870 E P I 
hence he was called by St. Jerom TrsvIayXvr jo?; and his 
reading was very extenftve, particularly in ecclefiaftical 
antiquities. He was, however, greatly deficient in judg¬ 
ment, and cannot be commended for his (kill in wielding 
the weapons of controverfy. Befides being inaccurate in 
tiie numerous tranfcripts from ancient authors now no¬ 
where elfe to be found, of which a confiderable part of 
his works confifls, he has fliewn himfelf exceftively cre¬ 
dulous in admitting ftatements and reports without any 
enquiry into their evidence ; by which means he has be¬ 
trayed himfelf into a variety of contradiXions and abfurdi- 
ties, which elfentially affeX the value of his labours as 
works of reference and authority. His fiyle, far .from 
having any pretenlions to Attic elegance, is mean, liarfii, 
fmd unpolithed, without perfpicuity, and without con¬ 
nexion. The works of Epiphanius were firft printed in 
Greek at Bafi], by Oporinus, in 1544.; fince which time 
they have undergone various impreffions, of which the 
molt valuable is that publifhed at Paris in 1622, in two 
volumes folio, by the learned Petavius. This edition 
was afterwards reprinted at Cologne in 1682, in two vo¬ 
lumes folio. 
EPIPHA'NIUS, furnamed the Scholastic, an.Ita¬ 
lian by birth, and an able Greek and Latin fcholar, flou- 
rifhed about the year 510. He was the friend of the cele¬ 
brated Cafiiodorus, at whofe requeft he tranllated into 
the Latin language the ecclefiaftical hiftories of Socrates, 
Sozomen, and Theodoret; which verfion is more to be 
commended for its fidelity than its elegance, fince it 
is marked by numerous barbarifms of the age in which 
the author wrote. Epiphanius was aifo the author of 
ieveral other tranflations from the Greek into Latin, 
which are no longer extant. To him Cafiiodorus was 
indebted for the improvement, at leaft, of the verfion 
of the Codex encyclicus, or ColleXion of Synodal Letters of 
the year 458, addrefied to the emperor Leo, in defence of 
the Council of Chalcedon. The beft edition of that ver- 
fion is to be found in Baluzius’s New ColleXion of the 
Councils, publifhed at Paris in 1683, folio. 
EPIPHA'NIUS, patriarch of Conftantinople in the 
fixth century. He was a ftrenuous advocate for the or¬ 
thodox doXrines in oppofition to the tenets of the, Euty- 
chians ; and, after his elevation to his high dignity in 520, 
he procured the condemnation of the latter in a fynod of 
bifhops held at Conftatinople. During his patriarchate, 
the decrees of the council of Chalcedon were confirm¬ 
ed, and the reconciliation was completed between the 
churches of Conftantinople and Rome, after the firft 
great fchifm which had lafted about thirty-five years. 
Five letters of his to pope Hormifdas on the fubjeX of 
the union, are extant in the fourth volume of the Collec¬ 
tion of the Latin Counc ils. 
EPIPH'AN Y,y. [ epiphanie , Fr. epiphania, Lat. ewitpccpzia, 
of E-E-i, and (paivoi, Gr. manifeftation.] A Chriftian festi¬ 
val, otherwife called the Manfejlation of Chrijl to the Gen¬ 
tiles, obferved on the fixth of January, in honour of the 
appearance of the ftar to the three magi or wife men, 
who came to adore the Mefiiah, and bring him prefents. 
It is commonly called Twelfth-day. 
EPIPHONE'MA, f. [from erripcoiinp.a., Gr.] An ex¬ 
clamation ; a conclufive fewtence not clofely conneXed 
with the words foregoing.—If thofe preachers who abound 
in epiphoncmas would but look about them, they would 
find one part of their congregation out of countenance, 
and the other afleep. Swift. 
EPIPI-lLOGIS'MA.y. [from eth, upon, and ipAoyt^v, 
Gr. to inflame.] The medical term for the ffiingles. 
EPIPH'OR A,y [from ewitpega, Gr. to carry forcibly.] 
With phyficians, an impetuous flux of humours to the 
furface of the body. It particularly means a flux of tears 
from the eyes, in confequence of any difeafe of the part. 
EPIPHYLLAN'THUS, inbotany. See Xylophylla. 
