ERIVAN 



2964 



ERMINE 



contains the following administra- 

 tive divisions : Massowah, Hamas- 

 sen, Assab, Accheli Guzzi, Serae, 

 Cheren, Barca, Gasc and Setit. 

 Generally arid and extremely hot, 

 there is yet good pasture for cattle, 

 sheep, and goats, and camels are 



cotton. After being alternately in 

 the hands of Turks and Persians, 

 it was taken by the Russians in 

 1827, and definitely ceded to 

 Russia by the treaty of Turkman- 

 shai, 1828. Pop. 34,000. 



Erlangen. Town of Bavaria, 

 Germany. It is in Franconia, 15m. 

 N. W. of Nuremberg, just where the 

 Schwabach joins the Regnitz. Its 

 chief buildings are the town hall 

 and the university, and there are a 

 number of churches, schools, etc., 



Eritrea. Map of the Italian colony 

 in north-east Africa 



numerous. A rly. (74 m.) joins the 

 capital, Asmara, to the chief port, 

 Massowah. The chief products are 

 hides, butter, palm-nuts, gold, 

 ostrich feathers, and mother-of- 

 pearl. Pearls are gathered at Mas- 

 sowah and in the Dahlak Archi- 

 pelago, which is included in the 

 colony. Massowah was occupied 

 by Italy in 1 885, and the surround- 

 ing territory was formed into the 

 colony of Eritrea in 1889. Italian 

 enterprise was checked by the 

 disastrous defeat of the Italians by 

 Abyssinian forces at Adowa, March 

 1, 1896. Area, 45,800 sq. m. Pop., 

 mostly nomadic, 450,000. 



Erivan. Former govt. in Trans- 

 caucasia, since 1918 an Armenian 

 republic. It is bounded by Turkish 

 and Persian Armenia, the prov. of 

 Kars, and the govts. of Tiflis and 

 Elizabetpol. It is a mountainous 

 country, the chief heights being 

 Great and Little Ararat and Alag- 

 yuz, and is watered by the Aras, 

 ancient Araxes. On an island in 

 Lake Goktcha is the famous con- 

 vent of Sevanga, founded in the 

 4th century A.D. Minerals abound, 

 especially rock-salt. The inhabi- 

 tants are chiefly engaged in agri- 

 culture and cattle-breeding. The 

 area is 10,000 sq. m. Pop. 1,034,800. 



Erivan. Town of Transcaucasia, 

 capital of Erivan. It stands on the 

 Sanga, 40 m. N.E. of Ararat and 

 145 m. S.S.E. of Tiflis. It is the 

 seat of a bishopric and contains the 

 remains of an old palace of the 

 Persian viceroys. An active trade 

 is carried on with Russia and other 

 countries in leather, pottery, and 



but none is notable architecturally. 

 The principal industries are the 

 making of beer, paper, and textile 

 goods, the last, to which the town 

 owes much of its prosperity, having 

 been introduced by the Huguenots. 

 The university was founded in 

 1742 by Frederick, margrave of 

 Baireuth. It has a large library, 

 a botanical garden, and hospital, 

 in addition to laboratories, etc. 

 Erlangen passed in the Middle 

 Ages from one ruler to another. 

 It was made a town in 1398, and 

 until 1791 was in the margraviate 

 of Baireuth ; the palace of the 

 margraves is now used for the 

 university. In 1791 it passed to 

 Prussia and in 1810 to Bavaria. 

 Pop. 24,900. 



Erlanger, MILE BEAUMONT, 

 BARON D' (b. 1866). British finan- 

 cier. Of German parentage, he was 

 born in Paris and educated pri- 

 vately. Naturalised a British sub- 

 ject in 1891, he became interested 

 in many commercial undertakings, 

 and was senior partner of the firm 

 of Emile Erlanger & Co. Baron 

 d' Erlanger was chairman of many 

 companies, was interested in S. 

 Africa, and took a prominent part 

 in the Channel tunnel scheme, 

 being chairman of the Channel 

 Tunnel Co., Ltd. 



Erlau. Variant name of the city in 

 Hungary better known as Eger. The 

 red wine produced around here is 

 frequently called Erlauer. See Eger. 



Erl-king OB EBLKONIG. Figure 

 in German mythology. He personi- 

 fies an evil spirit haunting forests 

 and plotting mischief to passers-by, 

 especially children. The word, 

 meaning king of the alders (Ger. 

 Erie), from the vapours that cling 

 to these trees at night, is a mis- 

 translation, and should properly be 

 elf-king, its meaning in Scandi- 

 navian (Dan. Ellerkonge). The 

 character was introduced to Ger- 

 man folklore by Herder's trans- 

 lation of the Danish ballad, Sir 

 Olaf and the Erl-king's Daughter, 

 1778-79. It is the subject of a 

 famous ballad by Goethe, set to 

 music by Schubert. 



Ermeland OB EBMLAND. Dist. 

 of E. Prussia, Germany. It is a 

 level and sandy region, stretching 

 inland from the Frisches HafE be- 

 tween Elbing and Konigsberg. It 

 covers about 1,700 sq. m. The 

 name was borne by a district in 

 Prussia before that country passed 

 into the possession of the Teutonic 

 Order. It was later the principality 

 of a bishop, who was a member of 

 the medieval empire. In 1466 it 

 was added to Poland, but at the 

 partition of the latter in 1 772 it was 

 seized by Prussia. There is no town 

 named Ermeland, the chief places 

 being Braunsberg, Allenstein, and 

 Frauenburg, where the bishop had 

 his cathedral. At Braunsberg is 

 the Ermeland Museum. 



Ermine. Name given to the 

 winter phase of the stoat, when 

 the fur is white with the exception 

 of the black tip to the tail. In 

 Great Britain this change from the 

 brown of summer takes place regu- 

 larly in Scot- 

 1 a n d, and 

 often in the N. 

 o f England ; 

 but further S. 

 it is very rare. 

 The ermine fur 

 of commerce 

 comes from 

 more northern 

 Ermine in heraldry latitudes, 

 chiefly from Alaska ; but it is now 

 in little favour, except for official 

 robes. The name is either a cor- 

 ruption of Lat. Armenius (mus), 

 i.e. Armenian (mouse), or of Ger. 

 Hermelin, ermine, ermine-fur. 



In heraldry, ermine is the princi- 

 pal fur. It is represented as silver 

 or white powdered with sable spots, 

 usually depicted like a small arrow 

 head surmounted by three dots. 

 There are four variants : ermines 

 represented as black powdered with 

 silver spots; erminetes or erminites, 

 represented as black with silver 

 spots between two red hairs ; ermin- 

 ois, black with gold spots ; and 

 pean, gold with black spots. St 

 Stoat. 



