E R I 
at the bottom, terminate the ftalk, from the axils of 
which the fpikelets proceed. Theie are from two to 
feven (generally about three), ovate, firff upright, after¬ 
wards pendulous. Gaertner defcribes the fruit asa fmall 
coriaceous-cruftaceous nut, of an obovate form, three- 
cornered, fmooth or obfcurely flreaked, of a redd i fit cheft- 
nut colour, one-celled, valvelefs, clothed at the bale 
with a white filky down, quite fimple, and twelve times 
as long as the nut. Seed fingle, fubelliptic, obfcurely 
three-cornered, pale. In Germany, and the more north¬ 
ern parts of Europe, the down has been manufactured in¬ 
to various articles of drefs, paper, and wicks for candles. 
In fome parts of Sweden the peafants fluff their pillows 
with it, whence it is called poor-man’s pillow: but it be¬ 
comes brittle when quite dry. Early in the fpri-rig, cat¬ 
tle crop and injure the leaves, before the gralfes are fuffi- 
ciently grown. It is common on moors and boggy ground ; 
infomuch that they are often white all over with it in 
June and July, when it is in feed. It flowers in April 
and May. 
4. Eriophorum Virginicum, or Virginian cotton-grafs : 
culms leafy, columnar, leaves flat, fpikes upright.—Na¬ 
tive of Virginia. 
'5. Eriophorum cyperinum, or cyperus cotton-grafs: 
culms columnar leafy, panicle fuperdecompound proli¬ 
ferous, fpicules moftly in threes. This has altogether 
the ftattire of Cyperus, but the fpikelet of Scirpus, ex¬ 
cept that the feeds as they ripen produce a dun-coloured 
or teftaceous cotton, fcarcely longer than the fpikelets. 
Native of North America. 
6. Eriophorum alpinum, or alpine Cotton-grafs : culms 
naked three-cornered, fpi-ke Ihorter than the down. Na¬ 
tive of the mountains of Lapland, Sweden, Denmark, 
Silefia, Carniola, Switzerland; flowering in June and 
July. It was found by Mr. Brown and Mr. Donn, in a 
mol's about three miles eall of Forfar, in the (hire of An¬ 
gus, Scotland. A fpecimen of it from this place waspre- 
fented to the Linnaean Society by Mr, Teafdale, April the 
3d, 1792. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe being bog-plants, are 
feldom preferved in gardens. They may however be 
planted in pots filled with bog-earth, fet in pans wherein 
water is kept conftantly ; or by the fide of ponds or other 
waters. 
ERIOPH'ORUS. See Andryala, Bombax, Car- 
duus, and Scilla. 
ERIO'PJLA. See Duroia. 
ERI PH'AN IS, a female Greek, famous for her poeti«- 
cal compofitions. She was extremely fond of the hunter 
Melampus, and to enjoy his company Ihe accuftomed her¬ 
felf to live in the woods. 
ERIPH'YLE, a filler of Adrallus king of Argos, who 
married Amphiaraus. She was daughter of Talaus and 
Lyfimache. When her hufband concealed himfelf that 
he might not accompany the Argives in their expedition 
again!! Thebes, where he knew he was toperilh, Eriphyle 
fuffered herfelf to be bribed by Polynices with a golden 
necklace which had been formerly given to Hermione by 
Venus, and Ihe difeovered where Amphiaraus was. This 
treachery of Eriphyle compelled him to go to the war; 
but before he departed, he charged his fon Alcmaeon to 
murder his mother as foon as he was informed of his 
death. Amphiaraus perilhed in the expedition, and his 
death was no fooner known than his laft injunctions were 
obeyed, and Eryphile was murdered by the hands of her 
fon. Homer. 
E'RIS, the goddefs of difeord among the Greeks: the 
fame as the Difcordia of the Latins. 
ERISICH'THON.in fabulous hillory, a Theflalian, fon 
of Triops, who derided Ceres, and cut down her groves. 
This impiety irritated the goddefs, who afflicted him 
with continual hunger. He fquandered all his pofleflions 
to gratify the cravings of his appetite, and at laft he de¬ 
voured his own limbs for want of food. His daughter 
had the power of transforming herfelf into whatever 
animal Ihe pleafed, and Ihe made ufe of that artifice to 
Vol. VI. No. 401. 
E R I 90 S 
maintain her father, who fold her, after which Ihe a (Turned 
another fliape and became again his property. Ovid. 
