E C A 
conies from Ethiopia, and the worst from In- 
dia; but Theophrastus prefers that of India. 
Black ebony is much preferred to that of 
other colours. The best is a jet black, tree 
of veins and rind, very massive, astringent, 
and of an acrid pungent taste. Its rind, in- 
fused in water, is said to be antiscorbutic, 
and to cure venereal disorders ; whence Mat- 
thiolus took guaiacum tor a sort of ebony. 
It yields an agreeable perfume when laid on 
burning coals : when green, it readily takes 
fire from the abundance of its fat. If rubbed 
against a stone, it becomes brown. The In- 
dians make statues of their gods, and sceptres 
for their princes, of this wood. It was first 
brought to Rome by Pompey, after he sub- 
dued Mithridates. 'It is now much less used 
among us than formerly ; since the discovery 
of so many ways of giving other hard woods 
a black colour' As to the igreen ebony, be- 
sides Madagascar and St. Maurice, it like- 
wise grows in the Antilles, and especially in 
the isle of Tobago. The tree that yields it 
is very bushy ; its leaves are smooth, and of 
a fine green colour. Under its bark is a 
white substance about two inches thick ; all 
beneath which, to the very heart, is a deep 
green, approaching towards a black, though 
sometimes streaked with yellow veins. Its 
use is not confined to mosaic work : it is like- 
wise useful in dyeing, as yielding a fine green 
tincture. As to red ebony, called also gre- 
nadilla, we know little of it more than the 
name. The cabinet-makers, in-layers, & c. 
make pear-tree and other woods pass for 
ebony, by giving them the same black co- 
lour.' This some do by a few washes of a 
strong decoction of galls, to which is added a 
small quantity of vitriolated iron. 
EBION1TES, in church history, a sect of 
the first century, so called from their leader 
Ebion. They held the same doctrines with 
the Nazarenes, united the ceremonies of the 
Mosaic institution with the precepts of the 
gospel, observed both the Jewish sabbath and 
Christian Sunday, and in celebrating the 
Eucharist, made use of unleavened bread. 
They abstained from the flesh of animals, 
and even from milk. In relation to Jesus 
Christ, some of them held that he was born, 
like other men, of Joseph and Mary, and ac- 
quired sanctification only by his good works. 
Others of them allowed, that he was born of 
a virgin, but denied that he was the word of 
God, or had any existence before his human 
generation. They said he was, indeed, the 
only true prophet, but yet a mere man, who 
bv his virtue had arrived at being called 
Christ, and the Son of God. They also sup- 
posed that Christ and the devil were two prin- 
ciples, which God had opposed to each other. 
Of the New Testament they only received 
the gospel of St. Matthew, which they called 
the gospel according to the Hebrews. 
EBONY. See Ebenus. 
EBRBUHAR1TES, an order of Mahome- 
tan monks, so called from their founder Ebr- 
buhar. They make great profession of piety, 
and contempt of the world; but are account- 
ed heretics by the rest of the Mahometans, 
because they' believe themselves not obliged 
to go in pilgrimage to Mecca. 
ECATESIA, in antiquity, an anniversary 
solemnity observed by the Stratonicensians 
in honour of Hecate. The Athenians like- 
wise had a public entertainment or supper 
every new moon in honour of the same 
Vot. I. 
ECri 
goddess. The supper was provided at the 
charge of the richer sort; and was no sooner 
brought to the accustomed place, than the 
poor people carried all oft, giving out that 
Hecate had devoured it. 
EC ATO M B/EON , in chronology, the 
first month of the Athenian year. It con- 
sisted of 30 days, and began the first new 
moon after the summer solstice, and conse- 
quently answered to the latter part of our 
June and beginning of July. The Boeotians 
called it hippodromus, and the Macedonians 
lous. The word is a derivative from the 
Greek a hecatomb, because of the 
great number of hecatombs sacrificed in it. 
ECHENEIS, the remora,. in ichthyology, 
a genus belonging to the order of thoracici. 
The head is fat, naked, depressed, and mark- 
ed with a number of transverse ridges; it 
has ten rays in the branchiostege membrane ; 
and the body is naked. There are two spe- 
cies, viz. 
1. The remora or sucking-fish, with a 
forked tail, and 18 striae on the head. It is 
found in the Indian Ocean. 
2. The neucrates, with an undivided tail, 
and 16 striae on the head. It is likewise a 
native of the Indian Ocean. 
These fishes are often found adhering so 
strongly to the sides of sharks and other great 
fish, by means of the structure of the head, 
as to be got off with difficulty. This fish 
was believed by all the ancients to have most 
wonderful powers, and to be able, by adher- 
ing to the bottom, to arrest the motion of a 
ship in its fullest course ; and in love affairs 
to deaden the warmest affections of both 
sexes. 
