ERR 
{Rape, have been confounded with the coccinella and 
chryfomela. T.he thorax is widely emarginate before, 
for the reception of the head ; the fliells are very gibbous, 
ending in a kind of point. One fpecies, the teftudinarius, 
inhabits the Cape of Good Hope ; two others, the gibbus 
and planus, are natives of Arabia; and the minutus is 
found in the Eaft Indies. The fliells of this fpecies are 
black, glabrous, and clofely united ; with two imprefl'ed 
dots on the back of the thorax. See this infedl in the 
engraving of the plant Epidendrum. 
EROGA'TION, [ \erogatio, Lat.J The act of giving 
or bellowing; diftribirtion. 
EROPHEE'VO, a town of Rtiflia, in the government 
of Trkutfch : fixty miles north of Balaganlkoi. 
E'ROS, a fervant of whom Antony demanded a fword 
to kill himfelf. Eros produced the inftrument, but in- 
flead of giving it to his mafter, he killed himfelf in his 
prefence. Plutarch. —A fon of Chronos, or Saturn, and 
god of love. 
ERO'SION, f. [ erojio , Lat.] The adl of eating away. 
The flate of being eaten away; canker; corrofion.—As 
fea-falt is a fliarp folid body, in a conftant diet of fait 
meat, it breaks the veflels, produceth erofions of the folid 
parts, and all thefymptoms of the fea-fcurvy. Arbuthnot. 
EROTE'UM,yi [fo named by Swartz, perhaps from 
tguc, Gr. love.] In botany, a genus of the clafs polyan- 
dria, order monogynia. The generic charadters are— 
Calyx: perianthium five-leaved; leaflets ovate, con¬ 
cave, incumbent, permanent. Corolla : petals five, ovate- 
roundifh, concave, entire, fpreading. Stamina: filaments 
numerous (thirty), fhorterthan the petals, eredf, filiform, 
placed on the receptacle ; antherae roundifli; minute. Pif- 
tillum : germ ovate, pubefcent, fuperior; fiyle eredl, 
generally longer than the (laraens, awl-fhaped, trifid at 
the tip, permanent; ftigmas obtufe, iimple, reflex. Peri- 
carpium : berry roundifli, juicelefs, acuminate with the 
permanent fiyle, fmooth, three-celled. Seeds: in threes 
or fours, oblong, comprefled a little. It has the inflo- 
refcence, flower, and habit, of thea, but the fruit is of a 
different kmd.— EJfential CharaEler. Calyx five-leaved ; 
corolla five-petalled ; fiyle trifid ; berry juicelefs, three- 
celled, many-feeded. 
Species, i. Eroteum thaeoides, or thaea eroteum : leaves 
ovate-lanceolate, ferrate-toothed ; flowers axillary, foli- 
tary. Native of Jamaica. 
z. Eroteum undulatum, or waved eroteum: leaves el¬ 
liptic-lanceolate, acuminate, ferrate ; flowers crowded, 
axillary. Native of Jamaica, St. Chriftopher’s, Mont- 
ferrat, Guadaloupe, &c. 
ERO'TIA, a feftival in honour of Eros the god of 
love. It was celebrated by the Thefpians every fifth year 
with fports and games, w hen muficians and others con¬ 
tended. If any quarrels or feditions had arifen among the 
people, it was then ufual to offer facrifices and prayers to 
the god, that he would totally remove them. 
ERO'TIC, adj. [e^wtikoj, Gr.] Treating of love. This 
word is chiefly ufed in fpeaking of Greek novels, and 
their authors. 
EROTOMA'NI A, f. [from t? a>e, love, and y.cana., Gr. 
madnefs.] That melancholy or derangement of the fenfes 
which is the effedl of love. 
ERO'TYLUS,/i [from ague, Gr. love.] A fpecies of 
fungus refembling the erotium ; a flone fo called becaufe 
it was formerly ufed in love charms and philtres. 
ERPE'NIUS, or Erpen (Thomas), a learned writer 
and oriental fcholar, born at Gorcum in Holland, in 1584. 
He was fent to the univerfity of Leyden, when eighteen 
years of age. After availing himfelf of the helps which 
the univerfity of Leyden alforded, he travelled for further 
improvement into England, France, Italy, and Germany. 
In England lie became acquainted with the excellent Be¬ 
dell, who was a confiderable proficient in Hebrew, and 
rabbinical learning. After fpending four years in foreign 
countries, he returned to Holland in 1612, where he was 
chofen profeflorof the Arabic and other oriental tongues, 
in the univerfity of Leyden. In this fituation Erpenius 
VOL. VI. No, 401. 
