Waynesboro (March 1865) was
his last fight, after which he was relieved from his command. General
Early was regarded by many as the ablest soldier, after Lee and Jackson,
in the Army of Northern Virginia, and one of the ablest in the whole
Confederate army. That he failed to make headway against an army far
superior in numbers, and led by a general of the calibre of Sheridan,
cannot be held to prove the falsity of this judgment. After the peace
he went to Canada, but in 1867 returned to resume the practice of law.
For a time he managed in conjunction with General Beauregard the
Louisiana lottery. He died at Lynchburg, Va., on the 2nd of March 1894.
General Early was for a time president of the Southern Historical
Society, and wrote, besides various essays and historical papers, _A
Memoir of the Last Year of the War, &c._ (1867).
EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD, in architecture, the term given by Rickman to the
first pointed or Gothic style in England, nominally 1189-1307, which
succeeded the Romanesque or Norman period towards the end of the 12th
century, and developed into the Decorated period in the commencement of
the 14th century. It is chiefly characterized by the almost universal
employment of the pointed arch, not only in arches of wide span such as
those of the nave arcade, but for doorways and windows. The actual
introduction of the pointed arch took place at a much earlier date, as
in the nave arcade of the Cistercian Abbey of Buildwas (1140), though
the clerestory window above has semicircular arches. It is customary,
therefore, to make allowance for a transitional epoch from the middle of
the 12th century. Although the pointed arches used are sometimes
equilateral and sometimes drop-arches, the lancet-arch is the most
characteristic. The period is best recognized in England by the great
depth given to the hollows of the mouldings, alternating with fillets
and rolls, by the decoration of the hollows with the dog-tooth ornament,
by the circular abacus of the capitals, and the employment of slender
detached shafts of Purbeck marble which are attached to piers by
circular moulded shaft-rings (Fr. _anneau_).
The arches are sometimes cusped; circles with trefoils, quatrefoils,
&c., are introduced into the tracery, and large rose windows in the
transept or nave, as at Lincoln (1220). The conventional foliage
decorating the capitals is of great beauty and variety, and extends to
spandrils, bosses, &c. In the spandrils of the arches of the nave,
transept or choir arcades, diaper work is occasionally found, as in the
transept of Westminster Abbey. The latter is one of the chief examples
of the period, to which must be added the cathedral of Salisbury (except
the tower); the Galilee at Ely; nave and transept of Wells (1225-1240);
nave of Lincoln; west front of Peterborough; and the minster at
Beverley. (R. P. S.)
EARN, the name of a loch and river in Perthshire, Scotland. The loch,
lying almost due east and west, is 61/2 m. long and {4/5} m. in maximum
breadth, 287 ft. deep, with a mean depth of 138 ft., covers an area of
nearly 4 sq. m., has a drainage basin of over 541/2 sq. m., and stands 317
ft. above the sea. Its waters are said never to freeze. It discharges by
the river Earn. The points of interest on its shores are Lochearnhead
(at the southern extremity of Glen Ogle), which has a station on the
Callander-Oban railway, and the ruins of St Blane's chapel; Edinample
Castle, an old turreted mansion belonging to the marquess of
Breadalbane, situated in well-wooded grounds near the pretty falls of
the Ample; Ardvorlich House, the original of Darlinvarach in Scott's
_Legend of Montrose_, and the village of St Fillans at the foot of the
loch, once the terminus of the branch of the Caledonian railway from
Perth. The river flows out of Loch Earn, pursues an eastward course with
a gentle inclination towards the south, and reaches the Firth of Tay, 61/2
m. below Perth, after a total run of 49 m. Its chief tributaries on the
right are the Ruchil, Machany, Ruthven, May and Farg, and on the left,
the Lednock and Turret. It is navigable by vessels of 50 tons as far up
as Bridge of Earn, and is a notable fishing stream, abounding with
salmon and trout, perch and pike being also plentiful. On the Lednock
are the falls of the Devil's Cauldron and on the Turret and its feeders
several graceful cascades. The principal places of interest on the banks
of the Earn are Dunira, the favourite seat of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount
Melville, who took the title of his barony from the estate and to whose
memory an obelisk was raised on the adjoining hill of Dunmore; the
village of Comrie; the town of Crieff; the ruined castle of
Innerpeffray, founded in 1610 by the 1st Lord Maderty, close to which is
the library founded in 1691 by the 3rd Lord Maderty, containing some
rare black-letter books and the Bible that belonged to the marquess of
Montrose; Gascon Hall, now in ruins, but with traditions reaching back
to the days of Wallace; Dupplin Castle, a fine Tudor mansion, seat of
the earl of Kinnoull, who derives from it the title of his viscounty;
Aberdalgie, Forgandenny and Bridge of Earn, a health resort situated
amidst picturesque surroundings. Strathearn, as the valley of the Earn
is called, extending from the loch to the Firth of Tay, is a beautiful
and, on the whole, fertile tract, though liable at times to heavy
floods. The earl of Perth is hereditary steward of Strathearn.
