2789 



ECZEMA 



Indians, and partly though in a 

 less degree from negro slaves 

 imported in former days. Most 

 of the people are pure Indians, 

 simple and ignorant, who per- 

 form all the manual labour, and 

 bear with a kind of customary 

 apathetic submission the domina- 

 tion of the ruling class. These 

 Indian peasants and labourers are 

 virtually devoid of any sense of 

 nationality or citizenship, and are 

 indifferent to forms or methods of 

 government, although they have 

 been swept into contending armies, 

 in numerous civil wars, by caudillon 

 on either side. Some scanty tribes 

 still subsist in primitive and savage 

 independence in the eastern mon- 

 taria ; and others in the northern 

 part of the coastal plain enjoy 

 virtual independence under their 

 cacique, who is recognized by the 

 Ecuadorian government. Thedomi- 

 nant class, which forms a society of 

 typically 8. American culture, is 

 largelyof mixed blood. The official 

 language, and the tongue in general 

 use, is Spanish. 



CONSTITUTION, RELIGION, ETC. 

 The president is chosen by direct 

 popular election for four years. 

 The 32 senators and 48 deputies 

 are elected upon a limited franchise 

 which is withheld from illiterates, 

 an arrangement which secures as- 

 cendancy to the oligarchy of white, 

 ' or quasi-white, blood. The Roman 

 Catholic faith is generally professed, 

 but is not officially established ; 

 all religions are tolerated. Primary 

 education is free, and, in theory, 

 compulsory. There is a small 

 standing army, but no compulsory 

 military service. The coinage is 

 now upon a gold basis ; the unit is 

 the sucre, and the 10-sucre gold 

 piece is equal to the sovereign 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, INDUS- 

 TRY, ETC. A large part of the 

 world's supply of cacao comes from 

 Ecuador, where cacao far outweighs 

 all other products put together. 

 The weaving of Panama hats is a 

 considerable industry. Apart from 

 this there is little in the way 

 of manufacturing industry. The 

 chief exports are cacao, tagua or 

 vegetable ivory, Panama hats, 

 coffee, hides, and rubber. Some 

 gold is produced in the Andes, but 

 mining is not, as yet, a developed 

 industry. The considerable de- 

 posits of petroleum are for the 

 most part still undeveloped. Guay- 

 aquil, the chief port and the largest 

 town in the republic, is linked with 

 Quito, the capita], by a mountain 

 rly., 300 m. long, which traverses 

 one of the passes of the Western 

 Cordillera. There are also a few 

 short lines connecting important 

 points. The various streams which 

 unite to form the river Guayas 



provide access from Guayaquil to 

 a large part of the cacao- bearing 

 region of the southern coastal strip. 

 The lower reaches are navigated by 

 river steamers, the upper waters by 

 canoes and rafts. But over the 

 greater part of the country the only 

 roads are bridle-paths, and mules 

 are the only means of transport. 



HISTORY. Before the European 

 discovery of America, the moun- 

 tain plateau was the seat of a mon- 

 archical native civilization, inferior 

 to that of the Incas, but notable for 

 its organization and marked by 

 considerable skill in the arts of 

 building, stone-carving, weaving, 

 pottery, and the working of gold 

 and silver. Towards the end of the 

 loth century the Inca monarch, 

 Huayna Capac, defeated the king 

 of Quito, and added his dominions 

 to the Inca empire. By the daugh- 

 ter of the conquered chief, the Inca 

 conqueror had a son Atahualpa, 

 who, upon his father's death., be- 

 came the Inca ruler of Quito. He 

 then claimed the throne of the Inca 

 empire, and dethroned his brother, 

 the legitimate heir. He himself lost 

 his kingdom and his life at the 

 hands of Pizarro, the Spanish inva- 

 der, in 1533. The conquest of Peru 

 by the Spaniard was naturally fol- 

 lowed by the occupation of Quito. 

 The kingdom of Quito, which in- 

 cluded a considerable territory now 

 belonging to the republic of Colom- 

 bia, constituted thenceforth a pre- 

 sidency or government, subordi- 

 nate to the Spanish viceroy of 

 Peru. But in the 18th century the 

 presidency of Quito was made sub- 

 ordinate to the newly established 

 viceroyalty of Santa Fe de Bogota. 



