EIFEL1AN 



283 1 



EILEITHYASPOLIS 



Eifelian. Name given to a 

 stage of stratified rocks of Middle 

 Devonian age. It consists of flag- 

 stones, shales, and beds of lime- 

 stone attaining a thickness of 500 

 ft. in the Dinant district (Belgium), 

 and contains numerous fossil re- 

 mains of corals and brachiopods. 

 One series of shales (the Calccola 

 shales) ia named after a peculiar 

 form of coral. It is well developed in 

 the Eifel district, whence the name, 

 in the Rhine valley, the Hunsriick, 

 the Taunus, and in Bohemia. 



Eiffel. ALEXANDRE GUSTAVE 

 (1832-1923). French engineer. 

 Born at Dijon, Dec. 15, 1832, he 

 ^w^^QH^rai studied at the 

 I Ecole Centrale, 

 ami executed 

 | his first notable 

 If work, the bridge 

 jjy | over the Gar 

 | onne at Bor- 

 deaux, in 1858. 

 Inl865hefoun- 

 ded ironworks 

 Gustave Eiffel. at Levallois- 

 French engineer p e rret, Seine. 

 His outstanding engineering 

 achievements include the bridge 

 over the Douro at Oporto, 1876; the 

 Garabit viaduct, Cantal, 1882; the 

 great Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1887-89; 

 the movable dome of the Nice Ob 

 servatory ; and the framework for 

 Bartholdi's colossal statue of 

 Liberty in New York harbour. 

 He was one of the first engineers 

 to employ compressed-air caissons 

 m bridge building, and invented 

 movable section bridges. Mis in- 

 vestigations of air resistance were 

 of service in the development of 



aeronautical engineering. He died 

 at Paris. Dec. 28, 1923. 



Eiffel Tower. Building in Paris. 

 It was designed and erected by Gus- 

 tave Eiffel, for the Paris Exhibition 

 of 1889. It is 984 ft. high, and is 

 built of iron throughout, 7,300 tons 

 of that metal being used in its con- 

 struction. The shape is that of a 

 curved pyramid. Electric lifts run 

 to the top. The tower is an impor- 

 tant wireless telegraphy station 

 and meteorological centre. 



Eiffel Tower, Paris, seen from the 

 Champ de Mars 



Eiger. Mountain of the Bernese 



Oberland, adjoining the Monea, 



which is seen on the right 



Eiger. Mountain of Switzer- 

 land, in the Bernese Oberland (q.v. ), 

 adjoining the Monch ; alt. 13,042 

 ft. It was first ascended by Charles 

 Barrington, 1858. 



Eigg OR EGG. Island of the Heb- 

 rides, Inverness- shire, Scotland. 

 Facing the entrance to the Sound 

 of Sleat, it is G m. long and 4 m. 

 broad. In the S.W. is the Scuir of 

 Eigg, a porphyritic peak 1,289 ft. 

 high. The rocks have been de- 

 scribed by Hugh Miller in his 

 Cruise of the Betsy. Pop. 181. 



Eight. In rowing, a name ap- 

 plied collectively to the members of 

 a racing crew, when such consists 

 of eight men, in addition to the 

 cox. For the Oxford and Cambridge 

 and other important boat races it 

 became usual to have crews of 

 eight, and so the word came to be 

 used in this sense. See Rowing; 

 also illus. p. 1211. 



Eight, PIECE OF. Name given to 

 the old Spanish silver coin, the 

 piastre. It was so called because it 

 was divided into eight silver reals, 

 circulated in Spain and Spanish 

 America during the 17th and 18th 

 centuries, and was commonly met 

 with through W. Europe. Its value 

 was about four shillings. 



Eight-Hour Day. Term used 

 popularly for a working day of this 

 length. Since about 1832 this has 



been the ideal of many reformers 

 and numerous workers have se- 

 cured it, either by legislation or 

 by negotiation. In Australia it is 

 very general, while it has been in- 

 troduced in the U.S.A. and else- 

 where. In 1908 the miners in the 

 United Kingdom secured it, and in 

 1919 it was granted to the railway- 

 men. See Labour. 



Eighty Club. British political 

 club. It was founded in 1880 to 

 celebrate the victory gained by the 

 Liberals at the general election of 

 that year, its main object being to 

 unite the younger members of the 

 Liberal party and to encourage 

 them in active political work. A 

 president, usually a leader of the 

 Liberal party, is elected annually. 

 Lady members were admitted in 

 1920. The club's headquarters are 

 at 3, Hare Court, Temple, London ; 

 it has no club house. 



Eikon (Gr., image). Holy image 

 or sacred picture used in the wor- 

 ship of the Greek Church, more 

 usually spelled Ikon or Icon (q.v.). 



Eikon Basilike (Gr., royal like- 

 ness). Book purporting to be 

 written by Charles I, and published 

 immediately after his execution, 

 although most of the early editions 

 bear the date 1648 Its sub-title is 

 The Pourtraicture of His Sacred 

 Majestie in His Solitudes and 

 Sufferings. It professes to give the 

 king's views of the events of his 

 reign, and a number of his prayers. 

 Milton, in Eikonoklastes, replied in 

 detail to the work and first hinted 

 at "doubts as to its authorship. 

 Historians take sides respectively 

 for Charles and for John Gauden, 

 later Bishop of Worcester, who 

 claimed to have written it. See 

 editions by C. M. Phillimore, 1879; 

 and E. Almack, 1904 ; consult also 

 Bibliography of the King's Book, 

 E. Almack, 1896 



Eil. Sea-loch between Argyll- 

 shire and Inverness-shire, Scotland. 

 Forming a W. extension of Loch 

 Linnhe ; it is 8 m. long and has a 

 mean breadth of m. See illus. 

 p. 1065. 



Eildon Hills. Range of hills in 

 Roxburghshire, Scotland. Situated 

 S. of Melrose, they rise into three 

 peaks, the highest of which is 1,385 

 ft. On the slopes are a supposed 

 Druidical tumulus and remnants of 

 a Roman encampment. According 

 to popular tradition, the single till 

 was split into three by the " won- 

 drous wizard," Michael Scott of 

 Balwearie. 



Eileithyaspolis OR EILEITHYIA. 

 City of ancient Egypt. It has been 

 identified with the present El Kab, 

 on the E. bank of Nile, 44 m. above 

 Luxor. The goddess of the town, 

 Nekhbet, was regarded by the 

 Greeks as identical with Eileithyia, 



