JET n 



the matter coniaincd in thtm mu'A hi imnienfcly rare, be- 

 caufc the Tcl'iftancc of bodies is chiefly as their dcniity ; io 

 that if the heavens Wert thus aduiuatily lilkd witli a me- 

 dium or matter, how fubtilc fi)evcr, they would refill liic 

 nu'tiop of the phmets and comets much more than qiiick- 

 fjvcr or gold. 



The eviftence of fudi a fMbtile fluid as a-ther has been 

 slmoll unlverfally allowed : and its imponauce and utility, 

 ill the f^ei'.cral fyllem of nature, have been very generally 

 acknowledj^ed. Dr. Reid, indeed, fecms to have enter- 

 tained doubts on this fiibjeet. He obferves, .that although 

 Sir Ifaac Newton had fonmd conjeclures about this aether 

 near 50 years before he died, and iiad it in contenipl;;tiou 

 as a lubject of enquiry, during tliat long fpace ; yet it does 

 not appear that he ever found any convincing proof of its 

 cxiilencc, but coniidercd it to the la 11 as a qiiettion, whether 

 there be fuch an aether or not. RcgardiniJ, tlitrefore, the 

 authority of Newton hinifclf, he is of opinion that we 

 ou'fht to hold the exillencc of fuch an lether as a matter 

 not eftabhihed by proof, but to be examined into by expe- 

 riments ; and he adds, " I have never heard that, iiuce his 

 time, anv new evidence has been found of its exiftcnce." 

 Dr. Hartley, however, whofe fyllem of the mind and its 

 operations is founded on the reality of this a;ther, alledges, 

 that if we fuppofe the exiflence of fuch a fubtile medium, 

 and of its properties, to be dcftitute of all dirett evidence, 

 yet, if it feems to account for a great variety of phenomena, 

 it will have an indirett evidence in its favour by this means. 

 To which mode of reafoning Dr. Reid replies, that there 

 never was au hypothefis invented by an ingenious man 

 which has not this evidence in its favour. The vortices of 

 Des Cartes, the fylphs and gnomes of Mr. Pope, ferve to 

 account for a great variety of phenomena. Hartley's Ob- 

 fervations on Man, p. 7. 4to. 1791. Reid's EflTay on the 

 IntcUeclual Poweis of Man, p. 87. Some late writers have 

 afcribed the phenomena of elcClricity and magnetifm to a 

 fluid of this kind, under the denominations of tlie eleftrical 

 and magnetical fluid ; and they have referred to its operation 

 in different circumftances, many of thofe effefts, which are 

 inexplicable without fuch a fluid, diffufed through every 

 part of the material univerfe. See Electricity, cauji 

 of Gravity, Heat, Light, Magnetism, Reflec- 

 tion, Refractiom, Sensation, Sound, Vibration, &c. 



/Ether, in Chemijlry. See Ether. 



utTHERIA, in yhic'unt Geogmphy, is a name formerly 

 given to Ethiopia, under which appellation, it is mentioned 

 both by Phny (l.vi. c. 30.) and Stnibo, 1. ii. p. 82. 



.^theria Herba, is a name given to eringo. 



JETHERIAL, ^therius, fomething that belongs to 

 or partakes of the nature of aether. 



Thus, we fay, the aetherial fpace, wtherial regions, &c. 

 Some of the ancients divided the univerfe, with rcfpeft to 

 the matter contained in it, into elementary and sthcrial. 



Under aether, or the aetherial world, was included all that 

 fpace above the uppermofl element, viz. fire. — Tliis they 

 luppofcd to be perfeftly homogeneous, incorruptible, un- 

 changeable, &c. See Corruption. 



The ancient Platonifts and Pythagoreans fuppofe dif- 

 ferent bodies united with the human foul, -v'f^. the grofs, or 

 material one ; a finer aerial one ; and, thirdly, the tinell of 

 all, which they call atherial, celeflial, lucifoiTn, &c. 



