87 



ETYMOLOGICUM MAGNUM. 



KUPHQUBIUM. 



Mi 



external porticoes or vestibula, in which the crowd of servants and 

 clients remained in waiting. The Atrium is supposed by some to be 

 of Etruscan invention. [ATRIUM.] But of these, an of their civic 

 buildings, we have no vestiges remaining. Of their.theatres there are 

 no remains left. Their amphitheatres have also perished, with the 

 exception of one at Sutri ; but as this is hewn out of the rock, it can 

 hardly be regarded as a type of constructed buildings of this class. 

 It is 295 feet by 265, and, except in being more circular, differs little 

 from the Roman amphitheatres which were no doubt formed on the 

 model of those of Etntria. [AMPHITHEATRE.] 



The great constructive skill of the Etruscans was especially shown 

 in their massive walls and forti6cations, and in their bridges, sewers, 

 and other works belonging to what we now term civil engineering, 

 rather than to architecture. The walls found in the northern part of 

 Etruria are much more rude and massive than those of the south, 

 where the stones, though large irregular blocks, are rudely squared and 

 laid in horizontal courses ; in all parts however the stones are laid 

 without cement. They are of the kind known as Pelasgic, but the 

 term is scarcely specific enough, as it does not distinguish any par- 

 ticular class of these walls ; or the walls of any particular locality from 

 other walls of the same kind. Some authors however conceive the 

 Etruscans to have been altogether a Pelasgian tribe, and with them 

 the term means that such walls are of Pelasgic origin. 



For fuller and more complete information of what is known respecting 

 Etruscan architecture, see Inghirami, Munumentl Etruschi (text and 

 plates, series IV.) ; Micali, Antichi Populi Italiani, and Monitmenti 

 Inedili; Orioli, Dei Sepolcrali Edifizi dell' Etruria Media; Abeken, 

 M ittd Italien ; Mvfller, Etrusker ; Lepsius, TyrrheniscJie Pelasgier in 

 Etrurien ; Dennis, Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria ; Fergusson, Hand- 

 book of Architecture.) 



ETYMOLOGICUM MAGNUM (ri piya. i-rvnoKo-fi^v), an important 

 vocabulary of the Greek language, of which the author is unknown. 

 Some suppose it was written by a grammarian of the name of Magnus. 

 The idea that it was compiled by Marcus Musurus, the first editor, or 

 the Calliergi, is disproved by the fact that this dictionary is referred to 

 by Eustathius. Sylburg considers it as old as the 10th century : much 

 older it certainly was not ; for Theognotus, a writer of the 9th century, 

 is quoted in it. The derivations in this work, like most of those 

 attempted by the Greeks themselves, are based upon no principle, and 

 though in some instances' accidentally right, they are generally full of 

 the wildest absurdities, as one might expect from the author being 

 confined to mere guess-work. It is valuable however for containing a 

 great many traditions with regard to the meanings of old or uncommon 

 words, and it often enables the scholar to correct the errors of the 

 corrupt but inestimable lexicon of Hesychius. The edition of Sylburg 

 (1594) is very useful, and has an admirable index : the edition of the 

 Etymologicum Magnum, by Schiifer, Lips., 1816, is a reprint of Sylburg's 

 edition. The edition by Sturz, Lips., 1818, 4to., intituled Etymologicum 

 Graecoe Lingua: Gudianuui, &c., is founded on the Codex Gudianus, 

 which is more complete than that on which the edition of Musurus and 

 the others already enumerated are based. 



ETYMOLOGY. [LANGUAGE.] 



EUCALYNE (CuK^O,,). A saccharine substance recently obtained 

 by M. Berthelot in the fermentation of melitose : 



(C,,n lt O,,) = 4CO, + 2C.H.O, + 



Melitose. 



Alcohol. 



Eucalyne. 



Eucalyne is a syrupy unfermentescible sugar, isomeric with melitose. 



EUCHARIST (fuxapiaTia, thanksgiving) is a Greek name of the 

 Christian sacramental act otherwise called the Communion, "r the Lord's 

 Supper ; and, in contradistinction from these appellations, it particularly 

 expresses the idea of thankfully commemorating the mediatorial sacri- 

 fice of Christ ; or, according to others, the name was .assigned in 

 reference to the fact that, when Jesus enjoined the observance of the 

 rite, he gave thanks. [COMMUNION.] 



EUCHLORINE. [CHLORINE, o.ci/gen and rhlorine.] 



KtVHROlC ACID (C S4 H 4 N,O,. or C.H S NO,). A colourless, crys- 

 talline acid, the ammonia salt of which is formed as a bye-product in 

 the preparation of paramide. It is distinguished by the production of 

 a beautiful blue colour by contact with metallic zinc. The blue 

 colouring matter thus formed has been termed euchrone, but it has 

 not been analysed, on account of the extreme facility with which it 

 decomposes. 



EUCHRONE.. [EUCHROIC ACID.] 



EUDIOMETER. An instrument employed for the analysis and 

 investigation of gaseous bodies. [GASOHKTRIC ANALYSIS.] 

 iUOENIC ACID. [CARTOPHILLIC Acin.j 



EUGENIN (C 40 H, 4 O,, ?), a substance \\I.'uh deposits spontaneously 

 from the distilled water of cloves; it crystallises in small lamina;, 

 which arc colourless, transparent, and pearly, and in time they become 

 yellow. The taste of eugenin is but slight, and the smell much less 

 strong than that of the clove. It is soluble in alcohol and ether in all 

 proportions. By the action of nitric acid, like the oil of cloves, it 

 becomes immediately, even when cold, of a blood-red colour. It 

 appears to be isomeric with CARYOPHVLUC ACID. 



EULYTE. A nitrated product derived along with dytlitc, from the 

 action of nitric acid upon citraconic acid. 



