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greatest scholars of Germany in Oriental literature, biblical criticism, and literary and general history, born 1752, at Dorrenzimmern, in the principality HohenloheOhringen, was at first rector of the school at Ohrdruf, in the principality of Gotha; in 1775, was made professor at Jena, where he remained till 1788, when he became professor in Göttingen. He gave the first evidence of his knowledge of Oriental literature and history in his History of the Commerce of the East Indies before Mohammed (Gotha, 1775). At Göttingen, he devoted himself chiefly to biblical criticism. The results of his inquiries were published in his Allgemeine Bibliothek der biblischen Literatur, from 1788 to 1801, closing with the tenth volume. This work is connected with a previous work published by him, from 1777 to 1786, in 18 parts, called Repertorium für biblische und morgenländische Literatur. He also published an Introduction to the Old and New Testaments (the former went through a fourth edition in 1824); also, the Apocryphal Writings. These last works were published afterwards together, under the title of Critical Writings, in a revised edition (Leipsic, 7 vols., 1804-1814). These works contributed much to spread a sound criticism of the Scriptures, grounded on a knowledge of sacred antiquities, and the Oriental modes of thinking. To these works may be added his Primitive History (Urgeschichte), published at Nuremberg, 1790-93, with an introduction and notes, by Gabler, in which he critically examines the Mosaic records. Eichhorn afterwards turned his attention to history. He formed the plan of a history of the arts and sciences, from their revival to the end of the 18th century, of which particular parts have appeared under different titles (e. g., The History of Poetry and Eloquence, by Bouterwek; The History of Military Science, by Hoyer), and form separate works. Eichhorn wrote, with this view, two volumes of a General History of European Civilization and Literature in modern Times. He did not finish it, and afterwards gave up the direction of this undertaking. He began, in 1799, a survey of the whole history of literature, but did not finish the 2d volume till 1814 (containing the history of literature for the three last centuries). He has composed several valuable historical works, of which, among others, his Ancient History of the Greeks and Romans, consisting entirely of extracts from the original historians, are in high repute (Antiqua Historia ex ipsis veterum Script. Ro

man. Narrationabus contexta, Göttingen, 1811, 2 vols.; Antiqua Historia ex ipsis vet. Script. Graec. Narrat. contexta, Leipsic, 1812, 4 vols.). In 1804, he published the first edition of his History of the three last Centuries, considered in a general view, and in relation to the changes that have occurred in the particular countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. In 1818 appeared a 3d edition in six volumes, which brings down the history to the latest period. His last historical work is the Early History of the Illustrious House of the Guelphs (Hanover, 1817), in which he traces back the history of that family to the earliest times which afford any notices of it. Several separate treatises of his are to be found in the commentaries of the Göttingen society of science, and in the Fundgruben des Orients. Since 1813, he has conducted the Göttingen Literary Gazette.

EICHHORN, Frederic Charles, a distinguished student of German history and law, son of the preceding, was born at Jena, 1781. He studied at Göttingen, was an instructer there a considerable time, and, in 1805, was appointed professor of law in Frankfort on the Oder; after that, at Berlin, 1811, where he remained till 1817, when he removed to the same office in Göttingen. He distinguished himself in the campaign of 1813 against the French, and received the iron cross. His History of the German Politics and Jurisprudence first appeared 1808-18; 3d edition, Göttingen, 1821-23, 4 vols. In company with Savigny and Göschen, he has published, since 1816, A Historical Journal of Jurisprudence, in which is to be found his treatise on the origin of the German cities, which serves as a further exposition of his views given in the work mentioned above.

EICHSTAEDT, Henry Charles Abraham, a distinguished philologist of modern times, was born Aug. 8, 1770, at Oschatz, where he was partly educated by his father, a clergyman. He is now professor in the university of Jena, and editor of the Jenaische Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung (Jena Universal Literary Gazette). His works are some editions of the classics (Diodorus Siculus, Halle, 1800-2, 2 vols., and Lucretius, Leipsic, 1801), critical treatises, illustrating the genuine principles of interpretation (De dramate Græcorum comico-satyrico, Leipsic, 1793, and on Tibullus, Phœdrus, &c.), also translations of histories, relating principally to Greek or Roman antiquity, e. g. Mitford's History of Greece, from the English, Leipsic, 1802-8, 6 vols.

