ESSAYING ESSEX. 



95 



Religion, which was publicly burnt by the scholars in 

 Halberstadt, at the celebration of the festival of the 

 reformation, and which was answered by some 

 scholars in the vicinity. He died Oct. 22, 1824. 

 His brother, Leander van Ess, Benedictine of the 

 abbey of Marienmunster, in the territory of Fader- 

 born, and, at a later period, a parish priest atSchwa- 

 lenberg, in the principality of Lippe,and, since 1813, 

 professor extraordinary of theology, and preacher at 

 Marburg, also one of the directors of the seminary 

 for teachers at that city, has distinguished himself by 

 his translation of the New Testament, published at 

 Sulzbach, by Seidel. The pope, it is true, has lately 

 prohibited this translation ; but, in 1820, a new edi- 

 tion appeared, under the name of Leander only. 

 This translation has had a great influence upon the 

 German Catholics. 



ESSAYING. See Assaying. 



ESSENES, or ESS^EANS; a sect among the Jews, 

 the origin of which is unknown, as well as the etymo- 

 logy of their name. They are first mentioned in the 

 book of the Maccabees, about B. C. 150. They 

 lived in solitude, and had all their possessions in 

 common. Certain examinations preceded the admis- 

 sion of candidates to their society. Philo says, that 

 they sacrificed no living creature, and that they 

 shunned cities. Josephus says, tliat they sent presents 

 to the temple, but offered no sacrifices there. They 

 had purer ideas of God than the Jews commonly 

 entertained, a strict code of morals, and a Pythago- 

 rean manner of life. Instead of performing external 

 rites, they devoted themselves to prayer and silent 

 devotion, scrupulously observed the Sabbath, were 

 extremely abstinent, and healed diseases of every 

 kind by roots and herbs. They rejected the subtilties 

 of the Pliarisees and the epicureanism of the Saddu- 

 cees. History nowhere supports the supposition 

 that Jesus and John were members of this body. 

 (See Bellermann's Ancient Accounts of the Essenes 

 and Therapeutae, Berlin, 1821.) The principal ancient 

 writers who give an account of this sect are Josephus, 

 Philo, and Pliny. 



ESSENTIAL OILS. This name is applied to 

 those volatile fluids usually obtained from aromatic 

 plants, by subjecting them to distillation with water. 

 The oil is volatilized with the aqueous vapour, and is 

 easily condensed ; a small portion of it is retained in 

 solution by the water ; but the greater part separates, 

 and is obtained pure from the difference in their 

 specific gravity. In some instances, as, for example, 

 in the rind of the orange and lemon, the oil exists in 

 distinct vesicles, and may be obtained by expression. 

 The principal volatile or essential oils are those of 

 turpentine, aniseed, nutmeg, lavender, cloves, cara- 

 way, peppermint, spearmint, sassafras, camomile, 

 and citron. The taste of these oils is acrid and 

 burning ; and their odour very pungent, generally 

 resembling the taste and smell of the vegetables 

 affording them. They are generally fluid, and remain 

 so even at a low temperature ; but some congeal at 

 a very moderate degree of cold, and others are natu- 

 rally concrete. They are extremely volatile, and 

 boil at a temperature considerably above that of 

 boiling water ; thus oil of turpentine boils at 315. 

 They are very soluble in strong alcohol, but, on 

 adding water largely, are precipitated. They are 

 soluble in ether in like manner, but do not form 

 soaps with the alkalies, by which they are distin- 

 guished from the fixed oils. They are readily 

 inflamed by strong nitric acid ; especially with the 

 precaution of adding a little sulphuric acid to render 

 the former more concentrated. Exposed to the action 

 of the air, they undergo an alteration in consequence 

 of the absorption of oxygen, become thickened, and 

 gradually change into a solid matter, resembling 



the true resins. When digested with sulpnur, they 

 unite with it, forming wliat have been called balsams 

 of sulphur. 



One of the most useful and abundant of the essen- 

 tial oils is that of turpentine, commonly called spirit 

 of turpentine. It is obtained by distilling turpentine 

 and water, in due proportions, from a copper 

 alembic. It is perfectly limpid and colourless, has a 

 strong smell, a bitterish taste, boils at 316, and is 

 extremely inflammable. It is the solvent employed 

 in making a variety of varnishes ; but for purposes 

 of nicety, it requires to be rectified by a second dis- 

 tillation. In general, the volatile oils are used in 

 the practice of medicine, or as perfumes. Those 

 applied to the latter use, as the essence of rose, of 

 jasmine, violet, &c., are possessed of a more feeble 

 odour, and, being obtained from the flowers of their 

 respective plants, require much care in their prepa- 

 ration. This is done by spreading upon white wool, 

 impregnated with olive oil, the petals of the flowers, 

 and leaving them for some time, covered over with 

 a woollen cloth, upon which flowers are also scat- 

 tered. The flowers are renewed from time to time, 

 until the olive oil employed appears to be saturated 

 with the oil of the flowers, when this last is separated 

 by digesting the wool in alcohol. 



ESSEQUIBO ; a river of British Guiana, which 

 flows into the Atlantic ; Ion. 58 30- W. ; lat. 7 N. 

 It is 20 miles wide at its mouth, but difficult of 

 navigation, on account of the sand banks, which run 

 in different directions across its entrance. It contains 

 a number of islands. The influence of the tide is 

 felt about 100 miles up the river. 



ESSEQUIBO ; a settlement of British Guiana, 

 on the borders of the above river, originally belong- 

 ing to the Dutch, but, after having several times 

 changed possessors, was finally ceded to Great Bri- 

 tain in 1814. The settlement is flourishing, the 

 country well cultivated, and extremely fertile, pro- 

 ducing coffee, cotton, cocoa, and sugar. 



ESSEX, a maritime county of England, on the 

 south-east coast. It anciently formed a part of 

 the territories of the Trinobantes, a British people, 

 whose quarrels with their neighbours appear to have 

 made way for the invasion of this island by the 

 Romans, under whose government this county was 

 included in the province called Flavia Csesariensis, 

 and it was the seat of some of their earliest and most 

 flourishing colonial establishments. When the Sax- 

 ons conquered England, one of the kingdoms they 

 erected was that of Essex, or East Saxony, so 

 named from its relative situation. It comprehended 

 Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire, as well as this 

 county, to which the appellation has been ultimately 

 appropriated. 



Essex forms the southern part of that tract of 

 country on the eastern coast which extends in a dead 

 level, unbroken by any considerable elevation, over 

 a greater space than in any other part of the island. 

 But though there are no rocky ridges, and the 

 eminences that occur are but insignificant, yet the 

 land is dry and arable, yielding a lair profit to the 

 agriculturist. In the south-western part of the 

 county there is abundance of wood and pasture ; 

 northwards, the face of the country becomes more 

 open and uneven ; while towards the sea-coast it 

 gradually declines into marshy grounds, deeply 

 indented by arms of the sea, and frequently over- 

 flowed. The fine pasturage afforded by these tracts 

 (commonly termed the hundreds of Essex), scarcely 

 counterbalances their injurious effect on the human 

 constitution. A similar line of marshes extends along 

 the banks of the Thames ; but the northern part ot 

 the coast, between the rivers Coin and Stour, is a 

 more elevated and healthy country. Agricultural 