EsPIPHYLLOSPER'MOUS, adj. [ E7 n, upon, (pyXhov, 
a leaf, jwEgp*, Gr. feed.] In botany, it is applied- to 
E P I 
fuch plants as have their feeds growing on the back of 
the leaves, as the ferns. 
E PI PH'YS I S,y. [from e-eu, upon, and (pvco, Gr. to grow, ] 
A fmall bone annexed to a larger by means of an inter¬ 
vening cartilage. See Anatomy. 
EPl'PLOCE, f. [from eTrnrXoy.vi, Gr.] A figure of 
rhetoric, by which one aggravation, or ftriking circum- 
ftance, is added in due gradation to another ; as, He not 
only fpared his enemies, but continued them in employment ; not 
only continued, but advanced them. 
EPI'PLOCELE.y. [from eetiwAoo v, the omentum, and 
jt/jA' 4, Gr. a tumour or rupture.] A rupture of the 
omentum. 
EPIPLOOM'PFIALON, f. [from ztxv'ur\aav, the omen¬ 
tum, and otyCpx Aoc, Gr. the navel.] An umbilical hernia. 
EPI'PLOON, f. [from ewictAew, Gr. to lie upon.] 
The omentum or caul, which lies upon the furface of the 
bowels. 
EPIPLOSCHEOCE'LE, f. [from e^Aoo,, the omen¬ 
tum, otTxioii the ferotum, and x^A n, Gr. a tumour or her¬ 
nia.] A rupture of the omentum into the ferotum. 
EPIPO'GIUM, f. in botany. See Satyrium. 
EPIP'OLvE, a diftriX of Syracufe, on the north fide, 
furrounded by a wall by Dionyfius, who, to complete 
the work expeditioufly, employed 60,000 men upon it, 
fo that in thirty days he finiftied a wall four miles and 
three quarters long, and of great height and thicknefs. 
-tiPIPO'LASIS, f. [from Gr. to fwim on 
the top.] In medicine, a fluXuation of humours. In 
chemiftry, it means the fettlement of any matter fublimed, 
and fwimming on the top. 
EPIPO'MA.y [from cm, upon, and Gr. a 
lid.] In furgery, an inftrument to cover the Ihoulder'in 
a luxation. 
EPIPORO'MA,_/i [from csti'&vqou, Gr. to harden.] 
An indurated tumour in the joints. 
EPIPTYX'IS, f [from z’zntarkcro-a, Gr. to clofe up.] 
A fpafmodic diforder of the lips, fo that they can hardly 
be opened. 
EPI'RE, the ancient Epirus, now united with Albania, 
and included in that country, of which it forms the 
fouthern part, extending from Valona to Arta. 
EPI'RUS, a country of ancient Greece, bounded on 
the eaft by E'tolia, on the weft by the Adriatic, on the 
north by Theflaly and Macedon, and on the fouth by the 
Ionian fea. It was anciently governed by its own princes, 
in which ftnte it made a con/iderable figure. According 
to Jofephus, it was firft peopled by Dodanim, the fon of 
Javan, and grandfon of Japliet. The people were war¬ 
like, but continued in their favage ft ice long after their 
neighbours were civilized ; whence the iflanders tiled to 
threaten petty offenders with tranfportation to Epirus. The 
hiftory of Epirus commences with the reign of Pyrrhus, 
fon of Achilles by Deidamia the daughter of Lycomedes, 
king of Scyros. He is faid to have behaved with.great 
bravery at the fiege of Troy; but with no lefs barbarity. 
After the city wds taken, he is faid to have killed old king 
Priam; to have thrown Aftyanax, the fon of HeXor and 
Andromache, headlong from an high tower; and facri- 
ficed Polyxena, the daughter of Priam, on the tomb of 
his father. He carried Andromache with him into Epi¬ 
rus, where he fettled by the advice of the famous footh- 
fayer Helenus, one of Priam’s fons, who had ferved during 
the Trojan war both under his father and himfelf. The 
moft remarkable period of the hiftory of Epirus is the 
reign of Pyrrhus II. who made war upon the Romans. 
He was invited into Italy by the Tarentines ; and em¬ 
barked about 280 years before Chrift. After having 
efcaped many dangers by fea, he landed in that country, 
and with great difficulty gained a viXory over the Ro¬ 
mans; but was afterwards utterly defeated. To retrieve 
his credit, he undertook an expedition againft Macedon ; 
where he overthrew Antigonus, and made himfelf matter 
of the whole kingdom. He then formed a defign of fub- 
duing 
