Eciton 
foraginij or uniiy miln, usually placed in tlio 
family Mi/i-mii-idie, as the potiolo of the abdo- 
men has two nodes. It is n<>w Mippo h i-d that the ge- 
nus Labiilus, of the family Durii/iiin-. i- represented ex- 
rlll-!\i l\ I'V 111'' U -II. alld tin- rhalaelrrs nf 
both groups require revision. These ants are found in 
South and Central America. and '! -peeies of Ki-ilnn and 6 
of Labiiluit are known in I In- I nited Status, from I'tah, 
New Mexico, California, and Texas. There are two kinds 
of neuters or workers, large-headed and small-headed, the 
former of which are called Kttldicrx. They are canmo 
roils, m:tivh in vast niiniliri's. and are very destructive. 
eckle 1 , eccle (ek'l), . [E. dial., also eccle, ,var. 
of ickle, ult. < AH. t/icel, an icicle: see icklc, 
idi-lr.] 1. Aii Motei 2. jil. The crest of a 
cock. To build eccles In the air, to build castles in 
the air. U'ri'iht. [1'rov. Kng. in all uses. | 
eckle" (I'k'i), a. [E. dial. Cf.ccttel.] A wood- 
pecker. [Prov. Eng.] 
eckle 3 , r. i. ; pret. and pp. ecklvd, ppr. eckling. 
[A dial. var. of ettle.] To aim ; intend ; design. 
Halliiccll. [North. Eng.] 
Eclair (a-klar'), . [F., lit. lightning, < felai- 
rrr, lighten, illumine, < L. exclarare, light up, 
< ex, out, + clarare, make bright or clear: see 
clear, v.] A small oblong cake, filled with a 
cream or custard, and glazed with chocolate or 
sugar. 
eclaircise, v. t. See cclaircize. 
iclaircissement (a-klar-seVmon), n. [F. (= Pr. 
esclarziment = Sp. esclarecimiento = Pg. esclare- 
cimcnto), < eclaircir, clear up: see cclaircize.] 
Explanation ; the clearing up of something not 
before understood. 
Nay, madam, you shall stay . . . till he has made aa 
eclaircinnement of his love to you. 
Wycherley, Country Wife. 
Next morning I breakfasted alone with Mr. W[alpole] : 
when we had all the eclaircissement I ever expected, and I 
left him far better satisfied than I had been hitherto. 
dray. Letters, L 124. 
eclaircize (e-klar'siz), v. t.\ pret. and pp. eclair- 
cized, ppr. eclairci-ing . [< F. fclairciss-, stem 
of certain parts of tclaircir (= Pr. esclarzir, es- 
clarzezir = Sp. Pg. esclarecer), clear up; with 
suffix, ult. < L. -escere (see -esce, -is/ 2 ), < eclairer, 
lighten, illumine: seee'ctoir.] To make clear; 
explain; clear up, as something not under- 
stood or misunderstood. Also spelled eclair- 
cise. [Rare.] 
eclampsia (ek-lamp'si-a), n. [= F. tclampsie 
= It. eclamsia. < NL. eclampsia, < Gr. itAa^if, 
a shining forth, exceeding brightness, < e/c/lii/x- 
Ttetv, shine forth, < , forth, + /Afmeiv, shine: 
see lamp.] In pathol., a flashing of light be- 
fore the eyes ; also, rapid convulsive motions. 
The name is applied to convulsions resembling those of 
epilepsy, but not of true epilepsy : aa, the eclampsia of 
childbirth. Also eclampsy. 
eclampsic (ek-lamp'sik), a. A less correct 
form of eelamptic. 
eclampsy (ek-lamp'si), n. Same as eclampsia. 
eelamptic (ek-lamp'tik), a. [= F. falamptique ; 
as eclampsia (eclampt-) + -ic.] 1. Pertaining 
to or of the nature of eclampsia: as, eelamptic 
convulsions; eelamptic idiocy. 2. Suffering 
from eclampsia : as, an eelamptic patient. 
6clat (a-kla' ), n. [F. . < feteter, burst forth, < OF. 
esclater, shine, s'esclater, burst, < OHG. slizan, 
MHG. slizen, split, burst, G. schleissen = AS. 
slitan, E. slit, q. v.] 1. A burst, as of applause ; 
acclamation ; approbation : as, his speech was 
received with great Mat. 2. Brilliant effect; 
brilliancy of success ; splendor; magnificence: 
as, the Mat of a great achievement. 
