ENTOZO'A, a general name for the various parasitic worms that infest the
bodies of other animals. Some are found in the intestines, others in the
liver, brain, muscles, and other tissues. They pass through different
stages in their development, and at each stage may occupy a different organ
(or tissue), and usually a different animal. Thus the cystic or
bladder-worm, whose presence in the brain of sheep causes staggers, is the
immature form of a tapeworm of the dog, &c. The number of species is being
reduced as the relations of the different forms are studied. They belong to
the two phyla Platyhelminthes (flat-worms) and Nemathelminthes
(thread-worms, &c.). The former embraces flukes (Trematoda) and tapeworms
(Cestoda); while the latter includes thread-worms and round-worms
(Nematoda), and spiny-headed worms (Acanthocephala).
ENTRENCHMENTS. The employment of entrenchments, or earthworks, in
connection with military operations dates from the earliest times.
Entrenched camps, made by the Romans, are still to be seen in many parts of
the country. The primary object, in early designs, was to offer a material
obstacle to the assaulting enemy; the defenders manned a high parapet
overlooking a formidable ditch, and a hand-to-hand conflict decided the
issue. The development of fire-arms, and especially of artillery,
depreciated the value of entrenchments as affording material obstacles, but
gave them a gradually increasing value as a means of protecting the
defenders from missiles. The provision of cover, that is to say,
concealment from view or protection from fire, ultimately became the
dominant factor in the design of earthworks. Obstacles were still
necessary, but they had to be provided by other means. Successive
improvements in firearms altered the nature of the cover which it was
necessary and practicable to provide. A bullet-proof parapet has always
been an essential feature, but whereas a few inches of earth sufficed to
stop a musket-ball, the modern rifle-bullet will penetrate a thickness of
nearly four feet. The introduction, during last century, of shrapnel shell,
the bullets from which descend at a steep angle, was followed by the
adoption of overhead cover as a standard feature in trench design. This
persisted for several years, until the great increase in the power of
high-explosive shell made it impossible to construct any form of roof which
would withstand bombardment, even by the lighter artillery accompanying an
army in the field, and still permit of the defenders using their rifles
from below it. Modern fire-positions are made open, i.e. without overhead
cover.
All past wars have proved that victory can only be won as the result of
offensive action. Nevertheless, in any campaign it will not be possible to
attack at all times and in all places. The provision of the strongest
possible force at the vital point necessitates a defensive attitude on
other parts of the front. Although entrenchments presuppose a defensive
attitude locally, they play an important part in offensive operations. The
ultimate aim is that, by a skilful use of entrenchments, a commander may be
able to reduce to a minimum the strength of his force in actual combat with
the enemy, and thus to retain at his disposal a reserve of troops for
offensive action.
Entrenchments may be either hasty or deliberate. Hasty entrenchments are
those made on the actual field of battle: by the attackers, to secure the
ground won prior to another bound forward; by the defenders, to hold up the
attack pending fresh dispositions of troops in rear. The amount of digging
that can be done is necessarily small; existing cover must be utilized to
the utmost. This may consist of ditches, hedges, sunken roads, railway
embankments and cuttings, buildings, woods, shell-holes, &c. All of these
are readily convertible into strong defences. The test of battle has
proved, over and over again, that troops well trained in adapting natural
cover to defence are very difficult to dislodge, once they have dug
themselves in. Deliberate entrenchments are employed in the gradual
building up of a trench system when once the opportunity of manoeuvre has
ceased to exist; or in the preparation of a defensive position somewhat
remote from the scene of active operations.
The following are the salient features in the design of modern
entrenchments: (1) A parapet 18 inches high, and upwards of 5 feet thick,
in front of every fire-trench. (2) Longitudinal division of every trench,
either by projecting buttresses of earth or by bends, so that no straight
portion exceeds 10 yards in length. The effect of this is to give
protection against flanking or enfilade rifle-fire, and to localize the
burst of shell. (3) A parapet on the rear side (parados), to shield the
defenders from the back-blast of shell which burst beyond the trench. (4)
Wide trenches (6 feet at the top), to minimize the risk of men getting
buried during bombardment. (5) Accommodation, in dug-outs and other
refuges, for a proportion of the troops.
Arms of precision have, during the past twenty years, compelled careful
attention to the concealment of entrenchments. Although systems of trenches
cannot now be hidden from the eye of the aeroplane-camera, yet the enemy
can be kept in doubt, by correct design and careful siting of trenches, as
to the strength in which the various portions of a position are held. It is
for this reason that the deep fire-trench, with a low parapet in front, has
been universally adopted, despite the obvious objection that minor
undulations restrict the field of fire because the rifle is brought nearer
to the ground. Earthworks on a sky-line, or those seen by the enemy against
a distant background, violate the first principles of siting.
