ETIOLATION (Fr. _etioler_, to blanch), or BLANCHING, of plants, is a state
produced by the absence of light, by which the green colour is prevented
from appearing. It is effected artificially, as in the case of celery, by
raising up the earth about the stalks of the plants; by tying the leaves
together to keep the inner ones from the light; by covering with pots,
boxes, or the like, or by setting in a dark place. The green colour of
etiolated plants may be restored by exposure to light. Etiolated plants are
also abnormal in other respects; the stems, or in some cases the leaves,
become extraordinarily elongated, and the internal structure undergoes
modification in various ways.
ETIOLOGY (Gr. _aitia_, cause, and _logos_, discourse, account), a
biological term introduced by Huxley, and denoting that branch of biology
which deals with the origin and mode of development of organic beings. In
medicine the word _etiology_, signifies the study of the causes and origin
of disease. The term is also applied in philosophy to the science of Cause
and Effect.
ETIVE (et'iv), LOCH, an inlet of the sea on the west coast of Scotland,
Argyleshire, nearly 20 miles long, of very unequal breadth, but at the
broadest part about 1-1/2 miles. The scenery of its shores is very
beautiful. About 3 miles from the sea, at Connel Ferry, a ridge of sunken
rocks crossing it causes a turbulent rapid, which at half-tide forms a sort
of waterfall.
ETNA, or AETNA, MOUNT, the greatest volcano in Europe, a mountain in the
province of Catania in Sicily; height, 10,758 feet. It rises immediately
from the sea, has a circumference of more than 100 miles, and dominates the
whole north-east part of Sicily, having a number of towns and villages on
its lower slopes. The top is covered with perpetual snow; midway down is
the woody or forest region; at the foot is a region of orchards, vineyards,
olive groves, &c. Etna thus presents the variety of climates common to high
mountains in lower latitudes, oranges and lemons and other fruits growing
at the foot, the vine rather higher up, then oaks, chestnuts, beeches, and
pines, while on the loftiest or desert region vegetation is of quite a
stunted character. A more or less distinct margin of cliff separates the
mountain proper from the surrounding plain; and the whole mass seems formed
of a series of superimposed mountains, the terminal volcano being
surrounded by a number of cones, all of volcanic origin, and nearly 100 of
which are of considerable size. The different aspects of the mountain
present an astonishing variety of features--woods, forests, pastures,
cultivated fields, bare rocky precipices, streams of lava, masses of ashes
and scoriae, as also picturesque towns and villages. From the summit the
view presents a splendid panorama, embracing the whole of Sicily, the
Lipari Islands, Malta, and Calabria. The eruptions of Etna have been
numerous, and many of them destructive. That of 1169 overwhelmed Catania
and buried 15,000 persons in the ruins. In 1669 the lava spread over the
country for forty days, and 10,000 persons are estimated to have perished.
In 1693 there was an earthquake during the eruption, when over 60,000 lives
were lost. One eruption was in 1755, the year of the Lisbon earthquake.
There were also eruptions in 1832, 1865, 1874, 1879, and 1886. Among more
recent eruptions are those of 1892, 1899, 1911, and 1914. An eruption is
ordinarily preceded by premonitory symptoms of longer or shorter duration.
The population of the district of Etna is about 300,000.
E'TON, a town of England, in Buckinghamshire, on the left bank of the
Thames, 22 miles west of London. An iron bridge connects it with Windsor,
on the opposite side of the river. Eton derives its celebrity wholly from
its college, called the King's College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor,
one of the great public schools of England, founded by Henry VI in 1440.
The building, which was commenced in 1441 and finished in 1523, has
received important additions in recent times in the shape of mathematical
and science schools, and a museum. The college foundation now consists of
provost, headmaster, lower master, seventy scholars, and two conducts (or
chaplains). The oppidans, or boys not on the foundation, number about 1100.
They are mostly lodged and boarded in the masters' houses. Pop. 3366.
ETREPILLY, (1) a small town of France, department of Aisne, is situated
near Chateau-Thierry. Millstones are obtained from quarries in the
neighbourhood. (2) A small town of France, department of Seine-et-Marne,
stands on the left bank of an affluent of the Marne. Agricultural
implements are manufactured.