ECHEVIN, scabinus, in theformer French 
and Dutch polity, a magistrate elected by 
the inhabitants of a city or town, to take care 
of their common concerns, and the decora- 
tion and cleanliness ol the city. 
In the confusion and hregularity of the 
present arbitrary government of both coun- 
tries, it is impossible to specify who are the 
officers (if any) appointed to preserve order, 
See. 
ECHINOPHORA, in botany, a genus of 
the digynia order, in the pentandria class of 
plants; and in the natural method ranking 
under the 45th order, umbellate. The male 
florets are lateral, with the central one her- 
maphrodite ; there is one seed, sunk into an 
indurated involucrum. There are two spe- 
cies, herbaceous plants of the south of Eu- 
rope. 
ECHINOPS, a genus of the polygamia 
segregate order, in the syngenesia class ot 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 49th order, composite. The calyx 
is uniflorous; the corollula; tubulated and 
hermaphrodite; the receptacle bristly; the 
pappus indistinct. There are five species, 
annual and perennial plants, one of which is 
well known under the name of globe thistle. 
ECHINORYNCHUS, a genus of the 
vermes intestina ; body round, proboscis cy- 
lindrical, retractile, and crowned with hook- 
ed prickles. They are found fixed firmly 
to the viscera of various animals, generally 
the intestines ; and often remain on the same 
spot during the whole life of the animal ; they 
are mostly gregarious, and are easily distin- 
tinguished from the ta?nia by thSir round 
inarticulate body. There are 48 species, in- 
festing the mammalia, birds, reptiles, and fish. 
E C H 5 So 
ECiilNUS, in zoology, the sea hedgehog, 
a genus of insects belonging to the order of 
vermes mollusca. The body is roundish, co- 
vered with a bony crust, and often beset 
with moveable prickles ; and the mouth is 
below, and consists of five valves. 1. The 
esculentus, or eatable echinus, is of an he- 
mispherical form, covered with sharp strong 
spines, above half an inch long; commonly 
of a violet colour; moveable; adherent to 
small tubercles elegantly disposed in rows. 
These are their instruments of motion by 
which they change their place. This species 
is taken in dredging, and often lodges in ca- 
vities of rocks just within low-water mark. 
They are eaten by the poor in many parts of 
England, and by the better sort abroad. In 
old times they were a favorite dish. They 
were dressed with vinegar, honied wine or 
mead, paisley or mint, and thought to agree 
with the stomach. T hey were the first dish 
in the famous supper of Lentulus, when he 
was made ft amen martialis, or priest of Mars ; 
by some of the concomitant dishes they seem 
to have been designed as a whet for the se- 
cond course, to the holy personages, priests 
and vestals invited on that occasion. Many 
species of shell-fish made part of that enter- 
tainment. 2. The lacunosus, or oval echinus, 
is of an oval depressed form ; on the top it is 
of a purple colour, marked with a quadri- 
foil, and the spaces between tuberculated in 
waved row's ; the lower side studded, and di- 
vided by two smooth spaces ; length, four 
inches. When clothed, it is covered with 
short thickset bristles mixed with very long 
ones. There are 15 other species, all natives 
of the sea. 
ECHITES, in botany, a genus of the mo- 
nogynia order, in the pentandria class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 30th order, contorts. There are 
two long and straight follicles; the seeds pap- 
pous; the corolla funnel-shaped, with the 
throat naked. There are 22 species, shrubs* 
chiefiy of South America. The corymbosa, 
a species of this genus, is supposed to yield 
the elastic gum, according to Jacquin. See 
Caoutchouc. 
ECHIUM, viper’s bugloss, a genus of the 
monogynia order, in the pentandria class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 4 1st order, asperifolia?. The corolla 
is irregular, with the throat naked. There are 
21 species, three of which are natives of Bri- 
tain. None of them have any remarkable 
property, except that the flowers of one 
speciesfthe vulgare) are very grateful to bees. 
It is a native ot many parts of Britain. The 
stem is rough, with hairs and tubercles. The 
leaves are spear-shaped, and rough with hair. 
The flowers come out in lateral spikes. They 
are first red, afterwards blue, sometimes 
purple or white. Cows and sheep are not 
fond of this plant ; horses and goats refuse it. 
ECHO, a sound reflected, or reverbe- 
rated from some body, and thence returned 
or repeated to the ear. 
For an echo to be heard, the ear must be 
in the line of reflection ; that the person who 
made the sound may hear the echo, it is ne- 
cessary he should be in a perpendicular line 
to the place which reflects it; and for a mul- 
tiple or tautological echo, it is necessary 
that there should be a number of walls and 
vaults, rocks and cavities, either placed 
behind or fronting each other. Those ijiur* 