Modern entrenchments are arranged in depth. The 'lines' of Wellington's
time have given place to a broad belt of mutually supporting defences,
organized in three zones. These merge imperceptibly into one another, and
each zone extends upwards of a mile from front to rear. The foremost fringe
of the outpost zone is in contact with the enemy; it is the high-water mark
on which the troops advancing during the last action have come to a
standstill and dug themselves in. Very lightly manned, as befits an area
where heavy shelling is rife, this zone, nevertheless, plays an important
r[^o]le. It harbours the forward artillery observation posts, which control
and direct the fire of the guns in rear. It furnishes a 'jumping-off' place
for attacks. It takes the first shock of a hostile attack, and, although
not strong enough to repulse a serious offensive, contributes to the
enemy's ultimate defeat by depriving his onslaught of momentum. The battle
zone is more elaborately organized, and capable of being very heavily
manned. Within this area the defence intend to bring to a standstill the
most determined offensive. It lies sufficiently far back from the fringe of
the outpost zone to be reasonably immune from destructive bombardment.
Lying still farther back is the third zone, which serves for the
accommodation of reserves of troops, and is also prepared for defence, as a
last resort, in case the enemy should penetrate the battle zone.
ENTREP[^O]T ([.a][n.]-tr-p[=o]; Fr.), a port where foreign merchandise
which cannot enter the interior of a country is deposited in magazines
under the surveillance of the custom-house officers till it is re-exported;
also, any place where goods are sent to be distributed wherever customers
are found.
ENTRE RIOS (en'tre r[=e]'os; 'between rivers'), a province of the Argentine
Republic, lying between the Uruguay and the Paran['a]; area estimated at
29,240 sq. miles; pop. 425,370. The province is largely pastoral. Capital,
Paran['a], with a pop. of 25,000
ENTRO'PION is the inversion or turning in of the eyelid. It may be
congenital, or arise as the result of some inflammatory process or burn of
the conjunctiva. Entropion affecting the lower lid appears also as the
result of extreme photophobia (intolerance to light).
ENTROPY, a term introduced into physics by Clausius as the name of one of
the two important thermodynamical properties of a substance which depend on
its 'state'. Suppose we have 1 lb. of water at atmospheric pressure and
212deg F., say, and suppose we apply heat to the water and change it into 1
lb. of steam at 212deg F. The temperature does not change during this
process, while the heat which must be added is the latent heat of the
steam, namely, about 960 British Thermal Units. The increase of entropy
from the first state to the second state is got by dividing the heat given
to the substance, namely, 960 B.Th.U., by the absolute temperature at which
that heat was given to the substance, namely, 461 + 212 = 673 degrees
absolute, i.e. the increase of entropy is 960/673 = 1.43 units. If the
temperature changes with the addition of heat, as it would usually do, we
have to imagine the heat to be supplied in small quantities, and to take
the average temperature of the body at which these tiny quantities of heat
are supplied. The quotient heat / temperature is taken for each small
quantity of heat, and the results are added together. The summation is
defined as the increase in entropy between the initial and the final
states.
In mathematical language the increase in entropy between state A and state
B is given by ([phi]_B - [phi]_A) = Integral[dQ/T] from A to B, where [phi]
stands for the entropy, Q for the heat received by the body, and T for the
absolute temperature at which the heat is received. The importance of the
entropy function, namely, the integral Integral[dQ/T], in thermodynamics is
due to the fact that it is, like the internal energy of the substance, a
function of the state of the substance only, and consequently in any
temperature cyclic change in which the final state of the substance is the
same as its initial state A, the total change, either of its internal
energy or of its entropy, is zero. The fact that the total change in the
internal energy of the substance is zero is practically equivalent to the
_First Law of Thermodynamics_, while the fact that the total change of the
entropy of the substance is zero is equivalent to the _Second Law of
Thermodynamics_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. H. Poynting and J. J. Thomson, _Textbook
of Physics_ (vol. 3): _Heat._
EN'VELOPES, the paper covers that enclose letters or notes. They became
common shortly after the introduction of the penny postage system; were at
first made chiefly by hand, but are now not only shaped, but folded and
gummed, by machinery.
