ER ISICTHON ERNESTI. 



87 



contended for it ; hence it was called the apple of 

 discord. Jupiter appointed the son of Priam, Paris, 

 then a shepherd on mount Ida, judge. He awarded 

 the apple to Venus, and was rewarded by her with 

 the beautiful Helen, on whose account the Trojan 

 war was kindled. 



ER1SICTHON, or ERESICTHON, in fabulous 

 history, the son of Triopas, king of Thessaly. He at- 

 tempted to cut down a grove sacred to Ceres. Begin- 

 ning with a large and beautiful oak, the abode of one 

 of the dryads, under the shade of which the rest of 

 the dryads commonly celebrated their dances in spite 

 of all previous warnings, in spite of the blood of the 

 nymph, which flowed from the first stroke, he would 

 not relinquish his design till the oak fell, and its 

 spiritual inhabitant was deprived of life. The rest 

 of the dryads now fled to Ceres, and implored her 

 vengeance on this act of impiety. The goddess 

 despatched the demon of hunger, which overshadowed 

 Erisicthon with its wings while he slept, and breathed 

 into him its poisonous breath. From this moment a 

 continual craving for food raged within him. He 

 soon consumed all Ms possessions, and, when food 

 could no longer be procured for him by the art of 

 his daughter , who had many times sold herself for a 

 slave from love to him, and escaped from her pur- 

 chasers by her power of assuming different forms, 

 which she had received from Neptune, he devoured 

 his own limbs, as far as lie could reach them, and 

 died in a dreadful state of despair. 



ERLANGEN ; a city in the kingdom of Bavaria, 

 circle of the Rezat, on the Regnitz, containing 813 

 houses, with 11,580 inhabitants; lat. 49 35' 36'' N.; 

 Ion. 11<> 14' E. The city is distinguished for its uni- 

 versity, founded in 1743, by Frederic, margrave of 

 Bayreuth. When Erlangen fell under the Prussian 

 sceptre, the university began to flourish ; but, this 

 part of the country being taken from Prussia in 1806, 

 the university remained in a languishing condition 

 until the district was annexed to Bavaria. (See 

 Anspach.) It then became important as the Pro- 

 testant university of the country, and several dis- 

 tinguished scholars were appointed professors. The 

 regular revenue of the university is from 60 to 70,000 

 rixdollars (from about 40 to 50,000 Spanish dollars); 

 but the government often makes it additional grants. 

 The library, since that of Altdorf has been added to 

 it, contains 100,000 volumes. 



ERMARK ; a Turkish word, signifying river, and 

 contained in many geographical names, as KizU-Er- 

 mark (Red-river) ; Jekil-Ermark, (Green-river.) 



ERMENONVILLE ; a village in the department 

 de 1'Oise, about eight leagues from Paris ; the country 

 seat of M. de Girardin, celebrated for its large and 

 handsome park, in which the remains of Rousseau 

 were entombed upon an island of poplars. French 

 and foreigners, particularly the British, frequently 

 go thither from Paris, during the summer, to visit 

 the tomb of Rousseau. In former days, the fair 

 Gabriele d'Estrees resided at Ermenonville, in a 

 hunting castle, of which a tower, still standing, bears 

 the name of that favourite of Henry IV. After her 

 death, Ermenonville fell into the hands of that faithful 

 friend of Henry, whom grief for the loss of lu's master 

 carried off two days after the king's assassination by 

 Ravaillac. Ermenonville has been made still more 

 remarkable in later times. J. J. Rousseau died here, 

 after having lived at the place only six weeks. His 

 bones were removed from the island of poplars to the 

 Pantheon. The ornaments of art contribute to the 

 embellishment of this beautiful spot, so highly favoured 

 by nature. The elder de Girardin, author of a work 

 on horticulture, expended 3,000,000 francs on it in 

 thirty years. 



ERMINE (mustela erminea, Lin.) This beautiful 



little animal belongs to the tribe digitigrada, or quad- 

 rupeds characterized by moving on the extremites of 

 their toes, and endowed with a greater degree of 

 agility than that possessed by the plantigrada, or 

 those walking on the whole sole of the foot. The 

 ermine, according to the observations of the prince of 

 Musignano, is the common weasel of the United States 

 in its winter hair. It is found in the northern parts 

 of America and Asia, in great abundance ; though it 

 is not confined to these regions, since it occurs 

 even in the middle States of America, and also in 

 the temperate parts of Europe. In the middle and 

 eastern States of America, it is known as the weasel; 

 further north, and in England, it is called stoat in its 

 summer, and ermine in its winter hair. In France, 

 in summer, it is termed roselet, and in winter her- 

 mine : in this state, it is the mus Ponticus of Pliny. 

 The habits of the ermine are very similar to those of 

 the common weasel of Europe, frequenting barns and 

 out-houses, generally making its retreats Beneath the 

 floor and rafters. It feeds on mice and rats, and 

 soon clears its haunts of these pernicious depredators ; 

 but it does not always confine itself to this food. It 

 is very destructive to poultry, birds, and young rab- 

 bits ; it is also a great devourer of eggs. In the 

 neighbourhood of Hudson's bay, ermine are very 

 abundant, particularly in the barren grounds and 

 open plains. When in pursuit of their prey, they 

 carry their tails horizontally, and display great quick- 

 ness and agility. During the winter, it is extremely 

 difficult to distinguish them, from their colour so 

 closely resembling that of the snow. Like many 

 other species of this genus, the ermine has the faculty 

 of ejecting a fluid of a musky odour. In its summer 

 dress, it is of a light, ferruginous or chestnut-brown 

 colour over the head, back, sides, and upper half of 

 the tail ; the under part is nearly of a pure white ; 

 the lower portion of the tail becomes gradually 

 darker, till, at the extremity, it is quite black. Its 

 fur is short, soft, and silky. In its winter coat, it is 

 of a pure white over the whole head, body, and 

 limbs, the lower half of the tail alone retaining its 

 dark hue. The fur, at this time, is much longer, 

 thicker, and finer than in summer. In Norway, it is 

 taken in traps baited with flesh ; in Siberia, it is 

 either shot with blunt arrows, or taken in a trap 

 made of two flat stones, propped by a stick, to which 

 is fastened a baited string, which, on the least touch 

 of the animal, releases the stone, which falls and 

 crushes it. The fur of the ermine is in great request ; 

 it was formerly one of the insignia of royalty, and is 

 still used by judges. When used as linings of cloaks, 

 the black tuft from the tail is sewed to the skin at 

 irregular distances. This animal is not readily tamed ; 

 when caught, and kept in a cage, it exhibits every 

 mark of its ferocious and savage character, by killing 

 or injuring everything within its reach. 



ERNESTI, JOHN AUGUSTUS, founder of a new 

 theological and philosophical school in Germany, was 

 born at Tennstadt, in Thuringia, 1707. He studied 

 theology at Pforta, Wittenberg, and Leipsic. Hav- 

 ing been made associate instructer (1731) and rector 

 (1734) of the Thomas-school in Leipsic, he devoted 

 himself principally to ancient literature, and the 

 studies connected with it. In 1742, he was appointed 

 extraordinary professor of ancient literature in the 

 university there, and, hi 1756, ordinary professor of 

 eloquence. In 1759, an ordinary professorship of 

 theology was added to his other offices. He per- 

 formed the duties of these professorships till 1770, 

 when he resigned the former. He became, in suc- 

 cession, first professor of the theological faculty, 

 canon at Misnia, assessor of the consistory at Leipsic, 

 and president of the Jablonowski academy of sciences 

 at Leipsic. He died 1781. By a careful study of 



