ECONOMICS 



2787 



Economics (Gr. oikos. house ; 

 nomos, law). Originally the art of 

 managing a household. This use 

 survives in the phrase domestic 

 economy, but there are also 

 economics of other kinds. The 

 most useful definition of the word 

 is as a synonym for what is known 

 as political economy, i.e. the study 

 of the production and distribution 

 of wealth. Economics is sometimes 

 regarded, however, as having a 

 somewhat wider meaning than 

 political economy, including cer- 

 tain matters which were outside 

 the scope of the older science ; the 

 physical welfare of the worker, for 

 instance. Political economy is used 

 for the main article in this work. 

 See Political Economy. 



Economics and Political 

 Science, LONDON SCHOOL OF. 

 School for the study of economics 

 founded in London in 1895. It is 

 a school of the university of 

 London, and its courses are 

 specially adapted for those who 

 devote their time to research work, 

 and also for those studying for 

 degrees in economics. The sub- 

 jects upon which professors and 

 lecturers are provided include 

 accounting, commerce, geography, 

 sociology, statistics, and transport, 

 as well as political economy, his- 

 tory, and law. The school occupies 

 the Passmore Edwards Hall in 

 Clare Market, London, W.C., but 

 the foundation stone of new build- 

 ings was laid in 1920 by King 

 George. Its principals have been 

 Sir H. J. Mackinder, Hon. W. P. 

 Reeves, and Sir W. H. Beveridge. 



Economiser. Apparatus for 

 heating the feed-water of steam 

 boilers, and so reducing the con- 

 sumption of fuel. The heating 

 agent is either waste furnace gas 

 or steam. The Green economise!', 

 the type most commonly employed 

 with Lancashire and other large 

 cylindrical land boilers, consists of 

 a number of vertical pipes, about 

 4J ins. in diameter, arranged in a 

 brick chamber interposed between 

 the boiler and its chimney. An- 

 nular scrapers are moved me- 

 chanically up and down the outside 

 of the pipes to keep them free from 

 soot. Other forms of tubular feed- 

 heaters are fitted in the uptakes of 

 water-tube boilers, and in the fore 

 part of large locomotive boilers. 

 On ships exhaust steam or high- 

 pressure steam is utilised to warm 

 separate heaters, or the heater is 

 combined with the condenser/ 

 The saving of fuel effected by an 

 economiser may be from about 10 

 p.c. to about 15 p.u See Boiler ; 

 Condenser. 



Economist, THE. London 

 weekly paper devoted to political 

 economy. It was founded in 1843 



by James Wilson, who edited it 

 until 1859, Herbert Spencer being 

 sub-editor, 1848-53. From 1859- 

 77 the paper was edited by Walter 

 Bagehot, and 1907-16 by Francis 

 W. Hirst. It has always discussed 

 financial questions from a social 

 and economic standpoint, and in 

 its early days was a staunch advo- 

 cate of free trade and the repeal 

 of the Corn Laws. 



Ecorche (Fr.). Animal stripped 

 of its skin in order that the dispo- 

 sition and character of the muscles 

 may be studied. In figure work 

 the life class or study from nature 

 supplies the bulk of the draughts- 

 man's needs, but a species of 

 ecorche is supplied by the coloured 

 plates of the muscular system used 

 in some text-books of anatomy. 



E.G. Powder. One of the 

 oldest British smokeless powders 

 for use in sporting guns. Invented 

 in 1882 at the works of the Ex- 

 plosives Company, hence E.G., at 

 Stowmarket, it consisted essen- 

 tially of nitrated cotton mixed with 

 nitrates, the mass being granu- 

 lated. A separate company was 

 formed to manufacture it at new 

 works erected at Dartford, Kent, 

 where it is still made. At present 

 E.G. powder is a 33-grain powder, 

 i.e. 33 grains of the smokeless 

 powder is equivalent to the old 

 standard charge of 82 grains of 

 gunpowder. E.G. powder is com- 

 posed of nitrocellulose, 79 '0 p.o. ; 

 wood meal, 3'8 ; camphor, 4*1 ; 

 barium nitrate, 7 '5 ; potassium 

 nitrate, 4 '5 ; volatile matter, I'l. 