ENVER PASHA, Turkish soldier and politician, born at Constantinople in
1879. He entered the Turkish army in 1896, and in 1905 took part in the
Young Turk movement at Salonica. He joined the revolutionaries in 1908, was
for a short time military attach['e] in Berlin, but in 1909 returned to
Salonica, and assisted in the deposition of Sultan Abdul Hamid. He then
took part in the Tripoli War and the second Balkan War, and recaptured
Adrianople from the Bulgarians in July, 1913. After being Minister of War,
Enver subsequently became one of the leaders of the Committee of Union and
Progress. A staunch pro-German, he was to a great extent responsible for
Turkey's entry into the European War as an ally of Germany. After the
armistice of 1918, Enver Pasha fled to the Caucasus, and was active in
inciting his countrymen to resist the terms of the Peace Treaty of 1920.
ENVIRONMENT, in biology, the surroundings of an organism, including
non-living factors, such as climate and weather; and also other organisms.
Plants and animals are more or less adapted to their surroundings, a good
example being the mutual adaptations of flowers and insects, but there has
been much controversy as to the way in which such adaptations have come
about. Among all but unicellular organisms any individual consists of (1) a
general body (_soma_), by which the life of the individual is maintained,
and (2) germ cells, capable of becoming fresh individuals, and thus
providing for the continuance of the species. According to a school of
thought founded by some of the pre-Darwinian evolutionists, notably Buffon,
Lamarck, and Treviranus, modifications of the soma (acquired characters) of
an individual, brought about by the action of the environment (e.g.
thickening of parts of the skin as the result of constant pressure), or by
use and disuse (e.g. increased size of muscles; diminished wings of
poultry), can be inherited, leading to increasing alteration capable of
ending in the production of new species. Most living biologists, however,
hold with Weismann that only _germinal variations_, i.e. variations in the
substances of the germ-cells, are heritable. Much further research is
necessary before it is possible to pronounce with certainty on many of the
complex details involved in these theories. As to the part played by the
environment, cases are known where this acts directly on the germ-cells, so
as to influence their variation. But these are among some of the lower
animals, in which the eggs develop outside the body of the parent, and we
know hardly anything about the action of the environment on germs that
develop internally. It has been suggested that modifications of the soma
undoubtedly brought about by the influence of the surroundings may react
upon the germ-cells and cause these to vary, but of this no proof has so
far been forthcoming. Even if we admit that modifications of the soma are
not inherited, they may nevertheless play a part in evolution by aiding the
development of germinal variations that take the same direction. The whole
subject is one of more than academic interest, especially in regard to the
further evolution of human beings. Comparatively rapid advance, either in
desirable or undesirable directions, would be possible if modifications
acquired by the soma of an individual were capable of being inherited. So
far as we know at present, acquired improvements in physique and mentality
of individuals are not inherited by their offspring, which seems rather
disappointing, but, on the other hand, undesirable modifications, including
those due to disease, appear to be in the same case, and there is little
reason to think that the children of parents possessing undesirable
acquired characters are unduly handicapped from the very start. We must, of
course, exclude cases of antenatal infection by the microbes of certain
infectious or contagious diseases to which one or both parents have fallen
victims, and also those of direct poisoning of germ-cells as the result of
alcoholism.
EN'VOY, a person deputed by a Government to negotiate a treaty,or transact
other business, with a foreign Government. We usually apply the word to a
public minister sent for one particular purpose; hence an _envoy_ is
distinguished from an _ambassador_, and is of inferior rank.
ENZYMES. See _Fermentation_, _Physiological Chemistry_.
[Illustration: Map of Eocene System in England]
E'OCENE, in geology, a term applied to the lower division of the Tertiary
strata, from Gr. [=e][=o]s, dawn, and _kainos_, recent, because remains of
existing organic species first occur here. The Eocene beds are arranged in
two groups, termed the Lower and Upper Eocene; the strata formerly called
Upper Eocene being now known as Oligocene. They consist of marls,
limestones, clays, and sandstones, and are found in the Isle of Wight and
in the south-east of England and north-west of France, in Central Europe,
Western Asia, Northern Africa, and the Atlantic coast of North America.
['E]ON DE BEAUMONT. See _D'['E]on de Beaumont_.
E'OS, among the ancient Greeks the goddess of the dawn. See _Aurora_.
E[:O]TV[:O]S (eut'veush), Baron Joseph, a Hungarian statesman and author,
born 1813, died 1871. He completed his studies at the University of Pesth
in 1831. He had already, before leaving the university, produced three
dramas--_The Critics_, _The Wedding_, and _Revenge_--the last a tragedy,
all of which were well received. He became a friend of Kossuth, and
distinguished himself as a journalist and orator of the popular party. In
1848, after the revolution of 15th March, he was appointed Minister of
Public Instruction, resigned the same year, but was again appointed
Minister of Public Instruction in 1867, and filled this office until his
death. Among his works are the novels: _The Carthusian_, _The Village
Notary_ (translated into English), and _Hungary in 1514_--giving vivid
pictures of Hungarian life in modern and more remote epochs.