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EIDER DUCK (anas mollissima, Lin., Wilson; fuligula, Bon.) This valuable bird is found from 45° north to the highest latitudes yet visited, both in Europe and America. Its favorite haunts are solitary rocky shores and islands. In Greenland and Iceland, they occur in great quantities. In particular spots, their nests are so abundant, that a person can scarcely walk without treading on them. The eider duck is about twice the size of the common duck. Their nests are usually formed of drift grass, dry sea-weed, lined with a large quantity of down, which the female plucks from her own breast. In this soft bed she lays five eggs, which she covers over with a layer of down; then the natives, who watch her operations, take away both the eggs and the down: the duck lays a second time, and again has recourse to the feathers of her body to protect her offspring: even this, with the eggs, is generally taken away; and it is said, that, in this extremity, her own stock being exhausted, the drake furnishes the third quantity of down: if the robbery should be repeated, however, they abandon the place. One female generally furnishes about half a pound of down, which is worth about two dollars. This down, from its superior warmth, lightness and elasticity, is preferred by the luxurious, to every other article for beds and coverlets; and, from the great demand for it, those districts in Norway and Iceland, where these birds abound, are regarded as the most valuable property, and are guarded with the greatest vigilance. Each proprietor endeavors, by every means in his power, to draw those birds from his neighbor's ground to his own, and when they settle in an island off the shore, the cattle and herdsmen are removed to allow them to breed undisturbed. Very little of the eider down remains in the countries where it is collected. As found in commerce, this down is in balls of the size of a man's fist, and weighing from three to four pounds. It is so fine and elastic, that when a ball is opened, and the down cautiously held over hot coals to expand, it will completely fill a quilt five feet square. The down from dead birds is little esteemed, having lost its elasticity. The length of this duck is two feet three inches, extent of the wings three feet, weight from six to seven pounds: the head is large, and the bill of singular structure, being three inches in length, forked in a remarkable manner, running high up in the forehead, between which

trils: the whole of the bill is of a dull yellowish horn color, somewhat dusky in the middle. The male is black, hend and back white, with a black crown. The female is wholly reddish drab, spotted with black, with two white bands across the wings. The young of both sexes are the same, being covered with a kind of hairy down, throat and breast whitish, and a cinereous line from the bill through the eyes to the hind head. These birds associate in flocks, generally in deep water, diving to great depths for shell fish, which constitute their principal food. They frequently retire to the rocky shores to rest, particularly on the appearance of an approaching storm. Their flesh is eaten by the Greenlanders, but tastes strongly of fish. The eggs, however, are esteemed. These and the down are both frequently obtained at the hazard of life by people let down by ropes from craggy steeps. With five pounds of the best eider down, a whole bed may be well filled. The Greenlanders likewise use the skin, taken off, feathers and all, for their under dresses. The down is divided into two sorts; sea-weed down, and grass down. The former kind is the heaviest; but the labor of cleaning is greater. Much of the down is lost in cleaning. Iceland furnishes annually from 200 to 300 pounds cleaned, and from 1500 to 2000 pounds impure.

EIFEL; a district rich in monuments of the Romans, and of the middle ages, lying between the Moselle, the Rhine and the Roer. Schannat's Eiflia illustrata was published by Barsch in Latin, with annotations (Cologne, 1824, 2 vols.).

