E 



EAR 



DYTISCUS, in natural history, a genus 

 of insects of the order Coleoptera. An- 

 tennae setaceous ; feelers six, filiform ; 

 hind-legs formed for swimming, fringed 

 on the inkier side, and nearly unarmed 

 witi: claws. Nearly two hundred species 

 of this genus have been enumerated. 

 This has sometimes obtained the name 

 of water-beetle, it being an aquatic ge- 

 nus, and rarely seen in flight except 

 during the evening. One of the largest 

 European species is the D. jnarginalis, 

 about an inch long, of an ochre colour : 

 the whole insect is of a polished surface 

 on the upper part, and the wing-shells 

 are each marked by two rows of scarcely 

 perceptible impressed points. This in- 

 aect is net uncommon is stagnant waters, 

 where its larva also resides, which is of 

 a very extraordinary shape, and so unlike 

 the animal into which it is at length trans- 

 formed, that no one, not conversant in 

 entomology, would suppose it to have the 

 most distant relationship to it. It is of a 



bold and ferocious disposition, commit- 

 ting great ravages, not only among the 

 weaker kind of water-insects, as well as 

 water-newts, tadpoles, &c. ; but even 

 among fishes, of which it frequently de- 

 stroys great numbers in a season, and is 

 therefore justly tonsidered as one of 

 the most mischievous animals that can 

 infest a fish-pond. A larva of this kind 

 has been known to seize on a young tench 

 of three inches in length, and to kill it 

 in a minute. When arrived at its full 

 growth, the larva betakes itself to the 

 banks of the water it inhabits, and, form- 

 ing an oval hollow in the soft earth or 

 clay, in a few days changes into a chry- 

 salis much resembling that of the genus 

 scarabxus, and of a whitish colour. From 

 this, in the space of about three weeks, 

 proceeds the complete insect. Many 

 other much smaller species of this genus 

 may be found in ponds. There have been 

 enumerated forty-nine species of British 

 dystici. 



E. 



EThe fifth letter of the alphabet, and 

 9 second vowel, has different pro- 

 nunciations in most languages. The 

 Greeks have their eta, ,7, and epsilon f) or 



long and short e. The French have their 

 e open, pronounced much like our a in the 

 words face and make ,- their e masculine, 

 pronounced not unlike our y at the end 

 of words, as liberti, liberty; their e feminine, 

 or mute, very weakly if at all pronounc- 

 ed, added generally at the end of words, 

 either to distinguish the feminine gender, 

 or lengthen the syllable ; and their e be- 

 fore an m or n, which sounds, like our a in 

 the word war: these are all exemplified 

 in the words empechee or enfermee. In 

 English there are three kinds of e, viz. the 

 open or long e, as in the words bear, -wear ,- 

 the close or short e, as in wet, kept , and 

 mute , which serves to lengthen the syl- 

 lable, as in love, came, &c. 



As a numeral, E stands for 250. In 

 music it denotes the tone e-la-mi. In the 

 calendar it is the fifth of the dominical 

 letters. And in sea-charts it distinguishes 

 all the easterly points ; thus, E. alone, de- 



VOL. IV. ' 



notes east, E. by S. and E. by N. east by 

 south, and east by north. 



EAGLE. See FALCO, 



EA&LE, in astronomy. See AQ.UII.A. 



EAGLE, in heraldry, is accounted one 

 of the most noble bearings. They are 

 generally borne with their wings and tails 

 expanded. This posture is best fitted to 

 fill up the escutcheon. 



EALDERMAN. See EARL. 



EAR. See ANATOMY and COMPARA- 

 TIVE anatomy. 



EAR, in music, implies that sensible, 

 clear, and true perception of musical 

 sounds, by which we are offended at dis- 

 sonance, and pleased with Larmony. To 

 have an ear, which is a common phrase, 

 is to be capable of distinguishing the 

 true intonation from the false, to be sen- 

 sible of metrical precision, and to feel 

 all the nicer changes of artificial combi- 

 nation. 



EAR pick, an instrument of ivory, sil- 

 ver, or other metal, somewhat in form of 

 a probe, for cleaning the ear. 



EAR -wax. 



Nn 