EOZO'IC ROCKS, the name given to the pre-Cambrian rocks, from their
containing the first or earliest traces of life in the stratified systems.
EOZO'ON, a supposed gigantic fossil foraminifer found in the limestone of
the pre-Cambrian rocks of Canada, whence the name _Eozo[:o]n canadense_.
The structure, however, which is recognized also in Bavaria and in County
Galway, has proved to be due to a zonal development of serpentine during
metamorphism of the ancient limestones concerned. A similar structure
occurs in limestone associated with the volcanic focus of Vesuvius.
EP'ACRIS, a genus of gamopetalous Dicotyledons, the typical genus of the
nat. ord. Epacridaceae, distinguished by having a coloured calyx with many
bracts, a tubular corolla with smooth limb, stamens affixed to the corolla,
and a five-valved many-seeded capsule. The species are shrubby plants, with
axillary, white, red, or purple flowers, generally in leafy spikes. Among
those cultivated in Britain we may mention _E. grandifl[=o]ra_, which has
flowers nearly an inch in length, of a brilliant reddish purple at the base
and pure white at the apex. The order Epacridaceae consists of plants
allied to the heaths, chiefly natives of Australia. The fruit of some
species is eaten under the name of Australian cranberry, and they are
cultivated in greenhouses for their flowers.
EP'ACT (Gr. _epaktos_, added), in chronology, the excess of the solar month
above the lunar synodical month, and of the solar year above the lunar year
of twelve synodical months. The epacts then are _annual_ and _menstrual_ or
_monthly_. Suppose the new moon to be on the 1st of January: the month of
January containing 31 days, and the lunar month only 29 days, 12 hours, 44
minutes, 3 seconds; the difference, 1 day, 11 hours, 15 minutes, 57
seconds, is the _menstrual epact_. The _annual epact_ is nearly 11 days;
the solar year being 365 days, and the lunar year 354. The epacts were once
of some importance in ecclesiastical chronology, being used for finding
when Easter would fall.
EPAMINON'DAS, an ancient Greek statesman and general, who, for a short
time, raised his country, Thebes, to the summit of power and prosperity. He
was born about 418 B.C., and killed at the battle of Mantinea, 362 B.C. He
took the leading part in the struggle during which Spartan supremacy in
Greece was destroyed, and the supremacy of Thebes temporarily secured. Four
times he successfully invaded the Peloponnesus at the head of the Thebans,
but after his death Thebes soon sank to her former secondary condition.
Throughout life Epaminondas was distinguished for the friendship subsisting
between him and Pelopidas, with whom he served in the Spartan campaign, 385
B.C. His character is one of the finest recorded in Greek history. and his
virtues have been praised by both Xenophon and Plutarch.
EPARCH (ep'[:a]rk), in Greece, the governor or prefect of a provincial
division called an _eparchy_, a subdivision of a nomarchy or province of
the kingdom. In Russia, an eparchy is the diocese or arch-diocese of a
bishop or archbishop of the Greek Church.
EPAULEMENT (e-p[a:]l'ment: Fr. _['e]paule_, shoulder), in fortification, a
term for the mass of earth or other material which protects the guns in a
battery in front and on either flank.
EP'AULET, OR EP'AULETTE (Fr. _['e]paulette_, dim. of _['e]paule_, the
shoulder), an ornamental shoulder-piece belonging to a military or other
dress. Epaulettes were worn in the British army till 1855, and in the
United States as late as 1872, and are still worn in the navy by all
officers of and above the rank of lieutenant, and by some civil officers.
['E]P['E]E ([.e]-p[=a]), Charles Michel, Abb['e] de l', French
philanthropist, born in 1712, died 1789. He had chosen the clerical
profession, but had to leave the Church on account of Jansenist opinions.
The great object of his life was the instruction of the deaf and dumb, upon
whom he spent his whole income, besides what was contributed by benevolent
patrons. In 1770 he founded at his own expense an institution for the deaf
and dumb. He left several works on his method of instruction, one of these
being _Institution des sourds et muets_ (1774).
['E]P['E]HY, a town of France, department of Somme, about 13 miles S.E. of
Cambrai. It was the scene of fierce fighting during the European War, and
was captured by the British in Sept., 1918.
