ECH 



ECL 



downy; corolla funnel form, with the 

 throat naked. There are twenty-two 

 species. These plants have something 

 singular in their habit, which proclaims 

 them at first sight. The nectareous 

 glands, and the downy-seeds in follicles, 

 are of great importance in determining 

 the character; whilst the corolla, vary- 

 ing much in the different species, is of 

 no consequence in this 'respect. The 

 stigmas in all are glued to the inside wall 

 of the cone formed by the anthers, and 

 which separates at the explosion of the 

 pollen, whilst the outer wall of the cone 

 continues undissolved ; the fecundation 

 in the greater part being accomplished 

 within the closed tube of the corolla, 

 but in the rest within the cone stretched 

 beyond the tube. These plants are mostly 

 inhabitants of the West Indies. They 

 have not yet been introduced into culti- 

 vation in Europe. 



ECHIUM, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Asperifolise. Borragi- 

 riex, Jussieu* Essential character : co- 

 rolla irregular, with the throat naked. 

 There are twenty -one species, of which 

 E. fruticosum, shrubby vipers bugloss, 

 rises with a shrubby stalk two or three 

 feet high, dividing at top into several 

 branches : leaves sessile, hairy, light 

 green. The flowers are produced singly 

 between the leaves at the ends of the 

 branches ; they are of a purple colour, 

 and in shape much like those of the Cre- 

 tan sort. They appear in May and June ; 

 the seeds do not ripen in England. Native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. 



ECHO, a sound reverberated or re- 

 fleeted to the ear from some solid body. 

 See ACOUSTICS. 



k. ECHO, $in architecture, a term applied 

 to certain kinds of vaults and arches, 

 most commonly of elliptical and paraboli- 

 cal figures, used to redouble sounds, and 

 produce artificial echoes. 



ECHO, in poetry, a kind of composition 

 wherein the last words or syllables of 

 each verse contain some meaning, which, 

 being repeated apart, answers to some 

 question or other matter contained in the 

 verse, as in this beautiful one fron Vir- 

 gil: 



Crudelis mater magis, an piier improbus 



ilk? 

 Improbus ille puer, crudelis tu quoque 



mater. 



The elegance of an echo consists in 

 giving a new sense to the last words; 



which reverberate, as it were, the mo- 

 tions of the mind, and by that means af. 

 feet it with surprise and admiration. 



ECHO, in music, is frequently found in 

 church voluntaries, over those passages 

 of repetitions which are performed on the 

 swell, and intended as echoes to the 

 great organ. 



ECHOMETER, among musicians, a 

 kind of scale or rule, with several lines 

 thereon, serving to measure the dura- 

 tion and length of sounds, and to find 

 their intervals and ratios. 



ECLECTICS, ancient philosophers,who 

 without attaching themselves to any par- 

 ticular sect, selected whatever appeared 

 to them the best and most rational from 

 each. 



ECLIPSE, the deprivation of the light 

 of the sun, or of some heavenly body, by 

 the interposition of another heavenly 

 body between our sight and it. Thus, 

 eclipses of the sun happen by the moon's 

 intervening between it and the earth ; by 

 which means the shadow of the moon 

 falls upon the earth, when the latitude 

 of the moon does not prevent it, by ele- 

 vating the moon above, or depressing it 

 below the earth. On the other hand, 

 an eclipse of the moon can only happen 

 when the earth is interposed between 

 the sun and it ; for then, if the latitude 

 of the moon does not prevent it, the sha- 

 dow of the earth may fall on the moon, 

 and thereby cause either a partial or to- 

 tal eclipse. A total eclipse of the sun or 

 moon is when their whole bodies are ob- 

 scured ; and a partial one is when part 

 only of their bodies is darkened : again, 

 a central eclipse is when it is not only 

 total, but the eclipsed body passes 

 through the centre of the shadow. See 

 ASTRONOMY. 



As total solar eclipses are by no means 

 common, we shall give an interesting de- 

 scription of one, by Dr. Stukeley, sent 

 to his friend the celebrated Dr. Edmund 

 Halley. 



"According to my promise, I send 

 you what I observed of the solar eclipse, 

 though I fear it will not be of any great 

 use to you. I was not prepared with any 

 instruments for measuring time or the 

 like, and proposed to myself only to 

 watch all the appearances that nature 

 would present to the naked eye upon so 

 remarkable an occasion, and which gene- 

 rally are overlooked, or but grossly re- 

 garded. I chose for my station a place 

 called Haradon Hill, two miles eastward 

 from Amsbury, and full east from the 

 opening of Stonehenge avenue, to which. 