Although we have taken formal possession of Burmah 
with much eclat, the dangers and difficulties of the enter- 
prise are by no means at an end. 
Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XXXIX. 288. 
3. Renown; glory. 
Yet the eclat it gave was enough to turn the head of a 
man less presumptuous than Egmont. Prescott. 
eclectic (ek-lek'tik), a. and n. [== F. e"clectiquc 
= Sp. ecUctico = Pg. eclectico = It. eclettico (cf. 
G. elelektisch = Dan. cklektisk), < NL. eclecticus, 
< Gr. ticXficTi/cof, picking out, selecting, < lidt- 
m-(5c, picked out, (iiMyeiv, pick out (= L. eligere, 
, , , . 
pp. electus, > E. elect, q. v.), < en, out, + My 
pick, choose: see legend.] I. a. Selecting; 
choosing; not confined to or following any one 
model or system, but selecting and appropri- 
ating whatever is considered best in all. 
The American mind, in the largest sense eclectic, strug- 
gled for universality, while it asserted freedom. 
Bancroft, Hist. U. 8., II. 464. 
When not creative, their genius has been eclectic and 
refining. Xt,-tlmun, Viet. Poets, p. 23. 
Eclectic medicine, a medical theory and practice based 
upon selection of what is esteemed best in all systems ; 
specifically, the medical system of a separately organized 
school of physicians in the United States, who make much 
1835 
use of what they regard as specific remedies, largely or 
chiefly Ixitnnical. Eclectic physician, (a) One of an 
ancient order of ph> sirians, supposed to have been found- 
id l>y Agathinus of Sparta. (l>) A practitioner of the 
American school of eclectic meairinr. 
II. w. One who, in whatever department of 
knowledge, not being convinced of the fun- 
damental principles of any existing system, 
culls from the teachings of different schools 
such doctrines as seem to him probably true, 
conformable to good sense, wholesome in prac- 
tice, or recommended by other secondary 
considerations: one who holds that opposing 
schools are right in their distinctive doctrines, 
wrong only in their opposition to one another. 
In philosophy the chief groups of eclectics have been (1) 
those ancient writers, from the first century before Christ, 
who, like Cicero, influenced by Platonic skepticism, held a 
composite doctrine of ethics, logic, etc., aggregated of Pla- 
touist, Peripatetic, Stoic, and even Epicurean elements ; 
(2) writers in the seventeenth century who, like Leibnitz, 
iniirJ. d Aristotelian and Cartesian principles; (3) writ> 
ers in the eighteenth century who adopted in part the 
views of Leibnitz, in part those of Locke ; (4) Schellinjj and 
others, who held beliefs derived from various idealistic, 
pantheistic, and mystical philosophers ; (5) the school of 
Cousin, who took a mean position between a philosophy 
of experience and one of absolute reason. 
Even the eclectics, who arose about the age of Angus- 
tus, . . . were ... as slavish and dependent as any of 
their brethren, since they sought for truth not In nature, 
but in the several schools. 
Hume, Rise of Arts and Sciences. 
My notion of an eclectic Is a man who, without foregone 
conclusions of any sort, deliberately surreys all accessible 
modes of thought, and chooses from each his own '' hortus 
siccus" of definitive convictions. 
./. Oicen, Evenings with Skeptics, IL 831. 
Specifically (a) A follower of the ancient eclectic philos- 
ophy. (6) In the early church, a Christian who believed 
the doctrine of Plato to be conformable to the spirit of 
the gospel, (c) In med., a practitioner of eclectic medi- 
cine, either ancient or modern ; an eclectic physician. 
eclectically (ek-lek'ti-kal-i). adv. By way of 
choosing or selecting; in the manner of the 
eclectic philosophers or physicians; as an ec- 
lectic. 
eclecticism (ek-lek'ti-sizm), n. [= F. falecti- 
cixme; as eclectic + -ism.] The method of the 
eclectics, or a system, as of philosophy, medi- 
cine, etc., made up of selections from various 
systems. 
