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ER'IVAN, or Irvan, or Irivan, a city of Afia, and 
capital of Greater Armenia, or Erivan, fituated in a plain, 
fnrrounded with mountains, and watered by two fmall 
rivers ; large, dirty, and ill-built, and but indifferently 
peopled : the ramparts are of earth ; the fortrefs is en- 
compafled with a wall of bricks, in which is a palace for 
the governor, and 800 houfes, only inhabited by Perlians 
the Armenians have (hops there, but muft not remain 
during the night. The churches are fmall, and half 
buried in the ground, refembling catacombs : in the town 
and environs are twenty.eight convents for devotees of 
both fexes, but they are poorly endowed. Lat. 40. 20. N. 
Ion. 62. E. Ferro. 
ERIZ'ZO (Sebaflian), a noble Venetian, diftinguifhed. 
for hi. knowledge of the medallic fcience. He publifhed 
in 1559, in Italian, a Difcourfe upon ancient Medals, 
with the particular Explanation of many Reverfes, which 
was much efteemed for its erudition. He alfo publifhed, 
in 1567, a moral work, entitled Sei Giornate He was like- 
wife the author of a treatife On Logic, in Italian ; a tranf- 
lation of Plato’s Dialogues ; a difcourfe Of Civil Govern¬ 
ments ; and fome other pieces. He died in 1585. 
ERKE, adj. [eapij, Sax] Idle 5 lazy; flothful. An 
old word whence we now fay irkfome. 
For men therein would Item delite ; 
And of that dede be not erke, 
But oft fithes haunt that werke. Chaucer. 
ER'KF.LENS, a town of Germany, in the circle of 
Weftphalia, in the duchy of Juliers; it made a part of 
Guelders before the year 1719: ten miles north of Juliers. 
Lat. 51. 8. N. Ion. 23. 50. E. Ferro. 
ER'KOOM, an Abyflinian bird, defcribed by Mr. 
Bruce. Fie fays, that though not eafily raifed, it flies 
both ftrong and far. It has a rank fmell, and is faid in 
Abydinia to feed upon dead carcafes. This, however, 
Bruce thinks a miffake, as he never faw it following the 
army, nor approaching a dead carcafe ; and as often as he 
had occafion to open this bird, he found in its ftomach 
nothing but the green fcarabeus beetle. It builds in large 
thick trees, always, if it can, near churches : has a cover¬ 
ed neft like that of a magpie, but four times as large as 
the eagle’s. It places its neft firm upon the trunk, with¬ 
out endeavouring to make it high from the ground : the 
entry is always on theeaft fide. 
ER'LA, a town of Germany, in the archduchy of Au¬ 
ftria : four miles fouth-weft of Vienna. 
ER'LA (Clofter), a town of Germany, in the arch¬ 
duchy of Auftria : fix miles eaft of Ens. 
ER'LACH, a town of Germany, in the archduchy of 
' Auftria: eight miles weft of EfFerding. 
ER'LACH, or Cerlier, a town of SwifTerland, in the 
canton of Bern, with a bailiwic, on the borders of the 
Lake of Bienne : fifteen miles weft-north-weft of Bern. 
ER'I.ANG, a town of Germany, in the circle of Fran¬ 
conia, and principality of Culmbach, divided into Old and 
New, the firft founded by Charlemagne, the latter by 
the margrave Chriftian Erneft, in 1686. It has feveral 
churches, an nniverfity, and a palace : ten miles north of 
Nuremberg, and nineteen fouth of Bamberg. Lat. 49. 
34. N. Ion. 2S. 46. E. Ferro. 
ER'LAU., or Eger, a town of Hungary, fnrrounded 
with walls, and defended by^i caftle. In 1552, it witlt- 
Itood the Turks; but in 1596, it furrendered to them by 
capitulation. In 1606 it was furprifed by the Imperialifts; 
nd in 1704, it was taken by prince Ragotfki. It is the 
fee of a biftiop. Forty miles eaft of Gran, and 120 eaft- 
fouth-eaft of Vienna. 
ER'LEBACH, a river of Germany, which rifes ir the 
duchy of Stiria, fix miles below Ips. 
ER'LEBACH, a town of Germany, in the circle of the 
Lower Rhine, and electorate of Mentz, on the Main : 
three miles north-north weft of Clingenberg. 