EISENACH (anciently Isenacum); a town in Germany, and capital of a principality of the same name, belonging to the grandduchy of Saxe-Weimar, on the Nesse; 26 miles west Erfurt, 40 west Weimar ; lon. 10° 20′ E.; lat. 50° 59′ N; population, 7845. It is a well built town, and contains five churches, a gymnasium with a library, and has some manufactures, chiefly of coarse woollen. It is most agreeably situated, near the mountains of Thuringia. Half a league from this town lies the Wartburg, an ancient mountain castle, to which the elector, Frederic the Wise, of Saxony, ordered Luther to be carried, after the latter had been placed under the bann of the empire, by the diet at Worms. Luther lived here as the chevalier George, from May 4, 1521, to March 6, 1522, and labored zealously in the translation of the Bible. The view from this castle over an ocean of leaves is charming. In 1817,

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many German students assembled here, and celebrated the anniversary of the battle of Leipsic (Oct. 18, 1813). The zeal which they evinced for the union of their divided and lacerated country, together with the burning of various books, the political character of which was offensive to them, displeased the German governments, and gave rise to the prosecution of many students supposed to be disaffected. The War on the Wartburg is an ancient German poem, of great interest in the history of German literature. Mr. Zeune published it in 1818.

EJECTMENT, in law, is an action by which a person ousted from the possession of an estate for years, in lands or tenements, may recover that possession. But though the action is intended only for the recovery of a term for years, it is, in fact, used, in England and the state of New York, to try the title to an estate of inheritance or for life. In the early periods of the English law, the tenant, or person dispossessed of his estate for years, could not recover the possession of it, in this action, in the courts of law; he could only recover damages for the injury sustained by being driven from the possession; but the dispossessor kept possession of the term, just as is the case at present in the action of trover and conversion, in respect to a chattel, in which the owner does not recover the chattel itself, but damages for being deprived of it. But the court of equity, in this case, as in many others, led the way in ameliorating the law, and enlarged the remedy, so that the plaintiff might recover the term itself; and the courts of law, following those of equity, as early as Edward IV, adopted the same remedy, and awarded execution for putting the plaintiff into repossession of his estate, though no such thing was warranted by the writ, or prayed for by the declaration. After taking this step, the next one was to adopt the same form of action for trying the title to the lands. This application of the action of ejectment was made as early as the time of Henry VII. To do this, the person who claimed an estate of inheritance, of which another was in possession, entered upon it, and then made a lease, and the lessee took possession, and remained upon the land in virtue of the lease, until the person claiming under an adverse title put him out; or, if no such person appeared to expel him from the land, he pretended to be driven off by the first person who happened to pass that way, and who was thence called the casual ejector, who was, in fact, no ejector at

all. Being thus ejected in fact, or by fiction, he brought his action of ejectment, or the party claiming the title brought it in his name, and in this suit the title was necessarily brought into question; for, in order to get possession, he must prove that he had a good and valid lease, which he would endeavor to do by showing that the lessor had the right to make such a lease, that is, that he had the title and right of possession. Besides proving the title of his lessor, he must also prove the lease, his entry under it, and his ouster, or being driven out of possession. When the object was to try the title, the lease, entry and ouster were a mere ceremony, and might as well be supposed or imagined as actually to take place. The courts, accordingly, allowed a fiction of the lease, entry and ouster; the plaintiff stated them to have taken place, though there had, in fact, been no such thing, nor was there any such person as the one named as being the lessee, who, in England, is always John Doe, and in New York, Jackson. Thus the action of Doe or Jackson er dem. [demisso] Johnson, against Sampson, means the action of Doe or Jackson, the lessee of Johnson, against Sampson. If the nominal plaintiff, Doe or Jackson, were liable to be called upon to show himself to the court, there would be an end of the suit, as there would be no such person to be found. Nor would the demandant succeed any better, were he called upon to prove that there had been any such lease, entry or ouster; as all this is a fiction. Formerly, the defendant also, the casual ejector, as well as the plaintiff, was a man of straw, or little better; for he was frequently a person who accidentally came in sight at the time of making the lease, if there was any in fact made, and who would not be disposed to trouble himself to prevent the demandant from getting possession of land, in which he himself had no interest or concern; or he might be a friend of the demandant, who had come upon the land at his request, to act as ejector, and would be very willing that the demandant should recover it. The tenant, therefore, who is in actual possession of the estate, unless his right is defended by some other person than the indifferent defendant whose name appears on the docket of the court, is likely to lose his inheritance. To prevent this, the court allows him to appear himself, and defend against the claim and the court: always requires that notice shall be served upon him, to give him an opportunity to appear. But before the court will permit him to appear for this purpose, they re

quire of him to admit all these fictions of a lease to John Doe, his entry and ouster, which he is willing to do rather than lose his land. These being admitted by him, he may then proceed to defend the action, and try the question, whether he has a better right to continue in possession, than this supposed John Doe has to recover the possession, upon his supposed lease. The titles of the demandant and tenant are thus brought into comparison, and decided upon. But when the object is, in fact, to recover a term for years, of which the demandant has been dispossessed, the lease, entry and ouster are of importance, and must be proved.

