RELIGION, EDUCATION, FINE ARTS. 



641 



100 of Ephah, pt., 3 ins. sol. This Cotyla 

 contains just 10 ozs. avoirdupois of rain water ; 

 Omer, 100 ; Ephah, 1,000 ; Chomer or Homer, 

 10,000. 



Scriptural Measures of Length. 

 The measures of length used in the Scriptures, 

 with their English equivalents, are as follows : 

 The great Cubit was 21.888 ins.=l.S24 ft., 

 and the less 18 ins. A span, the longer= a 

 cubit=10.944 ins. =.912 ft. A span, the less 

 = 1-3 of a cubit=7.296 ins.= .608 ft. A 

 hand's breadth=l-6 of a cubit=3.684 ins.= 

 .304 ft. A finger's breadth= 1-24 of a cubit 

 = .912 ins. = .076 ft. A fathom=4 cubits= 

 7.296 ft. Ezekiel's Reed=6 cubits=10.944 

 feet. Themile=4,000cubits=7,296ft. The 

 Stadium, 1-10 of their mile=400 cubits= 

 729.6 ft. The Parasang, 3 of their miles= 

 12,000 cubits, or 4 English miles and 580 ft. 

 33.164 miles was a day's journey some say 

 24 miles; and 3,500 ft. a Sabbath day's jour- 

 ney ; some authorities say 3,648 ft. 



Theosophy. The name " theosophy " is 

 from the Greek word theosophia, divine wisdom. 

 The object of theosophical study is professedly 

 to understand the nature of divine things. It 

 differs from both philosophy and theology in 

 that all reasoning processes are excluded as im- 

 perfect, and claims to derive its knowledge from 

 direct communication with God. It does not 

 accept the truths of recorded revelation as im- 

 mutable, but as subject to modification by later 

 direct and personal revelations. It is really 

 but another name for mysticism, although the 

 latter name implies much more ; and the direct 

 and immediate knowledge or intuition of God 

 to which the Mystics laid claim was, in fact, 

 the foundation of that intimate union with 

 God, and consequent abstraction from outer 

 things, which they make the basis of their 

 moral and ascetical system. The theosophic 

 system dates from a very high antiquity. Since 

 the Christian era we may class among theoso- 

 phists such sects as Neoplatonists, the Hesy- 

 chasts of the Greek Church, and in later times 

 the disciples of Paracelsus, Thalhauser, Bohme, 

 and Swedenborg. 



Bayeux Tapestry, The, is a web of can- 

 vas or linen cloth upon which is embroidered, 

 in woolen threads of various colors, a represen- 

 tation of the invasion and conquest of England 

 by the Normans. The canvas is 214 feet long 

 by 20 inches broad, and is preserved in the 

 public library at Bayeux. Tradition asserts 

 that it is the work of Matilda, wife of William 

 the Conqueror, and it is believed that if she 

 did not actually stitch the whole of it with her 

 own hands, she at least took part in it, and 

 directed the execution of it by her maids, and 

 afterwards presented it to the Cathedral of 



Bayeux as a token of her appreciation of the 

 effective assistance which its bishop, Odo, 

 rendered her husband at the battle of Hast- 

 ings. Some antiquarians contend that it was 

 not the work of Queen Matilda (the wife of 

 the Conqueror), who died in 1083, but of the 

 Empress Matilda (the daughter of Henry I.), 

 who died in 1167. The tapestry contains, be- 

 side the figures of 505 quadrupeds, birds, 

 sphinxes, etc., the figures of 623 men, 202 

 horses, 55 dogs, 37 buildings, 41 ships and 

 boats, and 49 trees in all, 1,512 figures. It 

 is divided into 72 distinct compartments, each 

 representing one particular historical occur- 

 rence, and bearing an explanatory Latin in- 

 scription. A tree is usually chosen to divide 

 the principal events from each other. This 

 pictorial history for so it may be called 

 gives an exact and minute portraiture of the 

 manners arid customs of the times ; and it has 

 been remarked that the arms and habits of the 

 Normans are identical with those of the Danes 

 as they appear in the earlier formative periods 

 of the English people. 



Amen is a Hebrew word signifying ' ' Yes, ' ' 

 " Truly." In Jewish synagogues the amen 

 is pronounced by the congregation at the con- 

 clusion of the benediction. Among the early 

 Christians the prayer offered by the presbyter 

 was concluded by the word amen, uttered by 

 the congregation. Justin Martyr is the earliest 

 of the fathers who alludes to the nse of the re- 

 sponse. According to Tertullian, none but the 

 faithful were permitted to join in the response. 

 A somewhat noisy and irreverent practice pre- 

 vailed in the celebration of the Lord's Supper 

 until the sixth century, after which it was dis- 

 continued. ' < Upon the reception both of the 

 bread and of the wine, each person uttered a 

 loud 'amen,' and at the close of the conse- 

 cration by the priest, all joined in shouting 

 a loud ' amen.' ' The same custom was ob- 

 served at baptism, when the sponsors and wit- 

 nesses responded vehemently. In the Greek 

 Church the amen was pronounced after the 

 name of each person of the Trinity ; and at 

 the close of the baptismal formula the people 

 responded. At the conclusion of prayer it 

 signifies (according to the English Church Cat- 

 echism) so be it; after the repetition of the 

 creed, so it is. 



Shintuism is the prevailing religion of 

 Japan. Its characteristics are the absence of 

 an ethical and doctrinal code, of idol worship, 

 of priestcraft, and of any teachings concerning 

 a future state. It requires pre-eminently pu- 

 rity of heart and general temperance. The 

 principal divinity is the sun-goddess Amate- 

 rasu, whose descendant and vice-regent on 

 earth is the Mikado, who is therefore wor- 