ERR 009 
difeharged the duties of his office with eminent ability 
and reputation ; and foon after his appointment he fet up, 
at a confiderable expence, a prels for the printing of works 
in oriental literature. He was the author of various works, 
publiflied during his life-time, and after his death, which 
have defervedly given him a high reputation among orien¬ 
tal fcholars. The following is a lift of his valuable publi¬ 
cations : 1. Annotations ad Lexicon Arabicum Francifci Raphe- 
lengii, 1613, 4to. 2 . Grammatica Arabica, 1613, 4to. 3. 
Proverbiorum Atabicorum Centuria II. Arabice 63 Latinc , cum 
Scholiis Jfephi Scaligeri 63 Tkoma Erpenii , 1614, 4to. 4. 
Lockmanm Fabula 63 fclcEla quadam Arabian adagia, cum Inter, 
pretatione Latina 63 Notis, 1615, Svo. 5. Novum TJlamcntum 
Arabice, 1615, 4to. 6. Giarumia grammatica de centum Re. 
gentibus, Jive Lingua Arabia parti'culis, Arabice 62 Latinc, cum, 
Notis, 1617, 4to. 7. Hijloria Jqfephi Patriarcha ex Alcorano, 
Arabice, cum Verfione Latina & Notis, 1617, 4to. 8. Canones 
de Literarum EVl apud Arabes Natura 63 Permutatione , 1618, 
4 to. 9 - Rudimcnta Lingua Arabica, 1620, Svo. 10. Verfte 
£2 Nota ad Arabicum Paraphrafm in Evangelium Joannis, 16 20, 
8vo. n. Grammatica Hebraa, 1621, Svo. 12. Orationcs 
tres de Linguarum Hebrea atque Arabica Dignitate, 1621, Svo. 
13. Pcntateuchus Mojis, Arabice, 1622, 4to. 14. Arcanum 
punElatioms revelatum, 63 c. 1624, 4to. 15. Elmacini Hijloria 
Saracemca, 63 c. 1625, folio. 16. Pfalmi Davidis, Syriace, 
cum Verfone Latina, 1625, 4to. i~i.De peregrinatione Gallics, 
utiliter injhtuenda Trabiatns, 1631, nmo. 18. Precepta. de 
Lingua Gracorum Communi, 1662, Svo. 
ER'PES, f. [from Gr. to creep.] The fhingles, 
named from their gradually increafing till they creep as 
it were round the body. 
To ERR, v. n. \_erro , Lat.] To wander; to ramble : 
The rains arife, and fires their warmth difpenfe ; 
And fix’d and erring Ears dilpofe their influence. Dryden. 
To mifs the right way ; to firay.—We have erred and 
(frayed like loft (heep. Common Prayer .—To deviate from 
any purpofe : 
But errs not nature from this gracious end, 
From burning funs when livid deaths defeend ? Pope. 
To commit errors; to miflake.—Do they not err that de- 
vile evil. Prov. xiv. 22. 
The mufes’ friend, unto himfelf fevere, 
With filent pity looks on all that err. Waller. 
ER'RA, a town of Portugal, in the province of Eftre- 
madura, on a river of the lame name : twenty-two miles 
fouth-eaft of Santarem. 
ER'RA, a river which runs into the Latas, twelve 
miles eaft of Salvaterra, in the province of Eftremadura. 
ERRABA'RI, a town of Egypt, ten miles north-well 
of Cairo. 
ER'RABLE, adj. Liable to err ; liable to miftake. 
ER'RABLENESS, f. Liablenefs to error; liablenefs 
to miftake.—We may infer from the errablencfs of our 
nature, the reafonablenefs of compaflion to the feduced. 
Decay of Piety. 
ERRAI'NE, a town of Egypt: two miles eaft of Tahta. 
ER'RAND,/. [tepenb, Sax. arend, Dan.] A meftage;. 
fomething to be told or done by a melfenger; a mandate ; 
a commiflion. It is generally ufed now only in familiar 
language.—When he came, behold the captains of the 
holt were fitting, and he laid I have an errand to thee, O 
captain. Kings. 
Nor doubt I, but the filver-footed dame, 
Tripping from fea, on Inch an errand came. Dry din. 
ERR AN'T, adj. \_errans, Lat. errant, Fr.] Wandering; 
roving; rambling. Particularly applied to an order of 
knights much celebrated in romances, who roved about 
the world in fearch of adventures : 
Chief of domeftic knights and errant , 
Either for chattel or for warrant. Hudibras. 
Vile; abandoned; completely bad. See Arrant. 
Thy company, if I flept not well 
A-nights, would make me an errant fool. Ben Jonfon. 
10 Y Deviating 
