E N T 
03 $ 
E N T 
jrsc<V.**s and counters. All the difference con* 
rists in their greater or less relievo, the relievo 
of coins being much less considerable than 
that of medals, and that of counters still less 
than that of coins. 
Engravers in steel common!}- begin with 
punches, which are in relievo, and serve for 
making the creux, or cavities, ot the matrices 
and dyes: though sometimes they begin 
with the creux, or hollowness, but then it is 
only when the intended work is to be cut 
-very shallow. The first thing done, is that 
of designing the figures; the next is the 
moulding them in wax, of the size and depth 
they are to lie, and from this wax the punch 
is engraved. W hen the punch is finished, 
they give it a very high temper, that it may 
the Vetter bear the blows of the hammer with 
which it is struck, to give the impression to 
the matrix. 
The steel is made hot to soften it, that it 
may the more readily take the impression of 
the" punch ; and after striking the punch on 
it, in this state, they proceed to touch up or 
finish the strokes and lines, where, by reason 
of their fineness, or the too great relievo, 
they are any thing defective, with steel 
gravers of different kinds, chisels, flatters, 
Ac. being the principal instruments used in 
graving on steel. 
The figure being thus finished, they pro- 
ceed to engrave the rest of the medal, as the 
mouldings of the border, the engrailed ring, 
letters, Ac. with little steel punches, well 
tempered, and very sharp. 
ENMANCHE', in heraldry, is when lines 
are drawn from the centre of the upper edge 
of the chief to the sides, to about half the 
breadth of the chief ; signifying sleeved, or 
resembling a sleeve, from the 1' rench Blan- 
che. . 
ENNEANDRIA, in botany, the ninth 
class of plants with hermaphrodite flowers, 
and nine stamina or male parts in each. Se< 
Botany. To this class belong the laurus, 
rheum, spondias, butomus, Ac. 
ENSIFORM, in general, something re- 
sembling a sword, ensis: thus we find men- 
tion of ensifovm leaves, ensiform cartilage, 
Ac. 
ENSIGN, in the military art, a banner 
under which the soldiers are ranged accord- 
ing to the different companies or parties they 
belong to. 
Ensign is also the officer that carries the 
colours, being the lowest commissioned offi- 
cer in a company of foot, subordinate to the 
captain and lieutenant. 
ENTABLATURE, or entablement, in ar- 
chitecture, is that part of an order of a co- 
lumn which is over the capital, and compre- 
hends the architrave, frieze, and cortiiche. 
Entablature, in masonry, is used some- 
times to denote the last row of stones on 
the top of the wall of a building, on which the 
timber and covering rest. 'This is often made 
to project beyond the naked of the wall, to 
carry off the rain. 
ENTAIL, in law, is a fee-estate entailed ; 
that is, abridged and limited to certain con- 
ditions prescribed by the donor or grantor. 
See Estate. 
ENTE', in heraldry, a method of mar- 
shalling, more frequent abroad than with us, 
and signifying grafted or engrafted. 
V-ol. I. 
E N T 
ENTERQCELE, See Surgery. ] 
INTERPLEADER, in law, signifies the 1 
discussing or trial ot a point, incidentally j 
falling out, before the principal cause can be j 
determined/ 
ENTHYMEME,atnong logicians, denotes j 
a syllogism, perfect in the mind, but iniper- ; 
feet in the expression, because one ot the 
propositions is suppressed, as being easily 
supplied by the understanding of those with 
whom we discourse : e. g. “ In every right- 
lined triangle the three angles are just equal 
to two right ones ; therefore, those ot an 
isosceles are so:” where the proposition, 
“ every isosceles is a right-lined triangle,” is 
omitted, as being sufficiently known. 
ENTOMOLOGY, that part of the sci- 
ence of zoology which treats exclusively of in- 
sects. 