EPEIRA (e-p[=i]'ra), a genus of spiders, comprising the largest and
best-known British species. _E. diad[=e]ma_, the common garden spider, is a
handsomely marked species, which constructs a beautifully symmetrical
wheel-shaped web.
EPERIES (ep'er-y[=a]sh), a town of Czecho-Slovakia, formerly in Hungary, on
the Tarcza, the seat of a Greek Catholic bishop. Pop. 16,323.
['E]PERNAY (ep-er-n[=a]; ancient SPARNACUM, and the Roman AQUAE PERENNES),
a town of North-Eastern France, department of Marne, on the Marne, the
central depot of the wine trade of Champagne. The vast wine-cellars of the
town form a labyrinth of galleries cut in the tufa or calcareous soil of
the district. ['E]pernay was occupied for a short time by the Germans at
the beginning of the European War, and was one of the enemy's objectives in
the second battle of the Marne (July, 1918). Pop. 21,811.
E'PHAH, or BATH, a Hebrew measure of capacity, containing, according to one
estimate or calculation, 8.6696 gallons; according to another, only 4.4286
gallons.
EPHEDRA, the principal genus of the Gnetales family of Gymnosperms. The
species are shrubby switch-plants, natives of the warm temperate zone,
found especially on sandy soil. The ripe seeding cones have fleshy scales,
and those of _E. distachya_ are eaten in South Russia.
EPHEM'ERA, the typical genus of the neuropterous insects constituting the
family Ephemeridae, so named from the extreme shortness of their lives in
the perfect state. They are known as _may-flies_ or _day-flies_, and are
characterized by the slenderness of their bodies; the delicacy of their
wings, which are erect and unequal, the anterior being much the larger; the
rudimentary condition of the mouth; and the termination of the abdomen in
three filiform appendages. In the state of larvae and pupae they are
aquatic and exist for years. When ready for their final change, they creep
out of the water, generally towards sunset of a fine summer evening,
beginning to be seen generally in May. They shed their whole skin shortly
after leaving the water, propagate their species, and die, taking no food
in the perfect state. The may-fly is well known to anglers, who imitate it
for bait.
EPHE'SIANS, THE EPISTLE TO THE, a canonical epistle addressed by the
Apostle Paul to the Church which he had founded at Ephesus. It was written
during his first captivity at Rome, immediately after he had written the
_Epistle to the Colossians_ (A.D. 62); and was sent by the hands of
Tychicus, who also bore the message to the Church at Colossae.
EPH'ESUS, an ancient Greek city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, one of the twelve
Ionian cities, on the south side of the Caystrus, near its mouth. It was at
one time the grand emporium of Western Asia, having a convenient and
spacious harbour. The Apostle Paul visited Ephesus and established a
Christian Church there, to which he dedicated one of his Epistles. It was
famous for its temple of Artemis (Diana), called _Artemision_, the largest
and most perfect model of Ionic architecture, and reckoned one of the seven
wonders of the world. The first great temple, begun about 650 B.C. and
finished after 120 years, was burnt by the notorious Herostratus in order
to perpetuate his name, 356 B.C. (the night of Alexander the Great's
birth). A second and more magnificent was then erected, which was burned by
the Goths in A.D. 262. Some interesting remains have been discovered by
excavation since 1896. Several Church councils were held here, especially
the Third Ecumenical Council of 431, at which Nestorius was condemned. The
site of the city is now desolate; near it is a poor village, Aiasoluk.
EPH'OD, a species of vestment worn by the Jewish high-priest over the
second tunic. It consisted of two main pieces, one covering the back, the
other the breast and upper part of the body, fastened together on the
shoulders by two onyx stones set in gold, on each of which were engraved
the names of six tribes according to their order. A girdle or band, of one
piece with the ephod, fastened it to the body. Just above the girdle, in
the middle of the ephod, and joined to it by little gold chains, rested the
square breastplate with the Urim and Thummim. The ephod was originally
intended to be worn by the high-priest exclusively, but a similar vestment
of an inferior material seems to have been in common use in later times
among the ordinary priests.
EPH'ORS, or EPH'ORI (Gr. _ephoroi_, overseers), magistrates common to many
Dorian communities of ancient Greece, of whom the most celebrated were the
Ephori of Sparta. They were five in number, were elected annually, and both
the judicial authority and the executive power were almost entirely in
their hands. Their power became an intolerable burden, especially to the
kings, and in 225 B.C. Cleomenes III murdered the whole college and
abolished the office.