EARNEST (probably a corruption of the obsolete _arles_ or _erles_,
adapted from Lat. equivalent _arrha_, due to a confusion with the
adjective "earnest," serious, O. Eng. _eornust_, cognate with Ger.
_ernst_), the payment of a sum of money by the buyer of goods to the
seller on the conclusion of a bargain as a pledge for its due
performance. It is almost similar to the _arrha_ of the Roman law, which
may be traced back in the history of legal institutions to a period when
the validity of a contract depended not so much upon the real intention
of the parties, as upon the due observance of a prescribed ceremony. But
_earnest_ was never part payment, which _arrha_ might have been. Apart
from its survival as a custom, its chief importance in English law is
its recognition by the Statute of Frauds as giving validity to contracts
for the sale of goods of a value exceeding L10 (see SALE OF GOODS). It
is in that statute clearly distinguished from part payment, consequently
any sum, however small, would be sufficient as earnest, being given as a
token that the contract is binding and should be expressly stated so by
the giver. The giving of earnest, or _hand-money_, as it is sometimes
called, has now fallen into very general disuse.
EAR-RING, an ornament worn pendent from the ear, and generally suspended
(especially among the more civilized races) by means of a ring or hook
passing through the pendulous lobe of the ear. Among savage races the
impulse to decorate, or at any rate to modify the appearance of the ear,
is almost universal. With such peoples the ear appendage is chiefly
remarkable for its extravagant dimensions. Many examples may be seen in
the ethnographic galleries of the British Museum. The Berawan people of
Borneo use plugs through the lobe of the ear 33/4 in. in diameter. More
extraordinary still is an example of a stone ear-plug worn by a Masai,
41/2 in. in diameter and weighing 2 lb. 14 oz. (_Man_, 1905, p. 22). It is
stated that according to the Masai standard of fashion, the lobes of the
ears should be enlarged so as to be capable of meeting above the head.
Among the superior races, though ear ornaments of extravagant size and
elaboration are not unknown, moderation in size is commonly observed,
and greater attention is paid to workmanship and fineness of material.
The general usage appears to have been to have ear-rings worn in pairs,
the two ornaments in all respects resembling each other; in ancient
times, or more recently among Oriental races, a single ear-ring has
sometimes been worn. The use of this kind of ornament, which constantly
was of great value, dates from the remotest historical antiquity, the
earliest mention of ear-rings occurring in the book of Genesis. It
appears probable that the ear-rings of Jacob's family, which he buried
with his strange idols at Bethel, were regarded as amulets or talismans,
such unquestionably being the estimation in which some ornaments of this
class have been held from a very early period, as they still are held in
the East. Thus in New Zealand ear-rings are decorated with the teeth of
enemies, and with talismanic sharks' teeth. Among all the Oriental races
of whom we have any accurate knowledge, the Hebrews and Egyptians
excepted, ear-rings always have been in general use by both sexes; while
in the West, as well as by the Hebrews and Egyptians, as a general rule
they have been considered exclusively female ornaments. By the Greeks
and Romans also ear-rings were worn only by women, and the wearing of
them by a man is often spoken of as distinctively oriental.
[Illustration: From _La Grande Encyclopedie_.