EPA 
centuries, .but £ being subtracted, on ac- 
count of the Gregorian bissextile century, 
there will remain Therefore in four 
Gregorian centuries the new moons will 
happen later by |f of a day, and the epacts 
must be decreased accordingly. 
At present the Gregorian epact is 11 days 
short of the Julian epact; but the quotient 
of the number of the centuries divided by 
4, which at this time is 4, multiplied by f|, 
with the addition of the remainder 1 multi- 
plied by ||, makes in all but >||, or 7 days 
+ 35 i therefore ff, *• e. 3 days la must be 
added to complete the 11 days. Whence 
we have the following 
General rule for finding the Gregorian 
Epact for ever. Divide the centuries of any 
year of the Christian *ra by 4, (rejecting 
the subsequent numbers ;) multiply the re- 
mainder by 17, and to this product add the 
quotient multiplied by 43 ; divide the pro- 
duct + 86 by 25 ; multiply the golden num- 
ber by 11, from which subtract the last 
quotient ; and rejecting the thirties, the re- 
mainder will be the epact. 
Example for 1808. 
18 + =2 
2X17 = 34 
43 X 4 + 34 = 206 
206 + 86 = 25 = 11 
11 X 4 (Gold. No.). =44 
44 — 11 
r 30 =1 — 3 = Epact. 
A shorter rule for finding the epact until 
the year 1900. Subtract 1 from the golden 
number, and multiplying the remainder by 
11, reject the thirties, and you have the 
epact. 
Example for the year 1808. 
Golden Number 4. 
4 — 1 x 11 — 30 = 3 = Epact. 
EPAULE, in fortification, denotes the 
shoulder of a bastion, or the place where its 
face and flank meet, and form the angle 
called the angle of the shoulder. See Bas- 
tion. 
EPAULEMENT, in fortification, a work 
raised to cover sideways, is either of earth, 
gabions, or fascines, loaded with earth. The 
epaulements of the places of arms for the 
cavalry, at the entrance of the trenches, 
are generally of fascines mixed with earth. 
EPAULETTES, in military dregs, are a 
sort of shoulder-knot. They are badges of 
distinction worn on one or both shoulders, 
EPH 
according to the rank of the wearer ■ and 
for the same reason they are made either of 
worsted, or of silver or gold lace. In France 
all degrees of rank in the army may be in- 
stantly known from the epaulette ; but this 
is not the case here. Lately epaulettes have 
been introduced into the navy, and in that 
service the following are the gradations of 
rank as distinguished by them, blasters 
and commanders have one epaulette on the 
left shoulder: post captains under three 
years, one epaulette on the right shoulder, 
afterwards two epaulettes: rear admirals 
have one star on the strap of the epaulette, 
vice-admirals two stars, and admirals three 
stars. * 
EPH A, or Ephah, in Jewish antiquity, 
a measure for things dry, containing 1.0961 
of a bushel. See Measure. 
EPHEDRA, in botany, a genus of the 
Dioecia Monodelphia class and order. 
Natural order of Conifer®. Essential cha- 
racter : male, calyx of the ament two-cleft ; 
corolla none ; stamens seven ; anthers four- 
inferior, three superior: female, calyx two- 
parted, five-fold ; corolla none ; pistils two ; 
seeds covered with a berried calyx. There 
are two species ; viz. E. distachya, great 
shrubby horse-tail, or) sea-grape, andE. mo- 
nostachya, small shrubby horse tail. These 
plants vary extremely. Some in the south 
of Europe are only a hand in height, whilst 
others are three feet: they are" found in 
most of the southern parts of the Russian 
dominions, from the Volga to the Lena, and 
southwards to Persia and India. . The ber- 
ries are sweetish, mucose, and leave a little 
heat in the throat : they are eaten by the 
Russian peasants, and the wandering hordes 
of all Great Tartary. 
EPHEMERA, day-fly , in natural history, 
a genus ofinsects of the order Neuroptera. 
Mouth without mandibles; feelers four, 
very short, filiform; antenn® short, filiform • 
above the eyes are two or three large stem- 
mata; wings erect, the lower ones much 
shorter ; tail terminating in long bristles or 
hairs. These short-lived animals, of which 
there are about twenty species, in two di- 
visions, according as they have two or three 
hairs in the tail, are found every where 
about waters in the summer, and in their 
perfect state seldom live more than a day, 
some of them not an hour, during which 
time they perform ail the functions of life, 
and answer all the ends of nature. The 
larva lives under water, and is eagerly 
sought after by trout and other fish : it is 
six-footed, active, and furnished with a tail 
D 2 