In 1808 a revolutionary or re- 

 publican movement broke out in 

 Quito ; but, after four years of con- 

 fused tumult, Spanish authority 

 was re-established, and subsisted 

 until the decisive victory of the 

 republican commander Sucre in the 

 battle of Pichincha in 1822. Quito 

 was now incorporated into the ex- 

 tensive republic or federation of 

 Colombia under the authority of 

 Bolivar. But in 1830 that rather 

 artificial political system was 

 broken up into the three separate 

 republics of Venezuela, New Gran- 

 ada (now Colombia), and Ecuador. 



There followed a stormy period 

 of personal rivalries, despotisms, 

 factions, civil wars, and frontier 

 wars with Colombia. From 1859 

 to 1875 the country was ruled by 

 Garcia Moreno, an ultra-clerical 

 conservative, who attempted to set 

 up a kind of Catholic theocracy, to 

 be guided by the authority of the 

 pope. His dictatorship, although 

 more stable than previous govern- 

 ments, was by no means peaceful ; 

 and his assassination in 1875 



opened a fresh era of disorder and 

 conflict ; nor can it be said that the 

 promulgation of a new constitution 

 in 1906 brought peace to the re- 

 public. However, Ecuador has had 

 some share in that movement of 

 economic progress which has trans- 

 formed S. America generally during 

 the past generation. In the Great 

 War, Ecuador severed political 

 relations with Germany, and was 

 a signatory of the Peace Treaty. 



Bibliography. Travels in the 

 Wilds of Ecuador, A. Simson, 1886 ; 

 South America, A. H. Keane, 2nd 

 ed. 1909 (in Stanford's Compen- 

 dium) ; Travels amongst the Great 

 Andes of the Equator, E. Whymper, 

 repr. 1911 ; A History of South 

 America, C. E. Akers, 2nd ed. 1912 ; 

 Latin-America : its rise and pro- 

 gress, F. Garcia-Calderon, Eng. 

 trans. B. Miall, 1913 ; Ecuador, 

 C. R. Enock, 1914. 



SScurie. Town of France, in the 

 dept. of Pas-de-Calais. It is 3 m. 

 N.E. of Arras and was the scene of 

 fierce fighting between the French 

 and Germans, Jan.-June, 1915. 

 See Arras, Second Battle of ; Artois, 

 Battle of. 



Eczema (Gr. ek, out; zein, to 

 boil). Inflammatory disease of the 

 skin. Certain persons exhibit a 

 marked predisposition to eczema, 

 the exact cause of which is un- 

 known. The immediate exciting 

 cause may be debilitating illness, 

 gout, Bright's disease, diabetes, 

 constipation, dyspepsia, overwork, 

 anxiety, and exposure to damp and 

 cold winds. Infants and aged per- 

 sons show especial susceptibility to 

 it. A similar condition is produced 

 by the action of certain irritants on 

 the skin, e.g. turpentine, but this 

 affection is better termed dermatitis. 



The essential characteristics of 

 eczema are : redness of the skin, 

 formation of small blisters or 

 vesicles, watery discharge, forma- 

 tion of crusts and scales, and usually 

 extreme itching. Various types are 

 recognized : erythematous eczema, 

 in which bright red patches appear 

 on the skin papular eczema, 

 characterised by the formation of 

 small red papules or pimples about 

 the size of a pin's head ; vesicular 

 eczema, marked by the appearance 

 of crops of vesicles and watery dis- 

 charge ; and pustular eczema, in 

 which pustules containing matter 

 are formed, and on rupturing give 

 rise to yellowish-brown scabs. 



In all cases attention should be 

 paid to the general health. The diet 

 should be simple, alcohol should be 

 avoided, rest of the affected part, if 

 a limb, is important, and severe 

 cases should be confined to bed. 

 The irritated areas should be 

 washed as little as possible and 

 soap should not be used. Local 

 treatment with ointments.powders, 