ETRU'RIA (Gr. _Tyrrhenia_), the name anciently given to that part of Italy
which corresponded partly with the modern Tuscany, and was bounded by the
Mediterranean, the Apennines, the River Magra, and the Tiber. The name of
Tusci or Etrusci was used by the Romans to designate the race of people
anciently inhabiting this country, but the name by which they called
themselves was Rasena (or perhaps more correctly Ta-rasena). These Rasena
entered Italy at a very early period from the north, and, besides occupying
Etruria proper, extended their influence to Campania, Elba, and Corsica.
Etruria proper was in a flourishing condition before the foundation of
Rome, 753 B.C. It was known very early as a confederation of twelve great
cities, each of which formed a republic by itself. Amongst the chief were
Veii, Clusium, Volsinii, Arretium, Cortona, Falerii, and Faesulae; but the
list may have varied at different epochs. The chiefs of these republics
were styled _lucum[=o]nes_, and united the office of priest and general.
They were elected for life. After a long struggle with Rome, the Etruscan
power was completely broken by the Romans in a series of victories, from
the fall of Veii in 396 B.C. to the battle at the Vadimonian Lake (283
B.C.). The Etruscans had attained a high state of civilization. They
carried on a flourishing commerce, and at one time were powerful at sea.
They were less warlike than most of the nations around them, and had the
custom of hiring mercenaries for their armies. Of the Etruscan language
little is known, although about 6000 inscriptions have been preserved. It
was written in characters essentially the same as the ancient Greek. The
Etruscans were specially distinguished by their religious institutions and
ceremonies, which reveal tendencies gloomy and mystical. Their gods were of
two orders, the first nameless, mysterious deities, exercising a
controlling influence in the background on the lower order of gods, who
manage the affairs of the world. At the head of these is a deity resembling
the Roman Jupiter (in Etruscan _Tinia_). But it is characteristic of the
Etruscan religion that there is also a Vejovis or evil Jupiter. The
Etruscan name of Venus was _Turan_, of Vulcan _Sethlans_, of Bacchus
_Phuphluns_, of Mercury _Turms_. Etruscan art was in the main borrowed from
Greece. For articles in terra-cotta, a material which they used mainly for
ornamental tiles, sarcophagi, and statues, Etruscans were especially
celebrated. In the manufacture of pottery they had made great advances; but
most of the painted vases popularly known as Etruscan are undoubtedly
productions of Greek workmen. The skill of the Etruscans in works of metal
is attested by ancient writers, and also by numerous extant specimens, such
as necklaces, ear-rings, and bracelets. The bronze candelabra, of which
many examples have been preserved, were eagerly sought after both in Greece
and Rome. A peculiar manufacture was that of engraved bronze mirrors. These
were polished on one side, and have on the other an engraved design, taken
in most cases from Greek legend or mythology. The Etruscans showed great
constructive and engineering skill. They were acquainted with the principle
of the arch, and the massive ruins of the walls of their ancient cities
still testify to the solidity of their constructions. Various arts and
inventions were derived by the Romans from the Etruscans.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: G.
Dennis, _Cities and Cemeteries in Etruria_; Seymour, _Up Hill and Down Dale
in Ancient Etruria_.
ETRURIA, a village of England, in Staffordshire, between Hanley and
Burslem, famous as the place where Josiah Wedgwood established his pottery
works in 1769. Pop. 8056.
ETRURIA, KINGDOM OF, in Italy, founded by Napoleon I in 1801. Its capital
was Florence. In 1807 Napoleon incorporated it with the French Empire.