Ecrasite (Fr. ecraser, to crush). 

 High explosive employed in Aus- 

 tria for charging shell and other 

 projectiles. It actually consists 

 of ammonium cressylate, prepared 

 by boiling trinitrocresol with a solu- 

 tion of ammonium carbonate, or 

 by neutralising a solution of trini- 

 trocresol with ammonia, the result- 

 ing product occurring as pale red- 

 dish yellow needles easily soluble 

 in water. It melts at about 100 C., 

 and is comparatively insensitive to 

 friction and shock. Projectiles may 

 be filled either by ramming and 

 pressing the powdered explosive 

 into them, by forming it into cart- 

 ridges which are inserted complete 

 through a removable base plate, 

 or by pouring in the melted com- 

 pound. It is detonated by means 

 of a fulminate detonator and gaine 

 containing powdered ecrasite. 



Ecrins, BARRE DES. Mt. of S.E. 

 France. It is the highest summit 

 of the Pelvoux group of the Cottian 

 Alps, which lie between the depts. 

 of Hautes-Alpes and Isere. Alt. 

 13,460 ft. 



Ecstasy (Gr. ecstasis, displace- 

 ment, trance). Name given to 

 various states of consciousness, in 



which, the mind being concen- 

 trated on a definite object, the 

 senses are temporarily inactive, 

 and external sensations inopera- 

 tive. It has been experienced at 

 various times by many Christian 

 mystics, notably by S. Teresa, and 

 valued as a supernatural pheno- 

 menon. According to their own 

 testimony the mystics have re- 

 ceived, in ecstatic condition, special 

 manifestation of the will of God. 

 The term is also sometimes applied 

 to the abnormal mental conditions 

 of catalepsy, the hypnotic trance, 

 somnambulism, and to the trances 

 of spirit mediums. The chief points 

 distinguishing these states from 

 ecstasy are the absence of con- 

 sciousness and of all memory of 

 what has taken place during the 

 trance. See Dreams. 



Ectoderm (Gr. ectos, outside; 

 derma, skin). Term applied to the 

 outer layer of the embryo, from 

 which the skin and nervous sys- 

 tem of a vertebrate animal origi- 

 nate. It is also used for the outer 

 layer of cells in the Coelentera. 

 See Embryology. 



Ectopic Gestation OR EXTRA- 

 UTERINE PREGNANCY (Gr. ectopos, 

 out of place). Condition in which 

 the fertilised ovum, or egg cell, 

 instead of developing within the 

 uterus, becomes implanted in the 

 Fallopian tube which leads to the 

 uterus, or escapes into the body 

 cavity and there begins to de- 

 velop. The cause is unknown. It 

 is rare in young women, and is most 

 often seen in women who have 

 been married for a number of years 

 without having had a child, and 

 in cases where a long time has 

 elapsed since the last pregnancy. 



The symptoms are not very 

 definite, but some of the signs of 

 pregnancy may be present. Often, 

 however, the first indication is a 

 sudden attack of acute pain with 

 collapse, and signs of internal 

 haemorrhage, due to rupture of 

 the sac of the developing embryo. 

 In most cases operative treatment 

 provides the best hope of saving 

 life. See Pregnancy. 



Ectozoa(Gr. ectos, outside ; zoon, 

 animal). Term applied to parasites 

 which live on the exterior of their 

 hosts, in contrast with the entozoa, 

 which live in the internal organs. 

 Lice and ticks are examples of the 

 ectozoa, tape worms and flukes 

 of the entozoa. 



Ecu (Fr., shield ; Lat. scutum}. 

 Obsolete French silver coin. First 

 struck by Louis IX, its value was 

 three livres. Charles VI issued, in 

 1384, a piece known as ecu de la 

 couronne, the ecu being called in 

 England a crown. There was also 

 minted a double silver ecu of six 

 livres, worth about 5s. See Crown. 