ERIS'KAY, one of weltern iflands of Scotland, fepa- 
rated from fouth Vi ft by a narrow ftrait, called Erijkay 
Sound: about five miles in circumference. 
ERISTHA'LES. See Cnicus. 
ERI'I , iPALIS,yi [the name of an herb in Pliny ; from 
Gr. full of verdure. J In botany, a genus of the 
clafs pentandria, order monogynia, natural order of rubi- 
acas, (JuJficu-j The generic characters are—Calyx: 
perianthium one-leafed; fuperior, pitcher-form, five- 
toothed, permanent, (ten-toothed, minute, five-cornered, 
Swartz-,) Corolla: one petalled, five-parted: tube very 
Ihort; divifions lance-lhaped, long, bent back. (Petals 
five, linear, obtufe, patulous, Swartz.) Stamina: fila¬ 
ments five, (fix, eight, ten, from the bafe of the calyx, 
Swartz ;) tubulate, patulous, fcarce the length of the co¬ 
rolla; anthers oblong, iinear, erect,. Swartz. Piftillum: 
germ inferior, roundilh : flyle filiform, compreffed above, 
length of the itamens; fligma lharp, (bifid, Swartz.) 
Pericarpium : berry globofe, crowned, ten-celled, (eight 
or ten-celled, Gartner-, flightlv ten-grooved, Swartz.) 
Seeds fmall, (in each cell one, pendulous, ovate, com- 
prelfed like a lens, G.) — Ejfcntial■ CharaEler. Corolla: 
five-parted, with the divifions bent back ; Calyx pitcher- 
thaped ; berry ten-celled, inferior. 
Species, r. Erithalis fruticofa, or fhrubby erithalis: leaves 
oppolite; corymbs compound- This is an upright ele¬ 
gant branching tree, fifteen feet in height. Leaves fub- 
ovate, blunt with a fmall point, filming, quite entire, 
deepgreen, paler underneath, petioled, three inches long. 
Flowers numerous, caducous, with white petals, moftly 
fix-ftamened with a (ix-cleft calyx and corolla, fmelling 
exactly like the common Syringa. Berries fmall and 
purple, (black, Swflrtz.) Seeds about nine, but uncer¬ 
tain in their number; (in each cell one, rufefeent, Gartner.) 
Perhaps both the fpecies of Browne, are but varieties of 
this. Native of Jamaica, Martinico, &c. Jacquin de- 
feribes another, which is a native of Curasao, and proba¬ 
bly a variety of this arifing from its growing in the clefts 
of rocks, where there is no earth. It is a fhrub, two feet 
high, with procumbent diffufed branches; the leaves are 
thicker and numerous ; the berry and flowers fmaller; 
the former entirely void of.fcent, the latter whitifh or 
very leldom purple. According to Swartz, it varies 
with large ovate leaves, and all the parts larger. The 
berry, as Gacrtner obferves, may with Jacquin be confi- 
dered as one-celled. 
2. Erithalis polygama, or polygamous erithalis : leaves 
obovate; flowers axillary, males cymed, hermaphrodites 
folitary. Native of the Society Ifles. The variety timo* 
nious, has narrower leaves. 
ERITHR/E'A,, f. in botany. See Gentiana Gen- 
TAURIUM. 
ERIS'TICAL, adj. [cp?, Gr.] Controverfial; relating 
to difpufe ; containing controverfies. 
ERI'TRr, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the province 
of Natolia : thirty-fix miles weft of Smyrna. 
ERITZ'KA, a town of Ruflia, in the government of 
Irkutfch : twenty miles eall of Kirenfk. 
ER'IVAN, ov Persian Armenia, or Greater Ar¬ 
menia, or Eastern Armenia, a province of Perfia, 
about 200 leagues in length, and fixty in breadth. The 
country is mountainous, interfedled with fertile vallies ; 
the air is healthy, and the wine excellent; the winter is 
long and rough, with frequent fnow, which fometimes falls 
it) June, and even is fometimes found in July ; fruit 
grows flowly, and olives do not flourifh. Game and filh 
abound : this is the country in which Noah’s ark is faid to 
have relied after the flood, on mount Ararat, called by 
the Perfians Agri, and by the Armenians Macis, or Meze- 
fan-ver. This province is bounded on the north by Geor¬ 
gia, on the eall by Schirvan and a fmall province called 
Mougan, on the fouth by Aberbeitzan, and on the weft; by 
Turkilh Armenia. The principal towns are Erivan and 
Nachivan. See Armenia, vol, ii. p. 194—197. 
10 X ER'IVAN. 