Sensualism, idealism, skepticism, mysticism, are all par- 
tial and exclusive views of the elements of intelligence. 
But each is false only as it is incomplete. They are all 
true in what they affirm, all erroneous in what they deny. 
Though hitherto opposed, they are, consequently, not in- 
capable of coalition ; and, in fact, can only obtain their 
consummation in a powerful eclecticism a system which 
shall comprehend them all. 
Sir W. Hamilton, Edinburgh Rev., L. 201. 
eclectism (ok-lek'tizm), . [< F. eclectisme = 
Pg. eclectismo, < Gr. fsAfitTof, picked out: see 
eclectic and -ISIM.] Same as eclecticism. [Rare.] 
The classicists, indeed, argue for that eclectism of taste 
which finds suggestive material wherever there is force 
and beauty. /). G. Mitchell, Bound Together, iv. 
Eclectus (ek-lek'tus), n. [NL., < Gr. inteicrof, 
picked out, select: see eclectic.] 1. A genus 
of trichoglossine parrots related to the lories, 
containing several species of the Philippine, 
Malaccan, and Papuan islands, as /.'. linncei, 
E. polychlorus, etc. 2. [/. c.] A parrot of the 
genus Eclectus. 
eclegmt (ek-lem'), n. [Prop. *ecligm; = F. 
eclegme, 6cligme, (. L. ecKgma, < Gr. l^iyfta, an 
electuary, ( CKAeix etv i lick U P < & K i ou t, + ?'- 
Xtiv, lick. Cf. electuary, from the same ult. 
source.] A medicine of syrupy consistency. 
eclimeter (ek-lim'e-ter), n. An instrument to 
be held in the hand for measuring the zenith 
distances of objects near the horizon. 
eclipse (e-klips'), n. [< ME. eelips (more fre- 
quent in'the abbr. form clips, clyppes, clyppus, 
etc. : see clips), < OF. eclipse-F. eclipse = Pr. 
eclipsis, eclipses, elipse = Sp. Pg. eclipse = It. 
eclisse, ecclisse, ecclissi, < L. eclipsis, < Gr. eitfei- 
Vr, an eclipse, lit. a failing, forsaking, < ex)M- 
vciv, leave out, pass over, forsake, fail, intr. 
leave off, cease, suffer an eclipse, < in, out, + 
fa'metv, leave.] 1. In astron., an interception 
or obscuration of the light of the sun, moon, or 
other heavenly body, by the intervention of an- 
other heavenly body either between it and the 
eye or between it and the source of its illumi- 
nation. An eclipse of the sun is caused by the interven- 
tion of the moon between it and the earth, the sun's disk 
being thus partially or entirely hidden ; an eclipse of the 
moon is occasioned by the earth passing between it and 
the sun, the earth's shadow obscuring the whole or part of 
its surface, but never entirely concealing it. The number 
of eclipses of the sun and moon cannot be fewer than two 
nor more than seven in one year, exclusive of penuuibral 
eclipses of the moon. The most usual number is four, 
seven being very rare. Jupiter's satellites are eclipsed by 
passing through his shadow. See occufta&m. 
ecliptic 
For It shal chauugen wonder 100114 
And take eclips right u the muone, 
Wliaiiuc ho is from u i li-tt 
Thurgh erthe, that hitwixe is sett 
The sonne and Mr, as it may fullc, 
Be It in partie ur in alle. 
../ the Rote, 1. 5887. 
But In y first watche of y night, the moone soared 
r.-i;,,*. -I. llreiide, tr. of Quintal Curtiiu, foL 78. 
The un . . . from liehlnd the moon, 
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds 
c In half the nations, or with (ear of change 
Perplexes monarchs. MUtm, V. L., \. 697. 
As when the sun, a crescent of eclipse, 
Dreams over lake and lawn, and isles and capes. 
Tennyson, Villon of Sin, L 
2. Figuratively, any state of obscuration ; an 
overshadowing ; a transition from brightness, 
clearness, or animation to the opposite state : 
as, his glory has suffered an eclipse. 
All the posterity of our first parent* suffered a perpetual 
eclipse ol spiritual life. Baleigh, Hist. World. 
Oayety without eclipse 
Wearieth me. Tennyson, Lilian. 