This kind of body they conceived pecuharly belonging to 

 fuch fouls after death, as are purged and cleanfed from 

 corporeal afTettions, lulls, and pafPions. That this diftinc- 

 tion of two interior vehicles, or tunicles of the foul, befides 

 the outer veftment of the terrellrial body, was not a mere fig- 

 ment of the latter Platonifts lince cliriftianity was introduced, 



.^E T H 



appears plainly from Virgil's defcriplion of the pure 

 alherial and fiery body, which he diflinguilhes from the 

 fpirituous or aivy body, in which v.npurged fouls receive 

 punilhnicnt after death. After defcribing this punilhment, 

 lie proceeds in this manner : 



" Donee longa dies, perfefto tcmporis oibe, 

 Concretam exemlt labem, puruniquc reliquit 

 iEtherium fenfum, atque aurai fimplicis ignem." 



yL'n. 1. vi. v. 745, &c. Tom. iii. p. 118. 

 Ed. Burmuu. 



The ground of this opinion feems to have been the notion 

 which thefs philofophers entertained concerning the pre- 

 exillence of the human foul, which, according to their 

 imagination, was invelled wiih a lucid and stherial body, 

 either from eternity, or elle from the firll commencement of 

 the habitable world ; and which, being coeval with the 

 foul itfelf, and alfo inctvTuptible, inteparably adhered to it, 

 in its fubfcquent lapies and defcents, firll into an aerial, 

 and then into a tenellrial body ; this being, as it were, the 

 bond of union betwixt the foul and them. The Pytha- 

 goreans and Platonifts, however, were not all of this opi- 

 nion ; for fome of theni fuppofed, that, according to the 

 moral dii'pofition of the foul, it always finds or forms a 

 fuitaijle body, corretpondently pure or impure ; and confe- 

 quently that, by moral virtue and philofophy, it might 

 again recover that celeftial body, which v.as loll by its fall 

 and dcfcent into the groffer body. See Cudworth's InteU. 

 Syllcra, b. i. c. 5. vol. ii. p. 78S, — 793. Ed. Birch. 



The Chaldees placed an aetherial world between the empy- 

 reum and the region of the fixed ftars. Befide which, they 

 fometimes alfo fpeak of a fecond wtherial world, meaning 

 by it the ftarry orb : and a third jetherial world, by which 

 is meant the planetary region. Stanley Hift. Phil. 1040. 



./Etherial phofphorus, is a name generally given, by 

 Bernouilli, to that otherwife called mercurial, or barometri- 

 cal PHOSPHORUS. 



./Etherial oil, is a fine, fubtile, essential oil, ap- 

 proaching nearly to the natwe of a fpirit. 



Tims, the pure liquor rifing next after the fpirit, in the 

 diftillation of turpentine, is called the <ttherial oil of turpentine. 



Some cheraills dillinguifh two principles in urine; the 

 one a volatile urinous fait, refembhng fpirit of nitre ; the 

 other, an aetherial oil, or fulphur, partaking of the nature 

 of fpirit of wine. 



vEtherial //i?^7^v«. See Heaven. 



.^THERIUS, in Biography, an architeft, who lived in 

 the beginning of the 6th centur)', during the reign of 

 Anaftaiius L emperor of the eaft, v/ho made him a privy- 

 couiifellor. He built an edifice, named Chalcis, in the 

 palace of Conftantinople, and he is fuppofed to have con- 

 ihufted the ftrong wall which extends from the fea to Se- 

 limbria, for preventing the incurfions of the Bulgarians and 

 Scythians. 



.5LTHICIA, in Ancinit Geography,', a country, according 

 to Strabo, adjacent to Macedonia, ThefTaly, and Pindus, 

 inhabited by the JEthices. 



jETHIOPE, a name formerly given to the iiland of 

 Lesbos. 



ETHIOPIA, in Geography. See Ethiopia. 



ETHIOPIAN crown, in Natural Hi/lory, the name of 

 a fliell-fifli, of the genus of the ilolium, or concha globofa. 

 It is of a brown colour, but differs from the common (hells 

 of this ge.ius in having the top or head dentated, fo as to 

 reprefent a crown. 



u£THIOPIS, fignifies Ethiopian clary. See alfo Sal- 



TIA. 



^THIOPS, 