Some natural historians consider this class 
of animals the most imperfect of any, while 
others prefer them to the larger animals. One 
mark of their imperfections is said to be, that 
many of them can live a long time, though 
deprived of those organs which are necessary 
to life in the higher ranks of nature. Many 
of them are furnished with lungs and a heart, 
like the nobler animals ; yet the caterpillar 
continues to live, though its heart and lungs, 
which is often the case, are entirely eaten 
away. It is not however from their confor- 
mation alone that insects are inferior to other 
animals, but from instincts also. It is true, 
that the ant and bee present us with striking 
instances of assiduity ; yet even these are in- 
ferior in the marks of sagacity displayed by 
the larger animals. A bee taken from the 
swarm is totally helpless and inactive, inca- 
pable of giving the smallest variations to its 
instincts. It has but one single method ot 
operating ; and it put from that, it can turn 
to no other. In the pursuits of the hound, 
there is something like choice; but in the 
labours of the bee, the whole appears like ne- 
cessity and compulsion. All other animals 
are capable of some degree of education ; 
their instincts may be suppressed or altered ; 
the dog may be taught to fetch and carry, the 
bird to whistle a tune, and the serpent to 
dance: but the insect has only one invariable 
method of operating ; no arts can turn it from 
its instincts ; and indeed its life is too short 
for instruction, as a single season often ter- 
minates its existence. Their amazing num- 
ber is also an imperfection. It is a rule that 
obtains through all nature, that the nobler 
animals are slowly produced, and that nature 
acts with a kind of dignified economy ; but 
the meaner births are lavished in profusion, 
and thousands are brought forth merely to 
supply the necessities of the more favourite 
part o'f the creation, Of all productions in 
nature, insects arc bv far the most numerous. 
The vegetables which cover the surface of 
the earth bear no proportion to the multitudes 
of insects ; and though, at first sight, herbs ot 
the field seem to be the parts of organized 
nature produced in the greatest abundance, 
yet, upon more minute inspection, we find 
every plant supporting a mixture ot scarcely 
perceptible creatures, that fill up the coin- 
pass of vouth, vigour, and age, in the space 
of a few days existence. In Lapland and 
. some parts of America, the insects are so nu- 
merous, that if a candle is lighted they swarm 
about it in such multitudes, that it is instantly 
■ 4 L 
extinguished by them ; and in those parts of 
the world, the miserable inhabitants are 
forced to smear their bodies and faces with 
tar, or some other unctuous composition, to 
protect them from the stings of their minute 
opponents. 
Swammerdam however argues for the per- 
fection of insects in the following manner. 
“ After an attentive examination (says he) 
of the nature and anatomy of the smallest as 
well as the largest animals, I cannot help al- 
lowing the least an equal, or perhaps a supe- 
rior, degree of dignity. It, while we dis- 
sect with care the larger animals, we are 
filled with wonder at the elegant disposition 
of their parts, to what a height is our asto- 
nishment raised, when we discover all these 
parts arranged, in the least, in the same re- 
gular manner! Notwithstanding the small- 
ness ef ants, nothing hinders our pre- 
ferring them to the largest animals, if we 
consider either their unwearied diligence, 
their wonderful powers, or their inimitable 
propensity to labour. Their amazing love 
to their young is still more unparalleled 
among the larger classes. They not only 
daily carry them to such places as may at- 
ford them food, but if by accident they are 
killed, and even cut into pieces, they will with 
the utmost tenderness carry them away piece- 
meal in their arms. Who can show such an 
example among the larger animals which are 
dignified with the title of perfect ? W ho edn 
find an instance in any other creature that can 
come in competition with this 
On this dispute it is only necessary to ob- 
serve, that the wisdom of the Creator is so 
conspicuous in all his works, and such sur- 
prising art is discovered in the mechanism of 
the body of every creature, that is very diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, to say where it is most, 
and where it is least, to be perceived. 
Those who are desirous of attaining a sys- 
tematic knowledge of insects, ought prima- 
rily to be solicitous about acquiring the terms 
made use of in the science, that so they may be 
able rightly to denominate every part of an 
insect. The student is first to know what an 
insect is, lest he mistake the hippocampi, and 
other amphibious animals, for them, aswas for- 
merly done: or confound them with the ver- 
mes, which Linnaeus first distinguished from in- 
sects, and which differ as essentially from them 
as the class mammalia do from birds. Every 
insect is furnished with a head, antenna’, and 
feet, of all which the vermes are destitute. All 
insects have six or more feet ; they respire 
through pores placed on the sides of their 
bodies, and which are termed spira- 
cnla: their skin is extremely hard, and 
serves them instead of bones, of which they 
have internally none. From this definition, 
the acus marina is evidently no insect. But 
the antennae placed on the fore-part of the 
head constitute the principal distinction. 
These are jointed and moveable in every part, 
in which they differ from the horns of other 
animals: they are organs conveying some 
kind of sense; but we have no more idea of 
what this kind of sense is, than a man has, 
who, without eyes, attempts to determine 
the particular action of the rays of light on 
the retina of the eye, or to explain the 
changes which thence take place in the human 
mind. That they are the organs of some 
kind of sense, is apparent from their perpe- 