How like the starless night of death 
Our being's brief eclipse, 
When faltering heart and falling breath 
Have bleached the fading lips ! 
O. W. Holmet, Agnet. 
He [Earl Hakonl was zealous, In season and out of sea- 
son, to bring back those who in t\\t eclipse of the old faith 
had either gone over to Christianity or preferred to "trust 
in themselves," to what he considered the true fold. 
Edinburgh Rev. 
central, partial, penumbra!, total eclipse. 
See the adjectives. Eclipse of a satellite, the obscu- 
ration of it by the shadow of its primary ' opposed to an 
iirniliiitliiii. in which it is bidden by the body of the pri- 
mary. Eclipse of Thales, a total eclipse of the sun 
which took place 685 B. c., May 28th, during a battle be- 
tween the Medes and the Lydians, and which is stated to 
have been predicted by Thales of Miletus. Quantity of 
an eclipse, the number of digits eclipsed. See digit, 3. 
eclipse (e-klips'), r. ; pret. and pp. eclipsed, ppr. 
eclipsing. [< ME. eclipsen, < OF. eclipser, F. 
e'clipser = Pr. 8p. Pg. eclipsar = It. eclitsare, 
ecctissarc; from the noun.] I. trans. 1. To 
obscure by an eclipse; cause the obscuration 
of; darken or hide, as a heavenly body: as, the 
moon eclipses the sun. 
Within these two hundred yeares found out it was . . . 
that the moone sometime vnaeclipsed twice in five moueths 
space, and the sunne likewise in seven. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, 11. I). 
2. To overshadow; throw in the shade; ob- 
scure ; hence, to surpass or excel. 
Though you have all this worth, you hold some qualities 
That do eclipse your virtues. 
Hi-mi, and /-'/., King and No King, 1. 1. 
Another now hath to himself engross'd 
All power, and us eclipsed. Milton, P. L., v. 770. 
When he [Christ] was lifted up [to his cross], he did 
there crucify the world, and the things of it, eclipse the 
lustre, and destroy the power, of all its empty vanities. 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, II. xviil. 
I, therefore, for the moment, omit all inquiry how far the 
Mariolatry of the early Church did indeed eclipse Christ. 
Ruskin. 
II. intrans. To suffer an eclipse. [Rare.] 
The labouring moon 
Eclipses at their charms. Milton, P. L, II. 666. 
ecliptic (e-klip'tik), a. and n. [Formerly eclip- 
ticlc; = F. icliptiqite = Pg. ecliptico = It. eclit- 
tico, < LL. eclipticus, < LGr. enfat-Tikof, of or 
caused by an eclipse (as a noun, = F. (cliptique 
= Sp. ecliptica = Pg. ecliptiea = It. eclittica, < 
LL. ecliptica (so. linea, line), < Gr. M.etTmnoc, 
(so. ict At/of, circle), the line or circle in the plane 
of which eclipses take place), < frAwynf, an 
eclipse: see eclipse, n.] I. a. 1. Pertainingto 
an eclipse. 2. Pertaining to the apparent path 
of the sun in the heavens : as, ecliptic constel- 
lations. 
Thy full face in his oblique designe 
Confronting Phoebus In th' Ecliptick line, 
And th' Earth between. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, I. 4. 
Ecliptic conjunction, a conjunction in longitude of the 
moon with the sun, the former being within its ecliptic 
limits. Ecliptic digit, one twelfth part of the sun's or 
moon's diameter, used as a unit in expressing the quantity 
of eclipses. Ecliptic limits, the greatest distances at 
which the moon can be from her nodes (that is, from 
the ecliptic), If an eclipse of the sun or moon is to hap- 
pen. 
II. n. 1. Inasfron., a great circle of the heav- 
ens in the plane of the earth's orbit, or that of 
the apparent annual motion of the sun among 
the Stars. The fixed ecliptic is the position of the eclip- 
tic at any given date. The mean ecliptic U the position 
of the fixed ecliptic relative to the equinoctial, as modified 
by precession. This is now approaching the equinoctial 
at the rate of 47" per century. The true or apparent eclip- 
tic Is the mean ecliptic aa modified by the effects of nuta- 
tion. The obliquity of the ecliptic is the inclination of the 
