ERA 



ERI 



11. Era of Pisa. This era, which was 

 sometimes used in France, especially in 

 the twelfth century, differed from our 

 common era by preceding it by one year 

 only. 



12. Era of Spain. An era founded in 

 consequence of the conquest of Spain by 

 Augustus, in the year of Rome 715, 

 thirty -nine years before the birth of 

 Christ. The era commenced Jan. 1, 

 A.u.c. 716, and 38 b.c. It prevailed in 

 Portugal so lately as 1415, if not until 

 1422. 



13. Era of Diocletian, or of the Mar- 

 tyrs. This era dates from August 29, 

 A.D. 284, the day when Diocletian was 

 proclaimed emperor at Chalcedon ; and 

 in consequence of his persecution of the 

 Christians, it is also called the '• Era of 

 the Martyrs." It was generally used by 

 Christian writers until the introduction 

 of the Christian era in the sixth century, 

 and it is still used by the Ethiopians and 

 Copts. 



14. Era of the Hegira. This era, also 

 called the " Era of the Turks, Arabs, and 

 other Mahomedans," commences on Fri- 

 day, July 16, A.D. 622, the day of the 

 flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, 

 which is the date of the Mahomedans ; 

 but astronomers and some historians 

 assign it to the preceding day — an im- 

 portant fact, to be borne in mind when 

 perusing Arabian writers. 



15. Era of Abraham. This era pre- 

 ceded the birth of Christ by 2015 years, 

 and began on the 1st of October, 2016. 



16. Era of Nahonassar. The author of 

 this era was Nahonassar, the founder of 

 the kingdom of Babylon. It commenced 

 on Wednesday, Feb. 26, in the 3967th 

 year of the Julian period, i.e. b.c. 747. 

 It included a period of 424 Egyptian 

 years, from the commencement of Na- 

 bonassar's reign to the death of Alexan- 

 der the Great, and was thence brought 

 down to the reign of Antoninus Pius. 



17. Era of Tyre. This era began 125 

 years before Christ, in the year of Rome 

 628, and in the 186th year of the era of 

 the Seleucidae. 



IS. Actiatic Era. This era is founded 

 on the battle of Actium, which rendered 

 Augustus master of the Roman empire. 

 The Romans commenced this era on the 

 1st of January, a.u.c. 724, and in the 

 16th of the Julian era. In Egypt, it 

 commenced in the same year as that of 

 the battle, and prevailed until the reign 

 of Diocletian. The Greeks of Antioch 

 used it as late as the ninth century. 

 127 



19. Era of Augustus. This was later 

 by four years than the Actiatic era, and 

 began in the year of Rome 727, twenty- 

 seven years before the Christian era. 



20. Era of the Ascension. This era is 

 supposed to have been used only by the 

 author of the Chronicle of Alexandria, 

 who dates the year of the Martyrdom of 

 St. Menas of Cotys at the period corre- 

 sponding with the 12th of November, 

 A.D. 295. 



21. Era of the Armenians. This era 

 commenced on Tuesday, July 9th, a.d. 

 552, the period when the Council of 

 Tiben, or the Armenians, confirmed the 

 condemnation of the Council of Chalce- 

 donia, which was pronounced in a.d. 536, 

 and by which they completed their 

 schism. 



22. Era of Tezdegird III., or the Per- 

 sian Era. This era commenced on the 

 accession of Yezdegird to the throne of 

 Persia, on the 16th of June, a.d. 632. 



23. Jewish Era. This era is commonly 

 supposed to be not more ancient than the 

 fifteenth century. The Jews now date 

 from the creation of the world, which 

 they consider to have taken place 3760 

 years and 3 months before the commence- 

 ment of the Christian era. 



24. Era of the Caliyug. This is the 

 most ancient era of India, and dates from 

 a period 3101 years before Christ. Other 

 eras are used in different parts of India, 

 as those of Salivahana, of Vicramaditya, 

 of Parasurama, &c. 



25. Era of the French. The era of the 

 National Convention, which commenced 

 on the 22nd of September, 1792, being 

 the epoch of the foundation of the Re- 

 public ; but its establishment was not 

 decreed till the 4th *' Frimaire" of the 

 year ii. (Nov. 24, 1793.) Two days after- 

 wards the public acts were thus dated. 

 This calendar existed till the 10th " Ni- 

 vose," of the year xiv. (Dec. 31, 1805,) 

 when the Gregorian mode of computation 

 was restored. 



E'REMACAU'SIS (^jpejuop, slow, Kav- 

 atf, burning). A term applied by Liebig 

 to the slow combustion or oxidation of 

 organic matters in air, as the conversion 

 of wood into humus, the formation of 

 acetic acid from alcohol, nitrification, &c. 



ERICA'CEiE {erica, a heath). The 

 Heath tribe of Dicotyledonous plants. 

 Shrubs, with leaves evergreen, rigid, en- 

 tire, whorled or opposite ; flowers mono- 

 petalous, regular ; stamens definite ; ova- 

 rium superior, many-seeded ; seeds apte- 

 rous. 



G4 