E'PHRAEM SYRUS, that is, 'Ephraim the Syrian', writer of the Syrian Church,
born at Nisibis, in Mesopotamia, about A.D. 306, died at Edessa in 373 or
378. He wrote several commentaries on Scripture, numerous homilies, and
other works (as well as hymns), which have come down to us partly in
Syriac, partly in Greek, Latin, and Armenian translations. They were edited
by Assemani at Rome between 1732 and 1746, and by Overbeck at Oxford in
1865.
E'PHRAIM, the younger son of Joseph, and the founder of one of the twelve
tribes of Israel. When the Israelites left Egypt, the Ephraimites numbered
40,500, and their possessions in the very centre of Palestine included most
of what was afterwards called Samaria. Ephraim is also a town mentioned in
_John_, xi, 54, and to which Jesus retired after His raising of Lazarus,
when the Jewish authorities manifested their hostility against Him.
EP'IC, a poem of the narrative kind, dealing with a series of events or
actions of permanent interest. Some authorities restrict the term to
narrative poems written in a lofty style and describing the exploits of
heroes. Others widen the definition so as to include not only long
narrative poems of romantic or supernatural adventure, but also those of an
historical, legendary, mock-heroic, or humorous character. Epic poetry is
distinguished from drama in so far as the author frequently speaks in his
own person as narrator; and from lyrical poetry by making the predominant
feature the narration of action rather than the expression of emotion.
Among the more famous epics of the world's literature may be noted: Homer's
_Iliad_ and _Odyssey_, Virgil's _Aeneid_, the German _Nibelungenlied_, the
Anglo-Saxon poem of _Beowulf_, the French _Song of Roland_, Dante's _Divina
Commedia_, Tasso's _Gerusalemme Liberata_, Ariosto's _Orlando Furioso_,
Milton's _Paradise Lost_, Spenser's _Faerie Queene_, Camoens' _Lusiads_
(Portuguese), and Firdusi's _Shah Namah_ (Persian). Hesiod's _Theogony_,
the _Elder Edda_, the Finnish _Kalevala_, and the Indian
_Mah[^a]bh[^a]rata_ may be described as collections of epic legends. The
historical epic has an excellent representative in Barbour's _Bruce_; and
specimens of the mock-heroic and humorous epic are found in _The Battle of
the Frogs and Mice_, _Reynard the Fox_, Butler's _Hudibras_, and Pope's
_Rape of the Lock_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Chassang and Marcou, _Les Chefs-d'oeuvre
['e]piques de tous les peuples_; W. M. Dixon, _English Epic and Heroic
Poetry_; A. Lang, _Homer and the Epic_.
EPICHARMUS (ep-i-k[:a]r'mus), a Sicilian comic poet and philosopher of the
Pythagorean school, born in the Island of Cos about 540 B.C., died 450 B.C.
He removed to Syracuse, where at the court of Hieron he spent the remainder
of his life. He is credited with the invention of written comedy, and Plato
called him "a master of the comic type".
EPICTE'TUS, a Greek Stoic philosopher, born at Hierapolis, in Phrygia,
about A.D. 60. He lived long at Rome, where, in his youth, he was a slave.
Though nominally a Stoic, he was not interested in Stoicism as an
intellectual system; he adopted its terminology and its moral doctrines,
but in his discourses he appeared rather as a moral and religious teacher
than as a philosopher. His doctrines approach more nearly to Christianity
than those of any of the earlier Stoics, and although there is no trace in
what is recorded of them of his having been directly acquainted with
Christianity, it is at least probable that the ideas diffused by Christian
teachers may have indirectly influenced them. The excellence of his system
was universally acknowledged. When Domitian banished the philosophers from
Rome (A.D. 94), Epictetus retired to Epirus, where he is supposed to have
died. His disciple Arrian collected his opinions, which are preserved in
two treatises called the _Discourses of Epictetus_, and the _Manual or
Enchiridion_.