ER'LENBACH, a town of Germany, in the circle of 
Franconia, and county of Wertheim: ten miles north- 
north-eaft of Wertheim. 
ER'MF.I.AND (bifliopric of), a country furrounded 
E R N 
by Prulfia, formerly fubjedt only to the bifhop and chap¬ 
ter, but now become a province of Pruflia. The princi¬ 
pal towns are Frattenburg, Braunfburg, and Heilfburg. 
ER'MELIN, f. [diminutive of ermin; armelin, Fr.] 
An ermine : 
Silver fkins, 
Pafling the hate fpot ermdins. Sidney. 
ER'MENAK, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the pro¬ 
vince of Caramania : fixty-three miles fouth of Cogni. 
ER'MI J A, a town of Spain, in the province of Bifcay : 
fixteen miles eaft fouth eaft of Bilbao. 
ER'MIL, a town of RufTia, in the government of Tarn- 
boy : forty-four miles fouth of Tamboy. 
ER'MINE,_/i [her mine, Fr. from arinenius, Lat.] The 
w'hite float, a fpecies of weefel. See the article Mus- 
TELA. The ermine is an emblem of purity ; for it is faid 
that if a ring of mud or dirt be made round them, they 
will die rather than daub themfelves to efcape : 
A lady’s honour may be touch’d ; 
Which, nice as ermines, will not bear a foil. Dryden. 
ER'MINE, in heraldry, denotes a white field or fur, 
powdered or interfperfed with black fpots, called powder¬ 
ing. See Heraldry. 
ER'MINE, f. an order of knights, inftituted in 1450, 
by Francis I. duke of Bretagne, and formerly fubfifting 
in France. The collarof this order was of gold, compos¬ 
ed of ears of corn in faltier; at the end of which hung 
the ermine, with this infcription, A ma vie. The order 
expired when the dukedom of Bretagne was annexed to 
the crown of France. 
ER'MINED, adj. Clothed with ermine, or fur of the 
white float: 
Arcadia’s countefs, here in ermin'd pride, 
Is there Paftora by a fountain fide. Pope. 
ER'MINE-STREET, one of the noted Roman high¬ 
ways, in England, from St. David’s to Southampton. 
ERMS, a river of Germany, which runs into the Da¬ 
nube, four miles fouth-weft of Nurtlingen, in the circle 
of Swabia. 
ERMSLE'BEN* a town of Germany, in the circle of 
Lower Saxony, and principality of Halberftadt : fourteen 
miles fouth-eaft of Halberftadt. 
ERNA'NI, a town of Spain, in the province of Gui- 
pufcoa : five miles fouth of Sebaftian. 
ERN A'TI A, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the province 
of Natolia : fixteen miles north-weft of Satalia. 
ER'NE, or Eron, do immediately flow from the 
Saxon epji, eapm, a cottage, or place of retirement. 
Gibfon. 
ER'NE, a river in Ireland, which rifes in the northern 
part of the county of Longford, erodes the county of Ca¬ 
van from north to fouth, pafles through Lough Erne, in 
the county of Fermanagh, and empties itfelf into the Bay 
of Donegal, three miles below Bally Shannon. 
ERNE (Lough), a lake of Ireland, in the county of 
Fermanagh, or more properly two lakes connedted. 
.ERNE'E, a town of France, and principal place of a 
diftrief, in the department of the Mayenne, on a river of 
the fame name ; containing about 2400 inhabitants: five 
leagues north-north-w'eft of Laval, and four weft of 
Mayenne. 
ERNE'£,a river of France, which runs into the May¬ 
enne, two miles north of Laval. 
ERNES'TI (John Auguftus), dodfor of divinity, and 
firft profelfor of theology in the univerfity of Leipfic, born 
on the 4th of Auguft, 1707, at Tennftadt, where his fa¬ 
ther was fuperintendant. He ftudied at Pforta, where he 
foon gave proofs of his great talents ; repaired afterwards 
to Wittenberg, and then to Leipfic, where he was made 
dodfor and profeflor of theology. Though engaged jn 
laborious occupations, he attained, with a found confti- 
tution, to the great age of feventy ; but after that period 
the infirmities of age gradually affailed him till the time 
of his death, which took place on the nth of September, 
1781. His works were received with fo much approba¬ 
tion, 