EL, or AL; the only article of the Arabian language. It is contained in many geographical names; for instance, Aldjezair (Algiers), the islands; El-Arisch, the cradle. This syllable has remained in many names of places in Spain and Portugal, as Alcantara, the bridge; Alcazar, the palace; Algarve, the west.

ELAIN; the oily principle of fat, obtained by submitting fat to the action of boiling alcohol, allowing the stearin to crystallize, and then evaporating the alcoholic solution; or, by the simple process of pressing any oily or fatty substance between folds of bibulous paper, the oily matter or elain is absorbed, while the stearin remains. The paper being then soaked in water, and pressed, yields up the elain. It possesses much the appearance and properties of vegetable oil, is liquid at the temperature of 60° Fahr., and has an odor derived from the solid fats from which it has been extracted. It is readily soluble in alcohol, and forms soaps with alkalies; in doing which, however, it undergoes decomposition, and is converted, according to Chevreul, into a peculiar acid, called by him oleic acid, which combines with the alkali employed. This acid is obtained by submitting the soap formed by the action of potash on hog's lard to the action of boiling water; the solution, on cooling, deposites a sediment, consisting of the margarate of potash, while the oleate of potash remains in solution. The oleate of potash is decomposed by tartaric acid, again combined with potash, and again decomposed by tartaric acid, when the oleic acid rises to the top in the condition of an oily-like fluid. It is insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, reddens litmus, and combines with the different salifiable bases, forming compounds somewhat analogous to soaps. At a temperature of 35° Fahr., it congeals into crystalline needles. ELASTIC GUM. (See Caoutchouc.) 37

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ELALIA; a town of Africa, in Tunis, near the eastern coast, in a large extent of ruins, on the borders of a fertile plain; 90 S. S. E. Tunis; lon. 11° 2′ E.; Îat. 35° 6' N. Besides such ruins as it has in common with other places, there are several cisterns with large paved areas built over them, in order to receive the rain water, that, in the rainy season, is to fill and replenish them. Several conveniences of the like nature are dispersed all over this dry country. Elalia seems to be the Acolla or Acilla of the ancients.

ELASTICITY; the peculiar property of bodies, by virtue of which, the particles of which they are composed, when moved out of their positions by an external force, or pressed into a narrower space, tend to return to their former position, as soon as the external force ceases to act. A bow, bent by the tension of the string, recovers its previous form when the tension is relaxed. Let an ivory ball fall upon a plate of marble, it is partially flattened by the impulse, but becomes immediately round again as soon as the force of the blow is destroyed. Here we see the cause of its rebounding from the hard surface. Feathers are in a high degree elastic. This property of elasticity is particularly observable in atmospheric air. If it is enclosed in a vessel, and pressed with a piston, as soon as the force is removed from the piston, the air throws it up violently. This is the principle of the air-gun. There is an important difference between the elasticity of solids and fluids; the former tend to recover their previous form; the latter to expand into a greater space, whence the term expansibility is applied to them. For the sake of distinction, the elasticity of solid bodies may be termed attractive, and that of fluids, expansive. The degree of it is very different in different bodies, and in many it is increased by art. Those bodies in which it cannot be perceived at all are called unelastic. The elasticity of a solid body is greater the more its particles are expanded. If all the particles of a body are so far expanded that their elasticity is just equal to the expansive power, the expansion can be carried no further without separating the particles. The weights, necessary to produce a given degree of extension, must be proportionate to the extension already existing. If three cords, of the same size and substance, stretched in proportion to the numbers 1, 2, 3, are to receive each a given amount of additional extension, the weights necessary to produce this extension are as 1,2,3. The laws of elasticity in fluids are