[Illustration: Etruscan Pottery (from Veii)]
ETRUSCAN VASES, a class of beautiful ancient painted vases made in Etruria,
but not strictly speaking a product of Etruscan art, since they were really
the productions of a ripe age of Greek art, the workmanship, subjects,
style, and inscriptions being all Greek. They are elegant in form and
enriched with bands of beautiful foliage and other ornaments, figures and
similar subjects of a highly artistic character. One class has black
figures and ornaments on a red ground--the natural colour of the clay;
another has the figures left of the natural colour and the ground painted
black. The former class belong to a date about 600 B.C., the latter date
about a century later, and extend over a period of about 300 or 350 years,
when the manufacture seems to have ceased. During this period there was
much variety in the form and ornamentation, gold and other colours besides
the primitive ones of black and red being frequently made use of. The
subjects represented upon these vases frequently relate to heroic
personages of the Greek mythology, but many scenes of an ordinary and even
of a domestic character are depicted. The figures are usually in profile:
temples are occasionally introduced; and many curious particulars may be
learned from these vase pictures regarding the Hellenic ritual, games,
festivities, and domestic life.
ETT'RICK, a pastoral district of Scotland, in Selkirkshire, watered by the
Ettrick, and anciently part of Ettrick Forest, which included Selkirk with
parts of Peebles and Edinburgh. The Ettrick receives the Yarrow 2 miles
above Selkirk, and enters the Tweed 3 miles below. The _Ettrick Shepherd_,
the Scottish poet James Hogg, was a native of this district.
ETTY, William, an English painter, born in 1787, died in 1849. He studied
at the Royal Academy, worked long without much recognition, but at length
in 1820 he won public notice by his _Coral Finders_. In 1828 he was elected
an academician. Among his works, which were greatly admired, are a series
of three pictures (1827-31) illustrating the _Deliverance of Bethulia by
Judith_, _Benaiah_ (one of David's mighty men), and _Women Interceding for
the Vanquished_. All these are very large pictures, and are now in the
National Gallery of Scotland (Edinburgh). Others of note are: _The Judgment
of Paris_; _The_ _Rape of Proserpine_; and _Youth at the Prow, and Pleasure
at the Helm_. Etty especially excelled at painting undraped figures.
ETYMOL'OGY (Gr. _etymos_, true, and _logos_, account), a term applied (1)
to that part of grammar which treats of the various inflections and
modifications of words and shows how they are formed from simple roots; (2)
to that branch of philology which traces the history of words from their
origin to their latest form and meaning. Etymology in this latter sense, or
the investigation of the origin and growth of words, is amongst the oldest
of studies. Plato and other Greek philosophers, the Alexandrian
grammarians, the scholiasts, the Roman Varro, and others wrote much on this
subject. Their work, however, is made up of conjectures at best ingenious
rather than sound, and very often wild and fantastic. It was not till
recent times, and particularly since the study of Sanskrit, that etymology
has been scientifically studied. Languages then began to be properly
classed in groups and families, and words were studied by a comparison of
their growth and relationship in different languages. It was recognized
that the development of language is not an arbitrary or accidental matter,
but proceeds according to general laws. The result was a great advance in
etymological knowledge and the formation of a new science of
_philology_.--Cf. W. W. Skeat, _The Science of Etymology_.
EU (_eu_), a town in Northern France, department of Seine-Inferieure, about
17 miles north-east of Dieppe. It is notable for its old twelfth-century
church and the celebrated Chateau d'Eu, part of which was destroyed in
1902. Pop. 4900.
EUBOE'A, formerly called Negropont, a Greek island, the second largest
island of the Aegean Sea. It is 90 miles in length; 30 in greatest breadth,
reduced at one point to 4 miles. It is separated from the mainland of
Greece by the narrow channels of Egripo and Talanta. It is connected with
the Boeotian shore by a bridge. There are several mountain peaks over 2000
feet in height, and one over 7000 feet. The island is well-wooded and
remarkably fertile. Wine is a staple product, and cotton, wool, pitch, and
turpentine are exported. The chief towns are Chalcis and Karysto. The
island was anciently divided among seven independent cities, the most
important of which were Chalcis and Eretria, and its history is for the
most part identical with that of those two cities. With some small islands
it forms a modern nomarchy, with a pop. of 116,900.
EUBU'LUS, a Greek comic poet, who flourished at Athens about 375 B.C. His
subjects were chiefly mythological, and he delighted in ridiculing the
tragic poets, especially Euripides.
[Illustration: Eucalyptus globulus