E N T 
class Euneandria. The first genus, laurus, 
is very extensive ; comprehending the bay- 
tree, cinnamon tic;, camphor tree, benja- 
min tree, sassafras tree, and the avocado or' 
avogato pear. ' 
ENS mortis , an old name given by che- 
mists to sal ammoniac sublimed with iron 
filings, and therefore consisting of muriate 
of ammonia mixed with a little muriate of 
iron. 
Ens veneris, a similar preparation, in 
which copper filings are substituted for those 
of iron. 
ENSAT/E, (from ernes, a sword), the 
name of the sixth order in Linnasus’s Frag- 
ments of a Natural Method, consisting of 
plants with sword shaped leaves. 
ENSIFORM, in general, something re- 
sembling a sword, ensis : thus we find men- 
tion of 'ensiform leaves, ensiform cartilage, 
Arc. 
ENSIGN, in the military art, a banner 
under which the soldiers arc ranged acc n d- 
ing to the different companies or parties 
they belong to. The European ensigns are 
pieces of taffety with various figures, arms, 
and devices painted on them in different 
colours : the Turkish ensigns are horses’ tails. 
Ensign is also the officer that carries the 
colours, being the lowest commissioned of- 
ficer in a company of foot, subordinate to 
the captain and lieutenant. It is a very ho- 
nourable and proper post for a young gen- 
tleman at his first coming into the army ; he 
is to carry the colours both in assault, day 
of battle, &c., and should not quit thenr 
but with his life ; he is always to carry them 
himself on his left shoulder, only on a march 
he may have them carried by a soldier. If 
the ensign is killed, then the captain is to 
carry the colours in his stead. 
ENTABLATURE, in architecture, is 
that part of an order of a column, which is 
over the capital, and comprehends the 
architrave, frieze, and cornice. 
ENTAIL, in law, signifies fee-tail, or 
fee-intailed. See Estate. 
ENTIERTIE denotes the whole, in con- 
tradistinction to moiety, which denotes the 
half ; and a bond, damages, &c. are said to 
be entire when they cannot be apportioned. 
ENTIRE tenancy, signifies a soie posses- 
sion in one man. 
ENTOMOLOGY is that branch of na- 
tural history that treats of insects. The 
study of insects has sometimes been ridi- 
culed as unworthy the attention of men of 
science ; for this, however, there is no just 
reason : though inferior in point of magni- 
ENT 
tude, yet they surpass, in variety of struc- 
ture and singularity of appearance, all the 
larger branches of the animal world. No 
one can examine with an attentive eye the 
subjects of this branch of science without 
surprise ; the great variety of forms, the 
nice adaptation of their parts to the situa- 
tion in which each happens to be placed, 
may excite the amazement of the curious 
and intelligent mind. The same power and 
wisdom which are manifested in the order, 
harmony, and beauty of the heavenly bo- 
dies, are equally shewn in the formation of 
the minutest insect ; each has received that 
mechanism of body, those peculiar instincts, 
and is made to undergo those different 
changes, which fit it for its destined situa- 
tion, and enable it to perform its proper 
functions. The utility of many insects, ei- 
ther in their living or dead state, as the bee, 
the crab, the silk-worm, cochineal insect, 
(see Apis, Coccus, &c.) renders them in- 
teresting and important; besides,' though 
diminutive in point of size, they are, in re- 
gard to numbers, unquestionably the most 
distinguished of the works of nature; they 
are to be found in every situation, in water, 
in air, and in the bowels of the earth ; they 
live in wood, upon animals, decayed vege- 
tables, and all kinds of flesh, and in every 
state of its existence down to the most pu- 
trid. 
The general characters by which insects 
are distinguished are the following: they 
are furnished with several, six or more, 
feet ; the muscles are affixed to the inter- 
nal surface of the skin, which is a substance 
more or less strong, and sometimes very 
hard and horny ; they do not breathe like 
larger animals, by lungs or gills situated in 
the upper part of the body; but by a sort 
of spiracles, distributed in a series or row 
on each side the whole length of the abdo- 
men ; these are supposed to communicate 
with a continued chain, as it were, of lungs, 
or something analogous to them, distributed 
throughout the whole length of the body ; 
the head is furnished with a pair of what 
are termed antennae, or horns, which are 
extremely different in different tribes, and 
which, by their structure, &c., form a lead- 
ing character in the institution of the ge- 
nera into which insects are divided. 
Writers on natural history formerly in- 
cluded snails, worms, and the smaller ani- 
mals, or animalcules, in general, 'among in- 
sects : these are now more properly placed 
among the tribe vermes, or worm-like ani- 
mals, Insects have also been denominated 
