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EAR TRUMPETS EARTH. 



EAR-TRUMPETS; instruments used by persons 

 |>iirii;illy deaf, to strengthen the sensation of sound. 

 They an- of various forms, mid are intended to com- 

 pensate for tlie want of the internal enr, or to augment 

 its power when the external organs perform their 

 him -lions lint imperfectly. The purpose of the ex- 

 ternal ear, Ixnli in men and beasts, is to collect, by 

 its tunnel form, all the rays of sound (if we may be 

 allowed the expression), and conduct them to the in- 

 ternal organs, tlie seat of the sense of hearing. All 

 the artificial instruments then, ought to resemble, in 

 form, tlie natural ear. In ancient times they were 

 made like a trumpet, of moderate size, and usually 

 provided with handles, by which they might be held 

 up to tlie ear. They were so fitted that the smaller 

 aperture entered the ear,and the widerwas directed to 

 the quarter from which the sound was to proceed. 

 Itut these instruments were soon found inconvenient, 

 both on account of their size and the necessity of 

 continually holding them to tlie ear. Another ob- 

 jection was, that they did not sufficiently conceal the 

 defect they were designed to remedy, and therefore 

 they were soon thrown aside. New instruments were 

 made without these defects. One resembles a small 

 silver funnel, with a long winding channel in its in- 

 terior, which terminates at tlie beginning of the au- 

 ditory passage. On the broad, bent rim there are 

 holes, with ribbons passing through them, to fix tlie 

 machine to the external ear. A second form con- 

 sists of a lackered tin tube, with numerous windings, 

 having the narrow end communicating with the au- 

 ditory passage, and the exterior, wider end made 

 fast to the external ear. In the same way, two of 

 these instruments might be connected by an elastic 

 hoop, and fitted, at tlie same time, to both ears. A 

 third instrument consists of a sort of hollow tin case, 

 curving so as to fit the head, having a broad aperture in 

 the middle of the front surface, and terminated by 

 two tubes bent inwards. This hoop is so fixed un- 

 der the hair, that the aperture in the middle is 

 exactly over the upper part of the forehead, and the 

 lateral tubes communicate with the right and left 

 auditory passages. The great advantage of this last 

 instrument is, that it receives directly sounds which 

 come from before. 



EARL; a degree of the British nobility, between 

 marquis and viscount. (For the origin of the title 

 and the dignity, see Alderman.) In Latin the earls 

 are called comites, corresponding to the count or 

 Graf of the European continent. (See Count.) It 

 is now become a mere title, tlie official authority 

 which the earls formerly possessed in the counties 

 having devolved entirely on the sheriffs (in Latin, 

 vice-comites). In official instruments, they are called, 

 by the king, trusty and well beloved cousins an 

 appellation as ancient as tlie reign of Henry IV., who, 

 being, either by his wife, mother, or sisters, actually 

 related or allied to every earl in the kingdom, art- 

 fully acknowledged this connexion in all his letters 

 and other public acts. An earl's coronet is composed 

 of eight pearls, raised upon points, with small leaves 

 between, above the run. There are, at present, 105 

 earls in England, 5 in Scotland, and 19 in Ireland. 

 As the earls, for some time after the Norman con- 

 quest, were called counts, their wives are still called 

 countesses. 



EARL MARSHAL OF ENGLAND ; a great of- 

 ficer, who had, anciently, several courts under his 

 jurisdiction, as the court of chivalry and the court 

 of honour. Under him is also the herald's office, or 

 college of arms. He has some pre-eminence in the 

 court of Marshalsea, where he may sit in judgment 

 against those who offend within the verge of the 

 king's court. 



EARLOM, RICHARD, a mezzotinto engraver, was 



born in London, and was the son of the vestry-clerk 

 of the parish of !?t Sepulchre. His taste for design 

 is said to have been excited by the inspection of tlie 

 ornaments on the state-coach of tlie lord-mayor, 

 which had been painted by Cipriani. About 17(55, 

 he was employed by alderman Boydell to make draw- 

 ings from the celebrnted collection of pictures at 

 II oughton, most of which he afterwards admirably 

 engraved in mezzotinto. In this branch of art he 

 had been his own instmcter, and he introduced 

 into the practice of it improvements and instruments 

 not previously used. The fruit and flower-pieces 

 executed byEarlom, after Van Huysum, established 

 his fame. In history, he distinguished himself by 

 his engraving of Agrippina, from the grand picture 

 by West. He also engraved some Oriental scenes, 

 from paintings by /offani, and published two volumes 

 of plates from the Liber Veritatis or sketch book of 

 Claude. He died Oct. 9, 1822, aged 79. 



EARNEST ; a part of the price paid in advance, to 

 bind parties to the performance of a verbal agreement. 

 The party is then obliged to abide by his bargain, and 

 is not discharged upon forfeiting his earnest, but may 

 be sued for the whole money stipulated, and dama- 

 ges. No contract for the sale of goods not to be de- 

 livered immediately, to the value of 10 or more, is 

 valid, unless a written contract is made by the parties, 

 or those lawfully authorized by them, or earnest is 

 given. 



EARTH ; the name of the planet which we in- 

 habit. We may view it in regard to its physical, ma- 

 thematical, and political condition. (See Geography.) 

 First, as to the form of the earth : to an observer 

 whose view is not obstructed, it presents itself as a 

 'circular plain, on the circumference of which the 

 heavens appear to rest. Accordingly, in remote an- 

 tiquity, the earth was regarded as a flat, circular body, 

 floating on the water. But the great distances which 

 men were able to travel soon refuted this limited idea 

 as an optical illusion ; and, even in antiquity, the 

 spherical form of the earth began to be suspected. 

 On this supposition alone can all the phenomena re- 

 lating to it be explained. A sphere of so great a 

 magnitude as our earth, surrounded by a stratum of 

 air, or the visible firmament, must present to the eye 

 of an observer, on a plain, the appearance just de- 

 scribed. But how could the earth appear, from 

 every possible position, as a surface bounded by tlie 

 firmament, if it were not a sphere encircled by it ? 

 How else could the horizon grow wider and wider, 

 the higher the position we choose ? How else can tlie 

 fact be explained, that we see the tops of towers and 

 of mountains, at a distance, before the bases become 

 visible ? But besides these proofs of the sphericity of 

 the earth, there are many others, such as its circular 

 shadow on the moon during an eclipse, the gradual 

 appearance and disappearance of the sun, inequality 

 of day and night, the changes in the position and 

 course of the stars, and the gradual disappearance of 

 some and appearance of others, as we go from the 

 equator to the poles. Finally, if the earth were not 

 spherical, it would be impossible to sail round it, 

 which is frequently done. The cause of the earth's 

 sphericity is very evident, if we consider it as having 

 been at first a yielding mass, capable of assuming 

 any form: then, by the force of gravity, every parti- 

 cle contained in it tending towards the common cen- 

 tre, the globular form is the necessary consequence. 

 As to the objection to the sphericity of the earth, 

 drawn by weak and ignorant people, from the imagi- 

 nation that our antipodes (q. v.) would fall from its 

 surface, and many similar ones, they will appear to 

 have no force whatever, when we consider that, in a 

 globe of the magnitude of the earth, everything on 

 the surface tends to the centre, and, that if we speak of 



