E R O 
tion, that they were foon reprinted in Holland, England, 
and France. His editions of the clalTical authors, in par¬ 
ticular, were in fo much requeft, that he was under the 
neceflity of refilling many offers made to him by foreign 
bookfellers. 
ERNO'DEA, f. [from spates, Gr. branched ; fo 
named by Swartz.] In botany, a genus of the clafs te- 
tandria, order monogynia. The generic characters are— 
Calyx: perianthium four-parted, final], fuperior ; feg- 
ments eredt, acute, equal, permanent. Corolla: one pe- 
talled, falver fliaped : tube four-cornered, elongated ; 
border four-parted ; fegments lanceolate, revolute. Sta¬ 
mina : filaments four, inferted in the middle of the tube, 
awl-fhaped, longer than the cdrolla ; anther® eredl, acu¬ 
minate. Piftillum : germ four-cornered, inferior ; llyle 
filiform, longer than the ftamens ; ftigma obtufe, emar- 
ginate. Pericarpium : berry roundilh, crowned by th.e 
c dyx, two-grooved, two-celled. Seeds: folitary, hemif- 
pherical, firiated.— EJfcntial Char after. Calyx four-parted; 
corolla one-petalled, falver-lhaped ; berry two-celled ; 
feeds folitary. 
Ernodea littoralis, a fingle fpecies. It is a native of 
Jamaica, frequent near the Ihore in the parifii of St. 
George, running three or four feet or more along th.e 
ground, throwing out a few fpreading branches as it 
creeps along. The leaves are oblong, pointed and ft iff; 
the flowers few, fingle, at the axils of the upper, leaves. 
Browne named this plant Knoxia, from Knox, who refided 
many years in the ifland of Ceylon, and publilhed an ac¬ 
count of it. 
ERN'SPACH, a town of Germany, in the circle of 
Franconia, and principality of Hohenlohe ; fix miles north 
of Ohringen. 
ERN'STEIN, a town and caflle of Germany, in the 
circle of the Lower Rhine, and eledtorate of Cologne : 
eight miles eaft of Lintz. 
ERN'THAL, a town of Germany, in the circle of Up¬ 
per Saxony, and lordlhip of Schonberg : feven miles weft 
of Chemnitz. 
ERN'STHOFEN, a town of Germany in the circle of 
the Upper Rhine, and principality of Hefle Darmftadt : 
ten miles fouth of Darmftadt. 
To ERO'DE, v. a. [erodo , Lat.] To canker, to eat 
away; to corrode.—The blood, being too fharp or thin, 
erodes the vcflel. Wifeman, 
ERO'DENTS,/. [from erodo, Lat. to eat away.] Thofe 
fubftances which eat away or deftroy other bodies, by 
means of their proper menftrua. 
ERO'DIUM, f. [spw^io;, Gr. is the name of the crane 
in Ariilotle, whence this genus is fo called on account of 
the long beak to the fruit.] In botany, a genus of the 
clafs mohadelphia, order pentandria, natural order of 
gruinales, (gerania, JuJJ\) The generic characters are— 
-Calyx : perianthium five-leaved ; leaflets ovate, acute, 
concave, permanent. Corolla : petals five, obcordate or 
ovate, fpreading, large ; nedtary, five feales alternate with 
the filaments; and melliferous glands placed at the bafe 
of the ftamens. Stamina: filafnents five, awl-fliaped, 
tonnefted at the bafe with the feales into the fliape of a 
pitcher, but fpreading at top, fhorter than the corolla ; 
anther®, oblong, verfatile. Piftillum: germ five-cor¬ 
nered, beaked ; ftyle awl-fhaped, longer than the ftamens, 
permanent; ftigmas five, reflex. Pericarpium: capfule 
five-grained, beaked, the cells opening inwards, each 
having a long tail fixed to it, which becomes Ipiral, and 
is hairy or bearded on the infide. Seeds: folitary, (fel- 
dom two together,) ovate-oblong.— EJfe.ntial Charafter. 
Calyx five-leaved; corolla five-petalled ; nectary, five 
feales, alternate with the filaments, and glands at the 
bafe of the ftamens ; fruit five-grained, with a fpiral beak, 
bearded on the infide. 
Species. I. Leaves compound or pinnatifid. i. Ero- 
dium abfynthoides, or wormwood-leaved crane’s-bill : 
caulefcent ; peduncles four-flowered or thereabouts ; 
leaves interruptedly bipinnate laciniate, fegments linear. 
