ERR 



[89] 



E T H 



very considerable tracts of country have 

 been traversed, since the land had its 

 present general aspect of hill and dale, 

 and was inhabited by large quadrupeds, 

 by currents of water due to some un- 

 known cause, which transported rock 

 masses with so great a degree of force, to 

 points so elevated, in such directions, 

 and at such distances, that we cannot 

 avoid feeling extreme astonishment, and 

 look around in disappointment on the 

 physical processes now at work on the 

 earth, for anything similar. But it is 

 only in particular tracts that the magni- 

 tude of the transported rocks is such as 

 to deserve the name of erratic blocks. 

 It appears to be certain that, in the dis- 

 persion of boulders, the present physical 

 configuration of the neighbouring regions 

 had great influence ; they are found to 

 descend from the Cumbrian mountains 

 northward in the vale of Eden to Carlisle, 

 eastward to the foot of the Penine chain, 

 southward by the Lune and the Kent 

 to the narrow tract between Bolland Fo- 

 rest and the bay of Morecambe ; and 

 from the vicinity of Lancaster they are 

 traced at intervals through the compara- 

 tively low country of Preston and Man- 

 chester, lying between the sea and the 

 Yorkshire and Derbyshire hills, to the 

 valley of the Trent, the plains of Che- 

 shire and Staffordshire, and the vale of 

 the Severn, where they occur of great 

 magnitude." Phillips' Treatise on Geo- 

 logy. 



ERRA'TICALLY. Irregularly ; without order 

 or method. 



ERUBE'SCENCE. ) (from erubesco, Lat.) 



ERUBE'SCENCY. 5 Redness; the act of 

 growing red. 



ERUBE'SCENT. Inclining to redness ; red- 

 dish ; blushing. 



ERUCTA'TION. (eructatio, Lat. Eructation, 

 Fr.) A violent belching forth of wind 

 or other matter, as from a volcano or 

 geyser. 



ERU'GINOUS. (from csrugo, Lat. eru- 

 gineux, Fr. ruginoso, It.) Of the nature 

 of copper. 



ERU'PTED. (from erumpo, Lat.) Forcibly 

 thrown out, as from a volcano. 



ERU'PTION. (eruptio, Lat. Eruption, Fr. 

 eruzione. It.) A violent bursting forth 

 of contained matters. 



ERY'CINA. An equivalved, inequilateral, 

 transverse bivalve. The hinge-teeth, two, 

 diverging upwards, with a small inter- 

 mediate pit ; the lateral teeth compressed 

 and oblong. The cartilage inserted in 

 the hinge-pit. Lamarck is of opinion 

 that the shells of this genus exist only 

 fossil, and enumerates eleven species 

 found in the environs of Paris. He 

 places them in the family Mactracea. 



ESCA'LOP. ) Commonly called scollop. A 



ESCA'LLOP. \ bivalve, whose shell is regu- 

 larly indented. 



ESCA'RPMENT. (escarpement, Fr.) The 

 steep face of a ridge of high land ; the 

 escarpment of a mountain range is gene- 

 rally on that side which is nearest to 

 the sea. 



ES'CHARA. (eschara, Lat.) 



1. Fishes which are said to chew the cud. 



2. In Linnceus* arrangement, eschara 

 forms the fifth order of Zoophytes, each 

 polypus being contained in a calcareous 

 or horny shell, without any central axis. 



ES'CULENT. (esculentus, Lat.) Fit for 

 food ; that may be eaten. 



ESO'PHAGUS. (from otw and <payt~iv, Gr. 

 esophage, Fr. esofago, It.) The canal, 

 or passage, leading from the pharynx to 

 the stomach, and through which the food 

 passes from the mouth to the stomach. 

 It is also written oesophagus. 



E'sox. (Lat.) The pike, a genus of 

 fishes of the order Abdominales. The 

 esox has small intermaxillaries furnished 

 with little pointed teeth in the middle of 

 the upper jaw, of which they form the 

 two-thirds, those on the sides of the jaw 

 being edentated. The vomer, palatines, 

 tongue, pharyngeals> and rays of the 

 branchiae, bristled with teeth resembling 

 those of a carp. 



E'sox LEWESIENSIS. The name given to 

 a species of fossil pike, by Dr. Mantell, 

 found in the chalk, the jaws of which are 

 beautifully figured in his Geology of the 

 South-east of England. He states that 

 its recent prototype is unknown. 



ESSE'NTIAL CHARACTER. That single 

 circumstance which serves to distinguish 

 a genus from every other genus. 



E'SSONITE. Another name for cinnamon- 

 stone. A variety of dodecahedral garnet, 

 of an orange-yellow or hyacinth colour. 

 The finest are brought from Ceylon. See 

 Cinnamon-stone. 



E'STIVAL. (eestivus, Lat.) Pertaining to 

 the summer. 



E'STUARY. (testuarium, Lat.) An inlet 

 of the land entered by the tide of the sea, 

 and by fresh water from a river ; the 

 mouth of a river or lake where the salt and 

 fresh water alternately prevail. 



E'SURINE. (from esurio, Lat.) Corrod- 

 ing ; eating. 



ETHE'RIA. A genus of large inequivalve 

 molluscs belonging to the family Ostracea. 

 They differ from the ostreee in having two 

 elongated muscular impressions in each 

 valve, which are united by a slender pal- 

 leal impression. The animal is not 

 known to produce a byssus. 



E'THMOID. (from 770/ioc;, a sieve, and 

 eWoQ, like, Gr.) A bone of the nose to 

 which the name ethmoid has been given 



N 