EUMENIDES (EufaMtt, the kind goddesses), a name given to the 

 Erinyes, or Furies, a set of goddesses whose business it was to avenge 

 murder, perjury, injustice to parents, and the violation of the rites of 

 hospitality. They were also called Semmc, or " venerable goddesses," 

 both names being significative of the awe with which the Greeks spoke 

 of the dread goddesses. The name Erinys was derived from the old 

 Arcadian word crinuein ({pivvfw), ' to be angry. 1 (Pausan. viii., 25, 6.) 

 These goddesses appear in the play of -fljschylus which bears their 

 name, not only as the instruments of wrath and the pleaders for justice 

 against the matricide, Orestes, but also as the promisers of victory, 

 prosperity, and all sorts of blessings to the Athenian people. Their 

 abode, according to the Homeric notion, was Erebus ; and they only 

 come upon earth when recalled thither by the devotion of the accursed 

 to their vengeance. ^Eschylua describes them as having black bodies, 

 snakes twining about their hair, and eyes which dropped blood. Later 

 they were depicted as rather solemn than terrible in aspect ; but they 

 continued to have snakes braided in their hair, and to carry them in 

 their hands. The Eumenides are often represented on vases and 

 elsewhere, but never of the terrible ^Eschylus type. The site of the 

 temple of the Eumenides at Athens, where their worship pos.-< 

 peculiar importance, was the north-east angle of the Areopagus, at its 

 base. " There is a wide, long chasm there, formed by split rocks, 

 through which we enter a gloomy recess. Here is a fountain of very 

 dark water." (Wordsworth's ' Athens and Attica,' p. 79.) The Athe- 

 nians sacrificed to the Eumenides, among other victims, black sheep : 

 no wine was mixed up with the libations offered to them, but only <>il, 

 honey, and water, in three separate libations, out of different vases. 

 (Soph., ' OEd. Col.,' 469, &c.) Of the number of these godde- 

 have contradictory accounts ; in the' play of ^Eschylus it is pretty 

 certain that there were fifteen in the chorus. By later writers their 

 number is more limited, some making them to be only three in number ; 

 and their names Alecto, Megiera, and Tisiphone. (MiiUer's ' Eumenides," 

 10.) Every question connected with these divinities is accurately 

 and satisfactorily discussed by Miiller in the second essay at the end of 

 his edition of the ' Eumenides,' 77-93. See also Bbttiger's 'Furien- 

 maske,' and Millin's ' Oreste'ide.' 



EUNUCH (fiivoixos, eunHi-Int*, literally, ' one who has the care of a 

 bed '). The Greek word may be considered as descriptive of the func- 

 tions of those who were made eunuchs, it being usual among the 

 Persians to entrust the care of their wives and daughters to such per- 

 sons. It does not appear that eunuchs wer made by the Greeks ; 

 this peculiar species of barbarity was a Persian practice (Herod, vi. 32) ; 

 though the Greeks sometimes carried on the trade of making eunuchs, 

 whom they sold at Ephesus and Sardis to the Persians for high 

 prices, the Persians considering that eunuchs generally were more 

 trustworthy than other men. (Herod, viii. 105.) Tavernier tells us 

 that in the kingdom of Bootan 20,000 eunuchs were annually made in 

 his time to sell to other nations ; and the seraglios of the East are 

 principally served and guarded by them to the present day. 



The Christian emperors of Rome forbade the practice of making 

 eunuchs, particularly Constantino ; and Justinian imposed a law of 

 retaliation upon such as exercised this inhumanity. In Italy, howr\ n . 

 the process of castration was much more recently practised upon 

 children intended to supply the operas and theatres of Europe as 

 singers. The Council of Nice condemned those who from excess of 

 zeal made eunuchs of themselves. Persons so mutilated were not 

 admitted into holy orders. The reader who would know more on this 

 subject may consult the ' Trait4 des Eunuques,' 12mo, 1707, by 

 M. d'Ancillon. 



Certain heretics of the 3rd century bore the name of Eunuchs who 

 had the folly or madness, after the example of Origen, not only to cas- 

 trate those of their own persuasion, but all whom they could lay hands 

 on. They were also called Valesians, from Valesius, an Arab, who was 

 their chief. (See Epiphanius and Baronius's ' Annals,' under the years 

 249 and 260.) 



EUPATORINE. An alkaloid of unknown composition, contained 

 in the Eupatarium cannabinum. 



EUPHORBIC ACID. A crystalline acid of unknown composition, 

 said to be contained in the Euphorbia cyparissias. Its existence is 

 doubtful. 



EUPHORBIUM, improperly called a gum, or gum-resin, since it is 

 entirely destitute of any gum in its composition, is the concrete juice 

 of several species of euphorbia, either exuding naturally or from 

 incisions made in the bark, therefore properly a cereo-resin. Much of 

 the article found in British commerce is obtained from the En/>/<r/ii<i 

 < 'i/i'ii'irntii, while that which occurs on the Continent is obtained from 

 Euphorbia officinartim (Linn.) and E. antiquarian (Linn.), and other 

 African species, particularly from an undescribed species, called by the 

 Arabs dergmnte. The branches of this plant are used in tannin 

 to it, according to Mr. Jackson ('Edinburgh Medical and Surgical 

 Journal," vi. p. 457), the morocco-leather owes its peculiarities. By 

 the most recent chemical analyses, euphorbium seems to consist of 

 resin, wax, and saline matter (mostly malates). The resin is the 

 active principle, and differs in some respects from most other resins, 

 particularly in its less solubility in alkalies. 



Euphorbium is a powerfully acrid substance, causing irritation and 

 inflammation of the parts with which it comes in contact, and by 

 sympathy affecting the nervous system. The dust received into the 