different from those in solids. In heavy elastic fluids, the inferior layers support the weight of the superior; in a cylindrical vessel,therefore, the bottom suffers the pressure of the whole mass of elastic fluid, and the lower strata are sensibly denser than the upper. A difference is made, too, between absolute and specific elasticity. By the former is understood the peculiar property of bodies to repel a pressing force, in itself, and without regard to temperature and density. This must be always equal to the pressing force. But as different kinds of matter may press with equal force under unequal densities and temperatures, that is called specifically most elastic, which with a less density presses with a force equally strong, and with an equal density stronger. In all elastic fluids, the specific elasticity increases with the temperature; it is likewise augmented by greater density: if air is confined, and made more dense, its specific elasticity is greater in proportion to its increase of density.

ELATER; the name of an insect remarkable for a singular apparatus between the thorax and abdomen, by which it is enabled to throw itself to a considerable height in the air, when placed on its back. It thus regains its proper position when accidentally overturned. The arrange ment by which this is effected is so curious, that we cannot suppose it intended solely for this purpose, and deem it most probable that other and more valuable services are rendered to the insect by it. A spine is produced from the centre of the breast or sternum, and enters a socket in the ante-pectus or breast. The force and elasticity with which the spine enters its appropriate receptacle, aided by the form of the thorax, produces a jar or concussion sufficient to throw the insect several inches into the air. When alarmed, the elater draws its limbs close to the body, and, falling to the earth quite motionless, counterfeits death. Flowers, grass, and decaying wood, are the proper habitations of these animals, which are almost always found singly, and not in numbers collected together, as in the case of many other beetles. One species is accused of depredations on the roots of wheat-the E. striatus of Fabricius, an inhabitant of Europe. The elater noctilucus possesses luminous properties, which are unlike those of the glowworm, &c., being seated near the head. In South America, where they abound, the natives term them cucuyos, and the Spanish residents, cucujo. Color, dark brown, with an ash-colored down; tho

rax on each side, with a convex round spot, from which the light is emitted; elytra with lines of impressed punctures. The light emitted by several of these insects, enclosed in a glass vase, is sufficient to read by without much difficulty. As ornaments for the hair and evening dresses of the Spanish ladies, they are said to be in great request; but it is probable that the feeble light which they produce would be entirely eclipsed by the glare of artificial light. It has been asserted, that the luminous quality of the cucujo is not confined to the spots upon the thorax, but that the whole interior of the animal possesses the property of affording light. This is considered doubtful. Some years since, numbers of this insect were taken in Philadelphia, having been imported in vessels from South America. In confinement, they were beautifully luminous, and the character of the light was observed to be similar to that of the glow-worm. They survived but a short time in captivity, for want of proper nourishment. The luminous phenomena exhibited by certain insects are exceedingly curious and beautiful. Every one is acquainted with the lightning-bug, so common in this country, and the female lampyis, or glow-worm. (q. v.) The light is a pale, greenish-yellow, phosphorescent emanation, subject to the will of the animal, who kindles or extinguishes it at pleasure. In day-light, the luminous organs are simply yellow.

ELBA (anciently Ilva); a small island in the Mediterranean, near the coast of Tuscany, to which, at present, it belongs, and from which it is separated by the channel of Piombino. The island is about eight miles in length, and two in breadth; was known to the Greeks by the name of Aithalai, and to the Romans by that of Ilva, or Elva, and has been renowned for its mines from a period beyond the reach of history. Pliny gives it a circuit of 100 miles; late geographers allow only 60 to its circuit. The difference might be accounted for by the encroachments of the sea, and by the tumbling in of rocks, which are in many places of a mouldering contexture. Being extremely mountainous, Elba affords but scanty room for cultivation, and produces little more than six months' provision of corn for its inhabitants. The climate is much milder than that of the adjacent continent. Elba contains two grand ports-Porto Ferraio, with 3000 inhabitants, and Porto Longone, with 1500 inhabitants, both defended by fortifications and garrisons. Lon. 10° 26 E.; lat. 42°