EPICU'RUS, a Greek philosopher, founder of the Epicurean school, was born
in the Island of Samos 342 B.C., died at Athens 270 B.C. He settled at
Athens 306 B.C., and purchased a garden in a favourable situation, where he
established a philosophical school. Here he spent the remainder of his
life, living in a simple manner and taking no part in public affairs. His
pupils were numerous and enthusiastically devoted to him. His theory of the
universe was based on the atomic theory of Democritus. The fundamental
principle of his ethical system was that pleasure and pain are the chief
good and evil, the attainment of the one and the avoidance of the other of
which are to be regarded as the end of philosophy. The term 'Epicurean' has
come to signify one who is indulging his sensual appetites without measure,
but this is really due to a misapprehension of the meaning of the word
pleasure as used by the philosopher. Epicurus himself was not an
'Epicurean' in this sense, for he endeavoured to give a moral tendency to
this doctrine. He exalted the pure and noble enjoyments derived from
virtue, to which he attributed an imperishable existence, as incalculably
superior to the passing pleasures which disturb the peace of mind, the
highest good, and are therefore detrimental to happiness. Peace of mind,
based on meditation, he considered as the origin of all good. It is,
however, easy to see that his use of the word 'pleasure' was calculated to
produce the mischievous results with which Epicureanism has been charged.
The philosophy of Epicurus has, therefore, been violently opposed and
frequently misrepresented; but while it is not open to the charges of gross
sensualism which have been brought against it, it cannot be considered as
much better than a refinement of sensualism. In ancient times his
philosophy appears to have been more popular in Greece than in Rome,
although his disciples were numerous in both, and the Latin poem of
Lucretius, _De Rerum Natura_, is a poetical exposition of his doctrines.
Epicureanism was resuscitated in France by Pierre Gassendi, and its
principles have been professed by De la Rochefoucauld, Rousseau, and
Voltaire. Epicurus was a very voluminous writer, but few of his writings
are extant, what we possess comprising only some fragments of a _Treatise
on Nature_, two letters, and detached passages. Lucretius, Cicero, Pliny,
and Diogenes Laertius are our chief authorities for his
doctrines.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lange, _History of Materialism_; W. Wallace,
_Epicureanism_; Guyau, _La Morale d'Epicure_; Taylor, _Epicurus_; W. Pater,
_Marius the Epicurean_.
EP'ICYCLE, a conception of the ancient astronomy used to explain the
irregular, and at times retrograde, motions of the planets. Corresponding
to each planet there was supposed to be a circle called a _deferent_, which
had the earth as its centre. Round this circle a point was imagined to
revolve with uniform motion. That point formed the centre of a second and
smaller circle, called an epicycle, and the actual planet was supposed to
revolve with uniform motion round the circumference of the epicycle.
EPICY'CLOID, in geometry, a curve generated by a point on the circumference
of a circle which rolls on the convex side of another fixed curve. The
curve generated by rolling on the concave side is called a 'hypocycloid'.
If the point is not on the circumference, the generated curves are called
'trochoids'.
[Illustration: Epicycloidal Wheel]
EPICYCLOI'DAL WHEEL, a wheel or ring fixed to a framework, toothed on its
inner side, and having in gear with it another toothed wheel of half the
diameter of the first, fitted so as to revolve about the centre of the
latter. It is used for converting circular into alternate motion, or
alternate into circular. While the revolution of the smaller wheel is
taking place, any point whatever on its circumference will describe a
straight line, or will pass and repass through a diameter of the circle,
once during each revolution. In practice, a piston-rod or other
reciprocating part may be attached to any point on the circumference of the
smaller wheel.
EPIDAU'RUS, a town and seaport of ancient Greece, situated in Argolis, in
the Peloponnesus, particularly celebrated for its magnificent temple of
Aesculapius, which stood on an eminence not far from the town. It had also
temples of Artemis, Dionysus, Aphrodite, and Hera, and a splendid theatre
still in fair preservation. The site is now occupied by the village
_Epidavro_, where a congress met in 1822 and promulgated the 'Constitution
of Epidaurus'.
EPIDEM'IC, or EPIDEMIC DISEASE (Gr. _epi_, upon, and _d[=e]mos_, people),
signifies a disease which attacks a people, suddenly spreading from one to
the other in all directions, prevailing a certain time and then dying away.
It usually travels from place to place in the direction of the
most-frequented lines of communication. The reason is that such diseases
are commonly due to some infective material capable of being conveyed from
one individual to another, and of being transported from place to place. In
Britain smallpox and cholera are occasionally epidemic, whilst scarlet
fever, measles, chickenpox, diphtheria, typhoid fever, &c., are almost
invariably so. Certain diseases which appear to be more mental than
physical sometimes occur so numerously as to assume an epidemic form, such
as St. Vitus's dance, convulsionary diseases, or suicidal mania.
EPIDEN'DRUM (Gr. _epi_, upon, and _dendron_, a tree), a large genus of
tropical American orchids, most of the species of which are epiphytic,
growing on trees. The flowers are very handsome, and a large number of the
species are in cultivation.
