EPEE EPHESUS. 



63 



but, being unwilling to subscribe to the formulary 

 of faith introduced ou the occasion of the Janseuist 

 controversy, he devoted himself to law for a while, 

 but was afterwards preacher, and canon at Troyes. 

 His intimacy with the celebrated bishop Soanen, and 

 the accordance of their religious sentiments, drew 

 upon him the displeasure of the archbishop of Paris, 

 who forbade the abbe, for some time, to hear con- 

 fessions, even those of his pupils. The idea of be- 

 stowing' on the deaf and dumb the advantages of 

 society, by means of a language of signs, was not 

 first conceived by him, though, according to his own 

 account, it arose in his mind without any foreign 

 suggestion. As early as the end of the sixteenth 

 century, a Spanish Benedictine monk, Pedro de 

 Ponce, had educated two children of the constable of 

 Castile, who were born deaf and dumb, so success- 

 fully that they were able not only to read and write, 

 but also learned arithmetic, several languages, and 

 the principles of religion, and even gained some 

 knowledge of natural philosophy and astronomy. In 

 England, Switzerland, &c., successful experiments 

 haa also been made with the deaf and dumb, and, in 

 1748, a Spaniard named Pereira, came to Paris, and 

 exhibited to the academy of sciences some deaf and 

 dumb persons, educated by him, who excited general 

 astonishment by their acquirements. None of these 

 teachers, however, had published any thing on the 

 method employed by them, and excepting the works 

 of J. P. Bonet and Ramirez, both Spaniards, only im- 

 perfect accounts of it had ever been given to the 

 world. So that it is plain that De 1'Epee was, in 

 some measure, the inventor of this mode of instruc- 

 tion, which he first tried on two sisters, and found 

 his efforts so successful, that he resolved to devote 

 his life to the business. This noble-spirited man 

 was a true father to the unfortunate, for whom he 

 established an institution at his own expense. He 

 spent his whole income, besides what was contributed 

 by benevolent patrons, such as the duke of Penthi- 

 &vre, in the education and maintenance, of his pupils, 

 for whose wants he provided with such disinterested 

 devotion, that he often deprived himself of the neces- 

 saries of life. He once, when quite advanced in 

 years, passed the winter without fuel, in order that 

 his adopted children might suffer no want of any- 

 thing, and he was often miserably dressed, while 

 they were constantly well clothed. This benevolent 

 zeal he carried so far as to derange his pecuniary 

 affairs, and to excite the displeasure of his relations ; 

 and yet he sent a request to Catharine II. of Russia, 

 who was desirous to aid him, that she would send 

 him a deaf and dumb boy from her dominions, instead 

 of presents. His compassion for a deaf and dumb 

 youth whom he found in rags, in the streets of Pe- 

 ronne, involved him in much difficulty. He was 

 convinced that this forlorn youth was the injured heir 

 of the rich family of the count of Solar : he took him 

 under his protection, and demanded the restoration 

 of his rights. A lawsuit followed, which was at 

 first decided in his favour ; but when he and the duke 

 of Penthievre (the only protectors of the poor Joseph 

 Solar) were dead, the decision was revoked, and the 

 youth, driven into poverty again, was compelled to 

 enter the army as a common cuirassier, and died 

 soon after in an hospital. (This has been made the 

 subject of a play by Bouilly, L'Abbe de I'Epee, which 

 is rather a narration in dialogue than a drama, and 

 which Kotzebue has prepared for the German stage, 

 under the same title.) The abbe de 1'Epee died in 

 1789. Notwithstanding his efforts, he never could 

 accomplish his favourite project, an institution for the 

 deaf and dumb at the public expense, which was first 

 obtained by his successor, the abbe Sicard, who has 

 much unproved the mode of instruction. De 1'Epee 



left several writings on the instruction of Ihe deaf 

 and dumb, and the method pursued by him. Of all 

 the societies in Europe, the philanthropic society at 

 Paris was the only one which did itself the honour 

 of choosing this remarkable man among its members. 

 See the article Deaf and Dumb, where the subject of 

 their instruction is treated at length. 



EPERNAY, a place in France, department of the 

 Marne, five leagues and a half from Rheims, with 5000 

 i 1 1 1; il ii t a nt s , is the principal place of the trade in cham- 

 pagne (q. v.). Near the place are large caves, cut in 

 chalk, in which great numbers of bottles of cham- 

 pagne are stored, arranged according to the vineyards. 



EPHEMERA ; the name of a genus of insects, be- 

 longing to the order neuroptera, which is thus charac- 

 terize/! : wings four, erect, reticulated, posterior ones 

 much smaller ; extremity of the abdomen furnished 

 with three filiform appendages. May-fly or day-fly is 

 the popular name of the ephemerae, of which there are 

 several species. From the short duration of the exis- 

 tence of these insects, the term ephemeral has been de- 

 rived, which is used to signify anything short-lived or 

 temporary. The larvae, or grubs, inhabit standing and 

 running waters, usually abounding in the latter. As 

 baits for fish, they are much esteemed, and the perfect 

 nsect is also used for the same purpose. Great num- 

 bers fall into the water, and become the prey of fishes 

 and birds ; and they exist in such quantities in Car- 

 niola, tliat when dead they are collected in baskets, 

 and even in carts, to be used as manure for the land. 

 We are informed that the country people think they 

 have been unsuccessful, if each does not procure 20 

 cart-loads of them for that purpose. Those who 

 have witnessed the occasional migrations of locusts 

 and other predatory insects, will not think this in- 

 credible. The ephemerae live but a few hours, after 

 becoming perfect insects, appearing generally a short 

 time before sunset, flying about in the most irregular 

 manner, rising and descending like gnats, in immense 

 swarms. They emerge from the chrysalis, on the 

 banks of the stream, and make their exit from the 

 envelope or case. A curious circumstance in their 

 history is, that, after the development of the perfect 

 insect, it is incapable of performing the offices of 

 reproduction, until it has regularly moulted for the 

 second time. The skin is found attached to walls, 

 twigs of trees, &c., in the situations where they are 

 common. When at rest, these insects preserve the 

 wings in a vertical position, and are found in 

 this position, in a semi-torpid state, a short 

 time previous to their death, which follows almost 

 immediately after the impregnation of the female. In 

 the state of larvae, they are said to live a year, and 

 in that of the chrysalis or pupa, two years. Respir- 

 ation is conducted through branchial tufts along the 

 back, and the pupa differs from the larva only in 

 having dorsal appendages, in which the wings are 

 enclosed. One species known to naturalists deviates 

 from the characters of the order in having but two 

 wings, but in other respects, corresponding to its 

 brethren. In America, they rarely appear in such 

 quantities as in Europe, and in no part of it, we be- 

 lieve, are they so abundant as to be remarkable. 



EPHEMERIDES, in astronomy ; tables calculated 

 by astronomers, showing the present state, of the hea- 

 vens, for every day at noon ; that is, the places wherein 

 all the planets are found at that time. It is from these 

 tables that the eclipses, conjunctions, and aspects of 

 the planets are determined, horoscopes or celestial 

 schemes constructed, &c. , 



EPHESUS, the capital of Ionia, in Asia Minor, was 

 built, according to Justin, by the Amazons ; accord- 

 ing to Strabo, by Androchus, the son of Codrus. It 

 was the grand emporium of western Asia, having a 

 convenient and spacious harbour. Though repeat- 



