E PLURIBUS UNUM 



20CG 



EQUATOR 



This humble stone proclaims the truth 

 Here lies a much respected youth 

 But now cut down in early prime, 

 And far beyond the ills of time 

 In brighter worlds and clearer skies 

 Shall all his manly virtues rise. 



To the many people interested in collecting un- 

 usual records of the above nature the following 

 books are recommended : Klppax's Churchyard 

 Literature: A Choice Collection of American 

 Epitaphs; Andrews' Curious Epitaphs. 



E PLUR'IBUS U'NUM, the motto of the 

 United States, is a Latin phrase which means 

 Out oj Many, One. It appeared first on the 

 design for the Great Seal recommended to the 

 Continental Congress by a committee com- 

 posed of Franklin, Adams and Jefferson, on 

 July 4, 1776. The motto is displayed on sev- 

 eral coins, though it has never been officially 

 approved for this purpose. 



EPOCH, ep'ok, or ERA, a fixed period of 

 time, and the arrangement or grouping of the 

 various great events in the history of the world 

 occurring within that period. The invention 

 of the art of writing provided a means of 

 making permanent records in place of mere 

 tradition; necessarily, the history of the ages 

 before that time is wrapped in obscurity. The 

 Creation and the birth of Christ are the most 

 prominent of the historical epochs. The Crea- 

 tion has formed the foundation of many chro- 

 nologies, the foremost being the epoch adopted 

 by Bossuet, Ussher and other Roman Catholic 

 and Protestant divines; the Era of Constanti- 

 nople (adopted by Russia) ; the Era oj An- 

 tioch; the Era of Alexandria, and the Abyssin- 

 ian Era. Although varying in date, each of 

 these places the Creation somewhere between 

 4000 B. c. and 5500 B. c. The Julian period (the 

 suggestion of Joseph Scaliger, in 1582), on ac- 

 count of the possibilities it affords in comparing 

 the different eras with one another and in 

 marking the years before Christ, is generally 

 employed by chronologists. It is the only 

 epoch established on an astronomical basis. 

 The first year of the Christian Era corresponds 

 with the year 4714 of the Julian period. 



The Greeks computed their time by periods 

 of four years, called Olympiads, from the oc- 

 currence, every fourth year, of the Olympic 

 games. The first recorded Olympiad began in 

 776 B. c. The Romans dated from the supposed 

 year of the founding of their city, April 21, 

 in the third year of the sixth Olympiad, or 753 

 B.C. The Jewish Era places the Creation in 

 3760 B. c. The Christian Era, or mode of com- 

 puting from the birth of Christ as a starting- 



point, was first introduced in the sixth cen- 

 tury, and was generally adopted by 1000. The 

 Mohammedans date from the Hegira, or the 

 flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina 

 in A. D. 622. The years are computed by 

 lunar months. For chronological purposes the 

 Chinese, in common with some other nations of 

 the East in Asia, employ cycles of sixty, by 

 means of which they reckon their days, months 

 and years. See CHRISTIAN ERA; CALENDAR. 



EP'SOM SALTS, medicinal salts composed 

 of crystals of sulphate of magnesium, named 

 after the town of Epsom, England, where it 

 was originally obtained. The chief source of 

 supply is now Stassfurt, in Saxony, where it is 

 prepared from crude salt. It is used in medi- 

 cine as a purgative and is also an important 

 ingredient in aniline dyes. The War of the 

 Nations cut off the European supply of the 

 salts in 1914, and the deposits in Chile and 

 in the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Tennes- 

 see, hitherto undeveloped, assumed great im- 

 portance. 



EP' WORTH LEAGUE, the young people's 

 society in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 

 organized at Cleveland, Ohio, in May, 1889, and 

 officially recognized by the General Conference 

 of the Church in 1892. It was formed by the 

 combination of five young people's organiza- 

 tions in the Church for the purpose of pro- 

 moting the interest of young people in spirit- 

 ual life. The work of the League is organ- 

 ized under four departments, namely, the 

 spiritual, the missionary, the social service, and 

 the recreation and culture departments. Every 

 member is assigned to one department and is 

 expected to work in it. Classes in Bible study, 

 missions, good citizenship and social service 

 are formed among the members, and during the 

 summer institutes lasting a week are held in 

 various places. Any member may register to 

 attend these meetings, where classes for study 

 are held and lectures are given in the morning, 

 while the afternoon is spent in recreation. 



There are two grades in the League, the 

 Senior and the Junior. Many local chapters 

 add a third, or Intermediate, grade. The mem- 

 bership of the League, which extends not only 

 all over the United States and Canada but also 

 into several foreign countries, numbered about 

 900,000 in 1917. The headquarters are in Chi- 

 cago, where the official organ, the Epworth 

 Herald, has been published since 1890. D.B.B 



EQUATOR, ekwa'tor, an imaginary circle 

 girdling the globe at a distance of 90 from 

 the North and South poles, and dividing the 