'l iie genus geranium w as fir ft feparatedinto three genera 
E R O GO? 
by monfiettr PHeritier. Of thefe this of erodium is on^, 
pelargonium is a fecond, -and tire third retains the old 
named geranium. The divifion is convenient on account 
of the prodigious number of fpecies, but they muft ftill 
be confidered as making only one natural genus. The 
firft fpecies feenrs to differ from the next in being caulef¬ 
cent, and in having the fegments of the leaves linear and 
fubvillofe, not oblong and filky, as in that. Found in 
Armenia by Tournefort, and on mount Olympus by John 
Sibthorp, M. D. 
2. Erodium chryfantluim, or golden-flowered crane’s- 
bill : almoft ftemlefs ; peduncles four-flowered ; leaves 
decompoundly pinnate, laciniate, filky. This is verydif- 
tinguifhable by its yellow flowers. Found on mount 
Parnaflus by Sibthorp. 
3. Erodium trichomanifolium, or maidenhair-leaved 
crane’s-bill : ftemlefs; fcapes leaflefs, four-flowered ; 
leaves bipinnatifid hirfute. It may be doubted whether 
this be any thing more than a variety of the preceding. 
It differs, however, in having the flowers flefh-coloured 
marked with lines, tire leaves fmaller and lefs cut, the 
fcapes leaflefs and radical ; whereas E. chryfantluim be¬ 
comes branched when in flower. Found on mount Li- 
banus by Billardiere. 
4. Erodium pulverulentum, or hoary-leaved crane’s- 
bill: caulefcent; peduncles many-flowered; leaves de- 
compoundedly laciniate, mealy, hoary. The plant is 
wholly covered with frequent fliort villofe hairs, whence 
it has the appearance of being dufty. It is certainly al¬ 
lied to the firft and fecond fpecies, from which it differs 
in its dufty habit, in having the leaves decompounded!/ 
laciniate, not interruptedly bipinnate, the flowers more 
numerous in the umbel, and the fruits only one-third of 
the length. Found by Louiche Desfontajnes in the king¬ 
dom of Tunis. 
5. Erodium craflifolium, or upright crane’s-bill : um¬ 
bels many-flowered ; leaves pinnatifid-laciniate thick ; 
fegments linear. In appearance this refembles pelargo¬ 
nium myrrhifolium. It differs from the three next, ia 
having thick leaves, pinnatifid not interruptedly pinnate, 
braftes larger, and roundifh not lanceolate, the herb 
caulefcent, and the root more flender not thick. Found 
in the ifland of Cyprus by Sibthorp ; flowers in April 
and May. q 
6. Erodium feetidum, or (linking crane’s-bill : almoft 
ftemlefs ; fcapes radical, many-flowered ; leaves inter¬ 
ruptedly bipinnatifid, petals roundifh. All the leaves are 
heaped about the root ; they are hoary with hairs, the 
whole forming a triangle. Lobel reports it to be abomi¬ 
nably fetid. L’Heritier fays it is Angular in having a very 
ftrong naufeous fmell like fome of the clafs Syngenefin ; 
and according to Gouan, it has a ftrong fmell, but neither 
naufeous nor mufky, Native of the country about Mont¬ 
pellier. It feems to have been cultivated here in the 
time of Parkinfon. 
7. Erodium macrademum, or Spanifh crane’s-bill: fub- 
Caulefcent ; fcapes radical, many-flowered ; leaves in¬ 
terruptedly bipinnatifid, petals ovate. This is al¬ 
lied to the preceding ; the herb is entirely the fame. The 
leaves, which are very much alike, are more finely laci- 
niated and more flender in this; this has alfo a-turpentine 
or mufky fmell. Native of Spain. 
8. Erodium fupracanum, or filky-leaved crane’s bill : 
almoft ftemlefs ; fcapes radical, two-flowered or there¬ 
abouts; leaves interruptedly bipinnatifid, thickifh, filk- 
hoary on the upper furface. This is very nearly allied 
to the two preceding, and to E. romanum. Found in 
Montferrat in Catalonia by Brouffonet, Sibthorp, and 
Pourrett. 
9. Erodium petrofelinum, or parfley-leaved crane’s- 
bill : peduncles tivo-flowered; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 
pinnatifid ; fegments linear. This has the habit of the 
three laft, from which, however, it differs in having pinna¬ 
tifid leaves, not interruptedly fo, and elongated items. 
Found on the fandy coafts of Barbary by Poiret. 
10. Erodium alpinum, or alpine crane’s-bill; pedun¬ 
cles 