EPIDER'MIS, in anatomy, the cuticle or scarf-skin of the body; a thin
membrane covering the true skin of animals, consisting of two layers, an
inner or mucous layer, called the _rete mucosum_, composed of active cells
containing granules of colouring matter, and an outer or horny layer,
consisting of flattened scale-like cells, dry, inactive, and effete, which
are constantly being shed in the form of dust. Both layers are destitute of
blood-vessels or nerves.
[Illustration: Surface View of Epidermis
_st_, Stomata.]
EPIDERMIS, in botany, the superficial layer of cells covering leaves and
young stems. Its principal function is to restrict transpiration, for which
purpose its outer wall is more or less cutinized, i.e. chemically modified
so as to be very impervious to water and gases, especially the outermost
part thereof, the so-called _cuticle_. Naturally both cuticle and epidermis
as a whole are most strongly developed in drought-adapted plants or
xerophytes (q.v.); and conversely the epidermis of submerged plants is not
cutinized, nor is the superficial layer of ordinary roots. The epidermis
frequently bears hairs of various kinds. Stems which undergo secondary
growth in thickness soon cast off their epidermis, its r[^o]le being
assumed by cork or bark. The water- and gas-proof covering provided by the
epidermis is not continuous, but is interrupted by numerous minute pores or
_stomata_, capable of opening and closing, through which accordingly a
regulated interchange of gases takes place.
EP'IDOTE, a mineral of a green or grey colour, vitreous lustre, and partial
transparency, a member of the garnet family. The primary form of the
crystals is a right rhomboidal prism. The crystals occur in Norway,
Siberia, Tyrol, and the United States.
EPIGAEA (-j[=e]'a), a genus of Ericaceous shrubs. _E. repens_, the trailing
arbutus, is the May-flower of North America.
EPIGLOTTIS is a cartilaginous plate behind the tongue, which covers the
glottis like a lid during the act of swallowing, and thus prevents foreign
bodies from entering the larynx. In its ordinary position during
respiration it is pointed upwards, but in the act of swallowing it is
pressed downwards and backwards by the drawing up of the windpipe beneath
the base of the tongue, and thus closes the entrance to the air-passages.
See _Larynx_.
EP'IGRAM (Gr. _epi_, upon, _graphein_, to write), in a restricted sense, a
short poem or piece in verse, which has only one subject, and finishes by a
witty or ingenious turn of thought; in a general sense, a pointed or witty
and antithetical saying. The term was originally given by the Greeks to a
poetical inscription placed upon a tomb or public monument, and was
afterwards extended to every little piece of verse expressing with
precision a delicate or ingenious thought, as the pieces in the _Greek
Anthology_. In Roman classical poetry the term was somewhat
indiscriminately used, but the epigrams of Martial contain a great number
with the modern epigrammatic character. Epigrams flourished in modern times
after the Revival of Learning period, and all the Elizabethan versifiers
tried their hand at them. Pope was a great master of the epigram, and the
art was practised by Cl['e]ment Marot, Boileau, Voltaire, Schiller, Goethe,
Byron, and Moore, and more recently by Sir William Watson.--Cf. Dodd,
_Epigrammatists of Mediaeval and Modern Times_.
EPIGRAPHY, a term used both for the study of inscriptions as a whole, and
for the science which deals with their classification and decipherment. The
attention of the epigraphist is given to inscriptions upon stone, brick,
metal, and other comparatively permanent material, as compared with
writings upon parchment, papyrus, or paper; but he excludes inscriptions
upon coins, which are in the department of the numismatist. The science of
epigraphy is of immense importance for a knowledge of the past, the subject
including inscriptions so far apart in point of time as Egyptian records of
the days of Mena (4700 B.C.), and the Greek hexameters that commemorate the
death in Westmorland of a young Syrian soldier in the army of Septimius
Severus. Of still more recent date are the Runic inscriptions discovered in
Greenland, which seem to place beyond a doubt the fact of Icelandic
explorers having reached that country in the eleventh or twelfth century.
The most important inscriptions are Egyptian, Cuneiform (Babylonian and
Assyrian), Semitic, Greek, Latin, Indian, and Runic. The inscribed writings
include epitaphs on the dead, records of important events, dedications of
public buildings, with such comparatively private matters as receipts,
contracts, and other business transactions. While inscriptions form a
valuable source of knowledge, they cannot be accepted as invariably
reliable. Reasons might in some cases exist for making a false or
misleading record, as in the case of a eulogistic tombstone, while mistakes
in spelling and other details may be due to a careless workman. The
literature which deals with the science of epigraphy is very large.
[Illustration: Vertical Section of an Epigynous Flower